Evans Above

When you’re covering physical media you see a lot of press releases. You might think “Oh that’ll look great” or “the fans will love to see that upgraded to 4K.” Occasionally, you take off the journalist hat and get personally excited about a release. When Warner Brothers announced that they were celebrating the 70th anniversary of Singin’ in the Rain with a 4K release, I was happy and the announcement transported me back to lazy Sunday afternoons watching the movie on TV with my parents and sister. It’s a joyous movie and you can’t help but be uplifted by the performances of Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Warner Bros is releasing the classic on 4K and I had a chance to review it. The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.

If you’ve never seen it, Singin’ in the Rain is a musical rom-com set in 1920s Hollywood, just as movies are making the transition from silent films to “talkies.” Kelly plays leading man Don Lockwood, whose studio has him “romantically linked” to his irritating co-star, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). He can’t stand her and instead begins to fall for a young actress named Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds). When the studio decides to make his latest picture a musical to highlight motion picture sound, we discover that Lina has the perfect voice…for silent movies. What will the studio do? Will Lockwood and his best friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor) come up with a plan? Make some popcorn and settle in for some fun.

The 2160p HEVC/H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with HDR10 is presented in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation of this remastered 4K is simply stunning. Details are perfect in the actors’ faces and hair, the clothing and the various sets. The colour palette is a rainbow of Technicolor hues and the HDR colour grading gives colours and highlights that extra pop. The only quibble with colour is with the flesh tones as they shift from pale to pink. This is most likely due to the multiple film sources used as the original negative was a victim of a 1978 storage facility fire. There’s a light level of grain. The blacks are inky and details remain in the shadows. In a word, this transfer is gorgeous.

On the audio side, your ears are presented with an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, the original English 2.0 Mono track presented in DTS-HD Master Audio, and French, German, Italian, and Spanish (Castilian and Latin American) 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital tracks. Subtitles are available in English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish (Castilian and Latin American), Japanese, and Korean. The best news here is the inclusion of the original mono soundtrack which enable you to hear the movie the way it was originally released. The dialogue is clear and the music sounds great. The English 5.1 track is the same track from the 2012 Blu-ray release and does a very nice job moving the soundtrack into a larger soundscape. Elements of the soundtrack have been moved into the surrounds, but the real star is the music and vocal in the musical number. The stars’ sound great and the music is bright, lush and dynamic. Dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized.

The Singin’ in the Rain 4K comes with the aforementioned 2012 Blu-ray as well as a digital code. Most of the extras are on that Blu-ray, while the 4K disc contains audio commentary from Cyd Charisse, screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, co-director Stanley Donen, Kathleen Freeman, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds as well as filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and author Rudy Behlmer. It also has a quick way to hit the musical numbers. The Blu-ray contains the commentaries, a 50 minute doc, the jukebox feature and a theatrical trailer.

The Singin’ in the Rain 4K set has stunning video, amazing sound and a nice selection of extras. It’s a wonderful presentation of one of the best musicals in movie history that will leave you dancing and singin’ in the rain. Highly recommended.

Jake Kasdan’s 2002 comedy Orange County is now getting the Blu-ray treatment from Paramount Home Entertainment. The film stars Colin Hanks as Shaun, a carefree teenager who coast through school until he finds a book that inspires him and he decides to become a writer. When he discovers that the author teaches at Stanford, it becomes his sole fixation. Unfortunately, his transcript is mixed up with another student and he’s rejected. He refuses to give up and supported by his girlfriend (Schuyler Fisk) and variously aided and impeded by his dysfunctional family (John Lithgow, Catherine O’Hara and Jack Black), Shaun will stop at nothing to get in.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It’s a typical Blu-ray with good detail in facial textures, textiles and environments. The film has a bright and vivid colour palette and there’s no digital noise or compression artifacts to talk about. This is the nice thing with studios moving some of their smaller catalog titles to Blu-ray. Though this isn’t some super dazzling restoration of a highly-anticipated classic, just the upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray gives the film a nicer way to be remembered.

As for audio, your ears are given the choice of an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack as well as German, Spanish (Latin American) and French 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, German, Spanish, French and Japanese. It’s a front-heavy mix, though the surrounds do get the occasional chore. The score is bright and dynamic, while dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.
Orange County comes with neither a slipcover nor a digital code. Extras include a commentary track by Kasdan and writer Mike White, a handful of deleted scenes, a variety of interstitials, and a theatrical trailer.

With a great comedic cast and very good video and audio, Orange County is a fun movie and a good addition to your collection.

I have to tip my hat to Paramount Home Entertainment. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! was basically a flop when it was released in 2004, but over the years has grown a bit in affection by fans of the light romantic comedy genre. So while it may not have topped anyone’s “this has to be on Blu-ray!” list, Paramount has released it and those are always victories for fans of physical media. Directed by Legally Blonde’s Robert Luketic, the film marks the film debut of Josh Duhamel, who plays the titular character. Tad is in need of some image rehab, so his manager (Sean Hayes) and agent (Nathan Lane) dream up this contest. It’s won by Rosalee (Kate Bosworth), a West Virginia supermarket worker, much to the dismay of her co-worker, Pete (Topher Grace), who has unexpressed feelings for her. The usual rom-com hijinks ensue when Tad begins to actually have feeling for Rosalee.

The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a nice video presentation that does what we expect from the Blu-ray format. There’s good detail in faces, environments and textiles, the colour palette is bright with popping primaries, and the black levels actually give us nice detail in the darker scenes.

What did surprise me, for a rom-com that flopped in theatres, was the availability of multiple soundtracks. There’s an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track as well as German, Spanish (Latin America) and Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, German, Spanish, French and Japanese. It’s a pretty front-heavy mix with limited surround usage, but this is a rom-com not an action flick. Dialogue is clear and well-prioritized.

In terms of extras, there’s no slipcover or digital code. There’s about 22 minutes of short deleted scenes and a gag reel.

Again, an unexpected Blu-ray release from Paramount but it’s a cute little diversion for 96 minutes so if rom-com’s are your thing, you might want to pick Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! up.

Paramount and CBS Home Entertainment have released CSI: Vegas Season One on DVD and I had the opportunity to take a look at the set. A sequel to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and the fifth show in the franchise, CSI: Vegas premiered on October 6, 2021. A new series of threats promises to bring down the crime lab and release thousands of killers back on the streets unless a new team of forensic investigators can stop it from happening. Familiar faces are asked back to help the team and explore the cases with updated forensic techniques. New team members Paula Newsome, Matt Lauria, Mel Rodriguez, and Mandeep Dhillon are joined by CSI vets William Petersen , Jorja Fox,Wallace Langham and Paul Guilfoyle in this ten episode season.

The video presentation is in 480i and is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It’s a shame that it’s not a Blu-ray release as the Las Vegas setting with its neons, hectic nights and bright sun really shine in the boosted colour and black levels of that medium. Still, given that most people will be watching the show on Paramount+, physical media aficionados know that physical demand will be low so DVD it is. Detail and colour is good for a DVD release, but dark scenes do suffer a bit in terms of detail.

The audio is an English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack with available English SDH subtitles. Effects are placed in the surrounds and the score sounds pretty good, while dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized in the mix.

The 3-disc sets has each DVD disc on its own spindle, which is nice. There’s a slip cover, but no digital code. The extras include a handful of deleted scenes and a trio of featurettes that look at the reboot and its production.

The CSI: Vegas Season One DVD set will be welcome news for fans of the franchise. The audio and video is quite good given the specs of DVD physical media.

When the American Film Institute updates its Top 100 films, I’m pretty sure that Jackass Forever will not be added to the list. Still, there are people out there who enjoy Johnny Knoxville and friends’ bone-breaking, ball-bashing stunts so Paramount has released a Blu-ray of their latest mishaps.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It looks really good with excellent detail in most of the footage from nicks and cuts to bruises and stubble. Black levels are good with no evident crushing and pretty good detail in the shadows. The colour palette is natural and some tones really pop. There’s no compression artifacts or digital noise to speak of. It’s a really nice transfer.

On the audio side, being a jackass knows no borders, so you have the choice of an English 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack and an English Audio Description track as well as French (Canada), German and Spanish (Latin America) Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French (Canada), German, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish (Latin America) and Swedish. Though the soundtrack is a little front heavy, the surrounds do add to the effects in some scenes and the subwoofer adds to the bone-crunching and explosive mayhem. Dialogue is clear.

On the extras side, the Blu-ray disc also comes with a digital code and additional and extended stunts and interviews connected to the antics.

If you’re not a fan of the Jackass franchise, you’ll probably give Jackass Forever a pass, but for the faithful you’ll get treated to a really good video presentation teamed up with good sound and a nice collection of extras. Recommended for fans.

Soapdish is one of those light, fun films with a great cast that is perfect when it’s a rainy Sunday afternoon or you’ve got a cold. You want something that’s not too taxing and will give you a few laughs to make you feel better. It’s cinematic chicken soup. Paramount Home Entertainment has just released it on Blu-ray and I was given an opportunity to review it.

Directed by Michael Hoffman, the film stars Sally Field as Celeste Talbert, the star of the soap opera The Sun Also Sets. She’s popular with the fans and a perennial award winner, but on set she has very few friends and many enemies. Her biggest enemy is Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty), a fellow actress who is tired of being the lesser star and needs Celeste gone to accomplish her goals. She’s aided by producer David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.). He’ll do anything to get into Montana’s pants, including hiring Celeste’s ex, former co-star Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline), who now finds himself working the dinner theatre circuit. Celeste’s one true friend, head writer Rose Schwartz (Whoopi Goldberg), does what she can to protect Celeste, but everyone’s plans go awry when an ambitious young actress (Elisabeth Shue) joins the cast.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation is pretty standard fare. Good details on all the usual suspects (faces, textiles and environment) and a bright colour palette with adequate black levels.

On the audio side, the disc comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, and French. It’s a front-heavy mix, but dialogue is clear and the music sounds good. It’s not going to dazzle anyone, but does the job for this light comedy.

The disc does not come with a digital code and the extras consist of a very short behind-the-scenes featurette and the theatrical trailer.

Look, I’m biased here. The missus and I have watched Soapdish several times over the years. Though this Blu-ray may not have mind-blowing audio and video and lacks exciting extras, I’ll still recommend it if you want the cinematic equivalent of comfort food.

Paramount Home Entertainment is releasing the 1989 comedy Let It Ride on Blu-ray. It’s another one of those back catalog films that you wouldn’t think would get the upgrade, so it’s nice to see. Directed by Joe Pytka, it stars Richard Dreyfuss as a cabbie who has made a deal with his wife (Teri Garr): she gives their marriage another chance and he’ll give up gambling. The hijinks begin when he slips off to make one more bet…and can’t lose. The cast also features David Johansen, Jennifer Tilly, Robbie Coltrane and Allen Garfield.

The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The master it was sourced from has some limitations but it’s still a very good transfer with a realistic colour palette and good detail. Really, the only complaint is the loss of some detail in darker scenes. There’s no digital noise or compression artifacts to speak of and there’s still a nice grain element to it.

On the audio end, you can choose between an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, French and German 2.0 Dolby Digital tracks, or a Spanish (Latin American) Mono Dolby Digital track. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, Spanish and French. It’s a front heavy mix with very little surround usage, but music is dynamic and dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized in the mix.

In terms of extras, Let It Ride does not come with a digital code or slipcover. There’s one short featurette where the cast discuss their characters.

If you’re looking for a fun comedy with a great cast, then adding Let It Ride to your collection is a sure bet.

2012’s Jack Reacher has been given the 4K UHD SteelBook treatment by Paramount. The video and audio content is identical to the 2018 release, but since I have not seen that release I will review it below.

Jack Reacher, written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie and based on Lee Child’s book One Shot, stars Tom Cruise as the titular character. Reacher, a former Army MP who has mostly dropped off the grid, finds himself involved in the investigation of a series of murders that point to a former Army sniper. Cruise is joined by Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo, Jai Courtney, Joseph Sikora and Robert Duvall.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The image looks great, with sharpness and clarity that really stands out with facial textures, fabrics and environmental elements. The colour palette is vibrant, whites are bright and the black levels are nice and deep with excellent detail present in shadows and darker scenes.

On the audio side, your ears have a choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track as well as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, and Swedish. The audio track is the same 7.1 track from a previous Blu-ray release, so if you have Atmos speakers, they can take the night off and catch up with family and friends. The 7.1 soundtrack is no slouch and provides an excellent experience. Your surrounds put you firmly into the action. Gunshots are powerful. The score is rich and dynamic and dialogue is clear and well-prioritized.

As far as extras go, the new thing with this release is the SteelBook collectible case, which features Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher against a dark background. It conveys an ominous mood without going overboard. The actual 4K disc contains two commentary tracks while the rest of the special features are on the included Blu-ray disc. They include the two previously mentioned commentaries from Cruise and McQuarrie and composer Joe Kramer, an almost half-hour featurette with the cast and crew, a look at the fight choreography, and an interview with author Lee Child. A digital code is also included.

If you collect SteelBook editions or don’t have the previous Jack Reacher 4K then this is for you. Excellent audio and video presentations coupled with a nice little set of extras makes this a nice get for fans of Tom Cruise or action films in general.

It’s been 25 years since the original Scream and its Ghostface Killer terrified and amused us and now directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett revisit the franchise with a project that’s part remake, part reboot and part sequel. While the original Scream contained plenty of nods to the framework of slasher flicks, this Scream is fully aware of the tropes and plots of its predecessors and includes three of the original’s most important characters: Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courteney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette). This is a meta Scream. The Ghostface Killer is navel-gazing. The new teen characters – played by Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Dylan Minnette, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding, Sonia Ammar, Jack Quaid and Jasmin Savoy Brown – are all variously connected to the prior Woodsboro killings and ponder which one of them might be involved in the new deaths. Thanks to Paramount, I had the chance to review this new 4K release.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K video transfer with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision is released in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a very good video presentation with impressive detail and clarity from the actors’ faces to the sets and textiles. A film like this has plenty of dark, jump-out-of-your-seat scenes and the black levels are deep with no loss of detail in shadows or nighttime. Skin tones are accurate, primary colours pop, and the Ghostface mask is vividly white. There’s no image noise or compression artifacts to speak of.

On the audio side, the disc offers an English 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack as well as English Audio Description, and French, French (Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Latin America) Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, Cantonese, Dutch, French, French (Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America) and Thai. Oddly, Paramount decided not to do a Dolby Atmos mix for the home entertainment release but the 7.1 mix does a great job. The surrounds are well-used with effects and ambient sounds moving around the soundscape and low frequency effects give some extra oomph to the various jump scares. Dialogue is clear and well-prioritized in the mix.

The 4K disc also comes with a digital code. There’s a small handful of extras including audio commentary from the filmmakers, a few deleted scenes, a reflection on the original Scream, a look at the transition to the younger generation, a tribute to Wes Craven and a trailer for the original’s 4K release.

Whether the 2022 Scream holds a candle to the original will be a long debate between fans of the franchise. With very good video and audio presentations and a humble but good collection of extras, you’ll probably enjoy adding this to your collection.

Mill Creek’s Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 1990s DVD set presents a sampling of ten films released between 1990 and 1999. Spread over four discs, these movies cover the spectrum from comedies and thrillers to dramas. The ten included films (with synopses from Mill Creek) are:

• Housesitter (1992) – After a one night stand, Gwen (Goldie Hawn) moves into Newton Davis’ (Steve Martin) empty home outside the city without telling him. When the neighbours start to ask questions, Gwen tells them that she’s Newton’s new wife.
• The Matchmaker (1997) – Marcy (Janeane Garofalo), a senator’s aide, arrives in Ireland to trace her boss’s Irish roots and happens to arrive in a quaint country village just in time for its annual matchmaking festival. A young, single woman kicks local matchmakers into a frenzy.
• White Palace (1990) – Young ad executive and widower Max Baron (James Spader) is still picking up the pieces after the death of his wife. One night, he meets 43-year-old waitress Nora Baker, (Susan Sarandon) and the two soon begin a heated love affair despite their obvious differences.
• One True Thing (1998) – A career-driven New York woman (Renée Zellweger) is forced to leave behind the big city life to take care of her seriously ill mother. While back home, she learns more about her parents’ (Meryl Streep and William Hurt) lives as people apart from her.
• Donnie Brasco (1997) -FBI agent Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) infiltrates the New York City mafia and forms an unlikely bond with mobster Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). Before long, Pistone begins to question where his loyalties lie.
• The Devil’s Own (1997) -Police officer Tom O’Meara (Harrison Ford) begins to uncover his house-guest’s (Brad Pitt) true identity as an IRA hitman/gunrunner, a secret that puts his family in mortal danger.
• The Freshman (1990) – A first-year film student (Matthew Broderock) starts working with a New York mobster (Marlon Brando) who resembles a famous movie mafioso and is soon swept up a world of crime and fine dining.
• Anaconda (1997) – A film crew in the Amazon rainforest gets caught up in a game of cat-and-mouse between a crazed hunter and the jungle’s deadliest predator. It stars Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde and Owen Wilson.
• I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) – Four teenagers (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr.) are stalked by a hook-wielding killer with knowledge of their terrible secret.
• The Deep End of the Ocean (1999) – The family of a kidnapped child is shocked when nearly a decade later, the child resurfaces as the “adopted” son of their new neighbour. It stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Treat Williams, Jonathan Jackson, John Kapelos, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Mill Creek’s 1990s collection’s ten movies are contained on just four DVD discs, so if you’re interested in purchasing go in knowing that a) the movies won’t have the clarity and detail of a Blu-ray and b) will have some compression artifacts as a result of fitting that many movies on four discs. Still, if you accept these conditions knowing that you’ve paid a low price for a sample of the 1990s, this is a good intro to the films that may lead you to upgrade some of them.

On the audio side, the movies come with Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available in English. Again, because of the quantity of films, these are not lossless tracks but they get the job done. Obviously as stereo tracks, your subwoofer and surrounds will have the night off and can probably work on a puzzle together while you watch the movies.

The collection does not come with a digital code or bonus materials.

As I said, the Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 1990s DVD set is a good sampler plate of movies from the 1990s, especially if you haven’t seen many of the titles before. Covering multiple genres, Mill Creek’s collections give you a chance to check out some movies from the decade at a very reasonable price per film.

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