Evans Above

The White Lotus is a hit with critics and audiences alike. Created by Mike White, the comedy-drama tracks the lives of the guests and staff at a Hawaiian resort called The White Lotus. Their lives seem perfect and the resort idyllic, but over the course of a week their dysfunctions come to a head and their façades begins to crumble. Nominated for twenty Emmy Awards, The White Lotus won ten, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing for White, Outstanding Supporting Actress for the always wonderful Jennifer Coolidge and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Murray Bartlett. A prestige project like this would be a natural for a Blu-ray release, but Warner Brothers doesn’t do that too often for TV series, unless you happen to be related to a DC Comics franchise. So here we are reviewing The White Lotus: The Complete First Season on DVD. Standard WB disclaimer: Though Warner Brothers provide me with a copy for review, the views and opinions below are mine.

The six episodes of Season One are spread over two DVD discs. Hawaii begs for a Blu-ray release where colours would pop and details would be sharper, but at least using two discs keeps us away from major compression artifact issues. So there is a nice amount of detail in textiles and other elements up to the limitations of the DVD format. Darker scenes lose some detail which, again, would be handled better in a Blu-ray release. Fingers crossed that we see it in that format one day. Still, it’s a very nice DVD video presentation.

On the audio side, there is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. English SDH are available. The witty dialogue is front and centre (literally) and is clear and never lost in the mix. The ambient sounds and other effects use the surrounds well, placing you in the scene so much that you might order a piña colada. The score is bright and dynamic.

As for special features, I would have loved a commentary track from Mike White, but instead we only get two three minute bits, one a quick look at the production by cast and crew and the other a word association game by the cast.

The White Lotus: The Complete First Season DVD teams a solid DVD video presentation with an excellent audio track. Though I would have loved to have seen it released on Blu-ray, if you love the show and don’t want to be tied to the whims of streaming libraries, getting it on any physical media is a plus.

Mayor of Kingstown is the latest Paramount+ project from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan and Headstone lead singer and actor Hugh Dillon and, no, the two shows aren’t related. Jeremy Renner plays Mike McLusky, a power broker in a town where incarceration is the biggest industry. Mike’s family has been running the show in the town for years and the series tackles the corruption, inequality and racism that plague the system. The series also stars Dianne Wiest, Hugh Dillon, Tobi Bamtefa, Taylor Handley, Emma Laird, Derek Webster, Hamish Allan-Headley, Pha’rez Lass, Aidan Gillen, Kyle Chandler and Nishi Munshi. Paramount has just released Mayor of Kingstown: Season One on Blu-ray.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2:1 aspect ratio. The show’s story is gritty and dirty and the show has adopted a gritty visual style to reflect it. In lighter scenes, many of the colours in the palette pop. The detail in the image is evident in the facial textures, clothing and locations. Darker scenes still manage to hold their detail as well. There are no encoding issues to report.

On the audio side of things, the show offers an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. Though the soundtrack is often front-heavy, ambient sounds and action effects occasionally populate your surround speakers. The music is clear and dynamic and dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix.

The ten episodes of season one are spread over three blu-ray discs. There is no digital code for the season. Extras include insights into each episodes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a look at the characters, and a collection of the cast’s favourite scenes.

We’ve seen dramatic stories of prison corruption before. Mayor of Kingstown gets its strength from the great cast that has been assembled. If this type of story is your thing, then you’ll want to pick up the Mayor of Kingstown: Season One Blu-ray.

There’s no denying that the earworm song “Baby Shark” is an international phenomenon that has launched everything from merchandise to a TV series called Baby Shark’s Big Show. Paramount and Nickelodeon have just released Baby Shark’s Big Show!: The Seaweed Sway on DVD. It’s a fun dance party for kids that features eight episodes from the show’s first season and features a vocal performance by Cardi B as Sharki B. (Her husband Offset and daughter Kulture also appear in the episode.) Along the way, the children learn about acceptance, friendship and just enjoying being yourself. If you spend any time on Twitter, these wouldn’t be bad lessons for a lot of adults to be reminded of.

If you and your kids have watched the show, these are the episodes from the first season that appear on this disc:

• The Seaweed Sway
• Busy Baby
• A Shark Day’s Night
• Wavey Jones’ Locker
• Daddyshark
• Rocky-Bye
• Rainy Day Roundup
• Deep Goo Sea

The video presentation on this DVD is bright and colourful with primaries that pop off the screen. It’s a flat animation style with sharp line edges but little extra detail On the audio side, the disc comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track as well as English and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. English closed captions are also available.

If you have a young one who loves Baby Shark and music and want a show that can teach them kindness as well, then the reasonably priced Baby Shark’s Big Show!: The Seaweed Sway is a good DVD for you.

If you haven’t come across it yet, The Equalizer is a reboot of the 1980s series, this time with Queen Latifah playing Robyn McCall, a former government operative who now uses her considerable skills to provide street justice to those in need. In the second season, McCall finds her skills needed to assist in a covert investigation to track down a group of robbers who have hurt and killed police officers. At the same time, she has to deal with issues on the home front. Paramount has just released The Equalizer Season Two on DVD.

I may sound like a broken record, but if you’ve been collecting Blu-rays and wonder why all but a few TV shows get Blu-ray releases, the answer is simply the market. Except for shows with a very dedicated collecting demographic, the sales just aren’t there for the more expensive format. Even though it’s on DVD, brighter scenes have a nice colour palette and detail. Unfortunately darker scenes — and this is a show with quite a few — do suffer from some loss of detail and crushing that wouldn’t be as evident in HD. The episodes are presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

On the audio side, the set comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. As with most TV show DVDs., the mix is very front-heavy, but there is some usage of your surrounds for ambient noises and action sequences. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

The four-disc set comes with some deleted scenes and a gag reel.

With the show renewed for a third and fourth season, if you’re a fan and want a copy of the show that’s not subject to the whims of streaming then you’ll probably want to pick up The Equalizer Season Two on DVD.

SEAL Team Season 5 has just been released by Paramount on DVD. Though ratings have declined since the show premiered in 2017, it has a loyal group of fans. Season 5 saw a big change for the series as it moved from CBS to the Paramount+ streaming service after the first four episodes. The move off of broadcast does give the writers less restrictions. If you’re new to the series, the show follows Bravo Team, a unit within the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group, as they conduct dangerous missions around the globe. The series is led by David Boreanaz and also stars Max Thieriot, Jessica Paré, Neil Brown Jr., A. J. Buckley, and Toni Trucks.

I’ve said this before with TV series and I’ll say it again, since it’s a frequently asked questions. Market forces dictate that most series, except for a select few with avid collecting fanbases, will find that their home entertainment releases will still be on DVD instead of Blu-ray. Though it’s not HD, the 16:9 presentation of this series is still very good, with colours and detail at the top end of the DVD format’s capabilities.

On the audio side, the set comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and English SDH subtitles. Though a lot of the mix is front-heavy, the surrounds do get a bit of a workout when the military action is happening. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

The 4-disc set does have some special features. They include some deleted scenes, a gag reel and four featurettes that look at the making of the season with cast and producers, a look at the show’s production design, a bit with star David Boreanaz talking about directing some episodes, and a look at the personal props of each team member.

If you’re a fan of the series and want to have a physical copy, then you’ll want to pick up SEAL Team Season 5 on DVD.

NCIS: Hawai’i Season 1 has just been released on DVD by Paramount. It’s the fourth series in the NCIS universe which includes NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans. This series follows the work of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in the tropical state. The cast is led by Vanessa Lachey as Jane Tennant, the first female Special Agent-in-Charge of the NCIS: Hawaiʻi Field Office. Other cast members include Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Tori Anderson, and Kian Talan. The DVD set includes all 22 episodes, including the crossovers with the “mothership” series NCIS.

The beautiful scenery and lush colours of Hawai’i scream out for the better image quality of a Blu-ray, but those looking to see this series in HD have to depend on either the broadcasts or streaming. Not many TV shows get the Blu-ray treatment and when they do, they’re usually shows whose demographics are screaming out for the latest and greatest. Still the video quality on this six DVD set is very good and gives you colours and detail near the top end of the DVD format’s capabilities.

As far as sound goes, the discs come with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and English SDH subtitles. As with many shows on DVD, the soundtrack is rather front-heavy, with the surrounds sparingly used for the odd effect or ambient noise. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

As mentioned, the six-disc set comes with all 22 episodes. The discs also feature some extended and deleted scenes, a gag reel, and four featurettes that look at the production, the costumes, the sets and additional info on the crossover episodes.

If you’re a fan of the newest entry in the franchise and want a permanent copy in your home, then you’ll enjoy the NCIS: Hawai’i Season 1 DVD.

The Despicable Me and Minions franchise has been attracting audiences and dollars since the release of Despicable Me in 2010. In this latest instalment, Minions: The Rise of Gru, we get to see everyone’s favourite villain and his pint-sized henchman in a story that takes us back to the 1970s, when Gru (Steve Carell) was just an 11-year-old with dreams of world domination. Universal has just released a 4K version and I had a chance to check it out.

Gru’s always been precocious — I mean most villains wait until their twenties — but this preteen has the possibility of joining the Vicious 6, a group of the most notorious villains in the world. When they make fun of him for his age, Gru manages to steal a precious stone from the group and finds himself the prey in a massive hunt to get it back. Gru is in need of some help and it’s up to the Minions to save their leader. Though the setting is new, many of the hijinks are very familiar, which depending on your point of view is either a nice, comforting diversion or a franchise rehashing what works. The voice cast includes the talents of Alan Arkin, Julie Andrews, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Taraji P. Henson, Russell Brand, Michelle Yeoh, Lucy Lawless and Danny Trejo.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded upscaled 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a crystal clear video presentation that captures the details in the computer animation very well. It’s really detailed animation, so I can actually discuss how much detail there is in elements like hair and textiles. The HDR colour grading also boosts the brightness and colour depth of the dazzling 1970s colour palette. Deep black levels and no evidence of compression issues or digital noise. It just looks great.

On the audio side of things, your ears will be dazzled by the Minions on an English Dolby Atmos soundtrack that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 as well as a Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 track and European and Canadian French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, Spanish and French. The Atmos is used very well with some of the action taking place above us in the height tracks, while the surrounds immerse you in the world of Gru’s childhood. The score is bright and dynamic, while the low end gives extra heft to both the effects and the bass of the score. Dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized.

The Minions: The Rise of Gru set comes with a 4K disc, a Blu-ray disc and a digital code. There’s roughly sixty minutes of bonus material including two mini-movies, an extended scene, outtakes from the recording sessions, a look at the movie’s key characters, a piece on the animation process, a look at 1970s food, fashion and funk, a piece on the Minion’s martial arts, a craft lesson on building your own lair, a drawing lesson, and how to dress your plush Minions in retro clothes.

The Minions: The Rise of Gru 4K has great video and audio and a fun selection of franchises. If you’re in love with these characters, this one is recommended.

When CBS announced that they were rebooting Magnum P.I. in 2018, many people wondered how they could replace the iconic performance of Tom Selleck. When the new series debuted with Jay Hernandez playing the private investigator and former Navy SEAL, the show gained a new legion of fans. These fans were upset when CBS announced the show was ending after season four and cheered when NBC announced that they had picked it up for a two season deal. Paramount has just released a Magnum P.I. Season 4 DVD set. Hernandez leads a cast that includes Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill, Amy Hill, and Tim Kang.

As mentioned in previous TV on DVD reviews, market forces dictate that most series are released on DVD, which still has the biggest share of the physical media market. So, though Magnum P.I.’s Hawaiian setting screams out for the lushness of Blu-ray, the only way to watch it in full HD is via streaming or broadcast. Still, this 5-disc set with an aspect ratio of 16:9 does a very good job of presenting the 20 episodes of season four. The colour palette is bright and colourful and the detail is pretty good considering we have four episodes per disc.

On the audio side of things, the set has an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack with subtitles available for English SDH. Like most TV discs, the mix is a bit front-heavy though ambient noises and effect occasionally make it into the surrounds. Music is clean and bright and dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix.

As for extras, the 5-disc set comes with a few deleted scenes and a gag reel.

If you’re one of the fans who wailed when the series was cancelled and cheered when it was picked up by NBC for two more seasons, then you’ll enjoy adding the Magnum P.I. Season 4 DVD to your collection.

I can’t believe it’s been 18 years since Tina Fey’s Mean Girls introduced us to take no prisoners high school politics, burn books and Gretchen trying her darnedest to make “Fetch” happen. Paramount has just released a So Fetch! limited-edition Blu-ray SteelBook with a burn book cover. I had a chance to take a look.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. This release didn’t earn a new transfer, just a new case, so we’re looking at the same video presentation as the previous Blu-ray releases. It’s a pretty good transfer with good detail in textiles and faces. You know, all the stuff the girl clique known as The Plastics fixate over. The colours in the palette are bright with popping primaries in the fashions. The transfer does have some digital noise. Maybe for the 20th anniversary we can get a 4K scan and release?

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack as well as French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. It’s a very front-heavy mix (which seems to be standard for a lot of comedies) with your surrounds only getting some occasional use. The music is clear and it’s in those moments that your subwoofer gets some chance to workout. Dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized.

The limited-edition SteelBook packaging is the only new thing here. The outside of the bright pink case features the cover of Regina’s burn book while the inside has photographs and quotes from the movie. Bonus materials are carried over from previous releases. They include audio commentary from director Mark Waters, screenwriter and actress Tina Fey and producer Lorne Michaels, some standard production featurettes and trailers.

The Mean Girls So Fetch! limited-edition Blu-ray SteelBook has a good video and audio presentation that’s at a level that’s pretty standard for most comedies. If you don’t already own a copy of Mean Girls, then you may want to pick this one up due to its So Fetch! limited-edition Blu-ray SteelBook packaging.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Adrian Lyne’s sexual thriller Fatal Attraction, Paramount is releasing the 1987 film on 4K. This is just two year’s after it was released on Blu-ray based on the same 4K scan used to make this year’s disc, an act that has many collectors wondering if Paramount is double-dipping more than George Costanza at a funeral reception. I had a chance to take a look.

Michael Douglas plays Dan, a lawyer with a loving wife, Beth (Anne Archer), and a daughter. A reckless fling with a book editor named Alex (Glenn Close) turns dangerous when she angrily begins to stalk him. Close is simply magnificent in the role and it’s worth a viewing just to see that performance.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It’s a very sharp image with amazing details in the faces, hair and textiles and even the smoke of Alex’s cigarettes. The colour palette leans to more muted fall tones, but the HDR colour grading makes the whites pop. The black levels are a little more problematic. Though most scenes generally don’t lose any details in darker moments, in some darker scenes anyone in a dark outfit is in danger of disappearing into the background. Shot on film, the transfer does have a subtle grain structure, but occasionally it looks like Paramount has tried scrubbing the grain so you get some shots within scenes that suddenly lose a degree of detail.

On the audio side, your ears have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack as well as German, Spanish, French and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. This is the same 5.1 track as previous Blu-ray releases. The film may be a thriller, but the soundtrack is anything but. It’s a very front-heavy soundscape and I’m sure your surrounds will be surprised when they’re very occasionally asked to play some ambient sounds. They’ll also be jealous of your subwoofer, which apparently gets the night off. Dialogue is clear and well-prioritized in the mix.

The 4K set comes with the 4K disc, 2020’s Blu-ray, and a digital code. The extras (all on the included Blu-ray) are a bit light, consisting of audio commentary from Adrian Lyne, an interview with Lyne, some rehearsal footage and an alternate ending.

The Fatal Attraction 4K has a very good video presentation (minus the grain smoothing and black levels) and an underwhelming soundtrack as well as sparse extras. I’d pick it up for the performances and most of the video presentation, but if you do have the 2020 release already, it’s not a huge upgrade.

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