Category: Reviews

My uncle works in the music business and his heyday was back in the 1970s, so when he recognized the music industry portrayed in HBO’s Vinyl, I took that as an endorsement. Back then, I was buying a new album almost every week (or so it seemed) and was expanding my tastes thanks to the discovery of FM radio. At the time, I never really thought about the business side of music but that came later.

Viewers today can watch people struggle for a career thanks to American Idol and more recently Fox’s Empire. Vinyl, though, takes a look back when sex, drugs, and rock & roll was a lifestyle, not a catchphrase. This was an era that saw popular music splinter every few years so rock begat heavy metal, California rock, and god help us, disco. All of which got rejected simultaneously with the rise of punk and independent artists that redefined the era at decade’s end. There were stars in the making while others were one-hit wonders or aging performers as American Graffiti reintroduced fans to the early days of rock, giving new life to Chuck Berry and others.

Arguably a star in the 1960s and superstar of the 1970s was Mick Jagger so having him co-produce this means it feels right while co-producer Martin Scorsese makes sure it looks right. Our visual memories of the 1970s were brilliantly captured by Scorsese for decades so it’s nice having him give us a weekly dose here. Adding to the gravity such a show needs is the presence of Bobby Canavale, here playing Richie Finestra, founder of American Century Records. His glory days behind him, he’s struggling to keep up with the changing fads and is distracted by his cocaine habit.

We’re in 1973, as Elton John and Alice Cooper begin climbing the charts and diverse talents as Mott the Hopple and Journey formed. Finding the next big thing fuels part of the plot and he claims he’s closing to signing Led Zeppelin, who released Houses of the Holy that year. Yes, some of the threads sound like Empire but that’s the music business and some of these issues are eternal in the field. But Cannavale is the latest in a line of compellingly flawed leads, dating back to James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano.

He’s supported by a nice cast including Jagger’s son James and more familiar faces in Max Casella, Ray Romano, Juno Temple, and Olivia Wilde (being an HBO series, we see plenty of the latter two).

The scripts from Terence Winter and George Mastras, the show is a finely serialized peek at an interesting time in popular music. A little too much time may be devoted to the soap opera aspects and Richie is a little too much of a loser at times, but overall, this is a satisfying production.

Vinyl: The Complete First Season offers up all ten episodes on three discus and the high definition transfer with an AVC encoded 1080p in 1.78:1 looks great. You get the grunge and the shadows of the recording booth. The rundown feel of the 1970s is nicely replicated here and is matched with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

The special features are far too perfunctory with the previously aired Inside the Episodes. There is some interesting Audio Commentary on “Yesterday Once More” with Canavale, Romano, Winter and Allen Coulter, “Whispered Secrets” with Casella, Temple, Winter, Jack Quaid, and Mark Romanek; “E.A.B.” with  Cannavale, Wilde, Winter, Randall Poster, and Meghan Currier.

Additionally, there is Making Vinyl: Recreating the ’70s (18:32) but nothing about the context of the times which would have been far more interesting.

Home Video fans have a lot to look forward to as Paramount Home Entertainment releases a variety of Star Trek material this year. First up and arriving Tuesday, just days after its 34^th anniversary is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut. This is the first time director Nicholas Meyer’s version of the now-classic film is available on Blu-ray.

There’s little left to say about just how good the film is and looking back, we can easily see the affection both cast and crew put into the production. There was a gamble in bringing in Harve Bennett to produce and Meyer to direct only because neither had been a part of Trek previously and Paramount needed the film to be a major success to salvage the franchise.

Thankfully, Bennett understand the genre and Meyer was a gifted novelist and filmmaker so got down to the core elements. He let the characters age and made that a theme of the film along with the story of revenge using Ricardo Montalban’s driven Khan Noonien Singh. Additionally, Meyer moved away from the bright, sterile Enterprise that Robert Wise envisioned in the first feature. It was darker with, as he put it, “more winkie blinkies”, the lights that made the bridge feel purposeful.

We warmed immediately to the film in part because from the outset the ensemble was present, active, and demonstrating the camaraderie we came to love about the original series. James Horner’s nearly pitch perfect score added an emotional depth coupled with ILM’s cutting edge computer effects.

The Director’s Cut restored three minutes of bits of business and reframed some scenes but didn’t include everything and I still miss the exchange between Spock and Saavik that revealed her to be a Romulan-Vulcan hybrid. The pacing and tension remains intact and the film still rivets you to the seat and brings a lump to your throat as you watch Kirk and Spock say goodbye.

The high definition transfer is solid, working from the original negatives. If anything it’s a little dark and you’re conscious of the film stock’s grain but these are minor quibbles for an older film.  The 7.1 Dolby True HD audio track is a fine complement.

All the original extras from the DVD edition are intact including Meyer’s Audio Commentary on the Theatrical and Director’s Cut, Meyer and Manny Coto’s commentary on the Theatrical version, and Michael & Denise Okluda’s text commentary on the Director’s Cut. Additionally, you get Captain’s Log (27:00) comprised of Designing Khan, Original Interview with DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Montalban; Where no man has Gone Before, The Visual Effects of Star Trek II, and James Horner: Composing Genesis.

The Star Trek Universe portion contains looks at Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics; A Novel Approach as buddies Greg Cox and Julia Ecklar discuss the Pocket Books program; and Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha V. You also get Farewell, Meyer’s tribute to Montalban who died in 2009; Storyboards, and the Theatrical trailer.

New to the disc is a 30 minute featurette, The Genesis Effect: Engineering the Wrath of Khan. Here, Meyer, producer Robert Sallin, producer Ralph Winter, and journalists Mark Altman and Larry Nemecek walk you through a condensed version of how the second film in the series was made. Sadly, this was produced after both Bennett and Nimoy passed away last year although Adam Nimoy briefly fills in for his father and Sallin gives Bennett his due. A handful of others, including The Big Bang Theory’s Bill Prady, discuss repeatedly sitting in the theater and reacting to the film, notably Spock’s death. It’s a nice tribute to a wonderful film.

Is it worth owning for the high definition version and 30 minutes of talking heads? That’s purely your choice but for me, I was transported and delighted, sucked in all over again.

Game of Thrones has certainly become a cottage industry, spewing forth all manner of collectible and universe expansion, all attempting to profit while filling the void as everyone awaits the sixth volume from writer George R.R. Martin. The next such offerings come from HBO Home Entertainment as they release the steelbook editions of seasons three and four on June 7.

Like the first two seasons, already available, these offer up a few bonuses for collectors or audiophiles. First, the Blu-ray sets are entirely the same as the already available sets with the one difference being that they have all been remastered to offer up Dolby Atmos, the immersive sound system. While PR surrounding the release says you need specific Atmos-enabled AV receivers, other models do access the new soundtracks to full effect (or so the experts tells me).

All ten episodes per season are present along with all the extras. If you don’t care about the Atmos soundtrack, then consider the steelbook packaging, complete with collectible plastic magnets. Consider this, the standard Blu-ray combo pack comes with the DVD and Digital HD copies listing for $50.99 while the steelbook version, without the DVD version, retails for $79.98. Now, yes, they will be heavily discounted but consider what you want as part of your video library.

Season Three, The Twins, comes with the sigil of House of Frey which is appropriate since this was the season of the memorable Red Wedding, drawn from the first half of A Storm of Swords.

The Wall, the Fourth Season, focuses on the Night’s Watch and the magnet here features a crow and Jon Snow’s sword, Longclaw. This season drew its material from the second half of A Storm of Swords, along with elements of A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.

For the record, seasons one and two came out in November and offer the sigils of House Stark and House Lannister. All four magnets and the steelbook covers are all derived from the immensely watchable opening credits as designed by the Emmy Award-winning firm Elastic. Inspired by the maps that were found in each book of the series, designed by Jonathan Roberts, each episode spotlights different portions of the world that are featured in that episode. There are rules for their usage as outlined by the producers and a complete list of which countries appear on which episodes can be found at the Game of Thrones wiki.

The series certainly bears rewatching to enjoy the performances and relive thrilling moments. The story is rich enough that you can enjoy the foreshadowing and clues laying the ground work for what follows.

Twenty years ago, our summer films were big budget and fun, with just a dollop of seriousness to give them weight. They didn’t take themselves too seriously and more often than not delivered good performances, fine special effects, and plenty of bang for the buck. In many cases, they were original efforts that weren’t serialized or drawn from comic books despite their “comic book” feel.

One of the best of that bunch was Independence Day which, honestly, didn’t hold up to a lot of examination but gave us popcorn thrills and was really a 1950s disaster pic updated for the ‘90s. It’s a guilty pleasure and one we invariably stop to watch whenever we find it on television. A lot of credit goes to cowriter Dean Devlin and cowriter/director Roland Emmerich. It was well cast and kept moving, interweaving numerous threads that culminated in a terrific dog fight across America.

Looking back, we adore Bill Pullman’s rousing “let’s win one for the Gipper” speech right before the climactic battle or Will Smith punching out an alien and saying, “Welcome to Earth” before chomping on a stogie. You have fun character bits from Judd Hirsch and Harvey Firestein and this catapulted Viveca A. Fox to notoriety and a blossoming bromance between Smith and quirky Jeff Goldblum.

Does it hold up to story scrutiny? Considering the alien threat is stopped by a human-written computer virus delivered via an Apple laptop, I would say no.

Does it hold up watching 20 years later? Yep.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment serves up a remastered 1080p high definition transfer and two Blu-ray discs worth of goodness. The film is a treat to see with fresh eyes as the colors pop and all the details are evident. This is clearly the best it has looked since the theater.  Promises of better aside, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless track that accompanies the visuals is just what you want.

Disc one comes with the theatrical release and an extended cut, clocking in at 2:33:33. The special features carry over many of the elements from the previous Blu-ray edition such as the dual audio commentaries.

The second disc does come with Independence Day: A Legacy Surging Forward (30:40) which reunites cast and crew to look back and reminisce. You also get Original Theatrical Ending (4:16), showing how Russell Casse (Randy Quaid) saves the day. We also receive a Gag Reel (2:05); Creating Reality (29:19); ID4 Invasion (21:57), with fake news coverage, The Making of ID4 (28:29), Jeff Goldblum guides us on  a behind-the-scenes look; Combat Review (Random Destruction Clips) — AWACS Plane (0:14), Welcome Wagon (0:12), Los Angeles (0:36), New York (0:24), Washington, D.C. (1:12), Los Angeles Tunnel (1:19), Dogfight 1 (1:27), El Toro (0:17), Canyon (0:56), Dogfight 2 (0:42), Russell the Kamikaze (1:21), Mothership (0:18), and Random Destruction; Monitor Earth Broadcasts (Video Playback Newscasts), News clips created for the film — Static Report (1:35), Blue Acolytes (0:44), Sky News Russian (3:05), Team 1 Russian (3:46), Vox News Germany (0:47), Katja Scholl, Berlin (2:45), Farsi Report (2:52), Fields/Dunphy (2:54), Press Conference 1 (2:05), Press Conference 2 (1:38), Chinese Broadcast (1:40), Post-Conference (1:00), Engel on Fox (2:44), Hal Live: Modelmaker (2:48), Traffic Report (1:30), Russell Casse Arrest (1:58), U.N. Report (2:30), Alien Lovers (1:07), Rooftop Parties (0:35), Fields/Engel Debate (3:40), Welcome Wagon Report 1 (4:35), and Welcome Wagon Report 2 (4:40).

There are extensive Galleries covering Welcome Wagon Storyboard Sequences, Destruction Storyboard Sequences, Biplane Ending Storyboard Sequences, Alien Beings Conceptual Artwork, Alien Ships Conceptual Artwork, Sets and Props Conceptual Artwork, and Production Photographs.

Finally, we have three Teaser Trailers and the Theatrical Trailer followed by the various TV Spots — Super Bowl TV Spot (0:32), Apple Computer TV Spot (0:32), 15-Second TV Spot (0:17), 30-Second TV Spot 1 (0:31), 30-Second TV Spot 2 (0:30), 30-Second TV Spot 3 (0:31), 30-Second TV Spot 4 (0:31), and 30-Second TV Spot 5 (0:31).

Regardless of whether or not you liked the film, Deadpool and 20^th Century Fox delivered the best marketing campaign in years, from initial teasers right up to the Cialis spoof for the Blu-ray release, which came out this week.

Let me say up front that I was never a fan of the Merc with a Mouth from his introduction in 1991 through his overexposure in the comics the last few years. He’s the answer to DC’s Ambush Bug and breaks the fourth wall so often that you just can’t take or his adventures seriously. Seeing him operating an Avenger today is staggering since it forces him to be a grounder player which operates against where he works best.

The film recognizes this and treats him as a live action Wile E. Coyote so there’s a manic feel from the first frame to the last. Everything is there short of the Acme anvil. Was Ryan Reynolds born to play this role? Probably not but he took a supporting role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and made us pay attention. After a detour to space sector 2814, he’s back in costume and wreaking havoc.

The film takes nothing seriously or for granted and has a great time deconstructing the tropes of the super-hero film and summer blockbuster formula. That it opened in February seems to be part of the joke except the joke was turned on competitors as it owned the box office for weeks. For an R-rated film featuring a relatively obscure character for the non-comic reading masses, this was pretty audacious.

Deadpool also features Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapičić) so we’re grounded in 20^th’s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But even there they make fun so at one point, Deadpool is being taken for counseling by Charles Xavier, he asks “Stewart or McAvoy?” It even comes with a silly villain, Ajax, a.k.a. Francis Freeman (Ed Skrein) who was birthed at the same Weapon X program that turned Wade Williams into Deadpool.

Director Tim Miller and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick make us feel for Williams as he is horribly disfigured and has his life turned upside down. He takes on Blind Al (Leslie Uggams) as an unconventional roommate and continues to pine for Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), the hooker who got away.

The high definition transfer is deadly serious, seriously good and captures the film’s images just swell using an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track may be even better so this will stand up to constant rewatching at home.

The special features don’t quite live up to the film’s expectations but they do not disappoint. As one would expect, you have Deleted/Extended Scenes (19:14) complete with optional commentary from Miller. And there’s a Gag Reel (6:12); along with the appropriate From Comics to Screen…to Screen (1:20:00), five highly entertaining featurettes;, a Gallery with Freeway (1080p; 00:20), X-Mansion Hangar (00:20), Workshop (00:55), Shipyard (00:35), Costumes — Deadpool (00:50) Ajax (00:15), Colossus (00:25), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (00:15), Angel Dust (00:15); Storyboards — Freeway (16:56) En Route to Shipyard (3:50) Shipyard – Mercenary Fight (22:11) Shipyard – Aftermath (11:00) Pre-Vis (7:08) Stunt-Vis Shipyard (2:03). Deadpool’s Fun Sack (23:54) features Mario Lopez interviewing Ryan Reynolds and among silliness.

There are multiple commentaries that offer amusing insights in the production process and are worth a listen. You can try “Wade”/”Deadpool”/Producer Ryan Reynolds and Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick or Director Miller with Deadpool Co-Creator Rob Liefeld.