Boy, people really are missing how good this movie is. And please don't get me wrong. If you're against supporting Woody Allen given Dylan Farrow's recently re-stated allegations against him, I'm not about to try and change your mind. Unlike a lot of cases, where the accused was either convicted or confessed, it's tough to decide upon a final opinion in this case. I don't want to influence anyone from trusting their instincts here; I just want be sure people are making an informed decision strictly in terms of the merits of this film. Because all the reactions I've read strongly suggest Wonder Wheel is just another lower tier effort, a disposable weak entry in Allen's extensive catalog; and that's just not the case. It's a flat-out good movie. I mean, obviously, it's not for everyone. If you tell your tweens you're going to see Black Panther and then shove them into a screening room for this, I'm not suggesting they'd thank you for it. But if it matters to you whether Wonder Wheel (and/ or Universal's blu-ray release) is actually any good or not, then let's have a look.
Update 3/14/18 - 3/28/18: Gotta be pro. Added the DVD edition for a proper comparison.
Admittedly, it asks a lot. Like I mentioned in my review of one of Woody Allen's last pictures, he's happy to wear his influences on his sleeve. It's more than homage - we're meant to be in on it. It's part of the experience, from the 8 1/2 experience of Stardust Memories to the wild notion of him breathing life into the famous manual Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask; these are the toys we're invited to play with Woody, combining his distinct humor and point of view with the source material. And in Wonder Wheel, O'Neil is mentioned in this script more than some of the main characters. Our protagonist narrator even turns to the camera to prepare us, "be warned, as a poet, I use symbols; and as a budding dramatist, I relish melodrama and larger than life characters." So really the question may be more about how interested are audiences in a theatrical (in the sense of the stage) story like that in 2018.
Not that I'm saying the film is immaculate perfection. Having that kind of set-up doesn't future proof the film from criticism anymore than having Mark Duplass turn to the camera in his first scene and saying, "this film is packed full of aborted ideas and plot contrivances that never go anywhere" would force us to regard The Lazarus Effect as an unparalleled work of genius. You could just as well tell a great melodrama with larger than life characters or a terrible one. In fact, over the years, more filmmakers have probably done the latter. But this film has a lot going for it. Kate Winslet gives an award-worthy performance (and this is really her story), and Jim Belushi, hot after a winning role in Twin Peaks: The Return, still nearly manages to steal every scene.
The supporting cast is quite strong, too. Juno Temple holds her own against some major actors, the kid, in his small role, is hilariously written and played; and if you keep your eyes on the bit players, you'll spot a few Allen regulars, like comic Bobby Slayton, The Sopranos' Steve Schirripa, David Krumholtz and even Debi Mazar. Justin Timberlake is the weakest link. I've been impressed with him inThe Social Network and Alpha Dog, but here he seems to struggle to speak in the style of the period. The 50's era Coney Island location is great, and I can tell you from my dad's reaction, pure, uncut nostalgia porn for a select demographic. The blue and gold color scheme does come dangerously close to going over the top at points, but overall Vittorio Storaro's photography is elegant and absorbing. And it's impressive how much use Allen is able to make out of a single, old Mills Brothers tune (it's not the only song in the film, but it almost feels like it).
So, this is Allen's latest film with Amazon Studios, and this time the DVD and blu-ray are from Universal. Last time they were from Lions Gate and the time before that they were from Sony. I guess things are a little catch as catch can with him over there, but hey, I'm happy just to still get a properly pressed blu with a minimal token special feature (this is Woody Allen we're talking here). And Universal's bid has substantially lowered the initial asking price, so it's all good news. While we're at it, can we get a disc for Crisis In Six Scenes, too?
2018 US Universal DVD top, 2018 US Universal blu bottom.
This time around, it's not a combo-pack, so we've just got a blu. Woody did shoot this on film, so this is a pretty straight-forward port of their DI to disc. The only way you could really expect more is if they were to give us a 4k disc (yes, please! But it was hardly like in this small film's case). Colors are certainly strong, the image is sharp when it wants to be. There seems to be a soft film grain effect added to the feature, I guess to give it a more traditional feel, but that's down to the film itself, not Universal's blu-ray presentation. The same can be said for the film's unusual aspect ratio: 2.0:1. It's apparently a trending ratio that ties in with this film's DP, Storaro. Interesting stuff; but anyway, it looks and sounds pretty great, with a dual-layer disc, while the DVD's predictably softer and less clear.
The blu features a DTS-HD 5.1 mix, while the DVD gives you a choice between lossy 5.1 and 2.0 mixes. And both include optional English subtitles.
Well, maybe they did on the special features. This is Woody, so we're used to that; but the sole feature here is a very brief, 3 minute featurette that cuts together footage of a cast and crew Q&A with a few red carpet soundbites. Still, it's worth the watch. Timberlake enthuses about how Wonder Wheel is like a play on locations. But that's it; not even the trailer. I'm a little surprised they left off the trailer, but whatever. This does come in a slipcover, though, so there's that. But then again, it just reminds me of the far superior poster art [right] they forsook at the last minute in favor of the typical Hollywood "big head" art for both the cover and the slip. Oh well.
So, okay, this is no special edition. That was never in the cards anyway. But this is a first class, high quality presentation of the film. And that's fitting, because it's a first class, high quality film. So add it to your collection or don't. But don't let 'em tell ya you're not missing anything.
Brand new from the Warner Archives, it's the HD home video debut of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3: Leatherface. The first Leatherface from 1990, not the 2017 one. Yeah, the remakes have even started cribbing the previous films' sub-titles; and no, the 2017 is in no way a remake of the 1990 version - all they have in common is the titular character and some basic themes. So I guess it's really kind of an arbitrary distinction calling the films after The Return remakes. They're just... some more Texas Chainsaw movies.
Update 3/6/2018: A mysterious oval appears!? Scroll down to the very bottom of this post for some additional discussion (and screenshots!) about the reports of a faulty oval people have been reporting during the night shots of Warner's new blu.
Anyway, I've always liked TCM3. It's the first non-Hooperinstallment, and some ambitious elements from the original script were never filmed. Plus, the theatrical version was heavily cut, so I can see why it had a rough time winning audiences. But especially since we got the unrated version (first we got a restored, unrated cut on laserdisc... then the DVD restored even a bit more footage), Leatherface holds up as a pretty effective, bloody horror film in its own right. It's directed by Jeff Burr, a Texan director who made From a Whisper To a Scream and a fairly satisfying sequel to The Stepfather, and for a New Line franchise film, plays things refreshingly straight.
In theory, this is a direct sequel to the third film, if you can accept that Leatherface somehow found an equally murderous, cannibalistic family to adopt him and grandpa after the events of TCM2. "Like attracts like," explains screenwriter David J. Schow in the special features. Caroline Williams even returns in a silent cameo as Stretch. But anyway, this film begins a tradition of Leatherface finding himself with a brand new killer family in every subsequent film. This time he's got psycho parents, a wicked killer little girl, a Chop Top-reminiscent cousin who runs the local gas station and Viggo Mortensen as his brother Tex. Meanwhile, our protagonists the She-Wolf of London herself, Kate Hodge, and Ken Foree ofDawn Of the Dead. So overall, it's a very strong cast delivering a series of memorable performances, with Mortensen and the little girl stealing the show, and only Foree phoning it in a little bit (when a new character reveals herself, he says, 'who the heck are you," exasperated and showing no signs that he just barely survived a jump attack by a psychotic chainsaw-wielding maniac wearing human skin for a mask literally seconds earlier).
Story-wise, they do play it probably a little too safe. Another kidnapped woman is tied down and forced to participate in another gonzo dinner scene after being chased through the woods for the first half of the film. It's a bit crazy that they all just keep returning to this same set piece. For all their faults, none of the other franchise horrors, like Nightmare On Elm Street or Hellraiser, stuck to the same script so closely. In that sense, it's almost like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacres play as remakes of the first more than the later "remakes" did. But hey, if you have to rehash a scene time and again, the psycho dinner is a great one. This film (at least in its current, unrated form) is thoroughly gruesome, with some great effect gags by KNB, and has some fun, heavy metal theme music. Every time I let a few years go by and then return to Leatherface, I'm surprised by absorbing and entertaining a watch it still is.
Surprisingly, there aren't a whole ton of iterations of this film on home video. New Line updated their laserdisc version with a fairly definitive DVD edition that was ported out to different regions around the world, naturally, and served as the single, definitive edition of this film for many years. It had the R and unrated cuts, and was a fairly rich, anamorphic special edition. We didn't really need anything more. But now in the HD age, we really do. And finally, just this week, Warner Archives have delivered, with a sweet blu-ray edition. Now, typically, WA disappoints in terms of special features (Demon Seed, you make me sad); but fortunately, though they haven't produced anything new, they did port over everything from New Line's DVD (Time Warner bought New Line, so it's not like they had to license it). So let's see how much of an upgrade we've got out of this deal.
2003 New Line R-rated DVD top; 2003 New Line unrated DVD mid;
2018 Warner Archives blu bottom.
2003 New Line unrated DVD
Oh, I'd say quite a substantial upgrade! I was always happy with the DVD, but it's nice to see how much better things can be. The colors are a lot more natural - goodbye, orange skin tones. Warners has chosen to open the framing up a bit to 1.78:1 (the DVD was a slightly windowboxed 1.82:1), but this is clearly an all new scan that actually reveals more on all four sides. Also, if we take that second set of shots just two frames back, we see [left, but you'll have to click to enlarge to really see what I'm talking about] that the DVD was interlaced. It really made horizontal pans look glitchy, so it's great to see that done away with. Detail is really clarified - look at Viggo's 5 o'clock shadow, which is just a soft color distinction on the DVD. Speaking of DVD distinction, the transfers of the R and unrated cuts are identical, except for the fact that the R is missing about 5 minutes of footage; I just included both to be thorough.
Audio-wise, I suppose a few fans might be slightly disappointed. The DVD offered listeners a choice between a DTS ES 6.1 Surround mix, Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround mix and the original Stereo Surround stereo. Warner's blu just gives us the 5.1 mix, albeit in lossless DTS-HD. But goodbye, fancy 6.1 and goodbye presumably original stereo mix. Both discs also include optional English subtitles, though.
Again, Warner Bros didn't cook us up any new special features, but they did carry everything over from the DVD except for some bonus New Line trailers, some light DVD-Rom content and an insert with chapter titles. First, there's a packed audio commentary with Burr, Schow, Greg Nicotero, William Butler, R.A. Mihailoff (he played Leatherface) and executive producer Mark Odesky. It's so packed because the laserdisc originally included two audio commentaries, and the DVD/ blu features an edited together hybrid cut of the two. Overall, that's just fine, as it never hits a stand-still and is jam-packed with great information and anecdotes. On the minus side, the editing is a little sloppy, with two soundbites repeated twice, verbatim - somebody clearly lost track of which clips he'd already used! Besides the commentary, there's a 30-minute 'making of' with all the same people from the commentary (plus another producer), which repeats a lot of the same stuff from the commentary, but also has some exclusive stuff.
One thing that's great about the commentary and this doc is that they were recorded long after the film, and people aren't afraid to talk about what went wrong, or even openly disagree with each other. Did you know Burr, for example, was fired from this film and then rehired because they couldn't find a replacement over the weekend? Burr talks about getting fired, the producers talk about firing him. Yeah, the extras are very forthcoming, which is a treat. And sure, 30-minutes probably seems a little short for those of us used to Scream Factory's lush feature-length docs, but this is edited so tightly, it has just as much content, just shown at a break-neck speed with no leisurely credits or film clips.
2003 New Line DVD top; 2018 Warner Archives blu bottom.
Besides those extras, we get a roughly ten minute featurette on additional deleted footage. It's not just deleted scenes, as it also features on-camera interviews with Burr and Nicotero talking about what went wrong and why they didn't make the cut; but also includes the footage itself. And they include an alternate ending, which is interesting and quite different. It's hard to say which ending I prefer, actually; this one or the one they wound up including in the final film. They both have their pros and cons. And finally, they end with the famous trailer. Even if you usually skip the trailers, if you've never seen this one, be sure to check it out. It's wildly different from anything actually seen in the film. All the extras are in in the same SD condition as they were on the DVD except upconverted and happily, they corrected the interlacing. In fact, the trailer looks like it might've been genuinely restored in HD.
Ultimately, this is an extremely satisfying upgrade from Warner Archives, and I'm happy to finally put my old DVD to rest. Don't mourn the R-rated cut; it's just an inferior version of the film. And I doubt we'll see a triple-dip of this title for a very long time, so I'm quite confident recommending this edition, as well as TCM3 in general, assuming you go for this kind of film. _____________________
So okay, about this oval. I first noticed it being discussed in the blu-ray.com forums, and was a little concerned that I failed to notice something other members seemed to think was glaringly obvious. Now, some people like to immediately dismiss the credibility of members on an online forum, so how about a post with photographic evidence by one of the leaders of the industry, Don May, Jr? We've got to take this seriously. And if you want more oval photos, scroll through that blu-ray thread, and others have posted the same sighting, although frustratingly, they're all cell-phone photos of their screens/ projections, not proper screenshots.
So, like I said, I watched this film (initial watch on a 65" Sony 4k TV with a Samsung UBD-M8500, and then analyzed for PQ on my PC), and didn't notice a thing. That's kind of embarrassing. Otherreviewsaren'tmentioningiteither. But going back to the blu again, knowing about this oval, I still don't see anything. Some people are saying it's very subtle, or lowering their screen brightness got rid of it. So I'm taking some fresh screenshots - remember to click through to see them full size in complete resolution:
2018 Warner Archives blu.
For the first shot, I picked a super dark shot, so there wouldn't be much variant lighting to confuse the issue. And the last two shots are from the time-codes Don cites in the comments of his instagram post, so theoretically the oval is there. But is the oval there? It sure doesn't look like the photos people are posting. And for the record, my copy is not a "screener" disc (nobody ever sends me those... sigh) that might be different from what everybody else has; it's just a regular retail copy I ordered from Bullmoose.
It only gets more puzzling the deeper you dig into this. Check out this email reply from Warner Archives that another member posted on the blu-ray forums. They write, "We apologize for the inconvenience, I'll be honest I'm not sure if all
the copies have the same issue. I will request information so we can
send you a replacement, they can check the new copy before sent the
tittle[sic]." So, there are just some bad copies out there? That seems like it would be pretty unlikely, since we're talking about something that appears intrinsic to the disc's transfer. Certainly, my screenshots don't look like the photos people are posting (for instance, these). But wait. Let's crank up the gamma on one of my shots...
2018 Warner Archives blu with the gamma boosted by 5 in Paint Shop Pro.
There's the oval! Just where Don said it was. So yep, it's present on my copy, just like everybody else's. We're not talking about a bad batch here, so getting a replacement copy from Warners shouldn't help until they actually make a correction (hey, they could add the stereo mix while they're at it). I'm guessing its visibility is dependent on your television's calibration; and people using projectors may be getting it worse than everybody else. I spent a lot of time following online guides to adjust all the settings on my TV, and for me, the oval is invisible, which suggests how this got past Warner's QC. But obviously your mileage will vary depending on what type of set and player you've got. It's clearly actually there on the disc, so I hope Warner starts taking these concerns seriously, instead of just removing peoples' questions on Facebook. But if you're thinking of passing on this disc, bare in mind, most of us couldn't even find the oval after we heard about it, so it very well may not wind up being an issue for you at all.
In 2003, Blue Underground released George Romero's 1973 not-quite-a-zombie movie, The Crazies on DVD. And in they released a decent if unexceptional blu-ray upgrade in 2010. But between those two points, in 2008, a German DVD company called Anolis released a 2-disc special edition DVD steelbook with a bunch of exclusive extras. How do they all stack up? Well, gee, maybe we can find a website that would tell - oh! Hey, that's what we do here! What a happy coincidence. Let's take a look.
Update 10/9/15 - 3/4/2018: Blue Underground's blu was pretty good, but Arrow's stepped into the arena with a 4k scan of the OCN and all new special features. They released it late last year as part of their impressive Between Night and Dawn boxed set; but a week from next Tuesday, they'll be releasing The Crazies (as well as the other discs from that set) as solo releases. So if money's tight, or, like a lot of fans, you're just more into The Crazies than the other films, now you can get this new edition by itself. But they don't have Blue Underground's extras... or Anolis's. If you have the first blu, is it worth double-dipping? Are the extras so good that you need all three discs? Read on!
The Crazies is a dark and compelling follow-up to Night Of the Living Dead, even if it's not literally a sequel like Dawnwould be. Here, instead of the dead going crazy and killing people, ordinary people are inexplicably going mad and killing people. It takes the deeply personal, unsettling notion of us being attacked by our own in Night and brings it even further home. What do you do when your loved ones slowly start to exhibit signs of this new mental illness and become increasingly dangerous, but are still essentially themselves? When do you pull the trigger on your daughter? And in The Crazies, Romero introduces the other half of the problem - something that's since come up in tons of zombie and other horror films throughout the years, from The Walking Dead to Romero's own Dead sequels - the idea of our own government and becoming a lethal threat when our populace goes out of control. And yet I don't think any have managed to match Romero's iconic imagery of The Crazies' white clad gas masked soldiers. They're the more memorable monsters than the crazies themselves.
Not that it's a perfect film. I've heard a number of horror fans say they prefer the glossier remake. I'm not among them, but I definitely concede its problems. It features questionable over-acting, especially by some unconvincing extras, mixed production values and a soundtrack that particularly stands out as amateurish whenever they resort to stock library cues like the drum march they play during all the military-themed scenes. And the budgetary limitations are obvious, like when the story calls for a dramatic helicopter crash but they obviously can't afford to actually show us the helicopter crash. So they work around it and Romero tries to give us the next best thing, but obviously an actual crash would've better for the film had they been able to achieve it. So sure, this one isn't for the teenagers who want every movie to be a Marvel movie. But at its core, this still holds up as a pretty effective, disturbing little horror film.
1) 2003 BU DVD, 2) 2008 Anolis DVD, 3) 2010 BU blu, 4) 2018 Arrow blu.
In terms of the framing, there's not a huge difference between any of the four versions here; they're all anamorphic and slightly pillar-boxed. Anolis is a smidgen taller at 1.62, BU's DVD is 1.66, and both blus are 1.67:1. But really the framing is just adjusting slightly differently across every release, seemingly arbitrarily. Anolis has a sliver around the edges more than BU, BU's blu lowers the framing a tiny bit (look at the major's hands in the second shot). Meanwhile Arrow pans a smidgen to the left. technically, they're all different, but the shifts are so minute that practically speaking, you could say they'll all give you the same viewing experience.
1) 2003 BU DVD, 2) 2008 Anolis DVD, 3) 2010 BU blu, 4) 2018 Arrow blu.
Now, naturally The HD images also take away a little of the DVDs' softness; and between the DVDs, the Anolis is a bit visibly softer as you get in close. But neither blu exactly adds a world of new detail. The most notable difference really is that the colors are bolder on BU's blu, perhaps to the point of slight over-saturation. It's also pushing towards the reds. The major looks pretty flushed here; and when you go back up to the full-sized shots, his wall is noticeably more yellow on the BU blu than the other discs' greens. It's telling that Arrow's blu reigned them back in again. They've also cleaned up some speckling and noise, which is nice. But really, Arrow's new HD scan doesn't prove all that superior to BU's older one, apart from the colors.
The blus also have lossless audio (DTS-HD with BU and LPCM with Arrow), but all four disc's audio tracks are all sourced from the fairly flat and thin original mono track. Of course, that's infinitely preferable to some revisionist, artificially enhanced sound mix with added effects. But essentially, you're never going to get a sexy, sonic experience out of The Crazies. Both blus also feature optional English subtitles (BU's blu also throws in French and Spanish), but Anolis only has German and the BU DVD offers not at all.
Blue came up with a couple strong extras for their original DVD release, primarily an audio commentary by George Romero himself, that pretty much answers all the questions fans have had for decades. They've also got a nice, 14-minute interview featurette with Lynn Lowry, focusing on her career overall rather than The Crazies specifically. That's about it, though, apart from a couple trailers, TV spots and photo galleries. And disappointingly, Blue Underground didn't come up with anything new for their 2010 blu-ray.
They also didn't port over the new German extras, which would've been nice. Anolis's set does include the Romero commentary, as well as the trailers and galleries from the BU discs. It doesn't have the 14-minute Lowry interview, because instead they've created their own 46+ minute interview with her. They also have an all new Lynn Lowry audio commentary, which is admittedly a little redundant with the interview - she tells several of the same anecdotes in almost exactly the same way. But there's still plenty of new material across both compared to BU's brief feature. She also recorded a funny, new intro to the film for the Anolis set. There's a nice little booklet, as well; but the text is all in German. Blue Underground's DVD had a single sheet insert, and nothing for the blu.
Lowry's Anolis introduction... the video quality's higher on her actual interview.
Arrow, on the other hand, has an entirely new crop of special features. But it doesn't have any of the extras from the Blue Underground or Anolis discs. That Romero commentary in particular is a big loss. What we get instead is an expert commentary by Travis Crawford, who's knowledgeable, but a little all over the place. He's forever interrupting himself, telling us what he'll talk about later, switching topics mid-sentence, pointing out things on-screen after they're long off-screen, etc. So it's ultimately an informed but frustrating listen that's challenging to follow.
Next up, we get a great little tour of the shooting locations in and around Evans, PA. The host really knows his stuff, gets access inside some of the key houses, and the town has even got a little Romero museum there, so it's a really great little video tour. Then there's an on-camera interview with Lynn Lowry and a recording of a Q&A with her from an I Drink Your Blood screening. These are good, but if you've seen the Anolis and BU discs, you've heard almost all of this before. There's even some anecdotes repeated verbatim between the two features on this disc. There's a brief but amusing audio interview with producer Lee Hessel, who doesn't have very fond memories of the film. The remake gets a few mentions as well, which is interesting. Finally, there's a few minutes of 8mm footage shot behind the scenes of The Crazies, with some helpful audio commentary by Lawrence DeVincentz, who also hosted the Evans tour. Finally, there are two trailers, two TV spots, alternate opening credits (with the Codename: TRIXIE title card) and a stills gallery. Arrow's blue has reversible artwork and a card for another of their releases (mine was The Slayer). And if you bought the Before Night and Dawn box, you also got a 60-page booklet about the three films in that set.
So to summarize, Arrow's blu-ray is the one to watch. But it's a modest enough upgrade that you might want to prioritize other titles over this one if you've already got the BU blu or even one of the DVDs. Those German DVDs are a must for Lynn Lowry fans, with all the new content featuring her; but even if you're not so big on Lynn, it's still the edition with the best extras. If you're a real fan of The Crazies, I'd recommend pairing the Arrow blu with the Anolis set. That nets you best edition of the film and almost all of the extras. And once you've watched the Lowry intro, her Arrow interview, her Anolis interview, her Q&A and listened to her commentary, I think you'll be 100% fine with missing out on her 14-minute BU interview. But you'll want to hang onto that Romero commentary, which again, was carried over to the German DVDs.
