Evans Above

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has released Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore on 4K and I had a chance to review it courtesy of them. Since WB are a fan of legalese, here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this movie to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine alone. This third entry in the Fantastic Beasts prequels to the Harry Potter franchise sees Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlisting the aid of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and a team of wizards and witches to try and stop the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) from taking over the wizarding world.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation has excellent detail and clarity in its facial textures, textiles and environments. The colour palette is full of a lot of grays and other darker colours but where there are brighter colours, they really come alive. The HDR grading helps the variety of muted tones very well. Black levels are generally pretty deep and the dark scenes and shadows maintain their detail. There’s no sign of digital noise or compression artifacts.

On the audio side, the disc comes with a choice of multiple Atmos tracks, which isn’t that common. There are English, German, and Italian Dolby Atmos tracks as well as an English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track, English and German Descriptive Audio tracks, and English, French, German, Italian and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Cantonese, Danish, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish. The Atmos track is put to good use with various height effects, while the surrounds will put you in the action so well you’ll pick up a wand. Explosions and crashes will rock your subwoofer, while dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore also comes with a Blu-ray disc and a digital copy code. The bonus materials are located on the Blu-ray disc. There’s a Dumbledore family tree, a look at the character and the actors who have played him, a guessing game with cast and crew, a look at the Hogwarts set through the eyes of the actors, a look at the fantastic beasts, a look at Newt Scamander, a piece on German locations, a quartet of scene examinations, deleted scenes and a promo for the stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that is running in multiple cities.

Studio machinations will decide if this less successful franchise will see more films. The Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore 4K comes with very good video and audio presentations and a large selection of extras. Fans of Harry Potter who want to have everything in its universe in their collection will probably be picking this one up.

Mill Creek’s Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 2000s DVD set presents a sampling of ten films released between 2000 and 2009. 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:

• Nurse Betty (2000) – Obsessed with her favorite soap opera character, Dr. David Ravell, Betty (Renée Zellweger) travels across the country to meet the man of her dreams while pursued by two hired killers.
• One Night at McCool’s (2001) – Three different men recall how the beautiful Jewel (Liv Tyler) came into McCool’s one night and brought chaos with her. The problem is their stories just don’t seem to line up.
• Spy Game (2001) -Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) works under the table against agency politics to free Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), the agent he mentored, after Bishop is captured in China during a mission gone wrong and sentenced to death in 24 hours.
• The Emperor’s Club (2002) – Idealistic prep schoolteacher William Hundert (Kevin Kline) takes it upon himself to mentor the unruly, troublemaking son (Emile Hirsch) of a U.S. Senator.
• The Shape of Things (2003) – A quiet, unassuming man (Paul Rudd) begins to change in a major way after meeting and falling for a beautiful art student (Rachel Weisz), and his new personality doesn’t sit well with his best friend.
• 21 Grams (2003) – A freak accident intersects the lives of a dying man (Sean Penn), a grief-stricken mother (Naomi Watts), and an ex-con (Benicio del Toro) who found God in this gripping drama about consequence and human connection.
• Baby Mama (2008) – After learning that she has slim chances of getting pregnant, successful businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey) clashes with her surrogate Angie (Amy Poehler) on how best to behave when you’re expecting.
• State of Play (2009) – The killing of a congressional aide sends Washington, D.C. Journalist Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) down a path of cover-ups, corruption, and corporate conspiracies.
• The Hitcher (2007) – When a young couple (Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton) picks up a seemingly harmless hitchhiker (Sean Bean), a good deed becomes a brutal, edge-of-your-seat fight for survival with the open road as the battlefield.
• Cry Wolf (2005) – Eight students at a well-to-do boarding school find that their usual games of lies and deception are no laughing matter when people start dying and no one can be trusted.

Let’s be clear, there are ten films spread over just four DVD discs. DVDs don’t have the resolution or bandwidth of a Blu-ray disc so the video presentations are not crystal clear and there are compression artifacts here and there. If you’re willing to accept that, the presentations are okay.

On the audio side, the movies come with Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH. Again, because of the quantity of films, these are not lossless tracks but they get the job done.

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

The Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 2000s DVD set is a perfect sampler plate for the 2000s, especially if you haven’t seen many of the titles before. Mill Creek’s collections give you a chance to check out some movies from the decade at a very reasonable price per film.

Mill Creek’s Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 2010s DVD set presents a sampling of ten films released between 2000 and 2009. 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:

• MacGruber (2010) – The legendary MacGruber (Will Forte) faces off against his nemesis Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), who is threatening to level Washington, D.C. with a nuclear warhead.
• The American (2010) – American assassin Jack (George Clooney) has one more job to do before he gets out of the game for good. Hiding out in the Italian countryside, he befriends some of the locals, risking their lives and his own in this taut thriller.
• The Dilemma (2011) – Ronny (Vinve Vaughn) discovers that his best friend and business partner Nick’s wife is having an affair, and struggles with telling Nick (Kevin James) as the biggest opportunity of their career approaches.
• The Adjustment Bureau (2011) – A simple affair between a politician (Matt Damon) and a dancer (Emily Blunt) unfurls into a thrilling race for the truth behind the mysterious organization that seems determined to keep them apart.
• Your Highness (2011) – An arrogant and chivalrous prince (James Franco) and his scoundrel brother (Danny McBride) must work together to rescue the prince’s bride-to-be (Zoey Deschanel) from an evil sorcerer (Justin Theroux).
• The Thing (2011) – The staff of an Antarctic research station are picked off one by one by a ferocious alien organism that can assume the form of those it kills.
• Contraband (2012) – An ex-smuggler (Mark Wahlberg) is dragged back into the business, trafficking millions in counterfeit bills in order to protect his brother-in-law (Caleb Landry Jones) from a powerful drug lord (Giovanni Ribisi).
• Safe House (2012) – Assigned to guard a fugitive (Denzel Washington) in a Cape Town safehouse, a rookie CIA agent (Ryan Reynolds) is in over his head when they are attacked by mercenaries and are forced to work together to survive.
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) – As an asteroid hurtles towards Earth, a man (Steve Carell) embarks on a cross country road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart (Keira Knightley) , so he won’t have to die alone.
• Black Sea (2014) – A former submarine captain (Jude Law) heads an expedition backed by a questionable investor (Tobias Menzies) to search the bottom of the Black Sea for a sunken Nazi sub loaded with gold.

Mill Creek’s 2010s collection’s ten movies are contained on just four DVD discs, so be aware that these are not movies that will have the clarity of an individual Blu-ray presentation and some compression artifacts are visible. If you’re willing to accept that, the presentations are okay.

On the audio side, the movies come with Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH. Again, because of the quantity of films, these are not lossless tracks but they get the job done.

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

The Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 2010s DVD set is a perfect sampler plate for the 2010s, especially if you haven’t seen many of the titles before. Mill Creek’s collections give you a chance to check out some movies from the decade at a very reasonable price per film.

Directed by Jean-François Richet, 2005’s Assault on Precinct 13 is a remake of the 1976 John Carpenter film. Sergeant Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke) is a pill-popping Detroit cop working the graveyard shift at a soon-to-be decommissioned police station. It’s New Years Eve and when a snowstorm diverts a prison truck to the station, Roenick finds himself playing host to mob boss Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne). Things heat up when the station comes under attack by crooked cops out to silence Bishop and Roenick must arm cops and criminals to defend the station. Who can you trust? Mill Creek has now released a Blu-ray of the film, which also stars John Leguizamo, Maria Bello, Ja Rule, Drea de Matteo, Brian Dennehy, Aisha Hinds and Gabriel Byrne.

The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation is quite good with detail in facial textures, textiles and locations. The colour palette is natural and the black levels are deep with a good amount of detail in the frequent dark scenes. Compression artifacts are at a minimum.

On the audio side, Assault on Precinct 13 has an English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack. English SDH are available. It’s a really good mix and action and ambient effects make good use of the surrounds while your subwoofer adds extra oomph to the proceedings. Dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix.

Assault on Precinct 13 does not come with a digital code and apart from the trailer, there are no extras.

If you’re looking for a faithful remake of the 1976 film this isn’t it but the 2005 version is a good action flick with a great cast. Mill Creek’s Assault on Precinct 13 Blu-ray gives us quite good audio and video at a great price, so if this is up your alley, I’d recommend it.

Paramount is releasing 1996’s The First Wives Club on Blu-ray for the first time. Those in the US will get the special Paramount Presents packaging. The comedy stars the fantastic trio of Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn in the story of three college friends who decide to get back at their ex-husbands (Dan Hedaya, Victor Garber, and Stephen Collins ) for leaving them for younger women (Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Berkley and Marcia Gay Harden). Comedies like this used to hit the theatres. Now they’re mostly relegated to streaming releases.

The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This Blu-ray is off of a newly restored 4K scan, so hopefully down the line we’ll see a 4K of this release. The video presentation looks great with amazing clarity, a fine film grain, and detail in the facial textures and hair, the clothing, and the sets and other locations in the movie. Black levels are nice and deep, there’s no evidence of crushing and there’s detail in the darker scenes. The colour palette is natural with nice flashes of colour that pop but don’t overpower the more muted tones. Flesh tones are natural and digital noise and compression artifacts are absent.

On the audio side of things, we get an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, an English Audio Description track and a French 5.1 Dolby Digital track. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH and French. It’s a very front-heavy mix, though the surrounds do get some light use for ambient atmosphere. You subwoofer basically has the night off, though it would be nice if it could give some more bass floor to the score. Dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix. It’s not a bad audio presentation at all, but it’s not going to wow you.

As mentioned, if you get the US packaging, you’ll get the Paramount Presents slip cover which opens to reveal the original poster. A digital copy code is included. The bonus materials consist of an eleven minute interview with screenwriter Robert Harling and theatrical trailer.

The First Wives Club Blu-ray provides an excellent video presentation coupled with a very good, but front-heavy audio presentation. You can’t go wrong with Bette, Diane and Goldie in a comedy. Recommended.

Mill Creek Entertainment has released the George Clooney Double Feature: The American / Leatherheads Blu-ray combining two of George’s films at a reasonable price point. Let’s take a look…

In 2010’s The American, Clooney plays an assassin and gunsmith who hides out in Castel del Monte, an Italian commune, after a near-death experience has him questioning everyone’s intentions, even that of his handler, Pavel (Johan Leysen). He keeps company with two locals: Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli), a priest, and Clara (Violante Placido), a prostitute. When he accepts one last job from Pavel – making a custom sniper rifle for a fellow killer named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten) – he finds himself questioning everything and everyone. It’s not a fast-paced action flick, but rather a tense, methodical examination of a hitman facing the perils of his chosen profession.

On a lighter note, 2008’s Leatherheads is a sports-themed romantic comedy set in the 1920s. Clooney plays Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly, the captain of the Duluth Bulldogs, a struggling pro football team. Looking to turn around the financial fortunes of the team, he convinces Carter “The Bullet” Rutherford (John Krasinski) to join the team. Rutherford is not only Princeton University’s star player, he’s also a decorated WWI hero. His appearance on the team draws the interest of a Chicago Tribune newspaper reporter, Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellwegger), who’s investigating claims that Rutherford’s heroics may not be all they’re cracked up to be. A love triangle and the machinations of pro sports carry the film to the end zone.

Both movies appear on one Blu-ray disc. The 1080p AVC encoded transfers are presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio for The American and a 1.85:1 aspect ratio for Leatherheads. Both films had previous Universal Blu-rays using the older VC-1 encoding. The newer AVC MPEG-4 encoding does this release some favours. Both films do well for clarity and detail in the usual suspects (facial features, hair, textiles, and environments) and the colour palettes for the most part are quite pleasing and realistic. Black levels are pretty deep. The only issue here is the compression Mill Creek uses to get the two films on one disc, which lends to some abundant macroblocking in some lower light scenes.

On the audio side both films come with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and English SDH subtitles. Any slight concerns for the video quality do not translate to the audio. These are very nice tracks, with good use of the surrounds, bright dynamic music and clear, centred and well prioritized dialogue.

The disc does not come with a digital code for the movies, nor does it come with any supplemental materials.

The George Clooney Double Feature: The American / Leatherheads Blu-ray is an economical way to add two Clooney films to your library if you’re more of a casual physical media consumer. With good video and excellent sound, I’d recommend it at this price point.

It’s been thirty years since Eddie Murphy jumped into the rom-com genre with Boomerang. To mark that anniversary, Paramount Home Entertainment has released a Blu-ray of the film and I had a chance to take an early look. In Boomerang, Murphy plays an ad exec who has a reputation of being a ladies man, notching conquests on his belt and enjoying a life without commitment. When he falls for his new boss (Robin Givens) after a merger, he discovers she’s the female version of him. Suddenly on the receiving end of the treatment he has dished out for years, he discovers how bad he’s made others feel. Could his thoughtful co-worker (Halle Berry) be what he was really looking for? The cast also includes David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt and Chris Rock.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, cropped slightly from the original release’s 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It’s a good transfer with good detail on the usual suspects (facial textures, textiles and environments) but I think a better transfer could have been done with a better master scan. Colour levels are accurate and though it’s a predominantly natural palette, some primaries do have a nice pop to them. Black levels are deep and there’s fairly good detail in shadows, while grain is slightly more noticeable in darker scenes.

On the audio side, Boomerang features an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack as well as German, French and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, German, French and Japanese. It’s a mostly front-heavy track with the surrounds used sparingly for some effects. The soundtrack is heavy on the bass, so your subwoofer does a bit of work there. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

The Blu-ray disc comes with a digital copy code. In terms of extras, there’s a commentary track by director Reginald Hudlin and a few minutes of deleted and extended scenes.

Boomerang has a good transfer and audio presentation. I might have expected a bit more on the extras side. It’s the 30th anniversary after all and Murphy has made a boatload of money for the studio over the years. Still, it’s priced well and a good outing by Murphy, so you should consider adding it to your collection.

Mill Creek Entertainment has released another actor-focused double feature. This time around the subject is Martin Short, so if you want to see him as a leading man this set will do just fine. It features Cross My Heart from 1987 and 1991’s Pure Luck. I had a chance to review the Martin Short Double Feature: Cross My Heart / Pure Luck Blu-ray early so let’s take a look.

1987’s Cross My Heart stars Short and Annette O’Toole as David and Kathy, a pair that is stressing over the “all-important” third date. The budding romance seems to be going well, except maybe they’ve told some white lies along the way. She doesn’t know he’s been recently fired and he’s unaware that she smokes and has a 7-year-old. Things start to go bad on the date and when they head back to David’s apartment – another lie, it’s his friend’s (Paul Reiser) – they have to decide if they can share the truth with each other.

In Pure Luck, a remake of the 1981 French film Le Chevre, an accident prone women, Valerie (Sheila Kelley), disappears in Mexico without a trace. Her wealthy father (Sam Wanamaker) hires investigator Raymond Campanella (Danny Glover) to track her down but the trail is cold. The company shrink (Harry Shearer) has an unorthodox solution: have someone as unlucky as Valerie work with the private eye and they might just stumble on her location. That’s where Short comes in and the slapstick begins.

On the video side of things, the two movies share a single Blu-ray disc. The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfers are presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Both films appear to come from older scans of their source material. They’re not the sharpest looking Blu-rays out there, with fine details in facial features and textiles missing. Of the two, Cross My Heart seems to have the better transfer, with slightly more detail and a more realistic colour palette.

On the audio side of things, both discs come with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack with subtitles available for English SDH. The stereo tracks present the dialogue in both with good clarity and prioritization in the mix. The scores sound good as do the atmospheric effects.

As for extras, this double feature does not come with digital code nor any bonus materials.

The Martin Short Double Feature: Cross My Heart / Pure Luck Blu-ray may not be the prettiest Blu-ray on the block, but it does give a glimpse of the period of Short’s career where he was considered to be a leading man. I commend Mill Creek Entertainment for finding films like these, that may otherwise have been passed over for Blu-ray releases, and giving them a home in the format. These are two enjoyable Short films, with the chemistry of Short and O’Toole giving Cross My Heart a slight edge. If you’re a fan of Short, I think you’ll enjoy this release.

David S. Ward’s 1991 comedy King Ralph is one of Mill Creek Entertainment’s latest entries in their Retros VHS series, which pairs video store staples of yore with a cute slipcover which recreates a VHS tape box. When the British royal family is decimated by a freak accident, a search of historical records traces down an heir in the US. Ralph Jones (John Goodman) is a slovenly Las Vegas entertainer but he’s the next in line and receives a quick course on royal etiquette from Sir Cedric (Peter O’Toole). Meanwhile, Lord Percival (John Hurt) concocts a plan to discredit Ralph and claim the throne for himself.

The 1080p AVC encoded video transfer is presented in a 1.84:1 aspect ratio. Like many budget-priced Blu-rays, it’s not the cleanest transfer with some compression issues, crushing in the back levels, some digital smoothing of the grain and wear and tear on the print used for the transfer. Still, details are pretty good and though the colour palette may not be rich, it is still realistic.

On the audio side, the disc comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. It’s a decent stereo soundtrack but lacks any pizzazz. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized in the mix.

The disc doesn’t come with a digital code or any bonus materials. As mentioned, the slip cover recreates a video store rental tape box. Thankfully, there are no late fees.

Though the video and audio presentations won’t knock you off your feet, the cast is fit for a king and King Ralph is a fun little comedy. I appreciate Mill Creek presenting these smaller catalog films in the Blu-ray format and a very affordable price point, so I’ll recommended it, especially if you remember renting this when Blockbuster ruled the Earth.

1993’s Heart and Souls, directed by Ron Underwood, is the latest entry in Mill Creek Entertainment’s cute Retro VHS Blu-ray series where the slipcovers recreate the boxes of popular video store rentals. This comedy stars Robert Downey Jr. as a businessman whose guardian angels since childhood are a quartet of ghosts (Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Tom Sizemore and Charles Grodin) who now need him to help them with their unfinished business so that they can be released. The cast also includes Elisabeth Shue and David Paymer.

The 1080p AVC encoded video transfer is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. It’s a good looking transfer with good details in the usual suspects (faces, clothes and locations) with a light level of film grain. The colour palette is full of bright colours. Black levels are pretty good with some loss of detail in shadows and darker scenes.

On the audio side, there’s an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Subtitles are available for English. The audio track has some good ambient sounds in the surrounds but the real star is the score which is bright and dynamic. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized in the mix.

As mentioned, Heart and Souls is part of Mill Creek’s Retro VHS series. The slip cover looks like a VHS tape partially out from its box, while the “box” has the appearance of a video store rental including an image of a “Staff Pick” sticker. The disc also comes with a nice selection of bonus materials including a lengthy interview with director Ron Underwood, interviews with screenwriter S.S. Wilson and production designer John Muto, as well as a theatrical trailer.

Heart and Souls has a great cast coupled with good video and audio presentations. There’s also a nice amount of new bonus material. If you remember this one in your local Bloackbuster back in the day, it’s a fun addition to your collection.

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