Evans Above

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mill Creek’s Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 1980s DVD set presents a sampling of ten films released between 1980 and 1989. 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:

• Like Father Like Son (1987) – An uptight doctor (Dudley Moore) struggles to relate to his trouble-making, laid-back son (Kirk Cameron) until an experimental potion causes them to swap identities.
• Vice Versa (1988) – A wish made upon a mysterious Tibetan artifact causes divorced executive Marshall (Judge Reinhold) and his son Charlie (Fred Savage) to switch bodies, and they both find the other’s life isn’t quite so easy as they thought.
• Roxanne (1987) – C.D. Bales (Steve Martin) has always been shy because of his abnormally large nose. To win over his love Roxanne (Daryl Hannah), he enlists the help of Chris (Rick Rossovich), a handsome man who Roxanne loves. C.D. uses his gift with words to write letters as Chris professing his love to Roxanne.
• Punchline (1988) – Steve Golden (Tom Hanks) and Lilah Krytsick (Sally Field) meet on the New York stand-up comedy circuit and become friends, helping each other improve their acts. But when a competition comes to town with a star-making grand prize, their friendship may be left in the dust.
• Who’s Harry Crumb? (1989) – A hapless private investigator (John Candy) stumbles and bumbles along the trail if a kidnapped young heiress (Renée Coleman), managing to get closer and closer to solving the case despite making mistakes every step of the way.
• Blue Thunder (1983) – LAPD Pilot Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider) is assigned as a test pilot for the experimental Blue Thunder police helicopter, designed to pacify riots. But Frank soon begins to suspect there is more to Blue Thunder than he is being told.
• Suspect (1987) -Defense attorney Kathleen (Cher) and jury panelist Eddie Sanger (Dennis Quaid) work together to prove Kathleen’s client (Liam Neeson) innocent in a murder case involving a judge’s secretary and corrupt officials.
• Band of the Hand (1986) – Five teen criminals are shipped out to the Everglades, where a war veteran (Stephen Lang) tries to whip them into shape by teaching them to survive in the Florida wilderness. Also starring Leon Robinson, James Remar, Lauren Holly, and Laurence Fishburne
• Little Nikita (1988) – On the hunt for a Soviet agent, FBI agent Roy Parmenter (Sidney Poitier) investigates the family of young Jeffrey Grant (River Phoenix), whose parents are both suspects. Things get complicated when Roy forms an unexpected friendship with Jeffrey.
• The New Kids (1985) -Orphaned siblings Abby (Lori Loughlin) and Loren (Shannon Presby) move to Florida to live with their aunt and uncle to help run their amusement park. They soon find themselves at odds with a local gang of teenage ruffians, forcing them into a confrontation at the amusement park.

Mill Creek’s 1980s collection’s ten movies are contained on just four DVD discs, so be aware that these are not movies that will have the clarity or colour palette 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 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English. Again, because of the quantity of films, these are not lossless tracks but they do have clarity in dialogue and effects.

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

The Through the Decades 10 Film Collection: 1980s DVD set is perfect if you want a low-priced sampler pack of movies from the decade or are buying this for a relative who still might be rocking a DVD player and just wants a bunch of movies at a good price. Not everyone is buying the latest 4K with a restored scan and this type of collection fills that niche of the market.

Lionsgate’s For the Love of Money did have a limited theatrical release in November of 2021 where it earned just under $500,000. I’m sure the fact that it has a home entertainment release is a last ditch attempt to try to earn some money back for the investors. The film stars Keri Hilson as a single mom trying to keep her Atlanta home and her daughter in private school. When her need for money is desperate, she ends up being involved in a life of drug running and money laundering. The cast is filled with other singers like Keith Sweat, Jazzy Jade, D.C. Young Fly, and Rotimi, so there is the occasional musical break. Comedian Katt Williams also has a cameo and appears to be the only person who considered coming up with a character. The plot has more loose threads than a cheap fast fashion knock-off, the acting is pretty awful, and the film’s only saving grace is a pretty short 98 minute running time. I had the chance to check out the Blu-ray release of the movie, so let’s take a look at the technical aspects.

The 1080p AVC encoded video transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The visuals do contain a nice level of detail, especially on the colourful outfits worn by the female cast and the bright colour palette pops on the screen. However some shots in the film do have issues like aliasing. So while it’s not a great video presentation, for the material it’s supporting it’s good enough.

On the audio side, there’s an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH and Spanish. The surrounds get the occasional usage in crowd or club scenes and dialogue is clear throughout the movie.

Wrapping things up, the Blu-ray I reviewed also comes with a US-only digital code. Unless you are a huge fan of Keri Hilson, simply must have everything Katt Williams appears in, or need a new coaster, I don’t think you’ll want to add For the Love of Money to your home entertainment library.

Ten years after Dexter left our TV screens, everyone’s favourite police blood splatter expert and serial killer returns in Dexter: New Blood. This time we’ve left the warm, sunny beaches of Miami for the colder, snowier fictional small town of Iron Lake, New York, where Dexter lives under a new identity. He’s turned things around and his “ethical” serial killing is under control. Oh, who are we kidding here? Dexter’s “Dark Passenger” is back and so is his need to avoid detection. Paramount has now released Dexter: New Blood on Blu-ray and I had a chance to review the limited edition Steelbook version. Joining Michael C. Hall in the ten episodes are Jack Alcott, Jennifer Carpenter, Julia Jones, Alano Miller, Johnny Sequoyah and Clancy Brown.

The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The detail in the video presentation is great and checks all the boxes of hair and facial features, indoor and outdoor environments and textiles. The black levels are very good too and with many night and shadowy scenes we can still see what’s going on. The colour palette is bleaker (Iron Lake is not Miami) but the white snow is bright and the blood, of course, is rich and red. There are no digital noise or compression issues to speak of.

On the audio side, Dexter: New Blood has an English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack with English SDH subtitles. The surround usage is good for putting some of the unsettling ambient sounds and effects around you and there’s subtle use of low frequency sounds but it won’t overwork your subwoofer. Dialogue is clear, centred, and well-prioritized.

The 4-disc SteelBook edition that I’m reviewing features a snowy, menacing headshot of Dexter on the front cover. The back cover features an overhead shot of a snow-covered forest with a blood-stained road bisecting the image. The discs are on individual spindles and behind them there’s a photo of Dexter chopping wood with an axe. There are bonus materials on three of the discs. While three are just about two minutes long and give some brief info on the show, disc four has a half-hour look at the show’s legacy and production.

Obviously, you’ll want to have watched the previous Dexter series to be fully up on what’s happening in Dexter: New Blood. With an excellent video and audio presentation, Dexter fans old and new will be interested in this release.

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