Evans Above

Every time one of these anniversary releases comes out I find myself asking, “Has it really been X years?!?” So here we go again: has it really been 25 years since South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut decided to “Blame Canada?” In this South Park feature film release, Kyle, Stan, Kenny and Cartman sneak into an R-rated film by Terrence and Phillip the foul-mouthed Canadians. When they repeat the words they heard in the cinema, shocked parents decide the only solution is for the US to declare war on its northern neighbour. Meanwhile, poor Kenny dies at the beginning and uncovers a plot by Satan and his lover, Saddam Hussein, to take over the world. Ya know, normal South Park stuff. The movie skewers its targets with the aid of songs written by Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman. Paramount has just released the South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 25th Anniversary Edition on 4K and I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The flat animation style South Park is known for looks crisp and clear in this 4K transfer. The colour palette really pops on the primaries while the HDR gives those colours an extra depth. The black levels are deep and I didn’t notice any crushing. The transfer also has a pleasing level of film grain.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack as well as French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French and Spanish. The surrounds get some light usage for effects and musical elements as does the subwoofer. It’s not an immersive powerhouse, but it’s still a nice mix with dialogue and vocals clear and centred.

The South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 25th Anniversary Edition 4K also comes with a Blu-ray disc and a Digital code, though once again there is no code for the Canadian version. Sadly the 25th anniversary didn’t merit any new special features. The Legacy features are all on the Blu-ray disc and include a commentary by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, a music video for “What Would Brian Boitano Do?”, a sing-along version of the film and some trailers.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 25th Anniversary Edition 4K looks and sounds really good. It’s a shame that we don’t get any new special features, but if this pushes your nostalgia button or you’re a big fan of the series, you may want to add this to your collection.

South Park: Joining the Panderverse is a South Park special that has the denizens of South Park tackling two issues that have society twisted in knots: the rise of AI and the fan wars over diverse recasting in remakes. In typical fashion, Trey Parker and Matt Stone don’t take sides but rather skewer the extremism on both sides of the issues. Paramount has just released a Blu-ray of this 49 minute episode and I had a chance to take a look.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation is clean with good edges on the animation. Primary colours really pop. It’s a good looking disc.

On the audio side of things, the disc comes with an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. It’s a very front-heavy track with the surrounds only getting occasional use. Dialogue is clear in the mix.

The South Park: Joining the Panderverse Blu-ray does not come with a digital code nor any special features.

South Park: Joining the Panderverse is a forty-nine minute South Park special episode with a solid AV presentation. Though it may not be for everyone, fans of the show will want to add this Blu-ray their collection.

In Kung Fu Panda 4, Po (Jack Black) is informed by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) that he must accept a new role and choose a new Dragon Warrior. When Po faces an evil sorceress named The Chameleon (Viola Davis), he must join forces with a fox bandit named Zhen (Awkwafina) to defeat her. The voice cast also includes Ian McShane, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, and Lori Tan Chinn. Universal has just released a 4K set of the movie and I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded upscaled 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The CG animation looks beautiful with amazing detail in the furs, feathers and skins of the animals. The backgrounds of the animation are also highly detailed. Primaries pop off the screen, and warmer, darker colours look great as well. Black levels are deep with no sign of crushing.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos that folds back to Dolby TrueHD as well as a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 track. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, and Spanish. The soundscape is highly immersive, with action effects moving throughout the surrounds. The subwoofer gives an extra oomph to the proceedings during the kung fu battles. The score is dynamic and dialogue is clear in the mix.

The Kung Fu Panda 4 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy and a digital code, though once again there’s no code for the Canadian version. Extras include commentary from director Mike Mitchell, co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, production designer Paul Duncan, head of story Calvin Tsang, and head of character animation Sean Sexton, a “Dueling Dumplings” short with an introduction by Jack Black and Awkwafina, deleted scenes, cast and behind the scenes featurettes, and tutorials on shadow puppets, cooking dumplings, and drawing the characters.

A fun story is combined with a great voice cast and amazing audio/visual presentation. Season it with a nice collection of extras and the Kung Fu Panda 4 4K is a recommended addition.

Alex Proyas’ 1994 film The Crow is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and Paramount has released it on 4K. Based on James O’Barr’s 1989 comic book series, it tells the tale of a rock musician who rises from the dead to avenge the murders of himself and his fiancée. The film achieved a cult status as the film’s star, Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee, died from a prop gun accident a week or so before filming was set to conclude. The cast also features Ernie Hudson and Michael Wincott.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Despite being a dark film, the details and sharpness is there on facial features, textiles and environments. The transfer retains a natural film grain. The colour palette is muted, but there are occasional pops of colour. The HDR grading allows the transfer to give us amazingly deep black levels with no loss of detail an darker and shadowy scenes. It’s a very good looking presentation.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as German, Spanish, and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and an Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, and Swedish. It’s a powerful soundtrack with plenty of punch from the subwoofers. The surrounds don’t always contain a lot of the action, but the ambient sounds place you nicely into the environment. Graeme Revell’s score and music from Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails and other contemporary artists sounds great. Dialogue is clear and centred, but occasionally is a bit down in the mix.

The Crow 4K also comes with a digital code, though once again a digital code is missing from the Canadian release. The extras add a couple of new items, with the other extras bringing in legacy material from previous releases. There are two commentaries: one from director Alex Proyas and the other from producer Jeff Most and screenwriter John Shirley. There’s a new three-part doc called “Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow” where production designer Alex McDowell looks at how the design, music, cinematography and other elements all came together, a new interview with producer Edward R. Pressman that looks at Sideshow Collectible’s figurines, a profile of the comic series creator James O’Barr, a behind-the-scenes featurette, extended and deleted scenes and a trailer.

The Crow 4K combines an excellent video transfer as well as a powerful soundtrack. Add in new and legacy extras and this is a recommended home video presentation. Avid collectors may also be interested in the SteelBook release.

“It’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.”

That’s probably not the best staement a studio can expect from a movie’s star but that’s just one of the choice quotes that Dakota Johnson gave the online publication Bustle when asked about Sony’s Madame Web getting ripped to shreds by critics and audiences.

Directed by S.J. Clarkson, it’s the origin story of Cassie Webb (Johnson), a paramedic with visions who is confronting her past while trying to save three young women (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor) from Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), who was also involved in the death of Webb’s mother. Sims does everything in his power to prevent the three from reaching their destiny. The film is probably best known for becoming online meme fodder. Sony has now released it on 4K, aimed at either Marvel Universe completists, Dakota Johnson stans , or those who want to own a savaged piece of pop culture.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. You can say what you want about the script, but the transfer team have done a great job with the video presentation. The image is crisp and clean with great detail in facial features, textiles and environments. Black levels are deep and inky with no loss of detail in the shadows, while bold primaries pop off the screen.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos track that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, as well as a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French and Spanish. From the jungles of Peru to the action-packed bustle of the city, the track does a good job immersing the viewer with atmospheric sounds and action effects. The subwoofer does a good but not overpowering job adding some extra bass floor, while the meme-worthy dialogue is clear and centred.

The Madame Web 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy and a Digital code, though no code is available in Canada. The extras, located on the Blu-ray, are a short collection of behind-the-scenes and story pieces. There are also deleted scenes and a gag reel.

Whether it’s destined to be a drinking game or grow into a “so bad it’s good” midnight screening cult film, the Madame Web 4K does have a very good audio and video transfer. Marvel completists may want to consider adding this to their home library.

Though romantic comedies used to roam the cinemas like dinosaurs roamed the Earth, in the last few years rom-coms have generally been found only on streaming services. I have to imagine that star Sydney Sweeney had something to do with this getting a theatrical release, as her presence probably had guys begging their girlfriends to go see this on the big screen. The film stars Sweeney and Glen Powell, whose characters once had a first date that fizzled out. Finding themselves at a destination wedding between her sister and his friend, the various rom-com tropes have them pretending to be a couple. Writer/director Will Gluck takes some inspiration from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and we get to see if the insults flying between Sweeney and Powell actually spark something greater in a romantic comedy spiced up with a bit of raunchy laughs. The cast also includes Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Hadley Robinson, Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, Darren Barnet, Bryan Brown, and Rachel Griffiths. Sony has now released the film on Blu-ray and I had a chance to take a look.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The movie was shot digitally in 4K and the downscaled Blu-ray transfer looks great, with amazing clarity and a dazzling colour palette that complements the tropical location. Black levels are deep and there’s good detail in shadows and darker scenes. Digital noise and compression artifacts are absent.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of English, French, and Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, Cantonese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, Korean, Spanish, and Thai. As a romantic comedy, the mix is pretty front-heavy, with the surrounds being used for some of the score and ambient sounds. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The Blu-ray for Anyone But You does come with a digital code, though once again that option is missing in the Canadian version. The extras are pretty standard EPK featurettes, some deleted scenes, and bloopers.

Anyone But You combines the standard rom-com tropes with some raunchy humour and occasional brief nudity, so this isn’t a movie for the whole family. Powell and Sweeney handle the chores okay and are obvious eye candy. If you’re huge fans of them or rom-coms in general, you might want to add this Blu-ray to your collection.

Released twenty-six years after the first film, Phil Traill’s Good Burger 2 reunites Dexter (Kenan Thompson) and Ed (Kel Mitchell). Dexter is now a failed inventor and finds himself asking Ed for both a place to stay and a job, as his friend not only still works at Good Burger, he owns it. The antics follow the pals as they try to save their beloved restaurant from the clutches of an evil conglomerate. Filled with callbacks to the past and celebrity cameos, the film is a nostalgic trip for fans of the original movie and sketches on the Nickelodeon series All That. Paramount has now released the film on Blu-ray and DVD. Oddly, reviewers were only sent DVD copies for review. I’ll link to the Blu-ray option below, but you can obviously select the DVD option on Amazon, if that’s what you want.

As mentioned, reviewers received the DVD for review. The video presentation still looks quite good for the DVD format with a nice bright colour palette, though at times the image can look a little dull.

On the audio side of things, the disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. It’s a very front-heavy soundtrack and the surrounds only get occasional and light usage for ambient sounds. Dialogue in most comedies is key and here it clear and centred in the mix.

The DVD copy of Good Burgers 2 does not come with a digital code and it appears the Blu-ray doesn’t either. Extras include a recap of the first film, a look at the original sketch, extended bloopers, and some behind-the-scenes and cast featurettes.

Good Burger 2 will give some laughs to all, but more to fans of the sketch or first movie. The DVD has good video and audio, but dedicated fans of Kenan and Kel may want to upgrade to the Blu-ray version.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released Paprika (パプリカ) as a limited-edition 4K SteelBook. Directed by the late Satoshi Kon, the animated science fiction thriller details a device that allows people to share their dreams. It’s stolen and a dream terrorist is using it to affect people’s lives with nightmares. One of the researchers, Dr. Chiba, uses the device to enter the dream world as her dream detective alter-ego, Paprika, in an effort to solve the case. Paprika was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded upscaled 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The line art looks great but the film has always had a general softness that’s part of its cinematic style. As coders would say, it’s a feature not a bug. The colour palette is amazing with colours that pop of the screen. The black levels are deep and there’s no loss of detail in the darker scenes.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of a Japanese Dolby Atmos soundtrack that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1. There are also Japanese, English, French and German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, and Cantonese, Italian, Spanish and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Thai, and Turkish. The Japanese Atmos track engulfs you in the dream world, with effects and other ambient sounds swirling through the surrounds. Dialogue is clear and the score dynamic. It sounds amazing.

The Paprika 4K SteelBook (which has gorgeous art on the case) also comes with a Blu-ray copy and a digital code. Except for a new look at the 4K restoration, the Blu-ray disc contains legacy extras from the previous release. They include commentary from director Satoshi Kon, composer Susumu Hirasawa and associate producer Morishima, a discussion between Kon and the book’s author Yasutaka Tsutsui, a panel with Kon, Tsutsui, and voice actors Megumi Hayashibara and Tôru Furuya, DOP Michiya Kato discussing the use of CG elements alongside traditional animation, a piece on imagery and symbolism with art director Nobutaka Ike, a collection of storyboards, and two trailers.

The Paprika 4K SteelBook takes an amazing trip of a movie and combines it with amazing audio and video, a nice collection of extras and a beautiful SteelBook case. Highly recommended.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment dives into Columbia Pictures catalog once again to bring us Columbia Classics Volume 4 on 4K. This set includes six films making their 4k debuts: 1940’s His Girl Friday, 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer, 1984’s Starman, 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle and 2002’s Punch-Drunk Love. I had a chance to take a look at the set.

In Howard Hawks’s screwball comedy, His Girl Friday, Cary Grant plays Walter Burns, a newspaper editor who’s about to lose his best reporter and ex-wife, Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), to a new city and a new man (Ralph Bellamy). Burns concocts a plan to have her work on one last big story, hoping the situation will convince her to stay and leave her new beau. In 2000, the American Film Institute’s 100 Years … 100 Laughs ranked the comedy at #19.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. It’s a beautifully crisp image with great detail in facial features and textiles. The black levels are deep and the HDR allows the whites to pop and expands the gradient levels of the grays. The grain presentation is natural and filmic. The presentation appears to be devoid of compression artifacts. It just looks lovely.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack as well as French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. Like its contemporaries, the soundtrack is a bit tinny, but the dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.

All the extras for this film are on the included Blu-ray copy. There’s a 17 minute look at the film’s costuming, an audio commentary by film critic and author Todd McCarthy, a look at the rapid fire dialogue, a video essay on Hawk’s films, a piece on writer Ben Hecht, a look at the careers of Grant and Russell, some vintage ads, and original and re-release trailers.

Stanley Kramer’s 1967 comedy-drama Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner explores interracial marriage. At the time of filming, it was still illegal in 17 U.S. states, with their laws finally struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of that year. Spencer Tracy (who died days after filming completed) and Katherine Hepburn star as liberal-minded parents who find the strength of their views challenged when their daughter (Katherine Houghton) comes home with a Black fiance, played by Sidney Poitier. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won two, for Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It’s a really good lucking transfer with great detail and any softness here and there comes from the source. The colour palette is excellent with natural skin tones, while primaries pop off the screen. Black levels are deep and the grain is true to the film source.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos track that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1. There’s also an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and for purists, an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. There are also French, German, Italian and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. Obviously the Atmos and surround tracks are a modern addition, but the sound team has done a great job of moving the ambient sounds in the apartment into the new environment. The score sounds bright and the dialogue is clear and well prioritized in the mix.

The Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy. Most of the extras are on that disc but the audio commentary with film historians Eddy Friedfeld, Lee Pfeiffer and Paul Scrabo is also on the 4K. There’s a collection of introductions by Tom Brokaw, Quincy Jones, Karen Kramer, and Steven Spielberg, a 30 minute retrospective, some archival recordings with Hepburn and an interview with her niece and co-star Katharine Houghton, looks at Kramer’s vision for the film and his acceptance of the Irving Thalberg Award, a look at the 2007 Producers Guild Stanley Kramer Award, a teaser and a theatrical trailer.

1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer, written and directed by Robert Benton, stars Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander and Justin Henry. Hoffman plays Ted Kramer, a workaholic ad exec whose wife, Joanna (Streep), announces that’s she’s leaving him and not taking their seven-year-old, Billy (Henry). Ted and Billy struggle to adapt to their new dynamic, but just as they do, Joanna reappears and launches a custody battle. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and walked away with Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress (Streep), and Adapted Screenplay.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Except for some occasional softness present in the original film, the video presentation here is sharp, with great detail in facial features and textiles. There’s natural film palette and the black levels are deep. The grain level is filmic and hasn’t been scraped to death in this excellent transfer.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos track that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1. There are two additional English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks as well as French, German and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, Spanish and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and a Turkish Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Thai, and Turkish. Like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, the addition of an Atmos track may initially seem like overkill, but the sound design team have done an excellent job moving the original soundtrack into the surround soundscape and enveloping the viewer in the ambience of the surroundings. Dialogue is clear and well-placed in the mix.

The Kramer vs. Kramer 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy, with extras split between the two. They include an audio commentary by film prof Jennine Lanouette, deleted scenes, a piece with director Benton discussing his work with Hoffman and Henry, an adult Justin Henry talking about his experiences on the film, a piece on Jane Alexander’s role, Benton talking about his feelings about the film, a theatrical trailer, a 49 minute making-of doc and some film previews.

John Carpenter’s 1984 film Starman is a sci-fi romance that stars Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen. Bridges plays an alien shot down by the U.S. government. Originally resembling a ball of energy, he clones a human body and tries to enlist a woman, Jenny (Allen), to help him reach a rendezvous point in Arizona. She’s first scared and then wary of him, but eventually a relationship grows as they race to avoid his capture by the government. Bridges received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. A crisp, detailed presentation, with a warm colour palette and deep blacks. Details are not lost in the darker scenes and the grain is nice and filmic.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos soundtrack that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1. There are two other English tracks, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, a German and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. The newly created Atmos track shows the skill of the sound team upgrading the audio into the surround soundscape with action moving throughout the surrounds and the subwoofer giving some extra weight when needed. Dialogue is clear and well placed in the mix.

The Starman 4K is a four disc set, with three 4K discs and one Blu-ray. The two additional 4K discs contain the full 22 episodes of the 1986 Starman series that starred Robert Hays. What an unexpected treat in the extras. The rest of the extras are on the included Blu-ray copy and include an audio commentary by John Carpenter and Jeff Bridges, 20+ deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes time lapses, a 23 minute look back with John Carpenter, Jeff Bridges, Charles Martin Smith, and script supervisor Sandy King-Carpenter, a making-of piece, a music video, a stills gallery, and a theatrical trailer.

We’re in the home stretch now as the fifth of the six discs is 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle. Directed by Nora Ephron from a script she co-wrote with David S. Ward and Jeff Arch, the romantic comedy stars Tom Hanks as a widowed father whose son, Jonah (Ross Malinger), calls a talk radio show looking for a new love for his grieving dad. A Baltimore Sun reporter, Annie (Meg Ryan), hears the plea and begins to fall for the thought of him, despite being recently engaged. The ensemble cast includes Bill Pullman, Rob Reiner, Rosie O’Donnell, Gaby Hoffmann, Victor Garber, Rita Wilson, Barbara Garrick, and Carey Lowell.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sleepless in Seattle is a bit of an odd rom-com in that the two romantic leads actually share very little screen time together. And while most rom-coms are light and airy visually, this film is quiet dark and subdued in its colour palette though there are some occasional pops of bright colours. Still it’s a sharp presentation but just lacks a bit of the wow factor the other films in the set have visually.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack as well as English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. There are also French and French (Canada), German, Italian, Korean, and Spanish, Thai and Turkish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. Though the soundscape is a little front-heavy, the surrounds do get some occasional work on ambient noise while the subwoofer does have some time to take a break and grab a coffee.

The Sleepless in Seattle 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy which also holds the extras. There are two audio commentaries — a new one for the 30th anniversary track with Karen Han and David Sims and an older one with Nora and Delia Ephron. There’s a short, but new, talk between Gary Foster and Meg Ryan, an older piece on “Love in the Movies”, four deleted scenes, a music video and a theatrical trailer.

The final movie in the set is 2002’s Punch-Drunk Love, from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzmán. Turning in at a crisp 95 minutes, the film follows Barry (Sandler), a bachelor whose overbearing sisters have led him to develop social anxiety but finds himself falling for one of his sister’s coworkers. Anderson won Best Director at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The colour palette can be saturated, but this was part of the indie art house aesthetic that Anderson and cinematographer Robert Elswit were going for. Primaries really pop, the detail is great, and the grain is filmic.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos track that falls back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1. There’s also English, French, German, Italian and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks and a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. Though at times a little front-heavy, the surrounds do immerse you into the scenes, the score is dynamic and dialogue is clear.

The Punch-Drunk Love 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy. The extras are on the Blu-ray and include deleted scenes, “Blossoms and Blood” – a short film by PTA with Sandler and Watson, Jon Brion talking about the creation of the soundtrack, recording sessions, some scopitone art shorts, Jeremy Blake artwork and two trailers.

The Columbia Classics Volume 4 4K set comes in a hard cover box that unfolds to reveal two sides that contain the six films in standard cases. Each film comes with a Blu-ray copy and a digital code. The centre of the box holds an 88 page hardcover book chock full of photos, essays and other archival goodies. Covering multiple decades, styles and genres with great audio and video presentations and a nice set of extras, film lovers will be very tempted to add this to their collection.

Kino Lorber sent over a new Blu-ray release of the 1970 documentary King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis. The powerful film is a detailed record of footage from meetings, protests and rallies that traces Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent campaign for civil rights and social justice. The footage starts around the time of the Montgomery bus boycott (1955-1956) and ends with MLK’s assassination in 1968. Directors Sidney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz intersperse the footage with powerful readings by Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Ben Gazzara, Charlton Heston, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Anthony Quinn, Clarence Williams III, and Joanne Woodward. The 3+ hour film was originally conceived as a special event film shown in theatres for one night on March 24, 1970. Since then, it has occasionally aired on TV. Released on DVD in 2010, it has now lovingly been restored by Kino Lorber and The Library of Congress and released on Blu-ray. The doc is at once inspirational, with the strength of King’s oratory and drive for justice, and horrifying, as footage shows the utter contempt and hatred of the racists in positions of power. Given the attempts by some to try and erase aspects of U.S. history, it’s an important and timely release.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio. The Blu-ray upgrade gives the film footage additional detail from previous releases or TV airings and the grey scale and film grain are faithful to the original theatrical print. Some of the source material has scratches and other blemishes, but that just shows the depth of research the production had to find rare records of the events being covered in newsreels and other sources.

On the audio side of things, there is an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2,0 Mono soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. The dialogue and music are clear and though some source material might have some pops and clicks, it is a very well restored audio experience.

As for extras, the Blu-ray disc does include two theatrical trailers.

The King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis Blu-ray is an important release. King’s message and commitment to non-violence is inspirational to those around the work pursuing justice and social change. At a time when some politicians are trying to prevent this history being taught in U.S. schools, owning a copy seems more important than ever. Highly recommended.

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