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THE EPITAPH VOL. 83
UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938) - SWINGERS (1996) - CLASSS (1983) - WAREHOUSE 13 - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2009-2014) - CHALLENGERS (2024) - TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY (2024)
UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938)
Label: Film Masters
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 64 Minutes 58 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.O Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: B&W 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Joseph Kane
Cast: Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, Carol Hughes, Maple City Four
Under Western Stars (1938) was Roy Rogers starring role film debut, playing a likable singing-cowboy who at the start of the film is helping some water-starved farmers free some much needed H20 from greedy water baron John Fairbanks (Guy Usher), causing a bit of a ruckus at the damn. His actions are reported to the authorities but he ends up only being fined $1 by a sympathetic judge, who then encourages Rodgers to follow in his father's footsteps and make a run for Congress, eventually travelling to Washington to try his hand as a politician and to get some legislation passed to free-up the water supply in the territory. These quaint westerns starring Rogers were never by cup o' tea and while I did think it was a breezy 65-minute watch it still doesn't do much for me, but I did think that Film Masters restoration look pretty snazzy, though it should be noted this is not a pressed disc but an MOD BD-R, but I had no issues with playback. The black & white image is quite pleasing, the source shows minor imperfections by way of vertical lines and white speckling and occasional blemish, but grain structure looks solid with pleasing contrast and grayscale. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with optional English subtitles. There's some minor background hiss throughout, the track shows it's pre-WWII vintage with an authentic shallow depth and fidelity I'd expect from this vintage, but it does the job. Dialogue is easily discernible, and the Roy Rogers tunes sound terrific. Sadly, there are no extras for this one, it arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Under Western Stars (1938) was Roy Rogers starring role film debut, playing a likable singing-cowboy who at the start of the film is helping some water-starved farmers free some much needed H20 from greedy water baron John Fairbanks (Guy Usher), causing a bit of a ruckus at the damn. His actions are reported to the authorities but he ends up only being fined $1 by a sympathetic judge, who then encourages Rodgers to follow in his father's footsteps and make a run for Congress, eventually travelling to Washington to try his hand as a politician and to get some legislation passed to free-up the water supply in the territory. These quaint westerns starring Rogers were never by cup o' tea and while I did think it was a breezy 65-minute watch it still doesn't do much for me, but I did think that Film Masters restoration look pretty snazzy, though it should be noted this is not a pressed disc but an MOD BD-R, but I had no issues with playback. The black & white image is quite pleasing, the source shows minor imperfections by way of vertical lines and white speckling and occasional blemish, but grain structure looks solid with pleasing contrast and grayscale. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with optional English subtitles. There's some minor background hiss throughout, the track shows it's pre-WWII vintage with an authentic shallow depth and fidelity I'd expect from this vintage, but it does the job. Dialogue is easily discernible, and the Roy Rogers tunes sound terrific. Sadly, there are no extras for this one, it arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- None
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SWINGERS (1996)
Label: Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Duration: 96 Minutes 25 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Ron Livingston, Patrick Van Horn, Heather Graham
Before Jon Favreau made it big as a big-time Hollywood writer, director and producer he made this mid-90s indie comedy, starring himself as a struggling stand-up comic named Mike (Favreau, Daredevil) who moves to L.A. from NYC after his girlfriend of six years dumped him. In L.A. he hangs out with his womanizing pal Trent (Vince Vaughn, Return to Paradise), who does his best to lift Mike's spirits and get him to move on from his last relationship, but Mike;s a sad, neurotic sack and prefers to wallow in his misery. At the top of the film they embark on a roadtrip to Las Vegas where they hope to win bit at the casino and make it with some ladies. They don't win big and when they do hook up with a pair of waitresses Mike's ruins it by obsessing over his ex. Back in L.A. the guys hang with their friends, all of whom are seemingly trying to make the L.A. scene, hanging at bars and parties. Eventually Mike meets a lovely young lady named Lorraine (Heather Graham, Boogie Nights), but the question remains, is he willing or able to move-on from the memory of his ex, or will he fuck it up? I remember watching this on VHS when it hit home video and having quite a bit of fun with it, but I had not rewatched it since, so this was a fun revisit. It holds-up quite nicely, it's a pretty fun bro-mance, it's fast-paced, and both Vaughn and Favreau are terrific. The dialogue is aces and the actors have great chemistry with each other, it still feels fresh even though there have been tons of bromance comedies since this came around, but few have done it better. I'd forgotten how much fast-talking Trent says, stuff like "You're so money!" and "That's money!", it's actually quite irritating, but entertaining. A scene of Mike calling and leaving cringe voicemails on an answering machine to his ex are still my favorite scene in the film, and it was also great to see Ron Livingston (Office Space) in an early role as a struggling actor pal of Mike's who is always complaining about being cast as Goofy at Disney world. It's a fun time capsule of 90's L.A. nightlife, the dating scene, and the world of struggling actors just trying to navigate the scene and find sex and/or love. This release is not a pressed Blu-ray but an MOD BD-R, but it played flawlessly on my player and looks top-notch, and we get an array of archival extras, this hip indie buddy-comedy from the mid-90's comes recommended.
Before Jon Favreau made it big as a big-time Hollywood writer, director and producer he made this mid-90s indie comedy, starring himself as a struggling stand-up comic named Mike (Favreau, Daredevil) who moves to L.A. from NYC after his girlfriend of six years dumped him. In L.A. he hangs out with his womanizing pal Trent (Vince Vaughn, Return to Paradise), who does his best to lift Mike's spirits and get him to move on from his last relationship, but Mike;s a sad, neurotic sack and prefers to wallow in his misery. At the top of the film they embark on a roadtrip to Las Vegas where they hope to win bit at the casino and make it with some ladies. They don't win big and when they do hook up with a pair of waitresses Mike's ruins it by obsessing over his ex. Back in L.A. the guys hang with their friends, all of whom are seemingly trying to make the L.A. scene, hanging at bars and parties. Eventually Mike meets a lovely young lady named Lorraine (Heather Graham, Boogie Nights), but the question remains, is he willing or able to move-on from the memory of his ex, or will he fuck it up? I remember watching this on VHS when it hit home video and having quite a bit of fun with it, but I had not rewatched it since, so this was a fun revisit. It holds-up quite nicely, it's a pretty fun bro-mance, it's fast-paced, and both Vaughn and Favreau are terrific. The dialogue is aces and the actors have great chemistry with each other, it still feels fresh even though there have been tons of bromance comedies since this came around, but few have done it better. I'd forgotten how much fast-talking Trent says, stuff like "You're so money!" and "That's money!", it's actually quite irritating, but entertaining. A scene of Mike calling and leaving cringe voicemails on an answering machine to his ex are still my favorite scene in the film, and it was also great to see Ron Livingston (Office Space) in an early role as a struggling actor pal of Mike's who is always complaining about being cast as Goofy at Disney world. It's a fun time capsule of 90's L.A. nightlife, the dating scene, and the world of struggling actors just trying to navigate the scene and find sex and/or love. This release is not a pressed Blu-ray but an MOD BD-R, but it played flawlessly on my player and looks top-notch, and we get an array of archival extras, this hip indie buddy-comedy from the mid-90's comes recommended.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn
- Audio Commentary With Director Doug Limon and Editor Stephen Mirrione
- Making It In Hollywood (49:19)
- Cutting Room Floor (13:56)
- Swing Blade (3:27),
- Also from Lionsgate: Rounders, Hostage, Good Will Hunting, Warrior, (5:32)
Buy it:
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CLASS (1983)
Region Code:
Rating: R
Duration: 98 Minutes 28 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) (1.85:1)
Director: Lewis John Carlino
Cast: Rob Lowe, Jacqueline Bisset, Andrew McCarthy, Stuart Margolin, Cliff Robertson, John Cusack, Rodney Pearson, Alan Ruck, Remak Ramsay, Casey Siemaszko
This 80's coming-of-age flick is one I thought I had never watched before, but I must have seen it on cable just once because it was vaguely familiar to me as I watched, and a welcomed re-visit of what I would consider to be an underrated gem. It's set at a prep-school where son-of-privilege senior Skip (Rob Lowe, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery) gets a new awkward roommate by way of Jonathan (Andrew McCarthy, Pretty in Pink). They initially pulls pranks on each other and bond over there mischievousness, and when Skip finds out that his new pal has yet to bust his cherry he is intent on helping Jonathan lose his virginity. Jonathan eventually goes into Chicago alone after a prank gets him banned from the school dance, and hooks up with a very sexy older women named Ellen (Jacqueline Bisset, The Sunday Woman) who plucks his cherry, afterward they start secretly seeing each other on the regular, with Jonathan lying about his age, and she keeping secrets herself, but she dumps him when she finds out he's a teenager. Later when Skip invites Jonathan home for Christmas break, to help him get over his mystery lady, things start to unravel when it's discovered that the older woman he was sleeping with was Skip's Mom! Also, and she's married, to Skip's father Mr. Burroughs (Cliff Robertson, Obsession)! This is a teen sex-comedy with a lot more heart and nuance than other early 80's flicks of this ilk, making this one is quite a gem. It's also quite notable for featuring a young cast , many of whom would go onto later stardom, we have early sightings of John Cusack (One Crazy Summer), Casey Siemaszko (Three O'Clock High), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), and Virginia Madsen (Candyman), who are all so young and babyfaced, it was a trip seeing them all so young and fresh-faced! The Blu-ray from MGM looks and sounds terrific, sadly no extras but has no extras, not even a trailer, but I am glad to see that MGM vast cataloged is getting physical media releases under Amazon;s ownership, keep it up folks, I am loving it!
Special Features:
- None
Buy it:
Moviezyng - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
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WAREHOUSE 13 - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2009-2014)
Label: UPHE
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 2776 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, Saul Rubinek,
The five season SyFy series Warehouse 13 (2009-2014) gets a Blu-ray repackage from Universal, featuring all five seasons. This was a terrific sci-fi mystery-adventure show about the secretive Warehouse 13 where the strangest and most dangerous artifacts from around the world are kept under lock and key, items imbued with potentially dangerous energies are gathered by Secret Service agents Lattimer (Eddie McClintock, TV's Shooter), Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly, TV's Vanished), Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti, Chastity Bites), Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore, The Shrine), and Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek, Amazon Prime series Hunters), who each episode embark on missions to obtain the harmful historical heirlooms. The show certainly smacks of X-Files by way of the Friday the 13th TV series, but it was always charming and never wore out it's welcome with a blend of comedy, drama, and science fiction, as well as the charisma of the main characters and the creative, often uncanny adventures while in pursuit of ancient antiquaries with the help of modern technology. If you missed this show the first time around this 15-disc set is a great way to revisit it, all five seasons collected here, each season getting it owns dedicated keepcase, the five season set is housed in a slipbox, and the discs are absolutely loaded with extras with a bevy of deleted scenes, gag reels, animated wed episodes, holiday specials, commentaries and loads of featurettes.
Special Features:
- Two Special Holiday Episodes
- Two Animated Web Series
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Gag Reels
- Episode Commentaries with Cast & Crew; Eureka Crossover Episode; and more!
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CHALLENGERS (2024)
Label: WBDHE
Region Code:
Rating: R
Duration: 131 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Cast: Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, Mike Faist
I don't consider myself a sport-film fan, and it's for that reason Challengers didn't jump out at me initially, but I was drawn in eventually because it's directed by Luca Guadagnino (Suspiria, Bones and All) who I find to be an incredibly intriguing and exciting director, and stars Zendaya (Dune: Part II) who more often than not chooses some rather interesting roles. Here she plays former tennis superstar Tashi, a former college prodigy who was severely injured during her college career at Stanford. She's now married to Art Donaldson (Mike Faist, The Bikeriders) a player in the pro tour and is now trying for a career Grand Slam, but whose confidence has been jostled after an injury. Tashi pulls Art off the tour and puts him in a a lower level Challenger tournament in New Rochelle, NY, where he plays against old friend turned rival, Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor, TV's The Crown), a seemingly washed-up player looking to make a comeback. The wrinkle is that he was once Art's best mate and also dated Tashi, which dredges up a lot of baggage from the couple's past. The non-linear story is chock full of tasty sexual flashbacks to the trios past, told with an abundance of style and not a whole lot of substance, but that's fine by me. This tennis-centric love-triangle makes for terrific viewing, especially the early scenes of their initial meeting with both Art and Patrick pursuing Tashi during her heyday, she having total control over the sexual dynamic, including a bit sexual tension between the two men. Highly stylized and full of flashy editing this is a sports melodrama with a sexual bite to it, but sadly the sexual exploits are quite tame, but the tension and manipulation is thick, and while it does feel a bit self-indulgent, and the characters are a truly unlikable, cold and arrogant sort, I still found it quite engrossing.
I don't consider myself a sport-film fan, and it's for that reason Challengers didn't jump out at me initially, but I was drawn in eventually because it's directed by Luca Guadagnino (Suspiria, Bones and All) who I find to be an incredibly intriguing and exciting director, and stars Zendaya (Dune: Part II) who more often than not chooses some rather interesting roles. Here she plays former tennis superstar Tashi, a former college prodigy who was severely injured during her college career at Stanford. She's now married to Art Donaldson (Mike Faist, The Bikeriders) a player in the pro tour and is now trying for a career Grand Slam, but whose confidence has been jostled after an injury. Tashi pulls Art off the tour and puts him in a a lower level Challenger tournament in New Rochelle, NY, where he plays against old friend turned rival, Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor, TV's The Crown), a seemingly washed-up player looking to make a comeback. The wrinkle is that he was once Art's best mate and also dated Tashi, which dredges up a lot of baggage from the couple's past. The non-linear story is chock full of tasty sexual flashbacks to the trios past, told with an abundance of style and not a whole lot of substance, but that's fine by me. This tennis-centric love-triangle makes for terrific viewing, especially the early scenes of their initial meeting with both Art and Patrick pursuing Tashi during her heyday, she having total control over the sexual dynamic, including a bit sexual tension between the two men. Highly stylized and full of flashy editing this is a sports melodrama with a sexual bite to it, but sadly the sexual exploits are quite tame, but the tension and manipulation is thick, and while it does feel a bit self-indulgent, and the characters are a truly unlikable, cold and arrogant sort, I still found it quite engrossing.
Special Features:
- None
Buy it!
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TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY (2024)
Label: WBHE
Rating:
Duration:
Audio: 364 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen
Director: Issa López
Cast: Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, John Hawkes, Christopher Eccleston, Fiona Shaw, Finn Bennett, Anna Lambe, Aka Niviâna, Isabella Star Lablanc, Joel D. Montgrand.
True Detective: Night Story, the fourth season of the anthology crime show, is set in the rural town of Ennis, Alaska where Police Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs) and State Trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) join forces to investigate the disappearance of eight scientists from the Tsalal Arctic Research Station. The two had previously worked on a case involving the still unsolved murder of an indigenous woman, causing bad blood between the pair, with Navarro quickly convinced that the new missing persons case is entangled with the decade old cold case when a severed tongue is found on at the scene that belonged to that earlier victim. I thought this season was pretty fantastic, Foster and Reis are the heart of the show and they fantastic, both characters have tons of pathological peccadillos that fueled by love of the season. Written and directed by showrunner Issa López (Tigers Are Not Afraid) this season was a fine return to form for the series, it has plenty of atmosphere, set during the time when Ennis is dark for 24-hours a day, the frigid snow-bound setting is frightful, intriguing indigenous characters and indigenous mythology, interesting side characters (especially Fiona Shaw (The Butcher Boy) as the enigmatic Rose), and some terrific supernatural vibes that kept me guessing right up until that last shot. The bodies of ten scientist are eventually found huddled naked together in a twisted frozen mass, which really does bring to mind John Carpenter's The Thing. I also really dig the connection back to the first season of the series, and how committed showrunner Lopez is to fully commit to supernatural leanings, and how dread filled this season gets, it's quite dark, and well shot by Florian Hoffmeister (Tár) who brings a gorgeous darkness to the eerily frigid location. In my opinion this is the best season since the first, I was quite enamored with it, and was sad it only lasted six episodes, I would have been down for six more I was so pulled into it. Sadly no 4K UHD for this stellar season that aired in 4K with HDR and Atmos audio on HBO, but Blu-ray is top-notch and sounds terrific just the same, plus we get a handful of extras, none of which are in-depth enough for my tastes, and the the season itself I wanted more.
Special Features:
- Meet the True Detectives - Cast Q&A (2:56)
- New Chapter – Issa López (Showrunner/Writer/Director) and cast discuss Night Country’s unique role in the series (2:59)
- Exploring Indigenous Themes - Delves into Alaska Native culture and how it has informed this season. (2:43)
- Max Inkblots - Get to know cast through show-themed inkblot interpretations. (3:13)
- Setting Featurette - Sets up Alaska as a pivotal character in the story. (2:17)
- Atmospheric Teases - Social environmental shots to tease key moments from the series.