Blu-ray Review: 2016 World Series The Complete Game 7: Ultimate Edition

I’m from Massachusetts and so while I didn’t grow up a Cubs fan, I of course, as a Red Sox fan had a certain affinity for, and understanding of, Cubs fans. Both groups of fans went through the same sorts of heartache and frustrations, year after year, decade after decade. Cubs fans had two more decades of it than did Red Sox fans. So after the Indians took the Red Sox out of the post-season last year, I started rooting for the Cubs. This seemed to be their year. They had the best record in Major League Baseball. But of course things can get weird in the post-season. It all came down to one hell of a Game 7, one of the most incredible games in the history of baseball. And now, thanks to Shout! Factory’s release of the two-disc set, 2016 World Series The Complete Game 7: Ultimate Edition, we have a chance to revisit it.

This game is almost as exciting the second time around as it was the first, and I found myself cheering as if it were happening now. This game has it all – stolen bases, picked-off base runners, double plays, home runs, sacrifice bunts, errors, blown leads, an extra inning and even a rain delay. And a couple of firsts in baseball. Dexter Fowler starts the game with a home run, the first ever lead-off home run in a Game 7 of the World Series. Later there is the first ever game-tying home run in the 8th inning or later of World Series Game 7 (this by Rajai Davis). That stuff is great, but the entire game is exciting. You certainly don’t need to be a Cubs fan to enjoy watching this one again (but it might be tough for Indians fans).

This set presents a couple of audio options, which is cool. You can listen to the audio of the television broadcast (in English or Spanish), but also listen to either the Cleveland radio network or Chicago radio network broadcast. And of course all commercial interruptions are cut (and most of the rain delay is also cut – we have three or four minutes of the seventeen-minute delay). The first disc contains approximately twenty minutes of post-game coverage, including presentation of the trophy and the Most Valuable Player award.

The second disc contains Cubs postseason game highlights, including the National League Division Series against the Giants, and the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers (like that wild moment stealing home), as well as footage from the first six games of the World Series against the Indians. This footage totals approximately an hour and seventeen minutes. There is also footage of the Cubs World Series victory parade, as well as the team posing for photos on the field, and footage of speeches from a few players. This is approximately sixteen minutes.

2016 World Series The Complete Game 7: Ultimate Edition is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on and DVD May 9, 2017 through Shout! Factory.

Blu-ray Review: Humpback Whales

Every day it seems the world is getting uglier because of Donald Trump and his rabid gang of racist halfwits. We’re desperately in need of beauty to offset the damage that has been done – not just to the country, but to our souls. Well, one solution I can mention is watching the gorgeous documentary film Humpback Whales. This movie was filmed for the IMAX screens, but its beauty is still tremendous even on our smaller personal televisions (but don’t you dare watch it on your phone; that is no way to watch any film).

Narrated by Ewan McGregor, Humpback Whales not only offers some incredible footage, but also plenty of information on the whales. The material on how the whales eat, particularly the information on the group feeding, is fascinating. And that footage is something I’d never seen before. The sound for this film is also remarkable, with great audio of the whales’ song. Apparently the whales that sing are all males, and, according to this documentary, humpbacks produce a greater variety of sounds than any other whale. We are treated to several examples of the sounds they make.

The footage of the mother with her newborn is magnificent. I especially love the footage of the young copying the mother’s movements. And I love the footage of those folks working to untangle a young whale from a line. Yes, the film does touch upon the history of hunting whales, but its focus is on the whales themselves, and has a very positive and uplifting tone. This film might be just the thing we need to remind us that the world is actually a good place.

This documentary is offered as a two-disc set, with 4K UHD, 3D and 2D Blu-ray editions all included. Also, there is a behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews with director Greg MacGillivray, producer Shaun MacGillivray, director of photography Brad Ohlund and others involved in the production. This special feature also includes more information on the whales’ behavior, and is approximately seventeen minutes. The film’s trailer is also included.

Humpback Whales is available now through Shout! Factory.

Blu-ray Review: Chupacabra Territory

In 1980, the movie Cannibal Holocaust was released. In this film, a documentary crew had traveled to the jungle to film cannibal tribes, and then was never heard from again. The crew’s footage, however, is recovered. Then, nearly two decades later, The Blair Witch Project was released. In this movie, a documentary crew goes into the forest to document a local legend, and then is never heard from again. The crew’s footage, however, is recovered. Yeah, same thing, except The Blair Witch Project did it without style or any actual scares. But it was a surprising hit (surprising to me because it’s such an awful, pointless film), and its success basically guaranteed that we’d be subjected to a seemingly unending stream of so-called “found footage” films. These movies are characterized by shaky camera work, repetitive bare-bones scripts, and some of the worst acting imaginable. Now, don’t get me wrong, occasionally we’ll get a halfway decent found-footage film. But most of them are just fucking terrible, filled with lines like “What was that?” and “Did you just hear that?” and “What the hell is that?” and “What the hell was that?” and “What the hell happened?” Yes, all of those lines are in Chupacabra Territory, the latest offering in this tired (and tiresome) sub-genre of horror.

In Chupacabra Territory, a young documentary crew goes into the woods to document a local legend and then is never heard from again. Their footage, however, is recovered. Sound familiar? Yes, because it’s exactly the same stupid shit that all of these films give us. It opens with title cards telling us, “In 2013, the FBI released footage by four campers who went missing in the North Pinewood territory” and, of course, “Police recovered several video cameras, their bodies remain undiscovered.” Then Joe, before their trip into the woods, talks about how four experienced campers hiked into the area and three days later were reported missing. Those aren’t the four this movie is about, however. Joe and three friends go into the area, hoping to document the presence of the chupacabra, and they are the four that are the subject of this film. Joe has a strange book that is supposedly made of chupacabra skin and contains spells for contacting the creature. No word on how he obtained such a book. He is accompanied by Amber, who is completely gung-ho about the project and is clearly a little nuts; Dave, who mans the camera and is almost never seen; and Morgan, who introduces himself by saying he hates camping, dirt, cameras and chupacabras. He claims to be there because of his good looks “and of course my giant dong.”

A gas station attendant gives them information about the local legends and relates how he happened to personally see the chupacabra. He also draws a map for them, showing them the site where the other four people had camped. The map is like a child’s sketch, and it’s completely unbelievable that anyone could follow it, but that really doesn’t matter. They next encounter a park ranger, who tells them the trail is closed and that they have to go back. He says, “Trees are dying, falling all over, coyotes have been found dead, pieces of them found spread everywhere.” Great dialogue. Amber and Joe see this as evidence of a conspiracy. Amber says: “I feel like there’s a lot of mystery in this forest. I feel like people really want to help us, but they’re just too afraid to really talk.” What? They’ve met a total of two people, one of whom not only talked, but drew them a map. Not a good map, granted, but a map nonetheless.

Each of the four friends straps a camera to his or her head, ensuring plenty of shaky camera work. And they – against the warnings of the park ranger – head up the trail. I do appreciate that they point out a misspelling on a trail sign: “TRALHEAD.” I wonder if that was in the script, or if someone in the art department made a mistake and the actors decided to play with it. By the way, even though they all have cameras now, we still mainly get Dave’s perspective for some reason. (The reason is that he is the director of photography, and not really an actor.) On the trail, they meet three hikers who are looking for their friend Bobby. (So in this land, apparently people can only camp in groups of four.) They go their separate ways, promising to meet up later. And then suddenly we get footage from those three hikers, because one of them has a camera. It’s ridiculous that they are suddenly filming everything too, but they have to because this is a “found footage” film. However, there is a fun moment when they play a prank on the park ranger. There are actually some good moments in this movie. I like when a camera catches something that their eyes did not – a cool touch.

Suddenly Amber declares that the other campers are in trouble. Apparently, Amber has psychic abilities. And then the film cuts back and forth between their campsite and the campsite of those three hikers (four, once Bobby returns). So who is responsible for that sort of editing in the story of this film? The FBI? Well, those hikers have only one camera, so they’d better place it in just exactly the right spot to catch everything. Of course, I don’t believe for a second that they would leave the camera running, set at the perimeter of their camp and aimed into the camp. It’s completely ridiculous. But how else can the filmmakers show us what’s happening at that other camp? Oh, I’ve got a solution: don’t make found footage films. But hey, it’s a good thing that girl landed right in front of that one camera – not once, not twice, but three times. Another problem with these movies is that people inexplicably continue to film once things have gone really wrong, which is never believable. And yet another problem is that you know from the beginning how these movies will end. After all, no one ever comes back to tell the tale. But this movie does provide a few jolts, a few scares. The creature is pretty cool, and is used sparingly. And, rare as it is for this type of film, the cast actually isn’t bad. The film stars Sarah Nicklin as Amber, Michael Reed as Joe, and Alex Hayek as Morgan.

Special Features

The DVD includes two behind-the-scenes featurettes. The first includes interviews with cast members Michael Reed, Sarah Nicklin, Elliot Book, Alex Hayek and Megan Hensley, as well as production footage. The second features interviews with some key crew members, including director Matthew McWilliams, executive producer Christopher D. Maltauro and editor Carlos Ramirez. Interestingly, the story for this movie came about from a camping trip that Matthew McWilliams took with some friends, where he shot footage of them pretending they were looking for the chupacabra.

The special features also include a photo gallery and the film’s trailer.

Chupacabra Territory was directed by Matthew McWilliams, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 11, 2017.

(Note: I also posted a slightly different review of this movie on my Good Things About Bad Movies blog.)

Blu-ray Review: The Vampire Bat

The Film Detective continues its series of restored films with a special edition of the 1933 horror film The Vampire Bat, starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas and Dwight Frye. The Vampire Bat is about a series of mysterious deaths which the superstitious and frightened townspeople believe are the work of a vampire. Skeptical inspector Karl (Melvyn Douglas) investigates the deaths.

The film opens late at night, with a single figure making his way through a street. He is startled by a noise and looks up to see a man on the roof of a nearby building. The camera then moves up to a window of that building, and as we hear a woman scream, the light in that room is extinguished. Several bats on a tree outside then fly off. Not a bad opening, eh? We learn that six people in the town have died, their bodies drained of their blood, puncture wounds found on their necks. Unlike more recent vampire films, most of the men gathered to discuss the crimes in The Vampire Bat immediately come to the conclusion that they are dealing with a vampire. The inspector is the only one who mocks this conclusion. One of the other men says to him: “But the bats, man. The bats!” There is some good dialogue in this scene, as when they talk of an earlier account of local vampirism. The burgermeister says, “Why, this record from the town archive proves it.” Karl responds, “Says it, not proves it.”  And then as he leaves, the inspector teases the others: “Good night, gentlemen. Don’t let the vampires get you.”

Of course there is a science laboratory, and it is in the basement, where all good science laboratories should be. But it is kind of a surprise when we see it is a woman working down there, Ruth (Fay Wray), who assists Dr. Otto (Lionel Atwill). By the way, this film was released the same year that Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill appeared together in Mystery Of The Wax Museum, and the same year that Fay Wray starred in King Kong. As Karl takes Ruth in his arms and kisses her, the cork in a beaker pops like champagne, a nice bit of humor. And in fact, there are some good humorous touches in several scenes of this film. I love when Aunt Gussie enters and asks Karl how he’s doing. As he begins to answer, saying he is quite well, Gussie interrupts, “Well I’m not,” and goes on to complain about various imagined ailments. It’s a delightful moment, and begins a recurring joke.

Dwight Frye, who played Renfield in Dracula, here plays Herman, a strange and creepy fellow who likes bats, and so course is suspected by the townspeople of being the vampire. He likes them because they’re soft, reminding me of Lennie from Of Mice And Men. Herman at one point even puts a bat in his pocket so he can stroke it. Interestingly, this movie came out a few years before Of Mice And Men was published. Did John Steinbeck see this film? This movie features some nice camera work. I like the shot when Martha is attacked; the camera moves swiftly to the windows, as they open, then over to the bed, as if following a not-quite-visible character. The movie is presented in black and white, but has an interesting moment when the torches of the search party are in color. A note before the film starts tells us, “Hand-color sequence restoration by West Wing Studios, Inc. Fotokem.” By the way, the picture in this restored edition looks excellent.

Special Features

This Blu-ray disc includes a commentary track by Sam Sherman, a film producer himself, responsible for Independent-International Pictures. He starts by talking about superstitions, and how they affect our lives. He also talks about producer Phil Goldstein, and about meeting some of the cast members. He mentions Bronson Canyon, and offers information about the tinted torches of the original print, and about that tinting process. He also gives some thoughts on the film’s music.

The special features also include Becoming The Son Of Melvyn Douglas, featuring an interview with Gregory Hesselberg who says, “I never connected emotionally with the man on the screen until very late in life.” Through watching his father’s old movies, he gets closer to his father. His father was not really present during his early childhood. He mentions that it was Melvyn Douglas’ performance in Inherit The Wind that first made him impressed with his father’s acting. This featurette features several still photographs.

This special edition of The Vampire Bat is scheduled to be released on April 25, 2017 through The Film Detective, in collaboration with UCLA Film & Television Archive.

DVD Review: Mia Madre

Mia Madre is a wonderful and emotionally engaging film about a woman who must balance her time between work and her ailing mother, both of which often feel out of her control. It stars Margherita Buy (A Five Star Life) as Margherita, a film director whose new film goes into production at the same time that her mother is hospitalized, and John Turturro as Barry Huggins, her project’s troublesome leading man. The film also stars Nanni Moretti, the film’s director and co-writer, as Margherita’s brother Giovanni.

The film opens with a protest, the police lined up facing those protesting, when suddenly violence erupts. After several moments, Margherita runs out, shouting, “Cut!” The shot doesn’t look right, and she is concerned because one of the cameramen seems to identify heavily with the police rather than with the protestors. While the film seems off to a slightly troubled start, her personal life seems to be somewhat in disarray as well. In addition to her mother being in the hospital, we see Margherita breaking up with her boyfriend, gathering her possessions from his apartment, and learn that her daughter Livia is off skiing with the girl’s father and isn’t following Margherita’s instructions regarding her studies. She seems like a person who must do everything herself, who must be in control. It was her decision to break up with her boyfriend, not his, as he later makes a point of telling her. But when the doctors tell her that her mother is dying, this is something that Margherita cannot control.

She likewise seems to feel her film slipping from her control. When she picks up the film’s star, she tells her brother on the phone, “I can’t tell if he knows I’m the director.” It is said in regards to Barry perhaps not realizing just who it was that picked him up, but it will turn out at moments to be a genuine concern of hers. Barry can be overbearing, a character larger than his own life, and has trouble remembering his lines. After messing up yet another scene, he lashes out: “I want to go back, back to reality! Take me back to reality.” For Margherita, it’s not as easy as all that, for the reality she must face in the hospital is difficult to come to terms with.

Though the film had me nearly in tears at moments, there is a gentle humor infused throughout, and there are some moments that had me laughing aloud, like when Margherita attempts to get certain driving shots to look less fake. I love the honesty of the performances. And I appreciate that we do see Barry’s vulnerability as well.

Special Features

The DVD contains quite a bit of bonus material. Just A Movie: On The Set Of Mia Madre is a behind-the-scenes look at the movie. It begins with the last moment of production, and then director/actor Nanni Moretti takes us back to the project’s origins, talking about his childhood, visiting his parents’ place with the costume designer. We see work on the model for the set design, and it’s soon clear what a personal story this film is for him. This featurette shows us the process of making the film, focusing on certain scenes.

There are also several deleted scenes, including one where Margherita tries to describe her film’s plot to a fan, and some more material with her daughter, Livia. In addition to those deleted scenes, there is a separate bonus feature focusing on deleted and extended scenes of Barry Huggins, including a funny scene where he talks to the film crew about his previous work. The Actor’s Torture shows outtakes of Nanni Moretti, who is acting in the scene, giving direction to another actor, take after take. Also included in the special features is the film’s trailer.

Mia Madre was released on DVD on November 15, 2016 through Music Box Films.

Film Review: Live Cargo

Live Cargo is an unusual and fascinating film about a young couple who arrive at small island in the Bahamas to regroup after a personal tragedy, and soon discover the people there have their own troubles. It is presented in black and white, which instead of capitalizing on the island’s beauty, on the setting, focuses our attention on the people and their daily activities. The film has a quiet intensity, helped by some excellent performances by the main cast members, including Dree Hemingway as Nadine, Keith Stanfield as Lewis, Leonard Earl Howze as Doughboy, Sam Dillon as Myron and – perhaps especially – by Robert Ray Wisdom as Roy.

The film opens with images of nature – a gathering storm, powerful waves crashing on the shore – mixed with close-ups of human faces, and the unspoken drama contained within those faces. It has an intense feel right from the start. Nadine and Lewis arrive on the island and stay at a house that her family owns there. We’re introduced to Doughboy, who owns the boat shuttling people to the island, and Myron, a young and vulnerable man who feels out of place, but who works for Doughboy. And we meet Roy, a friend of Nadine’s family, and by far the most immediately likeable character in the film. You sense straight away that he is the character we’ll rely on to get us through the storm.

We learn that there is some trouble with Doughboy taking business from others on the island, but that may be the least of his transgressions. And before we learn precisely what he’s doing, there is a scene with Doughboy and his young daughter, in which he tells her, “You know, everything I do, I do for you.” It’s interesting to see him as a father, though the scene comes out of nowhere and leads nowhere, and so feels added in. Yet, it does make us wonder if he feels guilty about what he’s doing. There is another moment later on, where Doughboy mentions to Myron that everyone looks out for himself, which seems like he’s justifying actions that give him feelings of guilt.

The mood of this film is unsettling and compelling. There are lots of quiet, personal moments, showing a lack of communication among characters. There are some great scenes where the images and music tell the story and convey the mood, with no dialogue. (There are also some wonderful underwater shots, including footage with a shark.) And it all leads to one event that will change things for every character.

Live Cargo was directed by Logan Sandler, who also co-wrote the script with Thymaya Payne. It premiered in New York on March 31, 2017, and in Los Angeles on April 7.