ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN:
The cartoon is in CAV and it has a rather soft film like quality in comparison to its contemporary “The Little Mermaid,” which is rather harsh, but that could be intentional. The colors are solid with a passable soundtrack. The story concerning greed and death is certainly more adult in nature than its main theatrical contender at the time and somewhat more pleasing. The musical numbers are completely forgettable though. I also did not see this one in the theatre. I went back to check on this title for possible signs of rot, but it is still okay. The pressing sort of looks like the “Peter Pan” pressing. CAV looks better than its CLV little brother as expected. The title is no longer available so some may consider it to be a collectable. A sequel to this film is coming in 1996 and I will endeavor to avoid it.
AMAZING NURSE NANAKO – Memories Of You: Pioneer
| A080 |
6.5 |
1.33 |
2.0 |
Extras |
Single Layer |
Category: Comedy / Science Fiction / TV / OAV
A testing of the waters. This hole be bad. I gave this one a try and it just isn’t very well dubbed or animated at that. It also isn’t very funny or any good. One accepts the fact that the target audience may just want to see her breasts bounce and jiggle like a bowl of jello, but this is too much. There has to be more to it than this. Either it is a full blown hentai or just leave this alone and get on with the storytelling. For some reason, the character design of the other characters appears to be much more interesting than the feature character. Similar character designs to Burn Up W. The first episode is rather violent at times. The English voice actors just are not very well selected and they do nothing except annoy the viewer. The disc also comes with a plastic Nanako stand up prop. Image quality could be better as compared to some of the other Pioneer efforts. Things like Sol Bianca and Jubei Chan – The Ninja Girl look so much better than this one. I won’t be adding the rest of this series. Lack of appeal, however if the price should come down to $10 like some of the other titles then I may consider rounding out this series. The first two episodes may have hinted at a larger story arc taking place, but this is one journey where I want to get off and now.
AMAZING NURSE NANAKO – Firecrackers Pioneer
| A081 |
6.5 |
1.33 |
2.0 |
Extras |
Single Layer |
Category: Comedy / Science Fiction / TV / OAV
David said that this one arrived, but I have no recollection of it being ordered. I actually went out of my way to remind myself that I would not be getting this next one. It is almost as if there is someone else out there ordering this stuff without me knowing it. The next two episodes of this six episode series are on this one.
AMAZING STORIES Book 2: Go To The Head Of The Class/Family Dog: MCA
| A085 |
5.5 |
1.33 |
DPL |
LDCA |
Category: Comedy / Fantasy / Series / TV
This one came directly from Ken Cranes in L.A. on my visit to the City of Angels. It was priced at $15.00 equating to $22 Canadian. This one can complete my collection for the Family Dog series episodes. The cartoon is presented in CAV with the other program in CLV. There is a pseudo rating of PG-13 probably obtained for overseas theatrical release. The Zemekis episode is very spooky and somewhat silly. At the time, it was a Halloween special one hour long presentation. It does not age as well as I thought. The Family Dog episode also seems to drag on and on as there is no direction to the story. Although there are three distinct acts which correspond to the commercial spots. The cartoon is slightly better than the short lived television series that it would spawn some four years later. The cartoon was also shown theatrically as a short during the run of “The Land Before Time” … a disc that I once had, but eventually sold or gave it to Tod Smyrichinsky in Louisville. It was the pot film. As time goes on, the shows from this series become less and less watchable. The stories were never that original and some were actually downright dreadful. The opening of the show was the only item that was ahead of its time with the computer graphics intergrated into the show.
AMERICAN BEAUTY: Dreamworks
| A090 |
7.0 |
2.35 16×9 |
5.1/DTS |
Extras |
RSDL |
Category: Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Documentary / TV
I picked this one up at Visions as they had it a few days ahead of the release schedule. The price was okay as I wasn’t expecting DTS on this one too. The transfer looks pretty solid, but some places seem to lack focus. Still … a thoroughly entertaining film to watch with extremely interesting characters all around. A window on life in suburbia and how things are never quite what they seem. Moving and disturbing and funny all at the same time. Extras on this dis include director commentary, two trailers, a 20 minute featurette, storyboard comparisons and more. No deleted scenes as this is what the director wanted us to see as a film. Not the what might have been clips. The film is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen, but the full frame footage in the featurette indicates that the film was shot on Super 35 and matted to the 2.35:1 ratio. There is a lot of headroom in these clips. The framing is very nice in the film. Images could probably have looked a little sharper, but I don’t mind so much. Kevin Spacey plays a character that seems so much like Kevin Spacey.
AMERICAN PIE: MCA
| A095 |
7.5 |
1.85 16×9 |
5.1 |
Extras |
RSDL |
Category: Comedy / Fantasy / Documentary / TV
This is the unrated version of the film and it has about 25 seconds of material that is different from the regular R rated version. The disc includes commentary, a trailer, a featurette, and many other little extras. Is the film fun to watch, yes. I have to give the commentary a try as word has it that it is nearly as funny as the movie itself if not more so. The commentary is funny, but not as funny as the Kevin Smith and gang commentary on Mallrats. The commentary track is also geared toward the R rated version of the film and not the unrated version so at times, the discussion is about something that we do not actually see on the screen. The guys on the commentary track do lament the fact that no women were available to do the commentary track. It’s funny as to what constitutes a special edition DVD release. This one was priced at $26.95 in the U.S. which was much less than the other special editions that MCA usually charges. The trend began with The Mummy at $30 and has since dropped to this level. A film like Mystery Men actually has as many special features as this DVD, but it is not even sold as a special edition.
ANALYZE THIS Warner
| A100 |
7.5 |
2.35 16×9; 1.33 |
5.1 |
Extras |
Two Sided |
Category: Comedy / Fantasy / Documentary / TV
A typical cheap disc from Future Shop for $21.79 and change. The disc contains both widescreen and full frame versions. The extras include two separate commentary tracks and a trailer. The commentary tracks are done by Director Harold Ramis and the other one has Billy Crystal and Robert Deniro. Billy Crystal is more lively than Deniro. Both actors appear to have done their commentary separately and the tracks are integrated into the same audio track on the DVD. Image quality is the typical excellent transfer from Warner Bros. The film is a lot of fun with Deniro doing a parody of his wiseguy characters from all the other gangster films that he has done. The bit with the bad is also a riot. Lisa Kudrow is also cast in the film is a supporting role, but as the director says, regretfully, she does not get much to do in the film.
