Mill Creek has released a new Blu-ray compilation containing 6 movies from Universal Pictures centering around Music & Romance, which are themes that can be found in each of the films. The 6 movies are split across three discs, each with a basic menu that offers Play and Subtitle On/Off options for both of the films on that disc. There are no bonus materials included for any of the movies.
The collection features some recognizable stars, including Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, David Duchovny, Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Jamie Walters, John Travolta and Shirley MacLaine. The six films included in the collection are Shout (1991), Connie and Carla (2004), Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001), The Man Who Cried (2001), The Caveman’s Valentine (2001) and Madame Sousatzka (1988). I hadn’t heard of most of these movies before receiving this Blu-ray set—the only one I had seen before was Captain Corelli’s Mandolin way back when it was first released. So I was excited to check out this release.
Here’s a rundown of the films:
Shout (1991)
It’s the mid 1950s in a small town in Clarity County Texas. Jesse Tucker (Jamie Walters) is the rebellious new addition to Benedict Boys Home, where the proprietor, Mr. Eugene Benedict (Richard Jordan), uses a firm hand to try to turn around delinquents, orphans and other troubled young men. Jesse is constantly getting in trouble and forced to do extra work or exercise as punishment. Mr. Benedict’s daughter Sara (Heather Graham) has just returned home from college for the summer, and Jesse makes a bet with his friends that he will “nail her”, as a way to get even with Mr. Benedict. However, as Jesse gets close to Sara, he starts to form real feelings for her—a blossoming relationship that could be jeopardized if she found out about the bet. Meanwhile, Mr. Benedict has hired new music teacher Jack Cabe (John Travolta), to help get the boys ready for the town’s big 4th of July concert. Jack finds it difficult to get the boys excited about playing old standards—it isn’t until he introduces them to a new style of music, rock ‘n’ roll, that the boys’ eyes light up. However, this negro music doesn’t sit well with the town sheriff, and Mr. Benedict doesn’t appreciate Jack’s more laid back teaching methods, so they go digging into his past, looking for an excuse to get rid of Jack.
While the film is somewhat of a predictable, by-the-numbers story, I still found it to be a quite enjoyable period drama, featuring some great music (especially the songs that play during the opening and closing credits). The picture quality is generally pretty solid, though it gets a bit grainy during the brief opening credits. Only a DTS 2.0 audio track is offered, but it never felt lacking. Dialogue is clear throughout, and the music sounds great.
Connie and Carla (2004)
Connie (Nia Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Colette) have been best friends all their lives, and always have had aspirations of making it big performing on the stage together. But after many years, they’re still waiting for their big break, working as waitresses and performing showtunes at a dinner theater by the airport. Their boyfriends tell them that it’s probably time to give up on their dreams. However, things take a turn when they’re at work one day and witness two Russian mobsters kill a man, and one of the women discovers a kilo of their cocaine in her bag. Their first thought is to go to the cops, but they soon discover that the corrupt cops are working with the mobsters, and so they go on the run. The Russians, eager to eliminate the 2 witnesses and get their drugs back, go in search of the women. Connie and Carla make their way to Los Angeles, where they inadvertently end up getting jobs performing as drag queens in a bar. As they befriend some of the other drag queens, they must continue to hide the fact that they are really women, which becomes even more difficult as Connie starts to fall for the estranged brother, Jeff (David Duchovny), of one of them. Meanwhile, Russian mobsters Rudy and Tibor make their way across the country, checking out every dinner theater along the way as they hunt down Connie and Carla.
This was easily my favorite film in the collection, even though it’s basically Sister Act, but with drag queens instead of nuns. Vardalos and Colette are a hoot, and have such great chemistry with one another—they really do feel like lifelong friends, and their over-the-top stage performances are so much fun. The film has a great supporting cast with many recognizable faces, but often stealing the scene is Boris McGiver as the Russian mobster Tibor, who slowly becomes a dinner theater superfan as he makes stop after stop looking for the women. The picture and sound quality is solid on this one.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001)
A war is brewing between Italy and Greece, and the people on the small island of Cephalonia are preparing for the forthcoming battle. Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), the daughter of the town physician Dr. Iannis (John Hurt), is in love with fisherman Mandras (Christian Bale), and the two get engaged before he enlists and heads off to war with the other young men. Soon, Italian and German soldiers—led by German Captain Gunter Weber (David Morrissey) and Italian Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage)—occupy the island. Corelli is a fun loving soldier who hasn’t seen any real battle action. He doesn’t really take things seriously. He enjoys music, and leading his fellow soldiers of the Opera Society in song. When he is assigned to board at the doctor’s home, he is immediately smitten with Pelagia, who isn’t a fan at first. But soon the feelings become mutual and they start to fall in love. But she is torn as she’s already betrothed to another.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is the longest of the films in the collection, and I think it overstayed its welcome a but by the end. It is primarily a romantic and war drama, though there is quite a bit of humor strewn throughout. John Hurt often brings some laughs with his character’s straightforward, no-nonsense way of speaking. He doesn’t care if the enemy has taken over the island, they’re still going to do things his way! In his mind, they already won the war, so the Germans and Italians shouldn’t even be there. The music in this film primarily comes from Captain Corelli and his men singing together, or Corelli playing the mandolin that he always seems to be carrying around with him. The video presentation is solid, and does a nice job of transporting the viewer back in time and to this beautiful Greek island. During the wartime scenes, the audio track is well utilized to immerse the viewer in the action.
The Man Who Cried (2001)
As times get tough in 1927 Russia, a talented singer (Oleg Yankovsky) leaves behind his young daughter, Fegele (Claudia Lander-Duke), to head to America in hopes of making a better life for his family. However, before he has a chance to send for his daughter, war breaks out, and Fegele is sent off to England, with only a coin and a single photo to remember her father by, and her adoptive parents rename her to Suzie. As she grows older, Suzie (Christina Ricci) proves to be a gifted vocalist like her father. She befriends a Russian cabaret dancer, Lola (Cate Blanchett), and starts to save her money, hoping to make it to America one day to be reunited with her father. Lola is on the hunt for a rich husband, and sets her sights on opera tenor Dante Dominio (John Turturro), and constantly offers tips to Suzie on how to land a wealthy man of her own—but Suzie finds herself drawn to the opera’s poor Gypsy horse trainer, Cesar (Johnny Depp). Soon war once again arrives to shake up Suzie’s life.
This was probably my least favorite of the films in the collection. I just didn’t find myself all that invested in the love stories. I was actually more intrigued by the opening of the film that was more about these children struggling to make their way back to the parents. However, this part of the story becomes more of an afterthought that ultimately just bookends the film. The titular man who cried is hardly even in the film. The video presentation on this movie often looked too dark, and a bit flat and washed-out—Christina Ricci often looks overly pale. The level of detail also wasn’t up to par with the other films on this Blu-ray set. The audio track fared much better.
The Caveman’s Valentine (2001)
Romulus Ledbetter (Samuel L. Jackson) went to Julliard and was a renowned composer and piano player with a promising career, but something inside of him seems to have snapped. He now spends his days living in a cave on the streets of New York City, ranting about his paranoid theories to anyone who’ll listen. He watches the news on a TV that’s not plugged in, sees things that other people can’t see, and believes there’s a guy named Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant living on top of the Chrysler Building, and is trying to take over the world. Romulus is separated from his wife Sheila (Tamara Tunie), though he often talks to her in his visions. His daughter Lulu (Annjanue Ellis) is a NYC policewoman, and desperately wants him to get some help. One Valentine’s Day morning Romulus discovers the body of a 20-year-old homeless man frozen in a tree outside of his cave. His visions tell him that the man was murdered by famous artist David Leppenraub (Colm Feore), who works for the evil Stuyvesant. People just look at him like he’s crazy, but Romulus knows how to tell if people are lying—he has swarms of moth-seraphs howling in his skull, and lies vex them. Romulus is determined to solve this case, and in order to do so, he’ll have to re-enter the world and pretend to be normal. Assisting him in his efforts are his reluctant daughter, a kind bankruptcy lawyer named Bob (Anthony Michael Hall), Leppenraub’s sister Moira (Ann Magnuson), and Leppenraub’s latest protégé Joey (Jay Rodan).
The Caveman’s Valentine is definitely the most unique film of the bunch. It really gives Samuel L. Jackson a chance to showcase his dramatic chops. Romulus knows that he’s a bit crazy, but refuses to seek any kind of help or assistance. He likes living in his cave and believes in all of the paranoid theories he yells out to strangers. Once this murder case comes along, he sees this as a chance to prove himself. Despite his outward craziness, we see that Romulus is actually a brilliant man who can piece things together and solve a mystery. He has this dogged determination to see this case through, no matter what personal danger it puts him in. The film has a unique visual style, often cutting away to visions of the angels inside Romulus’ head, or to the yellow and green glowing signs of evil that only Romulus can see. The picture quality is quite clean and clear throughout and the audio track makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to immerse the viewer in the sounds and cacophony that Romulus often experiences, or in the music he plays on the piano.
Madame Sousatzka (1988)
Madame Irina Sousatzka (Shirley MacLaine) is a strict second generation Russian immigrant piano teacher who takes her job sometimes a bit too seriously—she gets upset when her rules and traditions are not followed to the T. Her newest student is 15-year-old musical prodigy Manek Sen (Navin Chowdhry), who lives with his single Bengali immigrant mother Sushila (Shabana Azmi) in the UK. Manek’s mother runs her own struggling catering business, and is eager to see her son perform, and possibly make some money off his talent, but Madame Sousatzka is adamantly against this, always telling Sushila that her son will perform when he’s ready. Madame Sousatzka doesn’t like concerts or the idea of exploiting one’s talent to make money. However, this belief may actually stem from some traumatic experiences and fears from events from her own past, which cause her to ultimately hold back her students. She sees Manek like a son, and tries to keep him sheltered from people who may steal him away, like rival teacher Leo Milev (Robert Rietty) or agent Ronnie Blum (Leigh Lawson).
The film follows the lives and relationships of Manek, his mother, and the people in Madame Sousatzka’s building, who have become like a family to both her and Manek. A developer has been pressuring the building’s owner, Lady Emily (Peggy Ashcroft), to sell her house, which could end up forcing Madame Sousatzka, chiropractor Mr. Cordle (Geoffrey Bayldon), and singer Jenny (Twiggy)—whom Manek instantly forms a crush for—to have to move out as well.
Madame Sousatzka tells an interesting story about one woman dealing with the trauma of her past and trying to prevent history from repeating itself, but going about this in a way that may just have the opposite effect. At the same time, we also follow the personal, professional and romantic struggles of the other various characters as well. Shirley MacLaine gives a strong performance as the titular character, as does Navin Chowdhry in his first role. The video presentation is solid, and the audio track, despite only being a DTS 2.0 track still sounds excellent, and showcases the film’s many piano performances.
Mill Creek has put together a somewhat solid collection of six films, nearly all of which are arriving on Blu-ray for the first time—only Captain Corelli’s Mandolin had been released on Blu-ray in the U.S. previously. The picture and sound quality is generally quite good across all of the films, but there is no bonus material included for any of them. Any legacy material has not been ported over (such as the commentary track and music video from Universal’s previous Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Blu-ray). The films reside 2 to a disc with just a basic menu on each. The discs are placed in a standard-size HD keepcase, with one disc on a peg on the left side and the other 2 stacked on a peg on the right side. There was no slipcover included on our review copy.
What’s Included:
Films:
- Disc 1
- Shout (1991) (1:28:24)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Connie and Carla (2004) (1:37:40)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Shout (1991) (1:28:24)
- Disc 2:
- Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001) (2:08:50)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
- Subtitles: English SDH
- The Man Who Cried (2001) (1:39:47)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001) (2:08:50)
- Disc 3:
- The Caveman’s Valentine (2001) (1:45:19)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Madame Sousatzka (1988) (2:01:22)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
- Subtitles: English SDH
- The Caveman’s Valentine (2001) (1:45:19)
Extras:
-
No bonus material included.
Final Thoughts:
Mill Creek has put together a nice six-film themed collection, with generally solid picture and sound. I had never heard of most of these films before, so it was nice to discover some new ones. Connie and Carla was easily the highlight for me, and the one I’ll probably re-watch the most. But I also really enjoyed Shout and Madame Sousatzka, and The Caveman’s Valentine was an interesting and unique thriller. Less appealing to me were the more love-story focused The Man Who Cried and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. But the nice thing about this set is that with 6 films, you’re more than likely to find some gems. The one downside of this release is that there’s no bonus material included. That said, the release comes recommended for anyone looking for a pretty solid mix of musically-themed comedies/dramas.
Music & Romance Collection (Blu-Ray)
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