All I Can Say Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

All I Can Say Blu-ray Movie Review

Bee Minus.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 24, 2020

All I Can Say digs into the short life of Shannon Hoon, lead singer of the band Blind Melon known mostly for their 1993 hit "No Rain" (and of course, its wildly popular music video). Hoon recorded a wealth of personal video diaries between 1990 and 1995; during that time, Blind Melon's debut album went multi-platinum, the band toured with the likes of Guns 'N Roses and Soundgarden, their follow-up album Soup failed to catch on, and Hoon unexpectedly died from an overdose while touring. All I Can Say serves up loosely-organized clips in lieu of a traditional narrative, which makes this rough time capsule documentary better suited for die-hard fans than curious newcomers.

The entirely handmade feel of All I Can Say works in its favor. This film is 99% comprised of original footage in pure VHS-grade format with suitably scuzzy video and raw audio, although some portions are sweetened with atmospheric music cues or "rewind" effects and other editing-bay tricks. It begins with a brief clip from Hoon's last day alive on October 21, 1995 but quickly cuts back to 1990 and peels back layers as five years tick by, with some moments more eventful than others. Conversations with Hoon's divorced parents, some over the phone. A celebratory contract signing on the roof of Capitol Records. Palling around with Axl and Slash from Guns N' Roses. Brushing teeth in a hotel room. Scenes from the music video set of "No Rain", and even clips from the studio recording. Fighting over a Rolling Stone cover. Dealing with insomnia and childhood trauma after Kurt Cobain's death. Desperate struggles with alcohol and drug abuse. Playing Woodstock '94. A few birthdays, and the arrival of his daughter Nico in July 1995.

It's arresting its its simplicity and. while the end result isn't consistently revealing, this is more due to Hoon's arm's-length personality. (Which, to be fair, is still more honest than that of most twenty-somethings.) But die-hard fans will enjoy this time capsule, as the 25-year gap between Hoon's death and the present day gives everything a bit more power. Also available on VOD, All I Can Say arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories.

All I Can Say Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Don't let the middling star rating fool you -- this is a fine presentation of limited source material. All I Can Say is almost all camcorder-shot footage of low quality (which has thankfully not been cropped) and displays all of the format's native flaws: middling detail, muddy colors, aliasing, lots of noise in darker scenes, and even a few tracking lines. For anyone like myself who grew up on such material, it's not a problem. Either way, Blu-ray can only wring so much detail out of a low-resolution format so, long story short, this is as good as it gets and likely matches the original tape in all regards. A DVD would've been good enough but, like Oscilloscope's recent VHYes, overkill is better than nothing.

All I Can Say Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though hardly an all-out sonic revision, the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix (which defaults to 2.0) at least attempts to liven up the similarly low-grade source audio in a tasteful way. Well-placed ambiance arrives via sparse instrumental cues, as do a handful of "tape rewind" and other such sound effects. But for the most part, this is a front-loaded presentation that actually features some fairly respectable discrete channel separation.

Dialogue is intelligible in all but a few instances and, during those brief moments, forced subtitles are there to help out. Otherwise, optional English subtitles are on hand during the entire main feature if you need them.

All I Can Say Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc package arrives in a clear keepcase with two-sided artwork and no inserts. A few extras are also included, most of which add context to Hoon's life as well as the process of compiling footage.

• Camera as Consciousness (31:18) - Filmmaker Judd Apatow speaks with the film's co-directors Danny Clinch, Taryn Gould, and Colleen Hennessy.

• Nico Hoon Interview (7:58) - Shannon's daughter Nico speaks with the co-directors about her dad, who died when she was just three months old.

• "In The End" (3:07) - Nico Hoon performs a song by her band Garden Street.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:46) -

All I Can Say Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Raw but only fitfully revealing, All I Can Say examines a five-year stretch during the short life of musician Shannon Hoon by way of his personal camcorder diaries. Oscilloscope's Blu-ray is overkill from an A/V perspective and features a few welcome extras; they still may not justify the price, but this is a nice collectible for Blind Melon fans.