Bryan Loves You Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

Bryan Loves You Blu-ray Movie Review

Death of Bryan.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 29, 2022

It probably goes without saying that the past couple of years have been incredibly challenging, and that many people have understandably felt a sense of isolation and disconnection that can be positively unhealthy. In that regard, it's at least heartwarming in a way that this Blu-ray release of a little remembered cult (in more ways than one) film at least allowed a bunch of folks to reconnect, albeit via Zoom or some other internet chatting app, to talk about their experiences making Bryan Loves You. The film may not be much to write home (or anywhere else) about, but there's a kind of sweetness to some of the supplemental material included on this disc which may make things at least relatively more palatable to a prospective consumer.

Bryan Loves You was the brainchild of Seth Landau, who wrote, directed and starred in a feature which prominently features his stomping grounds of Arizona. Landau is on hand in the aforementioned "reunion" supplements (detailed below) and he freely admits he was a "kid" and "incredibly green" when he made this feature, and it frankly shows, with a decided lack of technical finesse (even given the fact that this is a supposed "found footage" outing), some lengthy bouts of illogic and/or incomprehensibility in the writing, and a rather broad range of performance styles in the cast. Landau also admits freely in his newly done commentary that "marquee star" Tony Todd only appears in very brief bookending segments (some may actually miss the one at the end, since it comes after the credits), simply mentioning "that's what you get" in such a low budget affair where stars are hired for a limited number of days, or seemingly in this case, minutes. Two other names of decent "marquee value" in the forms of Daniel Roebuck and George Wendt are also on hand, albeit in roles just barely bigger than Todd's.

Landau portrays Jonathan, a seemingly normal enough guy in a very unusual town, a bright, sunlit suburb which seems to have been overtaken by a mysterious cult which worships a deity named Bryan. Now, Landau's interview with George Wendt included on this disc as a supplement (see below) overtly mentions the fact that Wendt evidently made Landau aware of a little film called Monty Python's Life of Brian, and wanted to make sure that Landau really wanted to call his film what it is called, but the fact remains that there's a perhaps undeniably hilarious subtext to events depicted in this film for any lovers of that 1979 comedy classic.

Jonathan's investigative attempts ultimately lead him into the supposedly dark heart of the group, one which worships Bryan while denigrating a demon called Tanzy, and if anyone thinks Landau may have erred by calling his "god" Bryan, I'd only suggest brave enough individuals look up one of the "urban definitions" for Tanzy. Jonathan ultimately decides to travel to the nearby psychiatric institution, where he deals with a harridan Nurse Wratched type named Cindy (Tiffany Shepis), and soon enough finds himself being committed to the place for a little "re-education".

There are some interesting enough ideas underlying Bryan Loves You, not the least of which is the almost Invasion of the Body Snatchers like aspect of a community being transformed into vessels of Group Think, but the iffy found footage element, which relies on an almost preposterous array of conveniently placed cameras, as well as some incredibly clunky writing and performances make this somewhat of a slog.

Bryan Loves You Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bryan Loves You is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD's Marquee Collection, an imprint of MVD Visual, with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.33:1. I have all sorts of questions about this presentation, starting with the aspect ratio. The IMDb reports a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and there are certainly moments here that look anamorphically squeezed to me (see screenshots 8 and 9 for two examples). The whole "found footage" element may account for what looks like pretty shoddy minicam aesthetics on display throughout the film, but there are also pretty egregious haloing artifacts throughout the presentation (look at the line surrounding Daniel Roebuck's sweater in screenshot 4 for just one example, though if you parse through the other screenshots, there are definitely more to see). The palette is probably the best thing about the presentation, and it pops very well almost all of the time, but especially in some of the most brightly lit outdoor moments. Detail levels are often marginal, and the entire presentation is soft and almost blurry at times.

Bryan Loves You Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Bryan Loves You features an okay sounding LPCM 2.0 track that can't quite make up for what I assume were deficits in the actual sound recording during the shoot, so that noticeable spikes and valleys in amplitude are in evidence. For the most part, the film's dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly, and the kind of demonic voice that penetrates the soundtrack on occasion is nicely reverberant. While there are optional English subtitles, they are littered with spelling errors and misheard words, and are frequently not in sync with the imagery (e.g., a partial subtitle for Tony Todd's last lines is placed way early during the credits and is incomplete in any case).

Bryan Loves You Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• They're Still Talking About Me (HD; 44:50) is a Zoom like interview with George Wendt conducted by Seth Landau.


• Your Attitude Needs to Change (HD; 50:49) is a Zoom like interview with Tiffany Shepis conducted by Seth Landau.


• Get Out of Here (HD; 59:35) is a Zoom like interview with Daniel Roebuck conducted by Seth Landau. Daniel Schweger later joins in.


• Have a Pleasant Day (HD; 31:46) is a Zoom like interview with Brinke Stevens conducted by Seth Landau.


• 2022 Audio Commentary with Seth Landau can be accessed under the Setup Menu.


• 2008 Commentary with Seth Landau, James Oster, Elissa dowling and Dr. Phillip Baker can be accessed under the Setup Menu.


• Trailers includes Bryan Loves You (HD; 1:12) along with trailers for other releases from MVD.

Bryan Loves You Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The interviews on this disc were by far the most enjoyable part of this release for me. The film is almost unbelievably wobbly from any number of standpoints, and that includes literally, with a surplus of "jiggly cam" handheld material. Landau seems genuinely enthused that Bryan Loves You is getting a Blu-ray release, but my hunch is this is a niche product that will probably only appeal to fans of the interestingly eclectic cast, and (again) then perhaps more for the interviews than for the actual film. Technical merits range from pretty iffy (video) to generally decent (audio). As stated, the supplements are very enjoyable, for anyone considering making a purchase.