6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A young, once-great Hollywood film director refuses to accept changing times during the early 1930s, and confines himself to his decaying mansion to make silent porn flicks.
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Jessica Harper, Bob Hoskins, Veronica Cartwright, Stephen DaviesDrama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It can often be an amusing pastime to try to describe any given film as a “mash up” of two other films, and my hunch is there is probably no weirder “combo platter” of description than the one I’m about to invoke to give a brief, salient summary of Inserts. Ready? OK, here goes—imagine Singin' in the Rain crossed with Boogie Nights, and you’ll have at least a generalist overview of some of the oddities in store in this 1975 British film written and directed by John Byrum (The Razor's Edge, The Whoopee Boys). Inserts plays awfully like a stage enterprise, save for a prologue, with events unfolding in “real time” on what amounts to one set. The prologue details a largely unseen audience, supposedly in contemporary (i.e., 1975) times watching an old black and white “nudie film” (as they were called back in the day), one which quickly tips over into sadomasochism, but which deprives its perhaps inebriated viewers of a “money shot” (if you catch my drift, which I’m sure you do), something the crowd gathered complains about loudly as the film segues back to the actual shoot of the old time porno enterprise.
Inserts is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Elements utilized are in generally very good condition, though it's notable that the prologue features some intentionally "damaged" looking footage from the old porno film (see screenshot 6). Grain is a little ungainly at times and there are some very slight instances of image instability. Colors have faded, and while it's irrefutable that much of the production design tends to favor browns, the entire palette looks kind of drab and anemic. The few interstitial black and white moments feature decent black levels and acceptably modulated gray scale. Clarity and sharpness are somewhat variable, along with densities (something affected by the grain resolution), with some moments looking really good (see screenshots 8 and 9) and others looking a bit fuzzier and/or blanched (see screenshot 14). My score would tend to lurk around 3.25 if I were able to adjust it.
There's not a ton to Inserts's sound design, despite the questionable use of "Moonglow", now with a new if not exactly improved lyric, and so the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix services the film perfectly well. The rinky-tink piano music sounds bright but never brittle, and all of the dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Without beating a dead horse (and/or middle C), I'm reiterating my availability to give "finger synching" lessons to aspiring actors needing to fake piano playing for the movies. Richard Dreyfuss' patently hilarious "performance" on the keys early in the film will delight those who do know how to play (his flourish at the end with a left hand crossing over the right is Academy Award material as far as I'm concerned).
I can't out and out recommend Inserts, at least not to the public at large, but I have to say it continually fascinated me, even as I was aware of its various shortcomings. I think the film might have worked better had Byrum simply played it for the farce he seems to be at least occasionally aiming for (despite some melodramatic plot developments as things move along). While the film probably misses its ultimate target, it's often compelling in its own strange way, and Cartwright is simply fantastic. Technical merits are good (video) to excellent (audio) for those considering a purchase.
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