7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The story of a boy growing up in Los Angeles in the 1990s.
Starring: Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, Sunny Suljic, Jerrod Carmichael, Na-Kel SmithDrama | 100% |
Coming of age | 64% |
Comedy | 11% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
There’s some debate over who exactly coined the oft repeated joke “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be”, but for those young enough that the 1990s evoke pangs of wistful emotion (we older types are probably prone to look further back than the "Clinton Era" for our own personal pangs of wistful emotion), Jonah Hill’s directorial debut may be a suitable diversion. As Hill mentions repeatedly in the enjoyable commentary included on this Blu-ray release as a supplement, he had been dreaming of Mid90s for years, actually constructing sequences and individual shots in his head in preparation for his "what I really want to do is direct" moment. Some curmudgeons might suggest that Hill might have been better served to have spent more time coming up with an actual story to underpin these long fantasized about moments, for Mid90s may strike some as more of an outline for a film than a completed project. The film offers an absolutely fantastic opportunity for young star Sunny Suljic as troubled young skateboarder Stevie (kind of funnily, Suljic played another skateboarder, albeit in a much less prominent role, in Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot). Stevie is a resident of Los Angeles in the, yep, mid 1990s, an age before the internet had completely taken over everyone’s lives, and when kids still needed to occasionally, you know, go outside in order to find some kind of community. Stevie, who weathers some pretty serious smackdowns from his lunkheaded older brother Ian (Lucas Hedges), finds that community in a ragtag bunch of skateboarders who have their own little club of sorts in a less than opulent Los Angeles neighborhood.
Mid90s is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Shot in Super 16, Mid90s has intentionally lo-fi look which is at least somewhat stylized, as Hill and Blauvelt get into in their commentary track, with an emphasis on not trying to "prettify" the often incredibly sunny Los Angeles locations. That means many of the outdoor scenes in particular have kind of harsh, overly bright appearance where fine detail can be masked at times underneath what almost looks like a slightly hazy overlay. The palette can also tend to look just slightly blanched at times due to this stylistic approach, and in fact quite a bit of the outdoor scenes tend to skew at least slightly toward yellow tones, even divorced from the sunny aspect. Several interior scenes have a slightly blue quality to them. Hill and Blauvelt go for some really up close and personal shots quite a bit of the time, and that tends to support better overall detail levels, even when lighting conditions are less than optimal. Grain can look just a tad splotchy at times, but generally resolves very naturally. While this is housed on a BD-25, the relative shortness of the feature combined with the larger black bars due to Academy Ratio may have provided more than ample "real estate" on the disc, since I didn't notice any compression issues.
While not really showy in any real sense, Mid90s' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track provides consistent if sometimes subtle immersion courtesy not just of ambient environmental effects in the many outdoor scenes, but also due to the pulsing score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Several "clubhouse" scenes also benefit from directionality as dialogue (such as it is) overlaps. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation, and there are no problems with damage or distortion.
Despite a decided lack of contextualizing, and the fact that many of these characters aren't really given overly detailed accountings, virtually every person in this film is someone most audience members will care for in some degree, and that's testament to Hill's acumen in providing a connection between viewer and film. I personally wished there had been just a little bit more momentum in terms of a through line, especially with regard to the film's climax, which didn't quite tug at my personal heartstrings the way I perceived it was aiming for. Still, this is a confident debut for Hill as a director, and Suljic and the rest of the cast are all really remarkable. Technical merits are fine, and Mid90s comes Recommended.
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