Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Shit & Champagne Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 11, 2021

“Shit & Champagne” originated on stage, with writer/director/star D’Arcy Drollinger hoping to offer audiences a wild ride with a drag-themed superspy parody that took on corporate culture and weird relationships. Feeling ambitious, Drollinger takes his writing to the big screen with a slicker version of “Shit & Champagne,” offering a cinematic take on an unfortunate title and big comedy energy, securing a significant amount of broadness to best support this exhaustively silly endeavor.

Champagne (D’Arcy Drollinger) is a popular dancer at the Shaboom Boom Room, charming audiences with her grand style and seductive moves. She has a boyfriend in Rod (Mario Diaz), but not for long, with the love of her life murdered while trying to share a dark secret about business at Mall- Wart. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime, Champagne has to deal with Detective Hammer (Seton Brown), an unhelpful cop, working with a series of disguises to find her way to Dixie Stampede (Matthew Martin), the secret architect behind the rise of Booty Bumps speed shots, which create an amazing high, but also triggers messy diarrhea.

Subtlety is not on the menu in “Shit & Champagne.” It’s a drag comedy that plays almost everything to the back row, keeping Drollinger busy as he strives to make the whole project race along as fast as possible. It’s an admirable effort, and the material doesn’t back down from oddity, working to cook up goofy tragedies for Champagne, who not only suffers a major bedroom loss with well-endowed Rod’s demise, but Brandy (Steven LeMay), her roommate and half-stepsister, is also taken out by Dixie’s thugs, robbing the world of award-winning calves. “Shit & Champagne” quickly slips the eponymous character into detective mode, with the writing turning her into a master of disguise, helping to infiltrate a Mexican restaurant, a Mall- Wart, and Dixie’s office. However, death isn’t the only issue in play, with Booty Bumps starting to plague San Francisco, watching addicts deal with messy bottoms in their quest to get high.

Shit & Champagne Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.40:1 aspect ratio) presentation is positively nuclear with colors, offering a bright, primary-blasted viewing experience that's meant to support the cartoon atmosphere of the feature. Hues are alive throughout, offering deep reds and blues, buttery yellows, and hot pinks. Stage lighting and interior decoration also provide compelling shades, and skintones are appropriately cranked up with thick makeup designs. Detail is strong, capturing textured faces and costuming. Sight gags are open for inspection. Delineation is satisfactory. Some mild banding is detected.

Shit & Champagne Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix provides sharp dialogue exchanges, with the performers crisply enunciating their lines for maximum comedy potential. Argumentative behavior is nicely balanced as well, without distortive extremes. Scoring cues are sharp and circular, with clean instrumentation. Atmospherics are sparingly used, offering a sense of life in clubs and businesses. Low-end isn't pushed to the extreme, but musical beats carry weight.

Shit & Champagne Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features writer/director/star D'Arcy Drollinger.

• Deleted Scenes (9:28, HD) are offered.

• Live Clips (9:13, HD) collect scenes from the stage version of "Shit & Champagne," with an appreciative audience embracing Drollinger's vision for broad comedy, served with a side of slapstick. These brief moments help to understand the high energy the movie is aiming to replicate.

• A Trailer has not been included.

Shit & Champagne Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The 90-minute run time is a big ask from Drollinger, as "Shit & Champagne" gradually runs out of funny business to attack, leaving the feature in need of tighter editorial pruning. Exhaustion is inevitable here, but performances are impressive, retaining a beaming sense of playfulness and utter commitment to everything handed to the actors. Drollinger and Martin are especially spirited, keeping the endeavor going with their amazing commitment. "Shit & Champagne" is good fun for much of the movie, offering blinding colors and love for references from the 1970s. It's an exploitation spoof that connects more often than not, and Drollinger does a superb job adapting the flatness of the stage for the elastic possibilities of the screen.