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Secrets
Invasion
- Where to watch – Apple TV+
- Episodes – 10 (1 season)
- Video – Dolby Vision
- Audio – Dolby Atmos
Rating
Violence: Some gore and brief violence
Sex: Mild
Language: Moderate
A mysterious alien attacks Earth with vast ships and insect-like soldiers that kill everyone in their path. We see the story through the eyes of a family in New York, a soldier in Afghanistan, school children in England, and a communications expert in Japan. Each person, family, and nation must find a way to survive and defeat a seemingly invincible foe.
Yes, this sounds like the plot of the film, Independence Day. Here’s a spoiler, Invasion is nowhere near that good. And even if they added Will Smith, it wouldn’t save these 10 hours of untapped potential. The first two episodes are OK. You don’t see the aliens or the ships, just a series of mysterious events that happen simultaneously around the globe. It starts to look like an alien Invasion piece that studies people’s reactions rather than focusing on action and bloodshed. But it quickly devolves into a drawn-out study of characters that are firmly one-note. I won’t spoil it any further but suffice it to say that the show might have benefitted from a shorter run, say six episodes. And more time could have been spent on the part where people figure out how to save the world. That gets stuffed into the penultimate episode. The final chapter shows the aftermath of the attacks and leaves a door open for a second season. I hope if it comes, it’s better.
This is the first Dolby Vision presentation that has disappointed me. Bright scenes have the deep contrast and saturated color I’ve come to enjoy from Dolby Vision. But dark material is so dark, it’s hard to make out what’s going on. One episode is almost entirely shot in a dark home interior, and I was literally exhausted after watching it from visual fatigue. Compounding the problem are compression artifacts that create banding and posterization in areas of fine shading. This is an instance where the filmmakers did not use the format correctly.
The Dolby Atmos audio is first-rate with movie-quality sound and impact. The sub and surrounds are used expertly to create a three-dimensional bubble around the viewer. Low frequencies are clean and strong while dialog comes through clearly.
Invasion could have been so much better if the characters had some development. They don’t evolve at all and that makes the show plod along once the story gets going. Though I didn’t initially mind the lack of action early on, having more of the actual alien attack might have been a good thing. There is a lot of upward potential here if Apple decides to drop another season.
Why Women Kill, Season 1
- Where to watch – Paramount+
- Episodes – 20 (2 seasons)
- Video – HD (season 1), Dolby Vision (season 2)
- Audio – Dolby Digital
Rating
Violence: Moderate
Sex: Mild
Language: Moderate
Why Women Kill explores the lives of women in different eras, their relationships, their challenges, and why they choose to commit the ultimate crime.
While Why Women Kill looks on the surface like a true-crime series, it is far more entrenched in the dark comedy genre. Each season, two so far with a third promised for the summer of 2022, is an anthology, a story of its own with a beginning, middle, and end. The first season centers around a California mansion in three different years, 1963, 1984, and 2019 and the people that live there. 1963 sees a young couple, Rob and Beth Ann, moving from their modest house to escape the pain of a lost child. Rob is having an affair and Beth Ann plays the dutiful and unaware housewife. She soon learns of his infidelity and hatches what can only be called a brilliant plan to get her revenge. In 1984, we see Carl and Simone Grove, the quintessential rich 80s couple. Their story is dark but timely and features an amazing performance by Lucy Liu as Simone. 2019 explores the idea of open marriages and “thruples” when Taylor and Eli welcome Taylor’s lover Jade into their home.
Why Women Kill is one of the most original shows I’ve seen in a long time. With so much of Hollywood’s output being reboots, re-imaginings, and remakes, this show takes on the best “re” of all, refreshing. Like all good comedies, it capitalizes on laughs first, then introduces its dark subjects. But the brilliant writing and acting never let up. It is an expertly crafted show from beginning to end.
The show is shot entirely on studio lots and sound stages. Everything is perfectly neat and clean and that shows in the image which is reference quality. The first season is in HD with a richly saturated color palette, deep contrast, and no artifacts that give away its streamed format. It’s presented in a cinemascope 2.35:1 aspect ratio which lends a film quality. The second season is shown in Dolby Vision and its extra contrast and color are clear. It’s a period piece (1949) so the color is appropriately warm and inviting.
The audio is crystal clear and dialog-focused. There isn’t much for the surrounds and sub to do but that is appropriate to the material. Loud sounds like crashing cars or yelling characters have plenty of impact thanks to a broad dynamic range with a low noise floor.
Why Women Kill is adult fare for sure but it isn’t filled with gratuitous sex or needless violence. The language is adult but not pervasive. It crafts its story expertly and tells a truly original tale. Though some might call it a soap opera, it is far above that derivative genre. I was hooked from the beginning, and I look forward to watching the rest of Season Two, and the coming of Season Three in Summer 2022.
The Guns of Navarone 4K UHD Blu-Ray
1961 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 161 min. / Dolby ATMOS
Studio: Sony Pictures
This is one of the best WW-II movies ever made, being nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It has a lot of big stars, including Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn.
Directed by J. Lee Thompson with music by Dimitri Tiomkin, this is the story of a group of saboteurs led by Keith Mallory (Peck) who are to make their way to a small island (Navarone) in the Aegean Sea in 1943 to destroy two huge guns that protect the area from Allied armies. Their ultimate goal is to allow the Allies to rescue 2,000 Allied British soldiers marooned on the island of Kyros, off the coast of Turkey, before the Nazis can get there to kill them. Although Navarone is a fictional island, there is some true basis for parts of the story.
The movie is loaded with plenty of action and great acting. It just came out in a 4K version, and I bought it right away. A must-have for war-action movie fans.
Escape From L.A. 4K Ultra HD (1996), Directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Stacy Keach, and Cliff Robertson
In this sequel to Escape From New York, we find our intrepid hero Snake Plissken released from a post-apocalyptic prison to retrieve a black box from the prison island of Los Angeles. Due to a major earthquake, L.A. has separated from the mainland and is now a prison colony for all of America’s undesirables. It would seem the daughter of the current president-for-life (Robertson) took it to get back at her religious fanatic father who has moved the US capitol to Lynchburg, VA, (a Jerry Falwell poke, if you are old enough to remember him) and the black box contains the controls to a satellite system that will release an EMP that will knock the world back into the Dark Ages. Snake must get that box back or he will not be given an antidote to a poison that is in his system. Along the way, he operates a submarine, drives a tricked-out 70’s Cadillac, hang-glides, motorcycles, surfs a tsunami, and flies a helicopter while being pursued by nasty villains above and below the streets of L.A. Can he get the job done before his time runs out? Snake Plissken has been called dead too many times to count!
The picture quality is generally excellent. Considering almost the entire movie was shot at night, it looks great, with deep blacks and dazzling HDR highlights in all the explosions and burning fires. The sound also has been upgraded to DTS-HD 5.1 and sounds clear and dynamic with plenty of deep rumbling for the subwoofer. The only thing that suffers is the not so state-of-the-art special effects, but frankly, it only adds to the tongue-in-cheek feel of the movie. This movie is Carpenter’s nod to those old B action movies from the ’70s and stars some of those old actors as well. Oscar material it is not, but boy, is this stuff fun to watch!