An effects-filled, lavish production that’s long on visual extravagance but almost completely devoid of any imagination, Ron Howard’s HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (105 mins., 2000, PG; Universal) returns to 4K UHD this month in the form of a 25th Anniversary deluxe edition – for those who choose to celebrate, of course.
For the disbelievers, this “Grinch” is an incredibly tedious excuse for star Jim Carrey to prance around doing shtick – a slice of Thanksgiving turkey more excessive and pointless than most cinematic holiday blunders, with only a few artistic flourishes keeping it (barely) afloat.
An adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s classic only in passing (meaning only the first five minutes and the last 20 have anything to do with the book or Chuck Jones’s beloved cartoon adaptation), Carrey’s Grinch is the main problem here — attired in make-up by Rick Baker that makes the actor barely recognizable (a smart move after you pay him $20 million, no doubt), Carrey seems ill at ease as he turns the Grinch from scheming menace into a character closer suited to being one of Adam Sandler’s big-screen brethren from that era.
With a constant belching and an annoying accent that’s often hard to hear, Carrey’s performance is far from his best, and he’s not helped by a tepid script credited to Peter Seaman and Jeffrey Price that wanders far afield from Seuss, into a half-hearted “new age” commentary on commercialism that seems especially out-of-place given the movie’s non-stop merchandizing off-screen.
Of course, it could be that Carrey – who denounced his performance and the movie in a well-publicized rant the summer prior to its opening that he eventually took back (only because the studio PR machine made him, one assumes) — didn’t get much help from Howard, who strikes out completely in his third fantasy outing.
Couldn’t Howard have watched the dailies and seen that the film wasn’t working? The juvenile comedic shenanigans simply aren’t funny, but working with lame material and unfunny jokes tends to do that to a performer. I’m guessing that Carrey had faith in Howard that this material would be shaped in such a manner that it would work, but the end result is every bit as bland and boring as it seemed from the trailers.
Nothing in the film’s plot, supporting cast, or production design engages the heart or the mind, leaving only what’s left from the Dr. Seuss story that works — a spirited ending, fine narration by Anthony Hopkins, and an enduring message that the movie fails to support through its own linking material. James Horner’s score is also lovely, but while I enjoyed moppet Taylor Momsen’s low-key performance as Cindy Lou, there isn’t much left to recommend here. And whenever a film’s best gag is a slow-motion spoof of “Chariots of Fire,” you know you’re in trouble.
Despite its massive box-office in-take, time has not been kind to the “Grinch,” which hasn’t aged into the holiday perennial Howard and Carrey were hoping for, though it still has its fans, albeit mostly those who were young when the film opened.
Universal’s new 25th Anniversary 4K UHD of the movie sports an improved Dolby Vision HDR (1.85) grading of the film over its initial, HDR10 only UHD release, along with new Dolby Atmos audio. A fresh retrospective featurette is included featuring Howard, Rick Baker, Brian Grazer and Taylor Momsen, along with archival extras from previous releases (Howard’s commentary, deleted scenes, outtakes, featurettes, and the music video from Faith Hill’s “Where Are You Christmas?” ballad, a Horner/Will Jennings creation better than the film it was written for).
DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (124 mins., 2025, PG; Universal): The Crawley clan heads into the 1930s and the uncertainty of changing times in this (apparent) farewell film from creator-producer Julian Fellowes, reuniting much of the original cast and crew from the acclaimed, hugely popular series. This big-screen goodbye comes to 4K UHD (2.39) from Universal featuring an attractive Dolby Vision HDR soundtrack and Dolby Atmos sound; extras include a Digital HD code, featurettes, commentary with director Simon Curtis and co-star Elizabeth McGovern, and “Downton Abbey Celebrates The Grand Finale” segment.
Also new on 4K UHD is Warner’s superb new remaster of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (133 mins., 1975, R), freshly available on UHD this month.
The celebrated Milos Forman-helmed adaptation of the Ken Kesey book – previously brought to the stage a decade prior by Dale Wasserman with star Kirk Douglas, and here produced on the big screen by his son, Michael – offers a brilliant, Oscar-winning Jack Nicholson performance, anchoring a spectacular ensemble (Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif among them) and, of course, Louise Fletcher’s unforgettable – and also Oscar winning – turn as “Nurse Ratched.”
Warner’s HDR10 transfer (1.85) is another stellar, crisply rendered presentation from the label, preserving the layered hues of the great Haskell Wexler (and Bill Butler). The 5.1 remix from the 2010 Blu-Ray is included and offers superior clarity to the original 2.0 track, which is also included but comes off a bit “hot” by comparison.
A pair of new, “remotely conducted” panel discussions lead the supplements here, featuring Douglas, DeVito, Lloyd and Dourif, while deleted scenes and the archival doc “Completely Cuckoo” round out the extras along with a Digital HD code.
Also New & Noteworthy
WEEDS Blu-Ray (118 mins., 1987, R; MVD): Alternately weird and moving drama from director John Hancock (“Bang the Drum Slowly”) and his wife, co-writer Dorothy Tristan, follows convict Nick Nolte as he’s inspired to write a play while locked up in San Quentin. Once his sentence is commuted, he re-assembles his fellow inmates (including Lane Smith, Ernie Hudson, and William Forsythe) in an effort to bring his show to those outside the prison community, eventually landing in New York where they get a reception that would make Bialystock and Bloom envious.
Hancock had originally tried to make “Weeds” back in the ‘70s for “Drum”’s breakout star Robert DeNiro, only to shut down pre-production when he could no longer deal with DeNiro’s increasing diva-like power. Years later he managed to get the film made at DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group as a vehicle for Nolte, but the end result is so oddly disjointed it’s hard to make sense of it. We get repeated “3 Years Later” and “1 Year Later” on-screen notices as the frantically moving narrative covers everything from Nolte’s time in the joint, to producing his play, getting out of prison, reuniting his friends, suffering triumph and tragedy – and somehow ending with a large-scale prison riot and musical number, set to an original song (that’s quite good) written by none other than Melissa Etheridge just before she became a successful solo artist.
There are emotional moments and a great cast (Joe Mantegna is also on-hand) supporting the film, but the editing is jarring as it often feels like “Weeds” was cut down from something far longer at best, or was simply haphazardly edited at worst, with its wild swings of emotion being hard to digest – and yet still oddly compelling to watch.
“Weeds” makes its debut from the MVD Rewind Collection on Blu-Ray this month. This is not a transfer you will want to seek out for its clarity as the rights appear to have reverted to Hancock himself and this 2K HD scan (1.85) was restored from “35mm film elements” which are not in the greatest shape. Filtering results in a mushy scan without a lot of detail and some odd discoloration at times – the result is nearly as grimy as the prison locales themselves. Fortunately the 2.0 PCM stereo sound fares better, with Angelo Badalamenti’s excellent score (recorded with the “Australian Pops Orchestra”) coming off as one of the movie’s strongest assets.
An enjoyable interview with Hancock is included, running 15 minutes and detailing the long, winding road it took to get “Weeds” made. There’s also an online interview with Hancock, the trailer, and his 1971 short “Sticky My Fingers…Fleet My Fleet” included in the slipcover-adorned package.
Radiance New Releases: A marvelous retrospective of director Robert Hossein’s work, Radiance’s new limited-edition Blu-Ray box-set WICKED GAMES celebrates three distinct offerings from the French filmmaker.
THE WICKED GO TO HELL (93 mins., 1955) stars Henri Vidal and Serge Reggian as inmates who stage a daring escape, come in contact with an artist and are eventually split apart by his muse (Marina Vlady); NUDE IN A WHITE CAR (93 mins., 1959) offers Hossein in firm “film noir” territory with the director himself playing a protagonist who comes between between two sisters (Vlady and Odile Versois); and THE TASTE OF VIOLENCE (86 mins., 1955) is a western focusing on a revolutionary tasked with kidnapping a dictator’s daughter (Giovanna Ralli) in order to make a prisoner swap.
All three films showcase Hossein’s stylistic use of B&W cinematography and have been restored by Gaumont in 2K (1.33, 1.66, and 2.35 respectively) with “Violence” looking particularly impressive with its anamorphic cinematography in high-def. Brand new commentaries from Tim Lucas are included on each picture along with appreciations by Alex Cox and featurettes from historians like Lucas Balbo, C. Courtney Joyner, Howard S. Berger an Samm Deighan. There’s also an archival interview with Marina Vlady, a booklet featuring original writing by critic Walter Chaw, and Radiance’s hardbound packaging, limited to 3,000 copies.
Also new from Radiance is the black comedy THE OGRE OF ATHENS (104 mins., 1956), Greek director Nikos Koundouros’ box-office disaster that later gained a reputation as being one of his country’s most influential films. Available on Blu-Ray for the first time worldwide, Radiance preserves this tale of a timid bank worker (Dinos Iliopoulos) mistaken for an Athens mob boss in a new high def transfer (1.37 B&W) with mono Greek audio and English subtitles. New extras include an introduction from Jonathan Franzen and interviews with critic Christina Newland and Greek film expert Dimitris Papanikolaou; the booklet, meanwhile, features new writing by Andreas Giannopoulos and comes in a 2,5000 copy Radiance limited edition.
HIM 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (97 mins., 2025, R; Universal): Disappointing, violent supernatural thriller about a college football star hoping to become the next pro prospect. Under the training of his childhood idol (Marlon Wayans), young “Cameron Cade” (Trqie Withers) is able to do just that, but there’s a price to be paid for his sudden rise to football prosperity. Jordan Peele produced Justin Topping’s film, based on a reportedly well-received script by Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers which ends up being told with too heavy a hand in Tipping’s picture. This unappealing brew met with few takers at the box-office and is being fast-tracked to home video by Universal, with their 4K UHD (2.39, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision HDR) sporting an alternate ending, a deleted end credits scene, Blu-Ray and Digital HD code.
TOGETHER Blu-Ray (102 mins., 2025, R; Decal): Real-life married coupe Dave Franco and Alison Brie play a couple who, after moving to the country, run into one of the grossest body horror scenarios in recent memory (which is quite extraordinary given “The Substance” and other films along a similar line). Writer-director Michael Shanks’ film did better with critics than audiences, though this kind of grizzly affair – laced with some dark humor – is always going to be specific to a niche audience. Neon’s Blu-Ray offers 5.1 DTS MA audio, a 1080p (1.85) transfer, an interview with the director, a separate talk with the stars, trailers and more.
RICK & MORTY Season 8 Blu-Ray (223 mins., 2025; Warner): The Adult Swim series continues forth with its eighth season which finds the boys mixing it up with Jerry, Beth (both of them) and Butter Bot among other comical misadventures carrying potentially galactic consequences. Uncensored episodes are included in this Warner Blu-Ray which features 1080p episodes, 5.1 DTS MA sound, and a featurette finding co-creator Dan Harmon dissecting the season along with other crew.
HARLEY FLANAGAN – Wired For Chaos Blu-Ray/DVD (99 mins., 2025, Lightyear Entertainment): Documentary profile of Harley Flanagan looks at his founding of the band Cro-Mags and dabbling in punk rock, touching upon how his past traumas and pain have informed his work. Interviews with Flea, Henry Rollins, Ice-T, Michael Imperioli and many others inform this well-received feature from director Rex Miller, new on Blu-Ray from Lightyear in a BD/DVD combo pack with extras including extended interviews and behind-the-scenes material.
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