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HBO

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Jean-Marc Vallée
Cast:
Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina
Writer:
Various

Synopsis:
A reporter confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to cover a violent murder.

MPAA:
Rated TV-MA

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
French DTS 5.1
Spanish DTS 2.0
Castillian DTS 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Danish
Finnish
Norwegian
Swedish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
Spanish

Runtime: 421 min.
Price: $39.99
Release Date: 11/28/18

Bonus:
• “Creating Wind Gap” Featurette


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

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RELATED REVIEWS


Sharp Objects [Blu-Ray] (2019)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (January 2, 2019)

Based on a novel by Gillian Flynn of Gone Girl fame, 2018’s Sharp Objects offers a “limited run” series from HBO. This Blu-ray set includes all eight of its episodes, and the plot synopses come from the HBO website.

Vanish: “Troubled reporter Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) is sent to her hometown to report on the suspected murder of two young girls.”

More impressionistic than one would expect for this sort of tale, “Vanish” starts the series on an unusual note. This airy tone makes it a bit tough to take for the episode’s first half, but it tightens up as it goes and leaves optimism that future shows will become more consistently interesting.

Dirt: “Camille searches for clues at the funeral and wake for Wind Gap’s latest victim.”

With “Dirt”, we continue with the vague flashback structure of the first episode, but like the second half of “Vanish”, it pursues its overall narrative fairly well. Although the looseness can slightly frustrate, I appreciate the natural way “Dirt” allows matters to develop.

Fix: “Camille relives a recent tragedy while Amma (Eliza Scanlen) flaunts her wild side out of Adora’s (Patricia Clarkson) watchful eye.”

The saga of Camille’s family lends a more than slight Tennessee Williams air to Objects, an interesting flavor for a series about a serial killer – nominally, at least. Three shows into Objects and I suspect it prefers to focus on character topics more than crime drama. “Fix” pursues those elements with melodrama but it still advances matters.

Ripe: “Scenes from her past trigger Camille. She and Richard (Chris Messina) get closer.”

A burgeoning romance between Camille and Richard always seemed inevitable, as that’s how stories like this operate. Much of “Ripe” follows similarly semi-trite areas as well, so it doesn’t operate as one of the series’ best episodes, though it concludes in dramatic fashion.

Closer: “Calhoun Day is in full swing and despite Chief Vickery’s (Matt Craven) warnings to Adora, tensions begin to spill over.”

With its odd quirks, the celebration of “Calhoun Day” gives the series a little room for much needed levity – but just a little, as most of the show concentrates on the usual dark drama. “Closer” focuses more on the dynamics within the town than anything else, so expect more of that form of drama.

Cherry: “Chief Vickery uncovers key evidence while Amma bonds with Camille during and after a wild party.”

After a few shows that minimized the murder investigation, “Cherry” develops that side of the narrative in a more dynamic manner. Of course, it still works on character elements as well, but the movement of the criminal story makes this the most compelling show in a while.

Falling: “Richard attempts to dig into Camille’s past while Adora tends to a quickly ailing Amma.”

As we hurtle toward the series’ finale, “Falling” intensifies the personal drama. Some of this leans toward soap opera, but the show still manages to ramp up the material in a satisfying manner.

Milk: “Concerned for Amma’s safety, Camille puts her own life at risk as she gets closer to the truth behind the mysteries of the Wind Gap killings.”

Objects wraps up with a ton of action, as the killer goes down in a massive gunfight.

Nah – just kidding. “Milk” keeps matters as low key as the rest of the series, which makes sense – it’d be out of character for Objects to suddenly turn into something with a different orientation. The finale finishes matters in a fairly satisfying way, as it concludes events well.


The Disc Grades: Picture B+/ Audio B/ Bonus D

Sharp Objects appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The series’ visuals usually looked quite good.

The shows offered solid clarity. Only a smidgen of softness materialized, so definition was usually positive.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws failed to mar the presentation.

The series opted for a palette with a definite teal tint, and it tossed in an orange orientation at times, too. Within those parameters, the colors seemed fine.

Blacks were pretty deep and tight, while shadows appeared positive, with only a little opacity on occasion. Overall, the shows provided appealing visuals.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack suited the episodes but won't win any awards. The soundstage appeared nicely broad at the appropriate times and could be moderately engulfing on occasion. It's a talky little series, so the focus was mainly up front, but the audio expanded when necessary.

This occurred mostly via gentle environmental ambience, so the surrounds didn’t have a lot to do. That said, the imaging made sense for the series.

Sound quality seemed fine. Dialogue always appeared crisp and natural, and I had no trouble understanding it. The score was warm and distinctive.

Effects also seemed realistic and adequate for the tasks at hand. Objects won't be anyone's demo track, but the mix worked fine for the series.

In terms of extras, we get a featurette called Creating Wind Gap. It runs five minutes, 10 seconds and includes notes from novelist Gillian Flynn, director Jean-Marc Vallee, creator Marti Noxon, and actors Patricia Clarkson, Amy Adams, and Eliza Scanlen.

“Creating” provides basics about story/characters as well as sets and locations. A few good nuggets emerge but the show’s too short to tell us much.

An introspective thriller, Sharp Objects offers a fairly involving tale. While its focus on character areas over crime drama occasionally frustrates, it nonetheless winds up as a largely compelling effort. The Blu-ray brings positive picture and audio but it lacks notable supplements. Objects won’t pound pulses but it achieves its goals.

Viewer Film Ratings: 3.6666 Stars Number of Votes: 3
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