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MOVIE INFO

Director:
Rory Rooney
Cast:
Josh Brener, Alexandra Daddario
Writing Credits:
David Shapiro Jr.

Synopsis:
An A&R man working at the height of the Britpop music craze goes to extremes in order to find his next hit.

MPAA:
Rated NR

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English Dolby 2.0
Subtitles:
English
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 86 min.
Price: $29.98
Release Date: 11/29/2016

Bonus:
• Previews and Trailer


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Baked in Brooklyn [Blu-Ray] (2016)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (November 17, 2016)

Most comedies that involve marijuana take the Cheech and Chong approach, but 2016’s Baked in Brooklyn follows a different path. Recent college grad David Shapiro (Josh Brener) enjoys a good life, as he works at a steady job and lands a smoking hot girlfriend named Kate (Alexandra Daddario).

Though his relationship with Kate moves ahead, David loses his job and needs to figure out how to pay the bills. The young man pursues financial relief as a pot dealer, and he sells his wares on the Internet. David does well in this regard, which leads to a mix of complications.

I’ll admit it: I decided to watch Baked due to the presence of Daddario. An amazingly attractive young woman, I welcome any chance to see her, especially if romantic situations exist in which she might take off some clothes.

Does this happen? No. One scene teases us with a topless Daddario, but the camera angle leaves us unfulfilled.

So everything goes with Baked, an unsatisfying character tale. While it gives us a plot with potentially intriguing material, it fails to evolve in a compelling manner.

Part of this comes from its overwhelming sense of inevitability. Baked follows the “cautionary tale” approach, as we see David’s downward spiral and how his new “job” impacts his life/relationships.

Which would be fine if Baked brought anything interesting to the story. Unfortunately, it never manages to cobble together a coherent narrative.

Instead, Baked feels like a collection of thinly-sketched scenes shoved together to form a facsimile of a whole. Beyond that “downward spiral” motif, not much holds these together or creates material to interest the viewer.

The thin manner in which the movie forms its characters doesn’t help. Even our lead remains one-dimensional and never truly grows/changes – and the supporting parts receive even less development. We find little reason to care about the participants or to invest in their tales.

Best known for “tech nerd” parts in Silicon Valley and The Internship, Brener feels out of his depth here. While he does fine in comedic supporting parts, his style of dorky awkwardness doesn’t translate to the demands found in Baked.

And try as I might, I can’t suspend disbelief to imagine how a guy who looks like Brener nabs a woman who looks like Daddario. The movie vaguely nods toward the improbability of this connection but never tries to reconcile it, so the disconnect remains.

If that was my only complaint about Baked, I’d view it as a success. However, the movie suffers from a general sense of malaise and feels slow and long even with a brief 86-minute running time. Some parts of the film threaten to entertain but the end product lacks much merit.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture B/ Audio B-/ Bonus D-

Baked in Brooklyn appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a good but not great transfer.

Sharpness looked mostly positive. A little softness cropped up during occasional shots, but the majority of the film was fairly accurate and distinctive. I witnessed no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. As expected, the film lacked any print flaws.

In terms of palette, Baked emphasized orange, with a little teal involved as well. Within the stylistic choices, the hues seemed fine. Blacks were deep and tight, and shadows looked smooth and clear. Although the image didn’t dazzle, it seemed satisfactory.

The movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack suited the story. This meant the soundscape accentuated general atmosphere and not much else. Outside of street sequences, I couldn’t detect much that added particular dimensionality. The elements brought a little breadth but not much, though music spread to the various channels in a reasonable manner.

Audio quality appeared good. Speech seemed distinctive and concise, without roughness or brittleness. Music was warm and full, and effects came across as accurate. This ended up as a serviceable mix for a character tale.

The disc opens with ads for Cardboard Boxer, Kill Your Friends and Kid Cannabis. We also find the trailer for Baked.

A combination of cautionary tale and coming of age story, Baked in Brooklyn fails to connect. It lacks much wit or insight as it presents lackluster characters and situations. The Blu-ray offers pretty good picture and audio but fails to include supplements. Baked disappoints.

Viewer Film Ratings: 3 Stars Number of Votes: 2
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