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UNIVERSAL

MOVIE INFO
Director:
Bill Holderman
Cast:
Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen
Writing Credits:
Bill Holderman, Erin Simms

Synopsis:
Four best friends take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had.

Box Office:
Budget:
$20 million.
Opening Weekend:
$6,677,580 on 3508 Screens.
Domestic Gross:
$17,556,340.


MPAA:
Rated PG-13.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
English DVS
Spanish DTS 5.1
French DTS 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French

Runtime: 107 min.
Price: $34.98
Release Date: 7/11/2023

Bonus:
• “Back in Session” Featurette
• “Still Stylish” Featurette
• “The Women in Italy” Featurette
• DVD Copy


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
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-Chane A2.4 Speakers
-SVS SB12-NSD 12" 400-watt Sealed Box Subwoofer


RELATED REVIEWS


Book Club: The Next Chapter [Blu-Ray] (2023)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (July 9, 2023)

At no point did 2018’s Book Club threaten to turn into a major hit. However, with a gross of $104 million on a $14 million budget, it turned a tidy profit.

It took five years but a sequel finally hit screens via 2023’s Book Club: The Next Chapter. It failed to produce a similar financial return and brought in a mere $28 million on its $20 million budget.

Thus I wouldn’t expect Book Club 3: The Nextest Chapter any time soon – or ever. Not that I’ll mourn the probable demise of this franchise, as neither the 2018 nor the 2023 movies offer actual entertainment.

After COVID made their book club meetings virtual, long-time pals Vivian (Jane Fonda), Diane (Diane Keaton), Sharon (Candice Bergen) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) finally reunite in person. Vivian comes with news: she recently got engaged to Arthur (Don Johnson).

This leads the four ladies on a bachelorette trip to Italy. Along the way, they experience a series of adventures, romantic and otherwise.

The 2018 Club boasted a terrific cast, and obviously Chapter does the same. The four leads offer great star power and a supporting cast with Johnson, Craig T. Nelson, Andy Garcia and others adds to this glow.

In theory, I appreciate the existence of movies like Chapter. For too many years, movies treated older actresses as grannies and not much more.

The two Book Club flicks allow for more dimensionality. Their four leads all now range in age from Steenburgen’s 70 to Fonda’s 86, and it lets them to form real characters, not just one-dimensional “old ladies”.

Well, that again falls into the “in theory” category. While the two movies grant their four main roles the room to become more than simple stereotypes, they don’t provide real range.

Chapter devolves its roles into basic traits. It never permits them to grow beyond their basic notions and become truly interesting.

To a large degree, the Book Club movies exist as fantasies for older females. They show the wonderful bonds of friendship and how AARP eligibility doesn’t dampen one’s life.

The films bring idealized versions of life for the older folks, and that’s fine – once more, in theory. Unfortunately, Chapter continues the first movie’s trend and sticks with a mix of crass jokes and phony sentiment.

None of the film’s humor ever seems clever. Instead, we get a seemingly endless array of smutty wisecracks and jabs about the issues related to aging.

These fail to deliver even rudimentary humor. As hard as the actors try to sell the material, the laughs never appear.

The Italian setting provides the main difference to separate Chapter from the first Club tale – for better and for worse. For better, the film makes Italy look amazing and creates some lovely photography.

For worse, Chapter uses its setting as a crutch. More of a travelogue that feels sponsored by the Italian tourism bureau, the movie does make me want to visit the country.

However, appealing visuals don’t create an appealing narrative. Chapter comes largely devoid of plot, and it can often feel improvised.

I don’t think the actors made up the dialogue and “story” as they went, but it sure comes across that way. This means a jerky “narrative” that just bobbles along until the inevitable sentimental ending.

Ugh. Chapter includes three Oscar-winning actors as well as three more who earned nominations, and it utterly wastes them with tripe and tacky nonsense.


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

Book Club: The Next Chapter appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a positive visual impression.

Overall definition seemed pleasing. Virtually no softness materialized, so the movie appeared accurate and concise.

I noticed no signs of jaggies or edge enhancement, and shimmering was absent. The film lacked print flaws and seemed clean.

In terms of colors, Chapter went for a teal and amber/orange tint, with a red push at times. These appeared fine within the film’s stylistic choices.

Blacks seemed dark and tight, and shadows demonstrated good clarity. This added up to a satisfying presentation.

A character-focused comedy/drama wouldn’t seem to be a candidate for a whiz-bang soundtrack. As such, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio of Chapter fell into expected realms.

Usually the track remained oriented toward ambience, so don’t expect lots of sizzle from the mix. Some scenes in various outdoor spots added mild involvement and the movie boasted nice involvement from songs/score across all five channels, but we find little real activity from this generally low-key mix.

Audio quality satisfied. Music was full and rich, while effects showed nice clarity and accuracy.

Speech – obviously an important factor in this chatty flick – appeared concise and crisp. Nothing here soared, but it all seemed perfectly adequate for the project.

We find three featurettes here, and Back in Session runs six minutes, four seconds. It delivers notes from writer/director Bill Holderman, writer Erin Simms, and actors Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen, Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, and Craig T. Nelson.

“Session” looks at the sequel’s story and characters along with cast and performances. Expect a lot of happy talk and not much else.

Still Stylish goes for five minutes, 21 seconds and features remarks from Fonda, Keaton, Bergen, Steenburgen, Holderman, Simms, and costume designer Stefano De Nardis.

As implied by the title, “Stylish” looks at the movie’s costumes. De Nardis manages some useful info among the fluff that emanates from the others’ statements.

Finally, The Women in Italy lasts five minutes, 29 seconds. It involves Fonda, Steenburgen, Bergen, Keaton, Simms, Holderman, Garcia, executive producer Enzo Sisti, and production designer Stefano Maria Ortolani.

“Women” tells us about shooting in Italy. Expect more superficial remarks and only a handful of useful nuggets.

Even with the low expectations that stemmed from the atrocious first film, Book Club: The Next Chapter seems terrible. I will not say it disappoints given the low quality of its predecessor, but it still stuns me how many ways the movie wastes its abundance of acting talent. The Blu-ray delivers excellent visuals as well as adequate audio and minor bonus materials. Chapter becomes a cheap and tacky dud.

Viewer Film Ratings: 1 Stars Number of Votes: 2
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