- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: R
- Running Time: 97 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: August 16, 2011
- List Price: $34.99
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
An endearing and quirky indie romantic coming of age comedy that mixes elements of Napoleon Dynamite with Boogie Nights, Meet Monica Velour tells the story of the unlikely friendship/romance between a teenaged high school graduate and an over-the-hill ex-porn star struggling to make ends meet.
17-year-old Tobe (Dustin Ingram) is an incurable dork. As a job he sells hotdogs in his grandfather’s vintage hot dog truck with a giant wiener on the roof. His tastes in music are completely out of line with his contemporaries; he likes to listen to music from the 1930s. His tastes in films are odd too – he’s a big Russ Meyer fan; most of the kids he knows probably don’t even know who Russ Meyer is. Of course his dorkiness means that he’s never been ever to get a girlfriend and he just won’t lower himself to even consider dating the also incurably dorky Amanda (Jee Young Han) who seems to have a crush on him. But like most healthy high school boys, he does have an outlet – porn. But, like everything else in his life, even his choices in porn are odd. He has a major crush on vintage 80s porn star Monica Velour. So, after Tobe graduates and his grandfather gives him the hotdog truck as a gift, he takes advantage of an offer from a buyer in Indiana to take a road trip from Washington so he can sell the truck and see the country. Well, really, so he can see his dream girl, err, woman, who he happened to notice was making an appearance at a local strip club.
Arriving there, he manages to get himself roughed up defending the honor of the 49-year-old dancer to a couple of rude patrons who take exception to Monica’s age, so she takes him back to her place, thus Tobe realizes his dream of meeting Monica Velour. Only, this Monica is far from the woman of his fantasies. She’s tired, angry, struggling to make a living, and going through a rough custody battle with her ex-husband. It’s a rude awakening for the lovestruck Tobe, but he still wants to try to woo Monica, and they do develop an odd sort of friendship and romance, but is it one that can last?
Kim Cattrall is pitch perfect, and, might I also add, as sexy as ever here, even as she portrays a has-been porn star. There’s a lot of heart in this film and, it may not be laugh out loud funny, but it’s delightful in its own way.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
While Meet Monica Velour can at times look a little bit soft with a somewhat inconsistent level of grain, generally the AVC/MPEG-4 encodement of the film is pleasant to look at. Colors are very nicely saturated, such as the blue of Tobe’s hotdog truck and the red stage curtain behind Monica in the strip club. Detail is strong and the image is nice and clean.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
There’s a strong Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack included on the disc as the sole option that has clean, natural sounding dialogue. The mix includes some good atmospherics in the surrounds during much of the quieter passages, which is most of the film, but also opens up and gets quite beefy during the early graduation party scene and later on during the strip club scene. There’s a good bit of stereo imaging across the front, some natural, airy high frequencies and generally good balance overall.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
It’s a special treat to get an audio commentary on this little indie movie that actually includes actress Kim Cattrall. Additionally there are a few deleted scenes in standard definition and the original theatrical trailer included. It’s slim pickings, but the film itself is well worth the price of purchase or rental alone.
The supplements provided:
- Audio commentary with writer/director Keith Bearden and actress Kim Catrall
- Deleted Scenes (1.78:1; 480i/60):
- Monica and Tobe
- Caveman Opening
- Tobe’s Dream
- Tobe and Pop Pop
- Theatrical Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
Meet Monica Velour is a wonderful indie turn for Kim Cattrall while the film on the whole is a cute little romantic comedy sleeper hit that should get a little boost with its home video release.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B0051ZIXJO[/amazon-product]
Purchase Meet Monica Velour on Blu-ray at CD Universe
BestBuy.com:
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:1.5/5]
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