The Corner Penthouse

Songwriter arrives on Blu-ray as part of Mill Creek Entertainment's Retro VHS Look Series, part of a growing trend of physical media releases with packaging designed to look like the VHS videocassettes of the 1980s and 1990s. I have reviewed several other titles in the series here on The Corner Penthouse.


Songwriter (1984) is the story of two hard-living Texans in the country music business. Doc Jenkins (Willie Nelson) may be one of Country & Western's most beloved stars, but his private life is a wreck. He's split up with his longtime partner, Blackie Buck (Kris Kristofferson), a country outlaw with a heart of gold. Doc's singer-wife, Honey Carder (Melinda Dillon), has thrown him out of the house. Now he's gotten involved with a sleazy music manager, Rodeo Rocky (Richard C. Sarafian), who's out to steal his material. Teaming up with Blackie, and fresh young singer Gilda (Lesley Ann Warren), Doc takes drastic measures to win back his family and reclaim his songs.


If you're a fan of classic country and western music, you will enjoy this "semi-autobiographical" tale of the legendary Willie Nelson. Nelson and co-star Kristofferson wrote over a dozen original songs for the movie, all performed live on film by them and their female co-stars, Melinda Dillon and Lesley Ann Warren. The music was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music (Original Song Score). On the other hand, if you're not into country music, you're going to find this movie very boring. It's a character-driven film, but it moves slowly.


The film does not really deserve its R-rating. The MPAA gave it for some minor coarse language, and three very brief shots of female toplessness (nothing sexual). Today, it's likely to get a PG-13. There is one clever usage of the "F word". About 43 minutes into the film, Willie's character wears a t-shirt that says "EIICY OSE POLR OPP" on it. You can see this in the image above. At first I thought it was some obscure Latin phrase. However, after he folds the shirt, ala the Mad Fold-In at the back of Mad magazine, it reveals a different phrase (see below). I now want this shirt :-)


Songwriter is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:34:02. On the audio side, there is only an English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track. There are no subtitles. As is the case with most Mill Creek Entertainment releases, there are no special features - just like the original videocassette!


The real "bonus feature" here is the vintage-looking VHS-inspired slipsleeve, with faux wear and tear, and fake "rental stickers" on it, while giving the appearance of a videocassette being pulled out from the right side (though the original VHS may have been in a bottom-loading box), complete with tape label side on the right spine. Here's a complete look at this special slipsleeve. Click on it to get a better look. You'll notice a small goof: the Mill Creek logo is printed on what is supposed to be the recording-protection hole on the VHS spine.


The front artwork is based on the original U.S. VHS box art, as seen below. Ghostbusters fans will recognize this box style as most of the 1980s RCA/Columbia Home Video VHS releases came in boxes with a thick red border around the edge, like this. The back of the slipsleeve bears a similarity to the original VHS box art, using the same photos, but in a different orientation.


The case artwork underneath is of a modern style, which means that the VHS-style slipsleeve may only be available for a limited time. In the photo below, the slipsleeve cover is on the left and the case artwork underneath is on the right.


If you're not already aware of Mill Creek Entertainment, they are a budget company, which results in their products having a lower cost than the big studios. Right now, Songwriter is listed on Amazon for less than $10.


The Retro VHS Look Series includes the following Blu-ray releases. Do note that there is a new 1990s-centric Retro VHS Look Series from Mill Creek. That is a separate series from this one.



Images used come from the Internet Movie Database gallery of the film. The Blu-ray has been provided by Mill Creek Entertainment for review on this site.