Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood and Alice Eve
Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
132 Mins
PG-13
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Film and the Arts
May '13 Digital Week III
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 17 May 2013 20:55
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Blu-rays of the Week
(Warner Brothers)
This pretty-looking but dramatically languid hybrid of Twilight and The Witches of Eastwick is caught between Scylla and Charybdis by trying to appeal to young females who made the vampire franchise a megahit and mature audiences that want their supernatural movies less Generation Y-ish.
Writer-director Richard LaGravenese does a decent balancing act for awhile, but when plot mechanisms clash with the obstreperous characters haunting the old mansion, something has to give, and the movie falls apart, despite able performers (Emma Thompson, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum) doing what they can. The hi-def image is enticing; extras include featurettes and deleted scenes.
Cloud Atlas
(Warner Brothers)
David Mitchell’s mind-bending novel, thought unfilmable thanks to dozens of characters cross-cut among many centuries and to tell an epic series of stories of immortality, has been brought to the screen by Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, with daring but middling results. Now that they’ve come to grief distilling it into a two-hour, fifty-minute movie, it’s obvious that the book should remain just that.
There are incidental pleasures like gleaming photography and the chutzpah of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon and even Hugh Grant to hide behind tons of makeup in multiple roles, but nothing builds to a climax or even a point, and the end result lies there, however beautifully The Blu-ray image looks marvelous; extras include interviews and featurettes about film and novel.
Full Frontal
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III
Jersey Girl
DVDs of the Week
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
She Cat and Female Teacher Hunting
Full Frontal
(Echo Bridge)
One of Steven Soderbergh’s “experimental” films—made after the slick blockbuster Oceans Eleven—this 2002 drama follows several Hollywoodites through their alternately boring and exciting lives until they meet at a mutual friend’s birthday party.
The movie, while largely scripted, has an offhand and improvised feel, not necessarily a good thing, since some actors can do it better than others: whenever Mary McCormack, David Hyde Pierce or—I can’t believe I’m writing this—Julia Roberts is onscreen, the movie perks up. The Blu-ray transfer isn’t bad by Echo Bridge standards; extras include deleted scenes, cast/Soderbergh interviews, and an alternate cut with Soderbergh’s commentary.
(Lionsgate)
Roman Coppola’s shallow look at an obnoxious actor tries—and fails—to laugh at and with its protagonist (boorishly played by Charlie Sheen); sensing this, Coppola indulges himself with dull set pieces that do little but pad a (still thankfully) short running time.
The appealing Katheryn Winnick, as Swan’s erstwhile lover, sticks out in a suffocating, insular world that even makes the usually indestructible Bill Murray look embarrassed. The movie looks fine on Blu-ray; extras include Coppola’s commentary and featurettes.
Iphigenie en Aulide/Iphigenie en Tauride
(Opus Arte)
Christoph Gluck’s tragic operas depicting Greek King Agamemnon’s ill-fated daughter Iphigenie are rarely staged (let alone together), and this disc has recent productions from the enterprising Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.
I’m no fan of baroque music, but the compactness of these short works ups the dramatic quotient, especially when the title roles are sung so powerfully by Veronique Gens (Aulide) and Mireille Delunsch (Tauride). Marc Jankowski conducts forcefully, and Pierre Audi’s directing is riveting. The hi-def image and surround sound are strong without being overpowering.
(Echo Bridge)
After making a career out of scatology—Clerks is best, Chasing Amy worst and Mallrats and Dogma in the middle—Kevin Smith went wimpy in 2004 with this soggy rom-com starring Ben Affleck as a widower (Jennifer Lopez dies early on) who falls for local gal Liv Tyler. Presence of the first “Bennifer” notwithstanding, this watchably forgettable movie is stolen by George Carlin, of all people.
The Blu-ray image is OK; extras include Smith and Affleck’s commentary, another commentary with Smith and Jason Mewes (“Jay” from other Smith movies, but not this one), making-of and interview featurettes.
The Oranges
(Fox)
A tale of two suburban Jersey clans—the title is an in-joke—Julian Farino’s film gets mileage out of Ian Helfer and Jay Weiss’s script about friendships and family ties breaking down when one family’s daughter has an affair with the other’s father. The movie deals persuasively if comedically with the shocking revelation’s fallout: at least until the wronged wife runs over Christmas lawn decorations in her car.
Throughout, Hugh Lurie, Leighton Meester, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt and even Catherine Keener are superb, as is the Blu-ray image; extras include making-of featurettes.
Clandestine Childhood
(Film Movement)
Benjamin Avila’s gripping account of the terror Argentines lived under during military junta rule is through the eyes of a teenager who must keep his parents’ secret that they are part of a guerrilla group.
The cast of unknowns is splendid from top to bottom, the daily fright of not knowing what or whom is around every corner is unnerving present, and even becoming a teenager—especially in such trying times—is explored sensitively. The lone extra is Avila’s shattering short, Veo Veo, a run-through for the feature.
Liz and Dick
(e one)
Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor is nowhere near the unmitigated disaster everyone was hoping she would be—she’s no Liz, to be sure, but neither is she that laughably bad in the role (which would have made her closer to Liz’s own acting).
Still, there’s no denying that Lohan and Grant Bowler (her Richard Burton) are bland together, only giving an approximation of the great movie couple of the 60s and 70s. Extras include interviews with the cast and crew.
(Warner Archive)
Tony Richardson’s 1962 film, from screenwriter Alan Sillitoe’s own short story, concerns a young man (a magnificent Tom Courtenay) who finds running a great release from his troubled life.
The last word in kitchen-sink realism, this psychologically nuanced portrait occasionally lays things on a bit too thickly, but all of the acting and Walter Lassally’s gritty B&W photography are unimpeachable. Too bad a restoration isn’t available yet.
The Secret Garden
(Warner Archive)
Fred M. Wilcox’s 1949 adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved childrens’ novel smartly cast Margaret O’Brien—from the earlier Meet Me in St. Louis—as the headstrong girl who discovers the magical title place which helps heal all wounds, physical and psychological.
The movie cleverly borrows from The Wizard of Oz by having its garden sequences in Technicolor, with the rest of the film in stark black and white.
(Impulse Pictures)
These are the latest entries in the Nikkatsu Erotic Films Collection. She Cat follows a woman in the crosshairs of hired killers who want her erased because of her sordid past (which she is desperately trying to outrun)—if lesbian shower scenes are your thing, then check this out.
Female Teacher Hunting traces a bizarre relationship between a naïve teacher and a brutal male student: it’s still amusing to see blurred-out shots that block the movie’s most sordid couplings, but your mileage may vary on how erotic they are.
CD of the Week
Kaija Saariaho—La Passion de Simone
(Ondine)
This is by far Finnish composer Kaija Sarriaho’s most trenchant work: I’ve been cold to much of her other music, which combines electronics and acoustic instruments in less than compelling, often gimmicky ways.
But this oratorio about Jewish freedom fighter Simone Weil (who died in 1943)—which was recorded live last fall in Helsinki—features impassioned singing by soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Tapiola Chamber Choir and blazing support from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen’s baton, all clearly articulating Saariaho’s most emotionally direct piece.
Comic Review: Bikini Cowboy
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 17 May 2013 15:14
- Written by Renzo Adler
It’s time for a history lesson, kids. According to the information zeitgeist that is Wikipedia, the bikini was invented in 1946 by Louis Réard. Monsieur Réard named the two-piece after the Bikini Atoll, home to the world changing nuclear bomb tests. So what is a woman doing wearing a bikini and carrying a surfboard in the American west in 1812?
Bikini Cowboy by Fresherluke initially grabbed me because its title and premise sounded like cheap schlock, but I stuck with it because it was funny, charming, and has some genuine pathos. Whisky Jill is the titular Cowboy that wanders the desert with her anachronistic clothes and surfboard. Hints are dropped that Jill is not of this era, but thankfully, the story never drags out tired tropes from time traveling tales. Jill rescues a young boy named Rod that is wanted by some dangerous men because he possesses a strange power. Together the two evade Rod’s greedy pursuers, while Jill is dogged by a viscous Marshall with a predilection for quoting Bible verse.
One of the great things about this story is that there are all sorts of little touches of the strange and fantastic, but the story doesn’t feel the need to explain them, they just are. Some might complain that this gives the story an anything goes set of rules, but really it keeps things fun and charming.
Weber’s art has a great sense of motion, so it’s no surprise that he also works in the animation industry. The character’s expressions flow from panel to panel, everyone is very elastic, and Jill in particular is posed like a coiled spring. The sketch like quality of the art helps to give the western locales and characters a sense of grit, though there are few parts where I felt like the line-work could be a bit more refined.
The characters of Whisky Jill and Rod are not extremely complex, but that’s okay because they’re very charming and the way they help each other and get to know one another doesn’t feel forced. Rod never feels like just some kid that follows the hero and Jill isn’t simply talking eye-candy. The dangers the two face, and the joys they discover bring them closer in a way that feels natural.
The story also frequently touches upon themes related to faith, what with the Bible quoting villain, and Jill’s quest. There is a potential for someone to have a knee-jerk reaction and think that the story is saying “Christianity bad, animism good,” but that aspect of the story is more nuanced. I don’t want to get into spoilers, so I’ll just say that the story makes a distinction between having a character be guided by faith, and having a character use faith as a justification for their actions.
Bikini Cowboy is the sort of story that could have just been some cheap thrills, but turned out to have, fun characters, tense action, and genuine charm. It is definitely worth checking out. Bikini Cowboy is currently available from Comixology for a pittance as part of their Comixology Submit program, which allows indie creators to self publish their works through Comixology's online service.
Film Review: "Star Trek Into Darkness" Is a Cluttered Letdown
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 17 May 2013 12:23
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Star Trek into Darkness"
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood and Alice Eve
Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
132 Mins
PG-13
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood and Alice Eve
Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
132 Mins
PG-13
I'd be lying if I said that J.J. Abram's Star Trek into Darkness isn't a bit of a misfire. Beleaguered with sky-high expectation, anything short of true greatness was destined to drag this sequel down and, sadly enough, Abram let this film flutter into darkness. Between the numerous character reveals, the big action set pieces, and the bounty of threats to the USS Enterprise, there's just too much going on. So much, in fact, that Abrams never lets it settle into one thread for long enough to really generate and grow our interest and our sympathy. Instead, it charges at light speed from plot point to plot point, forgetting to make the pit stops along the way that we would remember for years to come.
May '13 Digital Week II
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Monday, 13 May 2013 00:58
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Blu-rays of the Week
Barrymore
(Image)
Finally here’s a filmed record of Christopher Plummer’s enchantingly witty interpretation of another great actor, John Barrymore, in William Luce’s one-man (but two-voice) play—for which Plummer won the 1997 Best Actor Tony Award.
Director Erik Canuel keeps the focus tightly on Plummer, whose juicily idiosyncratic performance is a glorious capper on an unrivaled career. The Blu-ray image is excellent; Backstage with Barrymore, an hour-long making-of documentary, is the lone extra.
(Echo Bridge)
Stephen Frears’ wickedly black 1990 comedy, with a superb script by Donald Westlake from Jim Thompson’s novel, follows a trio of con artists pitted against one another. The dream cast comprises Angelica Huston and John Cusack as estranged mother and son and Annette Bening, hilarious and erotic as a sexpot who shed allegiances more quickly than her clothes.
Too bad that Bening’s marriage to Warren Beatty derailed her career for awhile. The Blu-ray image, as on all Echo Bridge releases, is underwhelming; extras are Frears’ commentary and on-set interviews.
The Hoax
(Echo Bridge)
(Echo Bridge)Lasse Hallstrom will never return to the sublime heights of his 1985 masterpiece My Life as a Dog; but of his American films, this 2007 comic drama comes closest with its tongue-in-cheek look at Clifford Irving’s Howard Hughes forgeries, with little of the sentimentality that marred even The Cider House Rules.
Richard Gere gives a rare unbridled performance as Irving, and the supporting cast—Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Alfred Molina—is equally good. The movie looks decent on hi-def; extras comprise Hallstrom’s commentary, deleted scenes, making-of footage.
(New Video)
The new animated feature by the creator of the uneven biopic Gainsbourg shows off director Joann Safr’s visual ideas at their most playful and pure.
The earlier film’s best bits were surreal puppetry; this story of a feline who begins to talk after eating a parrot has visuals that are the equivalent of the irreverent cat’s profane but philosophical musings, which shock everyone with their religious and moral provocations. The Blu-ray’s bright colors look exquisite; extras are a making-of segment and featurette on Safr.
Safe Haven
(Fox)
(Fox)After My Life as a Dog, Lasse Hallstrom left Sweden for crass work in Hollywood, where he’s become a go-to director for potboilers and melodramas (with the odd witty entry like The Hoax, above), and this silly Nicholas Sparks adaptation is yet another.
Julianne Hough, not a serious—or even semi-serious—actress, provides a credibility hit, but Josh Duhamel’s presence is more on the romantic mark. The Blu-ray image looks good enough; extras include alternate ending, deleted scenes and featurettes.
(Music Box)
Sean Baker’s well-meaning but amateurish character study about an unlikely bond between a young porn actress and an elderly lady remains trite, despite Baker’s obvious empathy for his characters. His heart is certainly in the right place, but a game cast (led by Dree Hemingway, Mariel’s daughter, and Besedka Johnson in the leads) can’t make this flat-footed drama any more affecting.
Stella Maeve makes an indelible impression as a drugged-out porn failure. The Blu-ray image, while soft, looks pretty good; extras include Baker’s commentary, featurettes, behind the scenes footage and interviews.
Upstream Color
(New Video)
(New Video)Actor-turned-director Shane Carruth has been watching too much Kubrick and Malick, if this second feature, a willfully obscure—but exceedingly preposterous and quite quickly ponderous—sci-fi feature is any indication. In his familiar-looking drab world where the heroine is implanted with a worm that places her under another’s control, Carruth confuses portentousness with pretentiousness.
This melancholy romance and lament for our alienated society is too simplistic, and Carruth relies on other, better directors’ movies to make his not so original points. The Blu-ray looks immaculate.
Broadway Musicals—A Jewish Legacy
(Athena)
The history of the American musical, with a few exceptions, overflows with the talents of Jewish lyricists and composers, which this 90-minute documentary sketches intelligently and entertainingly.
Moving from the Gershwins to Jerry Herman, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim, Broadway Musicals (narrated by Joel Grey) is crammed with interviews, old and new, with many luminaries, and generous clips from shows like Cabaret and Fiddler on the Roof. This trip down memory lane doesn’t skimp on the historical and cultural significance of these creators. An extra disc has more interviews and musical selections.
The Great Gatsby—Midnight in Manhattan
(BBC)
(BBC)In anticipation of the new Gatsby movie (rather ludicrously shot in 3D), this 2000 documentary about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous novel gets re-released. Narrated by Tara Fitzgerald and including interviews with biographers and literary experts, the 47-minute doc abridges the history of its genesis, a video equivalent of Cliffs Notes about Fitzgerald’s classic work.
An extra is a BBC version of the play Private Affairs: A Dream of Living, about Fitzgerald, wife Zelda and Ernest Hemingway, with David Hemmings.
(Mill Creek)
These DVD sets illuminate a great 19th century martyr and the most evil 20th century dictator. The Reich set comprises 10 Charlton Heston-narrated documentaries, the most interesting being Hitler’s Last Days.
The 10-disc Lincoln Chronicles is dominated by Sandberg’s Lincoln, a five-hour 1974 mini-series with a forceful Hal Holbrook in a far subtler and wide-ranging portrayal of Honest Abe than Daniel Day Lewis in Spielberg’s biopic. Beware: the order of Sandberg’s Lincoln episodes is jumbled. D.W. Griffith’s epic 1930 feature, Abraham Lincoln, is also included.
Private Practice—Season 6 (Warners) and
The Roman Holidays—Complete Series (Warner Archive)
The Roman Holidays—Complete Series (Warner Archive)The final season of the current hit medical drama Private Practice—starring Kate Walsh and Benjamin Bratt—is wrapped up on a three-disc set that includes all 13 episodes and extras like deleted scenes and bloopers.
The often cringingly unfunny The Roman Holidays—a Flintstones/Jetsons rip-off that’s set in ancient Rome—is on a two-DVD set that contains all 13 episodes of its first (and only) season, which was in 1972.
(Sony)
Robert Harling’s humane if occasionally sappy play—which I saw in its first-rate off-Broadway incarnation in 1989—first became a saccharine movie with Julia Roberts.
The new version, which features an all-black cast (Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad, Alfre Woodard), is played more for laughs like the play was—but without the original’s perfect balance—but it provides the requisite tears of a movie on the Lifetime network.
CDs of the Week
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (Aparte)
Romanian soprano Teodora Gheorghiu and pianist Jonathan Aner pair up for this sparkling recital of songs from the early 20th century, when expressionism, modernism and romanticism coalesced.
Two ravishing Richard Strauss cycles—including the Ophelia Lieder—and a charming Alexander Zemlinsky set give way to several elegant melodies by Maurice Ravel, followed by Ottorino Respighi’s lovely Deita Silvane, as Gheorghiu moves easily from German to French to Italian.
(Decca)
It must be nice to call five friends who are world-class musicians to play sublime music: but that’s what violinist Janine Jansen did for this exceptional disc of chamber masterpieces from the beginning and end of the 19th century.
Arnold Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, which started clearing the path to modernity in 1899, is played with pungency and refinement, while Franz Schubert’s String Quintet—a towering work written just before the 31-year-old Schubert died in 1828—has the essential balance of weight and melancholy, particularly that draining marathon first movement.
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