In-Theater Releases of the Week 

French writer-director Jonathan Millet makes his feature debut with this tense, intelligent slow-burn thriller about a Syrian refugee in France who one day notices a man who looks like the person who tortured him in the infamous Sednaya Prison in Damascus.

 

 

Hamid (a remarkable portrayal by Adam Messa) works as a construction worker in Strasbourg, but once he sees his adversary, he is obsessed with plans for revenge—how that plays out, and how it affects his life and those around him, is dramatized with finesse by Millet, who demonstrates his sympathy for migrants and others marginalized by society without becoming strident.

 

 

 

Ron Delsener Presents 

Anyone who went to rock concerts in the New York City area since the late ’60s has probably noticed “Ron Delsener Presents” on the ticket—and this entertaining documentary, directed by Sting’s son Jake Sumner follows Delsener’s storied career as a concert promoter, from his early days working on the Beatles’ 1964 appearance in Forest Hills, through concerts at the Fillmore and the Palladium until today: he was 85 and still going strong when this was filmed a few years ago, attending shows and keeping up with whatever he could.

 

 

Sumner not only speaks with Delsener, his wife and children—and shows copious archival footage from many iconic concerts—but also colleagues and an array of stars who touchingly remember his guiding hand, from Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel to Patti Smith and Paul Simon.

 

 

 

Blu-ray Releases of the Week 

Pink Floyd’s 1972 performance at the ancient Roman amphitheater in Pompeii (sans audience) is folded into Adrian Maben’s documentary that’s an artifact of its time, with the Pompeii concert footage supplemented by interviews with Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright as well as glimpses of them at Abbey Road recording Dark Side of the Moon.

 

 

There’s a surfeit of crude, cliched visuals (split screens, front projection, superimposition, slow-motion) that haven’t aged well—but the film anticipates the MTV video era and remains an eye- (and ear-) opening document of the band right before becoming rock royalty. The Blu-ray release includes the 85-minute film and the 62-minute concert separately; the hi-def video looks good and the superb audio remixed by Steven Wilson is available in Dolby Stereo, 5.1 TrueHD Surround and ATMOS.

 

 

 

Ann Wilson and Tripsitter—Live in Concert 

In this 2023 concert, Heart lead vocalist Ann Wilson leads her solo band Tripsitter—with which she released an album, Another Door—through a deftly-balanced set of solo songs, well-chosen covers and classic Heart tunes, including the vigorous opener, “Crazy on You,” the band’s first hit. The 16-song set shows that Wilson, even in her mid ’70s, still sings impressively and with little vocal strain.

 

 

Heart’s brooding, mystical “Mistral Wind” and John Lennon’s biting “Isolation” let her alternate between lung-shredding power and exquisite delicacy. Of course, Led Zeppelin, one of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s biggest influences, is never far away: Ann pairs the Heart hit “Alone” with “Going to California,” while a powerhouse “Immigrant Song” is Ann at her vocal best. The hi-def video and the audio are excellent, although only a stereo mix is included.

 

 

 

Prokofiev—War and Peace 

Sergei Prokofiev’s operatic masterpiece distills the essence of Leo Tolstoy’s massive novel about the 1812 war between Napoleon and Russia into an expressive, emotional 3-1/2-hour music drama. Director and set designer of this 2023 Munich production, Dmitri Tcherniakov, nods to the present conflict between invading Russian forces and defending Ukrainian patriots, but that layer doesn’t detract from the powerful musical storytelling at the heart of Prokofiev’s work.

 

 

Vladimir Jurowski deftly conducts the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and choruses, while the lead roles of Prince Andrei, Natasha and Pierre are strongly embodied by Andrei Zhilikhovsky, Olga Kulchynska and Arsen Soghomonyan. There’s first-rate hi-def video and audio; extras are an interview with Tcherniakov and Jurowski as well as a short featurette.

 

 

 

DVD Release of the Week

Standup comic Drew Carey’s eponymous sitcom ran for nine seasons, from 1995 to 2004, giving audiences an alternative version of his real-life persona as an everyman working a menial job in middle America (in this case, Cleveland).

 

 

Carey and the large cast—including Christa Miller, Kathy Kinney, Craig Ferguson and Ryan Stiles—project a warm appeal that underlines the mild jokes audiences could identify with. All 200-plus episodes are included (excepting four “special” episodes), with some music cues different from the original broadcasts; lone extra is the featurette Life Inside the Cubicle.