In-Theater Releases of the Week 

If you thought that that spending three hours with disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes prior to her 11-year prison term is too much, you’re in luck: once she’s locked up halfway through this long documentary, directors Nathan Fielder (who’s onscreen more than anyone, a la Michael Moore) and Lance Oppenheim recalibrate.

 

 

The result is a second half that becomes a sort of snarky commentary on the first, as Fielder brings Amanda Seyfried aboard (she won an Emmy playing Holmes in the excellent Hulu series The Dropout) to begin filming reenactments of moments with Holmes and her controlling partner Billy Evans that attempt to shed new light on what we’ve already seen. It’s cleverly done, with priceless moments of humor and even horror over the hubris we witness from both the film’s subjects and Fielder himself—but it ends up being less than the sum of its often involving parts.

 

 

 

zi 

Director-writer Kogonada got his start making occasionally incisive videos about films and TV series, including classics in the Criterion Collection; his own pictures are also marked by self-satisfied but shallow explorations—his last film, The Big Bold Beautiful Journey, which wasted Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie, was beautiful to look at but impossibly long-winded.

 

 

His newest, mainly a two-hander set on the streets of Hong Kong, was made quickly and is less exhaustingly precious; with ace cinematographer Benjamin Loeb, Kogonada makes his own flimsy tale look terrific, even if its story and script are undercooked. Even the committed acting by Haley Jo Richardson, Michelle Mao and Jin Ha isn’t enough to make these characters convincing. 

 

 

 

4K/UHD Releases of the Week 

Producer David O. Selznick and director Victor Fleming’s landmark 1939 epic of the old South, based on Margaret Mitchell’s novel, is four hours long but feels like an immersive mini-series, even if the unavoidable racism of its era threatens to overshadow the compelling soap opera with Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara at its center. There’s spectacular color photography by Ernest Haller and an intensely dramatic score by Max Steiner alongside Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh at their movie-star best—and Oscar-winning Hattie McDaniel as Scarlett’s faithful Mammy is as memorable as they are.

 

 

On 4K, the film’s images have never looked more vivid; the many extras include featurettes ported over from earlier editions, along with newer ones that give context to the film’s recreation of the antebellum South.

 

 

 

Shrek 

Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson’s 2001 animated blockbuster, based on William Steig’s beloved children’s book, gets a packed 25th anniversary edition that shows why it remains far and away the best Shrek film, with Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy doing their greatest voice work as the green ogre and his faithful sidekick Donkey.

 

 

The UHD restoration is eye-popping, making this worth a rewatch for the visuals alone; extras include a director’s commentary, vintage featurettes, deleted scenes and new interviews.

 

 

 

Blu-ray Releases of the Week 

Tinto Brass, the Italian maestro of photographing beautiful women in his often tongue-in-cheek films, died last week at age 93, and Cult Pictures (not to be confused with Cult Epics, the enterprising company that has released several Brass films in very good UHD editions) gets fortunate help with their release of two of his films on Blu-ray.

 

 

1976’s Salon Kitty is one of Brass’ more serious efforts, a tough but softcore study of a Berlin brothel turned into a spy network by Nazis; 1985’s lighthearted Miranda follows the sexual escapades of the irresistible eponymous war widow, played by the seductive Serena Grandi. No less an eminence than Federico Fellini raved about Miranda, so take that for what it’s worth. Both films look a little rough visually, particularly Salon Kitty, for which the available elements are not always up to bar. Each disc also includes a Brass interview.