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Reviews
February '15 Digital Week II
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Tuesday, 10 February 2015 21:37
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Blu-rays of the Week
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
(Disney)
Judith Viorst's beloved children's book about a young boy whose crappy day extends to his mom and dad as well has been expanded into this sweet-natured feature that, at a breezy 80 minutes, is the perfect length for children and adults to enjoy the unwanted shenangians to which the characters find themselves subjected.
Playful but sympathetic performances by Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner as the parents and Ed Oxenbould as Alexander help put Viorst's magical story across onscreen. The Blu-ray image looks fab; extras include featurettes and bloopers.
Force Majeure
(Magnolia)
Reminiscent of Michael Haneke's better films, Swedish director Ruben Ostlund's intelligent exploration of a seemingly happy family coming apart by a snap judgment during an avalanche at the skiing lodge where they are staying is filled with superb acting, perceptive writing and precise direction.
Too bad that Ostlund pushes everything just a bit too far, like the lodge's janitor who always seems to be around and an ending that basically repeats what's been shown during the preceding two hours. Still, truly provocative black comic dramas come along all too rarely. The movie (and its eye-catching Alps locale) looks great on Blu-ray; extras comprise a featurette and an interview with Ostlund and lead actor Johannes Bah Kuhnke.
Left Behind
(e one)
Poor Nicolas Cage: this Oscar-winning actor has churned out garbage for the past 20 years, with his latest an inert adaptation of an end-of-the-world novel in which The Rapture occurs (and millions of people are "disappeared") as Cage pilots a commercial jet and wonders what has become of his family, including his born-again wife.
There's little tension in this mostly risible attempt at making a straight-faced drama, with the biggest foolishness saved for the finale, in which the pilot is guided to an emergency landing by his pickup truck-driving daughter, who singlehandedly makes a runway. The acting is, to be charitable, undistinguished: alongside Cage's evident embarrassment is the sorry state of Lea Thompson's career. It all looks presentable in hi-def; extras are cast-crew-author interviews and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
(Kino Lorber)
This low-key but intensely haunting drama set during the Civil War finds the moral grey area in the story of a black teenager who works with white bounty hunters retrieve runaway slaves: he bonds with the fugitive free black man he's supposed to help cature.
Writer-director-editor Chris Eska, who knows his history and his filmmaking, visualizes the boy's inner struggle in a few brief words, glimpses or interactions; his unheralded and largely unknown cast is perfect, while his eye unerringly captures the right shot or moment of clarity. The hi-def transfer is understated but excellent; extras comprise Eska's commentary, deleted scene with commentary, post-screening Q&A with Eska and cast, and stunt rehearsals.
Richard Pryor—Omit the Logic
(Magnolia)
Marina Zenovich's absorbing documentary chronicles the innovative comedian who died in 2005; although it was supervised by his widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor (the last of five wives and seven marriages), but doesn't skimp on a life that was often overtaken by drugs, self-destructive impulses and serious relationship issues. While there's little new or revelatory included here, this free-wheeling overview of a legendary artist's erratic career includes plentiful clips of Pryor at work onstage, on TV or onscreen that showed his comedic genius.
There are also sundry interviews with friends, colleagues and family members like his son Richard Pryor Jr., Mel Brooks, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Dave Chappelle. The hi-def transfer is good; extras are additional interviews.
(Universal)
The events that overtook Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari after covering Iran's presidential election—including an appearance on The Daily Show that led to his being captured, interrogated and tortured by the Iranian secret police—compelled Jon Stewart to do "penance" for contributing to Bahari's plight by writing and directing his first feature based on what happened.
This earnest, well-crafted dramatization has a certain flair, but a more accomplished filmmaker would have given Bahari's story more immediacy and vibrancy. Still, even though Gael Garcia Bernal makes a passive hero, Kim Bodina's powerful if pathetic villain provides much of the story's urgency. The striking imagery is given a first-rate Blu-ray presentation; extras are short featurettes.
DVDs of the Week
The Color of Time
(Anchor Bay)
In this impressionistic biopic about American poet C.K. Williams, a dozen director-writers alternate episodes about the artist's life and work, and the results, while at times individually memorable, never coalesce into anything more than a scattershot look at a complicated individual.
James Franco, along with several other actors, plays Williams, and is outclassed at every turn by Jessica Chastain and Mila Kunis as his mother and wife, respectively. At 76 minutes, the effect of the film is of several minor shorts strung together haphazardly.
(Big World Pictures)
Brazilian director Marcelo Gomes' unsparing but delicate study of a young, sexually free woman, just out of medical school, who has difficult decisions to make about the direction of her life, professionally and personally.
Gomes' film is far more subtle than this summary makes it sound, as his assured writing and directing are immeasurably aided by the fierce, unforgettable Hermila Guedes as Veronica; she is an actress unafraid to bare herself physically and emotionally to create an indelible character worth watching and rooting for.
Rocks in My Pockets
(Yekra)
In chronicling the remarkably sturdy hold mental illness has had on several generations of her own family, Latvian director Signe Baumane has fashioned a wholly and boldly original way to deal with its distressing and downbeat heaviness.
By providing her own amusingly drawn animation—remnisicent of the playful Bill Plympton—and her own narration (in both Latvian and English), Baumane underlines the importance of her and her relatives' plight without sacrificing her ultimate seriousness of purpose.
(First Run)
In this gritty character study, a teenage delinquent is shipped off to the tranquil suburbs to stay with his aunt and uncle, but instead of going straight, he falls in with his cousin's own gang, which tags buildings at night with their colorful—and illegal—graffiti.
Director Helier Cisterne's small but potent drama explores, without condescension or excuses, how a young man can, despite (or because of?) the watchful eye of his elders, continue down the wrong path. There are remarkable performances all around from a (to these eyes) largely unknown cast.
February '15 Digital Week I
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Tuesday, 03 February 2015 21:04
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Blu-rays of the Week
Before I Go to Sleep
(Fox)
Despite a compelling performance by Nicole Kidman as a woman whose memory goes blank every morning as she pieces together fragments of what's happened to her, this tepid thriller from S.J. Watson's novel never transcends its clever premise.
The main problems are the story's nonsensical elements—like why her doctor doesn't know what's going on with her husband (well-played by Colin Firth)—and an ending that too patly wraps everything up. On Blu-ray, the movie looks great; extras include short featurettes.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
(Anchor Bay/Weinstein)
Three films—Her and Him, about a relationship from each side's POV, and a recut version that tells both stories—are still not enough for writer-director Ned Benson to insightfully examine two people through thick and thin, despite some good moments.
On the plus side, there's another memorable turn by the always magnetic Jessica Chastain as Eleanor (named after the Beatles song, of course), nakedly emotional, always real, never grandstanding. Her tough, powerful piece of acting overwhelms the otherwise fine James McAvoy. The Blu-ray images are quite good; unless one counts all three films on two discs, the lone extra is a Chastain/McAvoy Q&A.
Maison Close: Season One
(Music Box)
This steamy French series, which seems tailor-made for an American reboot on HBO or Showtime or another pay-cable channel with plenty of nudity, is set in Parisian brothel in 1871—a politically fraught time in France—and examines the personal, professional and sexual lives of the prostitutes, madam, clients and authorities (which were often one and the same).
Beautifully shot and with sumptuous costumes and sets, the series sometimes lags behind in characterizations and storylines, but, overall, the first season's eight episodes are bingeworthy. On Blu-ray, the series looks terrific.
(Cinedigm)
Nacho Vigalondo's enjoyable trashy thriller features Elijah Wood as a geeky superfan who's been unwittingly brought into a convoluted plot that involves his favorite movie star, played by the actress who will forever be known as an ex-porn queen, Sasha Grey.
Although the story strands become so entangled that all of it becomes laughably silly to watch at times, the movie cleverly uses the internet and technology for its nefarious purposes, Wood is properly harried, and even Grey is more than just a pretty face (and body, as a gratuitous nude scene shows). The hi-def transfer is first-rate; extras are a making-of featurette and special effects reel.
Wetlands
Love Is the Devil
(Strand)
Based on Charlotte Roche's controversial book, Wetlands explores a teenage girl's burgeoning sexuality as it holds sway over a male nurse while she recovers from an operation. Such frank subject matter, explored matter-of-factly by director David Winendt, is not for everyone, but with his fearless star Carla Juri, Winendt has made a funny and honest look at teen sexuality.
In John Maybury's striking 1999 biopic about painter Francis Bacon, Love Is the Devil, Derek Jacobi skillfully embodies the flamboyant artist, while Daniel Craig convincingly embodies Bacon's hunky lover, George Dyer; Maybury's dazzling direction finds visual equivalents for Bacon's painful, often intentionally ugly art. Both movies have decent Blu-ray transfers; Loveincludes a Jacobi/Maybury commentary.
Days and Nights
(IFC)
Credit actor and first-time writer-director Christian Camargo for having the audacity to transplant Chekov's classic play The Seagull to rural New York State in 1984 (lots of Reagan allusions), following a fading movie star, her offbeat family and servants, but little of it is memorable, let alone masterly, in the hands of someone who cannot approach Chekhov's genius.
The depth of the play's feelings, emotions and relationships are jettisoned, and although there are good performances by Allison Janney, Katie Holmes and Juliet Rylance, the men are interchangeably bland, which doesn't help.
Hector and the Search for Happiness
(Fox)
In this quirky comedy, Simon Pegg plays an analyst who wants to find out what happiness is, so he leaves his faithful girlfriend Clara in London; as he goes from China to Africa to Los Angeles, Hector finds that happiness means different things to different people. If little of this is earth-shattering, outstanding sequences like one on a plane with a terminally ill woman are worth sitting through the sometimes snail's-paced storytelling to see.
Excellent acting by Pegg, Rosamund Pike as Clara, and—in small but pivotal roles—Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard and Ming Zhao (as an impossibly gorgeous student Hector picks up in China) goes a long way to alleviate a lengthy and bumpy ride. Extras comprise director Peter Chelsom's commentary and two featurettes.
(First Run)
This informative, amusing and often unsettling documentary shows how sex education has been brought to Americans over the decades, with snippets of now uproarious sex-ed films that show how changing moral codes colored what children were taught.
Director Brenda Goodman also corrals astute commentators and ordinary people to provide a runnning commentary about the distinctly American puritanism of dealing with sex. Extras include two vintage sex-ed films, including 1961's A Respectable Neighborhood, about a VD outbreak and directed by Irvin Kershner (who went on to make The Empire Strikes Back); and deleted scenes.
CD of the Week
Iolanta
(Deutsche Grammophon)
Anna Netrebko, the superstar soprano currently essaying the title role of the blind heroine in Tchaikovsky's rarely-heard one-acter at the Metropolitan Opera this month, also sang it in Essen, Germany, in 2012, from which this vibrant live recording was made.
Netrebko's dramatic chops, which let her perform whatever she wants even if it doesn't snugly fit her voice, give this saggy, blunt drama some gravitas; of course, Tchaikovsky's gift for melody is on display, with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Choir under conductor Emmanuel Villaume providing sturdy musical support.
Off-Broadway Reviews—"Da," "The Road to Damascus"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 29 January 2015 22:34
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Da
Written by Hugh Leonard; directed by Charlotte Moore
Performances through March 8, 2015
The Road to Damascus
Written by Tom Dulack; directed by Michael Parva
Performances through March 1, 2015
.JPG) |
| O'Reilly and O'Brien in Da (photo: Carol Rosegg) |
Hugh Leonard's intimate memory piece, Da, is an affecting comic drama unashamed to wear its heart on its sleeve. In this lovely elegy to his own father, Leonard paints an achingly personal portrait of a son remembering his 'da' with complicated and conflicted emotions: Charlie Tynan, while sifting through his dad's belongings following the old man's funeral, is visited by both his father's ghost and his own memories of life with his parents while growing up in that same house.
Throughout, Da is funny and joyous, sad and painful, at times ponderous and slow-going, but always real and humane: in short, it honestly conveys one man's relationships with his parents—and especially with his hard-headed but not hard-hearted father—in a way that allows every audience member to see the universal truths that Leonard shows so unpretentiously.
The Irish Rep's lively production, under Charlotte Moore's precise direction, is led by two forceful performances: Ciaran O'Reilly as the exasperated Charlie and Paul O'Brien as a jovial Da, capture the humanity that makes Leonard's 1978 Tony Award-winning play memorable.
.JPG) |
| Polonsky and Collins in The Road to Damascus (photo: Carol Rosegg) |
So goes The Road to Damascus, a new play by Tom Dulack, which shows a future U.S. and world not far removed from our own, in which our current global crises are given greater urgency, and where terrorists and statesmen are strange, if sometimes unwilling, bedfellows.
Our nominal hero is State Department agent Dexter Hobhouse, who's on friendly terms with the Pope's closest advisor, Roberto Guzman, who alerts him to His Holiness's decision about Syria, while Pope Augustine is friendly with a popular international journalist of Chechen Muslim extraction, Nadia Kirilenko, who's also (no surprise here) Dexter's lover. When Hobhouse disappears after meeting the Pope in Rome, both State and the NSA try and figure out whether he has jumped to the other side.
Dulack writes scenes of palpable tension and excitement, tautly building the drama to its breaking point. Don't expect any insights about how politics, religion and terrorism intersect, but rather enjoy a perfectly paced thriller that's compelling and all too pertinent, thanks in large part to Michael Parva's confident direction, Brittany Vasta's clever sets and Graham Kindred's magnificent lighting.
The sterling company of actors—led by Rufus Collins' properly frumpy Dexter, Larisa Polonsky's sexy and ruthless Nadia and Liza Vann's foul-mouthed NSA agent Bree Benson—is the icing on a very entertaining, if unsettling, cake.
Da
Irish Rep, 103 East 15th Street, New York, NY
irishrep.org
The Road to Damascus
New York Theatre Workshop, 59 East 59th Street, New York, NY
59e59.org
January '15 Digital Week IV
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Tuesday, 27 January 2015 21:20
- Written by Kevin Filipski
Blu-rays of the Week
Adua and Her Friends
(Raro/Kino)
Antonio Pietrangeli's 1960 neo-realist drama—which sympathetically follows a quartet of prostitutes who decide to open a restaurant when a new Rome law closes all of the city's bordellos—sounds treacly and melodramatic in the extreme.
But Pietrangeli's sensitive direction, assisted by the wonderfully realistic portrayals of Simone Signoret, Emmanuelle Riva, Sandra Milo and Gino Revere as the women, provides a powerful dramatic trajectory for this compassionate and insightful character study. The B&W film's transfer looks good enough if a bit waxy; extras include an introduction and Pietrangeli short.
(Millennium)
"By the numbers" more accurately describes this wheels-spinning crime drama about a flashy young gangster (Ben Barnes) doing things on his own—including picking up the adorable daughter (Leighton Meester) of a rival—against his boss's wishes.
Director James Mottern and writer Emilio Mauro follow the blueprints of other, better films, but do little more than make a hollow recreation of them, drowning veteran actors like Harvey Keitel and Toby Jones in a tsunami of banalities. The hi-def transfer looks good; extras are a commentary and deleted scenes.
La Cienaga
(Criterion)
Argentine director Lucrecia Martel's auspicious debut feature is a blackly comic 2001 exploration of a bourgeois extended family dealing with hidden tensions that threaten to bubble up to the surface.
Although there is more provocation than substance in her visual and dramatic symbolism, at least Martel was onto something interesting, which unfortunately was not followed through with her increasingly hermetic films The Holy Girl and The Headless Woman. The Criterion hi-def transfer is excellent; extras include interviews with Martel and filmmaker Andrés Di Tella.
Downton Abbey—Complete 5th Season
(PBS)
The final season of the PBS/Masterpiece smash hit comprises nine episodes that wrap up the various story strands, from an ongoing murder investigation to a wedding and a farewell.
Although there is some obviousness in the writing—a discussion of someone named Hitler and his new group the Nazis is an example of 20/20 hindsight—that's a mere quibble when the production values remain impeccable, the acting generally outstanding and the storytelling sheerly entertaining. The hi-def transfer looks smashingly good indeed; extras are three featurettes.
The Drop
(Fox)
The late James Gandolfini—who seems to be in more films since he died than before—is at his disheveled best in this violent, uneven but generally compelling crime drama by writer Dennis Lehane, playing a bartender in a drop bar who doesn't trust his partner after a suspicious robbery.
Although he could have played the role in his sleep, Gandolfini has a formidable presence that outshines costar Tom Hardy's sleepy sidekick; happily, chameleon actress Noomi Rapace is also on hand, and her performance makes us forget how ludicrously implausible her character is. Director Michael R. Roskam has a good eye for Brooklyn locations; the Blu-ray looks solid and extras are Roskam/Lehane's commentary, deleted scenes and featurettes.
All Neat in Black Stockings
(Warner Archive)
This late-'60s artifact came out in the wake of such successful farces as The Knack and Alfie,which show a young man seducing attractive "birds" without a thought, until he meets a young woman who turns his head and stops him in his tracks.
Victor Henry plays a window washer ladies' man who is upended by the bird played by Susan George, one of the most delectable bits of typecasting in movie history. The comedy is creaky, the sentiments sexist, but it works, mostly due to Henry and George's chemistry.
Art & Craft
Coherence
(Oscilloscope)
Mark Landis, who donated his own forgeries of master paintings to museums as gifts, is chronicled in Art & Craft, Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker's eye-opening documentary exploring the complications of art forgery, mainly through the eyes of Matt Leininger, who exposes Landis's chicanery.
In Coherence, four couples at a dinner party discover, as a comet flies overhead, that theirs is one of many realities; as Twilight Zone ripoffs go, it's an OK diversion, but writer-director James Ward Birkit trips himself up trying to outsmart viewers. Art extras are commentary, featurette, deleted scenes, Q&A; Coherence extras are commentary, behind the scenes featurettes.
(IFC)
For the first two-thirds of its two-hour running time, Pascale Ferran's ambitious character study of two lonely people—an American businessman and a French cleaning woman—who don't meet until the very end is beguiling in how it displays the minutiae of their lives through an exhilarating combination of formal precision and alternating narratives.
But when the film's heroine (played by the always excellent Anais Demoustier) transforms into one of the title creatures, all bets are off, and Ferran's movie limps along to an enervating, diffuse, predictable finale.
The Green Prince
(Music Box)
In the impossible-to-believe-it's-true category is this forcefully engrossing documentary portrait of Mosab Hassan Yousef, a Palestinian whose father was a Hamas leader and who became, against all odds (and even credulity), an informant for Israel's version of the FBI, Shin Bet, under the auspices of agent Gonen Ben Yitzhak.
Director Nadav Scirman adroitly explores the dynamic—and dynamite—relationship between the two men, an unlikely pairing that throws a wrench into the accepted narrative of the Middle East's political situation. Extras include interviews and featurettes.
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