How unfortunate that Heidi Schreck's Grand Concourse closed after a relatively short run, for this modest but insightful character study deserved an extension. But that seems to be the way of things: when engrossing works like this or Adam Bock's A Small Fire a few seasons back deserve a second life—or even a longer first life—in New York, they rarely get their just due.

 

It's too bad, for Schreck's play, set in a Bronx soup kitchen and revolving around four characters—Shelley, a nun who runs the place; Emma, a confused 19-year-old and a new volunteer; Oscar, the kitchen's handsome handyman; and Frog, one of the elderly men who frequent the place—is a low-key, eloquent look at how disparate people come together, and explores whether they are selfless or selfish: most likely a combination of the two.

 

That's not to say that Grand Concourse is perfect—there's a finale that feels tacked on, especially coming after a penultimate scene which seemed to say all that needed to be said about these characters, and especially about the volatile relationship between Shelley and Emma—but there's an economical precision to Schreck's mostly believable dialogue. Kip Fagan resourcefully directs a magisterial quartet—Quincy Tyler Bernstine (Shelley), Bobby Moreno (Oscar), Lee Wilkof (Frog) and Ismenia Mendes (Emma), fast becoming an essential performer on New York stages, and who is well on her way to being one of our best actresses—that pours added compassion and humor into Schreck's already excellent script.

 

The plays of Sam Shepard, from Curse of the Starving Class to The Late Henry Moss, often deal with Oedipal issues of absent or abusive father figures. His latest, A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations),declares its intentions in its subtitle, but the rather trite updates to and borrowings (to say it as nicely as possible) from the enduring Greek myth suggest that Sheaprd doesn't have too much to say whatever continuing relevance Oedipus might have today.

 

Instead, a playwright who has made virtues of structural disjointedness and violent outbursts among his often crudely drawn characters here goes so far over the edge that it's difficult to take anything that occurs onstage seriously (or even comedically). Taking place in what looks like the remains of an asylum, A Particle of Dread—a typically resonant Shepard title—radiates out from the central murder to encompass dual characters like Oedipus/Otto, Jocasta/Jocelyn and Antigone/Annalee, along with a ludicrous pair of forensic detectives and two onstage musicians.

 

Sheaprd's dialogue is portentous and ponderous in equal measure, while Nancy Meckler's staging—except for a vividly realized hanging (for which Michael Chybowski's striking lighting design deserves a lion's share of the credit)—can't harness the essential shallowness in Shepard's concept, and so resorts to putting Frank Conway's evocative set awash in blood both literal and figurative. Of a game cast, only Stephen Rea makes an impression as Oedipus and Otto, but there are times when he seems as confused as the rest of us. 

 

Based on Truman Capote's classic short story, A Christmas Memory is a perfectly pleasant holiday musical set in Alabama in 1933 and 20 years later, where we meet adult Buddy, returning as a successful writer to the old—and now vacant, except for the loyal black servant, Anna—family home. Memory is a series of flashbacks to young Buddy's last Christmas with the trio of eccentric cousins who are raising him, notably Sook, with whom he bonds by making annual Christmas fruitcakes, one of which is even sent to the new President, FDR. The adult Buddy looks on, narrates and even enters scenes with his younger self.

 

The two-hour show is a sometimes sleepy but sweet concoction that will warm the hearts of those in the mood for sentimental holiday fare, agily directed by Charlotte Moore and containing several polished songs by composer Larry Grossman and lyricist Carol Hall. Ashley Robinson and Silvano Spagnuolo memorably play Buddy as a grown-up and a young kid, and Alice Ripley is heartbreaking as cousin Sook, even if she tends to sing to the back row as if she's in a large Broadway theater, compromising her naturally beautiful voice. She should tone it down as effectively as the rest of this small-scale but engaging production does.

 

Blu-rays of the Week

The lazy formula for an increasingly turgid series of action-adventure yarns has calcified: in addition to those graying and/or balding actors who have been around since the first two—Stallone, Lundgren, Statham, Jet Li, Schwarzenegger—is another batch of over the hill vets like Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas and even Kelsey Grammer: but for my money, the biggest loss is the lack of Charisma Carpenter. 

 

Even by the shallow standards of the first two movies, E3 comes across as explosions and gunplay in search of something remotely resembling a story. The Blu-ray image is fine; extras include a gag reel, featurettes and on-location documentary.

 

The Giver 

Lois Lowry's mega-popular young-adult sci-fi novel has become a movie that feels like an outline, as all of the original story's beats are hit, but without much resonance: you feel like a character in the movie after seeing it because it's erased from your memory immediately. Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep look uneasy as The Giver and The Chief Elder, respectively, while Brenton Thwaites is adequate as Jonas, the young man being trained as the new Giver. 

 

Philip Noyce cleverly shoots in B&W then gradually changes to color, but that's about the extent of the originality on display in the direction (or the script, for that matter). The hi-def transfer is first-rate; extras are featurettes, a deleted scene and a script reading by Lloyd Bridges (whom son Jeff wanted as The Giver way back when).

 

 

 

Jeff Beck—Live in Tokyo 

One of the all-time great blues-rock guitarists, Jeff Beck is still going strong at age 70, as demonstrated by his scintillating fretwork in a Tokyo concert from this past April: Beck's effortless style trumps all on well-chosen covers like Hendrix's "Little Wing," the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" and even Benjamin Britten's "Corpus Christi." 

 

Beck's equally superb band—comprising guitarist Nicholas Meier, bassist Rhonda Smith and drummer Jonathan Joseph—keeps up with him throughout, as the concert culminates in an unforgettable rendition of Beck's own "Why Give It Away." The image and sound are excellent; extras are interviews and song list commentary. 

 

The Paradise—Complete 2nd Season 

The second season of this stylish costume drama co-produced by PBS' Masterpiece and the BBC centering around a large department store in 1870's London was also its last, mainly because it didn't bring in as many viewers of the more successful (and entertaining) Mr. Selfridge. 

 

Perhaps if the creators had kept their adaptation of Emile Zola's novel The Ladies' Paradise in its original French setting, it would have worked better; at least the cast—Joanna Vanderham, Emun Elliott, Sarah Lancashire and Elaine Cassidy, for starters—is top-notch. On Blu-ray, the visuals look sensational.

 

 

 

 

What If 

Daniel Radcliffe has certainly proven there's life after Harry Potter with interesting performances in several hit-or-miss movies; unfortunately, this fey rom-com about friends who try to remain platonic despite their mutual attraction is less romantic, funny and charming than it could have been. 

 

For that, blame Zoe Kazan, an actress who in the right part can be forceful but an irresistible young woman is beyond her. If Megan Park—who plays Kazan's sexy sister—starred opposite Radcliffe, we might have had something. The hi-def transfer is good; extras are featurettes and deleted scenes.

 

DVDs of the Week

Catherine Breillat, who had a stroke 10 years ago at age 56, made this bitter, self-pitying drama about what happened afterward, when she was bilked by a charismatic “bad boy.” Played by the fearless Isabelle Huppert, director Maud Schoenberg (Breillat’s stand-in) won’t allow a stroke to slow her down, despite a limp and hand curled into a claw. 

 

The stroke itself is harrowing, and Breillat continues in that vein by showing a talented artist giving herself up to a man she knows will ruin her. Portuguese rapper Kool Shen is good as Breillat/Huppert/Schoenberg's nemesis, but Huppert is impossible to look away from, especially in that final unyielding close-up that peers into the depths of her soul.

 

 

 

Apaches 

Exploring bored young people on crime sprees like Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers and Bertrand Tavernier's far subtler L'Appat (Fresh Bait), Corsican director Thierry de Peretti, follows local kids who casually break into a home and, after swimming and partying, take off with valuable jewelry that leads them to a showdown with a local crime boss. 

 

Unfortunately, neither the performers nor the characters are differentiated enough, the situations are all too familiar, and director-writer de Peretti provides little insight. The lone extra is a short film from Italy, Margerita.

 

Austin City Limits Celebrates 40 Years 

One of TV's longest-running music series, Austin City Limits has for four decades presented the best contemporary pop, rock and country music, and this all-star celebration concert—hosted by Jeff Bridges and Sheryl Crow, both of whom also perform—features an array of artists for jam sessions, from Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson to Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris. 

 

Highlights are guitarist Gary Clark Jr. doing a blistering "Bright Lights" and the Foo Fighters knocking Roky Erickson's "Two Headed Dog" out of the park. Extras include additional performances and two making-of featurettes. 

 

 

 

The Fan 

In the aftermath of John Lennon's murder, Edward Bianchi's 1981 thriller about a famous movie star stalked by a deranged fan while starring in a Broadway musical seemed a victim of bad timing and bad taste; three decades later, it's simply awful moviemaking, as veterans Lauren Bacall, James Garner and Maureen Stapleton come off particularly badly, and younger names like Michael Biehn (overdoing the murderous fan) don't make much of an impression. 

 

This is best as a time-capsule of Manhattan—particularly the theater district—during its pre-Disneyfication days.

 

Penance 

Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa made his name with creepy but stylish tales of horrific behavior, and this five-part mini-series for Japanese television is no different: it follows four women many years after one of their friends was brutally murdered by a maniac when they were young children. 

 

Psychologically penetrating but painfully slow—its barebones plot fleshed out to 4-1/2 hours—Penance will appeal mainly to fans of Kurosawa's other work, although it is far better than his recent deadly feature Real. Extras comprise interviews with Kurosawa and his performers.

 

 

 

 

For their 2013 holiday concert in their hometown of Seattle, Ann and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart host an enjoyably eclectic selection of holiday tunes and Heart hits, many with well-chosen guest singers who help out on this festive occasion. 

 

There are Sammy Hagar, Richard Marx, Train lead singer Pat Monahan and Shawn Colvin, the latter of whom sings a lovely "Rocking" and duets with Ann on "Love Came Down at Christmas." Ann's vocals, of course, remain incomparable, whether on Joni Mitchell's opening "River," a stately, choir-driven "Stairway to Heaven" or Heart's own "Barracuda" and "Even It Up." (The latter only shows up on the CD, not the DVD, a surprising omission.) 

Blu-rays of the Week

How music burrows through the frayed brain cells of those suffering from Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases is brought to exhilarating life in Michael Rossato-Bennett's documentary, which shows several people who miraculously escape from their moribund existence when they hear music that's familiar from their past. 

 

There are scenes here, in which a light is turned on and a patient's face glows with life, that are among the most inspirational onscreen moments ever. The Blu-ray looks good; extras include added scenes and interviews.

 

Automata 

What starts as a lackluster knockoff ofBlade Runner soon turns into an original (but equally lackluster) tale of a future world in which robots—surprise!—turn out less benevolent than humans planned them to be. 

 

Although Antonio Banderas doesn't play a robot, he acts just like one, while his offscreen ex-wife Melanie Griffith gives an embarrassingly earnest performance; at least Danish actress Birgitte Hjort Sorensen is sexy and fiery as Banderas' onscreen (and pregnant) wife. The impressive effects are the best thing about the film, which looks excellent on  Blu-ray; extras include a behind the scenes featurette.

 

 

 

Michelangelo Antonioni's 1960 masterpiece of ennui and alienation remains a marvelous example of the great Italian filmmaker's singular vision, as his characters start to recede further  from each other and landscapes and architecture become symbolically oppressive. 

 

The brilliant B&W photography and elliptical editing were in many ways unsurpassed by the director, even though his next two films, La Notte and L'Eclisse, came close. Criterion's hi-def transfer looks wondrous; extras include a commentary, Jack Nicholson reading, director Olivier Assayas' analysis and an hour-long documentary, Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials.

 

The Damned 

Unlike many show-offy thrillers that tell their outlandish tales of possessed people, The Damned distinguishes itself by not being very distinguished: we've been down this road before, and director Victor Garcia and writer Richard D'Ovidio do little to alleviate the non-tension and feeling of deja vuthat permeates the entire enterprise. 

 

The best one can say is that The Damned has the courage of its convictions, ending on a darker note than most such movies do. The Blu-ray looks good; extras are cast and crew commentaries and a making-of featurette.

 

 

 

 

The Last Play at Shea 

Billy Joel's final concerts at Shea Stadium, before the New York Mets' ballpark made way for CitiField, are memorialized in this fleet 90-minute movie that's part concert film, part documentary. Joel's career and the Mets' history are shown alongside footage of Joel's live performances with special guests like Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett (who sang "New York State of Mind") and Paul McCartney who was accompanied by Billy and his band on Beatles' classics "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Let It Be." 

 

Too bad neither concert is documented in its entirety. The hi-def transfer looks sharp and the music sounds great; extras include a Joel interview, two additional songs and time-lapse of Shea giving way to CitiField.

 

The November Man 

In this hackneyed but exciting espionage thriller, Pierce Brosnan returns to his 007 days as a former CIA agent who battles a protege tasked with eliminating him amid the picturesque locations of Belgrade and surrounding Serbian environs. 

 

Director Roger Donaldson things taut despite implausible twists and turns, but Brosnan, the impossibly gorgeous Olga Kurylenko as the woman he's protecting and the film's breathless pace makes it work. The Blu-ray transfer is first-rate; extras are Donaldson and Brosnan's commentary and three making-of featurettes.

 

 

 

 

DVDs of the Week

I have never been a fan of reenactments in documentaries, for too often, they are uninteresting dramatizations that turn the films they are part of into fictional accounts of real events; that is the lone flaw in Leanne Pooley's otherwise estimable film about the amazing Mount Everest ascent of Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953. 

 

Such a riveting real-life adventure remains gripping even with unnecessary reconstructions, and there's enough genuine archival footage and the words of the men themselves to give a sense of the scale of Hillary's achievement. 

 

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection—Volumes 1 & 2 

These enjoyable boxed sets return us to a time when Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were two of the biggest entertainers in Hollywood, and the films they made together showcased not only their comedic talents, both also their singing and even dancing. 

 

Although the films vary wildly in quality—the Frank Tashlin-directed films, 1956's Hollywood or Bust and 1955's Artists and Models, are by far the most memorable of the 13 features spread out over 7 discs—but they all contain hints of the delicious chemistry the duo had.

 

 

 

 

Lines of Wellington 

Valeria Sarmiento's star-studded war epic, set during the Napoleonic Wars, features the Emperor himself (Mathieu Amalric) and his British archenemy, General Wellington (John Malkovich), while other famous faces flit by, from Michel Piccoli to Catherine Deneuve. 

 

But the bulk of its 2-1/2 hour running time is on war's effects on ordinary civilians and soldiers; this is humane work from director Sarmiento, who took over when her partner, Raul Ruiz, died in pre-production. Extras are a 30-minute making-of featurette and unrelated Australian short, Two Laps.

 

When Comedy Went to School 

The Borscht Belt, which introduced new generations of comedians—mostly, but not exclusively, Jewish—receives an entertaining gloss by directors Ron Frank and Mevlut Akkaya, who explore the beginnings of Catskills comedy resorts with lots of vintage footage and interviews with veterans like Jerry Lewis, Mort Sahl,  Jackie Mason, Milton Berle and Jerry Stiller. 

 

Narrated by a wry Robert Klein, this documentary is both humorous and informative about an aspect of show biz history too often relegated to cliches and stereotypes.  Extras are several additional scenes.