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February '22 Digital Week I
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 03 February 2022 00:10
- Written by Kevin Filipski
In-Theater/Streaming Release of the Week
A Taste of Hunger
(Magnolia Pictures)
Danish actress Katrine Greis-Rosenthal is one of the subtlest performers around today, with a remarkable ability to find the truth in her characters with a minimum of seeming effort, like her presence in Bille August’s masterly A Fortunate Man and here as Maggie, a brilliant foodie but unfulfilled wife in Cristoffer Boe’s smart, sassy anti-romcom about a top chef gunning for a Michelin star and the woman who was his muse and now is an anchor.
Greis-Rosenthal works superbly with the equally fine Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who makes the chef, Carsten, a captivating if bemusing mixture of talent, charisma and narcissism—but Boe shrewdly keeps the shifting dynamics of their relationship front and center rather than grounding the food, however tempting that may have been. The resulting fun, fulfilling fare is worth at least a few Michelin stars.
The Capture
(Film Detective)
John Sturges, a director of sturdy if unexceptional westerns like Bad Day at Black Rock and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, helmed this ordinary but diverting 1950 genre piece that throws together a widow, Ellen, with a young son and Lin, the man who accidentally killed her husband.
The storyline is certainly intriguing, but once Lin convinces Ellen he didn’t murder her husband in cold blood, she falls into arms even quicker than Lady Anne does with Shakespeare’s Richard III. Still, this is tidy, respectable filmmaking with an only semi-happy ending for purists. Too bad the film doesn’t look that spiffy in hi-def; extras are short featurettes on Sturges and actress Teresa Wright, who plays Ellen.
Little Girl
(Music Box)
Sébastien Lifshitz’s astonishing documentary follows a French family for a year to chart their lives as the youngest daughter Sasha deals with the fallout of her gender dysphoria, which includes stonewalling school administrators—who refuse to accept her “new” gender—and sympathetic doctors.
At the heart of the film, though, is a remarkably loving family whose acceptance gives Sasha what she needs at a very difficult time. The film looks terrific on Blu; extras include deleted scenes and three different interviews with Lifshitz.
(Warner Archive)
This minor but entertaining 1950 Hitchcock mystery is the very definition of old-fashioned: Eve, an American drama student in London, hoping to clear Jonathan, an actor friend, of being framed for a murder, starts working as a maid for Charlotte, the legendary actress whose husband was suspiciously killed.
Hitchcock’s lean, economical direction makes this straightforward, unsurprising story workable, with fine performances from Jane Wyman (Eve), Marlene Dietrich (Charlotte) and even Alastair Sim (Eve’s father). There’s an excellent hi-def transfer; lone extra is a retrospective featurette.
DVD/Streaming Release of the Week
The Great Postal Heist
(Cinema Libre)
Jay Galione—whose father retired from a 30-year career at the US Post Office that was marred by accusations of wrongdoing he fought against—has made a polemical documentary that does exactly when it sets out to do: outrage viewers over how the USPS treats longtime employees (leading to some “going postal,” committing murder or suicide at work) and show how Congress—led by Republicans, of course—has been undermining the post office’s mandate and try and privatize it despite the Constitution’s specifically saying otherwise.
Through emotional interviews with current and former postal employees, family members, experts, executives and politicians, Galione paints an urgent portrait of another American institution that needs saving, not scrapping.
Simone Dinnerstein—Undersong
(Orange Mountain)
For her third pandemic recording, adventurous pianist Simone Dinnerstein zeroes in on works that have a refrain, or a hook, that’s reiterated to the point of repetition, but as she notes in her always astute liner notes, that very act of repeating allows one to hear subtle changes in the music, which can provide a hypnotizing quality.
Indeed, in Erik Satie’s Gnossienne No. 3, for example, the spaces between the notes have never seemed so edge-of-the-seat, so tantalizing. And even Philip Glass’ Mad Rush, which can sound maddening in lesser hands, moves inexorably forward to its conclusion sounding almost imperceptibly different. Works by Robert Schumann—whose Kreisleriana is a masterpiece of piano writing—and François Couperin are also heard, with the latter’s Les Barricades Mystérieueses bookending the recording, and sounding ever so slightly—but emotionally—transformed when heard at the end of this rewarding journey.
75 Years of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Wednesday, 02 February 2022 10:00
- Written by Jack Angstreich
Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Photo by Richard Termine
At Carnegie Hall, on the evening of Monday, January 31st, I had the privilege to attend a memorable concert featuring the fine Royal Philharmonic Orchestra—in its first appearance at this venue in twenty years—under the effective direction of Vasily Petrenko. The conductor addressed the audience at the outset, noting that this is the 75th anniversary of this ensemble and that it was the first international orchestra since March 2020 to tour the United States.
The program opened splendidly with an excellent version of the extraordinary Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. The evocative “Dawn” was succeeded by the ebullient, impressionistic “Sunday Morning,” followed by the mystical “Moonlight,” concluding glitteringly with the tumultuous and thrilling “Storm” movement.
The accomplished Kian Soltani then took the stage as soloist in a credible account of Edward Elgar’s enduring Cello Concerto. After a mournful introduction, the body of the first movement was by turns elegiac, lyrical, inward and even sprightly—a complex journeying through variegated moods that drew unexpected applause. The ensuing Lento was even more melancholy but with a playful scherzo section. The third movement was soulful, preceding a rousing finale. As an exquisite encore, Soltani presented his delightful arrangement for cello ensemble of the marvelous Introduction from Dmitri Shostakovich’s score for the 1955 Soviet film, The Gadfly—notable for an adapted screenplay by the eminent Formalist critic and theorist, Viktor Shklovsky.
The second half of the concert was devoted to an absorbing realization of the acclaimed and wonderful The Planets by Gustav Holst, which received applause after several of the individual movements. It began with the riveting “Mars, Bringer of War” and the luminous “Venus, the Bringer of Peace.” There was a fanciful reading of “Mercury, the Winged Messenger” before a celebratory “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” and a somber “Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age.” “Uranus, the Magician” was humorous and ultimately triumphant while, at long last, “Neptune, the Mystic” proved enigmatic and enchanted, a signal influence of the famous film scores of Bernard Herrmann. An enthusiastic ovation elicited another terrific encore: the exhilarating "Dance of the Tumblers" from Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1873 incidental music for the first production of the play, The Snow Maiden, by Aleksander Ostrovsky. I look forward to a less prolonged reappearance of these impressive musicians to a New York house.
January '22 Digital Week IV
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 27 January 2022 03:09
- Written by Kevin Filipski
In-Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week
Rifkin’s Festival
(MPI)
One of Woody Allen’s lesser works, this halfbaked comedy is set at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, where cranky critic Mort Rifkin (Wallace Shawn) accompanies his wife Sue (Gina Gershon)—press agent for the hot young French director Philippe (Louis Garrel)—and, as he worries they’re having an affair, himself falls for a beautiful local doctor, Jo (Elena Ayana).
As always, there are one-liners galore (some funny, others recycled) as well as affectionate but tepid takeoffs on classics like Citizen Kane, 8-1/2, Jules and Jim, Breathless, The Exterminating Angel and The Seventh Seal. But the material feels stale and not very urgent, while Shawn’s stiff appearance doesn’t help matters as Woody’s alter ego. Still, San Sebastian looks lovely and both Gershon and Ayana are beguiling as the women in Rifkin’s life.
(Saban Films)
Director/writer Alessio Della Valle’s harsh chronicle of organized crime and art forgery revels in loopy twists and turns alongside excessive, cartoonish bursts of violence, but there’s no denying it’s a hfast-paced and always watchable wild ride.
I haven’t seen Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in years, but he’s quite good as the shady art forger, Paz Vega is sensational as his art expert lover, and Lee Levi and Annabelle Belmondo are excellent as young women in his orbit; Della Valle conjures an authentic atmosphere of the intersecting art world and criminal underworld.
Brighton 4th
(Kino Lorber)
In a succinct, minor-key drama that unfolds like a short story, director Levan Koguashvili and writer Boris Frumin follow an elderly man who leaves his home in the former Soviet nation of Georgia to visit his son in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where an enclave of emigres lives.
Although the plot goes exactly where one expects—especially when there’s discussion of dad being a former wrestler, along with the small-time mob boss to whom the son owes a lot of money—Koguashvili and Frumin adorn it with sharp-eyed characterizations, giving enough variety to the relationships that the movie never approaches melodrama as it subtly gets under the skin.
The Lover
(Capelight)
French director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1992 adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ memoir about her affair with a Chinese man in Indochina in 1929 at age 15 nearly got an X rating for its steamy sex scenes, which are the most memorable moments in a mainly aloof and distant film.
Jane March makes a spectacular debut as the young heroine, while Tony Leung is less interesting as the title character; Jeanne Moreau narrates in French, English or German (depending on which version you decide to watch). Robert Fraisse’s sumptuous cinematography looks especially enticing in 4K; extras include archival interviews with Duras and Annaud, a making-of featurette and deleted scenes.
Blu-ray Releases of the Week
Brian Wilson—Long Promised Road
(Screen Media)
In Brent Wilson’s touching documentary, journalist Jason Fine—who’s had a close relationship with the main Beach Boy for a quarter-century—discusses Brian Wilson’s long career with the man himself as they visit places that resonate in Wilson’s life and art over the past 60 years.
This intimate glimpse at an artist who has persevered even in the throes of a serious mental illness features numerous paeans from the likes of Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Hawkins, which speaks to his influence on generations of rock stars. There’s a first-rate hi-def transfer; extras are additional interviews and deleted scenes.
(Cohen Film Collection)
This pair of crackerjack crime dramas has been all but forgotten, mainly because there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done better in countless other movies—still, both are good for a watch if there’s nothing else to do.
1947’s Dancing with Crime boasts nice chemistry between Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim (a married couple offscreen at the time) as a couple of snoops tracking a killer, while 1937’s The Green Cockatoo features the charming René Ray as an innocent woman pursued by both police and criminals. Both films have decent if not exceptional hi-def transfers.
Song of the Thin Man
(Warner Archive)
The last and certainly least of the Thin Man series, this 1947 entry finds Nick and Nora Charles—and their beloved dog Asta—tracking down another murderer, this time with ties to the colorful jazz world.
William Powell and Myrna Loy are their usual sharp-witted selves and the supporting cast includes ingénues like Jayne Meadows and Gloria Graeme, but the by-the-numbers plotting (and lame Poughkeepsie jokes) make this the least memorable Thin Man flick of all. The B&W movie looks terrific on Blu; extras include a vintage short, A Real Important Person, and classic cartoon, Slap Happy Lion.
Haydn—The Creation
(Alia Vox)
Austrian master Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) composed several operas that were not as popular with audiences as his contemporary Mozart, but this monumental oratorio (written in 1797-98 and premiered in 1799) is more successful dramatically, and may be the summit achievement of his large-scale vocal output.
And this superb recording, led by Spanish conductor Jordi Savall, perfectly marries Haydn’s magnificent orchestral colors (the ensemble is La Concert des Nations) with his majestic voice writing for both a trio of soloists (here, soprano Yeree Suh, tenor Tilman Lichdi and baritone Matthias Winckhler) and chorus (La Capella Reial de Catalunya).
January '22 Digital Week III
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Thursday, 20 January 2022 02:33
- Written by Kevin Filipski
4K/UHD Release of the Week
A Hard Day’s Night
(Criterion Collection)
Nearly sixty years on, the Beatles’ first film remains innovative, hilarious and gloriously tuneful—it’s a happy combination of Alun Owen’s clever script, Richard Lester’s gleefully absurdist direction, the Fab Four’s wittily distinctive personalities and several of their greatest 1964-era songs, from the title tune and “Can’t Buy Me Love” to “If I Fell” and “And I Love Her.”
Criterion’s 4K transfer makes the B&W images—the luminous photography is by Gilbert Taylor—literally pop off the TV screen and the audio (overseen by Beatles producer George Martin’s son Giles) is exceptional; there’s an audio commentary, and the accompanying Blu-ray disc has many other extras: archival interviews with and featurettes about the Beatles and Lester; Lester’s breakthrough 1960 short, The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film; and an interview with Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn.
Delicious
(Samuel Goldwyn Films)
In this entertainingly tall tale of the man who opened the first restaurant in France—coinciding with the French Revolution in 1789, naturally—writer-director Éric Besnard has smartly cast Grégory Gadebois as the chef and Isabelle Carré as the woman who starts out as his unlikely protégé, then becomes his confidante and second-in-command: their chemistry gives the film that extra sauce and spice it needs.
At times, it’s uncomfortably remindful of such Miramax awards bait as Chocolat, but the typically French intertwining of the political, personal and culinary makes this, well, delicious.
Italian Studies
(Magnolia)
As she showed in her Oscar-nominated performance in Pieces of a Woman and Emmy-nominated turn as Prince Margaret in The Crown, Vanessa Kirby is incapable of a false note as an actress, so writer-director Adam Leon is lucky her presence anchors his occasionally intriguing but mainly pretentious character study.
Unfortunately Kirby—as an amnesiac author who falls in with a group of teenagers—can’t save this 78-minute one-note drama that feels much longer than it is.
(Sony Pictures Classics)
Turning a staged lecture into a stirring documentary worked for Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth; lawyer Jeffrey Robinson goes a similar route for his brutally honest and relevant discussion of how our country arrived at its current predicament: he calls out the obvious racism embedded in the founding fathers’ writings and documents and how difficult it’s been to escape that past because it’s still going on today.
Robinson has a chatty but commanding manner while sharing facts and insights onstage (it was shot at New York City’s Town Hall in 2018) and he dives further into our shared history of embarrassment in several location shots, including one of him discussing the myth of the Confederate flag with a stalwart defender of it in Virginia.
Blu-ray Releases of the Week
Ema
(Music Box)
Chilean director Pablo Larraín found some mainstream success with a couple of clunky middlebrow biopics, Diana and Spencer, both making unfortunate hash of the legacies of Jackie Kennedy and Lady Di; much better are the films he made in his native country, like Post Mortem, No and, now, Ema, a chillingly unblinking study of a young woman—an artistic free spirit—who responds to the collapse of her marriage and tragedy involving her son by, literally, burning down her own existence and the world around her.
The fresh and vibrant actress Mariana di Girolamo is magnificent as Ema, humanizing a primarily symbolic role, and Larraín visualizes her experiences with wit, sympathy and perceptiveness. The film looks great on Blu; extras are a commentary by the film’s choreographer, Jose Vidal, and music video directed by Larraín.
(Cohen Film Collection)
Val Guest’s 1959 rock-n-roll curio, even more of a time capsule than A Hard Day’s Night, chronicles the early, heady days of the pop music biz in the form of the sleazy local talent agent Johnny Jackson (Laurence Harvey), who discovers teen singer Bert Rudge (Cliff Richard) and proceeds to turn him into a sensation.
This musical-cum-romantic comedy-cum gritty slice of life comes off as mostly corny now, but it’s definitely a valuable glimpse at the so-called innocent days of the music biz, which don’t look all that much different than the billion-dollar industry it became. The B&W film has a gritty look in hi-def.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
(Film Movement)
In this engrossing triptych of stories about women dealing with the shifting dynamics of relationships, Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi develops, with an almost casual mastery that’s far more accomplished than his forebear, Eric Rohmer (whom Hamaguchi nods to), the near-perfect form for alternatingly amusing and unsettling studies that shudder with palpable tension.
The film looks splendid on Blu; extras are a Hamaguchi interview and a short, The Chicken, by director Neo Sora.
Billions—Complete 5th Season
(Showtime/CBS)
The ongoing war between U.S. attorney Chuck Rhoades and hedge-fund entrepreneur Bobby Axelrod reaches its deliriously absurd apogee in the latest season of Showtime’s alternately spellbinding and silly drama: Axelrod simply gets on a plane and flees to Switzerland in the finale.
It’s quite an anticlimax for a showdown that’s been promised for five seasons, and now that Damien Lewis will not return as Axelrod, having Rhoades battle Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) probably won’t have the same frisson. As always, this season had the usual exacting performances by Lewis, Paul Giamatti, Maggie Siff, David Costabile and Condola Rashad to keep us watching.
Historical Drama Collection
(Corinth Films)
Corinth Films has put together somewhat of a grab bag with this quintet of films made in the last decade or so centering on historical events, from Russia (Marlene Gorris’ Within the Whirlwind), France (Volker Schlondorff’s Calm at Sea), Germany (Juraj Kerz’s Habermann), Latvia (Viesturs Kairiss’ The Chronicles of Melanie) and Poland (Anna Justice’s Remembrance).
Of the five, Gorris’ dramatization of the life of Soviet dissident Evgenia Ginzburg (powerfully played by Emily Watson) and Schlondorff’s recreation of the heroic deaths of French resistance fighters, including 17-year-old Guy Moquet (the expressive Léo Paul Salmain) are the most worthwhile entries.
(Icarus Films)
Florence Strauss’ eight-part documentary profiling dozens of important French film producers might seem excessive in its length, but in reality it’s probably not enough time to give several of these men their proper due, as it was they who allowed such visionary directors as Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Renoir, Luis Bunuel and Jean Eustache to make uncompromisingly personal features.
Crammed with a voluminous amount of archival interviews alongside scenes from classics like Breathless, Forbidden Games, The Mother and the Whore and Z, this might not be a series that many viewers would binge, but those who are really into French film will find it irresistible.
CD Release of the Week
Hans Werner Henze—The Sea Betrayed
(Capriccio)
German composer Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012) was a modernist who loved writing operas on all subjects and in many styles: this opera, which he wrote in 1986 and revised a couple decades later, is based on Yukio Mishima’s haunting novella The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea, which was made into a middling movie in 1976 with Kris Kristofferson and the mesmerizing Sarah Miles as a seaman and his widowed lover, both of whom are disturbed by her teenage son’s nocturnal activities. Henze’s arresting score, which combines dreamy but restless seascapes with gorgeous arias—especially for Fusako, the widow—and sturdy ensembles, remarkably dramatizes this strange, nearly surreal world of inhibition, sexuality, anarchy and murder.
This recording, from Vienna in 2020, is vivid and intense, brilliantly played by the Vienna State Opera Orchestra under conductor Simone Young, and extraordinarily sung by Bo Skovhus as the sailor, Ryuji, Josh Lovell as Fusako’s disturbed teenage son, Noboru, and Vera-Lotte Boecker, who gives a deeply affecting portrayal of Fusako. The only thing missing, in fact, are the visuals, which the CD packaging gives a tantalizing glimpse of: here’s hoping a Blu-ray of the actual production is soon to follow.
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