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August '21 Digital Week II

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Wednesday, 11 August 2021 16:28; Written by Kevin Filipski

In-Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week

White as Snow

(Cohen Media)

French director Anne Fontaine’s fiendishly clever updating of Snow White reveals its intentions slowly but memorably as it parses out a story that starts as a fairy tale but soon traverses territory that keeps redefining itself—as well as its heroine, a young woman whose beauty and apparent innocence soon has seven (get it?) men pining for her.

Although Isabelle Huppert gets top billing and is her usual amusing self as the wicked stepmother, Lou de Laâge steals this satisfying feminist take on self-empowerment as Claire with a smart, sassy performance—and Fontaine’s camera loves her.

The Faithful

(Fish in the Hand Productions)

Director Annie Berman fastidiously lays out the reasons why certain individuals—in this case, Pope John Paul II, Elvis Presley and Lady Di—become not only icons while alive but are venerated beyond reason after their death.

In some ways amusing—Berman shows off the tchotchkes, trinkets and other memorabilia that have become all the rage with their likenesses on them—the film is also a sobering study of how people are always looking for a deity to worship, whether it’s a pope, pop star or royal princess, and Berman does not whitewash her own complicity, since she has imposing collections related to these individuals herself.

The Lost Leonardo

(Sony Pictures Classics)

When a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi, sold at auction for nearly half a billion dollars to an ultra-rich sheik, the insanity of the art world was brought into sharp focus, and Andreas Koefoed’s absorbing documentary follows the story from the artwork’s “discovery” at a Louisiana estate sale to the business of sellers, restorers and self-styled experts, which turned the painting from a badly damaged artifact into one of the most important works ever created.

Is Salvator Mundi a real Leonardo? It depends on whom you ask—although it seems doubtful—but Koefoed isn’t interested in a definitive answer while laying bare the insular world of art where “authenticity” has more to do with money and publicity than actual authenticity.

The Macaluso Sisters

(Glass Half Full Media)

Based on her own play, director-writer Emma Dante’s intimate drama about how tragedy affects the lives of five orphaned sisters has a chamber quality that perfectly mirrors the claustrophobia in these decades-long complicated relationships. What Dante charts is often moving as her script puzzles out what happened one summer day and how the surviving sisters deal with it; Dante pulls together memories by visualizing them succinctly, even startlingly.

Even her overuse of Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedie No. 1” becomes a stroke of genius when it’s heard one last time in a different form from earlier cues. The actresses, who are led by a force of nature, Donatella Finocchiaro, make an unforgettable ensemble…or, rather, three ensembles.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

The Herculoids—The Complete Series

(Warner Archive)

This cheesy Hanna-Barbara animated series, which aired from 1967 to 1969, has all the hallmarks of early TV animation in its crude drawings, even cruder plots and vivid primary colors.

It’s now a cult item with a bizarre mixture of sci-fi and fantasy—the title creatures help a lone family trio protect their planet from assorted fantastical villains—that’s out-there enough to seem original. The series’ 18 episodes (which have been returned to their original state, unlike the previous DVD release) look good on Blu; lone extra is a retrospective featurette.

Die Tote Stadt

(Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), best known for his lush movie music, did the same onstage in several operas, the most famous and lasting this potent but downbeat drama about a man whose memories of his dead lover are destroying his life, leading him toward madness and maybe murder.

Korngold conjures intense dramatics out of soap opera characters through his luminous score, which sounds even more luscious played by the Bavarian State Orchestra under conductor Kirill Petrenko. And Simon Stone’s modernized 2019 staging couldn’t have better antagonists than German tenor Jonas Kaufmann and German soprano Marlis Petersen, who invest the leads with the naked emotion that makes Korngold’s fever dream a powerful experience. There’s first-rate hi-def video and audio.

Die Walküre

(Dynamic)

The second part of Richard Wagner’s classic Ring tetralogy is the most performed, thanks to its intense brother-sister dynamic and the popular “Ride of the Valkyries,” which sounds completely different heard in the context of an exhilarating four-hour music drama.

As part of the new Ring cycle in Sofia, Romania, Plamen Kartaloff’s production is certainly of a piece, sacrificing the Tolkien-like trappings of conventional stagings for a broader approach that’s well-sung by its cast and well-played by the orchestra. Although not earthshattering, it does look and sound great in hi-def.

CD Releases of the Week

Astor Piazzolla—Duo Praxedis

(Ars Produktion)

Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-92) is well-known for his tango music for various ensembles, but this beguiling two-disc set from a Dutch mother-daughter harp-piano duo, Duo Praxedis—commemorating the centenary of the composer’s birth—entertainingly demonstrates that other instruments can also instill that singular Piazzolla magic.

The first disc begins with Le Grand Tango—an 11-minute tour de force, original written for cello and piano—and includes lovely performances of other evocative Piazzolla compositions like Soledad, Michelangelo 70 and 1984's Oblivion, from the soundtrack to Italian master Marco Bellocchio's 1984 film Enrico IV with Marcello mastroianni.

Heitor Villa-Lobos—Complete Violin Sonatas

(Naxos)

One of the most prolific composers in several genres, Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) wrote 17 string quartets, 12 symphonies and, in his own categories, 11 Chôros and 9 Bachianas Basileiras; although he only composed three violin sonatas—all between the years 1912 and 1920—they are remarkable examples of his maturation.

Played by violinist Emmanuele Baldini and pianist Pablo Rossi, these works are flavorful and wide-ranging, with the third sonata especially memorable for its hints of, but not slavish imitation of, Debussy and French impressionism.

“The Suicide Squad” Is One Kind of Crazy Superhero Film -- Full of Irony and Bile

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Wednesday, 11 August 2021 14:29; Written by Brad Balfour

“The Suicide Squad”
Director: James Gunn
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Daniela Melchior, Jai Courtney, Michael Rooker, Peter Capaldi

Superhero films generally are of two types: those whose creators assume that they exist in a world where the heroes are real and are a part of normal life and the other which presumes that they’re not. They’re really in a world that’s exaggerated, metaphoric or ironic.

In a classic superhero scenario — whether it’s a film or TV series like “Daredevil” — the story is meant to feel like it 's happening in the real world.The city is New York, the characters behave like humans behave and their lives exist beyond their “super-ness.” In these films, though we don’t necessarily see it happen on screen, they go to the toilet, have breakfast and see movies.

And then there’s the other approach. Take for example “The Suicide Squad” — the 2021 edition — the recent foray into imagining a world with meta-humans or super-beings. It’s not quite a direct sequel or a reboot but a standalone variation on “Suicide Squad” (the 2016 version). As the 10th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), the Warner Bros execs decided they needed to have another go at setting their franchise in motion. They favored the nefarious character Harley Quinn (Joker’s former therapist and lover) but didn’t seem quite as happy with the course the team had taken.

suicide 1 Not that the first one, “Suicide Squad,” was bad in my eyes. It did a pretty good job at following the formula for a superhero/villains story despite the fans’ expectations of it being something more.
Now comes the new tale written and directed by Gunn. He drew inspiration from war films and John Ostrander's 1980s “Suicide Squad” comics, and decided to explore new characters in a story separate from the first film's narrative, though some cast members do return from the earlier “Suicide Squad.”

David Ayer was set to return as director for a “Suicide Squad” sequel by March 2016, but he chose to develop a Gotham City Sirens film instead. Warner Bros. considered several replacement directors but then hired Gunn to write and direct the film after temporarily being fired by Disney and Marvel Studios as the director of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (2023).

In the latest film, head intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) returns (from having been in the first film) to send two Task Force X teams comprised of inmates from super- villain proof Belle Reve penitentiary. They are led by Colonel Rick Flag and Bloodsport, to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese after its government is overthrown by an anti-American regime. Most of the first crew — which includes Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Brian Durlin/Savant (Michael Rooker) — are stupidly cut down with much blood-and-guts in full display.

The second team is played by an ensemble cast which includes Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Idris Elba (Bloodsport), John Cena (Peacemaker), David Dastmalchian (Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man), Daniela Melchior (Cleo Caza/Ratcatcher 2), Joel Kinnaman (Colonel Rick Flag), Sylvester Stallone (King Shark) Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), and Peter Capaldi (Gaius Grieves/The Thinker). They enact most of the action.

In exchange for lighter sentences, the squads are tasked with destroying the Nazi-era laboratory Jötunheim, which holds a secretive experiment known as "Project Starfish.” In doing so, they are to destroy evidence of the giant alien Starro. It’s a creature brought to earth by American astronauts and secretly held on the island to hopefully weaponize it for American defense and profit.

As Gunn develops his narrative, he employs exaggerated B-film tropes throughout from the freaky love-making scene between Harley and the new dictator to the gore-engorged violent acts committed by either this team of meta-human villains or their adversaries. Gunn is out for bombast, laughs and some social commentary along the way. Once again the military-industrial power establishment is the secret master behind this intergalactic menace and mess. After 50 years of secret testing, they still don’t have a way to control the massive starfish, a mega-beast ala Godzilla which towers over the city spewing mini-starfish. Once these little creatures land on a person’s face, Starro takes control of them. It’s finally defeated by a massive swarm of rats that enter a wound in its eye and eat it from the inside out.

By the end of the film, three things are evident. The super-survivors are a black man (Bloodsport/Elba) and a woman (Quinn/Robbie). The government can’t help but double deal. Waller keeps the computer disc evidence secret by cutting a deal with the remnants of the Squad. And chaos is essential to make a superhero film like this work.

“The Forever Purge” Is A Futuristic New Film That’s More A Part of These Times Than Ever

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Monday, 09 August 2021 15:43; Written by Brad Balfour

The Forever Purge
Director: Everardo Gout
Cast: Ana de la Reguera, Tenoch Huerta, Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Alejandro Edda, Will Patton

The fifth in a cinematic series, “The Forever Purge” is the ultimate conclusion of an effort by The New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA), the ominous ruling party, to allow the masses a way to let off steam — and to control them. One night a year for 12 hours, anyone can commit any crime, even murder, without legal ramifications. That’s the Purge.

In the fictional near-future America of the NFFA, Trumper-like insurrectionists seize the day and decide the Purge should continue beyond its limits. They’re not only intoxicated by the violence and rage, they want to attack all those they hate — immigrants, people of color and liberals. This sect of lawless marauders — the Forever Purgers — decide that the annual Purge doesn’t stop at daybreak and that it should never end. As members of this underground movement, they decide to overtake America through unending mayhem and massacre. No one is safe and the NFFA’s rule is threatened.

Adela (Ana de la Reguera, Cowboys & Aliens) and her husband Juan (Tenoch Huerta, Days of Grace) live in Texas, where Juan works as a ranch hand for the wealthy Tucker family. Juan impresses the Tucker patriarch, Caleb (Will Patton, Halloween), but that fuels the jealous anger of Caleb’s son, Dylan (Josh Lucas, Ford v Ferrari).

On the morning after The Purge, a masked gang of killers attacks the Tuckers — including Dylan’s wife (Cassidy Freeman, HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones), and his sister Harper (Leven Rambin, The Hunger Games), forcing both families to join together and fight back as the United States begins to disintegrate around them and the country spirals into chaos.

forpur2 Though Lucas starts off seeming like he could be one of the Purgers, he actually hates them especially after a band of them kill his father. So he and the other Tuckers join with Adela and Juan, as well a crew of other immigrants, to escape to Mexico (which has allowed anyone — for a few hours — to cross the border to safety from the insurrectionists). Through the help of a local Native American tribe, they make it across — an obviously ironic plot point. Throughout the slaughter and bloodshed, there are other ironic moments that reflect the underlying political nature to the film. And, not so ironically, it all takes place in Texas.

When a recent New York Magazine ran its review of “The Forever Purge” it was in the same issue that featured a headlined cover investigating January 6th — “Insurrection Day.” And during the first inquiry made by Congress into what happened that day, four capitol police men recalled the crimes and violent assaults they endured from raging Trumpers — behavior not far removed from what is seen in “The Forever Purge.”

Vaulting from the record-shattering success of 2018’s “The First Purge,” producer Blumhouse’s infamous terror franchise hurtles into new territory. The Purge connection to contemporary events is clear. Once the series started, it evolved from being about the violent nature of America — its worship at the altar of retribution into being about bigger issues. The films shifted into stating strong political ideas and became both more relevant and terrifying than ever. So in the midst of our current political agitation, “The Forever Purge” was released. Though the plot follows a formula often seen in various apocalyptic films, it offers a look into a sci-fi future that seems all too possible — especially in the aftermath of Trump’s attempt to overturn an election.

The United States is in turmoil because half the population can’t acknowledge that the independence it supports was originally not for people of color — people who didn’t choose to be brought here and enslaved in the first place. Those disenfranchised people don’t deserve to be left out of America’s vision today. On the recent 4th of July weekend, the nation celebrated not only the creation of our country but the spirit of independence and equality that it stands for. Or so it seems. When the country was first established, such ideals only applied to some: white men, owners of property and those of European Christian origin.

The right has now developed a disinformation campaign about that history by creating a bugaboo about critical race theory. Ostensibly developed as a way of analyzing the impact of racial imbalances on our institutions, the right have made it appear as if public schools serving their children teach the idea that white people are essentially racist. So whether it’s in a fictional scenario like “The Forever Purge” or the reality of the attempted coup of January 6th, the mayhem that ensued was all for a Big Lie.

August '21 Digital Week I

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Wednesday, 04 August 2021 19:44; Written by Kevin Filipski

In-Theater/Streaming Release of the Week

Mandibles

(Magnet)

The latest from oddball French director Quentin Dupieux is quite bizarre, even by his outlandish standards: a pair of idiots discover a large fly in the trunk of their car and proceed, through a series of increasingly weird situations with a bunch of characters slightly less dumb than themselves, to try and train the insect for…something.

Ultimately as slight and forgettable as the rest of his output, Mandibles at least isn’t as willfully obnoxious: but any movie that allows such an acting treasure as Adele Exarchopoulos to simply scream her dialogue (the explanation is that her character was in a serious ski accident) isn’t to be taken seriously…or comically.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes!

Step by Step

(Warner Archive)

Two obscure but compelling vintage B&W features begin with the fine film-noir …Shoes! (1948), which tracks a wife’s attempts to prove the innocence of her accused-killer husband who coincidentally tossed his shoe at an annoying cat as a murder was being committed.

In the equally watchable Step by Step (1946), a thrown-together couple find themselves embroiled in a Nazi spy plot whose implausibility is in tune with its era. Both films have splendid hi-def transfers and include extras comprising mystery short films and classic cartoons.

Pennyworth—Complete 2nd Season

(Warner Archive)

With England deep into a devastating civil war, Alfred Pennyworth continues his machinations to keep himself and his mother safe and to hatch plans to flee his homeland for safer ground—in the United States.

The 10 episodes of the entertaining second season dive deeper into what has become a terrifying but exciting situation for Pennyworth and his cohorts and, despite lapses in logic and coherence, the sheer physicality of the production keeps one glued to the screen even when the dramatics might flag. The series looks particularly enticing in hi-def.

La Piscine

(Criterion)

Back in 1969, Alain Delon and Romy Schneider were international film royalty and had just ended their own personal relationship; but in Jacques Deray’s flimsy psychological drama, the pair plays a couple whose relationship goes under the microscope after a friend arrives at their summer house in the South of France with his nubile 18-year-old daughter—and soon there’s a dead body floating in the swimming pool.

While Delon, Schenider, Maurice Ronet and a young Jane Birkin are certainly photogenic, especially when lounging near the pool in their effortlessly chic designer bathing suits, Deray doesn’t give them much to work with, as the plot mechanics work themselves out rather, well, mechanically. Criterion’s new releases features a decent if unexceptional hi-def transfer; extras are the English-language version of the film (all four leads were fluent in English), retrospective documentary Fifty Years Later, alternate ending, archival interviews with the cast and Deray, and new interview with scholar Nick Rees-Roberts.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

(Warner Brothers)

Similar to his series Yellowstone with Kevin Costner, writer-director Taylor Sheridan’s intense drama about a smokejumper who blames herself for the deaths of three kids in a previous fire gets to prove her meddle again when she must shield a young boy from a deadly fire and even deadlier killers who have already gotten rid of his father.

Short of nuance but long on thrills, the movie benefits from superbly hair-raising stunt work amid the flames as well as a clench-jawed Angelina Jolie as our flawed heroine. There’s a terrific hi-def transfer; lone extra is a making-of featurette.

CD Releases of the Week

American Quintets

(Chandos)

To most listeners of this disc of music by three American composers, only Samuel Barber (1910-81) would be familiar; but, although his Dover Beach (for medium voice and string quartet) is lovely, the other two composers’ works on this wonderful disc are more significant.

There’s a substantial piano quintet by Amy Beach (1867-1944), meaty and flavorful as it wears its Brahmsian heart on its sleeve; and a piano quintet by Florence Price (1887-1953)—receiving its first recording here—which is steeped in singularly American idioms like hymns and spirituals. It’s all beautifully performed by members of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective.

Nina Rota—Chamber Music

(Alpha Classics)

Best known for his brilliant film scores for many of the films of the great Italian director Federico Fellini, composer Nino Rota (1911-79) wrote music that was the epitome of joyfulness tinged with melancholy, perfectly complementing Fellini’s boisterousness. But Rota was also an accomplished classical composer, writing everything from operas and ballets to symphonies and concertos and much estimable chamber music, which this excellent recording demonstrates.

Rota’s immensely charming and tuneful works—the best of which on this disc are the sparkling Nonet and the enchanting trios for flute/violin/piano and clarinet/cello/piano—are performed with energy, wit and flair by an array of first-rate musicians led by flutist Emmanuel Pahud and pianist Eric Le Sage.

Reviews

August '21 Digital Week II

“The Suicide Squad” Is One Kind of Crazy Superhero Film -- Full of Irony and Bile

“The Forever Purge” Is A Futuristic New Film That’s More A Part of These Times Than Ever

August '21 Digital Week I

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