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September '13 Digital Week II

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Tuesday, 10 September 2013 02:00
Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week

DaVinci’s Demons—Complete 1st Season

(Starz)
In this clever evocation of Renaissance Italy, Leonardo DaVinci is shown as a genius tortured both inwardly and outwardly as he goes about his artistic and scientific pursuits including the inventions that still surprise and delight today.
 
The mini-series shows how DaVinci frightened those in power, both religious and secular, and his response; as history, it’s not much, but as guilty-pleasure drama, it works handily. The hi-def image looks fantastic; extras include commentaries, featurettes and deleted scenes.
 
Don Giovanni
(Bel Air)
Wolfgang Mozart’s greatest opera gets an intriguing 2010 outdoor production at the summer festival in Aix-en-Provence, France, featuring a seductive Don Juan played by Bo Skohvus with almost manic intensity.
 
Of the women he beds and casts off, Marlis Petersen and Kristine Opolais come off most sympathetically; Dmitri Tcherniakov’s adroit staging is complemented by Louis Langree’s sensitive conducting. On Blu-ray, the opera looks and sounds superb; a 30-minute featurette is the lone extra.
 
Frankenstein’s Army
(Dark Sky)
This sadistic horror flick finds a group of Russian soldiers near the end of WWII coming up against a foe greater than the regular Nazi army: a horde of metal-and-flesh creatures made by a deranged scientist with the familiar family name.
 
As such grotesqueries go, Richard Raaphurst has made a diverting if difficult to watch piece of gruesomeness; despite not going overboard with the gore, the entire gimmicky machinery grinds to a halt halfway through. The Blu-ray image is first-rate; lone extra is a making-of featurette.
 
From Up on Poppy Hill
(Cindegm)
This ravishing Studio Ghibli animated feature is not directed by Hayao Miyazaki but his son Goro (Dad co-wrote it): the familial legacy is apparent in an ability to dance on the line of succumbing to sentiment—but never crossing it.
 
The ridiculously gorgeous visuals are as breathtaking as ever on Blu-ray, where they look absolutely stunning. Extras include full-length storyboards, music video, featurettes, interviews and the option of the (preferred) original Japanese version or the dubbed English-language one.
 
Haven—Complete 3rd Season
(e one)
This eerie mystery series, based loosely on Stephen King’s story “The Colorado Kid,” follows FBI agents Audrey Parker and Nathan find themselves involved in nefarious dealings in the small Maine town of Haven, thanks to the return of “The Troubles,” which continue to affect the townspeople.
 
The plotting is rarely credible, but even at its most outlandish, agreeable performances make this an honest to goodness guilty pleasure. The hi-def image is unsurpassable; extras include a documentary featurette, audio commentaries, interviews, deleted scenes and a blooper reel.
 
Jon Lord—Concerto for Group and Orchestra
(Eagle Vision)
Deep Purple’s keyboardist (who died last year) composed this sprawling work in 1969, and this recording—by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Paul Mann’s baton—is an all-star affair, with Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson (vocals), all-star session man Guy Pratt (bass), Darin Vasilev, Jon Bonnamassa and Steve Morse (guitar), and Lord himself (organist).
 
At 45 minutes, this otherwise listenable mash-up of rock and orchestral music goes on way too long. The Blu-ray has the Concerto in 5.1 surround audio, a 50-minute documentary and interviews with Mann and Marco de Goeij.
 
Spartacus—War of the Damned
(Starz)
In the bloody conclusion to an epic mini-series, Spartacus’ slave uprising threatens the Roman republic, and only the sheer outnumbering strength of the Roman army might be able to stop it.
 
This swords-and-sandals remake is definitely (and defiantly) not like Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus: there’s a lot of brutality, violence and sex that couldn’t have been shown onscreen back in 1960. The Blu-ray looks marvelous; extras include featurettes, extended scenes and commentaries.
 
DVDs of the Week
I Killed My Mother
(Kino Lorber)
This 2009 debut film by then 20-year-old Quebecois director Xavier Dolan is a heartfelt but crudely sentimental exploration of a gay teenager’s complex relationship with his overbearing mother.
 
Although Dolan is awkward onscreen, he smartly allows his film to be dominated by Anne Dorval’s indelible portrait of a matriarch in a love-hate tug-of-war with her son.
 
Into the Arms of Strangers
(Warner Archive)
Judi Dench narrates this moving documentary about how thousands of Jewish children were rescued from the Nazi threat and sent to England for the duration of the war.
 
Director Mark Jonathan Harris grippingly chronicles the amazing true story of the Kindertransport, which includes rarely-seen archival footage and interviews with survivors, who recount their own emotionally wrenching tales of goodness in the face of ultimate evil.
 
The Loved One
(Warner Archive)
Tony Richardson’s adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s sly novel might have seemed racy and daring in 1965, but half a century has dulled its edge and muted its satiric depiction of Southern California as a land of shallow slickness, compared to more cultured Old World of Europe.
 
The movie is best seen as a time capsule (complete with Haskell Wexler’s exquisite B&W photography) that features cameos by stars of the day from Jonathan Winters and John Gielgud to Liberace and Milton Berle. Again, being relegated to Warner Archive, blunts the effectiveness of Wexler’s widescreen compositions; a lone featurette is an extra.
 
The Red Badge of Courage
(Warner Archive)
Even in its truncated form (it clocks in at a mere 69 minutes), John Huston’s 1951 adaptation of Stephen Crane’s classic Civil War story is a vivid look at war’s effect on young soldiers.
 
Harold Rosson’s B&W photography strikingly nods to Matthew Brady’s photographs, and Huston gets top-notch portrayals by Audie Murphy and Bill Maudlin as the men at war. It’s too bad this classic film has been relegated to Warner’s on-demand burn service.
 
Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow—Black Masquerade
(Eagle Vision)
This 1995 concert by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore’s post-Deep Purple band was filmed in Dusseldorf, before a raucous German crowd that enthusiastically approves of every famous guitar lick and riff from Blackmore’s axe.
 
Although vocalist Doogie White is no Ronnie James Dio or David Coverdale, the sturdy songs are the real deal, including the all-time classic “Smoke on the Water.” There’s even a vocal appearance by Blackmore’s wife Candice White, who provides ethereal vocals on “Ariel."

Film Review: "Short Term 12"

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Friday, 06 September 2013 12:34
Written by Matt Oakes

"Short Term 12"
Directed by Destin Cretton
Starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Stephanie Beatriz, Rami Malek, Alex Calloway, Kevin Hernandez, Lydia Du Veaux, Keith Stanfield
Drama
96 Mins
R

The truth is often more horrifying than fiction and although Short Term 12 isn't based on a true story, it unearths a harsh reality of displaced youth, offset from the spotlight but boiling under the surface of society. Replicating the many broken homes in modern American families, director/writer Destin Cretton has sole custody of this project. Thankfully, he takes this responsibility seriously and delivers a masterclass in realism complimented with standout performances from Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., and Keith Stanfield.

Thanks to a charged-up level of emotional maturity, the film tackles difficult issues with careful footing - immediately establishing a reverent tone, dipped with charm and laced with smiles. The psychological trauma uncovered within the character's brick-walled hearts is likewise handled with tender precision. Each reaction the film garnishes is no accident. Every bit has its place, a building block towards a grand scheme that ultimately delivers a big pay-off for those willing to engage in the bumps along the road.

Short Term 12 takes its name from the facility where the film unfolds. A solace for unwanted foster children, abuse victims, and abandoned kids, this is a place with its own set of rules, even if those rules do often stand on shaky grounds. While the employees may come down on cussing and fighting, one rule they let slide is the mandate that youth are only to stay for one year, with some of the residents having shacked up for up to three. Keith Stanfield's Marcus is one of those lingerers but he's about to turn 18 and will be forced to face the world outside the emotional security of Short Term 12.

His journey is perpendicular to newcomer Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) who fights tooth and nail to be anywhere but here. While Jayden battles to leave and Marcus tries to work through the backlog of his own demons (with a powerful rap offering a raw view into the tattered loss of his youth), we realize just how short term the stay is here.

It may be limbo but it's not without it's guardian angel.Larson's Grace is that angel. She's a twentysomething running the ins-and-outs of the joint with the infinite patience of Mother Theresa and a thorny soul buried with secrets. Her heart is invested in the pocket of each and every tenant shuffling through the facility, entombing herself in their trauma, becoming a fiber of their tragedy. Grace puts her physical and emotional well being at the bottom of the totem pole and it's in part because of this that she is so great at dealing with this gang of lost boys...and girls. But her constant need to play the savior hints at something troubled lingering within her - an undead memory that haunts her every breath.

Grace sustains a borderline manipulative relationship with co-worker and underling, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) who is both her devoted lover and emotional rock. On the flip side, Grace is as hot and cold as the object of a Katy Perry song. Theirs is a shaky boat of love with Grace always maintaining the upper hand, unwilling to let Mason ascend her tower of secrets. Their physical and emotional relationship have obviously parallels to their work positioning with Grace always on top, the solitary king of the castle flanked by skyhigh stone walls.

But to paint Grace as a domineering presence is to misrepresent her. In showing the turbulent nature of this part of her life, Cretton aims to illuminate how broken she is. Her throttling affections are a window into her soul. A key to the realization that doesn't see herself as even deserving of love. Cretton plants little psychological clues like these throughout the film, prompting our curiosity for what scars these characters are hiding and how, if at all possible, they can be undone. The joy in the film is not the end of the journey but the road to it as Cretton handles his character's soft-shelled insecurities both gently and honestly instead of putting it in autopilot and expecting the subject to bungle down tear-road.

One of the great rewards of watching the film is seeing how the jigsaw pieces composing Larson and other characters fit together. Unlike lesser films that utilize baggage as a means of emotional manipulation, every reveal, every turn, every batting off or acceptance of affection feels earned. It's a difficult journey but one that lends credence to the cast's standup acting ability andCretton's talent to skirt past manipulation into a much more rewarding realm of genuineness.

What remains the most fascinating portion of the film is Cretton's willingness to go someplace dark and stir around in the pot. In doing so, a motif that rises to the top is the idea that people reveal themselves through their art. Grace draws, Marcus raps, Jayden writes stories. In these moments of expression, their deepest sense of self shines through perhaps showing more than they ever could in mere conversation. In creation, there is the capacity to destroy, to move beyond. Almost Nietzschian in effect, creation and destruction are symbiotic here. Two faces of one Janus, two sides of the same coin.

Another, more difficult, thing to take away is Cretton's interpretation of self-inflicted pain. Many wounded souls hurt themselves not to inflict pain but to make the pain go away. This cathartic nature of destruction helps mask the real trauma stirring within them. The only way to move beyond this cycle of abuse though seems to be in a form of acceptance - a self-imposed yard sale of everything nasty hidden away. And so it is in Short Term 12. Only when we show the darkest parts of ourselves are we able to start moving towards the light.

A-

Film Review: "Riddick"

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Friday, 06 September 2013 09:54
Written by Matt Oakes

"Riddick"
Directed by David Twohy
Starring Vin Diesel, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujilo
Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
119 Mins
R

Vin Diesel possesses some uncanny voodoo that allows him to be a bad actor who people excuse for bad acting. His smarmy tough guys are marked by a well-measured dose of self-awareness, sometimes so third-wall breaking that they almost plays as cutesy - like a shaven-headed, muscle-bound Ferris Bueller. He tries to make us laugh with him, not at him, and for the most part, it works. Even in Riddick, which is no doubt a bad movie, his oily glances and meat-and-potatoes asides work to entangle us in this world, trying to lift the pulped story from the screenwriters trash bin where it belongs. But even Diesel's 'hardy hars' can't salvage a plot that's so disjointed and thrown together it feels more like a violent mosaic than an actual movie.

Complying to the traditional three arc tango just was not the right play here, as this metaphorical pigsty of a film is essentially three movies crammed into the same two hour runmtime.The first act is Riddick - battleworn loner stranded on hostile alien planet. Here, straggling baby dragons, working up an immunity to enlarged scorpion's venom and montaging his way towards a space station in hopes of rescue at least give the character some semblance of purpose.

Read more: Film Review: "Riddick"

September '13 Digital Week I

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Sunday, 01 September 2013 23:18
Written by Kevin Filipski
Blu-rays of the Week
Being Human—Season 5
(BBC Home Entertainment)
The original BBC series—the basis for the Canadian remake airing on Syfy network—ends a fifth season of new relationships and friendships.
 
By concentrating on the characterizations, the ludicrousness of the premise (even in such an obvious fantasy setting) is mitigated, and the unaffected performances by an attractive cast help sustain viewer interest in their tribulations. The Blu-ray image is impeccable; extras include interviews and featurettes.
 
The Life of Muhammad
(PBS)
This three-hour exploration of the life of the Muslim prophet Muhammad is divided into three parts—The Seeker, Holy Wars, Holy Peace—each of which develops the biography of one of the most widely influential men who ever lived, despite him being barely known to (and misunderstood by) billions of non-Muslims.
 
Narrated by Rageh Omaar, who journeys to Mecca, Jerusalem and other locales, the series buttresses Muhammad’s story with analysis from scholars and religious experts. The Blu-ray image is first-rate.
 
Prime Suspect—The Complete Series

(Acorn)

Although always good in numerous movies—including her Oscar-winning Elizabeth II in The Queen—Helen Mirren’s greatest triumph is police inspector Jane Tennyson. When the series debuted two decades ago, little did we know we’d watch with increasing awe and admiration how Tennyson transformed into an exciting, new kind of detective, and applaud her ability to solve crimes, work on an unfulfilling personal life and tame male partners’ sexist attitudes.
 
This set contains all seven Prime Suspects—which, along with Mirren’s brilliance, showcase superb acting by a pre-Schindler's List Ralph Fiennes, Peter Capaldi and Tom Wilkinson. These sublimely crafted crime dramas look good in hi-def; extras are a behind-the-scenes Season 6 featurette and a 50-minute series making-of.
 
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
(IFC)
Mira Nair’s adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s ricocheting post-9/11 novel about a Pakistani who rises to the heights of capitalist Manhattan before returning to his roots and becoming suspicious in the CIA’s eye is a skillfully made and breathless exploration of the cultural divide after that infamous day in 2001.
 
Well-acted and explosively filmed, Nair’s drama wears its heart on its sleeve more than the more cynical book, but it’s one of the few movies to treat this delicate subject with empathy and intelligence. The hi-def image looks great; a 30-minute making-of featurette makes a substantial lone extra.
 
Santana & McLaughlin—Invitation to Illumination
(Eagle Rock)
When two of the world’s great guitarists perform together, there better be cameras rolling, and this 2011 reunion of Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin—nearly 40 years after their lone collaborative effort, 1973’s Love Devotion Surrender—was recorded for posterity.
 
Onstage at the famous Monteux Jazz Festival, the pair trades riffs and solos and alternates leads in a selection of songs from that album and inspired covers of “Stairway to Heaven” and “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall.” This event looks and sounds great in hi-def.
 
Scary Movie V
(Anchor Bay/Weinstein)
A few decent ideas float around this latest scattershot movie/pop culture parody—like the opening Lindsay Lohan-Charlie Sheen mash-up, which is better in theory than execution.
 
But since little of this fifth brainless go-round is funny on its own terms (the endless references cause little more than a smile of recognition), even this mercifully short 80-minute regurgitation of the same old one-liners, tasteless jokes and movie parodies palls quickly. The Blu-ray image looks good enough; extras include deleted scenes.
 
DVDs of the Week
Frank Riva and Inspector Vivaldi
(MHZ Networks)
Two more European television series are released by the enterprising MHZ Networks. Former French movie heartthrob Alain Delon plays against type as a grizzled, middle-aged undercover cop in Frank Riva, whose six entertaining episodes follow his return to duty 25 years after his retirement.
 
The equally good Inspector Vivaldi stars Lando Buzzanca as an aging Italian detective juggling his personal and professional lives as he solves crimes with his younger partner—who also happens to be his son.
 
Koch
(Zeitgeist)
Neil Barsky’s documentary about the cantankerous NYC mayor (who ironically died the day the film opened) is an indelible picture of a long career of public service. While sympathetic to its chatty subject, it’s not mere hagiography: corruption, slow response to AIDS and the closeted homosexual rumor are all presented.
 
This vivid picture of NYC from the time Koch got into politics though his dozen years as mayor to his later years as commentator and lionized city icon, we see how he remade his beloved city in his image: a no-nonsense, prickly, pugnacious survivor. Extras include Barsky’s Witnesses NYC, a 29-minute doc about NYC in the ‘80s; Barsky and Koch interviews.
 
1939 Battle of Westerplatte
(e one)
Although the Polish army was annihilated by Hitler’s Nazi Blitzkrieg to begin World War II, this fine historical drama finds heroism and courage in even the losingest battle.
 
The story’s overwhelmingly epic scope is well defined along with the personal stories of the commanders—are they heroic or foolhardy or suicidal?—in a war film that’s engrossing despite having little real suspense about its outcome.
 
Stuart Saves His Family
(Warner Archive)
While watching this mildly amusing 1995 spin-off of yet another Saturday Night Live character who didn’t deserve a full-length movie, it’s hard to believe that, 18 years later, star-creator-scriptwriter is a U.S. senator from Minnesota running for re-election.
 
Al Franken is in good-natured form but his broad comedy is stretched so thin that it wouldn’t make a decent ten-minute sketch on the late-night show. Laura San Giacomo, Vincent d’Onofrio and Harris Yulin are wasted by the silliness.
 

CD of the Week
Benjamin Britten—The Masterpieces
(Decca)
During the 100th anniversary year of Benjamin Britten’s birth, the greatest 20th century English composer is represented on his “home” label by a four-disc set that’s a terrific overview of his musical genius in instrumental and vocal works from chamber music to opera. Most of the 15 pieces on these discs show off Britten’s mastery of different vocal forms, whether solo voice, choirs, or his famous “church parables" (a sublime Noye’s Fludde is included).
 
Among his best orchestral works, the Frank Bridge Variations and Violin Concerto (with soloist Janine Hansen) are included, but the equally fine Piano Concerto is missing. Of course, quibbling about what’s not here is par for the course, but no one can go wrong with what’s here—and in first-rate versions (many by Britten himself).

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