Blu-rays of the Week

(Criterion)

This 1969 adaptation of E.M. Forster’s controversial novel is actually one of Ken Russell’s milder efforts; unlike his later dramas like The Devils, The Music Lovers, Mahler, Tommy and Lisztomania, Women in Love benefits from Russell’s relative restraint, along with powerhouse acting from Glenda Jackson (who won a Best Actress Oscar), Oliver Reed and Alan Bates.

Criterion’s usual thorough release includes a top-notch hi-def transfer; commentaries by Russell and screenwriter Larry Kramer; on-set interviews with Kramer, Bates and actress Jennie Linden; 1976 Jackson interview; 2007 Russell interview; Bates’ 1972 short Second Best, based on a Lawrence story; and Russell’s own tongue-in-cheek autobiographical 1989 doc, A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible.

Acts of Violence 

(Lionsgate)

This viciously nasty drama pits human traffickers who kidnap young women against a trio of brothers tracking one’s missing fiancée, alongside a couple of decent cops who butt heads with their own superiors’ corruption.

Often risibly violent and incoherent, this also features another sleepwalking Bruce Willis performance, which ends up making the other one-note performances look better in comparison. The hi-def transfer is excellent; extras comprise interviews, a making-of featurette and director Brett Donowho’s commentary.

The Black Scorpion 

Primitive special effects have their charms, but one would have to look awfully hard to find positive things to say about this hackneyed 1957 sci-fi thriller in which giant-sized scorpions are awakened from their underground lairs to wreak merciless havoc.

The cheesy B&W images notwithstanding, there’s a lot of blame to go around among the bad writing, inept directing and wooden acting. Although this is for B-movie completists only, the film looks quite good on Blu-ray; extras include a couple of short featurettes on effects master Ray Harryhausen.

Werther 

(Accentus Music)

Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez acquits himself admirably in the title role of Jules Massenet’s lyrical opera based on the classic Goethe novel about a young, tragic hero and his fatal flaw: his beloved Charlotte is married to another man.

Tatjana Gurbaca’s well-paced 2017 Zurich, Switzerland staging features sensitive orchestral playing under Cornelius Meister and, in addition to Florez’s supple singing, a glorious Charlotte in the form of English mezzo Anna Stephany. Both hi-def video and audio are peerless.

DVD of the Week

(PBS)

Fred Rogers may have been the most beloved person to ever appear on television—although one might think his squeaky-clean image was cloying, it was never manufactured—and his PBS series (which debuted in 1968 and ran until August 2001) made kids of all ages feel safe and wanted for more than three decades.

This 4-DVD set, which compiles 30 episodes from the years 1979-2001, include a visit to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and chats with Broadway showman Tommy Tune and children’s author Eric Carle. The set’s lone extra is the series’ very first episode in black and white.

Blu-rays of the Week

While the City Sleeps 

(Warner Archive)

This pair of films noir by German director Fritz Lang dates from 1956; these were the last pictures that the creator of classics M and Metropolis would make in Hollywood. 

Reasonable Doubt uses capital punishment for a twisty melodrama starring Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine, while City Sleeps (also with Andrews, alongside George Sanders and Vincent Price) darkly explores the case of the “lipstick killer,” who murders young women. Both films are watchable if unexciting; the appropriately moody widescreen B&W compositions are enhanced by flawless hi-def transfers.

Copland Conducts Copland 

(Naxos)

This 1976 L.A. concert teams 75-year-old composer Aaron Copland conducting his own works, played with verve by the Los Angeles Philharmonic: it’s a greatest hits collection of sorts, starting with Fanfare for the Common Man and including El Salon Mexico, The Tender Land suite and an excerpt from his ballet Rodeo.

But the highlight is a swinging version of Copland’s charming Clarinet Concerto, played by none other than 67-year-old Benny Goodman, who commissioned the work from Copland in 1947. Video and audio are adequate if unexceptional; no extras, although Copland briefly describes each piece before it’s played.

Dolores 

In the grand tradition of social activists like Cesar Chavez—whom she married—is Dolores Huerta, who remains mostly unknown despite her vast importance in the historic farm workers’ union movement she and Chavez led.

Peter Bratt’s expansive documentary portrait, built around an interview with the now 87-year-old—and still vigorous—Huerta, intimately explores her long career championing workers’ and women’s rights, with personal encomiums by Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem and many others. The film looks excellent in hi-def.

The Passion of Joan of Arc 

(Criterion)

One of the towering silent-era masterpieces, Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 drama recreates the trial and death of Joan of Arc with an intimacy and intensity that’s nothing short of riveting. Add to that Renee Falconetti’s miraculous performance as Joan; her mesmerizing face, held in relentless close-ups by Dreyer, show both the agony and the ecstasy of Joan’s martyrdom, culminating in her burning at the stake.

The hi-def transfer is exceptionally good; Criterion’s extras include an alternate version of the film, three separate musical scores, audio commentary, interviews, and a video essay.

Sacha Guitry—Four Films 1936-1938 

A true bon vivant, French triple-threat Sacha Guitry made witty, talky films with his inimitably—and at times annoyingly—gregarious personality at their center, and this boxed set collects four features he churned out in a space of two years: The New Testament, My Father Was Right, Let’s Make a Dream and Let’s Go Up the Champs Elysses.

Bright and clever, these films go down easily, despite staginess and the occasional overbearing sequence. All four films look lovely in hi-def; extras include scholar Ginette Vincendeau’s intros and commentaries; video essays; sound tests; and a 60-page book.

Stopping Traffic 

(Gravitas Ventures)

Activist Sadhvi Siddhali Shree urgently tackles the sadly relevant topic of sex trafficking in her trenchant documentary, which travels the world for its eye-opening glimpse, landing not only in places we aren’t surprised by (i.e., Mexico, Iraq, the Philippines) but also various U.S. locations.

It’s unapologetically blunt in its depiction of sex trafficking’s horrors, and is tough to watch at times: but a necessary polemic. The film looks fine on Blu-ray.

DVD of the Week

Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In—Complete 3rd Season 

(Time-Life)

This latest Laugh-In release brings together episodes from the 1969-70 season of the classic comedy-variety show hosted by Dick Rowan and Dan Martin, perfect ringmasters for a crazed stew of corny jokes, goofy skits, musical interludes and political satire, starring a motley crew of regulars (Ruth Buzzi, Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, Lily Tomlin, Jo Ann Worley) and guest stars (Johnny Carson, Ringo Starr, The Monkees, Diana Ross, Zsa Zsa Gabor).

Along with the 26 full episodes, bonus features comprise a Lily Tomlin interview and a tribute to the series’ creator George Shlatter.