This is a jam-packed week. We have a Blu-ray and DVD Pick of Week. Some great classics coming from Criterion. There's also a long list of films I'm curious to hear from readers about, some got trashed by other critics and some our critical darlings.
Blu-ray Pick of the Week
The Red Shoes
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's THE RED SHOES is considered by many to be one of the best films ever made. Martin Scorsese has said it is his favorite film. The story takes an honest behind-the-scenes look at the rise of a young ballerina. Boris Lermontov, played by Anton Walbrook, is the impresario of the ballet. He takes promising dancer Victoria Page (Moira Shearer) under his wing and begins to control every aspect of her life much to the chagrin of her boyfriend, young composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring). Lermontov is more than a controlling lover type — he wants to be Victoria. The character is one of the most complex ever put on screen. And the standards of 1940s cinema make him all the more fascinating because Powell and Pressburger needed to dance around many tawdry interpretations. The closing ballet number is one of the best dance sequences ever put on film for its artistry of movement and its metaphoric comment on the plot. I can only imagine how his richly filmed early color film looks on Blu-ray. This is an essential for any real movie fan.
Buy "The Red Shoes" on DVD Here!
Buy "The Red Shoes" on Blu-ray Here!
DVD Pick of the Week
Entre Nos
This indie flick had a small release earlier this year and is one of the best of 2010. Mariana, played by co-writer and co-director Paola Mendoza, has been in the U.S. for six days when her husband abandons her and their two kids in NYC. Yes, this drama is a new immigrant tale, but it's more so a story of survival. Mariana speaks only Spanish and she must use her resourcefulness to provide basic needs for her kids. Mendoza and Gloria La Morte have created a film influenced by real events and transformed it into a gripping and touching filmic tale. Mendoza is a fine actress who understands the power of stillness. She's one to watch both in front of the camera and behind it. This is a very good film that deserves a wider audience.
Queue Qualified
Black Narcissus
THE RED SHOES, due to its influential place in film history, made the Pick of the Week, but Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's BLACK NARCISSUS is just as good. Deborah Kerr plays the arrogant nun Sister Clodagh, who is assigned a nunnery in a remote region in the Himalayas. The location underlines the strange eroticism that lies underneath the story. A prince has given the nuns an old palace where he used to keep his harem. The rugged Mr. Dean (David Farrar), a British ex-pat, seems drawn to the beautiful Sister Clodagh, but is repelled by her rigid attitude. However, his sex appeal isn't lost on mentally unstable nun Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron). Another early color film from Powell and Pressburger, it is a filmic lesson in the use of color as a filmic tool. It works as a character in the film's breathtaking cinematography. The shot of the nuns ringing the bell at the edge of a vast cliff is one that has stuck in my mind since I first saw this film. Another classic from Powell and Pressburger that's a must see.
Buy "Black Narcissus" on DVD Here!
Buy "Black Narcissus" on Blu-ray Here!
Buzzed About
Cop Out
Savaged by critics, one might be wondering why I'm still interested. Well, I'm a Kevin Smith fan and I'm curious to see what he's done with the first project he did not write as well. Hey, critics panned JERSEY GIRL and I liked it, so I'll give this buddy cop flick, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan a shot. It can't be as bad as they say, right?
Buy "Cop Out" on Blu-ray Here!
The Losers
Based on a DC comic, this actioner pretty much split critics down the middle. The positive side responded to its humor, while the detractors hated the loud and endless violence. The story follows a betrayed CIA black ops team who seek out those that left them for dead. Some were calling it the first A-TEAM movie of the year. Stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba and Jason Patric. The chief reason I'm giving this one a shot is that Ebert gave it three and a half stars. That got me thinking it might have something in it other than mindless action.
Buy "The Losers" on Blu-ray Here!
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
This Oscar-nominated documentary follows the aftermath of Daniel Ellsberg's release of a top-secret Pentagon report chronicling the lies being told to the American population about Vietnam. Some called him a traitor and others a patriot. His actions changed the course of Nixon's presidency and the war. The film talks with the people involved at every level featuring audiotapes of Nixon and his inner circle. Sounds fascinating to me.
Buy "The Most Dangerous Man in America" on DVD Here!
Buy "The Most Dangerous Man in America" on Blu-ray Here!
Mother
From Joon-ho Bong, the director of THE HOST, comes his crime mystery where a mentally handicapped young man is accused of the murder of a teenaged girl. With the cops desperate to close the case, they trick the man into signing a confession. So his elderly mother sets out on an undaunted mission to find the real killer and clear her son's name. Along the way she will shock the neighbors and find unlikely allies. The South Korean production was a favorite at the Cannes Film Festival. Sounds like a bad ass version of TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE.
The Runaways
Many critics wrote this one off as a generic music biopic about The Runaways, which featured Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, and Lita Ford. However, many critics praised the lead performances of Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. It's their performances that have me interested. Oh yeah, the music rocks too.
Buy "The Runaways" on DVD Here!
Buy "The Runaways" on Blu-ray Here!
A Town Called Panic
This French animated feature was made entirely with plastic toys. Watching the trailer and clips, it seems frantically brilliant. A Cowboy and an Indian throw a birthday party for a Horse and end up destroying his house and in the end they all wind up in an underwater world after traveling through the center of the Earth. Reviews were solid and it was a favorite at festivals around the world. I've been excitedly awaiting this one for a while.
Buy "A Town Called Panic" on DVD Here!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
