Each week we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the home entertainment offerings, reviewing and rating the films and the special features packed onto the discs.
Here are the essential picks from the releases out on the 17th of June 2013.
Release of the Week
To The Wonder
The Film
Terence Malick’s Tree of Life divided critics but it was a typically illuminated and unconventional return to the big screen for one of cinema’s enigmas. The relative rush of production on To The Wonder was welcomed by Malick’s fans and for the most part the director does not let them down.
The film follows four people whose intertwining love songs become the heart and soul of the film. There is the evocation of the free spirited love of discovery with Ben Affleck’s tryst with Olga Kurylenko, the cooling and disharmony of routine which finds new voices in Javier Bardem’s Father Quintana and long lost love Jane, played by Rachel McAdams. Religious and spiritual notes join the chorus but the discordant melodies Malick weaves are overpowering.
Malick is a master of tone and suggestion, of the majesty of the world and the intense feeling of love which propels most of us through life. The film’s sparse dialogue never comes across as distancing, nor do we feel a great emotional attachment for some of the sequences, but the grand romantic overtones build and form to a heart rending conclusion, when almost in a dream we discover the value of the love and the loss.
[Rating:4/5]
The Special Features
There’s a trailer (it’s a nice trailer…), an interview with Olga Kurylenko whose contributions to the extras is an interesting source of information – the silent audition as well as the directing style (Malick would tell the actors about their characters as time went on) and in lieu of the man himself appearing in the short featurette it’s the best we can hope for. The Making-of is a slight but fun on-set piece, most of all the elusive qualities which make Malick the filmmaker he is are danced around but they too remain unseen. The movie speaks for itself, this is a nice addition.
[Rating:2/5]
Highlights of the week’s releases
Warm Bodies
The Film
The theme of Undying love has propelled many a film to the big screen, Jonathan Levine’s adaptation of Osaac Marion’s take on an undead R(omeo) and his Julie(t) takes what could have been the latest in a long line of terrible zombie films and makes something quite sweet. It’s a unexpectedly affecting mix of romantic-horror-comedy which, despite the Shaun of the Dead evocation in the advertising, climbs well above the cliche strewn graveyard and is well worth your time.
Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer are our death-crossed lovers and along with a neatly built grave new world it plays out the love story with surprising wit and a host of good ideas well executed.
The marketing makes it look terrible but it’s a lot of fun, and will surprise many people.
[Rating:3/5]
The Special Features
The disc is littered with a plethora of production diaries, talking-head focused summaries and some nice CGI breakdowns. The deleted scenes have Jonathan Levine sometimes struggling to recall the scene but there’s enough info hidden away to get a perspective on why this film turned out as surprisingly good as it did.
[Rating:3/5]
Hitchcock
The Film
Sacha Gervasi follows up his wonderful documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil with another tale shot through with a slick slice of tragedy and comedy.
It has a wicked sense of humour perfectly in keeping with the director and yet the performances of Hopkins and Mirren ensure the tone is kept suitably serious when the cracks visible from the beginning become greater and threaten to swallow the director whole.
Psycho was one of the few times Hitchcock used shock rather than suspense to thrill his audience and Gervasi mines Stephen Rebello’s book for the details of the predicament Hitchcock found himself in before, during and after the making of the film. It’s a lot of fun, slightly weighty around the middle but Hopkins plays Hitchcock as a troubles showman and the relationship between Hitch and Alma gives a compelling centre for the cast of characters to orbit.
[Rating:3/5]
The Special Features
Along with the usual marketing-approved production featurettes (focusing on Alma and Hitch, the state of play of the director’s career at the time, Danny Elfman gets two minutes etc) there is a good half hour documentary on the making of the film which is worth a watch. The Hitchcock mobile phone PSA is here (and nowhere near as much fun as the Fight Club PSAs) and Sacha Gervasi offers up some of the now-obligatory ‘candid’ footage shot on his phone (much of it in Portrait mode…). It’s a decent compilation but could have used a prune here and there to fully complement the film.
[Rating:2/5]
Mama
The Film
Having the name Guillermo del Toro attached to it should work wonders for any new horror film hoping to make its presence known in amongst a roaring sea of competition. However the underrated Splice, the cold Julia’s Eyes and the genre patchwork piece that was Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (an invitation to its critics) proved that the Midas touch is as effective as it should be. However Mama is a decent stab at the familiar family-centric horror story. It finds, if not new ground, then verdant soil with which to grow its mystery and its madness.
The trouble the film runs into is a failing of many a horror film though the great work done so far limits the damage done. In order to fuel necessity the modern horror film seemingly needs to ratchet up the fear, reveal more of the monster, lay on unrelenting peril and sit back and watch hell and its handcart come crashing down. The relationships built throughout the film give the denouement some weight but there is something to be said for keeping things hidden.
[Rating:3/5]
The Special Features
The highlight of the extras is the short film which attracted del Toro to the project. It’s three minutes or so and shows more imagination and capability than many features. Del Toro introduces and Mushcietti provides a commentary, all of which is worth watching if you’re making your own short film – this is how to do it. Elsewhere the makeup and effects featurette is well put together and the early test footage of the creature (the broken ghost as it is called) is fascinating. Strong features to complement the film without padding it needlessly with numerous sychophancies.
[Rating:4/5]
Round-up of Recent Releases
Flight
The Film
Robert Zemeckis returns from the shores of Mo-Cap Island with a compelling account of a pilot landing a stricken plane, after pulling it out of a severe dive by flying upside down, while hungover. The pills and poisions still swimming in his veins are, as we come to realise, a huge problem for the pilot, for his employers as an investigation into the incident begins in earnest. Denzel Washington’s handling of the role is compelling. As a drunk labeled a hero the ambiguity of his position is well tempered by Zemeckis who is keen to show us that, drunk or not, this pilot saved lives.
Despite an overblown John Goodman as a ebullient dealer (imagine The Big Lebowski’s Dude guzzling on a sea of uppers) the rest of the cast fit perfect in the tone of the film. Don Cheadle’s distrusting lawyer is a fine turn, as is Bruce Greenwood as the pilot’s morally conflicted boss. Kelly Reilly has a better chance than most here to show Hollywood what she’s really capable of, and her drug-addled mess is a key magnetic point for the film.
With some decent special effects, a clear narrative which succeeds despite being easily telegraphed, and a fine central performance from Washington ensure that Flight is a success and hopefully will go far to convincing Zemeckis to return to live action before long.
[Rating:3/5]
The Special Features
The usual Origins Of… and Making Of…. are present here and at ten minutes apiece you won’t learn too much about the film but the Anatomy of a Plane Crash feature is a diversion, not least to see how feasible it would be to actual fly a plane upside down.
[Rating:2/5]
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| White Collar Hooligan 2: England Away
A sequel to a fairly poor film (see our review here) that few can have been crying out for, White Collar Hooligan: England Away picks up on Mike on the Costa del Sol, running a bar with his now-pregnant girlfriend under cover of the witness protection scheme.Quite by accident he is found by the crooks he had turned in to the police, who kidnap his girlfriend and give him four days to produce the £2m that his friend Eddie had nicked in the first film.Lots of globe-trotting, shouting and swearing arise, but nothing resembling plot or character coherence.Like the original it has ambition, but lacks the across the board talent to match. Muddled, noisy and unnecessary.Extras: Trailer. Also available in a double BD pack with the first film. Poor. |
[Rating:1/5]
Dave Roper
For EllenSo Yong Kim’s latest film has Paul Dano searching for his place in the world while coming to terms with his estranged daughter. Dano, also here on Exec Producing duties, holds the screen with impeccable ease and it is he who gives the story its power.The wistful search is beautifully conveyed with some wonderful cinematography but this is Dano’s film. His turn in Ruby Sparks showcased his range while here the focus of his performance adds great weight to what could have been a ponderous mess.Worth it for Dano’s performance, Jena Malone adds some fine support and a heartfelt script make this one to look out for.
[Rating:3.5/5]
Jon Lyus
