DVD Recent Picks
October 2006
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V for vendetta.
""Remember, remember the fifth of November," for on this day, in 2020, the minds of the masses shall be set free. So says code-name V (Hugo Weaving), a man on a mission to shake society out of its blank complacent stares in the film V for Vendetta. After years of various wars, England is now under "big brother" Chancellor Adam Sutler (played by John Hurt) whose party uses force and fear to run the nation. After they gained power, minorities and political dissenters were rounded up and removed; artistic and unacceptable religious works were confiscated. Cameras and microphones are littered throughout the land, and the people are perpetually sedated through the governmentally controlled media. Taking inspiration from Guy Fawkes V dons a Fawkes mask and costume and sets off to wake the masses by destroying the symbols of their oppressors, literally and figuratively." (Amazon.com)
Broken saints: the animated comic epic.
"A remarkable achievement and thoroughly engrossing, Broken Saints: The Animated Comic Special is the complete 12-hour adventure series (in 24 chapters) originally posted online between 2001 and 2003. A combination of comic book graphics and Flash animation, Broken Saints features characters that don't move (as in a comic book) but exist in scenes that suggest flowing action simply by introducing additional images or shifting a background (thanks to Flash). Dialogue is rendered via conventional speech balloons, but for this DVD set, actors (including William B. Davis, the "Cigarette Smoking Man" from The X-Files) have been cast to provide voices for the characters, giving the story greater immediacy." (Amazon.com)
Devil's playground.
"This Sundance Festival sensation has attracted attention because of its jarring images of Amish kids immersed in debauchery: plain-dressed girls in white bonnets slugging back beers and flicking ashes from their cigarettes, boys passing out in the back of pickups after all-night parties, even Amish teens in bed together. But like a good drama, it's the characters themselves and their heartbreaking dilemma that linger in the mind. In the Amish vernacular, "Devil's Playground" refers to the "English" or outside world. The protected teens are suddenly thrust into this world upon their 16th birthday as they begin "Rumspringa," a period during which they decide whether to join the church as adults. Crystallizing this predicament is the 73-minute documentary's most compelling figure, 18-year-old Faron, a preacher's son fighting drug addiction." (Amazon.com)
Kinky boots.
"When you are a tall strapping man who dresses like a woman for a living, finding a pair of sexy but durable shoes can be worth your weight in gold. Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor)--a drag queen also known as Simon--finds her shoe salvation in straight-laced Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton), who has inherited his father's shoe factory. Unable to pay the bills making traditional loafers and wingtips, Charlie agrees to make Lola a pair of kinky boots that turn out to be so fabulous the pair end up going into business together. They face a few obstacles, such as the bawdy union workers who aren't too keen on taking orders from a drag queen who's more of a man than they are. . . .The film (which is loosely based on a true story) is highly entertaining that will delight fans of both comedy and shoes." (Amazon.co.uk).
Derailed.
"With a nasty villain and a plot twist that will take many viewers by surprise, Derailed is the kind of potboiler that's enjoyable in spite of its flaws... Like Fatal Attraction, it's a good-enough thriller that turns infidelity into every man's nightmare, beginning when Charles (Clive Owen), a well-to-do Chicago advertising director with a sickly, diabetic daughter and a slightly troubled marriage, has a chance encounter with Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston), a lovely and quick-witted financial advisor who's also stuck in a marital rut. Their chemistry is instant (between both characters and stars), but their eventual hotel tryst is interrupted by a mugger who's out to milk Charles for every dollar he's got. Of course, one phone call to the police would solve everyone's problems, but as he did with Collateral (albeit more convincingly), screenwriter Stuart Beattie turns up the tension with such manipulative skill that you're willing to skate past the plot holes and go along for the ride." (Amazon.com)
Memoirs of a geisha."It's hard to find fault with the fascinating story, which traces a young girl's determination to free herself from the imprisonment of scullery maid to geisha, then from the imprisonment of geisha to a woman allowed to love. Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo), a young girl with curious blue eyes, is sold to a geisha house and doomed to pay off her debt as a cleaning girl until a stranger named The Chairman (Ken Watanabe) shows her kindness. She is inspired to work hard and become a geisha in order to be near the Chairman, with whom she has fallen in love. An experienced geisha (Michelle Yeoh) chooses to adopt her as an apprentice and to use as a pawn against her rival, the wicked, legendary Hatsumomo (Gong Li). Chiyo (played as an older woman by Ziyi Zhang), now renamed Sayuri, becomes the talk of the town, but as her path crosses again and again with the Chairman's, she finds the closer she gets to him the further away he seems." (Amazon.com)
Sione's wedding.
"How hard can it be to find a date for a wedding? That's the problem facing four Samoan friends with wedding wrecking reputations. The challenge to find love becomes a lesson in friendship in this irreverent comedy from South Pacific Pictures. Michael, Albert, Stanley and Sefa; the ladies' man, the good boy, the weird one and the party boy are staring down the barrel of their thirtieth birthdays, but still act as if they're sixteen; they get drunk, they chase the wrong women and they have a remarkable record of misbehaving and causing chaos at every wedding they attend. But now their best mate Sione is getting married and he is determined that things will be different on his big day." (Real Groovy).
Doctor Who [2005]. Series 2, Volume 2.
"This second batch of episodes from David Tennant’s maiden run as the title character finds Doctor Who building up an impressive head of steam. ‘Tooth & Claw’ is first up, set back in 1897 Scotland, as the Doctor and Rose must contend with a deadly werewolf, mysterious monks and the suspicions of Queen Victoria. ‘School Reunion’ is superb, though. It brings back two of the Doctor’s previous companions, Sarah-Jane and K-9, and asks some intriguing questions of what happens to his assistants once he leaves them behind. That it also ties in an intriguing story of sinister goings on at an innocent looking school only adds to the achievement. The final episode, ‘The Girl in the Fireplace’, is also excellent. This is a staggeringly successful mixture of love story, unnerving baddies and quality science fiction." (Amazon.com)
Gram Parsons fallen angel.
"Three decades after he died (in 1975, at age 26), Parsons is revered as a country rock pioneer, a significant influence on Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones, and a colossal talent who never got his due. While that may all be true, what's beyond dispute. . . is that Parsons was a screw-up, a drunk and drug abuser who squandered his opportunities and dug himself an early grave, even by rock star standards. It wasn't all his fault. Any kid with a family background like his (his father committed suicide and his mother died from the ravages of alcoholism… possibly with the assistance of her second husband, Parsons' stepfather, who was a big drinker himself) is bound to have, shall we say, issues; Parsons was also well off financially, a fact that many interviewees . . . suggest might have attributed to his lack of driving ambition. . . In the end, the film's most haunting moments concern the events that followed Parsons' death, when road manager Phil Kaufman commandeered (stole, actually) his casket and drove it to California's Joshua Tree National Monument, where he set it on fire, apparently according to the singer's wishes. Now that is the stuff of legend." (Amazon.com)
Europa Europa.
"This wonderful film by Polish director Agnieszka Holland (Total Eclipse), based on an autobiography by Solomon Perel, concerns a Jewish-German boy who manages to conceal his identity from the Nazis and ends up a member of their Youth Party. An admirably full experience, the film is both black comedy and horror show, with the central character taking the full measure of everyone's perspective on the war and Nazi crimes." (Amazon.com)
Ascenseur pour l'echafaud.
"Whether the face of Jeanne Moreau, or the mournful trumpet of Miles Davis, this film is forever etched into the memory of all who have watched it. Narrative centres around a bungled crime of passion, but the lingering memories of the film stem from the black & white photography, the creeping tension of mood and music, and the magnificent face of Jeanne Moreau." (Real Groovy)
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