DVD Recent Picks
June 2009
The underlined title links will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a dvd or video cover to enable you to read more reviews.
Man on wire.
Native New Yorkers know to expect the unexpected, but who among them could've predicted that a man would stroll between the towers of the World Trade Center? French high-wire walker Philippe Petit did just that on August 7th, 1974. Petit's success may come as a foregone conclusion, but British filmmaker James Marsh's pulse-pounding documentary still plays more like a thriller than a non-fiction entry--in fact, it puts most thrillers to shame. Marsh (Wisconsin Death Trip, The King) starts by looking at Petit's previous stunts. First, he took on Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral, then Sydney's Harbour Bridge before honing in on the not-yet-completed WTC. The planning took years, and the prescient Petit filmed his meetings with accomplices in France and America. Marsh smoothly integrates this material with stylized re-enactments and new interviews in which participants emerge from the shadows as if to reveal deep, dark secrets which, in a way, they do, since Petit's plan was illegal, "but not wicked or mean." The director documents every step they took to circumvent security, protocol, and physics as if re-creating a classic Jules Dassin or Jean-Pierre Melville caper. Though still photographs capture the feat rather than video, the resulting images will surely blow as many minds now as they did in the 1970s when splashed all over the media. Not only did Petit walk, he danced and even lay down on the cable strung between the skyscrapers. Based on his 2002 memoir, Man on Wire defines the adjective "awe-inspiring." (Amazon.co.uk)
Brideshead revisited.
For director Julian Jarrold (Becoming Jane), this sumptuous production represents a two-fold challenge: taking on a classic novel and a celebrated television production (Brideshead Revisited premiered on PBS in 1982). Thankfully, he's up to the task. Adapted by Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice) and Jeremy Brock (Mrs. Brown), Evelyn Waugh's 1945 text tracks the hard-won maturation of artist-turned-soldier Charles Ryder (Match Point's Matthew Goode). At the optimistic outset, the middle-class striver enters Oxford where he meets Sebastian Flyte (Perfume's Ben Whishaw), black-sheep scion of the Catholic Marchmain clan. Through his hedonistic friend, Ryder gets to know Flyte's sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell), and the dynamic changes. Were this a Jane Austen adaptation, Ryder's financial shortcomings would present the biggest obstacle, but the indomitable Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson, cast against type) concentrates her disapproval on Ryder's atheism. Sebastian, on the other hand, wants Charles for himself; his drinking accelerates once he realizes Ryder loves Julia more. As World War I gives way to II, Ryder tangles with the Marchmains until forced to choose between freedom and compromise. In the end, comparing a two-hour movie to a 12-hour series makes as much sense as comparing a drawing to a sculpture. Both qualify as art, but one reveals more dimensions than the other. Like the series, Jarrold's narrative loses some steam once the focus shifts from Sebastian to Julia, but Goode's deft performance as Charles Ryder is just as riveting as that of Jeremy Irons before him. (Amazon.com)
Choke.
Not many movies about addiction and terminal illness can end up comedies, but Choke pulls it off. Protagonist Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell), a disgruntled, unrepentant sex addict, works at a cheesy colonial theme park, while his dying, addled mother Ida (Anjelica Huston) thinks he's her lawyer instead of her son. Ida's doctor Paige (Kelly Macdonald, Trainspotting, No County for Old Men) says the only way Victor can save his mother is to impregnate Paige for a controversial stem-cell treatment--and according to his mother's diary, Victor himself is the result of a questioable fertility experiment with a particularly intimate holy relic...by now you may have recognized the darkly satirical hand of author Chuck Palahniuk, whose prickly comic novels (Snuff, Invisible Monsters, Lullaby) smash taboos with brutal glee. Choke doesn't achieve the broad cultural scope or cinematic spectacle of Fight Club, but fans will find plenty to enjoy. Rockwell, star of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Matchstick Men, always seems on the brink of true stardom; here he gives another freewheeling but emotionally rich performance that will add to his offbeat but compelling repertoire. (Amazon.com)
My name is Bruce.
Cult film and TV star Bruce Campbell (Burn Notice) lampoons his own B-movie legacy with My Name is Bruce, an agreeably goofy horror-comedy which pits him--well, a version of him, anyway--against a malevolent Asian spirit in order to save a die-hard fan. Campbell also directed Bruce, and brings a loose, kitchen-sink vibe to the proceedings, which has teenager and die-hard Bruce Campbell fan Jeff (Taylor Sharp) kidnap his idol in order to save his small town from an ancient Chinese demon. Unfortunately, the movie Bruce Campbell is a broken-down, booze-swilling reprobate who lacks even an ounce of the insouciant charm of his screen persona in Evil Dead 2 or the Hercules series, and proves woefully inadequate in dispelling the monster. But as films ranging from Cat Ballou and My Favorite Year to Galaxy Quest and Three Amigos! have proven, the unwavering belief of a fan can bring out the hero in even the worst heel, and Bruce rises to the occasion in the picture's final third. Obviously, Bruce is slated towards fans of Campbell's eccentric screen c.v., and aficionados will undoubtedly appreciate the endless slew of nods to his previous films, as well as cameos by many of his co-stars, including Ted Raimi in multiple roles. (Amazon.com)
Yes man.
Jim Carrey does wonders with a slight premise that finds his reserved, emotionally-distant character, Carl Allen, a banker who routinely turns down loan applications, accepting a challenge to open up to life by saying "yes" to everything. A man who constantly disappoints friends by weasling out of opportunities for bonding and happiness, Carl radically changes into a creature of complete spontaneity. By never saying no anymore, he gets into situations with unpredictable outcomes, such as driving a homeless stranger to a scary-looking park at night. But for the most part, whatever Carl says yes to becomes a road to worthwhile experiences, even receiving a promotion at work for approving hundreds of micro-loans against all policy. Zooey Deschanel, who often plays appealing kooks, is very good as Carl's girlfriend, a free spirit who takes to his positivity about everything--for awhile, anyway. Director Peyton Reed (Down with Love) makes the most out of the gimmicky comedy, as does Carrey, who does wonders with scenes that are often left open-ended just to see what the brilliant comic will do with them. (Amazon.com)
Ashes to ashes. The complete series one.
A triumphant return for DCI Gene Hunt, Ashes To Ashes takes some of the characters from the superb time-shifting police drama Life On Mars, and moves the action to the early 1980s. So it's out with the Cortina, in with the Audi Quattro, and straight down to some terrific television. Joining DCI Hunt -- again played with terrific force and stature by Philip Glenister -- is Keeley Hawes, as DCI Alex Drake. Like John Simm's character in Life On Mars, DCI Drake suddenly finds herself in 1981, with no clear reason why. This provides the platform for another terrific show, the first series of which is fully present and correct here. Ashes To Ashes is tonally a little different from Life On Mars, but maintains the wonderful attention to period detail (and a healthy 80s soundtrack to match), and the willingness to mix in some fun alongside the serious business of police work. Ashes To Ashes is some achievement. It grounds out an identify for itself, stepping out of the shadow of Mars. And the rapport between Hawes and Glenister is a real highlight. But there's so much to enjoy here, backed up by the promise of another series in the offing. For now, though, there's plenty to get your teeth into here, thanks to a quality, very British drama that's simply compelling television. (Amazon.co.uk)
Bones. Season three.
From executive producers Hart Hanson and Barry Josephson comes Bones, a darkly amusing hour-long procedural with humor, heart and character, inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and best-selling novelist Kathy Reichs. In the third season of Bones, Brennan and Booth find themselves on the trail of a serial killer who discards his many victims' remains off freeway overpasses. Brennan also must deal with the trial of her father, Max Keenan (guest star Ryan O'Neal), for the murder of the Deputy Director of the FBI. (Real Groovy)
He loves me, he loves me not.
That adorable Audrey Tautou from Amélie plays the central role in this deceptive story of a rather unusual romance. It would spoil the film's clever design to reveal what happens halfway through He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, so let's just say that Tautou plays a winsome girl in the sunny town of Bordeaux, whose relationship with a married doctor has more layers than first it seems. Samuel LeBihan, from Brotherhood of the Wolf, plays the doctor, but it's the casting of cutie-pie Tautou that sets up the movie's gradually sinister undertow. Director Laetitia Colombani's inventive structure plays a satisfyingly tricky game with the audience, and may have some viewers going back to the beginning to make sure they saw what they thought they saw. Just don't go in expecting Amélie part deux, and you should find this an ingenious little number. (Amazon.com)
Let the right one in.
The enduring popularity of the vampire myth rests, in part, on sexual magnetism. In Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson's carefully controlled, yet sympathetic take on John Ajvide Lindqvist's Swedish bestseller-turned-screenplay, the protagonists are pre-teens, unlike the fully-formed night crawlers of HBO's True Blood or Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight (both also based on popular novels). Instead, 12-year-old Oskar (future heartbreaker Kare Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson) enter into a deadly form of puppy love. The product of divorce, Oskar lives with his harried mother, while his new neighbor resides with a mystery man named Hakan (Per Ragnar), who takes care of her unique dietary needs. From the wintery moment in 1982 that the lonely, towheaded boy spots the strange, dark-haired girl skulking around their outer-Stockholm tenement, he senses a kindred spirit. They bond, innocently enough, over a Rubik's Cube, but little does Oskar realize that Eli has been 12 for a very long time. Meanwhile, at school, bullies torment the pale and morbid student mercilessly. Through his friendship with Eli, Oskar doesn't just learn how to defend himself, but to become a sort of predator himself, begging the question as to whether Eli really exists or whether she represents a manifestation of his pent-up anger and resentment. (Amazon.com)
Frost/Nixon
Sounds like a good match: a historical drama from the author of The Queen, but with an American subject in the generational wheelhouse of director Ron Howard. And so Peter Morgan's Tony-winning play morphs into a Hollywood movie under the wing of the Apollo 13 guy. Morgan's subject is a curious moment of post-Watergate shakeout: British TV host David Frost's long-form interviews with ex-President Richard Nixon, conducted in 1977. It was a big ratings success at the time, justifying the somewhat controversial decision to cut an enormous check for Nixon's services. The movie adds a mockumentary note to the otherwise straightforward style, having direct-to-camera addresses from various aides to Frost and Nixon (played by the likes of Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, and Kevin Bacon); these basically tell us things we already glean from the rest of the movie, adding unnecessary melodrama and upping the stakes. In this curious scheme, the success of Frost's career, which could bellyflop if he doesn't get something worthwhile out of the cagey, long-winded Nixon, is given somewhat more weight than the actual revelations of the interviews. Even with these questionable storytelling decisions, there's still the spectacle of two actors going at it hammer and tongs, and on that level the movie offers some heat. Both actors were retained from the original stage production, a rare thing in Hollywood--and probably Howard's best decision of the project. (Amazon.com)
The edge of love.
Set during the Second World War, The Edge Of Love is, at heart, the story of a love triangle. In the middle of it is the poet Dylan Thomas (played here by Matthew Rhys), and its he who finds himself in love with two women. On one hand, theres his childhood sweetheart Vera Phillips (Keira Knightley), and on the other theres his wife, Caitlin Thomas (Sienna Miller). Throw in Caitlins husband, William (Cillian Murphy), and you have the basis of a complicated period romantic drama. The best parts of The Edge Of Love prove to be in the build up, with the strong production values really allowed director John Maybury to build up his characters, and get across the setting of a war-torn London. Boasting good performances from the likes of Keira Knightley and Matthew Rhys, its hard not to get pulled into the films set-up. (Amazon.com)
The glittering prizes.
The Glittering Prizes was a critical sensation when it premiered in the late 1970s. Frederic Raphael's tale portrays the hopes and frustrations of an entire generation through the story of a group of friends who meet the prestigious Cambridge University in the 1950s. Tom Conti and Barbara Kellerman lead an outstanding ensemble cast in a series of six 80-minute episodes that follow the evolution of these privileged, idealistic college students through the turbulent 1960s and into the 1970s where their lives diverge and they struggle with emotional disillusionment and varying levels of worldly success. Contemporary issues of the time - sexual politics, abortion, class, religion, racism, homosexuality, the ascendency of the media, yob culture, the erosion of pre-war values and the legacy of fascism are all explored in this sumptuous and rewarding series. Now finally available on DVD, this 3-disc collection also includes the half hour documentary 'Writers and Places: All That Glittered', where writer Frederic Raphael visits Cambridge and discusses how the university and his experiences there influenced his writing. (Real Groovy)
Check your card I New fiction, DVD and cd lists I How to place a reserve I Borrowing I Contact us
