May '22 Digital Week IV

4K Release of the Week 

The Batman 

(Warner Bros)

In this latest unnecessary reboot, director Matt Reeves adds a definite article—to distinguish this one from “a” Batman, apparently—but little else: this relentlessly dank, dour, wet, dingy, nearly three-hour opus instead comes to a specious conclusion as Batman and the Riddler (a ridiculously over the top Paul Dano) are merely two sides of the same coin, and there’s even a brief appearance of the Joker at the end to foreshadow the sequel. Robert Pattinson is decent if unexciting as the Caped Crusader (it’s time we admit that, of the big-screen Batmans, Michael Keaton was the most memorable), Zoë Kravitz has charisma to burn as Catwoman—there’s an inevitable spinoff coming, most likely—there’s a witty use of Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” and an insanely lunatic car chase with an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin. The ultra hi-def transfer looks exceptionally good; the accompanying Blu-ray includes two hours of extras, mainly on-set and behind-the-scenes featurettes as well as deleted scenes with Reeves’ commentary.

Blu-ray Release of the Week

Umma

(Sony)

In writer-director Iris K. Shim’s tense psychological thriller, Sandra Oh plays Amanda, a woman haunted by the spirit of her abusive mother whom she left in Korea for the U.S. many years ago; Amanda desperately tries to avoid having the same fractured relationship with her own teenage daughter. Shim effectively dramatizes how family traumas encroach on succeeding generations, and even when the inevitable supernatural horrors emerge, Umma is a splendidly paced tug-of-war between a protective mother and those malevolent forces. It looks great on Blu-ray.

Streaming/In-Theater Releases of the Week 

The Burning Sea

(Magnet)

In John Andreas Andersen’s entertaining environmental disaster movie, Sofia (Kristine Kujath Thorp) and Stian (Henrik Bjelland)—who’ve recently begun a relationship—are recruited to save the world (or, at least, Norway) when an unknown entity causes widespread destruction among several offshore oil rigs. Andersen doesn’t have a light or subtle touch, but he knows how to shoot action, ratcheting up the tension whether on a burning oil rig or in a boardroom where suits make life-changing decisions. Thorp’s and Bjelland’s raw portrayals help push this over the finish line. 

Cane Fire 

(Cinema Guild)

Anthony Banua-Simon’s very personal documentary shows how the people of Hawaii—and specifically those who live on the island of Kaua’i—have been exploited for decades by American industries, especially by Hollywood, whose movies have planted the seed in viewer’s minds that it is a paradise for white men and women at the expense of the natives. Banua-Simon incisively burrows into how movies have romanticized Kauaʻi at the same time that they have been racist, sometimes explicitly, other times implicitly: from White Heat (1934) and Diamond Head (1963) to Elvis in Blue Hawaii (1961) and the right-wing John Wayne polemic Big Jim McLain (1952). Banua-Simon also bitingly chronicles the realities of living on Kauaʻi today, as the friction between the hugely important tourism industry and the cherished traditions of natives continues, seemingly unabated.

The French 

(Metrograph Pictures)

Director William Klein covered the 1981 French Open by showcasing the many intimate and memorable on-court moments but also by focusing on revelatory behind-the-scenes glimpses of locker room drama and levity, comradeship and rivalry throughout the two-week Grand Slam tournament. The tennis greats of that era—John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Guillermo Vilas and Bjorn Borg (the men’s champion); Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, 16-year-old Andrea Jaeger and Hana Mandlikova (the women’s champion)—are seen on and off the court, and Klein finds bits of insight among the players, as when Arthur Ashe, sitting courtside during a match, predicts what will happen.  

Hold Your Fire 

(IFC Films)

Stefan Forbes’ illuminating and shocking documentary recounts a 1973 Brooklyn robbery that goes tragically awry after cops, TV crews and gawkers show up in droves and the culprits take hostages—ultimately an NYPD member is killed and one robber is wounded—the outcome relatively benign despite the department’s tendency to shoot first, especially when it came to Black suspects. Several of the principals, including the surviving robbers,  retired cops, hostages and their family members speak frankly on-camera, and Forbes also talks at length with Harvey Schlossberg, the policeman with a psychology degree who pioneered defusing such fraught situations through mediation—it helped keep the body count to a minimum in this instance, but Schlossberg’s methods have sadly gone out of fashion in recent years. (He died in 2021 at age 85.)

CD Release of the Week 

Nazareno—London Symphony Orchestra 

(LSO)

The irresistible rhythms of jazz are at the heart of these three compositions by three different composers writing in three distinct styles: Leonard Bernstein’s snazzy Prelude, Fugue and Riffs (1949), Igor Stravinsky’s spirited Ebony Concerto (1945) and Osvaldo Golijov’s brash Nazareno (2000) stir instruments such as saxophones, pianos and a battery of percussion instruments into the stylish mix. Simon Rattle and the London Symphony orchestra provide the formidable musical backbone, and outstanding featured performers—including the great Labèque sisters on pianos in Nazareno—add immeasurably to the enticing texture.