March '24 Digital Week I

4K/UHD Releases of the Week 

Wonka 

(Warner Bros)

In this colorful but pretty soulless prequel, Timothee Chalamet makes a charming young Willy Wonka who’s surrounded by a bunch of supporting characters who are less silly sidekicks than major annoyances—actors like Olivia Colman, High Grant (as a sullen Oompa Loompa!), Sally Hawkins and Rowan Atkinson are all made forgettable by Paul King’s mediocre direction. There’s garishness and bright colors galore, but the songs try too hard to match those from the original Gene Wilder classic (a couple of those, of course, return) and Chalamet, for all his energy, can only do so much. But since this was a huge hit, it will certainly generate more prequel sequels. The film looks ravishing in UHD; extras include several making-of featurettes.

Migration 

(Universal)

Director Benjamin Renner and writer Mike White have made a cute cartoon fable about a family of birds who migrate from New England to Jamaica with a pit stop in Manhattan along the way. The animation is impressive, the jokiness and sappiness both land in equal measure, and the large voice cast—including Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina and Danny DeVito—makes the most of the snappy dialogue, which might be enough for most families, and especially parents. It looks terrific on UHD; extras are making-of featurettes.

In-Theater/Streaming Release of the Week 

Poor Things 

(Searchlight)

In his latest insufferably smug feature, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has freely adapted Scottish author Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, a Candide-like journey from innocence to adulthood for a woman who has been reanimated by a lunatic Dr. Frankenstein-ish scientist. In Lanthimos’ hands, however, Gray’s sharp satire has been reanimated so crudely and ham-fistedly that its 140 minutes drag on like 140 hours. It’s set in a steampunk version of Europe and, although the sets and costumes are initially intriguing, soon rigor mortis sets in, and we’re left with Lanthimos’ gregariously ugly visuals: he returns again and again to fisheye-lens shots like a baby playing with his favorite rattle. Lead actors Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo give scandalously broad performances that should be shunned instead of showered with awards. Crazily enough, Willem Dafoe, never known for his subtlety, is the least obnoxious performer here, which is a win of sorts, I guess.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman 

(Well Go USA)

In this weirdly compelling fantasy, Dr. Cheon makes his living performing fake exorcisms online takes on the case of a possessed young girl: and lo and behold, all his beliefs—and disbeliefs—about the spirit world come into question. First-time director Kim Seong-sik has fun conjuring the mysterious goings-on that affect his protagonist, and the special effects complement, rather than overwhelm, the supernatural storyline. There’s an excellent hi-def transfer.

The Moon 

(Well Go USA)

After the first South Korean mission to the moon goes spectacularly wrong, a second mission also malfunctions, leaving one brave astronaut stranded in space while a disgraced mission-control director is brought in to try and salvage the nation’s lunar dreams in director Kim Yong-hwa’s far-fetched but simplemindedly entertaining sci-fi epic. It ends as a sentimental paean to Korean ingenuity—high (or low) lighted by a bunch of kids worshiping the spaceman—but before that Kim keeps losing focus by intercutting between the continuous (anti)climaxes in space and the predictably worried reactions of those on earth. It all looks impressive on Blu-ray; the lone extra is a making-of featurette.

CD Release of the Week

Britten—Violin and Double Concertos 

(Orfeo)

Two youthful works by English composer Benjamin Britten (1913-76) make up this superb new recording, but “youthful” doesn’t mean “immature”—on the contrary, Britten’s Violin Concerto, written when he was 26, is one of his masterpieces, a vigorous and incisive workout for the instrument; soloist Baiba Skride is more than up to the task throughout. Skride also deftly plays the violin part in the Double Concerto, which Britten wrote when he was 19. Although not as memorable as the later Violin Concerto, it’s still a singularly attractive work, and Ivan Vukčević is an inspired partner on the viola. Marin Alsop leads the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in perfect accompaniment for both works.