June '26 Digital Week I

Film Series of the Week 

Louis Malle: Portraits of America 

(Metrograph, NYC)

French director Louis Malle (1932-95) was best known for intelligent and provocative films like his incest comedy Murmur of the Heart and two Nazi Occupation dramas, Lacombe, Lucien and Au Revoir, Les Enfants, but he was also a heartfelt chronicler of an America that could only be seen by an outsider. This series includes several such films, including his 1978 “success de scandale” Pretty Baby, with a 12-year-old Brooke Shields as a child prostitute, and his witty Atlantic City, with an excellent Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon, from a scabrously funny John Guare script. 

Also included are Malle’s sympathetic documentary portraits of his adopted country during the Reagan presidency that show those left behind: 1985’s God’s Country (farmers) and 1986’s And the Pursuit of Happiness … (immigrants). There’s also a new doc, Louis Malle, Le Révolté (Louis Malle, The Rebel) by Claire Duguet, which—though too short (75 minutes)—effectively hits on the major themes of Malle’s life and career. This essential series was curated by Malle’s daughters Chloé and Justine. (metrograph.com)

In-Theater Releases of the Week 

Carolina Caroline 

(Magnolia Pictures)

If it wasn’t for the winning presence of Samara Weaving—an actress who always seems to elevate the lame movies she’s usually stuck in—as Caroline, a young woman who falls for the charming but dangerous Oliver and follows him on a deadly Bonnie and Clyde-like excursion across Texas, then Adam Carter Rehmeier’s derivative drama (the obvious script is by William Thomas Dean IV) would be even less palatable. Routine and predictable for much of its length—even Kyle Gallner’s charismatically villainous Oliver is unoriginal—this is yet another film that wastes poor Weaving.

The Currents 

(Kino Lorber)

After successful designer Lina impulsively leaps from a bridge into icy Swiss waters, upon her return home to Buenos Aires she finds it difficult to return to normal life in Argentine-Swiss writer-director Milagros Mumenthaler’s sometimes opaque but mostly trenchant character study. Although a few moments of fantasy and surreal touches aren’t always successful, the director’s intimate glimpse into this fragile woman’s psyche is greatly assisted by Isabel Aimé González Sola, a bracingly natural actress who makes Lina an elegantly empathetic protagonist.

Forastera 

(Grasshopper Film)

Teenager Cata’s beloved grandmother Catalina dies, and Cata herself discovers her body—this leads to her trying to deal with her grief in ever more confusing ways in Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’ achingly intimate chamber drama. Anchored by Zoe Stein’s magnificent and moving performance, Iglesias’ film shows how those we loved and lost are still among us in different ways, whether in our memories or otherwise, as her infinitely suggestive final shot underlines.

Streaming Release of the Week 

Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny 

(Icarus Films)

The fascinating true story of Emerik Blum, a Bosnian-Jewish businessman whose Yugoslav company Energoinvest was successfully run as a socialist collective of sorts (women workers were paid the same as men), is recounted in Jasmila Žbanić’s concise but often illuminating documentary. The film is structured from valuable archival footage and interviews with many of those involved, including Blum and several colleagues, but it would have been even more interesting if Žbanić had given more time to delving into Blum’s personal history—his family was murdered during the Holocaust, which is mentioned but not gone into in any depth. 

CD Release of the Week

Thomas de Hartmann—Esther 

(Pentatone)

Thomas de Hartmann (1884-1956) was a Ukrainian composer who composed this neglected opera—based on the Biblical story of Esther, who saved the Jewish people from annihilation—in Paris during World War II, which also threatened the very existence of the Jewish people. This world-premiere recording displays the de Hartmann opera’s strengths, notably the lyrical vocal writing, although it also brings its static nature to the fore. Still, it’s a treat to be able to hear this valuable work in its entirety, and it’s performed superbly by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under conductor Kirill Karabits and sung beautifully by a top cast led by American soprano Corinne Winters as Esther.

January '26 Digital Week II

Streaming Releases of the Week 

Christy 

(Black Bear Pictures)

David Michôd’s fast-paced, Oscar-bait biopic about boxer Christy Martin—one of the first female (and first out lesbian) boxers to hit it big—Sydney Sweeney burrows into her character, trying on an outsized Dukes of Hazzard accent and enough sweaty physicality in her major awards-season bid. Of course, the movie went belly-up at the box office—most likely because the conservatives who defended her jeans/genes ad didn’t want to actually see a queer heroine—but it’s certainly watchable, proficiently tackling the high (and low) lights from the undoubtedly dramatic life of a woman who fought all comers, including her abusive, and murderous, manager and husband (Ben Foster, in another amusingly overdone portrayal). 

Nuremburg 

(Sony Pictures Classics)

Writer-director James Vanderbilt’s efficient dramatization of the postwar trials of Nazi officials spotlights Hitler’s right-hand man Hermann Göring, played menacingly but with a glint of amused hubris in his eye by Russell Crowe. His conversations with American army psychologist Douglas Kelley—played decently by Rami Malek—are the centerpiece of a film that gets many details right but doesn’t do much more than a documentary on the subject would. There’s also the long shadow of Stanley Kramer’s self-important but memorably acted Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) but, in these fraught times, a Cliff’s Notes version might speak to us more pointedly.

In-Theater Releases of the Week 

My Neighbor Adolf 

(Cohen Media)

When Mr. Polsky, a Holocaust survivor living in a rural area of Colombia, notices that his new and reclusive neighbor seems somewhat familiar, he starts collecting evidence that Mr. Herzog is actually Hitler himself in Leon Prudovsky’s goofy comedy-drama that has some laughs but never follows through on its premise. David Hayman is an amusingly exasperated Polsky and Udo Kier a wonderfully expressive Herzog, but the actors are let down by Prudovsky and Dmitry Malinsky’s soggy script, filled with superficial rather than subtler moments. 

No Other Choice 

(Neon)

This second adaptation of Donald Westlake’s sly novel The Ax—the first was a leaden Costra-Gavras film in 2005—Korean director Park Chan-wook’s version is less clunky but still too scattershot to truly work. When Man-su, a longtime employee of a paper factory, is laid off, he scrambles to find a new job while his stay-at-home wife, messed-up teenage son and young cello prodigy daughter all deal with what becomes a shockingly pared-down existence. Desperate, Man-su decides to get rid of any competitors for a job by killing each off. What in Westlake’s book is a spot-on satire on the excesses of capitalism—especially of the era it was written, in the late ‘90s—becomes in Park’s hands amusing but numbingly repetitive. So many sequences are dragged out that, accompanied by chipper music (when it’s not somberly classical), Park’s directorial sledgehammer is never more apparent. Even the acting, especially by Lee Byung-hun as the put-upon protagonist, suffers by approaching hysteria quickly instead of by degrees.

Sirāt 

(Neon) 

In Olivier Laxe’s apocalyptic slowburn, a father and his young son join a group of ravers in the Moroccan desert to look for his missing daughter; soon, though, the group starts being picked off one by one in a vast, unforgiving landscape that has become a theater of war. It begins promisingly but, as Laxe ratchets up the tension, his characters are interchangeable and mostly unsympathetic, which turns the film into a miserabilist stunt, viscerally effective but emotionally remote. And when the minefield explosions take over, it becomes a surprisingly lax and ultimately pointless exercise.

CD Release of the Week

Respighi—Maria Egiziaca 

(Naxos)

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi’s 1931 theatrical triptych follows the prostitute Maria of Alexandria, whose sacrifice later earned her Catholic sainthood, in a dramatically tense account accompanied by some of Respighi’s loveliest music. This audio recording of Pier Luigi Pizzi’s 2024 Venice production centers on the fiery aliveness of soprano Francesca Dotto, whose Maria could have been merely symbolic but instead is a flawed, fully achieved protagonist. Respighi’s score sounds luminous performed by the Venice State Opera orchestra and chorus under the baton of Manlio Benzi. The Blu-ray of this staging was released more than a year ago, and the visuals add immeasurably to the powerful story.

December '25 Digital Week III

In-Theaters/Streaming Releases of the Week 

Blue Moon 

(Sony Classics)

Ethan Hawke throws himself into playing Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart—one-half of the immortal team of Rodgers and Hart, creators of such indelible musicals as Babes in Arms and Pal Joey—in Richard Linklater’s mostly inert biopic that concentrates on one day in Hart’s life, the opening night of Oklahoma, the first collaboration of Hart’s former partner Richard Rodgers with Oscar Hammerstein II. Set at the venerable theater restaurant Sardi’s, the film has a certain interest for musical theater fans (especially when a young Stephen Sondheim, a protégé of Hammerstein, appears), but Robert Kaplow’s script tries to cram too much into its single setting, taking away from its focus on Hart, who would be dead a few months after this night. Hawke does immerse himself poignantly in the songwriter’s messy personal life, and he’s the main reason to watch until the predictably tragic end.

Sentimental Value 

(Neon)

Danish-Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s latest melodrama explores a fractured family, as film director Gustav returns home after his ex-wife Sissel’s death to tell his two adult daughters—Agnes, a wife, mother and historian; and Nora, a temperamental stage actress having an affair with a married colleague—with the news that he’s making a film (with famous American actress Rachel Kemp) about his mother’s torture as a Nazi resistance fighter leading to her suicide when Gustav was young. The complications of family history rear their heads throughout, but Trier concentrates on too many loose ends, like standard-issue stage or on-set sequences that do little to illuminate matters. Stellan Skarsgård is perfectly cast as the boorish but boyish Gustav, Elle Fanning is an excellent Rachel and Renate Reinsve a fine Nora, but Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas steals each of her scenes as Agnes. Trier should have focused on her instead.

4K/UHD Releases of the Week 

David Byrne’s American Utopia 

(Criterion)

Director Spike Lee and cinematographer Ellen Kuras capture David Byrne’s groundbreaking 2019 Broadway show combining music and movement in exhilarating fashion, centered on Byrne’s unique stage presence, a savant leading his congregation in the holy gospel of song, with Annie-B Parson’s expressive choreography and Bob Sinclair’s inventive lighting visually complementing Byrne’s songs—from early Talking Heads to his recent solo material—accompanied by a dozen musicians, singers and dancers. Criterion’s new release comprises a 4K disc of the film, which looks and sounds immaculate; and two Blu-ray discs of the film and two extras: a 55-minute documentary about the show featuring Byrne, Kuras, Parson, and Sinclair, and a short Byrne and Lee conversation, socially distanced, from 2020.

Boogie Nights 

(Warner Bros)

Paul Thomas Anderson’s second feature, made in 1997, is now considered a classic—unaccountably, in my view; this shrill, cartoonish, shallow look at the L.A. porn scene of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s fails as both a satire of and affectionate tribute to its dim denizens. In a cast of banal caricatures, Mark Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds come off best; following his auspicious debut Hard Eight, this overstuffed would-be epic is the first of similar films that have dotted Anderson’s career—Magnolia, The Master, Licorice Pizza, One Battle After Another—but I realize I’m in the minority. It all looks great in 4K; extras include commentaries by Anderson and by the cast, American Cinematheque Q&A and deleted scenes.

Blu-ray Release of the Week 

Maria Roumagnac 

(Icarus Films)

Two legends of the silver screen—Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin—appeared for the only time together in French director Georges Lacombe’s doomed soap-operaish romance between a shop owner very popular with men and a working-class building contractor, whose jealousy over her sexually adventurous past (and present) pushes him over the edge tragically. Despite the stiffness of the characterizations and the dialogue—especially in the climactic court sequence—the onscreen chemistry between Dietrich and Gabin more than compensates. The restored 1946 B&W film looks ravishing on Blu. 

DVD/CD Release of the Week

Nicola Porpora—Polifemo 

(Chateau de Versailles)

Italian composer Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) wanted to challenge reigning opera genius George Frideric Handel at his own game in London, and the result was this 1735 Baroque epic romance populated by the goddess Galatea, the Cyclops, and ordinary men including Ulysses, whose appearance presages a conflict between the gods and the mortals. This live performance from Versailles in 2024 is colorfully over-the-top both vocally and visually; it’s too bad that it’s only a DVD instead of superior sharpness of a Blu-ray. Still, it’s nice to have a visual record of this performance, along with three CDs housing the audio recording.

June '25 Digital Week I

In-Theater Releases of the Week 

Ghost Trail 

(Music Box Films)

French writer-director Jonathan Millet makes his feature debut with this tense, intelligent slow-burn thriller about a Syrian refugee in France who one day notices a man who looks like the person who tortured him in the infamous Sednaya Prison in Damascus. Hamid (a remarkable portrayal by Adam Messa) works as a construction worker in Strasbourg, but once he sees his adversary, he is obsessed with plans for revenge—how that plays out, and how it affects his life and those around him, is dramatized with finesse by Millet, who demonstrates his sympathy for migrants and others marginalized by society without becoming strident.

Ron Delsener Presents 

(Abramorama)

Anyone who went to rock concerts in the New York City area since the late ’60s has probably noticed “Ron Delsener Presents” on the ticket—and this entertaining documentary, directed by Sting’s son Jake Sumner follows Delsener’s storied career as a concert promoter, from his early days working on the Beatles’ 1964 appearance in Forest Hills, through concerts at the Fillmore and the Palladium until today: he was 85 and still going strong when this was filmed a few years ago, attending shows and keeping up with whatever he could. Sumner not only speaks with Delsener, his wife and children—and shows copious archival footage from many iconic concerts—but also colleagues and an array of stars who touchingly remember his guiding hand, from Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel to Patti Smith and Paul Simon.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week 

Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII 

(Sony Music)

Pink Floyd’s 1972 performance at the ancient Roman amphitheater in Pompeii (sans audience) is folded into Adrian Maben’s documentary that’s an artifact of its time, with the Pompeii concert footage supplemented by interviews with Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright as well as glimpses of them at Abbey Road recording Dark Side of the Moon. There’s a surfeit of crude, cliched visuals (split screens, front projection, superimposition, slow-motion) that haven’t aged well—but the film anticipates the MTV video era and remains an eye- (and ear-) opening document of the band right before becoming rock royalty. The Blu-ray release includes the 85-minute film and the 62-minute concert separately; the hi-def video looks good and the superb audio remixed by Steven Wilson is available in Dolby Stereo, 5.1 TrueHD Surround and ATMOS.

Ann Wilson and Tripsitter—Live in Concert 

(Mercury/Universal)

In this 2023 concert, Heart lead vocalist Ann Wilson leads her solo band Tripsitter—with which she released an album, Another Door—through a deftly-balanced set of solo songs, well-chosen covers and classic Heart tunes, including the vigorous opener, “Crazy on You,” the band’s first hit. The 16-song set shows that Wilson, even in her mid ’70s, still sings impressively and with little vocal strain. Heart’s brooding, mystical “Mistral Wind” and John Lennon’s biting “Isolation” let her alternate between lung-shredding power and exquisite delicacy. Of course, Led Zeppelin, one of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s biggest influences, is never far away: Ann pairs the Heart hit “Alone” with “Going to California,” while a powerhouse “Immigrant Song” is Ann at her vocal best. The hi-def video and the audio are excellent, although only a stereo mix is included.

Prokofiev—War and Peace 

(Bayerische Staatsoper)

Sergei Prokofiev’s operatic masterpiece distills the essence of Leo Tolstoy’s massive novel about the 1812 war between Napoleon and Russia into an expressive, emotional 3-1/2-hour music drama. Director and set designer of this 2023 Munich production, Dmitri Tcherniakov, nods to the present conflict between invading Russian forces and defending Ukrainian patriots, but that layer doesn’t detract from the powerful musical storytelling at the heart of Prokofiev’s work. Vladimir Jurowski deftly conducts the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and choruses, while the lead roles of Prince Andrei, Natasha and Pierre are strongly embodied by Andrei Zhilikhovsky, Olga Kulchynska and Arsen Soghomonyan. There’s first-rate hi-def video and audio; extras are an interview with Tcherniakov and Jurowski as well as a short featurette.

DVD Release of the Week

The Drew Carey Show—The Complete Series 

(Warner Bros)

Standup comic Drew Carey’s eponymous sitcom ran for nine seasons, from 1995 to 2004, giving audiences an alternative version of his real-life persona as an everyman working a menial job in middle America (in this case, Cleveland). Carey and the large cast—including Christa Miller, Kathy Kinney, Craig Ferguson and Ryan Stiles—project a warm appeal that underlines the mild jokes audiences could identify with. All 200-plus episodes are included (excepting four “special” episodes), with some music cues different from the original broadcasts; lone extra is the featurette Life Inside the Cubicle.

February '25 Digital Week III

In-Theater Release of the Week 

Parthenope 

(A24)

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino returns with an exploration of youthful beauty in the form of a beautiful young woman named after a Greek siren, who turns heads—among other things—in her hometown of Naples (aka Parthenope). Celeste Dalla Porta is exquisitely gorgeous; whether she can act is immaterial, since Parthenope is a symbol for whatever the men who ogle her—even her beloved brother and an old, obese priest—want her to be. If the shots of males leering were cut, the movie would probably be an hour shorter. Visually, Sorrentino and cinematographer Daria D’Antonio overload on sumptuousness, but dramatically and thematically it’s trifling. Sorrentino even brings in Gary Oldman to ham it up mercilessly as drunk novelist John Cheever, whose writings Parthenope happens to adore. Meshing religion and sex is Sorrentino’s prime subject, but even Dalla Porta’s great beauty palls after awhile, and the final shots of just-retired anthropology professor Parthenope (Stefania Sandrelli) watching a celebratory float go by make as little sense as the rest of this long perfume ad—even a 30-second commercial would have more depth.

Streaming Release of the Week

Nosferatu 

(Focus Features)

Writer-director Robert Eggers’ latest genre exercise is in many ways his most enervating yet—his unnecessary remake of the old and moldy Dracula/Nosferatu films is overloaded with hysterically overwrought performances; moody but hammy camerawork; more metaphorical packs of rats and shadows than one would expect even from a nervous student film; and a self-indulgent, slow pace that drags this flimsy tale to a torturous running time of 135 minutes. Even Willem Dafoe, often an amusing overacter, seems flustered by his ridiculous character and dialogue; poor Lily-Rose Depp looks elegant but remains relentlessly dour, while Nicholas Hoult is unable to fashion a real character out of disparate fragments. As for the vampire himself, Bill Skarsgård gives a performance that grows more risible as the film continues.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week 

Last Summer 

(Janus Contemporaries)

French provocateur Catherine Breillat hadn’t made a film in about a decade following her stroke, but her long-awaited return doesn’t disappoint, as she adapts the Dutch film Queen of Hearts to dissect the relationship—initially antagonistic, then sexual, and finally emotional—of a 40ish wife and mother, Anna, and her teenage stepson, Théo. The always rigorous Breillat explores the psychological state of Anna—who is also, ironically, a respected lawyer—and, despite a few narrative misplays (a couple important sequences are elided), allows her to tell her truth, even when it’s based on a torrent of lies. As Théo, Samuel Kircher is simultaneously (and plausibly) a child and a young man, while Léa Drucker gives a towering performance of feminine sexual confidence as Anna, a woman who makes wrong decisions and doubles down on them. The film looks fine on Blu; lone extra is a Breillat interview.

Respighi—Maria Egiziaca 

(Dynamic)

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi’s 1931 theatrical triptych follows the prostitute Maria of Alexandria, whose sacrifice later earned her Catholic sainthood, in a dramatically tense account accompanied by some of Respighi’s loveliest music. Pier Luigi Pizzi’s 2024 Venice production centers on the fiery aliveness of soprano Francesca Dotto’s portrayal of Maria, who could have been merely symbolic but instead is a flawed, fully achieved protagonist. Respighi’s score sounds luminous performed by the Venice State Opera orchestra and chorus under the baton of Manlio Benzi. Hi-def video and audio are first-rate.

Strauss—Arabella 

(Naxos)

German master Richard Strauss’ 1933 operatic romance—his final work with longtime librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal—follows the title heroine, a noblewoman with no shortage of suitors, and her younger sister Zdenka (brought up as a boy to save the family money); the combination of Hofmannsthal’s wit and Strauss’ melodies makes this one of the great autumnal operas. Tobias Krazer’s 2023 Berlin State Opera staging mixes a lush Viennese setting with postmodern touches like film clips and casual contemporary wear for the leads. If the production is less than visually sparkling, musically it’s aces—as Arabella, Sara Jakubiak adds to her glowing portraits of complex heroines, while Elena Tsallagova (as Zdenka) provides superb support. Donald Runnicles conducts an effective reading of Strauss’ sumptuous score. The hi-def video and audio are topnotch.

4K/UHD Release of the Week

Constantine 

(Warner Bros)

In Francis Lawrence’s 2005 supernatural mess, Keanu Reeves sleepwalks through the title role, an exorcist of sorts who visits heaven and hell and who tries to save L.A. detective Angela, whose twin sister Isabel killed herself under suspicious circumstances. Lawrence conjures the look of dankness and gray foreboding that David Fincher did in 1995’s Seven, which was more plausibly and terrifying. Opposite the somnolent Reeves is Rachel Weisz, desperate to make Amanda more than a caricature but defeated by the material and Lawrence’s approach. The UHD images are flawless; extras include new interviews with Lawrence and Reeves as well as archival featurettes and commentaries.

CD Release of the Week 

Supertramp—Live in Paris ’79 

(Mercury/Universal)

On the heels of its biggest-selling album, Breakfast in America, prog-rock group Supertramp released a two-LP live set, Paris, documenting the extensive world tour. That 1980 album has just been reissued on two CDs that include the entire two-hour set with the band firing on all cylinders, from prog epics like “Crime of the Century,” “From Now On” and “Fool’s Overture” to classic cuts like “School,” “Ain’t Nobody But Me” and “Even in the Quietest Moments” and a wide selection of tracks from the then-current smash album: “The Logical Song,” “Goodbye Stranger,” “Take the Long Way Home” and even “Child of Vision.” What’s heard in this impeccably remixed concert is how tight the quintet was, from drummer Bob Siebenberg and bassist Dougie Thomson’s rhythm section to John Helliwell’s saxophone and the coleaders, keyboardist/singer Roger Davies and keyboardist/guitarist/singer Roger Hodgson.  

February '25 Digital Week II

In Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week 

Becoming Led Zeppelin 

(Sony Classics)

How a quartet of British musicians—guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones, drummer John Bonham and singer Robert Plant—got together to form one of the planet’s legendary rock bands is at the heart of Bernard MacMahon’s straightforward portrait. Introducing each member, born in 1940s war-torn England, and taking their story until the start of 1970—following the huge success of the group’s first two albums and tours—MacMahon lets the four speak for themselves: Page, Jones and Plant give new interviews, and Bonham (whose death in 1980 effectively disbanded the group) is heard in an unearthed 1970s interview. The result is two hours of musical bliss for Zepheads: not only are there fresh nuggets like the many mid-’60s hits Page and Jones both played on as session musicians or the besotted female fan calling Plant a “fox” in a call-in interview on an American radio station (“what’s that?” Plant ignorantly asks), there are also incendiary live performances of “Dazed and Confused,” “Communication Breakdown,” and other Zep classics, all looking and sounding brilliant in restored video and audio. A must-see in IMAX, with its killer sound, but even a smaller screen and less than optimal sound system aren’t a dealbreaker.

The Annihilation of Fish 

(Kino Lorber)

Charles Burnett’s 1999 romance starring James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave was never released after a bad review scared off the original distributor—although not THAT bad, it’s more than a bit of a mess. Burnett, who made Killer of Sheep and To Sleep with Anger, shows a less than sturdy directorial hand in this slapstick, rom-com, tragedy and heartache. Anthony C. Winkler’s scattershot script deserves its share of blame as well. Jones’ and Redgrave’s performances swing from wildly overdone to nicely subtle, sometimes in the same sequence, while Margot Kidder (whom I didn’t recognize at first) provides needed levity as the couple’s landlord.

Something Is About to Happen 

(Film Movement)

Director-cowriter Antonio Méndez Esparza’s account of middle-aged Lucia’s horrifying spiral when she’s laid off and becomes a cabbie has been compared to Taxi Driver itself—but the outbursts of violence that climax Lucia’s story are miles from Travis Bickle’s cleaning the “scum” off NYC streets; rather, Lucia has been wronged, in her mind, by friends and lovers and exacts her own sort of vengeance. Malena Alterio plays Lucia forcefully but also with an understated ability to keep her sympathetic even if the bloody final act has been all but foreshadowed by Esparza and Clara Roquet’s script; baring herself emotionally and physically, Alterio makes Lucia and her plight worth watching however unnerving.

Three Birthdays 

(Good Deed Entertainment)

Jane Weinstock directed Nevin Schreiner’s script that’s a choppy look at a liberal Ohio family—father Rob, mother Kate (both professors) and their free-spirited 17-year-old daughter Bobbi—on their birthdays in the pivotal year of 1970. The movie brims with so many signposts of the “hippie” era—open marriages, female sexual awakening, racism, sexism—that when the Kent State shootings are brought in (Kate’s birthday is May 4, the day of the shootings), it tips the scales into lazy contrivance. It’s too bad, for some family confrontations are realistically fraught, while the acting of Josh Raynor (Rob), newcomer Nuala Cleary (Bobbi), and the always great Annie Parisse (Kate) is first-rate. I chuckled during the end credits at an aria from Camille Saint-Saëns’ opera Samson and Delilah mistakenly listed as being composed by Claude Debussy.

Trinity 

(First Run Features)

The sorrowful legacy of the atomic bomb, brought back into the spotlight after the success of Christopher Nolan’s supremely flawed Oscar winner Oppenheimer, is vividly if haphazardly recounted in Martina Car and Anthony Audi’s short but wandering documentary, which lets residents of New Mexico—site of the “Trinity” testing site—discuss the lingering physical, emotional and even political effects of the decades of stonewalling, sweeping under the rug and ignoring their plight by the government. Along with the often heartrending interviews, the directors also provide a broader political and human context, although even at a succinct 75 minutes, Trinity could use a bit more meat on its bones. 

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

In the Summers

(Music Box)

Writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza’s auspicious feature debut is this intensely personal memory film about two sisters, Violeta and Eva, who visit their dad Vicente during several summers over a number of years. Although the drama is sometimes too on the nose as the girls discover how complex their relationship is with a father they only see a couple of weeks a year, only once does Lacorazza stoop to melodrama—a drunken car accident that injures Violeta—but even that sets the stage for a final, touching reunion. It’s enacted by a group of fine young actors playing the sisters at various ages and who rotate around the impressive Puerto Rican rapper René “Residente” Pérez Joglar as Vicente: best are Sasha Calle and Lio Mehiel as, respectively, the adult Eva and Violeta. The film looks splendid on Blu; extras include Lacorazza’s commentary, interviews with the director and cast, deleted scenes, bloopers and Lacorazza’s short film, Mami.

Handel—Theodora 

(Naxos)

George Frideric Handel’s 1750 oratorio about fourth-century Christian martyrs Theodora and her husband Didymus contains some of the composer’s most glorious music—and has also been staged as an opera over the centuries, as this misguided Vienna production by director Stefan Herheim shows. Set in Vienna’s modern-day Café Central, which is inappropriate enough, the staging hits its nadir after the chorus sings movingly about Christ raising a man from the dead, and…a waitress brings out tea trays filled with desserts. The music, at least, lives up to Handel’s high standards: the Arnold Schoenberg Choir (under chorus master Erwin Ortner) and La Folia Barockorchester (under conductor Bejun Mehta) perform superbly, and Jacquelyn Wagner (Theodora) and Christopher Lowrey (Didymus) sing beautifully. There’s fine hi-def video and audio.

CD Releases of the Week

Getty—Goodbye, Mister Chips 

(Pentatone)

Now 91, Gordon Getty—yes, he’s one of the Gettys—has been composing operas for 40 years, and his latest, a 2017 stage work that premiered as a film in 2021, is an attractive adaptation of the James Hilton novella about beloved teacher Mr. Chipping at an English boys’ school. Getty also penned the libretto, and his music is accomplished and, by its end, quite moving (Chipping’s wife Kathie has a couple of emotionally climactic appearances). This excellent recording, by the Barbara Coast Orchestra and San Francisco Boys Chorus under conductor Dennis Doubin, highlights wonderful vocal performances by soprano Melody Moore as Kathie; bass-baritone Kevin Short in several smaller roles; and tenor Nathan Granner as Mr. Chips himself, a man whose personal tragedies color his natural optimism for his students.

MacDowell—Piano Concerto No. 1, Other Orchestral Works 

(Chandos)

It might be difficult to believe that Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) was considered a leading American composer of his generation; but then, who else was there at the time? Whatever the case, MacDowell’s music, at least on the basis of this elegantly played survey of his orchestral works by the BBC Philharmonic led by conductor John Wilson, is perfectly structured and lushly orchestrated. Although his shimmery Piano Concerto No. 1 is the main draw—especially as played by the exquisite soloist Xiayin Wang—the two symphonic poems, Lancelot und Elaine and Lamia, are also beautifully wrought.

November '24 Digital Week III

4K/UHD Releases of the Week 

North by Northwest 

(Warner Bros)

One of Hitchcock’s most memorable—if also one of his most nonsensical—films, this 1959 classic contains some of his greatest set pieces and silliest plot twists, holding itself together as a grandly entertaining yarn. Cary Grant is his usual suave self as the innocent man mistaken for an FBI agent, James Mason makes a dastardly villain and Eva Marie Saint is the perfect femme fatale. But the real star is Hitch: the wit, the thrills, the pacing of three masterly sequences (the corn field, the auction room, and Mount Rushmore) epitomize the film’s all-time status. The film’s UHD transfer looks perfect; extras comprise screenwriter Ernest Lehman’s commentary and several behind-the-scenes featurettes.

The Terminator 

(Warner Bros)

James Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi actioner made Arnold Schwarzenegger a superstar and Cameron an A-list director, although this feature about a murderous time-traveling cyborg who is assigned to kill an innocent woman for the future crime of giving birth to a savior is crudely, often laughably silly. Linda Hamilton makes a sympathetic victim—she would become a femme fatale in the much more entertaining 1991 sequel—but Schwarzenegger is too robotic (even for him) and Cameron’s directing has cleverness without being particularly distinguished. The film looks splendid in 4K; extras are seven deleted scenes and three featurettes.

Streaming Release of the Week 

The Shade 

(Level 33)

Writer-director Tyler Chipman’s overlong psychological melodrama about a family dealing with mental illness and suicide takes an interesting germ of an idea but does little more with it than skim the surface, instead crassly visualizing the malevolence and repeating dream jump-scares, more desperately each time. Not helping is the one-note acting by most of the cast—only Laura Benanti, as the troubled brothers’ single mom, gives an expressive, humane performance. Otherwise, this can be considered a nice try but ultimately a failed exploration of a serious subject.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

Manon 

(Opus Arte)

French composer Jules Massenet’s Romantic-era opera about a young woman about to become a nun who elopes with her love became, in choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s hands, equally lively and dramatic. In this return to London’s Royal Ballet stage earlier this year, MacMillan’s brilliantly precise movements for the couple—embodied beautifully by Natalia Osipova and Reece Clarke—fit like a glove. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in a fine reading of Massenet’s marvelous music. Hi-def video and audio are topnotch; extras are interviews with the creative team, Osipova and Clarke.

Merchant Ivory 

(Cohen Media)

A longtime award-winning producer/director team, Ismail Merchant and James Ivory made films—often written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and scored by composer Richard Robbins—that included stories about India (Shakespeare Wallah, Heat and Dust) and historical biopics (Jefferson in Paris, Surviving Picasso). But their greatest successes were lush literary adaptations like A Room with a View, Howards End and The Remains of the Day. Director Stephen Soucy interviews Ivory, who speaks candidly about his and Merchant’s professional and personal relationship—they were lovers for decades—and also talks with stars like Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Redgrave. The result is a loving if tad too reverent portrait of these not quite first-rate artists. The film looks excellent on Blu; extras are extended interviews, Ivory and Soucy discussions and Soucy’s short, Rich Atmosphere—The Music of Merchant Ivory Films.

Night of the Blood Beast/Attack of the Giant Leeches 

(Film Masters)

This nearly forgotten pair of B movies from the Roger Corman producing stable, low-budget sci-fi thrillers 1958’s Night of the Blood Beast and 1959’s Attack of the Giant Leeches, are about as simplistic as their descriptive titles. Both films, which were directed by someone named Bernard L. Kowalski, are largely risible but are also effective timewasters if one is in the right mood. The films look decent on Blu; extras include Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes for both films, commentaries on both films, the academy-ratio version of Blood Beast; and featurettes. 

DVD Release of the Week 

A Real Job 

(Distrib Films US)

Writer-director Thomas Lilti made this amusing and often illuminating drama about a group of teachers at a typical French high school who deal with the messy everyday situations that come up involving their students, the parents and even one another, as told through the eyes of Benjamin, a young substitute teacher. A superlative ensemble comprising Vincent Lacoste (Benjamin), Louise Bourgoin, François Cluzet and the always extraordinary Adèle Exarchopoulos, among others, makes this a sharp and penetrating look at classroom complexities in the vein of other French films like Laurent Cantet’s The Class and Nicolas Philibert’s documentary To Be and to Have.

CD Releases of the Week

Camille Erlanger—La Sorcière 

(B. Records)

French composer Camille Erlanger (1863-1919), a student of Leo Delibes, wrote several operas that never gained a foothold in the repertoire, possibly because their grand style seems out of step with the subject matter, like this 1912 music drama set during the Spanish Inquisition. It does have a still-relevant religious tolerance message, and Erlanger’s music has its memorable moments, yet when the storytelling gets more intimate, the music gets less interesting. However, this performance, recorded at Victoria Hall in Geneva, is splendidly realized: there’s magnificent singing by the soloists and choir along with the estimable Orchestra of the Haute Ecole de Musique de Geneve led by conductor Guillaume Tourniaire. 

York Bowen/William Walton—Viola Concertos 

(SWR)

This wonderful-sounding disc features one of the best from the small repertoire of viola concertos—the lyrical yet technically thorny concerto by William Walton (1902-83), which he wrote in 1929 for soloist Lionel Tertis, who infamously called it too modern and did not premiere it—Paul Hindemith did instead. This significant work is paired with the concerto by York Bowen (1884-1961), also written for Tertis (and he did premiere it, in 1908)—a much less familiar work, it has its own lilting beauty. Diyang Mei is the formidable soloist in both works, accompanied by the exceptional German Radio Philharmonic under conductor Brett Dean.  

August '23 Digital Week I

In-Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week

Afire 

(Janus Films)

German director Christian Petzold’s “elements” quartet began in 2020 with his “water” film, Undine. The second, Afire—the German title, Roter Himmel, means Red Sky, which is also a more evocative English title—is an off-kilter comedy of manners about a pretentious author, Leon, who spends time with his friend Felix at Felix’s family’s summer cottage to finish his latest book. Leon meets Nadja, also staying there, who uncouples him from his own narrow perspective and forces him to face hard truths about himself, all while deadly—both real and metaphorical—forest fires are sweeping the region. Petzold’s script and direction are surprisingly none too subtle, but he’s able to sell this often predictable, even silly story through his exemplary cast, led by Thomas Schubert’s self-absorbed Leon and the luminous Paula Beer—now Petzold’s post-Nina Hoss muse—as the seemingly guileless Nadja.

The Beasts 

(Greenwich Entertainment)

In Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s slow-burn drama, French couple Antoine and Olga grow eco-friendly crops in rural Spain among poor farmers suspicious of their motives, especially after they vote against allowing a wind-energy company to purchase local land, which would give many the cash they desperately need. Although it goes on way too long—its plot could easily unfold in an equally anxious manner with a half-hour cut out—Sorogoyen gets remarkable performances by Luis Zahera and Diego Anido as brothers who become the couple’s worst antagonists, Denis Ménochet as Antoine and especially Marina Foïs, who, as Olga, gives a master class in understatement, especially in the extraordinary close-up with which Sorogoyen smartly ends his film.

The Restless Hungarian 

(Moira Productions)

In his raw, emotional cinematic memoir, Tom Weidlinger candidly explores the secrets and lies haunting his family, starting with the reminiscences of his father, a Hungarian scientist who survived the Holocaust: something that he had hidden from his children. Although I generally abhor reenactments in documentaries, here they perfectly underscore the unsettling state Weidlinger finds within himself trying to pull apart the truth from the fiction in his family’s history.   

The Unknown Country 

(Music Box Films)

Lily Gladstone—soon to be seen in Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon—gives her usual persuasive, natural performance in this too often diffuse character study by writer-director Morrisa Maltz. Gladstone plays Tana who, coming off a crushing personal loss, attends a family wedding on the Lakota reservation then takes off on a road trip to try and find some sort of closure. What follows is meandering and intermittently absorbing, but when, along the way, as Tana meets real people living real lives, Maltz has them narrate their own stories, which have a way of obscuring Tana’s own journey. Even the final, stunning location shots of Tana ultimately feel unearned.

4K/UHD Releases of the Week 

East of Eden 

(Warner Bros)

Elia Kazan’s 1955 adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel based on the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, here in the form of opposing brothers Cal and Aron only occasionally crackles to life, instead teetering under Kazan’s ponderous direction. The cast is impeccable, however, led by James Dean in his memorable film debut as Cal; Raymond Massey as the boys’ dad; Jo Van Fleet as their long-lost mother; and Julie Harris as the young woman wanted by both brothers. Ted McCord’s color photography looks especially sharp on UHD; lone extra is critic Richard Schickel’s commentary.

Enter the Dragon 

(Warner Bros)

The 1973 movie that made Bruce Lee an international star—and which was released posthumously, soon after his shocking death that summer at age 32—is a relatively lean action flick with some narrative dead ends that spends most of its time on eye-popping kung fu skirmishes. Lee was a magnetic screen star without being a decent actor—his exciting physicality was his calling card. The UHD transfer is crisp and clear; extras include a producers’ commentary and a short intro by Lee’s widow, Linda Cadwell.

Rio Bravo 

(Warner Bros)

Howard Hawks’ 1959 western is considered one of the best entries of the genre; despite the presence of John Wayne, who plays the heroic sheriff with his usual laconic sameness, it’s an entertaining, exciting drama about a small group of good guys fending off a murder suspect’s armed gang. Good acting by Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson and Walter Brennan makes up for Wayne’s one-note presence. The stunning vistas, photographed by Russell Harlan, look even more spectacular in 4K; lone extra is a commentary by critic Richard Schickel and director John Carpenter.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

Mussorgsky—Boris Godunov 

(Opus Arte)

Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s operatic masterpiece about the infamously murderous czar is usually performed in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s reorchestrated version, but Kasper Holten’s 2016 Royal Opera staging reverts to Mussorgsky’s original stark vision with gripping results. Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is a mesmerizing Boris, especially in the tragic climactic scene; Antonio Pappano superbly conducts the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, the latter triumphing in the composer’s haunting vocal lines. As usual, hi-def video and audio are first-rate; lone extra is a conversation about the opera between Terfel and Pappano.

Stravinsky—Oedipus Rex 

(Dynamic)

Igor Stravinsky’s challengingly austere oratorio, with a text by Jean Cocteau from Sophocles’ play, has divided listeners since its 1927 premiere: this 2022 concert version from Florence, Italy, conducted by Daniele Gatti, finds its power in the all-male chorus, AJ Gleuckert’s Oedipus, Alex Esposito’s Creon and Ekaterina Semenchuck’s Jacosta. As a wonderful bonus, Gatti and the orchestra also perform Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti’s moody Three Orchestral Preludes, also composed for Sophocles’ play. There’s stellar hi-def video and audio.

CD Releases of the Week

Wilhelm Grosz—Achtung, Aufnahme!! 

(Channel Classics)

German composer Wilhelm Grosz (1894-1939) wrote music tinged with jazz rhythms—his short and witty 1930 one-act opera Achtung, Aufnahme!! (Attention, Recording!!), a supreme example of its era, contains sparkling singing and musicianship in a recording made over several years (1999 to 2005) by Ebony Band and its conductor Werner Herbers, who died earlier this year. Kudos also to several vocalists and the Cappella Amsterdam led by Daniel Reuss. Also included on this world-premiere recording are two short dramatic works: Komödien in Europa (Potpourri) by Walter Goehr and Die vertauschten Manuskripte (Potpourri) by Mátyás Seiber, less scintillating than Grosz’ work but still highly listenable.  

Paul Hindemith—Cardillac 

(BRKlassik)

German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) wrote one great opera—Mathis der Maler—and several less successful dramatic works, including this strange but often compelling 1926 tale of a goldsmith whose jewelry customers mysteriously are killed. This 2013 recording, while less memorable than others—including the classic DG one starring the great German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role—has fine performances by the Prague Philharmonic Choir and Munich Radio Orchestra under conductor Stefan Soltesz (who died a year ago) and a solid cast led by Markus Eiche as Cardillac and Juliane Banse as his daughter.