Blu-rays of the Week
(PBS)
The latest British import to air on PBS’s Masterpiece is this handsomely mounted but slow-moving
eight-episode mini-series about the post-WWII Parisian fashion industry,
showing Brits, Yanks and Frenchmen and women deal with professional and
personal difficulties at the elite House of Sabine. The large cast, led by the
great Frances de la Tour, struggles to put its stamp on the clichéd and
ultimately pallid goings-on. The hi-def transfer is first-rate; extras are three
behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Hana-Bi
(Film Movement Classics)
Japanese writer-director-actor Takeshi Kitano (or Beat Takeshi, his screen
name) makes ultra-violent gangster movies that trade on extreme (often risible)
violence, and this 1997 drama—known in English as Fireworks—is no exception. Beat plays a detective caught up in a
nihilistic world of debt, the yakuza and robbery, all while his wife has
leukemia and his partner is paralyzed by a horrible attack. Technically
accomplished like all Kitano movies, Hana-Bi
lacks originality but may be bloody enough for genre fans. The film looks excellent
in hi-def; extras include a commentary and making-of featurette.
The Hidden
An alien entity invades various human victims, turning them into
bloodthirsty killers, as an L.A. detective and FBI agent stay on its trail in
this insanely slimy 1987 comic thriller by director Jack Sholder and writer Bob
Hunt. There’s an admitted cleverness in the way the takeover of bodies is shown—a
kind of reverse Alien bursting sequence—but
it soon becomes repetitive, which undermines what’s trying to be a fast-paced, whiz-bang
flick. The film looks fine on Blu; extras are Sholder’s commentary and effects
footage.
The Sea Wolf
(Warner Archive)
In this exciting drama based on a Jack London novel, director Michael
Curtiz puts us right on board the cramped boat helmed by a crazed captain, as a
couple of stowaways—a writer and an escaped convict played by Alexander Knox
and Ida Lupino—try and keep their heads above water, literally and
figuratively, alongside the paralyzed crew. Edward G. Robinson’s forceful
Captain Larsen, a complicated bad guy, is a subtle portrait that keeps the
movie afloat, and in the right direction. The 1941 B&W film—restored to its
original 100-minute running time—looks brand-new on Blu-ray; lone extra is a 1950
radio adaptation.
The Who Tommy—Live at the Royal Albert Hall
This past spring, Roger Daltrey and Peter Townshend joined together for a
good cause—the Teenage Cancer Trust—to perform The Who’s seminal 1969 rock
opera at Royal Albert Hall: Daltrey is in exceptionally good vocal shape, hitting
some tough high notes on several songs (though in others, like the encore “Who
Are You,” he avoids them), and Townshend is still a gale force on guitar. The
band’s rousing performance is bolstered by an encore of greatest hits, and the
hi-def video and audio are top-notch. Extras are a rehearsal featurette and concert
video screen images from “The Acid Queen” and “Pinball Wizard.”
DVDs of the Week
Deconstructing the Beatles
(Abramorama)
For several years, Beatles expert Scott Freiman has been presenting his
irresistible “Deconstructing the Beatles” lectures—delving deep into the Fab
Four catalog to unveil the multi-layers of each track with precise and dead-on analysis—and
these four discs include his lively discussions of four of the group’s greatest
albums: Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album. (There is one quibble: where’s Abbey Road?) Extras are Q&As from each lecture, and—on all four
discs—a discussion with former New York Times
critic Janet Maslin and five short “Deconstructing” featurettes.
Lewis Black—Black to the Future
Lewis Black, our angriest comic, has got plenty to be furious about in this
hilarious standup special taped in New York City last fall prior to the election:
he rages against anything and everyone, starting with Ben Carson and the media,
and moving onto Ted Cruz, Hillary and Trump. A welcome bonus is a 50-minute
Q&A, The Rant Is Due, hosted by his
friend Kathleen Madigan, from 2014 in Napa Valley wherein fans pepper the
comedian with questions that he answers with ranting truthfulness.
Marcella—Complete 1st Season
(Acorn)
As a London detective sergeant devastated by the collapse of her marriage and
who returns to the force to track a serial killer who may be linked to her ex,
Anna Friel gives a complex performance of noble ferocity. Her formidable presence,
which helps make even the least credible plot and character bits in this
eight-episode series work thoroughly and satisfyingly, elevates the tattered
but taut police procedural to a status it probably doesn’t deserve.
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