September '24 Digital Week II

In-Theater Release of the Week 

My Old Ass 

(Amazon MGM)

Although Aubrey Plaza is her usual irresistible self as 39-year-old Elliott, who warns the 18-year-old version—who’s about to leave her stifling home life in rural Ontario to attend college in Toronto—not to fall in love with the guy she will definitely fall in love with, but it’s Maisy Stella, as younger Elliott, who gives a revelatory performance. Stella’s film debut is, well, stellar, giving writer-director Megan Park’s shrewd study its added kick. By turns hilarious and sad, goofy and smart, ridiculous and sublime, My Old Ass is a gas—and for that we must thank Park, Plaza and Stella, a most formidable cinematic trio.

4K/UHD Release of the Week

Eric Clapton—Slowhand at 70: Live at the Royal Albert Hall 

(Mercury)

To celebrate his 70th birthday, Eric Clapton performed at London's Royal Albert Hall in May 2015 by running through his five-decade career as the preeminent British blues guitar god. His incendiary fretwork on “Key to the Highway” and “Crossroads” remains peerless, but it's surprising that he still insists on digging out the dull acoustic version of “Layla” instead of the fiery original. But that’s the only quibble with this memorable two-hour musical showcase, which also includes matchless contributions from band members Steve Gadd (drums), Nathan East (bass) and Paul Carrack (keyboards and vocals). The film looks and sounds superb in UHD; lone extra is the scintillating blues workout, “Little Queen of Spades,” which for some reason is not part of the concert but a separate 17-minute bonus track.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week 

Late Night with the Devil 

(IFC/Shudder)

The directing-writing-editing team, brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, have made a clever horror film that shows reverence for classic late-night TV as well as flicks about possession that proliferated in the wake of The Exorcist. But this eerie story about talk-show host Jack Delroy (a fine performance by David Dastmalchian) who gets his deserved comeuppance on his Halloween show in 1977 shoots its load in the first hour then stumbles badly for the final 30 minutes. The steelbook release features the film on Blu—which looks terrific—and DVD; extras include Dastmalchian’s commentary, the Cairnes brothers’ Q&A and behind the scenes footage, along with a packet of fake memorabilia from Delroy’s show.

Tótem 

(Janus Contemporaries)

For her sophomore feature, Mexican writer-director Lila Avilés has made a gentle but emotionally forceful study of seven-year-old Sol, who is part of the preparations for her father’s birthday party at her grandparents’ house—but her beloved dad is grievously sick, and slowly Sol, her mother and the rest of the family realize the gravity of the impending celebration. Eschewing sentimentality or condescension, Avilés vividly etches Sol’s world with a mix of heartbreaking sadness and earned humor, and her compassionate film is anchored by the amazing young actress Naíma Sentíes. The film looks beautiful on Blu; lone extra is an interview with Avilés.

Verdi—Macbeth 

(Unitel)

Italian master Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) composed two of the best Shakespearean operas, Otello and Falstaff, at the end of his long career: this earlier adaptation is more straightforwardly conventional than those late masterpieces. Still, it’s got a fiercely compelling plot and Verdi does well with scenes like Macbeth’s ghostly apparition and Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking. Too bad Krzysztof Warlikowski’s antiseptically modern staging at last year’s Salzburg Festival is set in what looks like a vast waiting room, losing the tragic grandeur. At least the leads Vladislav Sulimsky and Asmik Grigorian are excellent, while Philippe Jordan leads the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Chorus in a vivid reading of Verdi’s score. There’s first-rate hi-def video and audio.

CD Release of the Week

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel 

(Chandos)

Yet another Rodgers & Hammerstein classic gets the deluxe Chandos treatment—on the heels of Oklahoma comes this lush-sounding, beautifully sung recording of one of the saddest but most exhilarating musicals in the R&H canon, the story of Billy Bigelow, who watches over his beloved Julie and daughter Louise from the great beyond. Stagings of the musical must deal with its moral complexities, but recordings can concentrate on the fabulous music, from the wonderful “Carousel Waltz” to two of the most shattering songs the pair ever wrote, “If I Loved You” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” sung by a top cast led by Nathaniel Hackmann, Mikaela Bennett and Sierra Boggess, and performed by the Sinfonia of London under conductor John Wilson.