Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

DVD REVIEW: THE PURGE: ANARCHY / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JAMES DEMONACO / SCREENPLAY: JAMES DEMONACO / STARRING: FRANK GRILLO, ZACH GILFORD, KIELE SANCHEZ, CARMEN EJOGO, ZÖE SOUL, MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS / RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 17TH

The Purge –Anarchy is a sequel of sorts to The Purge. I say of sorts because really all that they share is the same premise. Both movies are based on the idea that sometime in the near future, the USA falls into obvious fascism and becomes controlled by a nebulous and all pervasive regime known as The New Founders of America. Their main policy seems to be that once a year, murder is legal. Apparently other things are legal as well, but neither movie focuses on this as ‘insider stock trading’ makes for a less thrilling movie that legalised homicide. The Purge didn’t do that much with the premise; it was a fairly by-the-book home invasion movie with a really interesting back-story. The Purge –Anarchy however far surpasses its parent movie, exploring the implications of the Purge policy to logical extremes.

The plot follows Leo Barnes (Grillo) a man with a grudge who intends to use The Purge as an excuse to kill someone who wronged him. A funny thing happens on the way to his revenge and he ends up rescuing two women from some suspiciously well-organised purgers. At the same time, he picks up a young couple that has been unlucky enough to be out after dark when the purge began. The result is a whistle-stop tour of the sort of things that could happen on a day like The Purge. Not only do we get organised street gangs but also we get creepy military types, rich people organising their own murder parties and domestic violence going up to another level entirely. Despite being filled with political satire, excellent acting and some very profound key scenes, it is still a B-movie; a very well done one, but the premise and direction keep it at the level of a high-paced action thriller and not much beyond that. It has a very video-game style feel, right down to the colour pallet.

Grillo puts in an excellent turn as the main protagonist, and interestingly isn’t the focus of the story. The Purge Anarchy realises that the most interesting thing about it is the The Purge itself, and all of the characters, even the single white male with military training and a grudge, comes second to the setting. It’s quite refreshing to see the focus on the none-action hero types, and this makes the world easier to believe. This approach sets the movie above the usual gritty action movie fare, though it’s worth pointing out that the actual premise keeps at the B-movie level throughout.

If you felt The Purge could have been better, then you won’t be disappointed by its successor. The DVD and Blu-ray releases come with a few unremarkable extras, but then this really isn’t the sort of movie were you need that sort of thing. A worthy addition to your action movie collection.

DVD REVIEW: CELLULOID MAN / CERT: E / DIRECTOR: SHIVENDRA SINGH DUNGARPUR / STARRING: SAIRA BANU, SHYAM BENEGAL, JAHNU BARUA, JAYA BHADURI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Celluloid Man is Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s love letter to renowned and revered Indian film archivist P. K. Nair. Taking 2 years and 11 visits to get permission to shoot with Nair in the archive, this documentary is a steely act of determination, showcasing the significance and the art of archiving.

Much of the documentary follows Nair reminiscing to camera, his warm voice welcoming and informative. A fragile and ageing man, Nair touches on his earliest experiences with cinema and his love of film is infectious. Curiously, Nair seems at odds with his near mythic status, to him cinema comes first and foremost.

There are interviews with a variety of the Indian film industry’s pundits, including directors, critics and actors sharing their views and anecdotes of Nair, some of which are very moving. Nair is undoubtedly gifted, but you quickly get the sense he’s a gentle-hearted and charismatic individual.

As you’d expect from a documentary focused on cinema, it’s very well directed with great shots of rusted film cans, demonstrating the fragility of film. Following Nair through his old haunts, India gets painted in a vivid light with much of the country’s rich modern history found on celluloid.

Celluloid Man is an insightful and profound documentary; at 2 hours 30 it does require a lot of resolve on the viewer’s part, however. Even if you’ve never watched a single Indian film before, there’s still plenty on offer here. It’s simply a film about cinema and the transparent line between archivist and historian.

DVD REVIEW: A JESTER’S TALE / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: KAREL ZEMAN / SCREENPLAY: PAVEL JURÁCEK, RADOVAN KRÁTKY, FRANTISEK SMOLÍK, KAREL ZEMAN / STARRING: MIROSLAV HOLUB, EDUARD KOHOUT, PETR KOSTKA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Once in a while there is a home entertainment release that pulls out of the cinematic shadows a classic entry in the story of film that is ripe for re-discovery or for the most part, one would suspect, discovery. Karel Zeman’s A Jester’s Tale is one such film, a Czech gem that celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year.

A Jester’s Tale is a film most fittingly experienced with a mind as a blank canvas – void of expectations or the slightest glimmer of familiarity. It is a magical film with an abundance of charm and features a near perfect ending that if it doesn’t draw a smile and sense of satisfaction, signals a need to re-discover your inner child.

Set against the backdrop of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648, A Jester’s Tale draws on the mistaken identity yarn to offer a humorous and entertaining fantasy adventure, love story and comedy, which fifty years on feels distinct and impervious to time.

Zeman’s eighth feature film possesses a charm that cannot be exclusively credited to its characters. A proportion of the credit must be attributed to its visual aesthetic, and while here in the UK we were lost in the misery of the Kitchen Sink dramas, Zeman was offering Czech audiences a dreamy, surreal, fairytaleesque and interactive world that in the truest sense of the word was escapist. Through the simplest of plots Zeman discovers a complexity through the propensity for magic beholden to the moving image.

Zeman’s visual poetry here calls to mind Jean-Luc Godard or Raoul Coutard’s quote (who it should be accredited to still a source of uncertainty), “Film is truth at 24 frames a second, and every cut is a lie.” Although set against the backdrop of The Thirty Years’ War, Zeman’s world offers a more fanciful take on history. It is a world where the lie is not only to be found in the cut, but is unapologetically a world that rolls to its own beat and to its own truth that cares only for the dream of reality.

If film is escapist, if films are dreams then Zeman crafts a timeless treat that shows perfection in cinemas past that neither the cinema present or future can attain through its pursuit of CGI illusionary perfection.

By merging live action and animation Zeman creates a fertile world that doesn’t lose itself in perfecting the cinematic illusion. Rather he emphasises as the theatrical and literary traditions have done the participation of the audience to imagine and readjust their perspectives of narrative reality to experience artistic imagination and discover the wonder in what is contrived without an emphasis on an image of truth.

DVD REVIEW: HOUDINI / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: ULI EDEL / SCREENPLAY: NICHOLAS MEYER / STARRING: ADRIEN BRODY, KRISTEN CONNOLLY, EVAN JONES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW 

The mention of illusions, escape artistry and even magic (which the mini-series makes clear was not Houdini’s foray) conjures up the name Houdini from the basement of one’s memory, and if one were in a fanciful or dramatic mood then one might say that Houdini has shown death to be only an illusion.

Based on the book “Houdini: A Mind in Chains: a Psychoanalytic Portrait” by Bernard C. Meyer, the mini-series is, in short, an entertaining stroll through Houdini’s life. But for anyone seeking a drama that dives beneath the surface of Houdini’s 52 years will be left unsatisfied by writer Nicholas Meyer and director Uli Edel’s portrayal of the ‘Great’ man, that pulls him off the shelf and like a flick of the duster keeps him free of the cobwebs.

As is the tendency with any human drama, Meyer and Edel throw in the ingredients of angst, torment and human frailties for dramatic effect, along with expositional lines that insinuate a drama that is tempted to offer a more compelling psychological portrait. Hesitantly however this trip through Houdini’s life stays the course to offer an entertaining and routine introduction that does plenty of zigzagging between past and present; threading the drama together with his famous moments that are like tedious changeovers on a journey.

Easing the foot off the critical pedal, the unfolding drama between Houdini and his wife Bess (Kristen Connolly) offers a weight to these moments, as does the relationship with his mother that propels the latter stages of the drama forward. Unfortunately the drama possesses a superficial air which leaves one with the frustrated impression that such moments were never satisfactorily mined for their worth – the filmmakers themselves seemingly wanting to play rather than work, entrancing us with illusions and incredible escape acts that holds their miniseries back from becoming anything remarkable.

Yet in hindsight and to Meyer and Edel’s credit Houdini offers an entertaining 160 minutes in spite of the above complaints, helped to no end by Brody’s performance. Seemingly a date with destiny, as he steps into Houdini’s shoes, Brody holds the screen through not only his physical presence but a subtle performance through his eyes that are brimming with emotion, and which is matched by Kristen Connolly. On the surface everything is for show, but these performances invite us to look into the souls of the characters that invariably creates a conflict with a show that is only a glance.

DVD REVIEW: KITE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: RALPH ZIMAN / SCREENPLAY: BRIAN COX / STARRING: SAMUEL L. JACKSON, INDIA EISLEY, CALLAN MCAULIFFE / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 13TH

“Why have a conversation when you can stab someone, eh?” says Callan MaCauliffe’s character Oburi to India Eisley’s Sawa (pronounced after Kurosawa) towards the end of Kite, and that would seem to be a manifesto for the movie. Shot in a washed-out palette punctuated by stark instances of vivid colour, Kite is scant on dialogue and characterisation and big on atmosphere, peppered with frequent moments of ferocious violence. It is an uncomfortably brutal viewing experience.

Based on the two-part Japanese anime from the same year as the film Blade, with which this live-action remake appreciably shares both an environment and an ambience, Ralph Ziman’s film (Ziman joined the project after originally slated director David R. Ellis died in 2013) takes its cue from the more easily digestible graphic novel milieu, its plot basically being an expanded variation on the Hit-Girl sub-plot from Kick-Ass, with something of the feel of similarly nihilistic and femme-centric movies like Sucker Punch informing its presentation. Set in an unnamed near-future cityscape (and shot in Johannesburg, as indicated by the accents of the supporting cast), Kite tones down many of the more unpalatable elements of the original, streamlining the plot for Western audiences without condescending to the mainstream.

Sawa, whose family were killed during a gangland attack several years previously, has teamed up with her father’s ex-partner, detective Karl Aker (Jackson), to track down and enact revenge upon the so-called “Numbers” who had caused her parents’ deaths. Edgily directed and uncompromisingly bloodthirsty, we join the story just as Sawa begins to cut loose from Aker’s influence and increasingly take matters into her own hands. With little or no humour to alleviate the grimness, it is up to Sawa’s contemporary Oburi to bring some humanity into her world. There is little that is unpredictable about what follows, but the manner in which it plays out is nevertheless compelling, and the focus is – with good reason – more on Sawa’s deliberately drug-suppressed memories than it is on the complexities of her mission. The central performances are generally effective if sometimes a little monotonous.

Fleshed out with the kind of variable acting that somehow seem appropriate to a movie of this nature, Kite balances its kineticism with numerous occasions of the utmost stillness, and finds a rhythm to suit both its plot and its concerns. The soundtrack matches that mood beat for beat, although the film’s spartan universe and bleak perspective won’t make it easy viewing for anyone seeking out something more conventional. For anyone with an affinity for the darker territories that modern comics commonly inhabit, this is no instant classic; however, it is an immersive and largely satisfying production. A film to appreciate rather than one to like.

Extras: Trailer

DVD REVIEW: WOLFCOP / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: LOWELL DEAN / SCREENPLAY: GARY DAUBERMAN / STARRING: LEO FAFARD, JONATHAN CHERRY, AMY MATYSIO, SARAH LIND / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 13TH

It’s a brazenly simple premise: alcoholic cop turns werewolf and becomes a local hero to the small town where he lives. Like Hobo With a Shotgun and Machete, the boozy grindhouse aesthetic lives on in WolfCop, a brilliantly distinctive low-budget destined-for-cult horror film. When wino small town cop Lou Garou begins to develop lycanthropic tendencies after a night in the woods gone awry, a new breed of law enforcer is born or bred, rather. As that synopsis might suggest, WolfCop is barking mad.

Of all the horror greats, few enjoy as patchy a filmography as the poor werewolf. For every American Werewolf in London, Dog Soldiers or Ginger Snaps, there’s a Cursed or Howling III: Marsupials. Does this relatively low-budget Indie horror bulk up the good stuff? Or is it just another stinking dog’s dinner of a film? Director Lowell Dean certainly gives it his all, imbuing WolfCop with the appropriate sense of manic energy, grime and sleaze.

Much of the film’s success is owed to lead actor Leo Fafard, who makes up what he lacks in acting chops with an impressive bit of stubble and sympathetic hangdog demeanor. Playing poor put-upon Lou, he makes for a great classically underdog protagonist (reminiscent of a certain Bruce Campbell) and a lovely counterpoint to the violent rage of his WolfCop alter ego. Fafard is well supported by a cast of relative unknowns, but he and his hairy lead leave viewers in no doubt as to whom the film belongs to. As the WolfCop emerges like a hairy Hulk, it’s like a dog marking its territory by pissing all over the nearest lamppost. Or, in this case, thrashing the local criminal element.

It takes a while for the story to kick into gear, but when it does it’s well worth the wait. A number of gory, enjoyably practical physical transformation scenes prelude the main event (not as good as American Werewolf, but what is?) before WolfCop lets loose his inner Judge Dredd to terrorize those who might get in his way. This he does in wonderful style.

And yet, for all of its pomp and verve, it feels as though there’s something vital missing from WolfCop. Its story seems a little half-baked, with the mythology not supported by the quality of the filmmaking or the writing. It’s too slow in places, with an awkward pace and lack of rhythm. It’s not funny enough to make a good comedy, nor scary enough to be a successful horror film. As a hybrid of both, it manages to salvage something, but it could have been so much more. Much of this is due to the constraints of the low budget – the finale’s sense of ambition is massively outweighed by its lack of funds- subtler performances and tighter writing would have better served some of it. The WolfCop costume doesn’t look great either, but we can forgive that one.

WolfCop is a great idea, well executed but sorely lacking in key areas. It’s not quite the dog’s bollocks, but at least it tries.

DVD REVIEW: MOBY DICK / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: MIKE BARKER / SCREENPLAY: NIGEL WILLIAMS / STARRING: ETHAN HAWKE, WILLIAM HURT, EDDIE MARSAN, CHARLIE COX / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 20TH

Moby Dick by Herman Melville is a legendary text, though at the time (as is often an ironic twist of fate) it was considered a failure. It charts a story of nature and man’s conflict; and this story- even to those unfamiliar with the text- is well known. Since the novel was published in 1851, it has gone on to inspire numerous film and TV adaptations, as vast as John Huston’s 1956 film and The Asylum’s cheapo TV film modern day update 2010: Moby Dick (don’t ask). The story’s conclusion is inevitable but the journey is what many are most taken by when Melville’s tale is constantly retold. However what many versions miss are the true depths of the novel’s comments about this age of American industry and this (now rightfully frowned upon) business of dispatching the sea’s biggest mammal. And while this star-crammed 2011 miniseries cannot match the best versions of the story, in its own right it is a watchably righteous tale of man’s obsession with conquering the biggest titan of nature.

Across 3 hours the story may have its lesser stretches and the alterations to the source text will infuriate lovers of the literature but Moby Dick does capture the grand, overpowering, essence of this tragic tale. From the rather doom-laden tones of the Chaigley Symphony Orchestra score to the impressive set design, this as much condensed disaster movie, as it is literary adaptation. From the offset it is clear that liberties are taken, with the altered story of young black character Pip (played here by Daniyah Ysrayl) being one of many various tweaks. In fact this version of the story skips over the intricacy of the whaling industry exploits and the full depth of this American era covered. Yet it does not quite exclude the religious, social and prejudicial themes- even if there is more action than contemplation.

Moby Dick is slightly overlong at moments but ultimately builds to a fittingly grand climax and while there is no denying how much has been extracted and condensed, the fundamentals are there to enjoy. Certain characters do not quite get the chance to shine, for instance many of the crew with the notable exceptions of Eddie Marsan’s Mr Stubb and Raoul Trujillo’s Queequeg are reduced to little more than regular faces and voices, chiming in on the conflicts of the ship’s upper management. There is no doubt that there was a wealth of material to translate and sadly this miniseries has not evaluated as many characters as it could have- Donald Sutherland’s Father Mapple and Gillian Anderson’s Elizabeth especially. That said credit must be given to the impressive cast, who really give meat to their parts and this classic story.

The series’ main flaw is that Ishmael (the book’s narrator and main character) is less interesting than some of the other lead characters; still Charlie Cox gives a respectable performance. Though the bellowing William Hurt as the obsessed-come-insane Captain Ahab is perhaps most notable and Ethan Hawke delivers an equally memorable turn as perhaps (come the end) the only right minded crew member, Mr Starbuck. Moby Dick has its share of strange decisions and alterations but there is no doubt that some of the intensity of the material being adapted is on display. Despite the usual TV Flaw of jarring special effects and visuals, the series has some keen visual graces. It also creates an imposing and effective Moby Dick for the characters to face and like Honda’s Godzilla or Wallace/Cooper’s King Kong; Moby Dick is treated as a cultural icon of nature’s prowess. Indeed more depth and less source material trimming may have made for a better adaptation, and this may sour the experience for those with an adoration of the text. That said, and for all the flaws, there is a highly watchable two-part Drama here. One that unfolds and tells a story that may be familiar and condensed but still retains a powerful and emotional edge, even if this is more “Call me Ahab” than “Call me Ishmael”.

BLU-RAY REVIEW: STEVEN SPIELBERG DIRECTOR’S COLLECTION / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: STEVEN SPIELBERG / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: SAM NEILL, JEFF GOLDBLUM, DREW BARRYMORE, GOLDIE HAWN, RICHARD DREYFUSS / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 13TH

Not many box sets feature dinosaurs, sharks, aliens, and evil trucks, but that’s what you’ll find in this diverse array of Steven Spielberg movies. The first collection officially approved by the man himself contains eight of his Universal-produced films – four classic blockbusters (Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, The Lost World), and four lesser-known movies making their Blu-ray debut (Duel, The Sugarland Express, 1941, Always). You’ve all seen and loved the first four, so let’s have a closer look at the others…

Duel (1971) was made for TV just as Spielberg was moving into cinema, and is a real gem of a thriller. On a long desert road, a man overtakes a slow-moving truck. Then the truck driver attempts to kill the man, and a ninety-minute chase sequence ensues. You’ll be on the edge of your seat for all ninety. Spielberg directs tense action like no one else and this early road rage movie screams of a director who’s going to make it big.

The Sugarland Express (1974) feels less blockbuster and more New Hollywood, with a freewheeling road movie sensibility in the Badlands-esque script and in Vilmos Zsigmond’s unflashy cinematography. The true story of a couple on the run and the policeman they take hostage is rich in character and subtlety, but as the cop bonds with his captors, a police captain is hot on their tail.

While many Spielberg films are funny, they’re rarely full-blown gag-ridden comedies. 1941 (1979) is the exception, and, well, it’s a good job he soon returned to what he’s good at. Even with a stellar comedy cast including Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and John Candy, the gags just aren’t funny enough to forgive the lack of narrative focus or character depth, with too many jokes relying on big things exploding – though one set piece involving an artillery cannon being fired inside a house is impossible not to laugh at.

Always (1989) – a remake of the 1943 drama A Guy Named Joe – stars Richard Dreyfuss as a fire-fighting pilot who returns from the dead to help his girlfriend move on and teach a new recruit to fly. It’s hampered by Dreyfuss’ possessiveness tipping over into creepiness and by overly melodramatic dialogue, but worth it for John Goodman’s supporting role; his sublime, hilarious bromance with Dreyfuss and his heartbroken look when he sees his fellow pilot’s plane up in flames really stick in the mind.

Then there are some other films with dinosaurs and sharks in. They’re pretty good, too. Sure, some other classic Spielberg movies may be missing from this set, but it’s a real treat to see a few you may be less familiar with, and even the weaker films here have a lot going for them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be shocked and you’ll be enthralled.

Extras: Extended cut of 1941 / 34-page booklet / BTS featurettes and interviews for all film

BLU-RAY REVIEW: TOKAREV / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: PACO CABEZAS / SCREENPLAY: JAMES AGNEW, SEAN KELLER / STARRING: NICOLAS CAGE, RACHEL NICHOLS, PETER STORMARE, DANNY GLOVER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

It’s easy to forget that Nicolas Cage has made good films. Leaving Las Vegas, Bad Lieutenant, this year’s Joe. The cover for Tokarev tries to remind us of this, proudly showing off its “Academy Award Winner” of a star. The film itself does its best to make us forget this.

Cage plays Paul Maguire, an overly controlling father with a rough past and a very particular set of skills. One day, his house is broken into and his daughter is taken. You wouldn’t be mistaken if you assumed that the film’s taken some liberties and taken its plot directly from another popular action thriller…

Now, Taken isn’t perfect, but compared to Tokarev, it’s the Citizen Kane of shoot-em-up exploitation. The writers here seem to have entirely missed what made Taken suspenseful. Without spoiling too much, the kidnapping plot is wrapped up way too early, with a twist that feels like a midpoint coming about half an hour in, meaning that Maguire spends much of the film with no clear objective other than being a massive knob. The big twist at the end, meanwhile, feels like it genuinely could have worked had it been properly set up and better written. So that’s one good point, nearly.

But you’re just here for the shooting and the explosions, and they’ve got to be great, right? Well, not really. Whereas Taken’s Bryan Mills was on his own in an unknown foreign city against unbeatable odds, Maguire has a much easier ride. He has two big tough henchmen. We know they’re big and tough because, before shit starts going down, we see them talking about all the women they’ve slept with and all the scotch they’ve drunk. Wahey, lads! At one point, Maguire and his lackeys break into a house blasting their shotguns around and easily overpower a bunch of kids. He’s not an action hero, he’s a bully!

And that’s a problem that carries over into other aspects of his character. Rather than lead him to question his controlling nature, the film seems to constantly be trying to one-up itself in terms of how unlikeable Maguire is. At one point, he strangles his wife. We’re meant to root for this guy. The ending hints at Maguire finally facing the consequences of his actions, but it’s too little, too late.

In case you haven’t got the point yet, Tokarev isn’t a good film. It’s 98 minutes of arseholes shouting at other arseholes. The action’s boring, the dialogue’s shoddy, the men are depthless, and the women are all strippers or victims. On the positive side, there’s an amazing contribution to any future ‘Nicolas Cage loses his shit’ YouTube montages.

Extras: Deleted Scenes / Trailer