DVDs Woody Spike and Wim Wenders Keep Them Coming

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DVDs: Woody, Spike and Wim WendersKeep 'Em Coming The first DVD column of 2013 includes a number of releases by major directors who are easy to take for granted. But it's never easy to make a movie, much less one notgeared toward the masses. Here's a rundown of new movies, documentaries, TVshows and classics getting a reissue, including one of my all-time favorite romanticdramas on BluRay. (Yes, John Wayne can act.) END OF WATCH ($34.98 BluRay combo; Universal)RED HOOK SUMMER ($29.97 BluRay; Image)TO ROME WITH LOVE ($35.99 BluRay; Sony)HANNAH AND HER SISTERS ($24.99 BluRay; MGM) SLEEPER ($24.99 BluRay; MGM) HARA-KIRI ($29.95 BluRay;NewVideo) 17 GIRLS ($27.99 DVD; Strand) BREATHING ($29.95 DVD; Kino Lorber) -- Jake Gyllenhaal has his best role in years in this violent cop dramathat came and went without leavingmuch of an impression on anyone. Itmight just as easily have scored theOscar glory of writer-director DavidAyer's script for Training Day, but you're going to have to discover this one onyour own. It's just as easy to let"another" Spike Lee film fall through thecracks. This quiet drama stars ClarkePeters of The Wire as a man of the cloth who spends the entire summertrying to convert his grandson to the faith when all the kid really wants to do is hang out with that pretty girl. It's difficult enough to get any movie made and Lee continues to tell stories not toldanywhere else. Is there any otherdirector in this country -- gay,Latino/Hispanic, female, First Nation,Asian-American, Jewish -- that soconsistently tells the stories of theirpeople the way Lee has for so long?No, there is not. Not every directormakes it easy for you to appreciate theirlongevity. Take Woody Allen, whostarted hurting his legacy with theendless stream of so-so movies he'sbeen turning out for 20 years. But everyonce in a while one pops out and gainsattention. I'm not sure why Midnight InParis was embraced while To Rome With Love was ignored. But I know a die-hard fan who insists this is, youknow, one of the good ones...or rather,one of the not-so-bad ones. JesseEisenberg finally made it to the Allenfilm family, the way he was destined to.But it's obviously not a patch on hismasterpiece Hannah And Her Sisters or even the slap-dash charm of Sleeper , both just out on BluRay. Hara-Kiri wasApril 30, 2014 This is the print preview: Back to normal view » Posted: 01/21/2013 1:28 pma poor choice for a remake since the original accomplishes everything itwanted. But Takashi Miike tackled itanyway, with the added pointlessness of 3-D (which is not featured here). The flamboyant Miike feels tamped down here though the score by RyuichiSakamoto is worth a listen. 17 Girls can't match the intrigue of its poster, which shows a string of teenage girls,all pregnant. It's based on a true storyof cluster pregnancies, caused whenone girl apparently gets pregnant andall her friends do the same in solidarity.It'll be fun, they think! The cast is good,but it never truly comes to life. Can kidsreally be so dumb as to think gettingpregnant will be a way to get out ofresponsibility? Well, it happened.Finally, actor Karl Markovics makes apromising debut as a writer-directorwith Breathing , a low-key drama about another troubled teen, this one a 19year old just out of juvie who tries totrack down his mother. It's an actorlyfilm and a good showcase for newcomer Thomas Schibert. PINA ($49.95 BluRay combo; Criterion) 5 BROKEN CAMERAS ($29.95 DVD; Kino Lorber) INVENTING DAVID GEFFEN ($29.99 BluRay; PBS)THE IMPOSTER ($19.97 DVD; Indomina/Vivendi)BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING: THEWAYNE WHITE STORY ($29.95 DVD; Docurama)THREE STARS ($24.95 DVD; First Run Features) -- Wim Wenders deliversa terrific documentary about PinaBausch, originally conceived as acollaboration and finished as a tributeafter her untimely death. I saw it in 3-Dat the movies (with dirty glassescourtesy of IFC Center and sitting in the back row). The 3-D was one of those rare cases where it actually seemed toserve a purpose but I don't miss it at allwhile watching this visual stunner athome. (This set contains a 3-D versionfor those with all the necessaryequipment to view it.) Criterion offerssome solid extras including a Wenderscommentary track and a making-of film.5 Broken Cameras is one of the most successful documentaries of the year. Itshows life in Bil'in, a West Bank villagethat becomes a center of regularprotests, all captured on camera by alocal who becomes the town's unofficialvideoographer. The story itself has an inherent interest but the film -- thoughpraised to the moon -- has little torecommend it. Emad Burnat is not agifted cameraman and rarely capturesunexpected or revealing angles; hisnarration is similarly rote if heartfelt. it'sa relief his children go unharmed whichwas my main fear as the film continuedas I wondered why it had attracted somuch praise. Inventing David Geffen,on the other hand, deserves theacclaim it received; this look at thispioneer in music and film is one of thebest entries in the PBS AmericanMasters series in a long time. To anyone who has seen the fictional film Olivier, Olivier, the documentary The Imposter is a real-life look at a kid who disappears and then reappears almost four years later but is... different. I knewnothing about artist Wayne White but Iknew his work on Pee-wee'sPlayhouse, Peter Gabriel's video "Big Time" and in so many other areas.Beauty Is Embarrassing captures his quixotic career and benefits greatlyfrom White's caustic, funny personality.Similarly, I can't boil an egg but ThreeStars gains some serious access into the kitchens of ten top chefs and showstheir daily struggle to maintain thehighest of standards. THE TIN DRUM ($39.95 BluRay; Criterion) THE QUIET MAN ($29.95 BluRay; Olive) CRIME STORY/THE PROTECTOR($19.93 BluRay; Shout)TRUST ($29.95 BluRay; Olive) THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION($26.99 BluRay; Shout)INDISCREET ($29.95 BluRay; Olive) FRONTIER HORIZON ($24.95 BluRay; Olive) -- Maybe it was the commercialwhere the little boy emitted a high-pitched scream but I was always waryof The Tin Drum. Released to overwhelming acclaim in 1979, it is thekey work by director Volker Schlondorff,who always felt the original cut wasrushed and incomplete. Now, 34 yearslater he's added almost half an hour based on the extensive notes he kept at the time and hopes this version will beconsidered the definitive version of thefilm. It comes out on Criterion lookingsplendid with all sorts of extras,including new interviews, TV interviews at the time, author Gunter Grassreading from his novel and so on. I'm delighted that Schlondorff had thechance to rescue the footage he shot(which was almost lost) and create thisedition. But it should never be availablesolely on its own, so I'll be holding on tothe theatrical edition of The Tin DrumCriterion released years ago and hope it too comes out on BluRay. The expense might be great but ideally both versions would be released together inone package so fans don't have to choose but can compare and appreciate them both. However improved this version may be, the ground-breaking original release is apart of film history and should alwaysbe just as widely available. I love JohnFord's The Quiet Man , one of the most gorgeous films ever made, right downto Maureen O'Hara's flaming red hair.This romantic drama about a boxer wholooks for a quiet life in a small Irishvillage but finds love is a sheer delightfilled with great character actors andWayne in one of his most appealingturns. This BluRay edition looks betterthan all the previous home videoversions I've seen but the film verymuch needs to be properly restored andreturned to its original glory. But ifyou've never seen it, this is a champ. So is Jackie Chan's Crime Story, one of his best action films which is pairedhere on a two-fer with the forgettable The Protector. If you've never seen a Jackie Chan movie, Crime Story is a great place to start. Hal Hartley hasslipped off the radar in recent years. Hiscinematic world is a very distinctive,particular world with its own offbeatstyle and a martini dry wit. The earlytriumph Trust shows Hartley coming into his own in a very satisfying mannerand includes a 19 minute making-of. I'ma sucker for Sherlock Holmes (arguablythe most-filmed character in moviehistory) and read the "shocking" novelabout Holmes and his addiction tococaine when the book came out. TheSeven-Per-cent Solution has a sterling cast, including Nicol Williamson andRobert Duvall and should be more funthan it is, but still I watch it. Indiscreetwon't rock your world but Cary Grantand Ingrid Bergman have fun chemistryin this trifle from director Stanley Donenthat should have given above the titlebilling to the Dior gowns that Bergmanshows off throughout. It took a lot ofmovies before John Wayne became a leading man and Frontier Horizonshows him right on the cusp of stardomthat would be his forever thanks toStagecoach . It's a minor B movie western in a little known string of flicksthat offered a cowboy spin on TheThree Musketeers. We wouldn't bewatching it if Wayne weren't in it, butyou can also catch Jennifer Jones inher film debut. Everyone startssomewhere. We're lucky to see such anobscure film at all, but at less than anhour, this really should be paired withtwo other films of the same sort and stillcost just $25. GAME CHANGE ($24.99 BluRay; HBO) THE ABOLITIONISTS ($24.99 DVD; PBS) SMASH SEASON ONE ($44.98 DVD; Universal)DALLAS COMPLETE FIRST SEASON($39.98 DVD; Warner Bros.)SCARECROW AND MRS. KINGSEASON FOUR ($39.98 DVD; Warner Bros.) -- A TV movie about JohnMcCain choosing Sarah Palin as hisrunning mate and then losing theelection? It sounds like a too-soon, badidea but Game Change turned into an Emmy winning triumph for JulianneMoore. The odd mix of traditionaldocumentary and reenactments in The Abolitionists simply unsettles me. I'd love to see a feature film about theseradicals for human rights. I'd love to see a documentary film. But combining thetwo serves neither well. Broadwaywasn't well served by the idiotic TVseries Smash , but they were so thrilled to have their industry shown inprimetime that it was embraced by thecommunity anyway. Watch it and you'llunderstand why about half the cast andbehind the scenes talent were dumpedfor a season two reboot. Larry Hagmanjust died but his most iconic role as JREwing lives on now that the originalDallas has been rebooted. They'll miss JR a lot because the new show couldn'tresist showcasing him as much as hishealth would make possible. The finalseason of the light spy show Scarecrow and Mrs. King shows the chemistry of Bruce Boxleitner and the smart angel Kate Jackson could survive themactually getting together.***** Most titles listed here will be available in multiple formats and in multiplecombinations, including DVD, BluRay,digital download, video on demand,streaming and the like. The formatlisted is the format provided for review,not all the formats available. It is oftenthe most expensive version with themost extras. Do check individual titlesfor availability in all their various guisesand price points. Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the co-host of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news ofthe day and features top journalists andopinion makers as guests. It's availablefor free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz athis website and his daily blog . Download his podcast of celebrityinterviews and his radio show, alsocalled Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflixand gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews. Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and Blu-Rays with the understanding that he would beconsidering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and he receives far more titles than he can cover. Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz

DVDs Woody Spike and Wim Wenders Keep Them Coming

📄 DVDs Woody Spike and Wim Wenders Keep Them Coming

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