DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES SOME LIKE TOUGH GUYS, OTHER GO FOR NOIRISH SIDE.Byline: ROB LOWMAN For fans of film noir film noir (French; “dark film”) Film genre that offers dark or fatalistic interpretations of reality. The term is applied to U.S. films of the late 1940s and early '50s that often portrayed a seamy or criminal underworld and cynical characters. and tough guys, Warner is offering a couple of new sets of films. ``The Film Noir Classics Collection: Vol. 3'' boasts a couple of interesting titles. The 1947 ``Lady in the Lake'' is another filmed version of a Philip Marlowe Noun 1. Philip Marlowe - tough cynical detective (one of the early detective heroes in American fiction) created by Raymond Chandler Marlowe U.S.A., United States, United States of America, US, USA, America, the States, U.S. mystery. (Humphrey Bogart in ``The Big Sleep'' was the high point.) Starring and directed by Robert Montgomery Robert Montgomery can refer to any of the following people:
Chandler, Raymond Thornton Chandler , Marlowe's creator, who adapted his own novel. Montgomery shot the film (except for briefly at the beginning and end) entirely from Marlowe's point of view. Chandler reportedly hated the film, but ``Lady in the Lake'' is effective, hard-boiled fun. Two tough guys, Robert Mitchum Noun 1. Robert Mitchum - United States film actor (1917-1997) Mitchum and Robert Ryan “Robert Ryan” redirects here. For the Liberal Member of the Canadian House of Commons, see Robert Ryan (Canadian politician). Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an Academy Award and BAFTA award-nominated Irish-American actor born , face off in ``The Racket'' (1951), with Mitchum actually an upright cop in a Midwestern city and Ryan a mob boss trying to fix an election. Throw in a fiery Lizabeth Scott, and and you have all the ingredients for classic film noir. The other titles -- ``Border Incident'' (1949), ``His Kind of Woman'' (1951) and ``On Dangerous Ground'' (1952) -- are solid but hardly classics. There is commentary by a film historian for each of the films, and a sixth disc has documentary material, including interviews with two directors -- Christopher Nolan (``Memento'') and Frank Miller (``Sin City'') -- who have made modern noir films, as well as five noir shorts from the '40s. ``Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . Tough Guys Collection'' offers up lesser films from stars like James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. Cagney and Robinson grow to fame as real bad guys in ``The Public Enemy'' and ``Little Caesar Little Caesar archetypal gangster. [Am. Cinema: Griffith, 269] See : Gangsterism ,'' respectively, but in ``G Men'' (1935), Cagney turns to the good side as a lawyer battling his former friends on the dark side, while in ``Each Dawn I Die'' (1939), he's a reporter who's been framed and sent to prison. In ``City for Conquest'' (1940), Cagney becomes a boxer to help his family. Far cries from the nasty, vicious character of Tom Powers in ``Public Enemy.'' Robinson plays an honest cop in ``Bullets or Ballots'' (1936) and a brewery owner who wants to go legit le·git adj. Slang Legitimate. in the gangster comedy ``A Slight Case of Murder'' (1938). The other film in the collection is the prison drama ``San Quentin'' (1937) with Pat O'Brien, which also includes shorts and commentary. None of these are elite films, but for the most part they show off their stars well and capture the zeitgeist of the era. Rob Lowman (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com NEW FILMS Gavin Hood's ``Tsotsi tsotsi Noun S African a Black street thug or gang member [perhaps from Nguni (language group of southern Africa) tsotsa to dress flashily] ,'' this year's Oscar winner for best foreign-language film, is set on the mean streets of Johannesburg, South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. . Based on the book by acclaimed novelist-playwright Athol Fugard Noun 1. Athol Fugard - South African playwright whose plays feature the racial tensions in South Africa during apartheid (born in 1932) Fugard , it's the story of an orphan (Presley Chweneyagae) who grows up to be a gang leader . Like many others his age, Tsotsi (the name means ``hoodlum'') has lost touch with his tribal roots, instead taking his cues in life from American gangster movies. The film follows a familiar arc -- life in the slums translates to a life of crime and little hope of redemption -- but Chweneyagae is effective as a bad guy with a drop of conscience, and the film has a sense of honesty to it. OLDER FILMS The 1975 ``That's the Way of the World'' is a forgotten film that shouldn't have been. Not that it's a gem, but its trenchant look at the music industry is still relevant today. Harvey Keitel plays a record producer, Coleman, who is forced by his record company to put his efforts behind a family trio headed by Bert Parks (think bad Cowsills) instead of a hip new group played by Earth, Wind & Fire. Watching Coleman turn a lame song into a hit is scary (you even find yourself bobbing your head to it). It's the triumph of production over talent and art, but that's the way of the world. Another reason to watch the film is simply seeing Earth, Wind & Fire at the height of its career. ``Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler'' is the authorized version of Fritz Lang's 1922 silent classic, the story of a criminal mastermind who -- known as a ``man of 1,000 faces'' -- uses hypnotic powers on his victims during the chaotic years following World War I in Germany. Lang would return to the character two more times in his career, but this 270-minute film (it was originally two works) marked him as a cinematic genius. TELEVISION Apparently the HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy series ``Carnivale'' was lost on many people, which is why it was canceled. I was indifferent toward the first season, which I stopped watching, but found myself hooked by the second season (out on DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. today) while channel surfing. I won't try to explain the eerie story line set around a Depression-era carney troupe traveling across the Midwest and West. Starring Nick Stahl, Clancy Brown, Adrienne Barbeau, Patrick Bauchau, Clea DuVall and Amy Madigan, the series weirdly pitted good vs. evil with a lot of shades of gray. I just wish it stuck around long enough for me to find out who won. ``The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. -- The Complete Series'' and ``Jack of All Trades -- The Complete Series'' show off ``Evil Dead'' star Bruce Campbell at his campiest. The 1985 ``An Early Frost,'' starring Aidan Quinn, was one of television's first attempts to dramatically deal with the subject of AIDS. Thirty years ago, ``Sybil'' told the true story of a psychiatrist (Joanne Woodward) treating a schoolteacher (Sally Field) with more than 16 different personalities. The docudrama ``Hiroshima: BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. History of World War II'' examines the decision to launch the world's first nuclear attack, and its aftermath. THE PRICE TAGS NEW FILMS ``Tsotsi'' (Miramax; $29.99) ``ATL'' (Warner; $28.98) ``The Cavern'' (Columbia; $24.96) ``She's the Man'' (Paramount; $29.95) OLDER FILMS ``Warner Bros. Tough Guys Collection'' (``Bullets or Ballots,'' ``City for Conquest,'' ``Each Dawn I Die,'' ``G Men,'' ``San Quentin,'' ``A Slight Case of Murder'') (Warner; $59.98) ``Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3'' (``Border Incident,'' ``His Kind of Woman,'' ``Lady in the Lake,'' ``On Dangerous Ground,'' ``The Racket'') (Warner; $49.98) ``That's the Way of the World'' (BCI BCI Bat Conservation International BCI Brain-Computer Interface BCI Business Continuity Institute BCI Business Cycle Indicators BCI Banco de Credito e Inversiones (Chilean bank) BCI Bell Canada International ; $19.98) ``Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler'' (Kino kino the juice of certain plants, some tropical and some Australian eucalypts, used in medicine as an astringent. ; $39.95) ``Asphalt'' (Kino; $29.95) ``Some Like It Hot'' (MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. : $24.96) TELEVISION ``Carnivale -- The Complete Second Season'' (HBO; $99.98) ``Amazing Stories -- The Complete First Season'' (Universal; $49.98) ``An Early Frost'' (Wolfe; $19.99) ``Sybil -- 30th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition'' (Warner; $24.98) ``Hiroshima: BBC History of World War II'' (BBC/Warner; $19.98) ``The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. -- The Complete Series'' (Warner; $99.98) ``Jack of All Trades -- The Complete Series'' (Universal; $39.98) ``The Pretender: Season Four'' (Fox; $39.98) ``Ren & Stimpy --The Lost Episodes'' (Paramount; $26.99) ``The Incredible Hulk -- The Complete First Season'' (Universal; $39.98) ``Avatar: The Last Airbender -- Book 1 Water, Vol. 4'' (Paramount; $16.99) ``The Pee-Wee Herman Show -- Live at the Roxy Theater'' (Image; $14.99) ``SpongeBob SquarePants -- Karate Island'' (Paramount; $16.99) ``Codebreakers'' (Hart Sharp; $24.98) CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) Audrey Totter is Adrienne Fromsett, and Robert Montgomery is Philip Marlowe -- reflected in the mirror, the only way he is seen -- in ``Lady in the Lake.'' (2) no caption (``Tsotsi'') (3) no caption (``The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.'') |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion