the traveler's resource guide to festivals & films
a FestivalTravelNetwork.com site
part of Insider Media llc.

Connect with us:
FacebookTwitterYouTubeRSS
You are here: Home Film & Arts

Film and the Arts

July '24 Digital Week II

  • Print
Details
Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Thursday, 18 July 2024 02:35
Written by Kevin Filipski
4K/UHD Releases of the Week 
The Boy and the Heron 
(GKids/Studio Ghibli)
After the sublime 2013 memory piece The Wind Rises, the great animator Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement; but 10 years later, along comes this often inscrutable, heavily symbolic but tremendously affecting feature—don’t hold its Oscar for best animated feature against it! During WWII, young Mahito’s mother, a nurse, dies in a hospital fire—after his father marries her sister and they move to her country estate, Mahito’s grief and guilt are embodied in a talking heron, who takes him to an anthropomorphic world where he must fight for survival—and for closure with his mother.
 
 
Only Miyazaki could make something so sentimental and borderline risible and make it funny, touching and trenchant simultaneously. Needless to say, the animation looks amazing in 4K; the accompanying Blu-ray’s extras comprise storyboards, music video for the song “Spinning Globe” and interviews with composer Joe Hisaishi, producer Toshio Suzuki and supervising animator Takeshi Honda. There’s also an English-dubbed version with the voices of Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe and Mark Hamill; stick with the original Japanese for authenticity.
 
 
 
Twister 
(Warner Bros)
This silly but watchable 1996 disaster thriller pits tornado chasers vs. Mother Nature—and, more often than not, nature wins: director Jan de Bont and writers Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin (Crichton’s then wife) for the most part lose, especially when it comes to such howlers in the dialogue as, when a twister barrels down toward them, one character yells out, “Let’s run for it!” Well, duh. The $100 million budget obviously went to the vast array of technical effects, well-done but not overwhelmingly impressive (especially now, where some seams show in 30-year old technology). Actors like Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Todd Field, Cary Elwes, Lois Smith and Philip Seymour Hoffman try their best but are defeated by ridiculous plotting and the twisty effects.
 
 
The 4K image looks quite detailed; extras include a new retrospective featurette and bonuses from earlier releases: three on-set featurettes, music video for Van Halen’s song “Humans Being” (Eddie and Alex also contribute a moody instrumental, “Respect the Wind”) and a commentary by du Bont and effects supervisor Stefen Fangmeier.
 
 
 
Blu-ray Releases of the Week 
Challengers 
(Warner Bros)
If a menage a trois among a female tennis player turned coach and the male tennis pros in her life, each on opposing career trajectories, sounds like fun, director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes make sure to scuttle that possibility. This impossibly cutesy rom-com is crammed with flashbacks within flashbacks to try and present some variety, but even Guadagnino knows it doesn’t help, since he uses a surfeit of camera tricks and ridiculous angles to keep things bouncing. Then there’s the awful use of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ pounding electronic score, always beginning or ending at the wrong time, as if the music cues are slightly off.
 
 
The threesome enacted by Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist is more authentic on the court (they all look and move like tennis players) than off, where the trio is saddled with stilted dialogue and must deal with desperate symbolism like a windstorm of Biblical proportions that actually happens twice. It’s all about as sexy as a celebrity doubles match. The hi-def image looks excellent but, as with so many new releases, there are no extras.
 
 
 
Kidnapped—The Abduction Of Edgardo Mortara
(Cohen Media)
The latest film by the world’s greatest living director, 84-year-old Italian master Marco Bellocchio, is yet another of his gripping and operatic dissections of historical subjects that touch on politics and religion—this time he tells the horrific but true story of a six-year-old Jewish boy torn from his parents’ grasp because a former housekeeper said she baptized him when she thought he was dying as an infant. With his usual sweeping flair and acute observation, Bellocchio fills the screen with indelible images that not only cast a wide net on anti-Semitic mid-19th century Italian (read: Catholic) society but also the excruciating pain and loss felt by the Mortara family as their beloved son and brother remains forever out of their reach.
 
 
Bellocchio builds his film on two towering performances—by Barbara Ronchi as the boy’s mother and Enea Sala as the young Edgardo, one of the strongest child performances I’ve ever seen. Supremely well-chosen music by Rachmaninoff and Pärt complement a superb original score by Fabio Massimo Capogrosso. The haunting but gorgeous final shot of mother and son is as unforgettable as the rest of this masterpiece; Francesco Di Giacomo’s glistening cinematography is accentuated beautifully on Blu-ray. Extras are a short Bellocchio intro and 20-minute director interview.
 
 
 
The Last Stop in Yuma County 
(Well Go USA)
I’ve never been a fan of the real Coen brothers’ films, so warmed-over Coens—which is what this aggressively, even nonsensically nihilistic drama about a bunch of nonentities who end up offing one another (along with several unfortunate bystanders) at a rate even the brothers wouldn’t countenance—comes off even more contrived.
 
 
Too bad writer-director Francis Galluppi is more concerned with getting these people together and letting bad luck take care of them until it doesn’t matter who’s standing at the end. The film looks fine on Blu; lone extra is a making-of featurette.
 
 
 
In-Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week
Eno 
(Film First)
In his eminently watchable documentary about legendary music producer Brian Eno, Gary Hustwit borrows Eno’s own way of creating for the film’s structure, as certain ideas, visuals or bits of music lead to other, sometimes not entirely successful tangents. Eno talks quite engagingly and candidly about his life, career and thoughts about the importance of art to nourish the human brain, both in new footage as well as vintage interviews.
 
 
There’s also priceless footage of Eno at work, both alone doing his ambient music (like the original Windows 95 “jingle”) and with some of his biggest collaborators, from Roxy Music and David Bowie to U2 and the Talking Heads. One gimmick is that the film—at least in its first run at Film Forum in NYC—will never be the same twice, rearranged and completely different footage making a “new” film each time, a fitting metaphor for its enigmatic, endlessly fascinating subject.   
 
 
 
The Blue Rose 
(Dark Sky)
Anyone with fond—or not so fond—memories of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, in which two women sleepwalk through a surreal Hollywood, will relive that film during every minute of George Baron’s unabashed copy, which the director makes no bones about, even referencing Lynch in his discussions of his own film.
 
 
The difference is that Lynch’s fully developed visual sense can make such dicey material work at times, whereas the best Baron can do is emerge as an instant epigone aping the Lynchian style without any substance. 
 
Janet Planet 
(A24)
Annie Baker, who has won awards for her (overrated) plays, makes her screen writing and directing debut with this at times insightful but mainly insufferable exploration of the relationship between Janet, a hippie-ish single mom, and Lacy, her restless 12-year-old daughter. As in her plays, Baker writes clever dialogue that’s not as meaningful as she intends; her assiduously oddish characters often claw at stretches of meaninglessness, whether in their words or silence.
 
 
As a director, she alternates establishing shots and glaring closeups to snippets of music from Laurie Anderson to Bach that populate her eclectic soundtrack. Her distaff cast, comprising Julianne Nicholson, Zoe Ziegler and Sophie Okenedo, performs sensitively, while the men, embodied by Bill Paxton and Elias Koteas, are pretty much ciphers.
 
 
 
CD Release of the Week 
Czech Songs—Magdalena Kožená 
(Pentatone)
Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, who has this music in her very bones, beautifully sings a smartly programmed recital disc of vocal works composed by her compatriots. As usual, she sounds natural and focused while performing cycles by the great but underappreciated Bohuslav Martinů and the great but more appreciated Antonin Dvořák, alongside a welcome taste of the unjustly obscure Hans Krása and Gideon Klein (who were both murdered in Nazi camps).
 
 
Tastefully accompanying the always elegant Kožená is the Czech Philharmonic, under the baton of her husband, Simon Rattle.

July '24 Digital Week I

  • Print
Details
Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Wednesday, 10 July 2024 17:04
Written by Kevin Filipski
4K/UHD Release of the Week 
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
(Criterion)
Sam Peckinpah’s 1973 western about the fateful relationship between lawman Pat Garrett (James Coburn) and outlaw Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) was savaged upon release by the studio and critics, the former ripping Peckinpah’s cut to shreds—six editors worked on the film. But the 50th-anniversary release—11 minutes longer than what came out a half-century ago—and the even longer preview cut makes one realize the film is for the most part unsalvageable in any version, despite sporadic directorial brilliance.
 
The biggest liability is Bob Dylan, who contributes a score of mediocre songs (except for his classic “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”) and a scandalous non-performance as a ridiculous character named Alias, itself a brazen steal from Lincoln Kerstein’s story for Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid ballet. As always, Criterion does a thorough job of contextualizing of the film’s fraught history: two UHD discs and two Blu-rays include all three cuts; there’s a commentary on the “new” version, an archival Coburn interview and new featurettes Dylan in Durango and Passion & Poetry: Peckinpah’s Last Western.
 
 
 
 
In-Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week
Mother, Couch 
(Film Movement)
With a cast of heavyweights like Ellen Burstyn, Ewan McGregor, Rys Ifyns, Lara Flynn Boyle and F. Murray Abraham, Niclas Larsson’s film about an elderly woman (Burstyn) whose decision to stay on the sofa at a furniture store brings her three estranged children from different fathers (McGregor, Ifyns and Flynn Boyle) together for a chance to patch things up surprisingly never becomes the intriguingly offbeat comedy-drama it wants to be.
 
 
It begins as unfunny, warmed-over Luis Buñuel and never goes anywhere, thanks to Larsson’s scattershot script. The cast gives its all, especially Burstyn and Taylor Russell as the young store employee who catches McGregor’s eye, but nothing ends up cohering.
 
 
 
The Nature of Love 
(Music Box)
French-Canadian writer-director Monia Chokri’s occasionally trenchant comic study follows the emotional and sexual relationship of heady college professor Sophia and working-class guy Sylvain, who meet cute when he gives her an estimate to restore a decrepit cottage she owns.
 
 
Too often, Chokri’s writing and directing rub our noses in the couple’s obvious differences—her intellectual crowd and his earthy, of the soil clan—while her copout ending insists there’s no way Sophia and Sylvain can stay together, although we’ve watched them do just that for most of the movie. Holding it all together are terrific performances by Pierre-Yves Cardinal (Sylvain) and Magalie Lépine-Blondeau (Sophia), who make a maturely sexy couple. 
 
 
 
Blu-ray Releases of the Week
Abigail 
(Universal)
Armed with a healthy sense of humor, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett take Stephen Shields and Guy Busick’s troublesome script about a preteen vampire who toys with a group of inept criminals that abducted her for ransom and make it a watchable gore fest.
 
 
Amid the risible plotting and exploding bodies, there are fun moments and tongue-in-cheek performances, topped by Melissa Barrera, fast becoming our reigning scream queen after Scream, Scream VI and this harmless but efficient dark comedy. The film looks good on Blu; extras include a commentary, deleted/extended scenes, gag reel and on-set featurettes.
 
 
 
Danza Macabra, Volume 3—The Spanish Gothic Collection 
(Severin)
For the third set in Severin Films’ collection of foreign horror flicks, a quartet of early-mid ’70s features from Spain—Necrophagous (1971), Cake of Blood (1971), Cross of the Devil (1975) and The Night of the Walking Dead (1975)—have been resurrected and given new shelf life. These films were made near the end of Spanish dictator Franco’s repressive reign, hiding transgressive ideas within the genre of Gothic horror.
 
 
Best is the atmospheric vampire shocker The Night of the Walking Dead—with the wonderful Emma Cohen as the heroine—while the least successful is the arty and self-indulgent omnibus Cake of Blood. Each film has received a good transfer; extras are led by commentaries on each film and interviews with actors, writers and critics.
 
 
 
Hatchet—The Complete Collection 
(Dark Sky Films)
Director-writer Adam Green made his low-budget horror movie, Hatchet, in 2006—it’s not that much more distinguished than other slasher flicks populating the B-movie landscape over the past few decades, but he’s parlayed that home-movie ethos into three sequels (from 2010, 2013 and 2017) that are each less interesting and watchable than the previous one.
 
 
Now all four Hatchets have been brought together for diehard fans in a set that includes first-rate hi-def transfers of the films, with extras comprising gag reels, interviews, on-set featurettes and a bonus disc, Hatchet: Swamp Tales.
 
 
 
Sherlock Holmes 
(Severin)
Peter Cushing and Sherlock Holmes are an uncomfortable fit in this 1968 British TV series—short-lived, unsurprisingly—six episodes of which are all that has survived and included in this two-disc set.
 
 
The picture quality is pretty negligible—at times, it’s like watching an old VHS tape—but the main problem is the stories themselves, which are rendered unexciting and routine, with the partial exception of the two-part Hound of the Baskervilles: even Cushing looks bored at times. Extras include commentaries on all six episodes and on missing episode clips; audio interview with Cushing; and BBC’s countdown clock for each episode. 
 
 
 
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace 
(Severin)
Christopher Lee’s lone starring role as the great detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle came in this German-made drama—it was shot in Berlin—directed competently by Terence Fisher, with Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson (Nigel Stock) taking center stage.
 
 
Senta Berger contributes a nice bit, but Lee and Stock’s chatty chemistry isn’t enough to overcome a by-the-numbers storyline. The hi-def image looks decent enough; extras are a commentary, Fisher interview and Fisher featurette.

Director Thomas G. Waites Makes Much out of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” This Summer

  • Print
Details
Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Thursday, 04 July 2024 17:21
Written by Brad Balfour


Play: Much Ado About Nothing
Director: Thomas G. Waites
Cast: Aislinn Evans, Kaitlyn Mitchell, Artur Ignatenko, Jake Minevich, Jordan Elizabeth Gelber, Stephanie Londoñ, Dillon John Collins, Jacque Coqueran, Gilbert Cole, Surge, Breanna Neomi, Matt Ugly McGlade , Arnie Mazur, John Galligan, Luis Guillen, Bettina Schwabe, Brandon Thomas Lima, David Manganiello, Cedric Allen Hills 

Dates: June 7 – July 7th, 2024
Place: The Gene Frankel Theatre
24 Bond Street
New York, New York 10012

www.thomasgwaites.com

tomWNo matter how many times I’ve seen or read William Shakespeare’s considerable catalog of writings, I am confounded by them in one way or another. For that reason alone, another opportunity to witness one of his plays being produced is worth the experience — if only to view his words in action through a new form again. Such was the experience of seeing this production of ”Much Ado About Nothing” — twice. And given that it was co-produced and directed by Thomas G. Waites made it all the more worth seeing.

Mostly cast with members of his TGW Acting Studio, this production offered a great opportunity of seeing it voiced by these mostly young actors who perform a comedy of heft in front of live audiences. As directed by Waites, he makes sure that this is a solid team who interacts well with each other and the audience.

The noted actor, director, and instructor has coached countless actors including Alfred Molina, Vinnie Pastore, Vinessa Shaw, and Oliver Hudson. Originally from Philadelphia, he’s a graduate of  The Juilliard School, where he studied alongside Robin Williams, Christopher Reeve, Frances Conroy, and others. As an actor, he has starred in The Clan of the Cave Bear as well as …And Justice For All, The Thing, Light of Day, and The Warriors. Waites made his Broadway debut in Teaneck Tanzi opposite Deborah Harry and Andy Kaufman. Other Broadway credits include Awake and Sing! with Frances McDormand and Harry Hamlin, King Richard III starring Al Pacino, and Howard Korder’s Search and Destroy. Among his cohorts is star Kelsey Grammer who joined Waites in producing this version of “Much Ado About Nothing” which he calls “a delightful romp.” It’s also presented by Grammer’s Faith American Brewing Company.

Set in Messina, an enclave in Sicily, the play revolves around two romantic entanglements that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in town. The first, between Claudio and Hero, is nearly scuttled by accusations of infidelity by villain Don John. The second, between Claudio’s friend Benedick and Hero’s cousin Beatrice, takes center stage as the play continues, with both characters’ wit and banter providing much of the humor. Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into believing that Hero is not a virgin. The play twists words to prompt exposure of the secrets and trickery that form the backbone of the play’s comedy, intrigue, and action.

This version, set in 1940s Italy, plays on the notion of the hot Italian lover and a penchant for the promiscuous — or hints thereof — with a masquerade ball and weddings galore. A sort of feel-good comedy about honor, love and sex, it also demonstrates the confusion that goes along with such concerns. Several roles are alternated between a rotating cast of leads including Aislinn Evans and Kaitlyn Mitchell as Beatrice, Artur Ignatenko and Jake Minevich as Benedick and Jordan Elizabeth Gelber and Stephanie Londoño as Hero.

muchadoIn addition, the cast features Dillon John Collins (Claudio), Jacque Coqueran (Don Pedro), Gilbert Cole (Leonato), Surge (Don John), Breanna Neomi (Margaret), Matt Ugly McGlade (Borachio), Arnie Mazur (Dogberry), John Galligan (Verges), Luis Guillen (Antonio), Bettina Schwabe (Ursula), Brandon Thomas Lima (Conrade), David Manganiello (Sexton), and Cedric Allen Hills (Balthazar). The production features original music and score by Cedric Allen Hills who does a remarkable job enhancing the production with supporting sounds.

The courtship of Hero and Claudio, mostly in verse, contrasts with the prickly sparring between Benedick and Beatrice, mainly in prose. This dramatic interplay forms the backbone of the story but it’s Shakespeare’s layering of various characters and their implied back stories that make this tragic-comedy both intriguing and confounding.

Hero’s honor, though tainted by rumor, is rescued by truth, part of the story’s philosophical underpinning and rationale for this theatrical fabulation’s existence. While there’s playful flirting, sexual innuendo, and comic relief, the actors — particularly the two sets of romantic leads — makes this production worth experiencing. Ending in a double wedding that’s sometimes more silly than romantic — makes Much Ado’s conclusion ultimately about something: love.

Album Review—Paul McCartney and Wings, "One Hand Clapping" (Capitol)

  • Print
Details
Parent Category: Film and the Arts
Category: Reviews
Published on Wednesday, 03 July 2024 19:20
Written by Kevin Filipski

When Paul McCartney released his first Archive Collection set in 2010—Band on the Run, often considered his greatest post-Beatles work (for me, it’s just behind Ram)—he included One Hand Clapping, a long-unseen 50-minute TV documentary from 1974 about Wings, including interviews and live performances at Abbey Road. The quality of the video and audio was lacking, but at least it was officially released (bootlegs had proliferated for awhile).

 

 

Fourteen years later, remixed by Steve Orchard, the music from One Hand Clapping gets a shiny new audio release—little can apparently be done for the video quality that was seen on the archive set—and McCartney fans can listen to this superbly played, often raw collection of live songs, comprising solo Paul, Wings, that other band he was in and a few vintage tunes.

 

 

The band—comprising Linda on keyboards and backing vocals, stalwart Denny Laine on guitar and vocals, Jimmy McCullough on guitar, Geoffrey Britton on drums and Paul on nearly everything else—begins with the percolating instrumental, “One Hand Clapping,” followed by boisterous run-throughs of Wings and solo classics “Jet,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die,” “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five,” “Let Me Roll It” and “Junior’s Farm.” A hard-hitting “Hi Hi Hi” closes the performance.

 

 

In between, amid several song snippets and medleys like “The Long and Winding Road”/”Lady Madonna” and “C Moon”/Little Woman Love,” Paul—either by himself or with his crack band—takes on old favorites like “Baby Face” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” along with two hidden gems from 1971’s much-maligned Wild Life: the title track and “Tomorrow.” On his truncated solo rendition of “Let It Be,” Paul accompanies himself on harmonium, giving it a more funereal feel. Laine gets his sole lead-vocal turn with a solid take of the early Moody Blues hit, “Go Now.”

 

 

When Paul tosses out the wittily tongue-in-cheek “I’ll Give You a Ring,” some fans might be surprised that it emerged a full eight years before it appeared as the B side of the single of “Take It Away” from Tug of War. But here it is, already fully formed, another example of Paul pulling perfect pop melodies out of thin air, then apparently sitting on them since he’s also written other memorable tunes in the meantime.

 

 

Another underappreciated classic, the taut rocker “Soily,” is best known as the incendiary encore on 1976’s Wings Over America. That Paul decided to have “Soily” climax the shows on his first world tour since leaving the Beatles shows how much faith he had in it—and his band—at the time. (Let’s forget that he hasn’t included it in his setlists since.) Although I prefer the balls-out version on Wings Over America with Paul at his screaming best, this energetic blast through it is no slouch either.

 

 

My lone quibble: If the 83-minute performance can’t fit on one CD, why not include the six additional songs from the sessions that Paul played solo versions of—’50s chestnuts “Twenty Flight Rock,” “Peggy Sue” and “I’m Gonna Love You Too” alongside the Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Paul’s “Blackpool” and “Country Dreamer”—on the CD release as well as the “special” vinyl edition? It always seems bizarre to prioritize vinyl over digital in 2024.

More Articles...

  1. June '24 Digital Week IV
  2. June '24 Digital Week III
  3. Off-Broadway Play Review—Alexis Scheer’s “Breaking the Story” with Maggie Siff

Subcategories

Newsletter Sign Up

Upcoming Events

No Calendar Events Found or Calendar not set to Public.

Tweets!