Now in Theaters:
Joaquin Phoenix in Napoleon
Napoleon (** ½) Ridley Scott is a director of hits and misses in my estimation. His latest is one of the latter as he chooses to focus on the sappy love story of the title character as opposed to the French Emperor’s many military conquests. The battle scenes are impressive but the casting of Joaquin Phoenix in the lead does the film no favors as he seems to be channeling his character from The Joker in too much of the film. Vaguely interesting but the subject deserves a better film.
Saltburn (**) Emerald Fennell’s debut film, Promising Young Woman, nabbed my top spot for best film of 2020. Her latest film takes the idea of a mentally unstable person inserting themselves into the life of someone whose identity they envy and really offers nothing new on that well worn plot. Barry Keoghan is fine in the lead but the main problem is Fennell’s sense of storytelling or lack thereof. For a director whose first feature was so tight and focused, it’s amazing that she can’t seem to find a scene that she could shorten in the 2 hours and 10 minutes that it takes this film to unravel. Once the film finally gets where it’s going-105 minutes in-it’s vaguely interesting but then goes another 5 minutes after its logical conclusion. There are endless scenes of characters just gazing out into space for no discernible dramatic purpose. Buried inside this film is a decent 75 minute one just begging a judicious editor to excise the remaining 55 minutes of fat.
New to Streaming:
Sometimes When We Touch (***) The soft rock songs that defined the decade of the 1970s are spotlighted in this new three part documentary that offers plenty of interesting interviews and archival footage. (Paramount Plus)
New to Disc:
Kino:
The Monster Squad (1987) is a group of young kids devoted to protecting their suburban neighborhood from strange things that go bump in the night in writer-director Fred Dekker’s cult horror classic coming to 4K for the first time. Extras include a full length documentary, commentaries, deleted scenes and trailers.
Monk: Season 2 (2002) comes to Blu Ray in a newly remastered set that also includes featurettes.
The Last Tycoon (1976) F. Scott Fitzgerald’s portrait of a 1930s movie studio head (Robert De Niro) comes to Blu Ray for the first time in this new release. Extras include a new commentary.
The Conformist (1970) Bernard Bertolucci’s tale of a disaffected man’s attempt to blend with fascists in WWII Italy arrives on Blu Ray in a new restoration with commentary.
The Carpetbaggers (1964) George Peppard leads the cast in this adaptation of Harold Robbins’ tale of 30s Hollywood arriving on Blu Ray with multiple commentary tracks.
Valmont (1989) Milos Forman’s take on the novel, Dangerous Liasons, makes its Blu Ray debut in this new edition which also includes a commentary and interview.
The Emerald Forest (1985) Powers Boothe is an engineer searching for his missing son in the rain forest in this revered action film from John Boorman. Extras include commentary.
Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987) The romantic entanglements of two female friends forms the basis of this romantic comedy from the always dependable Eric Rohmer. Extras include a commentary.
Arrow:
Blackhat (2015) Michael Mann’s techno thriller starring Chris Hemsworth comes to 4K for the first time in a new edition that includes two cuts of the film.
Barbarella (1968) Roger Vadim’s take on the legendary cosmic adventurer comes to 4K in a limited new edition with copious amounts of new bonus material including commentaries, interviews, featurettes and more.
Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) also comes to 4K for the first time ever in a limited edition and includes commentary and outtakes.
Vantiva:
Le Combat Dans Lile (1962) Jean Louis Trintignant leads a secret life as a right wing terrorist in this prescient French thriller. Extras include interviews and commentary.
Vision Films:
Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul (1993) The terrific documentary on the life and times of the Warner Brothers studio chief comes to Blu Ray for the first time in this new release.
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