Several documentaries, TV movies, foreign films and independent productions have made their way to DVD and Blu-ray this week.
Night Will Fall (Warner Archive, 2014, not rated, featurette, two short films). This is a remarkable, compelling, heartbreaking and with its unflinching World War II Nazi death-camp footage quite shocking 73-minute documentary, which made its U.S. debut on HBO last month.
Narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, the film chronicles the development and eventual shelving of a 1945 British government-sponsored film titled German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, comprising footage shot by combat cameramen during the liberation of several camps. Horrifying excerpts are cut between present-day interviews with camp survivors and cameramen and theres even a 1962 audio interview with Alfred Hitchcock, who came aboard as supervising director.
A combination of the gruesome footage on display and postwar politics prompted officials to let the film languish in British archives for seven decades before a restoration project began in 2008. Also here are clips from two 21-minute propaganda shorts, the Soviet Auschwitz and the American Death Mills (in which Billy Wilder participated), which are included in their entirety as bonus features. (Available at warnerarchive.com)
Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (Sony, 2015, not rated). After a three-year hiatus, Tom Selleck has switched from CBS to the Hallmark Channel for this ninth TV movie about novelist Robert B. Parkers troubled police chief in Paradise, a small coastal Massachusetts town. Here, Jesse consults with Boston police on a complicated murder investigation and mingles with returning cast members William Devane, Stephen McHattie, William Sadler, Kerri Smith, Leslie Hope and, as Suitcase, Kohl Sudduth.
My Boyfriends Dogs (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated). This is a better-than-average Hallmark Channel comedy, despite riffing on Runaway Bride. The clever opening has a woman in a wedding dress (Erika Christensen) running in the pouring rain to a cafe thats about to close. She has with her three dogs from three different boyfriends, and we see her story in flashbacks. Nice support from the always-charming Teryl Rothery (Cedar Cove) as her mother, and Joyce DeWitt (Threes Company) in the cafe.
For Better or For Worse (Cinedigm, 2014, not rated). Hallmark Channel romantic comedy about a widowed wedding coordinator (Lisa Whelchel) at odds with a divorce lawyer (Antonio Cupo) who opens an office next door to her wedding chapel. And things only get more complicated when her son becomes engaged to his daughter. The usual formulaic stuff.
A Ballerinas Tale (Sundance Selects, 2015, not rated, deleted scenes, trailer). This lovely documentary chronicles Misty Copelands rise to become the first black woman named as principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre. But its also about the history in particular the racial history of the dance form and those who went before.
Take Me to the River (Shout!, 2014, not rated, featurettes). Documentary celebrating the heart of American music in Memphis and Mississippi with interviews and plentiful performances by William Bell, Snoop Dogg, Mavis Staples, Otis Clay, Charlie Musselwhite, Bobby Blue Bland, etc.
The Beauty Inside (Well Go, 2015, not rated, in Korean with English subtitles). This sweet, whimsical, offhandedly charming Korean fantasy is as offbeat as they come, posing an eternal question: Do we fall in love with the physical or what a person is inside? Its a real challenge for Yi-soo (the winsome Han Hyo-joo) when she falls for Woo-jin (played by dozens of actors), whose body changes every time he falls asleep. He may awaken as a handsome young man or an old codger or even as a child or a woman. He cant control it. But can Yi-soo hang in there?
The Piper (CJ, 2015, not rated, in Korean with English subtitles or in dubbed English). Willard meets The Village in this Korean riff on The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Its 1953, after the Korean War, as a wounded flutist and his sickly 10-year-old son roam a remote mountainous region on their way to see a doctor in Seoul. They stumble into an unfriendly fenced-off village, where the piper rids them of a massive rat infestation. But when the villagers renege on their promises, scores must be settled. This is a very effective, low-key, ethereal creepfest, with something to say about war, mass hysteria and human nature.
Ladrones (Thieves) (Lionsgate, 2015, PG-13, in Spanish with English subttles). This action-comedy from the Dominican Republic is headlined by two Latin American movie stars, Fernando Colunga and Eduardo Yanez, as retired Robin Hood-style thieves who gather a gang of misfits to help them retrieve Texas land stolen from Mexican ranchers.
Black Mountain Side (Monarch, 2014, not rated). Moody, scary, claustrophobic Canadian thriller with echoes of The Thing and The Shining, set against an unforgiving Arctic region in northern Canada where a team of archaeologists discovers an ancient stone monument. Then a strange virus begins infecting them, followed by paranoia and madness, with an ironic ending.
Born to Win (Lionsgate, 2014, not rated). This South African Christian film is the true story of embittered teacher Leon Terblanche, who, after suffering through an abusive childhood, continues to have unresolved issues. Hes a compassionate teacher at a school for disabled children, but his anger toward God is endangering his marriage.
White Panther (SISU, 2013, not rated, in Hebrew with English subtitles, featurette, trailer). This interesting exploration of racism in Israel follows a young, ostracized Russian immigrant who joins his brothers gang of self-loathing skinheads. But he soon finds a better outlet for his frustration when hes offered a chance to box, and he is soon attracted to his instructors daughter.
Chasing a Star (SISU, 2012, not rated, in Hebrew with English subtitles, trailer). In this comedy, fate upends the plans of three disparate people: an unemployed actor who thinks hes found an angle to get work after bumping into a movie star (Moshe Ivgy playing himself), a female soccer player plagued with debilitating self-doubt, and a just-released ex-con who hopes to disappear with a fortune he has stashed away.
The New Girlfriend (Cohen, 2014, R for sex and nudity, in French with English subtitles, featurette, trailer). Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) channels Almodovar and Hitchcock with this Ruth Rendell mystery. Two married women have been best friends since childhood but one dies young. When the survivor comforts her late friends husband she discovers hes secretly a transvestite, and slowly, he becomes the womans replacement BFF.
Noahs Ark (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated). Abbreviated and superficial BBC movie is a family friendly retelling of the biblical story. Occasionally amateurish but earnest effort is, if nothing else, much more faithful to its origins than the awful big-budget theatrical Noah with Russell Crowe. David Threlfall and Joanne Whalley are Mr. and Mrs. Noah.
Meadowland (Cinedigm, 2015; R for language, sex, drugs; featurette). The young son of a married couple a schoolteacher and a cop (Olivia Wilde, Luke Wilson) disappears during a gas-station stop. A year later, they are no closer to knowing what has happened to him and wallow in grief and depression, both gradually losing their moral compasses. Co-stars include Elisabeth Moss and John Leguizamo.
Man Up (Lionsgate, 2015, R for language, featurettes, bloopers). A single woman (Lake Bell), reeling from a string of bad dates, is traveling across London when she encounters a man (Simon Pegg) who's waiting for a blind date. He mistakes her for his date, she goes along with it, and an evening of raunchy debauchery ensues.
The Rise of the Krays (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, language, sex, nudity; deleted scenes, trailers). It's the story of the rise and fall of Englands real-life twin-brother gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray (Simon Cotton, Kevin Leslie), which was also the subject of last years Legend, with Tom Hardy in both roles.
Fight to the Finish (Lionsgate, 2016, PG-13, trailers). An amateur fighter intervenes when his next-door neighbor is abused by her boyfriend, which leads to his being threatened and ultimately challenged in the ring.
Night Will Fall (Warner Archive, 2014, not rated, featurette, two short films). This is a remarkable, compelling, heartbreaking and with its unflinching World War II Nazi death-camp footage quite shocking 73-minute documentary, which made its U.S. debut on HBO last month.
Narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, the film chronicles the development and eventual shelving of a 1945 British government-sponsored film titled German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, comprising footage shot by combat cameramen during the liberation of several camps. Horrifying excerpts are cut between present-day interviews with camp survivors and cameramen and theres even a 1962 audio interview with Alfred Hitchcock, who came aboard as supervising director.
A combination of the gruesome footage on display and postwar politics prompted officials to let the film languish in British archives for seven decades before a restoration project began in 2008. Also here are clips from two 21-minute propaganda shorts, the Soviet Auschwitz and the American Death Mills (in which Billy Wilder participated), which are included in their entirety as bonus features. (Available at warnerarchive.com)
Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (Sony, 2015, not rated). After a three-year hiatus, Tom Selleck has switched from CBS to the Hallmark Channel for this ninth TV movie about novelist Robert B. Parkers troubled police chief in Paradise, a small coastal Massachusetts town. Here, Jesse consults with Boston police on a complicated murder investigation and mingles with returning cast members William Devane, Stephen McHattie, William Sadler, Kerri Smith, Leslie Hope and, as Suitcase, Kohl Sudduth.
My Boyfriends Dogs (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated). This is a better-than-average Hallmark Channel comedy, despite riffing on Runaway Bride. The clever opening has a woman in a wedding dress (Erika Christensen) running in the pouring rain to a cafe thats about to close. She has with her three dogs from three different boyfriends, and we see her story in flashbacks. Nice support from the always-charming Teryl Rothery (Cedar Cove) as her mother, and Joyce DeWitt (Threes Company) in the cafe.
For Better or For Worse (Cinedigm, 2014, not rated). Hallmark Channel romantic comedy about a widowed wedding coordinator (Lisa Whelchel) at odds with a divorce lawyer (Antonio Cupo) who opens an office next door to her wedding chapel. And things only get more complicated when her son becomes engaged to his daughter. The usual formulaic stuff.
A Ballerinas Tale (Sundance Selects, 2015, not rated, deleted scenes, trailer). This lovely documentary chronicles Misty Copelands rise to become the first black woman named as principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre. But its also about the history in particular the racial history of the dance form and those who went before.
Take Me to the River (Shout!, 2014, not rated, featurettes). Documentary celebrating the heart of American music in Memphis and Mississippi with interviews and plentiful performances by William Bell, Snoop Dogg, Mavis Staples, Otis Clay, Charlie Musselwhite, Bobby Blue Bland, etc.
The Beauty Inside (Well Go, 2015, not rated, in Korean with English subtitles). This sweet, whimsical, offhandedly charming Korean fantasy is as offbeat as they come, posing an eternal question: Do we fall in love with the physical or what a person is inside? Its a real challenge for Yi-soo (the winsome Han Hyo-joo) when she falls for Woo-jin (played by dozens of actors), whose body changes every time he falls asleep. He may awaken as a handsome young man or an old codger or even as a child or a woman. He cant control it. But can Yi-soo hang in there?
The Piper (CJ, 2015, not rated, in Korean with English subtitles or in dubbed English). Willard meets The Village in this Korean riff on The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Its 1953, after the Korean War, as a wounded flutist and his sickly 10-year-old son roam a remote mountainous region on their way to see a doctor in Seoul. They stumble into an unfriendly fenced-off village, where the piper rids them of a massive rat infestation. But when the villagers renege on their promises, scores must be settled. This is a very effective, low-key, ethereal creepfest, with something to say about war, mass hysteria and human nature.
Ladrones (Thieves) (Lionsgate, 2015, PG-13, in Spanish with English subttles). This action-comedy from the Dominican Republic is headlined by two Latin American movie stars, Fernando Colunga and Eduardo Yanez, as retired Robin Hood-style thieves who gather a gang of misfits to help them retrieve Texas land stolen from Mexican ranchers.
Black Mountain Side (Monarch, 2014, not rated). Moody, scary, claustrophobic Canadian thriller with echoes of The Thing and The Shining, set against an unforgiving Arctic region in northern Canada where a team of archaeologists discovers an ancient stone monument. Then a strange virus begins infecting them, followed by paranoia and madness, with an ironic ending.
Born to Win (Lionsgate, 2014, not rated). This South African Christian film is the true story of embittered teacher Leon Terblanche, who, after suffering through an abusive childhood, continues to have unresolved issues. Hes a compassionate teacher at a school for disabled children, but his anger toward God is endangering his marriage.
White Panther (SISU, 2013, not rated, in Hebrew with English subtitles, featurette, trailer). This interesting exploration of racism in Israel follows a young, ostracized Russian immigrant who joins his brothers gang of self-loathing skinheads. But he soon finds a better outlet for his frustration when hes offered a chance to box, and he is soon attracted to his instructors daughter.
Chasing a Star (SISU, 2012, not rated, in Hebrew with English subtitles, trailer). In this comedy, fate upends the plans of three disparate people: an unemployed actor who thinks hes found an angle to get work after bumping into a movie star (Moshe Ivgy playing himself), a female soccer player plagued with debilitating self-doubt, and a just-released ex-con who hopes to disappear with a fortune he has stashed away.
The New Girlfriend (Cohen, 2014, R for sex and nudity, in French with English subtitles, featurette, trailer). Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) channels Almodovar and Hitchcock with this Ruth Rendell mystery. Two married women have been best friends since childhood but one dies young. When the survivor comforts her late friends husband she discovers hes secretly a transvestite, and slowly, he becomes the womans replacement BFF.
Noahs Ark (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated). Abbreviated and superficial BBC movie is a family friendly retelling of the biblical story. Occasionally amateurish but earnest effort is, if nothing else, much more faithful to its origins than the awful big-budget theatrical Noah with Russell Crowe. David Threlfall and Joanne Whalley are Mr. and Mrs. Noah.
Meadowland (Cinedigm, 2015; R for language, sex, drugs; featurette). The young son of a married couple a schoolteacher and a cop (Olivia Wilde, Luke Wilson) disappears during a gas-station stop. A year later, they are no closer to knowing what has happened to him and wallow in grief and depression, both gradually losing their moral compasses. Co-stars include Elisabeth Moss and John Leguizamo.
Man Up (Lionsgate, 2015, R for language, featurettes, bloopers). A single woman (Lake Bell), reeling from a string of bad dates, is traveling across London when she encounters a man (Simon Pegg) who's waiting for a blind date. He mistakes her for his date, she goes along with it, and an evening of raunchy debauchery ensues.
The Rise of the Krays (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, language, sex, nudity; deleted scenes, trailers). It's the story of the rise and fall of Englands real-life twin-brother gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray (Simon Cotton, Kevin Leslie), which was also the subject of last years Legend, with Tom Hardy in both roles.
Fight to the Finish (Lionsgate, 2016, PG-13, trailers). An amateur fighter intervenes when his next-door neighbor is abused by her boyfriend, which leads to his being threatened and ultimately challenged in the ring.