MCN DVD Reviews: August 8, 2008

*The Wrap Up ...*

Smart People	Like so many recent indies in which socially inept academics and their dysfunctional families are required to come to grips with reality - The Savages, Squid and the Whale, The Family Stone, We Don't Live Here Anymore, Your Friends and Neighbors - Smart People will appeal most to viewers with a high tolerance for neurotic behavior and those whose parents would have considered trading them at birth for a tenured position. In the aptly titled Smart People, Dennis Quaid plays a recently widowed English prof, Lawrence (Dennis Quaid), whose misanthropic behavior has alienated himself from his students and is losing hope of finding a publisher who will publish his unreadable book. Among the smart p eople in his orbit are his too-cool-for-school daughter (Ellen Page) and cuddly-cute son (Ashton Holmes), who's already interested the New Yorker in one of his poems. Standing in for the deceptively clueless Shakespearean fool is an adopted brother, played with gusto by Thomas Hayden Church, who can see right through everyone else in the family. At, perhaps, the lowest point of his being, the completely self-centered Lawrence finds a wee bit of hope for salvation in the person of a doctor played by an uncharacteristically dialed-down Sarah Jessica Parker. Page and Church are given all the best scenes, which, for many smart-people viewers, will be reason enough to rent the DVD. -- Gary Dretzka

The Counterfeiters	Stefan Ruzowitzky's The Conterfeiters, winner of this year's Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film, sheds light on a little-known chapter in the history of World War II and the Holocaust. Operation Bernhard was launched in the early stages of the conflict, and might have succeeded if the Allies hadn't beaten the Nazis to the punch. The intention was to ruin the economies of England and the United States by flooding the international financial pipeline with hundreds of millions of counterfeit pounds and dollars. To make the scheme work, Nazi leaders combed its concentration camps to find printers, engravers, bankers, master forgers and paper and ink experts. The hand-picked prisoners were transferred to the Sachsenhausen camp, where they were housed separately from everyone else and accorded privileges designed to keep them healthy, if not happy for the duration of the operation. They had already guessed that they all would be killed as soon as the last of the faux currency rolled off the press, but what was the alternative? Die now, or cooperate with the enemy and die later. If Operation Bernhard didn't meet its stated goal, it wasn't because the counterfeit bills weren't good enough to fool bankers and business executives. They were, and they did. It's possible that Nazi officials finally understood the ramifications of doing to their enemy what the Allies were planning to do to them, and to much greater effect. Heinrich Himmler wanted to keep this weapon in his arsenal, though, and so these Jews would be kept alive as long as they were useful to the project. This allowed Ruzowitzky to craft The Counterfeiters as a taut, tick-tock thriller with real deadlines and dire consequences for failure or acts of sabotage. Ruzowitzky makes us acutely aware of the ethical dilemmas eating at the hearts and minds of the prisoners. Unlike the master forger at the center of the drama, not all of the prisoners believe that survival is the best option. Some would prefer death to a future without their now-dead wives and children. Austrian actor Karl Markovics plays the same sort of self-serving, widely mistrusted character as William Holden did in Stalag 17. Before his arrest, Salomon Sorowitsch already was attempting to create counterfeit dollars, and, here, the Nazis were providing him with the tools necessary to do just that. Sorowitsch knows that he can keep all of his fellow prisoners alive, as long as he can convince the camp's commander that perfection takes time. The Counterfeiters was adapted from Adolf Burger's memoir, The Devil's Workshop. The author, played wonderfully by August Diehl, was a young Russian communist who still isn't sure he made the correct choice by working instead of doing s omething that would cause him and his fellow prisoners to be killed. He admits his qualms in an interview included in the bonus features. Despite the Oscar and fine performances, The Counterfeiters doesn't raise the bar all that much on Holocaust movies. It demands, however, that viewers not only pay close attention to the story, but also ask themselves what they would have done - or might, yet, be forced to do - if placed in the same situation. -- Gary Dretzka

Nim's Island	Abigail Breslin plays Nim, the precocious 11-year-old daughter of a prominent oceanographer (Gerard Butler) whose work has taken them to a mostly deserted tropical island. Although a volcano presents a constant threat to destroy all life on the island, promoters of exotic cruises would love nothing more than to convert it into a stopover for pampered tourists. Nim sees herself as the only thing that stands between the developers and the survival of the island's animal species. She got the courage to stand up to the forces of anti-greenery by reading the series of adventure novels starring Alex Rover, a dead ringer for Indiana Jones. Somehow, Nim's gotten it into her head that the author of the series shares the attributes of the protagonist, and couldn't possibly be someone like the agoraphobic Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster). A wireless Internet connection allows Nim to communicate with people in far-flung territories, and, one day, she intercepts an e-mail sent to her father from A. Rover, requesting information on volcanoes. Convinced she's communicating with a reasonable facsimile of the series' hero, Nim summons Alex to the island after a typhoon disrupts communication with her dad, who's out looking for iridescent plankton; the arrival of the cruise-ship pirates; and a slight volcanic eruption. Most days, Alexandra can't navigate the distance between her front porch and the curb, but, here, she reluctantly agrees to make the arduous, multi-stop trek to the remote outpost. The plot of Nim's Island owes a great deal to The Swiss Family Robinson, but Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin's story adds enough fresh elements to qualify as a satisfactory diversion for tweeners. If nothing else, the tropical setting is beautiful, especially on Blu-ray, and the actors in no way take their young audiences for granted. -- Gary Dretzka

Star Trek The Original Series: The Complete Second Season Masters of Science Fiction: The Complete Series Starship Troopers/Stargate Continuum	The anthology format works particularly well as a showcase for science fiction on television. Like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Science Fiction Theater before it, The Twilight Zone each week presented concisely told stories -- usually ending with an O'Henry-like twist -- in which ordinary people found themselves in inexplicable situations. The Outer Limits would follow in short order, but, with Star Trek and Lost in Space, American audiences showed their preference for series with recurring characters, themes and conflicts. Star Trek was a combination of both formats. Cable television would reopen the door to horror and sci-fi anthology series, but the format remains a fairly difficult sell. Masters of Science Fiction, which featured adaptations of short stories by prominent sci-fi writers, enjoyed a very short life on ABC. It would, however, fall victim to the epidemic of reality TV afflicting prime-time. This set is comprised of six stories from Robert Sheckley, Howard Fast, Robert Heinlein, Harlan Ellison, Walter Mosley and John Kessel, as well as such fine actors as Judy Davis, Sam Waterson, James Cromwell, Brian Dennehy, John Hurt, Anne Heche, Malcolm McDowell and Sean Astin. Showtime gave its Masters of Horror a far greater chance for survival, and is reaping the ancillary benefits in DVD sales. Paramount keeps turning out technologically superior versions of previously released Star Trek packages. Missing, as yet, is a Blu-ray version, which, to me, seems a bit short-sided, but not to Trekkies who apparently will purchase anything with a picture of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner on it. The re-mastered discs are a vast improvement on earlier products, but Blu-ray owners might want to wait until the next release. Fans of the Starship Troopers franchise are more fortunate, in that Sony has opened up its Blu-ray cupboard containing all three installments, including Hero of the Federation and Marauder. In all three, humans from the 23rd Century are required to battle aliens in insect form, just like their picnicking forebears who often found themselves overrun by mosquitoes, horse flies and red ants. How this series has lasted this long is anyone's guess. It does look good in Blu-ray, though. You're excused if you can't differentiate between Starship Troopers, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica and any of the Star Trek sequels and prequels. For the cognoscenti, however, the latest installment of the Stargate saga, Continuum, involves Baal's decision to travel back in time to put the kibosh on the Stargate program. To prevent such a catastrophe from occurring, a SG-1 team must do some time traveling of its own.

The First Olympics: Athens 1896	This is as good a time as any to revisit this 1984 docudrama about the mounting of the first modern Olympiad, 112 years ago in Athens. Louis Jourdan plays Baron Pierre du Coubertin, whose dream it was to renew a great tradition after 1,500 years. David Ogden Stiers plays Dr. William Sloane, a Princeton professor who put together the first American team, with 13 athletes and almost no equipment. More than anything else, The First Olympics recalls a time when the emphasis was solely on amateur competition, sportsmanship and global harmony. In Beijing, as we've seen, the athletes are only part of an economic mandate that is dominated by greed, politics, commercialism and ego trips. -- Gary Dretzka



The Cool School Biography: Barack Obama/John McCain (Election Update Edition) Marcus Garvey: A Giant of Black Politics Just as European artists and critics have sniffed at the idea that the United States can boast of an art scene that demands their attention, New York-based artists and critics have continually mocked the efforts of upstarts from Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Morgan Neville's pleasantly non-elitist documentary covers the Modern Art scene that grew up around L.A.'s Ferus Gallery and Barney's Beanery in the late '50s and '60s. Many of the key players and hangers-on are still around, and they happily share their memories here. Among the more familiar are Ed Ruscha, Dennis Hopper, Dean Stockwell and Frank Gehry. It's especially worth noting that the Ferus Gallery hosted shows promoting the work of Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and Marcel Duchamp, while the East Coast elite r ushed to disparage Warhol's soup cans and other examples of Pop Art. At 86 minutes, the doc is just the right length to hold the attention of newcomers to the often cantankerous art world, and there a several bonus features that will be of interest to those who have taken more than one art-history course in college. Biography's profiles of Barack Obama and John McCain first aired years before either presidential candidate was considered to a serious contender for the nomination. Considering the large number of policy flip-flops made by both men in the interim, these biodocs hold up pretty well. Both films have been updated to reflect each man's current position in the national spotlight. It would be interesting to know what black-nationalist leader and labor activist Marcus Garvey would have made of Obama's candidacy. The Screen Edge biodoc, A Giant of Black Politics, offers a few clues, while also demonstrating how the principles of the Universal Negro Improvement Association caught fire in the U.S., scaring the crap out of the whites of all castes. -- Gary Dretzka

Slippery Slope Miss Conception These lightweight romantic comedies probably would have fit well on the old Lifetime network, adding a tiny bit of spice to its bland menu of malaise-of-the-week movies and sappy love stories. Liftetime has raised the ante with such classy shows as Army Wives and the younger-skewing True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet. Neither Slippery Slope nor Miss Conception is particularly well made, but there are good intentions behind them. In the former, a politically correct director in need of money to complete her documentary, Feminism for Dummies, finds herself in the awkward position of directing a p orn flick. Gillian hadn't planned for that to happen, but, since it did, she endeavors to make it look artful, at least. Naturally, this confuses her friends and husband, who fears she's gone over to the dark side. Slippery Slope has its worthwhile moments, but they all eventually succumb to artistic and budgetary undernourishment. Heather Graham stars in the oft-told story of a 33 year-old Londoner, who, when she hears her biological clock ticking, decides to get pregnant before the alarm goes off. Unfortunately, her boyfriend isn't nearly as interested in the whole parenthood thing, and decides to take some time off from their relationship. Her best friend, played by Mia Kirshner, helps in her extensive, often hysterical search for likely partners. Miss Conception has been done before, and better, but it's an evergreen subject. Graham and Kirshner also are saddled with having to fake a British accent, which limits their credibility even more. Still, it's pretty harmless. -- Gary Dretzka

Inglorious Bastards: 3-Disc Special Edition By now, anyone who pays attention to Hollywood gossip knows that Quentin Tarantino is planning to re-make Enzo Castellari's 1978 pulpy war movie, Inglorious Bastards. It's right up his alley, in that it's intentionally hyper-violent and overflows with spaghetti-western and American blaxploitation conceits. Among those actors portraying a group of American soldiers given the choice between the brig and a suicide mission in Nazi-occupied France are Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, Bo Svenson, Ian Bannen and Peter Hooten, all of whom were known to have kicked some butts in their prime. It's totally nuts, but that's the way Tarantino likes his genre fare. Discs Two and Three add Quentin Tarantino and Enzo Castellari in Conversation; a making-of doc with Williamson, Svenson and Massimo Vanni, as well as several behind-the-camera talents; commentary by Castellari; and a soundtrack CD. -- Gary Dretzka

Love Story The Gits Leonard Cohen: Under Review: 1978 - 2006 Pete Seeger: The Power of Song Soundstage Presents: The Strauss Family/Tchaikovsky Although the Los Angeles-based ensemble, Love, was admired every bit as much as such contemporary psychedelic rockers as the Doors, Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead, its fame was short-lived and, even today, its landmark album remains largely unheard. For once, however, the blame for such an injustice can't be laid at the feet lazy radio programmers, timid consumers and boneheaded label execs. Almost all of Love's wounds were self-inflicted. In addition to succumbing to the seductive lure of hard drugs, key members elected not to support their albums by touring. Up until the release of Forever Changes - a visionary song cycle that blended hard-rock sensibilities, with acoustic guitar, complex orchestration and imagistic poetry - Love had cracked the charts with such radio-friendly ravers as" 7 and 7 Is" and "My Little Red Book." Nothing Love had achieved before, though, prepared critics and fans for an album that challenged the intellect as much as the senses. It accomplished this without relying on screaming guitar solos or starting their instruments on fire. Arthur Lee, the band's leading creative force, had a dream that their was a place for progressive rock 'n' roll in the hippy-dippy mix of mid-'60s influences, and committed Love to a course that would require bringing in an experienced outside arranger to handle the strings and brass. Together, they imbued Forever Changes with a palpable aura of class, timelessness and existential thought. As such, it proved to be a bit too hip for the room, which, at the time, was filled with listeners who didn't want to ruin their buzz by having to think too hard. In many ways, Forever Changesechoed Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, another great album that seemed to come out of nowhere and left radio programmers scratching their heads. Even after hundreds of repeat listenings, I've never tired of either album and continue to discover new treasures. Van the Man w ould soon re-crack the charts with several albums' worth of more accessible singles, while Love struggled to keep their individual acts together. (Truth be told, the fact that Love was an integrated band, and its African-American frontman looked as if he'd just hitched a ride on the Marrakesh Express, baffled race-conscious marketing execs and radio programmers.) Ultimately, heroin addiction and jail sentences would snuff out any chance of commercial success. Chris Hall and Mike Kerry's very smart documentary, Love Story, meticulously re-creates the mid-'60s scene through chats with surviving band members, producers, musical collaborators, critics and various scenesters; taped interviews with those who died along the way; vintage concert and news footage; and material from the triumphant 2005 Forever Changes Concert in London, where Love's fan base has always remained loyal. Love Story is a documentary that deserves to shown on a regular basis at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, if only to remind curators that album sales shouldn't be the only criterion for inclusion among the greats. The Gits, also recipients of biodoc treatment, were even less well known than Love. Their influence was limited primarily to Seattle's punk and early grunge scene, where the group is remembered less now for their music than the senseless rape and murder of lead singer Mia Zapata, 15 years ago. The mystery behind Zapata's death informs the documentary, primarily because it would inspire women in the Pacific Northwest to form the self-defense group, Home Alive, and her legacy would be carried on by so many now prominent artists. The long-awaited arrest of a suspect in the crime came as a happy surprise for director Kerri O'Kane, as it will to viewers drawn to the DVD by positive reviews and festival buzz. The package includes live performance footage of the Gits, as well as music from Evil Stig with Joan Jett and 7 Year Bitch; interviews with Jett, Kathleen Hanna, Valerie Agnew, Selene Vigil, members of the DC Beggars and the surviving Gits; audio commentary; a featurette; and deleted scenes, Leonard Cohen: Under Review: 1978 - 2006 picks up from where an earlier Under Review profile left off: in the murky aftermath of the singer-songwriter's ill-advised collaboration with producer Phil Specter, whose wall-of-sound never appeared to be a match made in rock-'n'-roll heaven. Facing commercial oblivion, Cohen would find a way to bounce back from that embarrassment and create an album that astounded longtime fans and critics, alike. Not only did Recent Songs jump-start his career, but it also influenced a generation of artists untouched by the folk-music revival of the '60s, from whence the bard of Montreal sprang. Cohen's poetry, while always achingly romantic and thought-provoking, ventured beyond the boudoir to to include mediations on politics, religion, forgiveness and the role art plays in a soulless world. Later albums would expand on those themes, adding new layers of maturity and life experience to each theme. This Under Review is enhanced by more concert footage than usual, as well as testimony from authorized biographers. Also receiving close scrutiny is the Smiths' 1986 album, Under Review: The Queen Is Dead; the '70s British metal scene, in Iron Maiden and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal; Rick Wakeman's Grumpy Old Picture Show, a spin-off of the popular BBC series, Grumpy Old Men; and an exploration of Jamaican dancehall, Hollywood-style, in Jamaican Gold. If anyone were to carve a Mt. Rushmore-like monument for folksingers, Pete Seeger's face would be up there alongside Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Jim Brown's The Power of Song explains how Seeger evolved as a musician, political activist, pacifist, mentor, environmentalist and icon. As a member of the Weavers, he helped turn Leadbelly's Good Night Irene into a commercial sensation, only to be blackballed by HUAC for refusing to testify about his Communist Party past and associates of the leftist persuasion. The 88-year-old Seeger has lowered his profile since the heyday of the Vietnam War protest era, choosing to remain mostly out of the spotlight in a log cabin in upstate New York. Brown introduces us to his wife of 60 years, Toshi, and gets testimonials from Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Maines and Mary Travers. The latest inductees into the Soundstage Presents series of performance DVDs are Heart, Sheryl Crow and REO Speedwagon. Heart was one of the first major rock groups to be fronted by women, and, by bridging the gender gap in live shows, inspired a generation of their musical sisters to step out from the shadows. REO Speedwagon was a prominent American hair band in the '70s, noted for show-stoppers as "Ridin' the Storm Out" and "Keep on Loving You." Crow's popularity remains something of a mystery to me. There isn't much that separates her from a dozen other fine women troubadours, but I'm guessing that she's able to stay in the media limelight due to her physical appeal to middle-age television producers. And, now, something completely different: from A&E Home Video comes the 1973 British mini-series, The Strauss Family, a typically lavish multi-generational study of the careers of and rivalry between Johann Strauss Sr. and Jr. The highlight may be the appearance of a very young Jane Seymour and music performed by the Lo ndon Symphony Orchestra. In BBC Warner's Tchaikovsky, conductor Charles Hazelwood travels to Russia to discover the truth behind the troubled conducter's life and career. -- Gary Dretzka . -- Gary Dretzka

The American Mall Alice Upside Down The American Mall is being released on DVD only a few hours after debuting on MTV. The package adds plenty of bonus features, including extended production numbers, deleted scenes, outtakes (sponsored by a blackhead-removal product) and interviews. Not having seen High School Musical - which the geniuses at ABC aired Monday night, as well - The American Mall was entertaining enough to convince me that it's not merely a rip-off of the Disney teen juggernau t (even if the jacket art promotes the participation of HSM exec-producers). In any case, every movie musical in which teens collaborate on a show for their own or someone else's benefit owes a huge debt of gratitude to Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and Busby Berkeley. Here, the setting is a typical mall in a typical American town, where the guys all are cute, the gals are anorexic and drop-dead gorgeous, and harmony reigns among the ethnically correct populace. The entitled daughter of the mall's owner is desperate to prove to her father that she's worthy of his attention, by opening a plush boutique and performing in an annual talent show. Along the way, she not only endeavors to close the music store of a woman whose daughter is her primary competition, but also conspires to steal her boyfriend. You can easily imagine the rest of the story. The title, Alice Upside Down, refers to the feeling of detachment experienced by Alice McKinley (Alyson Stoner, Camp Rock) after her single-parent father (Luke Perry) moves she and her brother, Lester (Lucas Grabeel, High School Musical) to strange new town. Complicating matters for the new girl is her placement in the 6th-grade class of a hard-ass teacher played by Penny Marshall. The sitcom-ready movie has been adapted - some have argued, sanitized - from the series of Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. -- Gary Dretzka

Irina Palm Even if Irina Palm is something of a one-trick pony, that trick is a doozy. Marianne Faithfull plays Maggie, a frumpy 50-year-old suburbanite who's so desperate to afford treatment for her gravely ill grandson that she becomes a sex worker in a London gentlemen's club (and I use that term advisedly). Without going into detail, Maggie is trained to be a professional wanker in a glory-hole operation at the club. Amazingly, she proves to be so good at her work that she out-earns the imported Eastern European talent and is coveted by the owner's competition. I won't spoil anyone's enjoyment of Irina Palm by revealing that Maggie's good intentions result in her son throwing the money back in her face and disowning her. This, despite the fact that the d ough is essential for her grandchild's survival. It's a plot-driving contrivance that detracts from Maggie's re-emergence as a woman who's desirable for something other than her manual dexterity and availability as a babysitter. Faithfull buries her innate sexuality so deeply in her character that we become fearful that, at 61, she might not be able to pull her sexy self back together for another concert tour. She's terrific, as is Miki Manojlovic as her patron/.pimp. Despite the R-rating, Irina Palm is no more pornographic than Pretty Woman. -- Gary Dretzka

Troubadours American Slapstick, Vol. 2 Classic British Thrillers/ Icons of Adventure Collection Even if Thomas Wolfe hadn't died before You Can't Go Home Again was published in 1940, he couldn't possibly have predicted how easy he had just made life for several generations of writers and filmmakers. When blocked or in doubt, all they would have to do was require their protagonist to test the theory posited in the book's title and the story would write itself. Indeed, it seems as if half of the films submitted to Sundance each year are based on just such pilgrimages home. In Troubadours, a young Chicago-based drummer, Art, agrees to return home to help his father manage the corn crop, while he's on vacation. Primarily, though, Art sees it as an opportunity to put some distance between himself and his longtime girlfriend, who he just caught sharing their bed with another man. The trip also will afford him an opportunity to re-connect with his buddies, who either stayed home or took to the open road. The guys and one gal all share the same rural roots, as well as an aversion to the conservative and highly regimented lifestyles of their parents. They also enjoy overindulging on drugs and booze. Sound familiar? What saves Troubadours from being a hayseed version of dozens of other coming-home movies is the filmmakers' rendering of the setting. It's realistic enough to induce seasonal allergies. Moreover, it goes a long way toward explaining why family farms are going the way of mom-and-pop grocery stores and barn dances. For a generation of young people who grew up on MTV and the Travel Channel, farm life can be mind-numbingly dull, financially risky and intellectually confining. Many small pleasures remain, but there are too few free hours in a farmer's day to enjoy them. The cast of largely unknown actors look the part of farm-raised youth, and they seem to have enjoyed acting like a pack of drunken monkeys when the script demanded it. Rarely are the characters allowed to wallow in their own misery and bore us with problems not at all limited to 4-H Society dropouts. Troubadours, which has been making the rounds of Midwestern film fests, is getting a big push from Facets Video. If nothing else, it's worth renting for the cinematography, which captures the subtle beauty of rolling farmland and majesty of clouds about to replenish the earth with their tears. All that's missing is the stifling humidity. mosquitoes and occasional tornado. It was directed by Tom and Adam Galassi and Tom Snyder, and the original music was scored by Tom McCarthy. Also from Facets comes the second installment in its American Slapstick franchise. This three-disc collection includes material from silent-screen comedians whose faces were far more recognizable than their names. They include Snub Pollard, Paul Parrot, Lige Conley (a.k.a., The Speed Boy of Comedy), Jimmie Adams, Little Bobby Dunn, Alice Howell and Syd Chaplin, Charlie's older half-brother. Almost a century after they were first shown, these films remain funnier than 90 percent of the comedies escaping from Hollywood studios today. Fans of vintage British cinema will want to check out MPI's Classic British Thrillers, which contains Michael Powell's The Phantom Light (1935) and The Red Ensign (1934), and Lawrence Huntington's The Upturned Glass (1947) which starred a young James Mason. Sony's Icons of Adventure Collection package collects the Hammer Studio titles, The Pirates of Blood River, The Devil-Ship Pirates, The Stranglers of Bombay and The Terror of the Tongs. They're all lots of fun. -- Gary Dretzka