FILM FRENZY

Ezra Miller in The Flash (Photo: Warner & DC)

By Matt Brunson

(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray, 4K and DVD. Ratings are on a four-star scale.)

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980). Perhaps better known under its alternate title The Gates of Hell and not to be confused with two other 1980 Italian gore flicks, City of the Walking Dead (aka Nightmare City) and Hell of the Living Dead (aka Virus and Night of the Zombies), City of the Living Dead was co-written and directed by Lucio Fulci a mere year after he had helmed the global blockbuster Zombie (aka Zombi 2, aka the one with the splinter through the eyeball). Christopher George (of Grizzly and The Rat Patrol fame) is the American import here — he’s cast as Peter Bell, an NYC reporter who travels to the New England town of Dunwich to help a psychic (Catriona MacColl) close the portal to Hell before hordes of the undead invade the planet. Their eventual uprising has been triggered by the suicide of a Dunwich priest (Fabrizio Jovine), and the out-of-town visitors are joined in their world-saving activities by a local psychiatrist (Carlo De Mejo) and one of his more jittery patients (Janet Agren). Fulci never quite possessed the poetic eye or storytelling prowess of his fellow giallo practitioners Dario Argento and Mario Bava, meaning his movies usually gained their notoriety through shock sequences alone (BTW, did I mention Zombie’s splinter through the eyeball?). Here, they include a drill through the head, an avalanche of maggots, and a woman endlessly barfing up her intestines through her mouth, not unlike a magician pulling infinite silks from his sleeve. No one will mistake this for a Romero, but it’s OK on its own terms.

Extras in the 4K UHD + Blu-ray edition include audio commentaries by MacColl, co-star Giovanni Lombardo Radice, and film historians; interviews with cast and crew members; and an image gallery.

Movie: ★★½

ENDER’S GAME (2013). It was a long time coming, but Orson Scott Card finally decided to let someone turn his popular 1985 novel into a motion picture. Card had held out as long as he could, even saying that his book was “unfilmable,” but the author (or his agent) finally relented, with Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) being handed the plum assignments of writer and director. Not having read Card’s novel, I couldn’t say whether it was truly “unfilmable,” but what ends up on the screen is indeed “filmable” in that we’ve seen these narrative threads countless times before in science fiction cinema. It’s the future, and the great military leader Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley) has successfully defended Earth against hordes of insect-like invaders. Fearing they might return, the gruff Colonel Hyram Graff (Harrison Ford) searches for a new champion and finds one in Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a boy who believes in beating his opponents so thoroughly that they won’t even think of attacking him again. Ender is shipped off to hone his skills as both a warrior and a leader, making friends and enemies alike and questioning authority almost every chance he gets. Best known for Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, Butterfield is a likable actor, and that innate charm is necessary for us to warm up to a character with such fascistic tendencies. Indeed, the strength of the film is not in its conventional sci-fi elements but in the manner in which Ender relates to everyone around him, particularly the other kids. The rest is rather rote, though the late-inning twist provides a jolt.

The 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital Code Steelbook edition contains no extra features.

Movie: ★★

THE FLASH (2023). Color me shocked. There was so much bad press surrounding The Flash — star Ezra Miller’s heinous off-screen behavior; the film being one of the last dying gasps of the DCEU as it makes way for James Gunn’s DCU; its revolving door of directors; its instant reputation as a bomb even bigger than anything J. Robert Oppenheimer created — that it was reasonable to assume it would be joining Steel and Catwoman as the barrel-bottom scrapers of DC Comics adaptations. Instead, it joins 2017’s excellent Wonder Woman as being one of the only two of the first 14 DCEU films to deserve more than a passing glance (I have yet to see last month’s Blue Beetle). Having discovered that he can travel through time, Barry Allen (Miller) races through the years to prevent the long-ago murder of his mother (Y Tu Mamá También’s Maribel Verdú). He succeeds, but in doing so, he has invariably affected all future events — he ends up in 2013, where he not only meets his younger self (also Miller) but learns that Superman never existed, that there’s a different Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck making way for the return of Michael Keaton to the role), and that the originally cast Eric Stoltz still ended up starring in Back to the Future rather than Michael J. Fox. The visual effects are usually trippy, sometimes terrible, but the elaborate storyline leads to a number of surprises — I still balk at the employment of CGI to bring dead actors back to life, but a couple of other cameos made me guffaw heartily.

Extras in the 4K Ultra HD + Digital Code edition include a making-of piece; a look at the history of The Flash in print and on screen; a look at Keaton’s return as Batman; deleted scenes; and a handful of scene breakdowns.

Movie: ★★★

HUSTLE & FLOW (2006). Writer-director Craig Brewer, a longtime Memphis resident, drew upon his surroundings to add flavor and atmosphere to his riveting tale about a street hustler who longs for a better life. DJay (Terrence Howard) is a pimp who shares a house with his hookers: naïve country girl Nola (Taryn Manning), pregnant sweetie Shug (Taraji P. Henson), and trash-talking Lexus (Paula Jai Parker). Recognizing the dead-end realities of his present existence, he opts to take a chance on producing his own rap songs. He enlists the aid of both a former friend (Anthony Anderson) whose life has taken a more respectable turn and a scrawny white boy (DJ Qualls) who’s a wiz on the beat machine; together, they hope to have a demo tape ready by the time a former Memphis street kid (Ludacris), now a platinum-selling rapper, comes back to town for a visit. Hollywood convention occasionally bumps up against the movie’s more raw aspects, but, for the most part, this picture takes few false steps as it details the efforts of all its characters (not just DJay) to find some purpose in their lives. Howard is sensational in the leading role, although the film’s heart and soul rest in the superlative turns by Manning and Henson as women who never allow circumstances to deflate their inner benevolence. Howard earned a Best Actor Academy Award nomination, while Three 6 Mafia nabbed the Best Original Song Oscar for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp.”

Extras in the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray edition include audio commentary by Brewer; a making-of featurette; an interview with Brewer; extended scenes; footage of Parker’s audition; and rehearsal footage of Howard and Ludacris.

Movie: ★★★

KID GALAHAD (1962) / SPINOUT (1966). Those who thrilled to the Elvis Presley biopic last summer might be interested in catching the genuine article in these two sixties features from The King.

Kid Galahad finds Elvis playing Walter Gulick, a pugilist whose gallantry toward women earns him the titular nickname. With his easygoing demeanor and warbling of several catchy tunes, Presley could effortlessly carry this picture himself, but that’s actually not required thanks to the efforts of an excellent supporting cast: Gig Young as Galahad’s unscrupulous manager, Charles Bronson as his trainer, Joan Blackman as his love interest, and Lola Albright as Young’s perpetually patient paramour. Incidentally, Kid Galahad is a remake of a same-named 1937 film starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and (as the boxer) Wayne Morris. When will Warner Bros. finally bring that version to Blu-ray?

Others might disagree, but I would say that 1962 was the last year before Elvis was forced to follow rigid formula for the rest of his cinematic career (and on those rare occasions when he broke away, the result was something dismal like Charro! or Change of Habit). Spinout is typical of the period, with Elvis choosing between going boom-boom with the ladies or going vroom-vroom with the cars. He’s Mike McCoy, a singer and racing enthusiast who’s being pursued by three marriage-minded women: bratty heiress Cynthia Foxhugh (Shelly Fabares), whose daddy (Carl Betz) wants Mike to race his shiny new car; author Diana St. Clair (Diane McBain), whose upcoming book The Perfect American Male devotes a whole chapter to Mike; and musician Les (Deborah Walley), who’s the drummer in Mike’s band and adores him from anear. Talk about Formula One: This is the sort of predictable pap I expect the Hollywood AIs to be knocking out in the future.

There are no Blu-ray extras on Kid Galahad. Blu-ray extras on Spinout consist of the 1966 Tom & Jerry cartoons Catty-Cornered and Filet Meow, and the theatrical trailer.

Kid Galahad: ★★★

Spinout: ★★

THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937). Considering how many Warner Bros. stars of yesteryear retain name recognition today and continue to be ranked among the legends — Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, Errol Flynn — it’s surprising that Paul Muni has largely faded from memory. Considered by the Warner brass to be the studio’s greatest actor — he was one of the few allowed to pick his own roles — he earned five Best Actor Academy Award nominations (with one win) and starred in such hits as I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang and the original Scarface. A year after being guided to a Best Actor Oscar by Wiiliam Dieterle for The Story of Louis Pasteur, he reunited with the director for another prestige blockbuster, this one revolving around the outspoken French writer. Despite the Life in the title, this isn’t a comprehensive biopic but rather a drama that eventually focuses on one watershed event: the Dreyfus affair, when French-Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus (Joseph Schildkraut) was falsely accused of treason and sentenced to life in the penal colony on Devil’s Island. Sniffing injustice and anti-Semitism in the air, Zola, by now a famous (if controversial) writer known for tackling inequality, risked his career by defending Dreyfus in print (“J’Accuse…!”) and in public. Army intrigue and courtroom theatrics are just some of the savory ingredients in this compelling film. Nominated for a then-record 10 Oscars, including Best Actor and Best Director, it won three: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Schildkraut), and Best Screenplay.

Blu-ray extras consist of the 1939 Lux Radio broadcast starring Muni; the 1929 live-action short Mal Hallett and His Orchestra; the 1937 live-action short Taking the Count; and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★★½

THE QUIET MAN (1952). John Ford directed so many certified classics — The Searchers, The Grapes of Wrath, Stagecoach, and on and on — that it’s a daunting task singling out one movie as his best. I’ll sidestep that challenge for the moment and simply state that, out of all his works, none provide me with as much pure pleasure — and leave a perpetual grin on my mug — as the Irish-American director’s ode to his family’s ancestral country. John Wayne stars as Sean Thornton, an American boxer who returns to his birthplace of Innisfree, Ireland, with his stateside years shrouded in mystery. He’s accepted by all the locals except Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen), a local bigwig incensed that Thornton acquired the land he himself had coveted for years. Thornton falls for the beautiful Mary Kate (Maureen O’Hara), a quick-tempered redhead; unfortunately for the Yank, she happens to be Danaher’s sister, and local tradition dictates that a woman can’t court without the approval of a male family member. High-spirited comedy and a swift upending of gender rules help propel this beautifully filmed (in Technicolor) gem that’s paced to match the temperaments of its characters — in other words, it’s boisterous, life-affirming, and marked with a deep-seated romantic spirit. Wayne’s performance ranks among his top two or three, while Barry Fitzgerald steals scenes as impish Michaleen Flynn, rarely spotted without a drink in hand. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for McLaglen, it won statues for Best Director (Ford’s fourth, a record that still stands) and Best Color Cinematography.

The only extra on the Blu-ray is a making-of featurette hosted by Leonard Maltin.

Movie: ★★★★

THE SWORD IN THE STONE (1963) / ROBIN HOOD (1973). Two timeless tales — the origin of King Arthur and the adventures of Robin Hood — have been brought to the screen on a number of occasions, although never successfully by Disney. For while the Walt factory theoretically could have produced fine features out of these choice selections, the sad fact is that both were attempted during the studio’s moribund period, that generally subpar stretch between 1961’s 101 Dalmatians and 1989’s The Little Mermaid. So while these films will satisfy the little ones, they offer little of value to older viewers except perhaps from a nostalgic vantage point.

The Sword in the Stone relates the saga of young Arthur (nicknamed Wart), who’s toiling as a lowly servant when he meets the wizard Merlin. On the way to yanking that sword out of that stone, Arthur has some pretty tepid adventures (he’s turned into a fish and a squirrel, hardly riveting developments) and, aside from the owl Archimedes, none of the characters make any impression whatsoever.

Even worse is Robin Hood, a dull and disjointed retelling that spends more time on the buffoonish antics of Prince John and Sir Hiss than on the outlaw archer. Those who bashed Kevin Costner’s Yankee accent in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves should get an earful of the Southerners cast in this version, including George Lindsey, The Andy Griffith Show‘s Goober Pyle, and Pat Buttram, Green Acres‘ Mr. Haney.

Blu-ray extras on The Sword in the Stone include an alternate opening; two cartoons, 1938’s Oscar-nominated Brave Little Tailor (starring Mickey Mouse) and 1946’s A Knight for a Day (starring Goofy); and a piece on the musical team The Sherman Brothers. Blu-ray extras on Robin Hood include an alternate ending; a deleted storyline; the 1933 Mickey Mouse cartoon Ye Olden Days; and a photo gallery.

The Sword in the Stone: ★★

Robin Hood: ★½

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

FORBIDDEN GAMES (1952). René Clément’s still-timely, still-affecting drama centers on a little girl whose parents are killed during an aerial raid by the enemy. The setting is World War II France, and, after witnessing the strafing deaths of her parents and her dog by swooping German planes, little city girl Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) gets “adopted” by older country boy Michel (Georges Poujouly), who brings his find home to his family. Feeling protective of the precocious moppet, Michel caters to her whims, so when she requests that her dog be buried with the same measure of pomp and circumstance given to humans, he responds by building her a pet cemetery. Soon, all manner of critters get buried in that makeshift plot — some killed by Michel for the sole purpose of burying them — but matters get complicated once the kids start stealing crosses and other artifacts from actual cemeteries to decorate their own memorial. Perhaps not until Ponette in 1996 had another movie looked so closely at how death might be absorbed through the eyes of a small child. Forbidden Games is more complex, however, in that it’s up to each individual viewer to decide whether these children’s actions signify that they’re little angels, little demons, or blank slates rolling with the punches in a volatile world. Released four years before the Academy established the Best Foreign Language Film category, this earned a special Oscar as the year’s best import; it also picked up a nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story (François Boyer).

Movie: ★★★½