FILM FRENZY

Mason Thames in The Black Phone (Photo: Universal)

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.)

BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE ULTIMATE TRILOGY (1985-1990). By my count, this marks the 10th time that the popular trilogy has been released on Blu-ray (past editions have included 25th Anniversary, 30th Anniversary, 35th Anniversary, and The Complete Adventures). As far as I can tell, there’s nothing added to this set — no new extras, no new remastering, nada. As for the movies themselves, the 1985 original, in which Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Doc (Christopher Lloyd) zoom 30 years back to 1955, remains the best; 1989’s middle entry, in which the pair head forward to 2015, is the most underrated (like fellow second child Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, it had to contend with doltish charges of being too cold); and 1990’s third entry, which blasted the two back to the Old West of 1885, is the most conventional.

Blu-ray extras include audio commentaries; making-of featurettes; deleted scenes; interviews; and music videos.

Back to the Future: ★★★½

Back to the Future Part II: ★★★

Back to the Future Part III: ★★½

THE BLACK PHONE (2022). Here’s one of those supernatural thrillers that would actually be better off without the supernatural elements. Ethan Hawke plays “The Grabber,” a psychopath who abducts young boys, imprisons them in his basement, and then murders them. His latest potential victim is Finney (Mason Thames), who receives some unlikely help when the spirits of the deceased kids begin calling him on a disconnected phone. Between director and co-writer Scott Derrickson (working from Joe Hill’s short story) establishing the proper moody ambience and coaxing strong performances from all concerned, The Black Phone is effective even before that phone starts ringing, but these spooks are the central premise of the picture so we go with it. But the story stacks the deck by conveniently having Finney’s sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) possess psychic abilities that aid in the search for Finney, and the film grows sillier as it takes all the easy ways out.

Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by Derrickson; deleted scenes; and Derrickson’s 2021 short film Shadowprowler.

Movie: ★★½

CATS DON’T DANCE (1997). On the heels of the recent Blu-ray release of 1962’s Gay Purr-ee, Warner Archive Collection offers another animated yarn about a small-town cat who heads to a big city seeking glamour and fortune. This one’s also a mediocrity, and, unlike that earlier film, it doesn’t have Judy Garland’s voice as compensation. Instead, we get Scott Bakula as Danny, a naïve youngster who arrives in Hollywood expecting to become a major star in no time. But his dreams get dashed when he learns that animals basically only serve as extras while humans — such as the bratty child star Darla Dimple (Ashley Peldon) — get all the good parts. Aside from Darla’s hulking butler Max (voiced by the film’s director, Max Dindal), the characters are dull in both form and content, and Randy Newman’s songs are equally forgettable.

Blu-ray extras consist of four cartoons dealing with show business — 1938’s Daffy Duck in Hollywood (Daffy), 1949’s Curtain Razor (Porky), 1950’s What’s Up, Doc? (Bugs), and 1957’s Show Biz Bugs (Bugs & Daffy) — and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000). Set in ancient China and centering on three marvelously delineated warriors (wonderfully played by Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Zhang Ziyi), director Ang Lee’s martial arts masterwork kicks into high-flying gear when a sword known as the Green Destiny gets stolen. Bolstered by its operatic sweep, this Taiwanese import is at once pulpy and profound, a movie that never forgets to have fun even as it’s tackling such straight-faced issues as honor, devotion, and compassion. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), it won four, including Best Foreign Language Film. With a haul of $128 million, it remains the top-grossing foreign-language film stateside (Life Is Beautiful, Hero, and Parasite are distant runners-up in the $53-$57 million range).

Extras in the reissued 4K UHD Steelbook edition include audio commentary by Lee and co-writer and producer James Schamus; audio commentary by Oscar-winning cinematographer Peter Pau; a making-of piece; an interview with Yeoh; and deleted scenes.

Movie: ★★★½

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980). For what it’s worth, this franchise starter is one of the better entries in the Jason-kills-everybody series, with the concept fairly fresh, Dawn of the Dead artiste Tom Savini contributing suitably gruesome makeup effects, and Harry Manfredini introducing a score that soon became instantly recognizable. An up-and-coming Kevin Bacon appears as one of the ill-fated counselors at Camp Crystal Lake, while veteran actress Betsy Palmer (Mister Roberts), cast as Mrs. Voorhees (Jason’s mommie dearest), delivers the most embarrassing performance found in any movie in the long-running slasher series.

Extras in the reissued 4K Ultra HD Steelbook edition (which contains both the theatrical release and an uncut, unrated version) include audio commentary by director Sean S. Cunningham and other key personnel; a pair of making-of featurettes; an interview with Cunningham; a piece on the gore effects; and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★

HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER (1998). When Jamie Lee Curtis made Halloween H20 two decades after the classic original (and 17 years after Halloween II), she quickly learned she would be returning to the role of Laurie Strode for 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection. What she couldn’t know was that she would be essaying the part another 20 years later for David Gordon Green’s terrible trilogy reboot. Honestly, it’s a lot of bother for a character who should have been a one-and-done after 1978. In Halloween H20, Laurie is now the headmistress of a private school but is still haunted by memories of her crazy brother Michael Myers. Her fears that he might again turn up prove to be accurate, as he descends upon the institute and tries to kill Laurie, her boyfriend (Adam Arkin), her son (Josh Hartnett), her son’s girlfriend (Michelle Williams), and the comic-relief security guard (LL Cool J). The seventh  film in the franchise (we’re up to 13, BTW) is less gory than many slasher flicks, but it’s also more tedious, with artless staging that doesn’t make the film claustrophobic as much as vacuum-packed.

The 4K UHD + Digital Code Steelbook edition includes no extras.

Movie: ★★

SARATOGA (1937). Saratoga’s greatest claim to fame is mired in tragedy, as it turned out to be the final film of ‘30s sex symbol and top comedienne Jean Harlow. Harlow died of kidney failure at the frightfully young age of 26 before the picture was completed — planning to reshoot with a different actress, studio suits changed their minds based on the avalanche of fan mail requesting one final film with Harlow and finished the production with a body double. Released seven weeks after Harlow’s death, Saratoga was, not surprisingly, a smash hit. Paired with Clark Gable for the sixth and final time, Harlow is delightful as Carol Clayton, who is set to marry millionaire Hartley Madison (Walter Pidgeon) but is constantly distracted by Duke Bradley (Gable), the charming bookie who alternately annoys and intrigues her. The horse-racing angle grows too convoluted by the end, but the sparks — and witty banter — fly consistently in this scintillating romantic comedy.

Blu-ray extras consist of the 1937 documentary short The Romance of Celluloid (with an appearance by Gable) and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★★

WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951). It was no less than Frank Capra who wanted to bring this tale to the screen, eventually retaining story credit but handing over directing and scripting duties to William A. Wellman (The Ox-Bow Incident) and Charles Schnee (Red River) respectively. The pair put across a unique and uncompromising Western in which a new California town needs around 150 women to marry its approximately 150 men. Once volunteer brides are found in Chicago, a grouchy scout (Robert Taylor) is employed to lead the wagon trains — along the way, he teaches the women to fend and fight for themselves. Wayward weather and Native American attacks are some of the outside dangers; coming from within is the threat of the hired hands having their way with the ladies. With little sentimentality to soften the more brutal sequences, this is an unusual and hard-charging drama that adds some subversive shadings to the typical Western template.

Blu-ray extras include a vintage promotional piece; the 1952 radio broadcast with Taylor reprising his role; and the Tom & Jerry cartoons Texas Tom (1950) and The Duck Doctor (1952).

Movie: ★★★½

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

ROMY AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (1997). An intelligent comedy about not-so-intelligent people, this charmer stars Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow as two carefree California girls who begin to reevaluate their lives on the eve of their 10-year high school reunion. With a burning desire to impress their former classmates (especially the popular girls who treated them viciously back in the day), the pair decide to attend the reunion posing as successful businesswomen (their claim to fame is that they invented Post-Its!). Things go wrong from the start, but with a little help from sympathetic classmates, Cyndi Lauper, and their own eye-popping wardrobe, they just might end up as the belles of the ball anyway. The film’s only serious misstep comes in the middle, when time spent on an interminable dream sequence would have been better utilized on the reunion itself. But Robin Schiff’s screenplay is filled with memorable lines (“You’re just as cute as me,” Michele assures Romy. “In some cultures, maybe even cuter.”), Sorvino and Kudrow are an irresistible team, and Janeane Garofalo (as the class’s moody outsider) shows up to steal scenes with aplomb.

Movie: ★★★