FILM FRENZY

Charles Bronson in Once Upon a Time in the West (Photo: Paramount)

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.)

AMERICAN SNIPER (2014). Say this about American Sniper: It’s the only film in the past 25 years (since 1998’s Saving Private Ryan) to top its year’s box office without being a franchise flick (mostly meaning sequels and superheroes). That’s an impressive achievement, and it’s just a shame it couldn’t have gone to a better film. This one relates the story of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), a U.S. Navy SEAL shooter who recorded more kills than anyone else in American military history (160 confirmed, another 95 probable). Director Clint Eastwood’s films have over the decades served as an intriguing — and evolving — treatise on issues of gun violence and hero worship, beginning with the hardline stylings of Dirty Harry through the revisionist politics of Unforgiven through the startlingly progressive stance of Gran Torino. American Sniper both backtracks and adds nothing new to the conversation, and while Eastwood and scripter Jason Hall slightly muddy the morality at play, they still err on the side of sainthood in painting their portrait of Kyle, a possible psychopath and a man whose more tasteless actions and comments have been scrubbed from this biopic. In one sense, that doesn’t matter, as fictionalizations never claim to be carved-in-stone documentaries — nor should they be. But it does render the lead character superficial and suspect (contrasted with, say, Lindy West’s Guardian piece titled “The real Chris Kyle was a hate-filled killer. Why are simplistic patriots treating him as a hero?”). The film features a solid turn by Cooper and a few sequences that pack a visceral kick, but a little more complexity would have allowed it to score a more direct hit. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay, it won for Best Sound Editing.

Extras in the 4K + Digital Code edition include a making-of piece; a piece on Navy SEALs; and a look at Kyle.

Movie: ★★½

DUNE: PART TWO (2024). Writer-director Denis Villeneuve continues his conquest of Frank Herbert’s mammoth literary undertaking, employing the best production values that studio money can buy to again bury viewers in the sands of the spice world Arrakis. In this installment — no point providing a plot synopsis of Part One; you were either there or you weren’t — the destruction of House Atreides has forced Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) to take it on the lam, joining forces with the desert inhabitants the Fremen. While Fremen warrior Stilgar (Javier Bardem) believes Paul to be the Chosen One who will ultimately save the planet, and while Paul and Chani (Zendaya) fall in love, other locals are more suspicious of the lad’s intentions. Meanwhile, the ruthless Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) feels that his nephew Rabban (Dave Bautista) isn’t up to the task of overseeing Arakis and replaces him with his psychotic nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler, no longer looking anything like Elvis). If Part One was more interesting in terms of plotting and character development, Part Two scores slightly higher in political intrigue and sheer spectacle, even if the dictates of the storyline occasionally make it feel more familiar (Lawrence of Arrakis?) and more meandering. Josh Brolin again adds gruff gravitas as Paul’s friend and mentor Gurley Halleck, while cast newcomers include Christopher Walken as the duplicitous Emperor and Florence Pugh as his conflicted daughter Princess Irulan.

Extras in the 4K Ultra HD + Digital Code edition consist of a handful of making-of featurettes that total a little over an hour in running time; topics include “Creating the Fremen World,” “Worm-riding,” and “The Sounds of Dune.”

Movie: ★★★

GRAVITY (2013). To listen to some overzealous scribes tell it upon its original release, writer-director Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity was so much the “game-changing” masterpiece that it made 2001: A Space Odyssey look as feeble as Plan 9 From Outer Space by comparison. Well, no. It’s not even Cuarón’s best picture, not with Y Tu Mamá También, Children of Men, and Roma on his resume. Yet what it lacks in sociopolitical heft and laser-point characterizations it makes up for in sheer visual spectacle. Working with director of photography Emmanuel Lubezski and a crack FX team to create a you-are-there environment, Cuarón puts us in the company of rookie rocketeer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), members of the Explorer space shuttle crew. Their patch-up mission is going as planned until debris from a destroyed Russian satellite cripples the shuttle and kills everyone else. Stone is a panicky mess as she’s free-floating through space with her oxygen supply running perilously low; that leaves it to Kowalski to devise a plan that will allow them to safely return to Earth. Lubezski’s visuals are so staggering, so awe-inspiring, that they bring up thoughts of the existence of God (or not; take your pick), the mysteries of the universe, and the fatal beauty of everything that surrounds us. The sparse screenplay by Cuarón and his son Jonás Cuarón will strike some as suitably thrifty and others as appallingly threadbare, and while the home theater experience obviously doesn’t compare to the film’s IMAX 3-D run, the movie nevertheless looks great on Blu-ray. Nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress, this won seven, including Best Director and Best Cinematography.

Blu-ray extras include a nine-part making-of feature; an analysis of select shots; and Jonás Cuarón’s short film Aningaaq.

Movie: ★★★½

KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988). Although the Chiodo Brothers — Stephen, Charles and Edward — have helped create the visual effects seen in various Hollywood flicks over the decades (credits include Critters, Elf, and Team America: World Police), only once have they been given the reins to write, direct, and produce their own motion picture. That would be Killer Klowns From Outer Space, and, given the groovy results, it’s a mystery why we’ve now gone 36 years without some studio handing them the funds to make another movie. Working wonders with a relatively slender budget, the siblings serve up an endlessly inventive yarn in which a small town is invaded by otherworldly Bozos who begin capturing, killing, and cocooning the citizens for future consumption. Clean-cut kids Mike (Grant Cramer) and Debby (Suzanne Snyder) try to warn the local law, but while Debby’s ex-boyfriend, Deputy Dave (John Allen Nelson), suspects they might be telling the truth, grouchy Deputy Mooney (John Vernon, scowling as much as he did as Dean Wormer in National Lampoon’s Animal House) thinks it’s all a big hoax. The imagination that went into the visual effects, the set design, and the alien gadgetry makes it easy to overlook any minor deficiencies in other departments.

Extras on the new 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray SteelBook edition include audio commentary by the Chiodo Brothers; a making-of featurette; a couple of deleted scenes; an interview with visual effects supervisor Gene Warren Jr.; an interview with composer John Massari; bloopers; a handful of early short films by the Chiodos; and Easter Eggs.

Movie: ★★★

MAGIC MIKE (2012). Less of a Saturday Night Fever and more of a Friday evening shrug, Magic Mike follows the template of that John Travolta disco tale by starting off as a bright movie full of dance moves and music before turning into something decidedly darker. Channing Tatum, working from a screenplay loosely based on his own days as an exotic dancer, is Mike, the hottest male stripper working at a joint owned by the silky-smooth Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). Mike dreams of one day opening his own custom-furniture shop, but for now, he’s content doing the bump-and-grind, along the way mentoring 19-year-old slacker Adam (Alex Pettyfer). Adam is nicknamed “The Kid,” although thankfully nobody ever utters that age-old adage, “You’re going out there a youngster, but you’ve got to come back a star!” Yet a star is precisely what Adam becomes, which leads to the expected second-half hardships focusing on his plunges into drug use and casual sex. Yet because Adam was a zero from the moment we met him, this descent into debauchery doesn’t reflect any significant character change, and it’s hard to get worked up over his fate. Far more interesting are Mike and his relationships with those around him, including Adam’s sister (nicely played by Cody Horn). And even more interesting would have been a deeper analysis of the exotic-dancer business, such as why male strippers are generally viewed by the population at large as fun-loving party guys while female strippers are often tagged in more tragic (and puritanical) terms. But Magic Mike has no time for such complexities: It’s only here to take your money, offer some slick entertainment, and clear the (living) room before the next show. This was followed by 2015’s Magic Mike XXL (a much better film) and 2023’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance (comparable to the first).

The only extra on the 4K Ultra HD edition is a making-of piece.

Movie: ★★½

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1969). Sergio Leone’s legendary opus had to suffer its share of fools (lightly and otherwise) upon its initial stateside release — and it certainly didn’t help that the studio chopped 25 minutes out of its 165-minute length — but the picture has stood the test of time so well that it’s now regarded as one of the greatest of all Westerns. Eventually restored to its original length, Leone’s operatic oater remains notable for several achievements, including its ability to serve as an elegy for both the passing of the Old West and the passing of the Western (which would fall out of favor with audiences over the ensuing decade), the casting of Hollywood hero Henry Fonda as a cold-blooded killer, and the masterful way in which the visuals match up beautifully with Ennio Morricone’s exceptional score (indeed, Morricone composed his music before Leone began filming). Top-billed Claudia Cardinale plays Jill McBain, a reformed prostitute whose attempt at a new life is hampered by the machinations of a hired gunman named Frank (Fonda); also figuring into the action are the gabby, good-natured outlaw Cheyenne (Jason Robards) and “Harmonica” (Charles Bronson, in the role that made him a superstar in Europe), a taciturn cowboy who lets his musical instrument and his pistol do most of his talking. The story was concocted by the powerhouse trio of Leone, Dario Argento (Suspiria), and Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor), with Leone and Sergio Donato handling screenplay duties. It’s a true masterpiece of the genre and arguably the best spaghetti Western ever made.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition include audio commentary by Cardinale, Bertolucci, directors John Carpenter and John Milius, Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling, and others; a trio of making-of featurettes; and production stills.

Movie: ★★★★

ORDINARY ANGELS (2024). The most interesting aspect of Ordinary Angels isn’t that it’s a faith-based flick that mostly succeeds, or that it offers a fine showcase for a two-time Oscar-winning actress who should be getting more work in major movies. It’s the fact that the screenplay was co-written by Meg Tilly — yes, the ‘80s actress who earned an Oscar nomination for Agnes of God and also appeared in such films as The Big Chill and Psycho II. And the other person who receives scripting credit? Kelly Fremon Craig, whose two films as writer-director, The Edge of Seventeen and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, both placed on my year-end 10 Best lists in their respective years. Based on a true story, this stars Hilary Swank as Sharon Stevens, a Kentucky hairdresser who’s having trouble coming to terms with the fact that she’s an alcoholic. She locates a purpose in life when she hears about Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson), a roofer whose wife has recently died and whose 5-year-old daughter Michelle (Emily Mitchell) will also pass away unless she receives a liver transplant. But the wait list is long and the medical bills have grown to mountainous proportions — enter Sharon, who devotes all her energy to helping the Schmitts by holding fundraisers, browbeating hospital administrators into lowering (or eliminating altogether) the hefty bills, and occasionally looking after Michelle and her sister Ashley (Skywalker Hughes). Yet despite all this, Ed harbors some resentment toward Sharon, as he feels guilty that he’s not the one saving the day. There isn’t anything here that will catch even the most sheltered viewer by surprise, and, even with Swank’s fine emoting, Sharon is painted mostly in broad strokes. But the “people power” message does shine through.

Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Jon Gunn; a making-of featurette; and deleted scenes.

Movie: ★★½

ORPHAN (2009). It’s The Bad Seed until it isn’t. It’s The Omen until it changes its mind. In other words, the twist ending to Orphan alters everything that has come before to such a starling degree that it’s no wonder many folks dig this plot pirouette while just as many despise it. (Me, I dug it but also could have lived without it.) Vera Farmiga stars as Kate Coleman, a recovering alcoholic still reeling from the stillbirth of her third child. Once Kate and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) decide to adopt an orphan to join their other two children, they settle on 9-year-old Russian immigrant Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). But while John dotes on the newest family member, it doesn’t take Kate and the other kids, 12-year-old son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) and 5-year-old daughter Max (Aryana Engineer), long to notice that there’s something not quite right with Esther, and that nasty accidents seem to happen to anyone who dares anger her. Tense and trashy in equal measure, Orphan’s overall success is drastically affected by the presence of John, so idiotic a character that he makes Homer Simpson look as brainy as the late Stephen Hawking by comparison. John’s a terrible and inattentive husband, and while there are some ugly messages that could be taken from this movie, particularly that we should be wary of orphans and we should be fearful of foreigners, his presence does allow a less threatening message to take hold: Stop being an imbecile and listen to your wife.

Blu-ray extras include a look at bad seeds in film; deleted scenes; an alternate ending; and an interview with composer John Ottman. There are also a whopping four audio commentaries featuring a total of nine podcast/YouTube fanboy/fangirl reviewers, eight of whose names were seemingly picked at random from a fishbowl (only one sports any actual credentials or qualifications).

Movie: ★★½

Short And Sweet

BLOOD SIMPLE (1985). Not just noteworthy as the first picture written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, this excellent neo-noir also stands as an important film in the development of the American independent cinema during the 1980s. Frances McDormand also makes her debut here, playing the wife of a sleazy bar owner (Dan Hedaya), while character actor M. Emmet Walsh lands the role of his career as an immoral private detective working his own agenda after he’s hired by the aforementioned bar owner to murder his wife and her lover (John Getz).

4K extras include a conversation between the Coens and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld (who would graduate to becoming a director in his own right, with the likes of Get Shorty and Men in Black under his belt); a conversation between the Coens and author Dave Eggers; and interviews with McDormand, Walsh, composer Carter Burwell, and sound mixer Skip Lievsay.

Movie: ★★★½

THE RAIN PEOPLE (1969). Largely unknown and unsung until after he hit it big with 1971’s The Godfather, this effort from writer-director Francis Ford Coppola finds Shirley Knight delivering a strong performance as a pregnant housewife who, feeling stifled, heads out on the road for some breathing room and for some time to think. Her life becomes complicated, however, when she picks up a simple-minded football player (James Caan) and must in effect mother him. Robert Duvall co-stars as a lonely motorcycle cop in this interesting drama notable for being an early example of feminist cinema. If only it didn’t end the way we all knew it would.

The only Blu-ray extra is the theatrical trailer — a shame this release couldn’t also include Filmmaker, a documentary short on the making of The Rain People that was directed by George Lucas (who also served as a production associate on the Coppola flick).

Movie: ★★★

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

DEATH RACE 2000 (1975). Impossible to defend but easy to enjoy, this drive-in exploitation fodder — a big hit for producer Roger Corman (RIP) — imagines a Y2K in which the national pastime is a cross-country racing event where the object (in addition to crossing the finish line, of course) is to rack up points by wiping out as many pedestrians as possible (female casualties are worth more than male ones, although senior citizens rank the highest). The masked Frankenstein (David Carradine) is the sports’ most beloved player, but the ruthless Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone, a mere year away from Rocky stardom) schemes to steal his thunder. The usual quotas of gore and nudity make their expected appearances, but since this is a Corman production, pointed satirical jabs regarding the dangers of a fascistic government and the American people’s obsession with violence are also prominently displayed. This was remade (badly) in 2008 as the Jason Statham actioner Death Race, while a belated sequel (Death Race 2050) produced by Corman and starring Manu Bennett and Malcolm McDowell followed in 2017.

Movie: ★★★