FILM FRENZY

Adrien Brody in The Brutalist (Photo: A24)

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.)

ANTIVIRAL (2012). The maxim “Like father, like son” has proven true in the case of Brandon Cronenberg, whose three films as writer-director have demonstrated that he’s interested in the same themes as his dad David — chiefly, the betrayal by one’s own body, the loss of autonomy, and the relationship between man and machine. Brandon’s critically acclaimed pair of Possessor and Infinity Pool left me cold, but I responded more positively to the elements found in his debut feature. In the near future, fans of A-list celebrities have become so obsessed with their idols that they have found a new way to worship them: Whenever a star gets sick, companies get hold of the infectious virus and inject it into (or feed it to) willing groupies for a high price. Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works at such a company, The Lucas Clinic, but in order to make extra dough, he allows himself to be used as an incubator and smuggles viruses out of the lab inside his own body. When he injects himself with a disease obtained from superstar Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon), he becomes violently ill — he also becomes the target of several interested parties. Cronenberg’s indictment of celebrity worship might be delivered with all the grace and stealth of a chainsaw cutting through tin cans, but it’s difficult not to agree that as a culture we’re doubtless heading somewhere similarly dire and disgusting.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition include audio commentary by Cronenberg and director of photography Karim Hussain; deleted scenes; and Cronenberg’s 2008 short Broken Tulips.

Movie: ★★★

BLUE SUNSHINE (1977). A year after making his feature-film debut with the killer-worms movie Squirm, writer-director Jeff Leiberman masterminded another out-there oddity that has since amassed cult status. Unique enough to overcome some limp acting, clunky dialogue, and an underwhelming denouement, this manages to stick it to both mainstream conformity and the anti-establishment movement. Future softcore director Zalman King delivers a bizarre and ineffective performance as Jerry Zipkin, who notices that a string of murders committed by normal people suddenly turning bald and homicidal might be the result of a strain of LSD taken by former Stanford students back in the ‘60s. Congressional hopeful Ed Flemming (Mark Goddard) might be the link, and it all ends with a rampage in a mall discotheque. Blue Sunshine is effective at establishing and maintaining an eerie aura of paranoia, and even if the tension fades significantly during the third act, the overall result is a unique endeavor aggressively staged by Lieberman. Lou Grant’s Robert Walden is good as a weary doctor who might eventually turn into a killer, and look for Blade Runner’s Leon, Brion James, as the party guest who squawks like Rodan.

Extras in the impressive 4K + Blu-ray edition include two audio commentaries by Lieberman; several interviews with Lieberman; two edits of Lieberman’s first film, the 1972 short The Ringer; and two anti-drug “scare films,” 1967’s LSD-25 and 1968’s LSD: Insight or Insanity. A soundtrack CD, a booklet, and a poster are also included.

Movie: ★★★

BON VOYAGE (2003). This French import from director Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Cyrano de Bergerac) possesses the élan and sophistication of those vintage all-star opuses like Grand Hotel and Dinner at Eight, although its spirit clearly rests with Casablanca, that movie in which the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of — well, you know the routine. Isabelle Adjani receives top billing as a spoiled movie star able to use her feminine wiles to ensnare any man, yet she’s merely one of the many characters flitting about in this story that takes place just as the Nazis are preparing to march into Paris. The largest role goes to appealing Grégori Derangère, cast as a congenial writer who finds himself (take a deep breath) implicated in a murder committed by the actress, aiding an elderly scientist (Jean-Marc Stehlé) and his shapely assistant (Virginie Ledoyen) smuggle contraband material to England, mixing it up with a waffling government official (Gerard Depardieu) and a secretive journalist (Peter Coyote), and somehow still finding time to write his novel. It’s all about as believable as those comic shorts in which The Three Stooges smacked around Adolph Hitler — and no less entertaining.

Blu-ray extras consist of audio commentary by Rappeneau and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★★

THE BRUTALIST (2024). The most famous image in writer-director Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, that of the Statue of Liberty viewed upside down, is also the shot that quickly establishes one of the film’s primary motifs: Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth (Adrien Brody) has arrived in the United States, but his path to the American Dream will be a twisted and disorienting jaunt that will turn his life upside down. Brody is phenomenal as the tortured Tóth, with the film tracking his movement as he attempts to process his trauma, initially through heroin and then through his art — along the way, he is hired and encouraged by industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) and reunited with his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones). It’s easy to see why many loathe this movie — for some because it doesn’t flow as smoothly as other enormous undertakings requiring over three hours of screen time, for others because its view that immigrants are the lifeblood of the U.S. is deemed obscene by those myopic citizens supporting the current nationalist regime. But even if Corbet’s reach occasionally exceeds his grasp, he has still fashioned a pensive and persuasive piece whose greatest fault is that its formalism often mutes its emotional pull. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Pearce), Supporting Actress (Jones), Director, and Original Screenplay (Corbet and Mona Fastvold), it won three: Best Actor (Brody), Cinematography (Lol Crawley), and Original Score (Daniel Blumberg).

Blu-ray extras consist of audio commentary by Crawley and a making-of featurette.

Movie: ★★★

EARTH II (1971). The 1970s witnessed a hefty number of failed pilots for proposed TV series in the sci-fi field, many set in the future. This lot included Gene Roddenberry’s Genesis II and Planet Earth (both reviewed here), Irwin Allen’s City Beneath the Sea, and Stick Around (starring Andy Kaufman). One of the earliest efforts was this ambitious undertaking which opens with the text crawl, “The concept of an orbiting space station as depicted in this film is based on advance studies of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.” Indeed, it would only be two more years before NASA launched the U.S.’s first space station, although Skylab was never as populated as Earth II, which as the title infers was designed to serve as a second home to our planet’s population. The space colony is meant to promote peace and solidarity among all nations, including the Soviet Union. However, the Chinese, for whatever reason (perhaps they sensed that an imbecilic American leader would one day impose 145% tariffs on their goods?), seek to destroy it with nuclear warheads, thus forcing various facility bigwigs (Gary Lockwood, Tony Franciosa, Gary Merrill) to act quickly. Fine visual effects and an interesting premise aren’t quite enough to overcome the underwhelming developments. As a sidenote, I love how televised debates shown in the movie are immediately and effortlessly fact-checked via overlaid text; if it’s this easy, why aren’t we doing this for something like, oh, presidential debates?

The only extra is the trailer for the film’s international run in theaters.

Movie: ★★½

HIT MAN (1972). The 1971 Michael Caine classic Get Carter (itself based on Ted Lewis’ novel Jack’s Return Home) unfortunately led to a dismal 2000 remake starring Sylvester Stallone — less known is that it also led to an equally pathetic 1974 blaxploitation version. Bernie Casey stars as Tyrone Tackett, a former cop who arrives in Los Angeles to attend the funeral of his brother Cornell. The official version is that Cornell drowned while drunk, but Tyrone knows that his sibling was murdered and decides to conduct his own investigation. Written and directed by George Armitage (later of Miami Blues, reviewed here), Hit Man offers a dull mystery populated by drab characters, and it places Pam Grier at the center of its casual misogyny (her character is hardly the worst on view yet she predictably suffers the most horrific death). And I’m going to assume that the gruesome dogfight that’s lovingly showcased in one sequence was simulated (this being the seventies, it’s hard to know for sure). A former NFL player for the 49ers and Rams, Casey eventually went on to become a respected character actor in many mainstream movies and television shows, but as the lead in a blaxploitation flick, he’s unbearably stiff and lacks the charisma of the genre’s biggest stars.

The only Blu-ray extra is the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★½

I’M STILL HERE (2024). Of all the winners at the recent Academy Awards ceremony, the one that gave me the most joy was the Brazilian release I’m Still Here taking the Best International Feature Oscar, a score even more sweet since it toppled feeble frontrunner Emilia Pérez. There was also a nice symmetry in the fact that, 26 years after directing Fernanda Montenegro to a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Central Station, Walter Salles similarly oversaw Montenegro’s daughter Fernanda Torres receive a Best Actress nod for her equally exemplary effort here. And the piece’s third nomination was a somewhat unexpected one in the Best Motion Picture category, which of course was merely its due as one of the finest flicks of 2024 (on my own 10 Best list, it was #3). The target of a failed boycott by Brazil’s right-wing faction, this forceful, fact-based picture takes place in 1971, during that lengthy period when the country was ruled by a military dictatorship responsible for the torture, disappearance, and/or murders of 20,000 dissidents. Torres plays Eunice Paiva, whose architect husband Rubens (Selton Mello) is carted away from their home one day, forcing Eunice to comfort their five children while also seeking answers regarding his disappearance. Every family member is perfectly cast, the coda is enormously moving, and the closing text will infuriate those witnessing our own country’s hard shift toward autocracy.

There are no DVD extras.

Movie: ★★★½

THE MAGILLA GORILLA SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1964-1966). Debuting in syndication but quickly finding a home on Saturday mornings, this Hanna-Barbera production centers on the titular great ape, who as each episode begins is seen in the display window of the pet shop owned by the frustrated Mr. Peebles. Peebles is perpetually trying to sell Magilla — there are many takers, but the end of each episode finds the gorilla right back where he started. Each of the 23 episodes offers three toon tales, one starring Magilla, one featuring Sheriff Ricochet Rabbit and Deputy Droop-a-long, and one with squabbling hillbillies Punkin’ Puss and Mushmouse. The segments featuring the backup players are of varying quality, with most of the merriment courtesy of the marquee star. Among the choicest of segments are “Big Game,” “Gridiron Gorilla,” and “Mad Scientist.”

The Warner Archive Collection has done a superb job with this Blu-ray collection, making the cartoons look crisper than ever and inserting missing material long requested by fans (mainly the original opening and closing credits). Extras consist of eight additional Magilla cartoons added to the rotation after the initial 23-episode run; Here Comes a Star, a 1963 TV special created to plug the upcoming The Magilla Gorilla Show; rare footage of Bill Hanna and Hoyt Curtin performing the theme song while “live and unplugged”; and interviews with Allan Melvin (the voice of Magilla), series animator Jerry Eisenberg, and animation historian Jerry Beck.

Series: ★★★

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986). Never allowed an opportunity to make its mark in theaters (TriStar only bothered to release it in a few dozen venues), writer-director Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps instead had to forge its own path as a cult favorite via VHS and DVD. It’s easy to understand its rise in stature, as it’s a vastly entertaining effort that manages to simultaneously riff on alien-invasion flicks, zombie flicks, and slasher flicks. In 1959, an axe-swinging lunatic is on the prowl just as a college kid is being possessed by an icky blob from outer space. Cut to 1986, and Detective Ray Cameron (a career role for horror-film veteran Tom Atkins), who was on the scene back in ’59, learns that both the college kid and the maniac have been revived, albeit in vastly different ways. A fast pace, likable characters, and amusing effects all work in the film’s favor; also adding to the merriment is the fact that many characters and institutions are named after genre directors (Raimi, Romero, Corman et al).

The new 4K + Blu-ray edition offers the director’s cut of the film. Extras include audio commentary by Dekker; audio commentary by Atkins and co-stars Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, and Jill Whitlow; a five-part making-of documentary; a career retrospective interview with Dekker; interviews with Atkins and Lively; the original theatrical ending; and deleted scenes.

Movie: ★★★

SADIE MCKEE (1934). It’s often easy to forget that the songs in 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain, merely deemed the greatest movie musical of all time, weren’t originals created for the film but instead catalog tunes that had been around for many years (the exception was “Make ‘Em Laugh,” and even that was acknowledged as a steal of the earlier “Be a Clown”). So when chorine Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) sings “All I Do Is Dream of You,” that’s not the tune’s first filmic appearance: Chico Marx plinked it out on a piano in 1935’s A Night at the Opera, but it was originally created for the Joan Crawford vehicle Sadie McKee. Performed several times throughout the film, it’s a more somber rendition than the Reynolds take, which makes it appropriate for this satisfying melodrama. Crawford stars as a maid whose heart belongs to the unreliable Tommy Wallace (Gene Raymond). After Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone, soon Crawford’s second husband), Sadie’s childhood friend and her wealthy employer’s son, interferes with Tommy’s ability to get a job, she impulsively runs off to NYC with Tommy — after he abandons her, she ends up marrying the much older millionaire Jack Brennan (an excellent Edward Arnold), a kind man but an unrepentant alcoholic. Crawford is at her nobly suffering best, and the scenes centering on Jack’s drunkenness are surprising in their candor, with the character morphing from modestly annoying to shockingly violent.

Blu-ray extras consist of three 1934 cartoons and the trailer.

Movie: ★★★

FILM CLIPS

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1921). One of the 10 biggest moneymakers of the silent era was this sprawling and handsomely mounted epic that transformed Rudolph Valentino from an unknown actor into a superstar. It charts the fortunes of a family in Argentina, with the two sons-in-law of the patriarch (Pomeroy Cannon), one French (Josef Swickard) and one German (Alan Hale), finding themselves and their kin on opposite sides when the First World War begins. Valentino co-stars as the Frenchman’s rakish son, who eventually tosses aside his selfishness and joins the fray. At least two visuals have entered cinema lore: Valentino dancing the tango and the Four Horsemen (War, Conquest, Famine, and Death) thundering across the sky.

There are no Blu-ray extras.

Movie: ★★★

LOVE HURTS (2025). Best known as Indiana Jones’ sidekick Short Round until he took the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan has now been handed the starring role in the action flick Love Hurts. He’s fine; the movie isn’t. With Quan cast as a Milwaukee realtor whose past life as an assassin comes back to mess with him, this borrows liberally from the John Wick, Quentin Tarantino, and Guy Ritchie playbooks. The only problem: It’s more like 2024’s The Killer’s Game, which similarly cast a supporting actor (Dave Bautista) in a lead role and expected his charisma to float a stale scenario. West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose is completely wasted, but it’s nice to see Quan briefly reunited with his Goonies co-star Sean Astin.

Blu-ray extras include a making-of featurette; deleted scenes; an alternate ending; and a piece on the stuntwork.

Movie: ★½

QUACKSER FORTUNE HAS A COUSIN IN THE BRONX (1970). That title is certainly original, but it also makes this sound like the sort of movie that could suffocate a viewer with an incessant barrage of quirkiness and pretentiousness. Happily, that’s not the case. Gene Wilder stars as Quackser (real name Aloysius), a Dubliner who earns his living by scooping up the manure left by delivery-wagon horses and selling it to housewives as fertilizer for their flowers. He unexpectedly ends up dating an American exchange student (Margot Kidder), although he’s never quite sure how their relationship will play out. Irish writer Gabriel Walsh has fashioned a romantic comedy that’s as charming as it is unpredictable, and both stars are wonderful.

Blu-ray extras consist of podcaster audio commentary; a photo gallery; and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★★

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

BODY SNATCHERS (1994). What’s interesting about the cinematic adaptations of Jack Finney’s novel The Body Snatchers is that each was specifically tailored to its time. Depending on one’s political bent, 1956’s superb Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in which emotionless “pod people” from outer space take over human beings, was either a warning about Communism or an indictment of McCarthyism. The powerful 1978 version (same title) tapped into post-Watergate paranoia, also finding room to comment on the rampant New Age-y philosophies of the time. The 2007 bomb The Invasion touched upon both war and drugs, but it was too much the snoozer to make effective points about anything. As for this ’90s offering, producer Robert H. Solo stated at the time that it was about how contemporary youth needed to overcome its feelings of alienation and locate its own sense of identity. Watching it again, I still feel it works better as an examination of the destruction of the nuclear family and the attendant repercussions. The setting here is a military base in Alabama, where a teenager (Gabrielle Anwar) notices that those around her seem to be misplacing their emotions. Director Abel Ferrara keeps the story moving at a brisk pace, and both the actors and the effects are convincing. But unlike the earlier versions, this one’s never particularly creepy nor psychologically engaging, and the short running time (under 90 minutes) means that we never get to see the characters as full-blooded people — a detriment in a movie meant to celebrate the individuality of humans.

Movie: ★★½

ROOTS (1977). Zealous ad copy writers for the networks loved to attach the term “major television event” to just about anything longer than a typical episode of Two and a Half Men, yet here’s perhaps the greatest example of the real thing. Roots wasn’t the show that began the whole miniseries craze back in the late 1970s — that would be Rich Man, Poor Man, released a year earlier (and recently reviewed here) — yet it immediately emerged as a TV milestone, with the final episode becoming the most-watched show in history (eventually surpassed by the “Who Shot J.R.?” episode of Dallas and the final episode of M*A*S*H). Based on Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book and running nearly 10 hours, this monumental undertaking charts the author’s family history through the decades, starting with the day when young African tribesman Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) gets kidnapped by slave traders and shipped to America, where he endures all manner of hardship while toiling on a Southern plantation. This rises above the level of a TV production in nearly every facet, resulting in a richly detailed and emotionally gripping classic. The all-star cast is uniformly fine — indeed, actors nabbed 13 of the show’s astounding 37 Emmy Award nominations (it ended up winning nine, including Best Limited Series) — with standouts including Louis Gossett Jr. as the sagacious Fiddler, Leslie Uggams as the endearing Kizzy, Ben Vereen as “Chicken” George, and, of course, Burton in his star-making turn as Kunta Kinte.

Miniseries: ★★★★