FILM FRENZY

James Cromwell in Babe (Photo: Kino)

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.)

BABE (1995). Co-scripted by Chris Noonan (who also directed) and the Mad Max franchise’s George Miller, this adaptation of Dick King-Smith’s book The Sheep-Pig offers a working definition of “sleeper hit,” coming out of nowhere to become a surprise global box office smash and, maybe even more surprisingly, an unexpected awards contender. A live-action yarn largely populated by farm animals — a mix of real critters and animatronics created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop — this relates the tale of Babe (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh), a naïve and sweet-natured piglet whose human owner is Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) and who dreams of becoming a champion sheepdog. The comic sequences will delight both young and old alike, while more mature viewers will also be able to appreciate the story’s message that it takes only one guileless individual to rightly shake up a society’s established class structure. Noonan’s sure-handed direction is aided by Nigel Westlake’s charming music score and, of course, the various animals stars. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Cromwell), Director, and Adapted Screenplay, this beat out frontrunner Apollo 13 for the Best Visual Effects Oscar. Babe was followed in 1998 by Babe: Pig in the City, an inferior sequel perhaps best remembered as the final Best Film of the Year accolade given by Gene Siskel before his death.

Extras in the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray edition include audio commentary by Miller; an archival making-of piece; interviews with Miller; and an interview with Cromwell. Also new on 4K is Babe: Pig in the City, and both movies are available individually or on Blu-ray as a double feature.

Movie: ★★★½

BAD WORDS (2014). Jason Bateman made his feature directorial debut with this acidic comedy, and his helming is competent but colorless. But Bateman is not only directing but also starring, and for those not averse to insult comedy, watching him employ his deadpan demeanor, frosty stares, and impeccable timing to amusingly berate others isn’t a bad way to spend 90 minutes. He plays Guy Trilby, an aloof individual who has discovered a loophole that allows him to legally take part in The Golden Quill, a national spelling bee for young kids. Taking the stage alongside scores of 8th graders, he breezes through the words thrown his way, further ensuring his continued success by railroading his top challengers through despicable means. While a reporter (Kathryn Hahn) tries to ascertain Guy’s reason for embarking on such a ludicrous venture, he’s busy dealing with outraged parents, aggravated administrators, and the offended creator of the venerable bee (Philip Baker Hall). Only one person, a perpetually cheerful lad named Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand), manages to chip away at his hardened exterior. Penned by first-timer Andrew Dodge, Bad Words is clearly jockeying to be another Bad Santa, but because it frequently pulls back from going too far, it lacks that picture’s killer instinct. But many of Guy’s R-rated retorts draw laughs, whether aimed at irritating moms, doofus dads or impressionable children. As for young Chand, he’s absolutely charming, stealing ample scenes as the friendless Chaitanya (naturally nicknamed “Slumdog” by Guy). It’s harder for a comedy to be truly merciless and mean when one of its stars is about as hard-edged as a basket of kittens.

Blu-ray extras consist of audio commentary by Bateman; a behind-the-scenes featurette; and deleted and extended scenes.

Movie: ★★½

LADY OF BURLESQUE (1943). In addition to her status as a legendary striptease artist, Gypsy Rose Lee also found time to do some scribbling, producing one memoir (Gypsy, the basis for the landmark Broadway show), one play, and two novels, both murder-mysteries with herself as the lead character. The more popular of the pair was 1941’s The G-String Murders, which was turned into a movie two years later. Naturally, the Production Code wouldn’t allow the word g-string splashed across theater marquees nationwide, so its title was changed to Lady of Burlesque. That would be Dixie Daisy (the novel’s Gypsy Rose Lee character, played by Barbara Stanwyck), a popular singer-stripper at a sleazy New York theater. After one of the other strippers is strangled with a g-string, everyone is on edge and the police come to investigate. A second stripper is murdered in the same fashion, and Dixie, herself one of the many suspects, decides to do some investigating, aided by one of the venue’s comedians, Biff Brannigan (Michael O’Shea, initially annoying but eventually ingratiating). Expertly staged by director Willlam A. Wellman and performed with gusto by the entire cast, this proves to be quite entertaining, with the incomparable Stanwyck singing “Take It Off the E String, Play It on the G String” as well as performing her own acrobatic moves on stage (if there was a cutaway for a stunt performer, I didn’t see it). Lady of Burlesque earned an Oscar nomination for its music score, while Wellman’s other 1943 release, The Ox-Bow Incident (see From Screen To Stream below), nabbed one for Best Picture.

Blu-ray extras consist of film historian audio commentary and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★★

THE PINK PANTHER (1964) / A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964) / THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN (1976) / REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER (1978). “I believe everything and I believe nothing. I suspect everyone and I suspect no one.” So goes the personal philosophy of Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the bumbling French detective immortalized in a series of motion pictures by the brilliant Peter Sellers. Kino has done an exemplary job over the past year (and continuing into 2026) of releasing many of Sellers’ earliest and/or lesser known comedies on Blu-ray, but there’s nothing obscure about this popular franchise, with most of the major entries now making their 4K debuts. Rights issues have always kept 1975’s The Return of the Pink Panther from being included alongside the others until Shout! Studio’s Blu-ray box set in 2017 corralled all of them. For its part, Kino has also nabbed all five for 4K, with the four covered here released earlier this week and Return debuting March 3. There are other PP titles, of course, but all are feeble and none are being released on 4K at this time — that batch consists of ones starring Alan Arkin (1968’s Inspector Clouseau), Ted Wass (1983’s Curse of the Pink Panther), Roberto Benigni (1993’s Son of the Pink Panther), Steve Martin (the 2006 reboot, reviewed in From Screen To Stream below, and its 2009 sequel), and Sellers himself in an all-outtakes edition released after his death (1982’s Trail of the Pink Panther).

The interesting thing about The Pink Panther (1964) is that Sellers isn’t the top-billed star — that would be David Niven, cast as debonair playboy Sir Charles Lytton. Sir Charles also happens to be the notorious jewel thief known as The Phantom, and while he sets his sights on stealing a priceless diamond known as “The Pink Panther,” Clouseau sets his sights on finally apprehending his evasive prey. Despite the game efforts of a top cast that also includes Capucine, Robert Wagner, and Claudia Cardinale, director Blake Edwards (who co-wrote the film with Maurice Richlin) — to say nothing of audiences — noticed that Sellers and his fumbling character were the true stars of the film, a lighthearted caper yarn that also introduced both the animated Pink Panther character and Henry Mancini’s wonderful, Oscar-nominated, and instantly recognizable theme music.

The Pink Panther was a box office hit (#9 for the year in box office grosses), and, electing to strike while the iron was still red-hot, Edwards and Sellers reunited a few months later for A Shot in the Dark (1964). This one proved to be an even greater hit (#6 for ’64), and for good reason. Co-written by Edwards and William Peter Blatty (still a few years away from penning The Exorcist) and based on a play that didn’t even include Clouseau’s character, this hysterical comedy remains the best of the franchise, with Clouseau investigating a murder committed at the swanky estate of Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders). All evidence points to one of the resident’s maids, Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer), as the killer, but because Clouseau is smitten with her beauty, he determines that she must be innocent. One ingenious set-piece is quickly followed by another, and the picture introduces several players who would become series mainstays: Herbert Lom, marvelous as the long-suffering Chief Inspector Dreyfus; Bert Kwouk as Clouseau’s manservant Kato; Andre Maranne as Dreyfus’ patient assistant Francois; and Graham Stark, who would play different characters over the years but is particularly memorable in this one as Clouseau’s put-upon assistant Hercule.

Eleven years after the one-two punch of The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark, Edwards and Sellers finally delivered another chapter in the beloved series. The Return of the Pink Panther was yet another hit, and the forward momentum continued with The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976). Now completely over the edge, Lom’s Dreyfus will stop at nothing to destroy Clouseau, including the offer of a sizable reward to anyone who kills the incompetent officer. This in turn leads to a fantastic sequence in which countless international assassins attempt to eliminate the inspector (look for an amusing cameo from an unbilled Lawrence of Arabia star). Sellers is especially hilarious in this installment, as Clouseau is forever mangling words, tripping over himself, and somehow always succeeding despite himself. Also: The “Does your dog bite?” gag is pure genius (and always makes me think of my late dad, who loved it so much that he would often bring it up in conversation). The animated opening credits, with the Pink Panther spoofing Batman, King Kong, and even The Sound of Music (which starred Edwards’ real-life wife, Julie Andrews), is another highlight.

Like all of its predecessors, Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) proved to be another box office hit for the Edwards-Sellers tag team, even though it doesn’t quite match the films that came before it. In this outing, a mob boss (Robert Webber) puts out a hit on Clouseau’s life — once it appears that the inspector has indeed been killed, it allows him and Cato to work behind the scenes to uncover various criminal activities. Revenge is often more frantic than funny, while Dyan Cannon, Oscar-nominated that year for Heaven Can Wait, isn’t given enough to do as a gangster’s moll. But it’s a treat watching Dreyfus react to Clouseau’s “death,” and it’s nice to see Kwouk enjoying a larger role than usual.

All titles are sold individually. Extras on The Pink Panther include audio commentary by Edwards; a making-of piece; and interviews with Wagner and Cardinale. Extras on A Shot in the Dark include an interview with producer Walter Mirisch (who passed away two years ago at the age of 101), and footage from an episode of The Dick Cavett Show featuring Edwards and Andrews. Extras on The Pink Panther Strikes Again include an interview with editor Alan Jones, who worked on four Pink Panther pics, and the vintage 1976 featurette Clouseau, the Greatest Fumbler in the World. Extras on Revenge of the Pink Panther include film historian audio commentary and TV spots.

The Pink Panther: ★★★

A Shot in the Dark: ★★★★

The Pink Panther Strikes Again: ★★★½

Revenge of the Pink Panther: ★★½

THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS 2 (2008). The 2005 screen version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (reviewed below in From Screen To Stream) was based on the first novel in Ann Brashares’ best-selling series, but this sequel reportedly combines the events from the following three books in the franchise. One reason is possibly because the studio felt that audience interest wouldn’t extend past a second installment —  besides, who wants to eventually see 30-something actresses still playing college-age kids? (It brings to mind the final film in the Porky’s series, wherein high school boys were suddenly having to contend with receding hairlines.) A solid follow-up to the solid original, this might feel a bit more scattershot than its predecessor, but its interesting characters, entertaining situations, and emotional reach help keep it afloat. Set three summers later, it finds Carmen (America Ferrera) heading to Vermont to work in theater (check out a funny Kyle MacLachlan as the pompous director), Bridget (Blake Lively) traveling to Turkey for an archaeological dig, Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) remaining in New York to work on her film, and Lena (Alexis Bledel) finding romance at the Rhode Island School of Design. Problems are worked out in an orderly manner, tears are shed in sincere fashion, and everyone is reunited in sunny Greece, with nary a single ABBA-mangling peasant in sight.

Blu-ray extras include a piece analyzing the final scene (a cliff-jumper as opposed to a cliffhanger); deleted scenes; and a gag reel.

Movie: ★★★

SPLICE (2010). Fans of monster movies will see Splice and immediately think of Frankenstein. Connoisseurs of modern horror-science fiction mixes will be reminded of such works as Species and David Cronenberg’s take on The Fly. But who could have possibly guessed that the film that served as its primary inspiration was Ron Howard’s Parenthood? I kid, but the truth is that what initially appears to be yet another picture in which mortals dare to play God by creating life turns out to be more layered than that. In Splice, scientists and lovers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), already successful with combining animal DNA to produce new life forms, take their experiments even further by merging human and animal DNA. The result is a strange hybrid that, as with real infants, looks less sluggish and more humanoid as it grows. Initially unsure how to react, Clive and especially Elsa are soon treating the creature, now named Dren, as if she were their own child. And like any offspring, Dren (created through a seamless mix of special effects and actresses — specifically, Abigail Chu in the toddler years and Delphine Chaneac in the teen-plus phase) sometimes has trouble with authority, to say nothing of the internal changes caused by being part human, part fish, and part fowl. A cleverly disguised exposé on the challenges of parenthood, with riffs on abortion and the Electra complex thrown in for good measure, Splice is inventive enough that it’s a real shame when it falls apart heading into the home stretch. A major plot development isn’t sufficiently explored to be convincing, and the film wraps up with the sort of conventional horror thrills and ironic ending that have pulled many a fine picture down.

The only Blu-ray extra is a making-of featurette.

Movie: ★★½

SPLITSVILLE (2025). Kristen Stewart had to put up with a lot of derision and dislikes — primarily from Internet-dwelling misogynists — simply for starring in those Twilight films, and while those clods are still out there, she has long left them behind, landing an Oscar nomination for Spencer, winning a César Award (the first ever given to an American actress) for Clouds of Sils Maria, and perpetually branching out in new directions. Similarly, Dakota Johnson had to put up with a lot of derision and dislikes — primarily from Internet-dwelling misogynists — simply for starring in those Fifty Shades films, but it’s harder to gauge the degree to which she’s been allowed to evolve. Certainly, she has her hand in numerous projects (film and otherwise), but it feels as if she has yet to be taken seriously (starring in 2024’s critical and commercial bomb Madame Web didn’t help). That’s a shame, because she’s worthy of attention and respect. In 2025 alone, she delivered two strong performances in two strong films: Materialists (a sizable hit overseas) and the often riotous Splitsville. Johnson and Michael Angelo Covino (who also directed and co-scripted) play Julie and Paul, a married couple who learn that their friend Carey (Kyle Marvin, who also co-scripted) has been asked for a divorce by his wife Ashley (Adria Arjona). Julie and Paul reveal that they have no problems since they’re in an open marriage and jealousy never enters the picture — that proves to be untrue, however, once Julie and Carey have sex and Paul responds by going ballistic. Splitsville offers food for thought without being particularly deep itself, but it’s blessedly free of finger-wagging (at either open or traditional marriages), and its comedy content can be killer — I especially enjoyed the running gag involving all of Ashley’s ex-boyfriends becoming buddies under her roof.

Blu-ray extras include a making-of featurette and the trailer.

Movie: ★★★

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

ON GOLDEN POND (1981). Henry Fonda delivers a marvelous, career-capping performance in this modest seriocomedy that proved to be a commercial smash (it was second only to Raiders of the Lost Ark as the highest grossing film of 1981). He’s paired for the first time with the equally legendary Katharine Hepburn, as the screen icons play the long-married couple Norman and Ethel Thayer. Staying at their New England summer home, the cantankerous Norman and the vivacious Ethel receive a trio of houseguests in the form of their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda), her fiancé Bill (Dabney Coleman), and his young son Billy (Doug McKeon). Long estranged from her father, Chelsea holds great resentment over past wrongs, leaving Ethel to act as peacekeeper even as she and Norman try to show young Billy that there’s enjoyment to be found away from big-city life. The sequences concerning the strained father-daughter relationship aren’t nearly as strong as the bracing and poignant moments when Norman worries about his advanced age or the scenes in which the elderly couple express their devotion to each other. On Golden Pond earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Jane Fonda), and Best Original Score for Dave Grusin’s lovely mood music. Henry Fonda deservedly won Best Actor after a lengthy and tremendous career in film (he would pass away four months after the Oscar ceremony); also emerging victorious were Hepburn, nabbing her record fourth Best Actress statue, and Ernest Thompson for Best Adapted Screenplay (based on his own play).

Movie: ★★★

THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) / THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954). Director William A. Wellman worked in Hollywood for almost 40 years, directing the first Best Picture Oscar winner (1927’s Wings), winning a Best Original Story Oscar for 1937’s A Star Is Born (the first of the four versions), and helming such gems as 1931’s The Public Enemy (James Cagney’s star-making flick), 1945’s The Story of G.I. Joe, and the pair covered here.

Movies dealing with law and order rarely fall out of fashion simply because their themes remain forever relevant. The Ox-Bow Incident is no exception, as cowboy Gil Carter (Henry Fonda), his friend Art Croft (Harry Morgan), and a handful of other decent and moral men stand against an easily swayed majority led by a hick authority figure and a warmongering military man. That group plans to hang — without concrete evidence, of course — three strangers (Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, Francis Ford) accused of murder and cattle-rustling. A favorite of critics and the Academy (which nominated it for Best Picture, its solitary nod), this downbeat film, adapted by scripter Lamar Trotti from Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s novel, found little favor with audiences coping with the rigors of World War II. Yet it remains a superb watch, not least because of Wellman’s sober direction and Arthur Miller’s inventive camerawork (most notably during the scene in which Gil reads a letter).

Based on Ernest K. Gann’s bestseller (with Gann also penning the script), The High and the Mighty can be viewed as the forerunner to the disaster flicks that dominated screens during the 1970s, with John Wayne cast as a flyer who’s haunted by a tragedy from his recent past. He signs on as co-pilot on a commercial flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, but halfway over the ocean, the airplane experiences difficulties, and it’s up to the Duke to keep the pilot (Robert Stack) from cracking and the passengers from panicking. Under Wellman’s expert direction, this lavish production, beautifully filmed in CinemaScope, moves easily between comedy and drama, with the emphasis as much on the characters’ personal lives as on their shared trauma aboard the plane. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Director and two bids for Best Supporting Actress (Claire Trevor and Jan Sterling), this won Dimitri Tiomkin the statue for Best Original Music Score. Tiomkin was also nominated for the title song, which isn’t actually heard during the movie — despite its success on the radio, it was removed from the film before release and only later was reinserted into a single print so that it could qualify for the Oscars.

The Ox-Bow Incident: ★★★★

The High and the Mighty: ★★★½

THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942). Much like the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half of the 1970s, writer-director Preston Sturges was absolutely on fire during the early 1940s, crafting in succession 1940’s The Great McGinty (for which he earned the Best Original Screenplay Oscar), 1941’s delightful The Lady Eve, and the 1942 masterpiece Sullivan’s Travels. Refusing to pause for air, he instantly followed Travels with another 1942 gem, a comedy that kicks off with a head-scratching scenario and closes by nicely looping back to it (well, sort of). Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea star as Gerry and Tom Jeffers, coping with marital discord thanks to his lack of income. Gerry decides that she should leave him so he can fulfill his ambitions without having to worry about her, since she plans to latch herself onto a suitable millionaire. Tom doesn’t agree to this plan and ends up chasing her from New York to Florida, where she has integrated herself into the lives of bookish billionaire John D. Hackensacker III (smoothly played by popular singer-bandleader Rudy Vallée) and his perpetually on-the-prowl sister, The Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor). As usual, Sturges has sardine-packed his picture with indelible turns in even the smallest roles, most notably Robert Dudley as the elderly Wienie King and Sig Arno as Centimillia’s oft-ignored foreign suitor Toto. Still, this is primarily Colbert’s show, with the actress striking sparks with McCrea, playfully engaging with Vallée, and displaying comedic chops opposite most everyone else, including those rowdy rascals from the Ale and Quail Club.

Movie: ★★★½

THE PINK PANTHER (2006). Despite his own comic credentials, Steve Martin is playing a dead man’s hand here. Peter Sellers’ particular brand of comic genius was evident in every frame of his Clouseau pictures, and, try as he might, Martin is never able to make the role his own. Were the movie surrounding him a top-flight comedy, it might be easier to let him slide, but it’s as clumsy as its leading figure, an uncomfortable attempt to tap into the essence of the classic Pink Panther films while updating it for modern audiences who might not know Inspector Clouseau from Inspector Javert. After a French soccer coach (an unbilled Jason Statham) is murdered during a championship game, Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kevin Kline, too restrained for the role) decides to put a moron in charge of the investigation so that he may quietly nab the culprit himself. Dreyfus settles on provincial policeman Clouseau, not aware that this imbecile will embarrass him in countless ways. The majority of the gags aren’t particularly fresh, mildly amusing bits are repeated until they lose every ounce of appeal, and the efforts to cater to modern audiences (e.g. the unsettling image of Clouseau preparing to take Viagra) are ill-conceived. Most damaging of all, though, is the inconsistency in the main character. Sellers’ Clouseau was a standoffish moron through and through, and the fun was in watching how he repeatedly stumbled into solving the mysteries at hand. Martin softens Clouseau into this sweetly sentimental schlemiel who, at the end of the day, is able to solve the mystery through deductive reasoning, his knowledge of archaic laws, and his inexplicable command of Chinese. It would seem impossible for anyone to confuse Inspector Clouseau with Hercule Poirot or Ellery Queen, but Martin appears to have managed it.

Movie: ★½

THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS (2005). Worthy of snagging viewers outside its target audience, this adaptation of Ann Brashares’ best-selling YA novel hurtles over most its shortcomings by adding a layer of toughness not usually found in films aimed at teens. As four high school friends prepare to go their separate ways for the summer, they stumble across a pair of jeans that miraculously fits them all. They quickly decide the pants will be passed among themselves throughout the summer, as a way of staying in touch over long distances. Brainy Carmen (America Ferrera) spends the summer with her neglectful dad (Bradley Whitford); shy Lena (Alexis Bledel) passes the time with distant relatives in Greece; sexy Bridget (Blake Lively) goes on a hunt for boys while attending a soccer camp in Mexico; and rebellious Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) remains in town trying to complete her documentary. Statutory rape, parental abandonment, the death of a child — these are heavy issues for any movie, let alone one aimed at young girls. Yet while Sisterhood occasionally skirts around the full import of these hot-button items, it’s honest enough to acknowledge the perils of adolescence as well as its pleasures. All four actresses impress in distinctive ways.

Movie: ★★★

300 (2007). Positioned as the Ultimate Fanboy Movie, this adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel was indeed ferocious enough to satisfy basement-dwellers with its gore, violence, and chest-pounding machismo while savvy enough to downplay the homoeroticism that ever-so-subtly caused heretofore unexplained stirrings in the loins of these same armchair warriors. Yet for all its brutality, 300 also satisfied a sizable female contingent, since it’s ultimately a beefcake calendar posing as a motion picture. Beyond its demographic-targeting, however, its greatest claim to fame — besides its gargantuan box office, of course — was its positioning as the next rung on the evolutionary CGI ladder, offering (in the words of director and co-writer Zack Snyder) “a true experience unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.” Yet Snyder seems to have been swallowed up by the enormity of the project, which depersonalizes the major players in the battle between the Spartans and the Persians to such a degree that one ends up feeling more sympathy for the shields that end up receiving the brunt of the sword blows and arrow piercings. 300 contains a handful of staggering images — and, for once, the color-deprived shooting style fits the tale being spun — but Sin City, a previous adaptation of a Miller work, offers more variety in its characterizations and in its cutting-edge visual landscape.

Movie: ★★½