FILM FRENZY

The misleading poster art for The Bubble when it was re-released under the title Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth (Photo: Kino & 3-D Film Archive)

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.)

ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET. (2023). Writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig, whose 2016 gem The Edge of Seventeen landed on my 10 Best list that year, scored another Top 10 finisher with this excellent adaptation of Judy Blume’s landmark novel. Abby Ryder Fortson (little Cassie Lang in the first two Ant-Man films) plays the central character of Margaret Simon, an 11-year-old girl who’s unhappy with the decision of her mom Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and dad Herb (Benny Safdie) to relocate from NYC to a New Jersey suburb. For one thing, it will mean less time spent with her paternal grandmother Sylvia (Kathy Bates), whom she adores. Margaret quickly makes friends with the confident Nancy (Elle Graham) and excels at school, but an onset of puberty blues means she also spends much time worrying about bras and wondering when she will get her first period. With a Jewish father and a mother who was raised Christian, she also reflects on religious matters, speaking to God on a regular basis. With the full backing of Blume (who serves as a producer, along with The Mary Tyler Moore Show creator James L. Brooks), Fremon Craig has fashioned a splendid coming-of-age film that’s both sensitive and perceptive — it steers clear of condescension, mean-spiritedness, and glib humor in order to truly understand the tribulations of not just Margaret but also her friends and family. The performances are exceptional across the board, with McAdams excelling as the loving mother. This unfortunately proved to be a box office underachiever — considering what stomped it in theaters, perhaps they should have renamed it Are You There Mario? It’s Me, Luigi.

Blu-ray extras include a making-of featurette; an interview with Blume; a discussion with Blume, Brooks, Fremon Craig, McAdams, Fortson, and co-producer Julie Ansell; and deleted scenes.

Movie: ★★★½

THE BUBBLE (1966). Writer-director Arch Oboler had a hand in revolutionizing cinema by releasing the first 3-D movie, 1952’s Bwana Devil, and then did it all over again 14 years later with The Bubble. While the 3-D format was clunkier in the 1950s, Oboler figured out a way to streamline it for filmmakers — it was his process, called Space-Vision, that was utilized for The Bubble, and his approach that dictated the way Hollywood would make 3-D pictures throughout the rest of the century. The Bubble opens with small-craft pilot Tony (Johnny Desmond) and his passengers, Mark (Michael Cole) and his pregnant wife Catherine (Deborah Walley), caught in a storm that forces them to land in an unknown town. They quickly observe that the locals aren’t exactly acting normal, and further investigation reveals that a gargantuan dome covers the entire area, preventing any sort of escape. Might this be the work of extra-terrestrial visitors? The Bubble has frequently been compared to an episode of The Twilight Zone, although DNA from Invasion of the Body Snatchers also seems to be prevalent. The dialogue is weak and the story is awash in plotholes, but the scenario remains involving (at least until a feeble ending) and the 3-D is often used in imaginative ways — I dug the bird’s-eye view of the guy on the trampoline, and the floating tray with beer bottles was nifty (even if it made absolutely no sense).

After the film’s initial run, Oboler chopped out 21 minutes; it was eventually re-released in 1976 as the 91-minute Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth. This Blu-ray edition restores the picture’s original 112-minute length and offers it in both stereoscopic and anaglyphic 3-D formats as well as in standard 2-D. Extras include audio commentary by film historian Matt Rovner and 3-D expert Mike Ballew; the alternate opening title from the 1976 re-release; and vintage 3-D demonstration footage.

Movie: ★★½

DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES (1969). In its apparent attempt to bring every Hanna-Barbera cartoon series to Blu-ray, the Warner Archive Collection saw fit last year to turn its attention to 1968’s Wacky Races (reviewed here), which found colorful characters taking part in cross-country competitions. Driving a car known as the Mean Machine were the nefarious Dick Dastardly and his sidekick Muttley, a dog that snickered when amused and mumbled when angry. Dastardly and Muttley were given their own Saturday morning series the following year, and, like Wacky Races, it lasted one season and 17 episodes. This one seemingly borrowed its format from Warner’s Looney Tunes toons starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, with each story finding the antagonist attempting to stop a silent and personality-free bird through violent means, always with zero success. Here it’s Dastardly flying around in a World War I airplane and trying to prevent the heroic carrier pigeon Yankee Doodle Pigeon from delivering important messages. Dastardly’s team, The Vulture Squadron, consists of Muttley, the unintelligible inventor Klunk, and the cowardly pilot Zilly — each episode would be comprised of two individual storylines focusing on the efforts to “Stop the Pigeon!” (the show’s catchy theme song) as well as a segment called “Magnificent Muttley,” in which the muttering mutt would imagine himself starring in grand adventures. Like most H-B offerings from the era, this one is pleasant if rarely inspired, and it will mainly appeal to those who knew the show when.

Blu-ray extras consist of audio commentaries on the segments “Stop Which Pigeon?” and “Balmy Swami” by various animators (including two largely responsible for the show, Jerry Eisenberg and Iwao Takamoto); a discussion of the series; and a collection of scene snippets billed as The Vulture Squadron’s Greatest Misses.

Series: ★★½

ENEMY AT THE GATES (2001). A terrific subject for a major motion picture — the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodbath during which the conquering German army suffered one of its first major setbacks of World War II — receives only half-hearted treatment in this handsome production that starts off strong before losing its way in the second half. Based on a true story, this centers on Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a Russian sniper whose legend is built up by his friend, propaganda officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), in an effort to instill their countrymen with feelings of hope and pride. Danilov is so successful, in fact, that the Germans send their own ace sharpshooter, the coolly detached Major König (Ed Harris), to assassinate Vassili — thus, the Russian marksman finds himself engaged in a deadly cat-and-mouse game even as he’s distracted by his part in a sticky love triangle that pits him against Danilov for the affections of a highly educated foot soldier (Rachel Weisz). An international production that received backing from the U.S., France, Germany, England, and Ireland, Enemy at the Gates looks terrific (even if its grainy, herky-jerky battle scenes were inspired by the then-new standard-bearer in the field, 1998’s Saving Private Ryan), but the impact of its initially compelling storyline is compromised by a second hour that becomes repetitive and culminates with a series of ludicrous narrative devices. Law is charismatic as the Russian sniper, but most of his co-stars leave less of an impression. Fiennnes and (surprisingly) Weisz are competent but colorless, while a hammy Bob Hoskins is all spittle-spraying bluster as Nikita Khrushchev. Almost inevitably, the best performance comes from Harris, whose steely demeanor is just right for his hardened character.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray + Digital Code edition consist of a pair of making-of featurettes; deleted scenes; and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★½

I SWEAR (2025). This British production didn’t open stateside until March of this year, but it was already a hot topic thanks to its impact on February’s BAFTA Awards ceremony. On the positive side, rising star Robert Aramayo beat the likes of Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet and Sinners Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan for his lead performance as John Davidson, a Scotsman with Tourette syndrome. On the negative side, the real-life Davidson, who was in the audience, blurted out the N word while Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage presenting an award. Jordan and Lindo received all the sympathy while BAFTA and the BBC received all the blame. As for Davidson, one’s view of him as either an agitator or an unfortunate depends on one’s understanding of Tourette syndrome, a disorder that causes physical tics and in rare instances can result in the person being unable to refrain from spewing vulgar and derogatory language. I Swear can go a long way toward aiding understanding of the disorder, as it’s a deeply informative, emotionally involving, and extraordinarily entertaining seriocomedy. Aramayo is phenomenal, but so is Scott Ellis Watson, who portrays Davidson as a boy whose social life is crippled once he develops the disorder at the age of 12. The majority of the picture follows Davidson as a young man, living with his mum (Shirley Henderson) until he accepts the invitation of mental health nurse Dottie (Maxine Peake) to move in with her and her family. As time passes, Davidson lands a job (Peter Mullan is aces as his employer), moves into his own place, and eventually finds his calling as a lecturer on Tourette. Perhaps what’s most appealing about I Swear is how it avoids the cheap sentiments and sensationalism found in too many movies of its ilk.

Blu-ray extras consist of a making-of featurette and trailers.

Movie: ★★★½

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB (2007). As the title blurts out, The Jane Austen Book Club centers on a group of people who gather to discuss Jane Austen’s literary canon. The members consist of Bernadette (Kathy Baker), the self-appointed matriarch of the club; Jocelyn (Maria Bello), who prefers the company of her dogs to any man; Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), whose husband (Jimmy Smits) just left her for another woman (breaking screen stereotypes, he leaves her for an older, not younger, woman); Sylvia’s daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace), a lesbian into extreme sports; Prudie (Emily Blunt), a teacher unhappily married to an inattentive lump (Marc Blucas); and Grigg (Hugh Dancy), who’s actually into science fiction novels but joins the group because he’s attracted to Jocelyn. Both the letter and spirit of Austen infiltrate these club members’ lives, as they not only apply the author’s words to modern living but also note similarities between the novels’ characters and their own particular sets of circumstances. All too often, writer-director Robin Swicord (who previously penned the exquisite 1994 adaptation of Little Women) takes unfortunate shortcuts or relies on whopping coincidences to move the story along (the setting is Sacramento, which must have a population of roughly 102 since everyone’s always running into each other). But in most respects, Swicord follows Austen’s template of tracking budding (and confusing) love. And, atypically for a mainstream release, the picture allows many characters the sort of second chance usually not accorded in comparable films. Now that’s a novel idea.

Blu-ray extras consist of audio commentary by Swicord, Dancy, Grace, producer Julie Lynn, and editor Maryann Brandon; a behind-the-scenes featurette; and deleted scenes.

Movie: ★★★

MACAO (1952). A troubled production didn’t prevent 1951’s His Kind of Woman (reviewed here) from emerging as an excellent movie — the same can’t be said of Macao, which, like the earlier picture, starred Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell and was overseen by RKO studio head Howard Hughes. Yet by all accounts, Hughes wasn’t the main problem on this film — instead, it was Josef von Sternberg. The director was probably correct when he stated that the film was made “under the supervision of six different men in charge, and instead of fingers in that pie, half a dozen clowns immersed various parts of their anatomy in it,” but the fallout with the actors was doubtless his own fault — Mitchum particularly wasn’t known for taking guff from anyone, so it’s no wonder the director’s Godlike view of himself rubbed his leading man the wrong way. This wouldn’t matter if the film was even half as entertaining as His Kind of Woman; instead, it’s a jumbled affair in which three visitors to the title territory — an Army vet (Mitchum), a nightclub singer (Russell), and a salesman (William Bendix) — get involved in underworld shenanigans. Two or three uncredited directors helmed a few scenes when it came time for reshoots, and about eight people took cracks at the script, although only two were credited. It’s a rather flavorless stew, although there are compensations: Mitchum and Russell remain a sexy and compatible team, and it’s nice to see character actor Bendix receive above-the-title billing alongside the two stars. The great Gloria Grahame is in this as well, but she’s wasted as a moll — unlike everyone else, her hatred wasn’t directed at von Sternberg but at Hughes, who forced her to do this picture and thus cost her a meaty role in A Place in the Sun.

Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by co-scripter Stanley Rubin and film noir expert Eddie Muller, and a 1996 episode of the TCM series Private Screenings, featuring Mitchum and Russell.

Movie: ★★½

THE SAINT (1997). The Simon Templar in this big-budget misfire is loosely based on the character created by Leslie Charteris for a series of novels and short stories, and perhaps never has the word “loosely” in this context been employed so, well, loosely. This Templar has so little to do with the original character that he might as well have been loosely based on Tom Joad, Uriah Heep, Jean Valjean, or any other literary creation of the past several thousand years. As played by Val Kilmer, Simon (aka The Saint) is still a globetrotting thief, but he’s no longer a debonair Brit — instead, he’s been made more compatible with 1990s sensibilities by transforming into a young, robust American who can do anything short of clearing a tall building in a single bound. And like Martin Landau/Tom Cruise in the Mission: Impossible outings, he’s also a master of disguises, a chameleon who can physically mutate into everything from a nerdy reporter to a frumpy cleaning woman (eh, Mrs. Doubtfire was more convincing). The astonishingly lifeless plot finds Simon being hired by a Russian megalomaniac (Rade Šerbedžija) to steal the secret of cold fusion from scientist Emma Russell (Elizabeth Shue) — since he has never had any qualms about stealing from anybody, he meets, beds, and robs Emma, only to then find himself grappling with his own foggy notions of morality. Kilmer isn’t bad, and Shue wisely plays up her character’s eccentricities in order to give her an edge, but the plotting is laborious and the action scenes are fairly worthless. Paramount had hoped to make a series of Saint movies with Kilmer, but this wasn’t even successful enough to warrant a Saturday morning cartoon adaptation.

Extras in the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Code Steelbook edition consist of audio commentary by director Phillip Noyce and the theatrical trailer.

Movie: ★★

TEKKONKINKREET (2006). Based on the Japanese manga series created by Taiyo Matsumoto, Tekkonkinreet is of a piece with other anime efforts set in urban areas, even as its visual style offers some separation from the rest of the pack. The main imagery manages to seem both cursory and creative, with the backgrounds even less polished — characters seen in long shot look no better than the stick figures drawn by small children for refrigerator door placement. Yet if the look of the film inspires take-it-or-leave-it sensations, the story unfolding within its boundaries is decidedly involving. The manga’s alternate title is Black & White, and that’s also the names of the tale’s protagonists, two young orphans struggling to survive in the ironically named Treasure Town. Once a thriving city, it’s now a hellhole in which various yakuza outfits fight for dominance. But that’s not how Black sees it — a fearless fighter, he considers the terrain to be his backyard, shared with his only friend and complete opposite. That would be White, a true innocent whose genial nature provides a nice counterpoint to Black’s ferocity. When a truly heinous criminal known as Snake enters the scene, matters become even more dangerous for the two young boys. The attention to character drives this more than anything, with all manner of interesting players — a philosophical mobster, a trio of supersized assassins, and more — raising the saga’s existential stakes.

The 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray edition offers the choice of English or Japanese audio for the film. Extras include audio commentary by director Michael Arias, writer Anthony Weintraub, and sound designer Mitch Osias; a making-of featurette; a conversation with Arias and British music duo Plaid (Andy Turner and Ed Handley), who composed the score; and trailers and teasers. A 28-page art booklet is also included.

Movie: ★★★

THE WINGS OF EAGLES (1957) / SERGEANT RUTLEDGE (1960). Here are two titles from the John Ford filmography that aren’t as instantly recognizable as his many classics, with both making their Blu-ray debuts courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection label.

A far cry from the likes of Stagecoach and The Searchers, The Wings of Eagles is perhaps the weakest of all John Ford-John Wayne collaborations. Wayne delivers a boisterous performance as Frank “Spig” Wead, a renowned Navy aviator who becomes a Hollywood screenwriter (credits include Ford’s They Were Expendable) after an accident leaves him paralyzed. Although the movie takes place over the course of several decades, there’s no variance in either sets or costumes — every scene looks like the 1950s — and the characterizations are more shallow than we’ve come to expect from a Ford production. At least Ward Bond is a hoot, playing a character based on John Ford himself (named John Dodge!).

Having contended with charges of racism for a good part of his career (particularly toward Native Americans), Ford served up some cinematic mea culpas during the home stretch. One such film, Sergeant Rutledge, is Ford’s roundabout tribute to the Buffalo Soldiers, with the central plotline concerning a black officer accused of raping and murdering a young white woman. The military career of Sergeant Rutledge (an excellent Woody Strode) is impeccable, but that doesn’t stop a courtroom full of irate citizens from wanting to see him hanged for his horrific crimes. But Lieutenant Cantrell (Jeffrey Hunter) believes Rutledge to be innocent, so he decides to defend him by methodically piecing together the events (shown in flashback) surrounding the murder. Suspense and social commentary mingle easily in this exciting drama, marred only by a rushed and unconvincing denouement.

Extras on The Wings of Eagles consist of the 1957 cartoon Drafty Isn’t It? and the theatrical trailer. Extras on Sergeant Rutledge consist of an audio interview with Turner Classic Movies host Tom Mankiewicz and author Donald Bogle (Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood); the 1960 Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote cartoon Hopalong Casualty; the 1960 Speedy Gonzalez & Sylvester cartoon West of the Pesos; and the theatrical trailer.

The Wings of Eagles: ★★

Sergeant Rutledge: ★★★

FILM CLIPS

THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH (1954). The second of the five films made by husband and wife Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, The Black Shield of Falworth is a reasonably diverting period yarn in which peasant Myles Falworth (Curtis) ends up at a castle wherein lies the secret of his heritage; Leigh co-stars as the princess who catches his eye. It’s generally impossible to take Curtis seriously in this sort of movie — there’s a reason that for decades wisecrackers would mimic the former Bronx resident by quipping, “Yonda stands da castle of my fodda” (contrary to popular belief, this exact line was never uttered by the actor in any of his historical pictures) — but Torin Thatcher, so memorable as the villain in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, is equally noteworthy here as Sir James, the eyepatch-adorned master-at-arms responsible for turning Myles into a fierce warrior.

There are no Blu-ray extras.

Movie: ★★½

NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION! (2009). From Food, Inc. to The Cove, there was no shortage of 2009 documentaries seeking to make the world a better place by educating viewers, exposing corruption, and/or suggesting proper courses of action. Yet hacking through this forest of well-meaning films was director Mark Hartley’s delirious look at the disreputable genre films that exploded out of Australia in the 1970s and ‘80s. Packed with choice clips from such features as Mad Max, BMX Bandits, and Razorback, and featuring Quentin Tarantino as one of the interviewees, this is informative, entertaining, and oh-so-naughty.

Extras include audio commentary by Hartley; behind-the-scenes footage; an interview with Hartley; deleted and extended scenes; an extended Ozploitation trailer reel; more Tarantino interview footage; and a still & poster gallery.

Movie: ★★★½

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM

PREMIUM RUSH (2009). Even if Premium Rush hadn’t had me at “Hello,” it certainly would have had me at “Forrest J Ackerman.” A movie built around a bicycle messenger is a risky venture — as an adrenaline-pumper, it sounds about as promising as Driving Miss Daisy — but writer-director David Koepp invests in our need for speed right from the first frame. Employing stylish graphics and a muscular shooting style, he immediately thrusts viewers into the story of Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a New York City bike messenger who gets high off his breakneck job. Enter Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), a corrupt cop who simply must obtain what’s inside the envelope that Wilee is presently carrying to an unassuming shop in Chinatown. Since most of Bobby’s actions are illegal, he’s forced to provide a fake name whenever he’s asked to identify himself, so he goes with Forrest J Ackerman. The late, great Ackerman was the editor of the influential magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, and it’s just the sort of pop-culture factoid one can expect from Koepp, whose previous credits as a screenwriter include such exciting franchise starters as Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, and Mission: Impossible. But Koepp (sharing scripting duties here with John Kamps) has more on his mind than in-joke asides. Despite its A-list credentials, Premium Rush feels like a B-movie beauty, smaller in scale than other actioners yet outclassing most of them with giddy irreverence, numerous plot pirouettes, and a lean on-and-off running time of 90 minutes. Shannon is especially memorable as the dirty cop whose quirky sense of humor remains intact even as his desperation mounts. If anyone wants to end the summer with a bang, this beats even the fireworks.

Movie: ★★★½

THE QUIET AMERICAN (2002) / CATCH A FIRE (2006). Here are two more efforts from director Phillip Noyce, and even the weaker of the two is better than his version of The Saint.

In The Quiet American, an adaptation of the perpetually topical Graham Greene novel, Michael Caine plays Thomas Fowler, a London Times journalist stationed in Saigon in the 1950s. His strong relationship with a gorgeous Vietnamese woman (Do Thi Hai Yen) encounters some unexpected turbulence with the arrival of Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), an idealistic American who makes no bones about the fact that he’s fallen instantly in love with Fowler’s woman. Here’s a smart piece of entertainment that works equally well on both the personal and political fronts, placing a complex love triangle at the center of a sobering dissertation that boldly questions the U.S.’s continuous policy of meddling in foreign affairs. Fraser provides his character with a superficial sheen that pays off as the movie progresses, yet it’s Caine’s towering work, as a man who might not be as cynical as he thinks, that gives this movie its booming voice. He earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance, and he should have nabbed the statue itself.

Based on a true story that unfolded in the early 1980s, Catch a Fire centers on Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke), a South African oil refinery foreman whose apolitical attitude allows him to largely fly under the radar when it comes to confrontations with the ruling white class. But after the members of an anti-apartheid organization sabotage the refinery, suspicion falls on the innocent Patrick, and he’s soon arrested and tortured under the supervision of Nic Vos (Tim Robbins), a key figure in the country’s homeland security division. Patrick withstands the abuse, but after his wife (Bonnie Henna) is similarly snatched and interrogated, something inside him snaps and he decides to enter the fray. Noyce is no stranger to helming gripping films set in turbulent times and divided lands, but working from an unexceptional screenplay by Shawn Slovo (daughter of one of the film’s characters), he’s unable to duplicate the vibrancy of The Quiet American or the pathos of Rabbit-Proof Fence (reviewed here) — we naturally feel for these ill-treated characters, but it’s more of a Pavlovian reaction to the on-screen brutalities rather than anything served up in Slovo’s surprisingly conventional script.

The Quiet American: ★★★

Catch a Fire: ★★½

THE SAINT (1962-1969). A handful of actors have essayed the role of Simon Templar over the years, including George Sanders in a string of programmers back in the late 1930s and early ’40s, Vincent Price on a radio series in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, and Val Kilmer in the ill-fated film version reviewed above. But no actor is more identified with the character created by British author Leslie Charteris than Roger Moore, who essayed the part in a popular television series that lasted six seasons and totaled 118 episodes. Originally a black-and-white U.K. series that was syndicated stateside for its first four seasons, the show was picked up by NBC, which then produced color episodes for the final two seasons. Moore provides the proper mix of charm and wit as Templar, the self-described Robin Hood who fights against crime and corruption, usually on behalf of those wronged in some way (as befits his good-guy image, each episode’s pre-opening credits sequence ends with an animated halo appearing over Templar’s head). Impeccably well-groomed, loved by the ladies, and always quick with a quip, the role served as an effective training ground for Moore as he would inherit the iconic James Bond from Sean Connery a mere four years after the series ended its run. Interestingly, at least eight performers who would later turn up in the 007 franchise guest-starred on The Saint — among this bunch are Shirley Eaton (Goldfinger’s ill-fated Jill Masterson) and Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Bond flicks). Other notable up-and-comers to appear on the series included Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Oliver Reed, and Star Wars’ Darth Vader, Dave Prowse. The classic theme music has been credited to both Edwin Astley (Danger Man) and Charteris himself, with variations appearing throughout the six-season run.

Series: ★★★½