The week’s DVDs begin in war-time Poland:
DVDs for August 14 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin in Poland:
Korczak (***1/2)
Kino Classics gives a DVD and Blu-ray debut to this somber 1990
Holocaust-themed film from Oscar winning Polish icon Andrezj Wajda (Man
of Steel, Man of Iron). Fellow Oscar winner Agnieszka
Holland (In Darkness) wrote the screenplay, and Robby Mueller provided
the often glimmering photography. Wojciech Pszoniak plays Henryk Goldszmit, known as Janusz Korczak, a Jewish Polish physician who fostered pioneer educational programs for children. With an emphasis on personal freedom for the children, he oversaw a Warsaw orphanage with around 200 children that fell under intense Nazi persecution. Eventually, the Germans began exporting the children to the Treblinka death camps. But Korczak refused a Swiss passport to stay with his children, even when they were shipped off to martyrdom.
Not rated, 117 minutes. The DVD, also on Blu-ray, offers the trailer and a stills gallery.
Brass Target (***), The Doctor and the Girl (***1/2)
On Demand Warner Archive now offers an interesting yet
dissimilar pair of vintage titles. In the intricately plotted Brass
Target (1978, 111 minutes, rated PG), based on Frederick Nolan’s novel
set at the end of World War II, a quarter billion dollars of Nazi gold is
stolen when Allied forces attempt to re-locate it for safekeeping. General George
Patton (George Kennedy) takes charge of the ensuing investigation, while Major Joe De Luca (John Cassavetes) is called in to apply his investigative skills to the
case. Robert Vaughn and Edward Hermann head the bumbling gang of thieves, and Sophia Loren appears for little reason but to look good. Max Von Sydow plays the assassin hired to thwart the investigation by killing Patton. The surplus of
action and the imaginative plot trump the often clunky direction from John
Hough. The always underrated Glenn Ford stars as the title physician in the
involving melodrama The Doctor and the Girl (1949, 98 minutes, not rated). Ford plays Michael Corday, a newly minted family doctor who labors under the shadow of his famous yet over-bearing surgeon father (crusty Charles Coburn). In
preparation for Michael’s career, the father advises him against allowing any
human empathy for patients. When Michael falls for one of his patients (Janet
Leigh), and one who ranks lower on the father’s perceived social scale, the
father turns against him, thwarting the son’s advancement in medical circles. Nancy Davis, the future Mrs. Ronald Reagan, plays one of Michael’s equally oppressed sisters.
Lake Effects (***)
In this drama tinged with ample light-hearted moments, two
grown sisters, Sara and Lilly (Scottie Thomson, Madeline Zima, respectively),
from a small town are re-united for some tough decisions when their father
(Jeff Fahey) dies. Sara is a Los Angeles attorney who must return home, while
Lily still lives in the lake-side town in which they grew up. But they find
they must also deal with their strong-willed mother (Jane Seymour). Director
Michael J. McKay renders a handsome film by taking advantage of Matthew Boyd’s
photography of the picturesque Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia area.
Not rated, 100 minutes. The DVD also contains a 24 minute “making
of” featurette and 10 minutes of deleted scenes.
Breathless (**1/2)
Evil-doings in Clark County, Texas highlight this guilty pleasure about
a trailer-park diva, Lorna (Gina Gershon), and her even trashier husband, Dale
(Val Kilmer). When he robs a local bank and plans on keeping the loot for
himself, she finds out about it and plots her revenge by grabbing the money
and, with her best friend Tiny (Kelli Giddish), taking off together. In the
meantime, the town sheriff (Ray Liotta) and a private investigator (Richard
Riehle) pick up the money trail. Writer/director Jesse Baget includes enough
other twists and colorful surprises to keep everything interesting.
Rated R, 91 minutes. The disc also holds commentary with
director Jesse Baget and producer Christine Holder and a 15 minute “making of”
featurette.
Over the past decade, Korea has become the world leader in
turning out action flicks. Two of note arrive this week:
No Mercy (***)
Kim Hyoung-Jun wrote and directed this taut crime thriller about
a pathologist, professor Kang (Sul Kyung-Gu), about to retire. But he hangs
around for that inevitable one-last-job, joining with an attractive young
rookie to quickly solve a grisly murder when a shady environmentalist
confesses. Even then, however, Kang realizes something is missing, a feeling
made real when his daughter is kidnapped and he is forced into doctoring
evidence.
Not rated, 121 minutes. The disc includes a 10 minute “making
of” featurette, an eleven minute “anatomy of an autopsy,” interviews with the
four main actors, a music video, and trailers.
Hindsight (***)
Former mobster Doo-heon (Song Kang-Ho) resembles Michael
Corleone–he wants out of the crime business, but they keep dragging him back
in. Doo-heon aspires to be a cook and intends on opening a restaurant. From
nowhere, beautiful Se-bin (Shin Sae-Kyung) enters his life, works with him, and
seems to change his fortunes. But an assassination attempt and some clever
twists from writer-director Lee Hyeon-Seung keep him and the audience guessing.
Not rated, 121 minutes. The disc also offers a 22 minute
“behind-the-scenes” featurette, an eight minute “making of” featurette, brief
analyses of four separate action scenes, and a brief look at Shin Sae-Kyung’s
“Acting Style Makeover.”
Ghost Hunters—season seven, part one
Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, usually joined by Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango and others, comprise the ghost-hunters, the TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) team, again this TV season as they intrepidly investigate claims of the paranormal. In these 12 episodes, on four discs, the team has a variety of locations to scout, including the French Quarter, Pearl Harbor, an asylum in Pennsylvania and wherever claims for the supernatural are made.
Not rated, 576 minutes. The collection also contains unaired
footage.
Also on DVD: Dexter—season six, Glee—season three, The Raid: Redemption.