The week’s DVDs begin at Lake Geneva:
DVDs for Oct. 14 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin at Lake Geneva:
Nightcap (***)
One-time French master of intrigue and suspense Claude Chabrol directed this enticing drama starring Isabelle Huppert and now returning on DVD and Blu-ray. As usual in Chabrol’s films, something sinister yet always hidden is taking place. The director knows all but gives few clues, counting on his viewers to make connections. Huppert plays Mika, the owner and chief officer of a thriving chocolate factory near picturesque Lake Geneva. She is the second wife of concert pianist Andre (Jacques Dutronc), whose first wife mysteriously died in an accident. Precocious teen-ager Jeanne (Anna Mouglalis) appears one day saying she was once the baby thought mixed up at birth with Andre’s son Guillaume (Rodolphe). Before long, they are all friends, and Andre tutors Jeanne for a piano recital. From there, Chabrol seamlessly injects his themes of murder, possible murder, possible incest, and maybe even a building romance. Taken from Charlotte Armstrong’s novel The Chocolate Cobweb, becoming the French Merci Pour Le Chocolate, and on to its present English title, the measured film paints condemning portraits, with slices of black humor, of higher class families, with special attention paid to the devious Mika.
Not rated, 99 minutes.
Extras: commentary and an accompanying 12 page booklet with essay from film scholar Peter Tonguette.
Raton Pass (***), Shoot-out at Medicine Bend (***1/2)
Warner Archive releases a pair of compelling, unrated westerns from the 1950s. Dennis Morgan headlines Raton Pass (1951, 84 minutes), but the supporting cast grabs the most attention. Morgan plays Marc Challon, the son of a rich land baron in 1880 New Mexico Territory. Marc and his father have recently consolidated local holdings into a giant spread while also making enemies. Marc quickly falls under the spell of visiting Ann (Patricia Neal) and marries her. When it quickly becomes apparent this Lady Macbeth-of-the-prairie has her own agenda, they split, with her hiring gunman Cy Van Cleave. Perennial bad guy Steve Cochran snarlingly plays Van Cleave, setting up a final explosive act. Directed by veteran Edwin L. Marin.
Quintessential western hero Randolph Scott stars in Shoot-out (1957, 87 minutes) along with youngsters James Garner and Angie Dickinson. Scott and two former fellow cavalrymen (Garner and Gordon Jones) fall prey to thieves who take everything they own. The trio stumbles into Medicine-Bend wearing clothes borrowed from Quakers. There, the three work quietly to uncover the hard tactics used by a local boss to rule the town by running everyone out of business and buying the best land. Director Richard Bare works in a few twists with appropriate humor and adequate old west action.
The Equation of Life, Mobilize
Twelve year-old Gerry Orz directed the first of these two new unusual, unrated documentaries, The Equation of Life (32 minutes). He expands on an earlier short film seen on Youtube in which he suffers from bullying. He plays fictional Adam, who acts out a bullying incident. Extras include an introduction from Orz, his short film “Day of Silence,” and his appearance before the California State Senate on bullying. Mobilize (84 minutes) examines the possible long-term effects of cell phone use. Director Kevin Kunze interviews officials from the National Cancer Institute, the World Health Organization and numerous public health figures and several politicians.
Life After Beth (*)
Current zeal for zombie-related fare receives testing in this misguided romantic comedy, ostensibly labeled “zom-rom-com.” Jeff Baena directed his own lame story filled with flat scenes, a lack of engagement, and sporadic, if any, comedy. Ever-wooden Aubrey Plaza plays Beth, a young woman who dies but inexplicably comes back to life as a zombie, much to the surprise and sometimes annoyance of her parents (Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly) and her boyfriend (Dane DeHaan). Her societal re-integration does not go well, setting up the film’s few opportunities for humor. Dull and pointless.
Rated R, 91 minutes.
Extras: commentary, ten deleted scenes, and a 16 minute “making of” featurette.
When Santa Fell to Earth
Santa is on the run in this live feature based on Cornelia Funke’s Christmas story. The celebrated Mr. Clause falls into an unsuspecting town when he flees from mean and evil Gerold Geronimous Goblynch. Gerold wants to banish Santa from Christmas Land and only young Ben (Noah Kraus) and Charlotte (Mercedes Jadea Diaz) can help him.
Rated PG, 107 minutes.
And, finally, from this week’s TV arrivals:
Penny Dreadful—season one
This loopy Showtime series boasted a good, sometimes great, cast in service to a mash-up of various horror figures, characters, and tropes. Set in early 1890s London, a time and place of Jack the Ripper, famed explorer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) teams with American gun-slinging rodeo performer Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and mysterious Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) to track down various creatures of the night that might lead to Murray’s lost daughter. The quest, traveling through eight episodes on three discs, encounters such horror luminaries as Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), Abraham Van Helsing (David Warner), and others. Rory Kinnear and Simon Russell Beale, two of England’s most prominent current Shakespearean actors, appear as a pair of ghoulish inventions.
Not rated, 435 minutes.
Extras: a two part featurette on “The Artisans,” and featurettes on the series’ literary roots, the Grand Guignol, Prostitution and Sex in Victorian Times, the search for the Nile, the science of medicine, and more.
The Wonder Years—the complete series
Now available for the first time either on DVD or Blu-ray, this Emmy-winning Best Comedy Series began on ABC in 1988 and ran for six seasons through 1993. The 26 disc set includes the entire 115 episodes. Fred Savage starred as teen Kevin Arnold, beginning as a sixth grader growing up from 1968 through the early 1970s, as America watched. The series followed Kevin through all of his adolescent thrills and woes, all narrated by Daniel Stern. Kevin received regular harassment as well as love from his brother Wayne (Jason Hervey) and sister Karen (Olivia d’Abo), while his ever busy parents (Dan Lauria, Alley Mills) carefully nurtured his maturation. The series also boasted an infectious musical accompaniment from the era. The series’ impressive guest star roster included Seth Green, David Schwimmer, Ben Stein and many others.
Not rated.
Extras: The 23 hours plus of supplements, defying an encompassing description, include: countless interviews with cast and crew, a dozen new featurettes on everything connected to the series, the one hour finale, deleted scenes, outtakes, a cast reunion, an alternate version of Kevin’s first kiss with his girlfriend, a specially designed yearbook, notebooks, and much more. The entire ensemble comes wrapped in a metal locker resembling Kevin’s locker at Kennedy Junior High.
Also on DVD: Blood First, Dry Bones, Lip Service, Mystery Road, Persecute, White Tiger.