The week’s DVDs begin with animated royalty:
DVDs for Nov. 18 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin with a Princess:
Princess Mononoke–Blu-ray (****)
Hayao Miyazaki’s 1997 animated wonder makes its Blu-ray debut on a remastered disc bringing clarity and vibrancy to its spectacular rainbow of shape-shifting creations. And an excellent voice cast supplies the English language version. In a magical, medieval setting, young warrior Askitaka (voice of Billy Crudup) suffers a mortal wound when battling a demon in the form of a boar. He then makes a long journey to find the one true spirit who can save him. Along the way, he encounters Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver) and the women she protects in her enclave. In the forest, giant white wolves headed by Moro (Gillian Anderson) and her human daughter San (Claire Danes), Princess Mononoke, fight to save the forest against samurai and invading humans. Battle scenes unfold, creatures big and small appear and disappear, and Miyazaki’s striking creations consistently enthrall and entertain.
Rated PG-13, 134 minutes.
Extras: the 20 minute featurette “’Princess Mononoke’ in the U.S.” documents Miyazaki’s 1999 trip to America and Canada for the release of his movie, a five minute “making of” featurette, the original Japanese storyboards and trailers, and more.
Housebound (**1/2)
This New Zealand horror film traffics in many tricks of the genre, such as the unexplained movement or disappearance of objects, or the strange noises in an alleged haunted house. A talking teddy bear even makes an appearance. But writer-director Gerard Johnstone sagely paces his film, saving the bloody fireworks until the end when all is explained, sort of. Morgana O’Reily gives a spirited performance as the rebellious Kylie, busted and sentenced to home confinement with her meddlesome mother (Rima Te Wiata). Mom has long insisted that their house is haunted, much to Kylie’s annoyance. But after she has been there awhile, Kylie too hears strange things and sees odd happenings. Of course her probation officer objects to her investigative efforts with her friend Amos (Glen-Paul Waru). Time passes, while Johnstone throws in an ample supply of mounting frights and unexpected plot twists.
Not rated, 107 minutes.
Extras: commentary, four minutes of deleted scenes.
The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (***), Guns of Darkness(***), Night Must Fall (**1/2)
Warner Archive releases three films with distinguished English backgrounds. Veteran British director John Guillermin (The Towering Inferno, King Kong) brings a snappy pace to the caper thriller The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960, 85 minutes). Aldo Ray stars as Charles Norgate, an Irish-American in London around the turn of the 20th century. There, he aids a band of I.R.A. renegades in their crazy scheme to break into the heavily fortified bank of England. Norgate craftily plots to tunnel his way in through an old, unused sewer system. This route unwittingly leads to a telling absence of rats, a clever clue that alerts an Irish guard played by the promising young Irish actor Peter O’Toole. Elizabeth Sellars plays the love interest who threatens to come between Norgate and his dedicated gang. Always smooth David Niven stars in Guns of Darkness (1962, 102 minutes) as Tom Jordan, a role requiring his unmatched skills to convey calm and poise. He’s a mid-level bureaucrat in a fictional South American country when a military coup overthrows the government, sending the president (David Opatoshu) running. El Presidente ends up with Jordan and Jordan’s wife Claire (Leslie Caron). To compound the discomfort, Claire had just told Tom she was leaving him. The threesome then travel through the country’s rough back country to make their escape. Director Anthony Asquith, the son of a former British Prime Minister, keeps a steady pace, maintaining interest drawn from the screenplay by John Mortimer, father of actress Emily Mortimer and author of “Rumpole of the Bailey.” Night Must Fall (1964, 101 minutes) offers the opportunity to catch an early career performance from five time Oscar nominee Albert Finney. Karel Reisz directs from Clive Exton’s screenplay of Emlyn Williams’ stage play, filmed before in 1937. The 26 year-old Finney plays Danny, a likable lad who, through the graces of his girlfriend, the maid Dora (Sheila Hancock), ingratiates himself into the home of wheelchair bound Mrs. Bransom (Mona Washbourne). She falls for his smarmy and fawning attentions, while he ignores Dora and makes an apparent yet successful play for Mrs. Bransom’s daughter Olivia (Susan Hampshire). Simultaneously, the police search the area for a missing woman. Director Reisz hints at the obvious, while ratcheting up the suspenseful music whenever possible. For the most part, he succeeds in building an atmosphere of menace while Finney makes Danny a lovable but dangerous, two-faced psychopath.
Summer of Blood (*1/2)
Despite its inanity, Onur Tukel deserves credit for writing, directing, and starring in this amateurish horror-comedy. He plays Erik Sparrow, an obnoxious 40 year-old who still considers himself a Brooklyn hipster. He alienates every woman he meets or works with. He and his girlfriend (Anna Martin Hollyman) break up after she proposes to him and he turns her down. He then turns to Internet dating. Every woman he meets is understandably repulsed by him. Later, one night on his way home, a vampire bites him, turning him into a sex machine that can please any woman, even those who previously rejected him. Revenge of sorts sets in as he longs for both sex and blood. Silly, sophomoric.
Not rated, 86 minutes.
Extras: a five minute” making of” featurette and three deleted scenes.
Also on DVD: Into the Storm, Kill Kapone, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, And So It Goes, 22 Jump Street.