DVD/VIDEO REVIEWS week of June 8, 2009
This week's DVD and Blu-ray releases
The following are capsule reviews of new and recent DVD and Blu-ray releases from the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Theatrical movies have a USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification and Motion Picture Association of America rating. These classifications refer only to the theatrical version of the films below, and do not take into account the discs' extra content.
Casablanca (Special Edition)
Classic romantic melodrama set in the refugee crossroads of French North Africa where an American expatriate (Humphrey Bogart) helps the woman who broke his heart (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband (Paul Henreid), an underground leader, escape the Nazi dragnet. Directed by Michael Curtiz, the story is replete with World War II intrigue, sardonic humor, punchy dialogue ("Here's looking at you, kid!") and a great cast, including Claude Rains as a sauve Vichy police officer and Dooley Wilson's rendition of "As Time Goes By." Time stands still for this one, though the wartime atmosphere may be too menacing for the children. A-II -- adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Warner Home Video; also available on Blu-ray.) 1942
Gran Torino (Widescreen Edition)
Improbable and gritty if ultimately humane redemption tale of a crusty Korean War vet (Clint Eastwood in peak form) who resents the encroachment of the Laotian Hmongs who have moved into his Detroit neighborhood, but becomes their reluctant hero and unlikely friend after he saves the young teen (Bee Vang) next door from being pressured to join a marauding Hmong gang. Eastwood directs with his customary frontier worldview, with the cultural tolerance theme and a positive priest character (Christopher Carley) strong pluses, though the nonstop racial epithets and expletives are, even in this context, excessive. Pervasive rough language, profanity and racial slurs, violence with bloodshed, and a morally tangled ending. Spanish language and titles option. DVD extras include a couple of featurettes on car culture and a parade of vintage cars in Detroit. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) (Warner Home Video; also available on Blu-ray with additional features) 2008
Hair (2-Disc Edition)
Key Broadway musical of the 1960s was as much a slick exploitation of the flower children phenomenon as it was a celebration of it. Director Milos Forman's 1970's screen version keeps intact its virtues, including its measure of sincerity, and its defects, including its large dose of showbiz phoniness. For the most part, Forman does not romanticize his characters (John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, Charlotte Rae), though there are huge, lavish dance numbers and a restrained depiction of scenes with drugs, promiscuity, nudity and some rough language. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (PG) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) 1979
The International
Intense thriller in which a dogged Interpol agent (Clive Owen) and a New York assistant district attorney (Naomi Watts) investigate the elusive leaders (Ulrich Thomsen and Armin Mueller-Stahl, among others) of a global bank implicated in arms trading and murder. Director Tom Tykwer's sleek, skillfully crafted conspiracy yarn, which also features Brian F. O'Byrne as an assassin, veers briefly into excessive violence, but focuses most of its attention on the frustrations of operating within the law and the perils of acting outside it. Considerable moderate action violence, brief but graphic gore, vigilantism, some rough and crude language, brief sexual humor, and a couple of uses of profanity. A-III --adults. (R) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) 2009
Journey of Faith With Dr. Issam Nemeh: Live at the Church of St. Clarence
Insightful hour-long question and answer session with Issam Nemeh, a Catholic doctor in Cleveland, Ohio who also conducts healing services. He emphasizes the primacy of closeness to God over deliverance from physical suffering, and addresses a range of theological topics like the Trinity, the Communion of Saints and prayer for the souls in purgatory, while relevant Bible citations are given onscreen. Though some of his interpretations are speculative, his enthusiasm and intent to be loyal to the church are clear. The widescreen DVD includes 10 minutes of commentary from local Catholic and Episcopal clergymen, an Incarnate Word sister and Cleveland Auxiliary Bishop Roger Gries, O.S.B. (Wise Eyes Media) (www.drnemehdvd.com) 2009
Nobel Son
Convoluted and gritty thriller in which the slacker son (Bryan Greenberg) of an arrogant chemistry professor (Alan Rickman) and a forensic psychologist (Mary Steenburgen) is kidnapped by a psychopath (Shawn Hatosy) and held to ransom for his father's recently won Nobel Prize money. Though the initial twists of director and co-writer Randall Miller's harsh drama sustain interest, and Rickman is in his element as a villainous academic, the wildly dysfunctional family dynamics, a vengeance theme and pungent scenes of violence will deter even many adults well before the muddled conclusion. Strong sexual content, including brief and graphic adulterous sexual activity, rear nudity, mutilation with gore, beatings, much rough and crude language, a couple of uses of profanity and brief scatological humor. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) 2008
Shaun the Sheep: Sheep on the Loose
A droll 40-minute collection of five episodes from the stop-motion animated British children’s TV series, which regularly airs on the Disney Channel, about Shaun, an unusually perceptive sheep on a farm, and the misadventures of his many dimmer cohorts. With no dialogue, the amusing proceedings rely on sight gags like a group of pigs break-dancing. Despite an instance of mildly off-color humor, this “Wallace and Gromit” spin-off mainly offers farcical complications that even the youngest audience will appreciate; the series is designed for 2+ viewers. Additional features on the full-screen DVD include a look at the show’s production process and a workshop in which a model maker demonstrates how to construct one of the program’s mischievous pigs. (Lionsgate/HIT)
2007
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.