The week’s DVDs begin in England:
DVDs for Nov. 11 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin in England:
Unrelated (**1/2), Archipelago (***)
The emergence of actor Tom Hiddleston might be behind the American DVD debut of three relatively recent films from British writer-director Joanna Hogg. Exhibition, not reviewed here, marks the third entry in these releases. Hiddleston, best known stateside for his role as Thor’s mischievous brother Loki and for his appearance opposite Tilda Swinton in the recent drudge-fest Only Lovers Left Alive, appears in all three of Hogg’s films. His baby face and youthful exuberance are most abundant in Hogg’s debut film Unrelated (2007, 100 minutes). He plays Oakley, an eager but naïve young man, or boy, who, along with a handsome group of budding English adults, takes a vacation in Italy’s picturesque Tuscan area. Oakley unwittingly tempts Anna (Kathryn Worth), who faces her own marital problems. Hogg shoots a series of master-shots, wide-shot sequences in which her actors seem to improvise with discussions about their characters’ various relationships and problems. Hogg prefers long takes, with many accentuating the beauty of her settings. With Mary Roscoe, David Rintoul, Michael Hadley. Archipelago (2010, 114 minutes) takes place mostly on the island of Tresco. Edward (Hiddleston) joins his mother Patricia (Kate Fahy) and other family members, including Cynthia (Lydia Leonard), in a last goodbye before he leaves for Africa on a goodwill mission. But, as time passes, old family feuds and conflicts surface, putting strain on the reunion. Well observed, finely nuanced film benefits from an excellent ensemble cast.
Unrelated extras: a 26 minute interview with director Hogg and a gallery of stills
Archipelago extras: a gallery of stills.
Beneath (**1/2)
Samantha Marsh (Kelly Noonan), a recently minted environmentalist lawyer, returns home for the retirement of her coal-miner father, George Marsh (Jeff Fahey). On his last day of work, she joins in down below, or beneath, in the mine, much to the reluctance and skepticism of his work crew. A cave-in sends some half a dozen into an enclosed shelter, but, before long, it becomes obvious they are not alone (be afraid). Nearly a hundred years previous, another cave-in trapped 19 miners left to die. Now, they haunt the dwindling crew as Samantha, her father, and maybe others struggle to exit. Director Ben Ketai resorts to many tricks of the genre, but his film will scare the skin off anyone claustrophobic or afraid of the dark.
Not rated, 89 minutes.
Extras: commentary, ten cast and crew interviews, a three minute writers’ “making of” featurette, the four minute featurette “Lessons From Below: Miner Education,” the brief “Breaking News Report: Newsreel: ‘The 19,’” and more.
The Killer Shrews (**)
Ask a few old-timers in the Lake Dallas area and some might remember the time in the late 1950s when a group of distaff Hollywood types descended to make this cheesy horror film. Actually, it’s no worse than many low-budget horror flicks of the era, but it has gained a low reputation over the years, most likely because the title shrews were nothing more than shaggy dogs with ludicrously big fangs attached. Local radio impresario Gordon McLendon (KLIF, KVIL) served as an uncredited producer (maybe because part of the film was shot on his ranch) and also appears briefly to chew much fat in the part of Dr. Radford Baines. James Best stars as Thorne Sherman, the owner of a small boat delivering supplies to an isolated island as a hurricane approaches. There, he discovers mad scientist Dr. Craigis (Baruch Lumet), father to Ann (Ingrid Goude, a former Miss Sweden). Future “Gunsmoke” star Ken Curtis plays her fiancé, Jerry Farrell, an unreliable sort who goes unhinged when the storm hits and the shrews attack everyone. Director Ray Kellogg receives credit for moving his low-budget thriller along, even if he must contend with the ridiculous shrews.
Not rated, 69 minutes.
Tammy (**)
In her full manic mode, Melisa McCarthy plays the downtrodden Tammy. She simultaneously loses her sleazy husband and dead end job at a fast food restaurant. In response, she takes a road trip with her drug-taking, alcoholic grandmother (Susan Sarandon). As expected, a succession of formulaic road-trip sequences follows. McCarthy’s script, written with her husband and director Ben Falcone, is often mean-spirited and simply not funny. But the many die-hard McCarthy fans might appreciate that the film relies almost solely on her skills to entertain, however sporadic that is. With Kathy Bates, Sandra Oh, Gary Cole.
Rated R, 96 minutes.
And for kids this week:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions
This Disney animated series takes place between episodes two and three of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” saga. Included are untold stories about well known characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), and others. The Jedi fight the dark side, protecting the Republic against the Separatists’ droids army, led by Count Dooku. Tom Kane narrates.
Rated TV-PG, 287 minutes.
Extras: a 16 minute “making of” featurette covering all six seasons, four additional story reels from the “The Lost Missions” season.
Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars
The irreverent duo of Phineas and Ferb offers another take on the “Star Wars” saga in this collection of animated adventures. Phineas (voice of Vincent Martella) and Ferb (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) accidentally obtain the plans for the Death Star. They join storm-trooper Candace (Ashley Tisdale) to stop mean and evil Darthenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire). The zany side squares off against the Dark Side.
Rated TV-G.
Extras: five additional episodes, a collectible Perry-in-Carbonite keychain.
Also on DVD: Betrayal, I Am Ali, Iceman, Let’s Be Cops, Summer of Blood.