The week’s DVDs begin in South America:
DVDs and streaming for March 10 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin in South America:
The Liberator (***)
Alberto Arvelo directed this Spanish and English language bio-pic about Simón Bolívar, the revolutionary leader who helped liberate much of South America from the Spanish in the early 1800s (a liberator, not a dictator). Playing Bolívar is Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramírez, who seems to be monopolizing Latin icons, having previously taken lead roles as “Carlos the Jackal” and “Che.” Director Arvelo, from Timothy J. Sexton’s script, delivers an audience-friendly saga, filled with melodramatics and with plenty of digressions into Bolívar’s personal life along with his early years in privilege, first in European studies and then as a young land and slave-owning scion. Eventually, rebellion breaks out and Bolivar sheds his exalted heritage and rouses his countrymen to follow him. Arvelo may monkey around with the strict biographical information, but he has rendered an entertaining work filled with romance, intrigue, and action.
Rated R, 119 minutes.
Extras: A brief introduction and a 41 minute “making of” featurette.
Ride the Pink Horse (***)
The Criterion Collection brings back this 1947 minor nugget for a Blu-ray release. Robert Montgomery directed and starred in what could be called an early film noir, set immediately following World War II and filled with such classic noir ingredients as mordant dialogue (Dorothy B. Hughes’ novel supplies ace screenwriters Charles Lederer and Ben Hecht, and with uncredited help from Hitchcock partner Joan Harrison), a laconic even bitter hero, shadowy photography (by master lensman Russell Metty–Spartacus, Touch of Evil), but with a twist on the usual femme fatale. Montgomery plays Lucky Gagin, recently minted war veteran who travels to a small New Mexico town during a festival week to avenge the death of a friend–or maybe he’s there simply to blackmail the murderer, a slick, sleazy con man played perfectly by character actor Fred Clark. Gagin finds himself being shadowed by dewey-eyed Pila (Wanda Hendrix) when not getting drunk with local character Pancho (Thomas Gomez, who earned the first Academy Award acting nomination for a Mexican-American). Montgomery’s directing skills were never dazzling, but he shows here, as in his first-person Lady in the Lake, no reluctance to take chances. Montgomery led an interesting life, having a riches to rags childhood which steered him into acting, followed by military service in World War II with participation in the Normandy landing on D-Day, as well as two different stints as President of the Screen Actors Guild before becoming a media consultant to Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon.
Not rated, 101 minutes.
Extras: a pamphlet with essay from writer-director Michael Almereyda, a 20 minute interview with noir scholar Imogen Sara Smith, and an audio presentation of the Lux Radio Theatre’s production of “Ride the Pink Horse” featuring most of the main cast.
Listen Up Philip (**)
Alex Ross Perry wrote and directed this abrasive dramedy starring Jason Schwartzman as the title Philip, an angry young man who has just finished his second novel. He lives with his neglected girlfriend Ashley (Elizabeth Moss) but seems to spend most of his time visiting and further alienating ex-girlfriends. An iconic, older novelist (Jonathan Pryce) makes sort of an attempt at mentoring Philip, but the younger man is so annoying and arrogant, why bother? Various other plot-points relating to Philip play out while Schwartzman rapidly delivers his lines, as though he’s reading them. Or maybe he just wants to hurry up and finish. We understand.
Not rated, 108 minutes.
Extras: director’s commentary, a 12 minute “behind-the-scenes” featurette, a four minute “making of” featurette, and seven minutes of deleted scenes.
Late Phases: Night of the Love Wolf (**1/2)
Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano switches directions several times in this horror-hybrid that will admittedly throw you off guard. It begins as a character study about blind, cantankerous military veteran Ambrose McKinley (Nick Damici). He enters a retirement home with his seeing eye dog who is quickly killed by a mysterious, barely visible stranger, or maybe it’s a monster. Ambrose takes measures to protect himself while reluctantly integrating himself into his small community (including Tina Louise of “Gilligan’s Island”). Before long, other unexpectedly bad things happen, including third act appearances of creatures that can only be killed with one of Ambrose’s specially made silver bullets. The film has its tense moments, even if the cheesy monsters look like the rabbit from “Donnie Darko.”
Not rated, 95 minutes.
Extras: director’s commentary, a 15 minute “making of” featurette and a 30 minute featurette on the special effects.
Finally, from this week’s TV arrivals:
Red Road—season one
Aaron Guzikowski created this engrossing Sundance TV series of six episodes, on two discs, set around and in a Lenape Indian reservation. The series juggles myriad plots involving deputy sheriff of nearby Walpole, New Jersey, Harold Jensen (Martin Henderson), his alcoholic wife Jean (Juliane Nicholson), and a recently paroled convict, Phillip Kopus (Jason Momoa) who blackmails Harold with damaging information about Jean. And it seems the three have a shared history. The narrative initially takes off over the disappearance of a college student, which brings in an Indian community simultaneously working for government recognition. To complicate everything, Harold and Jean’s daughter Rachel (played by Heath, Texas native Allie Gonino) falls for Phillip’s bad-boy half-brother Junior (Kiowa Gordon). The season’s four directors (including James Gray) succeed in drawing out the tension while also keeping a grip on the divergent plot lines. Tightly constructed and well executed.
Rated TV-14, 264 minutes.
Extras: the four minute featurette “Sundance on Set: The Red Road,” an eight minute featurette on the cast and crew, and six separate “behind the scenes” featurettes for every episode.
Also on DVD: Dust of War, Happy Valley, Life of Riley, Low Down, Night of the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Pioneer.