Child prodigies are the curiosities of the celebrity world – and while those amazing little actors and singers might impress us, it’s even more remarkable when children excel in those cerebral endeavors typically left to adults. The world of chess has seen its share of brilliant children: Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, and now Magnus Carlsen, the 25 year old subject of Benjamin Ree’s documentary Magnus. Magnus is a tense but uneven glimpse into the world of champion chess via the so-called "Mozart of Chess," a man now widely considered one of the greatest players of them all.
“You shouldn’t have to stop your own people from killing civilians,” says a former military whistleblower in the documentary National Bird. More than just a documentary, National Bird is a scathing and clearly delineated expose on America’s use of drone warfare and the effects it has on both the victims of the attacks and the people operating the aircraft. Directed by Sonia Kennebeck and executive produced by Errol Morris and Wim Wenders, National Bird looks through the eyes of three whistleblowers - one man and two women- involved in the drone program at the real human damage done to operators and victims alike.
Action movies possess their own special kind of artistry. While there are numerous techniques in the action filmmaker’s arsenal – jump cuts, montages, hard-pumping soundtracks, body cams – putting them all together with a certain degree of panache and energy takes a very particular kind of filmmaker. Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, James Wan, Justin Lin, John McTiernan, even the oft-derided Zack Snyder – these are the masters of the kinetic art form. Point Break director Ericson Core, whose film base-jumps its way onto Blu-Ray this month, might have taken a lesson from the school of badass jump cuts and avoided producing the most boring action film ever made.
Films about immigration to America all too often rely on the same tired clichés: about immigrants struggling to come to the new world, only to discover that the streets are not paved with gold or even properly paved; about immigrants already here, faced with that peculiar American brand of discrimination, ghettoization, and fragmentation. Usually someone turns to crime, the old country beckons (or follows), and the family begins to disintegrate under the weight of the new American world. Thankfully, the romantic-drama Brooklyn, which comes out on Blu-ray this month, fulfills none of the stereotypes of its predecessors.
There’s very little I can say about director Lenny Abrahamson’s brilliant and heart-wrenching drama Room that has not already been said – critics and audiences have praised it, the Oscars rewarded it. As the film makes its way onto Blu-ray this month, audiences will have another opportunity to experience the painful humanity of this drama, a story about a mother/child bond forged in trauma and fantasy.
Catherine Hardwicke’s mixed bag of a dramedy Miss You Already about two friends dealing with a life-changing illness eases its way onto Blu-ray this month. In the interests of full-disclosure, I will mention that I almost had to recuse myself from this review after watching the first half hour. My mother underwent treatment for breast cancer ten years ago and, while her case was different from the one presented on film for many reasons, it was occasionally difficult to separate my own emotions from the film’s emotions.
In 2010, the world sat riveted to its television screens after the news of a mining disaster in Chile that left 33 men trapped 200 stories below ground. As international crews and the Chilean government attempted to find and free the miners, the rest of the world hoped for – but did not expect – a successful rescue. Hitting Blu-ray and digital platforms this February, director Patricia Riggen’s The 33 attempts to tell the story of what went on underground, and the perseverance of the rescuers above.
Good movies are rarer than we sometimes realize and, if there’s one thing you can say for Steven Spielberg: he makes good movies. His films hold together with a solidity often missing in the more bloated, action and CGI- filled blockbusters that fill our multiplexes. His characters entertain while maintaining reality and depth; his plot arcs are well paced; and damn he knows how to create cinematic tension with a minimum of fuss. All of this is true for Bridge of Spies, Spielberg’s latest Academy Award-nominated Cold War thriller that has just hit Blu-ray and DVD.
Star Wars didn’t start out as a multi-million dollar franchise. It started out as a film about a farm boy, a princess, a smuggler, a wise man, and a couple of bickering droids who took on an evil empire. The original Star Wars, eventually renamed Episode IV: A New Hope in recognition of its place in the franchise, didn’t just spring fully formed out of George Lucas’s mind. Like all great films, it stood on the shoulders of cinematic giants and incorporated other, equally great films into its mythos, referencing everything from old serials to the samurai epics of Akira Kurosawa.
