The following are capsule reviews from Catholic News
Service of new and recent video releases available on DVD and/or Blu-ray — as
well as for online viewing. Theatrical movies have a Catholic News Service
classification and Motion Picture Association rating. These classifications
refer only to the theatrical version of the films below and do not take into
account any extra content.
International Velvet (1978)
Lavishly produced and entertaining sequel to
"National Velvet" (1944) now has the adult Velvet (Nanette Newman)
living with a writer (Christopher Plummer) and her newly orphaned niece from
America (Tatum O'Neal) who goes on to win the gold medal in the Olympic
equestrian competition. Directed by Bryan Forbes, there is a little violence
and the unmarried state of the two adults raises questions of propriety for
younger viewers.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: PG. (Warner Archive)
1917 (2019)
Gripping historical drama, set in the midst of World War
I, in which two British soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) are
dispatched across enemy territory to call off an attack by an officer (Benedict
Cumberbatch) whose men are about to fall into a German trap, a mission made
more urgent by the fact that the brother (Richard Madden) of Chapman's
character is among those facing slaughter if they fail. By turns harrowing and
lyrically beautiful, and deeply humane throughout, director and co-writer Sam
Mendes' film displays both the horrors of trench combat and the endurance of
fundamental decency and spiritual striving. Unsparing in its portrayal of
misery and desperation, it's also luminous in its affirmation of civilized
values and the triumph of faith, broadly considered, over cynicism.
Watch out for: Much combat
violence with gore, numerous gruesome sights, slightly irreverent humor, a
fleeting sexual reference, about a half-dozen uses of profanity, several rough
terms, occasional crude and crass language. Spanish language and titles
options.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
R. (Universal Studios Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)
Underwater (1955)
Feeble Caribbean adventure directed by John Sturges finds
treasure hunters (Gilbert Roland, Richard Egan and Jane Russell) vying with
larcenous locals in trying to salvage the gold aboard a sunken 17th-century
Spanish galleon. Stylized violence and romantic situations.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
not rated. (Warner Archive; also available on Blu-ray)
Black Christmas (2019)
Sorority sisters (most prominently Imogen Poots) are
preyed on by hooded assailants who seem to be connected to a fraternity on
campus. Director and co-writer Sophia Takal uses the horror genre as a vehicle
for a preposterously overblown feminist message, the bottom line of which is
that the only good white male is a dead one. If frights are few and some of the
plot elements incoherent, at least the mayhem is mostly kept under wraps.
Watch out for: Much
stylized violence with some gore, a scene of nonmarital sensuality, a few
sexual jokes, at least one profanity, a single rough term, occasional crude and
crass language. Spanish language and titles options.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13. (Universal Studios Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)
A Hidden Life (2019)
Luminous, though deliberately paced, fact-based drama
recounting the events leading up to the 1943 martyrdom of Austrian farmer Franz
Jagerstatter (August Diehl). Motivated by his deep Catholic faith,
Jagerstatter, who was beatified in 2007, refused to swear the oath of loyalty
to Adolf Hitler that was demanded of all those drafted into the Wehrmacht
during World War II. Writer-director Terrence Malick focuses on the happy home
life his gentle protagonist sacrificed in order to be obedient to his
conscience, especially his spiritual and emotional bond with his wife,
Franziska, known as Fani (Valerie Pachner), under whose influence he first
became serious about his religion. Beautiful both to look at and to
contemplate, Malick's film requires patience since it largely consists of
scenes of ordinary domestic activities and farming chores, many of them
overshadowed by the dread of what, at first, may lie ahead and later certainly
does. Yet, by accretion, he builds a sturdy bridge of sympathy between the
audience and the central duo, and his movie will be prized by believing
viewers, its ambivalent portrayal of Jagerstatter's parish priest (Tobias
Moretti) and bishop (Michael Nyqvist) notwithstanding.
Watch out for: Mature
themes, scenes of physical violence, an ambiguous portrayal of Catholic clergy.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: PG-13. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Blu-ray only)
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Playful gender-bending within the context of a video-game
alternate universe mingles with an unexpectedly somber message about
approaching death in this follow-up to the 2017 original. Director Jake Kasdan,
who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, has made, in
spite of the sight gags about physical abilities and regenerated characters, a
reflection on adult responsibilities, mortality and self-esteem. Dwayne Johnson
and Karen Gillan are the most prominent of the avatars into whom the core cast
of the kickoff (Alex Wolff, Morgan Turner, Ser'Darius Blain and Madison
Iseman), among others, are transformed before embarking on a quest during which
they take on the brutal leader (Rory McCann) of a violent empire. An old game,
a familiar plot and eternal verities are a potent combination.
Watch out for: Intense
action sequences, fleeting sexual references, three profanities, occasional
crude language. Spanish language and titles options.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)
A Pure Formality (1995)
Found dazed and running from a nearby murder site, a
novelist (Gerard Depardieu) is closely questioned in a crumbling police station
by a sly inspector (Roman Polanski) who, over the course of a storm-tossed,
candlelit night, gets the author to reveal shameful secrets. Finely acted and
mystery-drenched, director Giuseppe Tornatore's intriguing, surreal drama is
left open to interpretation as it explores the subtle nature of memory in
submerging the recollection of past failures. In French. Subtitles.
Watch out for: Some
violence and fleeting nudity.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13. (KL Studio Classics; also available on Blu-ray)
Richard Jewell (2019)
Director Clint Eastwood's sympathetic profile of the
titular security guard (Paul Walter Hauser) who quickly went from hero to
villain in the public mind when he was accused of planting the three pipe bombs
that he himself first discovered, and helped to save people from, during the
1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Dogged by an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) convinced of
his guilt and a relentless mob of journalists led by a newspaper reporter (Olivia
Wilde) who's out for a sensational story at any cost, he turns for help to his
former boss, a maverick attorney (charismatic Sam Rockwell). The canny,
hard-bitten lawyer and his naive client make for an interesting odd couple and
Kathy Bates is in fine form as Jewell's doting mother. But a seamy subplot and
other factors make Eastwood's fairly gripping film, which draws on both a book
and an article, best for grown-ups.
Watch out for: An implied
nonmarital encounter, brief violence, mature references including to
homosexuality, about a dozen uses of profanity, frequent rough and crude
language. Spanish language and titles options.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
R. (Warner Home Video; also available on Blu-ray)
Bombshell (2019)
The real-life story of the sexual harassment scandal that
swamped the Fox News organization in 2016, helping to launch the #MeToo
movement, is given a documentary-like treatment by director Jay Roach, with
actors portraying actual TV moguls and personalities as well as fictional
composites. Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) oversees a corrosive workplace
environment and a conservative media empire that seeks, in his words, to
"frighten" and "titillate." He draws an ambitious recruit
(Margot Robbie) into his intimate circle, as he deals with the outspokenness of
two of his anchors, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) and Gretchen Carlson (Nicole
Kidman). When Carlson is fired, she decides to sue Ailes, igniting a media
firestorm and incurring the wrath of Ailes' boss, Rupert Murdoch (Malcolm
McDowell). Although the film blurs the line between fiction and reality and
contains raw and unsettling dialogue and situations, it has a vital story to
tell for discerning adult viewers about respect, integrity and the law.
Watch out for: Strong sexual
content, including a harassment theme and an offscreen lesbian encounter,
pervasive profane and crude language.
Rated: L, limited adult
audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling;
MPAA: R. (Summit Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)
Charlie's Angels (2019)
This third film iteration of the iconic 1976-81 television
series turns out to be, overall, a charmer, an old-fashioned popcorn movie
overstuffed with preposterous action sequences, exotic locales and good humor.
A secret organization recruits women from around the world to serve as spies,
or "Angels." When the outfit's leader (Patrick Stewart) retires, he
is succeeded by a former agent (Elizabeth Banks, who also directed and wrote
the screenplay). Two of her operatives (Kristen Stewart and Ella Balinska) join
forces with an engineer (Naomi Scott) whose invention, a sustainable energy
source, has been stolen by her wicked bosses (Nat Faxon and Sam Claflin) who
plan to weaponize it. A globetrotting game of cat and mouse ensues, with enough
twists and double-crosses to keep viewers guessing until the very end (though
the message of female empowerment and equality is a bit heavy-handed). One of
the Angels is coy about her sexual preference. While the matter is dealt with
obliquely, at least some grown viewers may want to steer clear.
Watch out for: Frequent but
bloodless action sequences, some sexual innuendo and fleeting references to
homosexuality, occasional profane and crude language, an obscene gesture.
Spanish language and titles options.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)
The Left-Handed Gun (1958)
Western misfire in which Billy the Kid (Paul Newman) kills
the four men who ambushed his English employer, after which his onetime friend
and now sheriff Pat Garrett (John Dehner) tracks him down. Directed by Arthur
Penn from Gore Vidal's TV drama, the choppy narrative is disappointing.
Watch out for: Hard-edged
violence and sexual innuendo.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG. (Warner Archives Collection)
Spies in Disguise (2019)
In this animated comic adventure, a superspy (voice of
Will Smith) and a tech geek (voice of Tom Holland) team up to fight an
international group of villains (the most prominent voiced by Ben Mendelsohn).
But their mission is complicated by the fact that one of the lab whiz's
experiments has gone awry, transforming the agent into a small blue pigeon. The
pace is rapid while the premise is vapid, but small children are unlikely to
mind. Directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, working from a screenplay by Brad
Copeland and Lloyd Taylor, somehow manage to let learning take place, too, even
if that means occasional lessons in pigeon ingestion.
Watch out for: Some intense
action sequences and digestion-themed dialogue. Spanish language option.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: PG. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; also available on
Blu-ray)
By the Grace of God (2019)
Hard-hitting fact-based drama about priestly sexual abuse.
Decades after being molested by Father Bernard Preynat (Bernard Verley) a group
of survivors in Lyon, France, band together to bring him to justice and to
compel the archbishop of that city, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin (Francois
Marthouret), to reveal what he knew about Preynat's evil deeds and when. The
effort is initiated by a still-practicing Catholic businessman (Melvil
Poupaud), then joined by a combative atheist (Denis Menochet) and by an
emotionally ravaged lost soul (Swann Arlaud). Writer-director Francois Ozon
uses an ensemble cast to give viewers a sense of the impact one serial predator
can have and of the varied reactions to trauma that may result from his crimes.
Though this crowded canvas sometimes makes his film seem slightly diffuse, its
understated tone and comfort with ambiguity only increase its ultimate
emotional impact. A challenging but subtly crafted piece of cinema. In French.
Subtitles.
Watch out for: Mature
themes, including the sexual abuse of children, drug use, cohabitation, upper
and rear nudity, an obscured image of full nudity, at least one use of
profanity, considerable rough and crude language.
Rated: L, limited adult
audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling;
MPAA: not rated. (Music Box Films)
Dark Waters (2019)
Fact-based drama about poisoned water, similar to 2000's
"Erin Brockovich," has a single crusading lawyer (Mark Ruffalo)
taking on a powerful company — in this case, DuPont — that's been dumping
industrial waste from the manufacture of Teflon around Parkersburg, West
Virginia, the loyal company town where the coating is made. The ambitious
attorney, who used to represent chemical companies, becomes involved in the situation
at the urging of a stubborn local farmer (Bill Camp) who knows his grandmother
(Marcia Dangerfield). Director Todd Haynes and screenwriters Mario Correa and
Matthew Michael Carnahan limn a rural landscape where the sun seems never to
shine and the wealthy exploit and poison the poor with seeming impunity.
Watch out for: Some rough
and profane language, occasional animal gore. Spanish language and titles
options.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13. (Universal Studios Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)
Playmobil: The Movie (2019)
Four years after their parents were killed in a car
accident, a formerly free-spirited teen girl (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her
fun-loving younger brother (Gabriel Bateman) are at odds because of her
overprotectiveness. But after they're magically transported to a world
inhabited by the titular line of toys, and he is kidnapped, she embarks on a
quest to rescue him. She finds an unlikely ally in the form of a laid-back food
truck driver (voice of Jim Gaffigan) and also is aided by a James Bond-like spy
(voice of Daniel Radcliffe). Mostly animated, but bracketed by live-action
sequences, director Lino DiSalvo's meandering musical adventure, which also
features voice work by Adam Lambert as a loony Roman emperor, is too
frightening for tots and strays momentarily into some questionable dialogue.
Still, themes of teamwork, friendship, family bonds and forgiveness go some way
toward compensating for its obvious aesthetic shortcomings.
Watch out for: Considerable
peril, stylized combat violence, two vaguely crass terms. Spanish titles
option.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: PG. (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
And Hope to Die (1972)
In a considerably shortened version of a French production
directed by Rene Clement (originally titled "The Race of the Hare Across
the Fields"), the plot itself seems to have gone the way of the Cheshire
Cat. What remains are a series of interesting but capricious scenes involving a
gang of colorful cutthroats (Robert Ryan, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Lea Massari
and Aldo Ray) that finally culminates in a "kidnapping" from police
headquarters in the middle of Montreal. If Clement's intention was to liken
this kind of adult entertainment to childhood games, something is missing in
the translation.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG (KL Studio Classics; also available on Blu-ray)
The Deadly Trap (1972)
Frank Langella and Faye Dunaway play an uneasily married
couple living in Paris and troubled by a series of peculiar occurrences that
culminate in the disappearance of their two children. Badly failed French
suspense thriller directed by Rene Clement, the plight of the two young
children might be distressing for some pre-teens.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: PG. (KL Studio Classics; also available on Blu-ray)
Frozen II (2019)
When a queen endowed with the magical power to create ice
and snow (voice of Idina Menzel) hears a voice calling her into the wilderness
beyond her realm and holding out to her the prospect of discovering the origins
of her supernatural gift, she responds by embarking on a quest. She's
accompanied by her strictly human younger sister (voice of Kristen Bell), the
iceman (voice of Jonathan Groff) who would like to make the junior sibling his
own and a merry sentient snowman (voice of Josh Gad). Screenwriter and
co-director Jennifer Lee and her partner at the helm, Chris Buck, the creators
of the 2013 original, deliver an exuberant animated musical adventure stressing
teamwork, family solidarity and upright values. Too scary for the littlest
patrons, the film's somewhat unscriptural nature mythos may also be confusing
for impressionable moviegoers. As for adults, at least some may find the
script's exaltation of the life of indigenous people over industrialized
societies heavy-handed. These flaws are ultimately outweighed, though, by
sympathetic characters, visual flair and skillful, if sometimes overly
complicated, storytelling. Watch out for: Stylized
combat, considerable peril. Spanish language and titles options.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: PG. (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment; also available
on Blu-ray)
Knives Out (2019)
Splendid comic whodunit in which a shrewd Southern
detective (Daniel Craig) is hired by an anonymous client to investigate the
death of a famous and wealthy crime novelist (Christopher Plummer). Though the
police lieutenant (LaKeith Stanfield) and trooper (Noah Segan) assigned to the
case insist it was suicide, the sleuth seeks answers among the eccentric
members of the deceased's conflict-ridden family (Chris Evans, Jamie Lee
Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson and Toni Collette, among others). He also
enlists the help of the late author's caring and sensible Latina nurse (Ana de
Armas). Writer-director Rian Johnson's richly entertaining ensemble homage to
Agatha Christie has clever twist and turns, abundant humor and sly social
commentary. Though strictly for grown-ups, it's a brainy and satisfying movie.
Watch out for: Brief gory
violence, a morally complex situation, drug use, sexual references, about a
dozen profanities, a few milder oaths, a couple of rough terms, frequent crude
and crass language, an obscene gesture.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13. (Lionsgate Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)