NEW YORK — 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.
Blood on the Moon (1948)
Convoluted Western in which a cowboy (Robert Mitchum)
switches sides in the fight against a rancher (Tom Tully) waged by homesteaders
whose wily leader (Robert Preston) is interested only in making himself a quick
fortune. Directed by Robert Wise, the action propels the story through a tangle
of intrigues involving, among others, the rancher's two daughters (prim Phyllis
Thaxter and tomboy Barbara Bel Geddes).
Watch out for: Frontier
violence and romantic complications.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: Not rated. (Warner Archives; also available on Blu-ray)
Burden (2020)
Uplifting fact-based conversion story in which a veteran
Ku Klux Klan member (Garrett Hedlund) falls for a more enlightened single
mother (Andrea Riseborough) who eventually demands that he choose between his
racist pals and his relationship with her. As he struggles with the consequences
of renouncing his allegiance to the local Klan leader (Tom Wilkinson), whom he
has long regarded as a father figure, he comes under the healing influence of
an African American minister (Forest Whitaker). Writer-director Andrew
Heckler's drama is rich in such Gospel values as repentance, forgiveness, hope
and the rejection of violence. Though strictly for grown-ups who can tolerate
foul dialogue, including nasty epithets, it's ultimately an inspiring reminder
of the power of long-suffering, courageous, charitable love.
Watch out for: Scenes of
stylized violence, including beatings, cohabitation, a scatological incident,
about a half-dozen profanities, a couple of milder oaths, constant rough and
much crude and crass language. Spanish titles option.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
R. Universal Studios Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray)
Caravans (1978)
A young State Department official (Michael Sarrazin) in
1948 Iran is ordered to locate a missing American (Jennifer O'Neill) reportedly
in the mountainous domain of a nomad chief (Anthony Quinn). Directed by James
Fargo, the effort is a silly misfire, with a rambling and unfocused plotline,
atrocious dialogue and leadfooted pacing.
Watch out for: A bloody
execution as well as a sequence involving a homosexual dancer make it mature
fare.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG. (KL Studio Classics; also available on Blu-ray)
Corpus Christi (2020)
Polish production in which director Jan Komasa and
screenwriter Mateusz Pacewicz, who reworked his fact-based book, tell the grim
story of a young man (Bartosz Bielenia), just paroled from a violent juvenile
detention facility, who, having found his faith there as an altar server,
aspires to become a priest. But his past makes this impossible and he's
assigned instead to work in a sawmill in a remote community. There, he almost
accidentally begins to impersonate a clergyman and turns out to be
compassionate and courageous in the role, providing pastoral care to the town
where a drunk driving tragedy has resulted in widespread grief. The film takes
Christian faith seriously, but it’s often-cynical portrayal of the priesthood
and the faithful may disturb many. It also tacitly promotes the misguided idea
that priestly authority originates with the congregation and not with
sacramental ordination. Subtitles.
Watch out for: Religious
themes requiring mature discernment, some bloody violence, two nonmarital
sexual encounters, brief male rear nudity, drug use, frequent rough language.
Rated: L, limited adult
audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling;
MPAA: Not rated. (Film Movement; available on Blu-ray)