New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD: 3/4/14

It what might seem like a piece of finely tuned timing, but what's more likely a bit of luck, Steve McQueen's 12 YEARS A SLAVE hits home video today fresh from winning the Academy Award for Best Picture Sunday night. The acclaimed historical drama, which also won Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o) and Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley) just like I predicted, is now available in 1-disc Blu ray and DVD editions. Special Features: a over 40 minute Making Of mini-doc entitled “12 YEARS A SLAVE: A Historical Portrait,” a 7 minute behind-the-scenes featurette (“The Team”), and a 4 minute bit about the music of Hans Zimmer in the film (“The Score”). Read my review from when the film first came out last year here.

The other heavy hitter out this week is Francis Lawrence's sci-fi sequel smash starring Jennifer Lawrence, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE, in 2-disc Blu ray and single disc DVD editions. Special Features include an Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson, a 2 hour and 24 minute doc made up of 9 Making Of featurettes, a little over 4 minutes of Deleted Scenes, and, for some reason, a almost 7 minute Sneak Peak into the upcoming Neil Burger movie DIVERGENT.

Spike Lee's remake of Chan-wook Park's 2003 cult classic OLDBOY also drops today. I was among many that missed the film that starred Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, and Samuel L. Jackson, as it flopped when it was released theatrically last Thanksgiving, but now we can all catch up with the release that's packaged with over 10 minutes of Extended & Alternate Scenes, The Making of Oldboy (17 min.), Talking Heads (2 minutes and 43 seconds of Cast and crew sound bites), something called Transformation (2:11), and a Workout Video (0:49).

Having never seen any of the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and being oblivious to him in anything else, Eric Heisserer's HOURS, also out today on Blu ray and DVD, was my first time seeing a performance by the late Paul Walker (I did see FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, but don't remember him in it). Walker puts in some admirable acting in this thriller set in a hospital in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, but the film strains unsuccessfully for whatever suspense it can think to wring out of its spare premise concerning a man trying to protect his just born baby. Special Features: “All I Feel Is You” music video by Safran and a PSA for Paul Walker's charity Reach Out.

Another B-movie available this week is Ruairi Robinson's sci-fi thriller THE LAST DAYS ON MARS, starring Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, and Olivia Williams. It's no great shakes, as most movies set on Mars usually go, but at least it's a watchable retread of tropes from classics like ALIEN, and THE THING. Special Features: “The Making of THE LAST DAYS ON MARS” (15 min.), “Analyzing the Visual Effects” (6 min.), Behind the Scenes Comparisons (4 min.), and AXIS TV: A Look at The Last Days on Mars (3 min.).

Other notable releases today include Richard E. Robbins' documentary GIRL RISING (only on DVD), concerning the global campaign for girls' education; Wong Kar Wai's Hong Kong-Chinese martial arts drama THE GRANDMASTER, Tze Chun's crime thriller COLD COMES THE NIGHT, starring Alice Eve and Bryan Cranston;  

Giulio Paradisi's 1979 psychological thriller THE VISITOR, and Jamie Payne's Doctor Who TV event THE TIME OF THE DOCTOR, which was the 800th episode of the long running British series, and the last to feature Matt Smith as the iconic character.

Also on the TV front there's Venture Bros: Complete Season Five, Oliver Stone's 2012 10-episode Showtime series Untold History of the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Murder Series 1, Agatha Christie's Poirot: Series 11, Ancient Aliens Season 5 Volume 2 and the seventh season of the classic '60s Clint Eastwood Western series Rawhide gets released in 2 separate multi-disc volumes (DVD only).

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Oscars 2014 Recap: Complete With Tweets!

I really enjoyed watching last night's broadcast of the 86th Academy Awards at the Rialto Theatre (pictured on the right) here in Raleigh. It was the first time showing the program for the 72 year old theater, and despite some lady cackling maybe a bit too much at host Ellen DeGeneres' schtick, it was a lot of fun to be in attendance.

I got my best Oscar predictions score ever, with only three wrong out of the 24 winners. I missed Best Documentary Feature which went to Morgan Neville's fine documentary about back-up singers, TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM, because I thought since a music-centered doc (SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN) won last year, it wouldn't happen this time around. I had thought for sure Joshua Oppenheimer's powerful but hard to watch doc about Indonesian death-squad leaders,THE ACT OF KILLING, would get the gold. Oh, well. Can't win 'em all.

The others I got wrong were the Best Live Action Short (I guessed THAT WASN'T ME), and Best Costume Design, which went to THE GREAT GATSBY (I guessed AMERICAN HUSTLE, which won nothing).

I wasn't that disappointed that one of favorite films of 2013, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, didn't win anything because I didn't expect it to.

As for the rest of the show, here's some highlights from my live tweeting (follow @filmbabble) of the event last evening:

Ellen's monologue - not bad, about as risqué as she can get.

Best supporting actor: nailed it! Leto will next take on Jesus Christ Superstar.

Never caught up with what the hat means - Pharrell Williams-wise. 

2nd win for DALLAS BUYERS - setting it up for a major McConaughey moment.

Yes, MR. HUBLOT! It was the best animated short so I'm happy.

FROZEN - I picked it but still haven't seen it.

GRAVITY's first win for a tech award. There will be more.

Wow - HELIUM. Missed that. Oh well. 

Whoa - 20 FEET FROM STARDOM for best doc. Happy to be wrong here.

C'mon THE GREAT BEAUTY! Yes!

It's about time Tyler Perry got here.

Okay, U2 is U2-ing it up for a movie nobody has seen.

Biggest celebrity selfie ever?

I tell ya - every tech award goes to GRAVITY. 

Best shooter: GRAVITY again, of course. 

Whoopi will set us straight. 

Kelly Preston - still getting it done. @RealKevinBrewer * said that.

In memorial - decent picks n all - gotta end with PSH. 

John Travolta: "there will always be a place in my heart for really unrealistic hair"

Again GRAVITY. Yep. 

Damn, well maybe this bodes well for a 12 YEARS best pic win. 

Is this shaping up to be the most predictable oscars ever? Sure seems like it.

Seems like today everybody else is saying it was one of the most predictable Oscars ever, which it must have been if I got 21 out of 24 right! I was hoping for at least one big surprise, like, say, Jonah Hill or June Squibb winning, but it was a big breezy show that entertained me greatly. Definitely better than last year's Seth McFarlane mess.

* I recorded an episode of my friend Kevin Brewer's podcast, postmodcast, last week in which we discussed the legacy of the recently departed Harold Ramis, and chatted a bit about Oscar predictions. Please listen to it here.

I'll leave you now with my favorite moment from last night's big show:

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Hey, I Finally Saw Neil Jordan’s THE GOOD THIEF!

Okay, so Neil Jordan’s THE GOOD THIEF, a 2002 heist thriller starring Nick Nolte, isn’t a classic, or even a movie that anyone’s ever made me feel guilty for having never seen, but it’s a movie that I’ve meant to get around to since its release 12 years ago, and was glad to see it available for streaming on Netflix Instant.

THE GOOD THIEF premiered in September of 2002 at the Toronto International Film Festival, just days before Nolte was arrested for drunk driving in Malibu. That is mostly remembered by folks by way of the infamous “mug shot,” which can still be seen as junk fodder on late night talk shows and internet memes.

The disheveled look of Nolte in that photo, wild hair and Hawaiian-shirt and all, was at odds with his well put together appearance in THE GOOD THIEF, Jordan’s 11th film as writer/director. Don’t get me wrong, the character Nolte portrays, Bob Montagnet, is a very rough at the edges guy who shoots heroin between intense smoky gambling sessions along the French Riviera, but the film wants to get across that he’s still got it going on - a young woman (Russian actress Nutsa Kukhianidze) says of seeing Nolte shirtless: “You look pretty good for a man your age.” Nolte replies: “What age is that?” Kukhianidze: “Stone age.”

Nolte’s self proclaimed “junkie gambler” is recruited by to mastermind a heist of a Monte Carlo casino, but they’re not after money, their score is a collection of original paintings from the Impressionist era worth more millions than what’s in the safe. The new Japanese owners hang convincing forgeries on the wall of their casino, while the real ones are stored in a nearby underground vault.

Nolte’s plan involves his appearance distracting the security at the casino – all eyes are on him thinking he’ll rob the place – while his crew is stealing the paintings. “It’s like those paintings,” Nolte explains, “we’ve got a real heist and a fake.”

The film gets pretty flashy; more than one critic called it “stylish,” but underneath the freeze frames (sometimes in slow motion) and carefully staged shots, there’s an odd sense of humor at play. Of the members of his crew, there’s Julien Maurel as a trans-sexual muscleman, a dapper pair of identical twins (Mark and Michael Polish), and Serbian actor Emir Kusturica as security system genius/rock guitarist, all coming together to be the rag tag comic relief throughout the caper.

There’s also an uncredited cameo by Ralph Fiennes as a slimey yet suave art dealer but that doesn’t amount to much so let’s move on.

More than once, Leonard Cohen croons on the soundtrack, himself seemingly obsessed with gambling: “The ponies run, the girls are young, The odds are there to beat. You win a while, and then it's done…your little winning streak” (from “A Thousand Kisses Deep” from Cohen’s 2001 album 10 New Songs).

It’s a fitting dark little song that does its thing here. As does Nolte who glides into the film’s climax in a fine Italian suit with his hair slicked back. “To the limit, let’s get some chips,” Nolte says with confidence as he enters the heavily lit gambling palace as the proceedings get more and more heated.

THE GOOD THIEF is one of those gambling movies that goes against the oft quoted line that “the house always wins.” In other words, ultimately it’s a fantasy film. It wants you to root for an aging down and out gambler to have one last chance at a big score – and look great doing it.

It’s only a notch above being just a watchable time waster, but with Nolte playing his hand perfectly - I especially like his mini-speeches on art, religion, and rock ‘n roll - it’s a pleasing late night find on Netflix Instant. It seems like Nolte has been laying low lately - he hasn't had any major film roles, and the HBO show Luck, in which he co-starred with Dustin Hoffman, was sadly cancelled after one season because of the death of three horses. Here's hoping he'll get another film like this one to dominate, he's too often part of ensembles.

It's a shame that that damn DUI photo is better known than this film from the same year, but then Nolte might not have gotten the great juicy self-parodying part in Ben Stiller's 2008 modern comedy classic TROPIC THUNDER without it, so there's that.

THE GOOD THIEF was based on Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1956 French gangster thriller BOB LE FLAMBEUR, which is available as part of the Criterion Collection. I’ll get to that one day too.

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