January’s parade of middle level releases continues this week with some interesting niche titles that might eventually achieve cult status including the comic book-based sci-fi actioner Surrogates, the innovative period film Bright Star, the tense prison break saga The Escapist, the likable roller derby film Whip It, and a major slate of documentaries led by Michael Jackson’s This Is It.

 

Theatrical Releases

 

It’s not hard to see why Disney’s Surrogates, which was based on the graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brent Wardele, failed to earn back its $80 million cost in spite of a strong cast and a promising high-concept premise.  Director Jonathan Mostow simply failed to create a coherent picture of a society where people remain in their houses and leave the actual business of working, living and loving up to high tech humanoid robot avatars.  The world depicted in the film is simply our world with our current technology except with robots that are decades, if not hundred of years more advanced, than anything we have come up with yet.  The film is at its best in its clever use of makeup to depict the “beautiful people” avatars, which have a creepy manikin-like quality, especially Bruce Willis’ blond-tressed alter ego, who is thankfully dispatched about a third of the way through the movie. 

 

There is plenty to like about Surrogates, which looks great especially in Blu-ray.  It does deliver enough good performances and interesting action set pieces that it should eventually find a bigger audience on DVD, but the film demonstrates the prime difficulty in adapting a high concept science fiction short story or graphic novel—film is such a realistic medium that for the validation of its premise this sort of film demands the kind of creation of a future world on a par with what Steven Spielberg was able to accomplish in Minority Report.  Still at least one of the deleted scenes included on the Blu-ray in which a member of the surrogate-shunning minority interacts with the a subway car full of surrogates provides a glimpse of what kind of film this might have been if its premise had been better set up and more fully explored.

 

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It (Fox Rated “PG-13” $29.99, BD $39.99) doesn’t necessarily manage to avoid all the sports film clichés, but it generates plenty of fun in telling the story of a Texas teen (played by Ellen Page) who, against the wishes of her mother, wants to join Austin’s roller derby team.  War and Peace it is not, but with its good natured humor, abundant charm, and sterling cast that also includes Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon and the director herself in a supporting role, it’s easy to see how Whip It managed to get an 82% positive rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Jane Campion’s film of the romance between doomed poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, Bright Star (Sony, Rated “PG,” $27.96) also received great reviews, which is no mean feat for a film about a writer, a notoriously difficult genre.  Some critics faulted Campion for making Ms. Brawne, who was by all accounts an accomplished seamstress, into a sort of 19th Century Coco Chanel (though without the commercial success), but what exactly is the problem with a romance between two talented people?  It is a major crime against cinema that Sony has not released Bright Star in Blu-ray—the textures of the materials used in the clothing design, the note perfect 19th Century interiors, and the gloomy English weather are all captured perfectly in this underrated film that deserves to be issued on Blu-ray.

 

Another underrated and overlooked film coming to DVD this week without the benefit of a Blu-ray, is Rupert Wyatt’s The Escapist (MPI, $19.98), a tense prison break picture starring Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes and Liam Cunningham.  The Escapist is a worthy modern addition to one of the movie’s great action subgenres.

 

In addition to the aforementioned films of interest there’s also a load of crap coming out including Saw VI (Lionsgate Rated “R” Fullscreen “Moron” Edition $29.95, Unrated Widescreen $29.95, Unrated BD $39.99), the latest exercise in the kind of torture porn that masquerades as a “horror film” these days, Little Ashes (E1 Ent., Rated “R,” $26.98), a pretentious and sometimes silly film about the relationship between the young Salvador Dali and the poet Federico Garcia Lorca, and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (Fox, $22.98), a pathetic paean to obnoxious frat boy humor.

 

Documentaries

 

The biggest documentary release of the week is Michael Jackson’s This Is It (Sony, Rated “PG,” $28.96, BD $39.95), a rushed compilation culled from rehearsal footage for the late singer’s ill-fated tour.  MJ fans will definitely want to own this quickie tribute to the “King of Pop,” but he deserves better, and there are actually a couple of more soulful documentaries available this week.

 

Though its really just a collection of performances rather than a true documentary, Infinity’s 2-disc collection of Gospel music, Black History Collection: Soul of the Church (Infinity, $14.98) does manage to document old school 20th Century gospel music with over eight hours of performances culled from the TV Gospel Time television show, which was produced in Chicago from 1962-1965 and sponsored by Sulphur 8 hair products.  The quality of the fuzzy black and white kinescope recordings leaves much to be desired, but the performances by Rev. James Cleveland, Ernestine Washington, Blind Boys of Mississippi, Ruth Brown, Sallie Martin, Alex Bradford, Dixie Hummingbirds, Jesse Mae Renfro, Harmonizing Four, Clouds of Joy, Highway QCs, Marie Knight, Caravans, and numerous non-professional real church choirs are never less than inspired.  As a special bonus feature each disc ends with a number of “Mahalia Jackson Sings” shorts featuring the incomparable Queen of Gospel backed by an all-star group that included Barney Kessel on guitar, Shelly Manne on drums, Red Mitchell on bass, and organist Edward C. Robinson.  These short films were used as “fillers” by TV stations and were also widely shown on European television.

 

If Soul of the Church is all music and no documentary then Soul Power (Sony, Rated “PG,” $28.96, BD $34.98), a film that chronicles the 3-night Zaire ’74 music festival that was planned to coincide with the Ali/Forman “Rumble in the Jungle,” is, alas, more documentary than concert film, with actual performances making up less than 40% of the film’s 92-minute running time.  Still, what concert footage there is, in the parlance of Spencer Tracy in Pat & Mike, is “cherce.”  The film kicks off with James Brown (in his prime) and eventually gets around to including numbers from Bill Withers, Miriam Makeba, the Fania All Stars, the Crusaders, and B.B. King.  The deleted scenes contain a performance from Sister Sledge and a killer James Brown rendition of “Try Me,” that leaves you wondering what other gems were not included in this film with its interesting, but perhaps too elaborate recounting of the difficulties experienced in planning and putting on this historic concert.

 

Also due out this week is World War II in HD (A&E, BD $39.95), a History Channel compilation of rare color footage of the war remastered in high definition, and Act of God (Zeitgeist Films, $29.99), Jennifer Baichwal’s examination of the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning.

 

Television on DVD

 

There are lots of interesting British TV series debuting this week in the colonies including Bonekickers (Acorn Media, $39.99), a drama about a team of archeologists written by Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah.  Described as “Indiana Jones meets CSI,” Bonekickers ran for one season (6 episodes) in 2008.  Also from Acorn Media is Callan Set 2 (13 Episodes, $39.99), which includes the second 13 episodes of the late 1960s cold war espionage series that starred Edward Woodward (best known to U.S. audiences for his starring role on the CBS series The Equalizer) as a reluctant professional assassin working for a shadowy branch of the British government.  The other Acorn Media releases for this week are the culinary/cop show Pie in the Sky Series 2 (10 Episodes, $49.99) and a collection of the first three years of the Canadian humor opus The Red Green Show (72 episodes, $99.99).

 

Lovers of British television will also be interested in MI-5 Vol.7 (Warner Home Video, $59.98), which collects the eight episodes of the classy series that is known as Spooks in the U.K. where these episodes aired in 2008 and 2009.

 

One of the most interesting police procedural shows to debut in the U.S. in recent years, Southland, an NBC series that fell victim to the Jay Leno prime time experiment and was banished to TNT, debuts on DVD with Southland: The Complete 1st Season—Uncensored (Warner Home Video, 7 episodes, $29.98).

 

For those who enjoy science-based series A&E Entertainment is releasing The Universe: The Complete Season 4 (564 min., $39.95).

 

Anime

 

Not a lot of releases this week, but there are some very interesting ones including Viz Media’s first Naruto: Shippuden Box Set 1(Rated 13+, 325 min, $49.98), which contains the first 13 episodes featuring the more mature Naruto in uncut and uncensored versions of the popular ninja series.  The 13-episode box sets definitely outsold the single-disc releases in the original Naruto series, and that trend is sure to continue with the Shippuden episodes.

 

Another interesting multiple-disc debut this week is Production I.G.’s Sands of Destruction: The Complete Series (Funimation, 13+, 290 min, $39.98).  Based on a Sega RPG that is set in a world where humans are ruled by “ferals” (beastmen), this is an upside down saga where it’s easy to root for the end of the world.  The blade-wielding babe/protagonist Morte Asherah is the leader of the World Annihilation Front in this well-animated science fiction fantasy series.

 

Funimation’s other release this week is Sgt. Frog: Season Two, Part 1 (Rated “TV-PG,” $39.98), which contains episodes 27-35 of the hilarious parody series that features more zany pop culture references and groan-inducing puns than any other anime series in captivity.

 

Sentai Filmworks has two multiple releases due out this week including Neo Angelique: Abyss (Rated 13+, $39.98) and Tears to Tiara Collection 2 ($39.98).  Neo Angelique Abyss is a 13-episode shojo series based on the Neo-Angelique game.  In a saga with similarities to another popular shojo series, La Corda D’oro, the female protagonist of Neo Angelique is the only female member of the purifiers, humans with the powers to eliminate the Thanatos monsters that prey on ordinary homo sapiens.  Sentai has also acquired the second 13-episode Neo Angelique series, and plans to release a complete collection of all 26 episodes on March 30th.

 

Foreign Films

 

Funimation is also releasing an increasing number of live action films including Noh Young-seok’s Daytime Drinking (Not rated, $19.99), a sort of Korean version of Sideways crossed with The Hangover.  A festival favorite, Daytime Drinking is emblematic of the rise of independent filmmaking in Korea.

 

Another fascinating foreign film is Moscow Belgium (Terra Entertainment, Unrated, $24.98), a realistic, slice-of-life comedy from first time Flemish director Christophe Van Rompaey. Set in a working class neighborhood in the city of Ghent, Moscow Belgium is an uplifting saga that managed to get a potent 94% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Antonello Grimaldi’s Quiet Chaos (IFC, Not Rated, $19.98), a sensitive, understated study of grief and despair, also did well with the critics.

 

Classics

 

Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy (Criterion $79.95) presents newly restored versions of three films, Rome: Open City, Paisan, and Germany: Year Zero, that defined the Neo-Realist movement in Italy and remain among the most influential movies of the 20th Century.  As always Criterion has done a splendid job in restoring these film.  This set should be required viewing for anyone interested in the history of cinema.

 

Also out this week is Wim Wenders' 1983 film Paris, Texas (Criterion, Rated “R,” $39.95, BD $39.95).  Based on a story by Sam Sheperd, this film is a meditation on the American landscape and American notions of masculinity.  Paris, Texas has a great performance by Harry Dean Stanton, a superbly evocative score by Ry Cooder, and exquisite photography by Robby Muller.  It won the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival, but it’s not a film for everyone.  It is too long (147 minutes) and contemplative for some, but still it remains one of the most interesting melding of European (Wim Wenders was a leading German new wave filmmaker) and American sensibilities in the history of cinema.