Blu Ray/DVD Review: BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Out today on Blu ray and DVD:

BEFORE MIDNIGHT

(Dir. Richard Linklater, 2013) *

“Where did you think your life would be at this point, Missy?” Ethan Hawke flippantly asks Julie Delpy early on in the third installment of Richard Linklaters’ ongoing saga of Jesse and Céline, the star-crossed lovers that we first met back in 1995’s BEFORE SUNRISE.

From Delpy’s remarks throughout BEFORE MIDNIGHT, we can guess that she didn’t expect that in her early 40s she’d be married to somebody she calls an “American teenager,” and that she’d be the mother of his curly haired blonde twin seven-year old girls (Charlotte and Jennifer Pryor).

But since they came together that afternoon in Paris they spent together in 2004’s BEFORE SUNSET that’s what happened, and now, nine years later, on vacation in Greece, they come to another crossroad in their relationship. Hawke’s successful novelist Jesse, is aching to spend more time with his teenage son (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) who lives with his mother in Chicago, but the French Delpy’s politically-minded Céline doesn’t want to leave France because of a government job offer.

Linklater (SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED, BERNIE) effectively gets us back into the tone and the talkiness of the couple’s world with a long unbroken shot (taken from a camera mounted on the hood of their automobile) of the two chatting while driving through the Greek hillside while their children sleep in the back seat. We then meet a group of locals including Walter Lassally, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and Panos Koronis that join the leads for a lively dinner party, in which life and love is discussed with much wit and warmth.

This is a fine appetizer, but the real entrée is the last two thirds that concern Delpy and Hawke alone. They have a long walk and talk through Grecian ruins (another unbroken shot), in which Hawke notes that it’s been a long time since they’ve “walked around and bullsh*ted.” Then it’s on to an evening at Westin Resort Hotel at Costa Navarino which starts off romantically, but then becomes an edgy argument that could end their marriage.

Their heated hotel room feud put me through the emotional ringer, as it probably will anybody who’s enjoyed and/or suffered a long term relationship. Being the same age as they are (Hawke is 42; Delpy - 43), I can heavily relate to them as I’ve experienced almost identical arguments.

In both career best performances, Hawke and Delpy alternate between being funny, deeply frustrated, and heart-broken, never taking an inauthentic step (the fact that Delpy spends a good chunk of their hotel room spat topless is somehow organically present). Along with Linklater, Hawke and Delpy co-wrote the screenplay, so you often feel the overlap of real life in their exchanges and that makes the material sting and resonate greatly.

Some folks may be turned off by how talky it is – and it’s all talk; a series of constant conversations - but fans of these films are going to be elated to spend more time with these two, who, I believe, are in the running for greatest screen couple ever.

In a world full of major studio sequels and re-boots, it’s a beautiful treat that every nine years we can catch up with Jesse and Céline in an intelligent indie shot at another picturesque location. As BEFORE MIDNIGHT is on excellent par with the first two films, that prospect is even more appealing. Delpy recently said in an interview that they plan on making these films into their 60s, “then we’ll be like the couple in AMORE.” Amen to growing old with these characters.

Special Features: Commentary with Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy, a 7 minute featurette “Revisiting Jesse & Celine,” a 37-minute Q & A with Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy conducted by Film Critic Elvis Mitchell, and the theatrical trailer.

* Except for the last bit about bonus material, this review originally appeared in the June 14th, 2013 edition of the Raleigh News & Observer.

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New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD: 10/22/13

Last summer’s horror hit THE CONJURING brought about old school scares with aesthetics that recall such classics as THE EXORCIST, POLTERGEIST, and an obvious spiritual connection, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. James Wan’s film, based on the real-life account of a pair of paranormal investigators (Ed and Lorraine Warren played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), releases today just in time for Halloween on a 2 disc Blu ray edition (DVD + UltraViolet), and a single disc DVD.

Special Features: 3 featurettes (“A Life in Demonology,” “THE CONJURING: Face-To-Face With Terror,” and something called “Scaring the ‘@$*%’ Out of You”) equaling around 30 minutes.

One of my favorite films of the year, Richard Linklater’s BEFORE MIDNIGHT, the third film in the ongoing series about the talky relationship between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, also comes out today on home video in single disc Blu ray and DVD editions. Read my review, which contains info about the film’s Special Features, here.

A film that definitely won’t make my top ten of favorites, Shawn Levy’s THE INTERNSHIP (my review), the comedy that had Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson goofin’ on Google, is our this week in a 2 disc Blu ray Combo Pack, and a single disc DVD edition. Special Features include Theatrical and Unrated versions of the film, deleted scenes, a mocumentary about the Quidditch Match: “Any Given Monday,” and commentary with Director Levy.

The writing duo from THE DESCENDANTS, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, scored box office success with their directorial debut THE WAY, WAY BACK, as I saw by week after week of appreciative audiences last summer at the indie theater I work at part-time. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the film – it’s a pretty routine kid-comes-of-age-while-on-a-family-trip-to-the-beach scenario, but its decent cast including Steve Carrell, Allison Janey, Toni Collette, Sam Rockwell, and Maya Rudolf keep it somewhat afloat. Bonus material includes deleted scenes and several behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Another comedy that doesn’t quite cut it that’s out today on Blu ray and DVD is Dan Mazer’s I GIVE IT A YEAR. The British rom com is about a couple, Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne, who get married only to find they’re in love with other people in the form of Anna Farris and Simon Baker. Being that first time director Mazer co-wrote BORAT and BRUNO, there’s a lot of crude humor epitomized by how Spall puts the premise in one of the film’s making-of featurettes in the Special Features:

“In all relationships, you get together with someone, you spend the first four months of the relationship stifling farts. Then they get married and let it rip. And they realize that they don’t like the smell of each other’s farts.”

For those who happen to like this film’s farts, there’s also a blooper reel, deleted/extended scenes, outtakes (of one wacky scene involving doves) and multiple interviews with cast/crew.

Nicholas Winding Rehn and Ryan Gosling’s crime thriller follow-up to DRIVE, ONLY GOD FORGIVES also drops in single disc Blu ray/DVD editions today. Special features include a commentary with Director Rehn, 12 short behind-the-scenes segments, “The Music of ONLY GOD FORGIVES with Cliff Martinez, and over 10 minutes of interviews with Rehn.

Also out today: Max Mayer’s comedy drama AS COOL AS I AM (starring Claire Danes, Sarah Bolger, and James Marsden), Rachid Bouchareb’s JUST LIKE A WOMAN (2012), Roel Reiné’s action fantasy DEAD IN TOMBSTONE (for those who can’t get enough Danny Trejo), Verena Paravel’s 2012 documentary LEVIATHAN, and Lavinia Currier’s 2011 drama OKA!



On the older films out today front, there’s the Bruce Lee: The Legacy Edition (4 Blu ray/7 DVD), The Vincent Price Collection, Michael Findlay and Horacio Fredriksson's 1976 thriller SNUFF, and the Criterion Collection Edition of Lewis Allen’s 1944 horror classic THE UNINVITED, starring Ray Milland.

TV series sets out this week include Nikita: The Complete Third Season, Call The Midwife: Seasons 1 & 2, The Young Riders: Season 2, and Silk Stalkings Complete Seasons 6, 7, & 8.

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Summing Up The 2013 Summer Movies Season So Far

I’ve decided to take most of July off from writing about movies to finish a book project, largely because my mind has been over cluttered with debris from all the ginormous destruction on the big screen I’ve experienced so far this summer. 

But I’ve seen much worse summer fare in seasons past so I’m not going to go on a rant about the money-making mechanisms of Hollywood or the glut of superhero comic book movies. No, I’m just gonna clean out my notebook by summing up some films in current release, including a certain cowboy and indian centered blockbuster wannabe that just opened, so I can move on. So here goes:


THE LONE RANGER

(Dir. Gore Verbinski)

The majority of critics are bashing Verbinski’s update of the iconic Western character (it’s at 23% on the Rotten Tomatometer), and it’s already been deemed a flop, but I actually thought it was a not bad blockbuster wannabe. It’s way too long, and Johnny Depp as Tonto too often dominates the screen with his typical shifty eyed mannerisms (sometimes under pancakes of unconvincing old man make-up), but Armie Hammer does a decent job as a gallant doofus of a hero, and the story winds back on itself in a very entertaining way. It's Verbinski’s expected over-the-top action thrill-ride all the way, but I went along with it, perhaps just because it wasn’t another PIRATES movie, and it wasn’t in 3D, but either way I don’t mind being in the minority.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 

(Dir. Joss Whedon)

Considered the antithesis of his superhero smash last summer, THE AVENGERS, Whedon’s small budget black and white modern day Shakespeare adaptation is a breezy delight that my wife and I quite enjoyed one recent evening at the Colony Theater in Raleigh. The exquisitely fluffy film is basically a filmed party at Whedon’s house in Los Angeles over 12 days, with veterans of the directors TV shows such as Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Reed Diamond, and Clark Gregg spouting out the original text of Shakespeare’s 16th century play. If you can get into the rhythms of the old timey language, it’s a fun time, if not, then maybe the Bard isn’t for you.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY 

(Dir. Dan Scanlon) 



This Pixar prequel, #1 at the box office right now, is fun, and just funny enough to make it not matter that it’s a pretty unnecessary project. Billy Crystal and John Goodman return to voice the one-eyed green monster Mike, and his big blue furry friend Sully in this charming coming-of-age story about their days at the School For Scaring. Amusing plot similarities to the recent Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy THE INTERNSHIP are noted by friend and fellow film writer, Will Fonvielle, who attended the screening with me, in his dead on review which you should read here at his movie blog, Filmvielle.

BEFORE MIDNIGHT 

(Dir. Richard Linklater) 



The best film of the summer has no CGI, no explosions, no high octane action at all. It just mostly features married couple (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) walking and talking through Greecian ruins as they take stock of their relationship. It’s the third in Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy’s sweet series about love, life, and talking these subjects to death. Read my review here.

THIS IS THE END 

(Dirs. Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg)



The most hilarious film of the summer has a crew of graduates from Apatow Academy finding the funny in facing the apocalypse which hits Los Angeles during a wild party at James Franco’s house. Rogen and Franco along with Jay Barachel, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride, all playing exaggerated versions of themselves, litter the extremely crude, profane, and insanely graphic (there’s a 60-foot Satan with a swinging penis, you see) with wall-to-fall big laughs. Read my review.

WHITE HOUSE DOWN 

(Dir. Roland Emmerich) 



I had more with this than I did with THE LONE RANGER, but audiences seem to be rejecting this because of its all too familiar DIE HARD formula. Which is understandable, what with OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, you know? But I enjoyed seeing Channing Tatum, of course in a wife-beater, and Jamie Foxx as an Obama-ish President tackle White House action set-pieces with great gusto, and it made me laugh more than the cop comedy that's been out-grossing it, in more ways than one, since it opened. I'm talking about:

THE HEAT (Dir. Paul Feig)

Some film folks have called attention to the fact that this is the one of the few female fronted major releases this summer, and that it may be the first female buddy cop movie ever (I guess the Cagney and Lacey TV movie doesn't count), but it's a mediocre movie barely worth a matinee price.

There can't help but be some big laughs provided by the immense comic energy of Melissa McCarthy, but Sandra Bollock is bland, many scenes are clunky - especially when it comes to the silly underwritten sitcom fodder or McCarthy's bickering family, which includes Michael Rappaport and Jane Curtain - and a great number of lines fall flat. However, since it seems to be striking a chord with movie-goers (it's #2 at the box office at the time of this writing), maybe I'm too burned out by blockbuster bombardment to recognize its brilliance.



And the rest:



MAN OF STEEL (Dir. Zack Snyder) Read my underwhelmed review of the new Superman reboot here.



STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (Dir. J.J. Abrams) Likewise.



WORLD WAR Z (Dir. Marc Forster) Ditto.



THE INTERNSHIP (Dir. Shawn Levy) Uh huh.

Okay, so that's my summer so far sum-up.. Like I said before I’m taking some time off from reviewing movies this month and will be skipping some upcoming screenings in the weeks ahead, so there will be fewer posts, and the weekly feature New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD will be on hold until August.



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A Few Fine Films Keep The Summer Movie Season From Sucking

Although summer doesn’t officially start until later this week (Friday, June 21st), the summer movie season has been long underway. So far we’ve had a slew of big ass sequels (IRON MAN 3, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, FAST & FURIOUS 6), a few flops (AFTER EARTH, THE INTERNSHIP), and a couple of surprise hits (NOW YOU SEE ME, THE PURGE). 

Some okay popcorn picture action there (and some suckage), but nothing that notable.

But this last weekend, while all eyes were on the mammoth Superman re-boot, MAN OF STEEL, one of the best films of the summer (and of the year so far) snuck into local theaters: Richard Linklater’s BEFORE MIDNIGHT. 

The art house indie, which as the third in a series is actually another sequel, is a charmingly talky romantic drama that continues the story of Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), a couple of star-crossed lovers who first met in 1995’s BEFORE SUNRISE. 

Read my review of BEFORE MIDNIGHT in the Raleigh News & Observer last week: “‘Before Midnight’ talks a blue streak and that’s a good thing” (June 14, 2013).

Another movie that opened last week that I quite enjoyed, albeit in a completely different way, is Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s THIS IS THE END.

Unless you’ve been hiding out in a hole in the ground you should know from the massive advertising that the outrageous and über crude comedy concerns Rogen and a bunch of his Hollywood player pals, including James Franco, Jonah, Hill, Craig Robinson, Jay Baruchel, and Danny McBride, playing themselves dealing with the world literally going to Hell while they’re all partying at Franco’s fortress of a mansion.

Read how funny I thought it was in the Film Babble Blog review: “The Apocalypse Hilariously Hits Seth Rogen & Gang In THIS IS THE END” (June 11, 2013).

The summer movie season continues this week with the most expensive zombie movie of all time, WORLD WAR Z, a Pixar prequel, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, and a few interesting looking indies: Zal Batmanglij’s ecological thriller THE EAST, and Josh Whedon’s modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare’s MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

Here’s hoping that there’s something there that will join BEFORE MIDNIGHT and THIS IS THE END in keeping this summer movie season from being a suck-fest.

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