4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW:
Universal;
Drama;
Box Office $17.12 million;
$19.98 DVD, $24.98 Blu-ray, $34.98 UHD BD;
Rated ‘PG-13’ for some strong language, thematic elements, brief violence and drug use.
Stars Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, Jeannie Berlin.
It can be argued that a surefire formula for a director making it into the Pantheon is a continued commitment to perpetual growth through experimentation, reenvisioning life as seen through a lens, and transforming even the most mundane studio assignment into a demanding journey to the heart of cinema. Rather than following in the footsteps of such prolific filmmakers as Clint Eastwood and Woody Allen, after a self-imposed 3-year hiatus Steven Spielberg returned to multiplexes with West Side Story, as unnecessary a remake as anything this side of Gus Van Sant’s Psycho. Next up, the second installment in the “I’ve Run Out of Things to Say” trilogy: the personal narrative, which, for many a green director, provides an ideal jumping off point. Once upon a time there was a colleague who assured me that no matter my level of dislike, there was at least one positive thing to be found in every picture. I promise you dear reader, that in the end, I will have found something praiseworthy to say of The Fabelmans.
George Lucas and Spielberg swapped intergalactic box office hits before teaming on Raiders of the Lost Ark, the structure of which had more climaxes than a James Deen compilation. It was Raiders that started me on the rocky path to Spielbergia. And so it went: the director, who has never revealed a pronounced allergy to fudging, couldn’t get E.T. to phone home, yet the little feller managed to pilot a full-grown boy, on a bicycle, past the moon for the film’s money shot. Then there’s the director as historian. Remember the 24-sheet ballyhooing Gone With the Wind on display in Empire of the Sun? Do you think Jean-Luc Godard or Martin Scorsese would have been careless enough to use 1968 reissue artwork in a film set in the 1940s? In Schindler’s List, or as a friend took to calling it, Oskar Schindler and the Temple of Doom, the only way Spielberg could get a character to stand out in a black-and-white film was through colorized attire. And given the film’s lumbering pace and “Hall of Presidents” anamorphic tableaus, if Abraham Lincoln was as dull as the biopic, could you really blame the South for seceding from the Union? The only Spielberg film I found myself returning to is 1941, and then more for A.D. Flowers’ special effects and cinematographer William Fraker’s sublime nightwork.
Meet The Fabelmans. Little Sammy Fabelman’s (Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord as a youth and Gabriel LaBelle in his teens) introduction to the movies arrives in the form of a cuddly meet-cute. The future Cecil B. De Mille stands trembling in line with mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams) and dad Burt (Paul Dano) to see the greatest showman on film’s Oscar-winning circus picture, The Greatest Show on Earth. Anticipatory anxiety rode high when Sammy confessed to being overcome with fear, terrified that sitting in a dark room filled with strangers could be too much for him. Brainiac Burt talks the tyke down by bringing him up to speed on the merits of visual perception and persistence of vision. Burt Fabelman is a decent man, an upright figure endowed with the kind of moral turpitude that would make Ward Cleaver look like Alex Murdaugh. Spielberg came up with the story decades ago but couldn’t bring himself to directing a film he feared might hurt his parents.
Spielberg used the first camera his folks bought him to trace De Mille’s spectacular trainwreck. This was soon followed by Escape to Nowhere, a 40-minute war film he directed at age 13 with a cast composed of high school cronies. He completed the film in 1959, three years before the release of How the West Was Won, yet a piece of Alfred Newman’s score is heard as background accompaniment. As a historian, Spielberg was a terrific popcorn salesman.
Burt is by all accounts a genial genius who adored his work almost as much as he did his family. In the mid-fifties, Burt becomes a valued member of General Electric’s computer department. The work called for considerable relocation; it was his job that gradually brings the Fabelmans to California. Mitzi is a concert pianist who grows cold living life in her husband’s shadow. Mitzi eventually takes up with Burt’s best friend Bennie Lowey (Seth Rogan). When the Fabelmans divorce in 1965, Sammy goes to live with his father. Mitzi and Bennie eventually wed, but one can’t help but think Sammy had a hand in the breakup going public. There’s something uber creepy about Sammy and Mitzi’s relationship. Spielberg told 60 Minutes that Leah Spielberg was like an older sister. Even though mom was the one caught cheating, Spielberg blamed his father for the break-up. “I kind of put her up on a pedestal,” Spielberg continued. “And my dad was much more terrestrial, much more grounded, much more salt of the earth. And for some reason, it was easier for me to blame him than it was to someone who I had already exalted.”
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While on a family camping trip, Mitzi, who has a few too many, dances seductively, her see-through negligee back-lit by a car’s headlights. Rather than aborting the shot, a turned-on Sammy keeps the camera rolling. This isn’t the only time his lens spied something it shouldn’t have. The next day, he surreptitiously captures footage of the cuckolders openly cavorting in deep focus behind his father and sisters. Acting as though nothing happened, it isn’t until the footage comes back from the lab that Sammy is overcome with shock. How could he not have noticed the kiss while filming? Hell, he panned up to it! It was Kurt Vonnegut who once said, “Nothing’s real to some people unless they’ve got photographs.” In Sammy’s case, truth comes to light only when projected. He ultimately blames himself for filming it in the first place.
Scenes of anti-semtism are as clumsily addressed as they are inevitable. The first confrontation takes place after a high school volleyball match. The dialogue and situations are such, one keeps waiting for Beaver Cleaver to enter and say, “Gee, Wally. Eddie Haskell called us ‘kikes.’” Once again, Sammy blames Burt; the family never might have crossed paths with anti-semites had his father not moved the family from Arizona. A subsequent relationship with Monica Sherwood (Chloe East), a sugary, hot-to-trot gentile classmate looking to make it with a handsome Jewish boy (just like Jesus) has nothing on Screech and Lisa Turtle.
Jeannie Berlin and Judd Hirsh pop up in a couple of memorable cameos, but the film’s biggest laugh arrives when Sammy’s sister asks when he’s going to make a film with girls. Judging by Spielberg’s track record, the answer is never. And as advertised, here’s the positive note I promised to close on. It can be summed up in five words: David Lynch as John Ford.
Bonus features include a trio of fawning behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Inspired by Spielberg’s own childhood, the drama is a coming-of-age story about a young man uncovering a shattering family secret and the power of film and imagination to help us see the truth about ourselves and each other.
Director Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and 4K digital purchase Oct. 18 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment for its 40th anniversary.
Written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, the film stars JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Zelda Rubinstein, Beatrice Straight and Heather O’Rourke.
Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution march 15 releases director Steven Spielberg’s remake of the classic musical West Side Story on Blu-ray Disc, DVD and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. West Side Story, based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, was originally released on Broadway in 1957, and was previously adapted for film in 1961, winning Best Picture at the Oscars. It tells the tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1950s New York City. The remake, which is nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, stars Ansel Elgort (Tony); Ariana DeBose (Anita); David Alvarez (Bernardo); Mike Faist (Riff); Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke); Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank); Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino); with Rita Moreno (as Valentina, who owns the corner store in which Tony works); and introducing Rachel Zegler (Maria.) Moreno also serves as one of the film’s executive producers. The home video editions include a 96-minute making-of documentary consisting of various featurettes. Read a review 
The dark comedy Red Rocket arrives March 15 on DVD and Blu-ray from Lionsgate. Written and directed by Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine), it’s the story of Mikey Saber (Simon Rex), who is back home in small-town Texas after burning bridges and flaming out all over Los Angeles. A hustler, operator and charismatic con man, Mikey quickly learns that no one wants him back. When he meets a teenager working at the local donut shop, he sees his ticket back to the big time. The film premiered at Cannes and was nominated for three Gotham Awards.
The Russian sci-fi thriller Project Gemini will be released for digital purchase, and on Blu-ray and DVD March 15 from Well Go USA Entertainment. In the film, after centuries of destroying Earth’s resources, humankind faces the grim reality that its last shot at survival may require creating an entirely new home — in outer space. An international expedition is quickly formed to find a suitable new planet, but when plans go awry, the crew is suddenly stranded without power on a strange planet. Unfortunately, they’ll soon learn that something truly unimaginable has been out there watching, lying in wait for the unwary human scouts.
The 1989 cult comedy Dream a Little Dream joins the Vestron Video Collector’s series on Blu-ray and digital March 15 from Lionsgate. The film stars Corey Feldman (Stand by Me, The Goonies, The Lost Boys) and Corey Haim (The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Lucas), as well as Piper Laurie (The Hustler, Carrie, TV’s “Twin Peaks”), Jason Robards (All The President’s Men, Parenthood, Magnolia), Harry Dean Stanton (Repo Man, Alien), and Meredith Salenger (The Journey of Natty Gann, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, Lake Placid). In the body-swap comedy, Bobby has everything a young guy should: a good buddy, a girlfriend and parents who love him. When the older couple down the street try a transcendental experiment to extend their lives, they become trapped in the teens’ bodies. Dream a Little Dream bonus features include interviews with Corey Feldman and executive producer Lawrence Kasanoff, audio commentary with film historian Jarret Gahan, theatrical trailers, TV spots, and a stills gallery.
The 1981 horror classic An American Werewolf in London arrives in a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray special edition March 15 from Arrow Video and MVD Entertainment Group. Director John Landis (The Blues Brothers, Trading Places) combines macabre horror with dark humor in the film, which is newly restored in 4K with Dolby Vision. In the film, American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are savaged by an unidentified vicious animal whilst hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. David awakes in a London hospital to find his friend dead and his life in disarray. Retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse (Jenny Agutter, Walkabout) to recuperate, he soon experiences disturbing changes to his mind and body, undergoing a full-moon transformation that will unleash terror on the streets of the capital. The film features Rick Baker’s ground-breaking, Oscar-winning special makeup effects.
Kino Lorber March 15 releases on Blu-ray Disc the 1930 German film Farewell (Abschied). In a return to the realistic “street films” of the German silent era, Robert Siodmak (Criss Cross) directed this comedy drama of intersecting lives within the rooms of a working-class boarding house. Aribert Mog (Ecstasy) and Brigitte Horney (Munchausen) star as Peter and Hella, a young couple waiting for the opportunity to be married. When Peter receives a job opportunity in Dresden, he intends to surprise Hella with the news. But when word spreads among the other lodgers, it creates a series misunderstandings that could jeopardize the couple’s happiness. Bonus features include an audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide and an alternate “happy” ending.
Criterion Collection March 15 releases 1970’s Le Cercle Rouge on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. The film stars Alain Delon as a master thief, fresh out of prison, who crosses paths with a notorious escapee (Gian Maria Volontè) and an alcoholic ex-cop (Yves Montand). The unlikely trio plot a heist, against impossible odds, until a relentless inspector and their own pasts seal their fates. With its honorable antiheroes, coolly atmospheric cinematography, and breathtaking set pieces, Le cercle rouge is the quintessential film by Jean-Pierre Melville—the master of ambiguous, introspective crime cinema. The 4K/Blu-ray combo pack includes a new 4K restoration from Studiocanal of the uncut version of the film, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. The 4K disc includes the film with Dolby Vision HDR and the regular Blu-ray includes the film and special features. Extras include segments from a 1971 episode of “Cinéastes de notre temps” featuring director Jean-Pierre Melville; interviews with assistant director Bernard Stora and Rui Nogueira, author of Melville on Melville; on-set and archival footage, featuring interviews with Melville and actors Alain Delon, Yves Montand and André Bourvil; the film’s trailer; and essays by film critics Michael Sragow and Chris Fujiwara, excerpts from Melville on Melville, a 2000 interview with composer Eric Demarsan, and an appreciation by filmmaker John Woo.
The 2007 Mark Wahlberg actioner Shooter will be released on 4K Ultra HD for the first time March 15 in a limited-edition Steelbook from Paramount Home Entertainment. Wahlberg and director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Infinite) team up for the first time on this action thriller in which Wahlberg stars as a respected former Marine sniper who is pressed into service to stop an assassination attempt on the president. When he’s double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he must prove his innocence while evading every law enforcement agency in the country and a shadowy organization that wants him dead. Originally released on March 23, 2007, Shooter celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.
