A quick glance down this list of direct-to-video content this month shows there’s a healthy bunch of drama, Asian action, black comedy, indie horror, LARP comedy and more drama to get stuck into. Throw a few classic reissues into the mix, and there’s plenty to enjoy from the couch this August.
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
In a nutshell: In this drama, two Brooklyn youths aged 13 and 9 do their best to evade authorities – and the dangers of the projects – after their parents fall afoul of the law and child protective services set out to track them down.
The buzz: 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times says the film is “Pitched fascinatingly, at times uneasily, between misery and uplift”. “They may be tiny little kids, but they deliver outsize performances” reckons the Washington Post, while Time Out New York say “the movie can’t seem to settle on a consistent style or rhythm but still gets to you, even if it displays the subtlety of a truck going through a wall”.
Reason to watch: Kiwis seem particularly spoiled when it comes to young acting talent. It’ll do us good to let some other little country, like the States, have a crack at it.
Firestorm
In a nutshell: Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs, House of Flying Daggers) produces and stars in this gritty Hong Kong police actioner. A police inspector goes to extreme lengths to stop a notorious crime gang, using his friend – an ex-convict, who agrees to become an informant in return for a fresh start.
The buzz: Not yet rated on Rotten Tomatoes, but reviews suggest it is a mixed bag. Twitch Film compliment the film’s “vibrant, kinetic aesthetic that attempts to keep its audience in a state of breathless anticipation throughout” but criticise “the over-reliance on computer-generated effects and the almost total absence of plot or characterisation make Firestorm an incredibly loud, yet hollow experience.”
Reason to watch: “This is one hell of a movie! Does for cars what “The Raid” did for stairs! Action & Duplicity. Go see it it or get the DVD!” – Flicks user RexH
God’s Pocket
In a nutshell: John Slattery, best known as Mad Men‘s Roger Sterling, makes his directorial debut with this black comedy starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro and Christina Hendricks. When young Leon dies in a construction “accident”, his stepdad Mickey (Hoffman) tries to bury the bad news with the body. But when a local columnist (Richard Jenkins) comes sniffing around for the truth, Mickey finds himself stuck in a life-and-death struggle compounded by evidence he can’t bury, a wife he can’t please, and a debt he can’t pay.
The buzz: 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. AV Club’s take is that it “fits snugly within the tradition of the actors’ picture, the granddaddy of today’s big ensemble films”. Variety don’t pull punches, opining “a strained pileup of small-town stupidity that might more honestly have been titled ‘Sad Sacks ‘R’ Us.'”.
Reason to watch: Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Twixt
In a nutshell: The legendary Francis Ford Coppola continues his semi-recent run of small budget films with this horror thriller starring Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern and Elle Fanning. Kilmer plays an unsuccessful author who specialises in books about witch hunter. When a lame book tour brings him face to face with the victims of a small town serial killer, he teams up with the local sheriff to solve the crimes – and write a book about them.
The buzz: 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Sometimes it’s fascinating, but just as often, it’s frustrating: It’s a film without a net, and it tends to land with a thud” says The Dissolve. The San Francisco Chronicle labels the film “not really scary, although there are some nice creepy visuals here and there” while Hollywood Reporter’s take is “Easily [Coppola’s] silliest work ever”.
Reason to watch: Out of completeness when it comes to Coppola and Kilmer, perhaps? Or to see Val act opposite his real-life ex-wife Joanne Whalley as a bickering couple.
Afflicted
In a nutshell: Taking away Best Horror Film, Screenplay and Director at Fantastic Fest 2013, first-time feature filmmakers Derek Lee and Clif Prowse write, helm and star in this found-footage OE trip gone terribly wrong when one of the travelers is struck by a mysterious, body-enhancing change.
The buzz: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety call it “a nifty found-footage thriller”, and Hollywood Reporter say “there’s life yet in the found-footage horror genre”. The equally positive Toronto Star state “Ambitious in scope and practically flawless in execution, Afflicted is good news for horror fans seeking something fresh and chilling”.
Reason to watch: Gross stuff happening to a human body? Sign us up!
Knights of Badassdom
In a nutshell: Comedy-horror about a group of live-action roleplaying nerds who accidentally summon a demon from the underworld. Stars Peter Dinklage, Steve Zahn, Summer Glau, Ryan Kwanten and more. Contentiously this is the version recut by producers without the director’s approval.
The buzz: 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Actually delivers everything the 2011 Danny McBride-James Franco comedy Your Highness purported to be but fell short on” states the Los Angeles Times and Scott Weinberg at FEARnet called it “frequently sloppy and pretty piecemeal, but also rather funny and oddly likable”.
Reason to watch: If the title’s not reason enough, how about this poster?
Siberian Education
In a nutshell: John Malkovich stars in this crime drama based on a memoir about the realities of growing up in the small republic of Transnistria, a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. With the community rejecting the world outside, only obeying its own law, two best friends become enemies, trapped by the underworld’s strict code of honour.
The buzz: Not enough reviews on Rotten Tomatoes yet, but The National says of the pic: “Dark and in moments engrossing, the film hints at shades of crime-drama classics but just falls short of joining their ranks”.
Reason to watch: Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich Malkovic, Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich. Malkovich.
Reissues of the Month
Thirty years after Orwell predicted an always-at-war, international surveillance state, some would argue we got to living in one eventually. This adaptation of his classic novel, starring John Hurt, Richard Burton and Suzanna Hamilton, was initially released in 1984 itself. Get amongst the depressing dystopia with this new Blu-ray reissue.
Hitchcock’s 1946 classic Notorious – a spy thriller starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman – is also re-released on Blu-ray this month. Blending the femme fatale of a film noir with a spy tale and wrapping it up in gothic elements, Notorious marked a turning point for Hitchcock as he ramped up his creative ambitions, pushing himself to a higher artistic level.
Speaking of Hitchcock, Brian DePalma has frequently been unable to help himself wandering into the grey area between homage and plagiarism. In Body Double, both Rear Window and Vertigo are drawn upon for his tale of an actor (Craig Wasson) who spies on an undressing neighbour with a telescope – but also sees her killing. Things get more complicated when he encounters a porn star (Melanie Griffith) who has begun posing as the deceased… Another goodie out on Blu-ray this month.
