Blu-ray/DVD Review: Raise The Titanic

Raise The Titanic is an adventure film about a project to bring the Titanic up in order to retrieve a rare mineral from its cargo hold, a mineral needed to create a secret defense system for the United States government.

Raise The Titanic opens with a series of black and white still images of the Titanic in port, and images of the interior and folks on the boat. Though these are stills, the camera moves across them. Then we see the boat at the bottom of the ocean. It’s actually a great opening, for the last of the stills is a large group of people dancing and enjoying themselves, and it leads directly to a dark image of the boat on the ocean floor.

A body is discovered in a mine in the Arctic Circle while on a search for that rare mineral, a grave marker identifying him as a soldier who froze in a storm in February of 1912. The mine was stripped of the mineral they need as a power source for some kind of beam that missiles won’t be able to penetrate. The team behind this defense project is able to learn that the mineral was hidden in a cargo hold of the Titanic. And because divers can’t go down that deep, the plan is to raise the ship.

Yes, it’s kind of a crazy idea, but the film has a great cast, which keeps things from becoming too silly. In addition to lead performances by Jason Robards, Richard Jordan and David Selby, there are wonderful supporting performances by Alec Guinness (as a survivor of the Titanic, who provides important information about which cargo hold contains what they’re looking for), M. Emmet Walsh (as one of the team searching for the ship), and Anne Archer (as a reporter and boyfriend to Gene Seagram, played by David Selby). Also, the film takes itself seriously, which helps us to do the same.

Though the project starts off as secret, some information is leaked, which helps give the film a realistic feel. Though it does seem a bit of coincidence that Anne Archer’s character is the one to break the story, at least the characters acknowledge that it’s an odd coincidence. But the stuff like the press conference is done well and is believable.

This is a film that takes its time with the search operation, and that’s a good thing. It allows us to get caught up in it so that when they do find the ship, we’re just as excited (and relieved) as the characters. It really becomes about the process, and the dangers, of the operation rather than about the goal, the obtaining of the rare mineral.

When watching, keep in mind that this film was released in 1980, five years before the real Titanic was found. So, while they actually got a lot of things right, there are some key differences, particularly that the ship in this film is not in two major pieces.

By the way, whoever wrote the film’s description on the back of the DVD case should be flogged, for he or she gave away a key piece of information regarding a late plot point. So if you haven’t seen the film, don’t read the box.

Special Features

The DVD includes “A Look At The Making Of Raise The Titanic.” This is actually a really good making-of feature, because it focuses on one aspect of the filmmaking process – the underwater sequences. It features interviews with director of photography Matthew F. Leonetti, model unit director Ricou Browning, model and mechanical effects supervisor John Richardson, and underwater camera operator Mike Ferris. The information about shooting in the tank thirty feet down is fascinating. This feature is approximately twenty-three minutes.

The DVD also includes the film’s trailer.

Raise The Titanic is scheduled to be released as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on January 21, 2014 through Shout! Factory.

DVD Review: The Song Within: Sedona

The Song Within: Sedona is a documentary film about people in the Sedona area of Arizona, and the various artistic ways they express themselves while journeying inward. It opens with images of gorgeous landscapes. A woman’s voice tells us: “This journey began with the basic belief that wisdom is everywhere.” She then says she wondered what treasures would be uncovered if people looked seriously within their own communities. And so they started “an exploration of women in different communities,” beginning with their own in the Sedona region of Arizona. Why just women, and not men? The film doesn’t tell us why only female subjects were chosen. But the idea behind the film is interesting.

We’re then introduced to sixteen different women in the area, women who have found different artistic paths through which to express themselves. We get a few minutes with each woman, one after the other. Because only a few minutes are spent with each woman, the film never delves too deeply into any of their lives. The film is almost more of a sketch of the area, as seen through women with various artistic pursuits.

On screen, each woman in turn is identified by name and occupation. And as you might expect from the film’s opening voice over, some of them have occupations like “healing artist” and “leadership coach.” I’m not exactly sure what a leadership coach is, but Sarah Naylor tells us that she helps people create sacred space inside and out. (Yes, some of these women come across as loonier than others.)  Several of the women are artists, and we see their work while they speak to us.

The first woman is a healing artist and retreat owner. She tells us: “People come to Sedona. It’s a mecca that draws people from all over the world because people want to receive something very, very real.” She talks about people connecting with the beauty of the land, and with something deeper within themselves. She also talks about her “retreat sanctuary” and we see images of it. She says you cannot deny the beauty of the area, and that’s true, at least from the images we’re shown.

Some of the women have interesting stories. For example, Florence B. Schauffler is an older woman who talks about going back to college when she was in her fifties after splitting with her husband. She took theatre courses, and then moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as an actress on such films as Bachelor Party and Pumpkinhead, and television shows such as Newhart and Mr. Belvedere. Interestingly, we also meet her daughter, Jennifer Schauffler-Virosik, a healing artist.

Nancy Matthews, the founder of Sedona School of Massage, talks about how when she was at a gathering of women, each woman in the circle said what she loved, and when it was her turn she realized she loved teaching. And so she opened a school. She talks about how she would just focus on the very next thing she needed to do rather than everything at once to keep from getting overwhelmed.

Ruth Waddell, an artist, is one of the most endearing and likeable subjects interviewed. She says you forget your troubles when creating “because it requires so much of you that other things fall away while you’re working.” True. She also says, “Sometimes we assume that somebody else sees what we see, and it’s hard to remember that that’s not the case.”

In the last twenty or so minutes of the film, we return to some of the women for more about finding happiness within. Oddly, especially considering how short the film is (75 minutes according to the box, 69 minutes according to my DVD player), toward the end, snippets of some of the interviews are repeated. Are these the lines the filmmaker really wanted us to remember? It comes across as rather cheap and off-putting, as a way of extending the length of the film rather than stressing a point.

The Song Within: Sedona was directed by Kathy Douglas, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on February 4, 2014. There are no special features on the DVD.

DVD Review: The Happy House

The Happy House is an unusual, quirky, and kind of wonderful little horror film that takes place in a secluded bed and breakfast, and features a number of distinct and interesting characters.

When it opens, the film introduces us to Joe and Wendy, who are about to go on a vacation and are having a little argument. Joe (Khan Baykal) is impatient to get going. “It’s a long drive. I don’t want to hit traffic.” The film then cuts to them in their car at the side of the road much later in the day, for in his hurry, Joe forgot the directions. Wendy (Aya Cash) tells him she hates bed and breakfasts. “All those awkward breakfasts and weird owners.” She also remarks that she can’t get cell phone reception. This of course seems like typical horror movie set-up stuff, and that is completely intentional. Joe tells Wendy, “We’re going to have fun.” But the strange music promises otherwise.

The Happy House is the name of the bed and breakfast, and when they arrive, a large and somewhat imposing man answers the door silently, rather than the kindly older woman one would expect to see. Though once they get inside, Hildie (Marceline Hugot), the kindly older woman, is there to greet them (the man is Skip, her son). She hands them a copy of the house rules and tells them there is one other guest, a Swedish guy. She tells them there is a three-strike policy regarding the rules. Joe and Wendy indicate they understand, clearly just wanting to be nice so they can get to their room. But Joe then asks what happens if they strike out. Hildie answers sweetly, with a laugh, “You really don’t want to find out, trust me.” Her son laughs too, the first sound we’ve heard from him. She also tells them there are no locks on the door, so no need for keys.

In their room, Wendy laughs about the rules, and reads some of them to Joe: “No inappropriate clothing…No outside food. No loud music.” The other guest, a lepidopterist who is there to hunt a rare butterfly, soon tells them that Hildie isn’t kidding about the rules. “And watch out for the son – he spies for her.” In addition to all of that, there are the blueberry muffins (with a secret ingredient, as Hildie teases).

Again, all of this is a great set-up. But it’s what the film does with it that is unusual and fun. I love the way the film plays with our expectations. It works so well in large part because of Marceline Hugot’s excellent performance as Hildie. Her sweetness and kindliness have a certain creepy aspect specifically because she’s not indicating any sort of creepiness. That’s also true of the atmosphere. It’s unsettling and creepy in its odd lack of creepiness. You know something is going to happen, but as the film goes on, you’re increasingly unsure of what it’s going to be.

The movie has its own pace, and takes its time. Even certain shots are allowed to go on longer than you’d expect. I love the shot of Hildie loading her gun, for example, as we see her put in each bullet.

The movie takes some unexpected turns. Fairly early on, Wendy announces she’s had enough, takes a tray of muffins and leaves in Joe’s car. It’s a funny moment, but it turns out she has no intention of returning. It’s an odd thing to do, especially as they’d already agreed to leave that morning, so it was only a matter of waiting a few more minutes. What this action does is make us strongly dislike her. And then when the car breaks down, she walks back to the house without her bag. She then becomes angry with Joe for not retrieving her bag. And you want him to yell at her: “Tough shit, you bitch, go get it yourself.”

And then a policeman arrives with a bit of news.

One thing I totally dig about this film is that when it’s dark, it’s really dark. It’s not that fake dark where you can tell just where the DP set the lights. And when there is just candlelight, it actually feels like there is just candlelight, rather than one of those magical candles that light up a whole room.

The Happy House is an enjoyable film. Though if you’re a person who likes a lot of gore in his or her horror, you’re likely to be disappointed. However, if you’ve seen a lot of horror films, you will almost certainly appreciate what this film is doing,

Special Features

The DVD includes Not Interested, a short film written and directed by D.W. Young, and starring Khan Baykal (who plays Joe in The Happy House). It’s a very cool short film, and also stars Leslie Hendrix.

There are also five minutes of outtakes, as well as “Hildie’s Secret Blueberry Muffin Recipe.”

The Happy House was written and directed by D.W. Young, and was released on DVD on January 7, 2014 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: The Grand Role

Recently I reviewed a film titled Romeo And Juliet In Yiddish, in which a woman attempts to create a modern Yiddish adaptation of the famous tragedy. Several years earlier, The Grand Role told the story of an American film director creating a Yiddish version of The Merchant Of Venice. Actually, the real focus of The Grand Role is the relationship of Maurice (Stéphane Freiss) and his wife, Perla, while he auditions for the role of Shylock in the Yiddish film version of the play. The Grand Role is funny, warm, sweet, endearing, and intelligent. The characters and the relationships all ring true.

The film opens at a restaurant, where one man cautions Maurice about the potatoes, saying there’s bacon in them. Maurice continues to eat them, leading the man to remark, “It’s the first time I’ve seen someone of the Jewish persuasion eating pork.” Maurice responds, “I eat everything.” The man compliments Maurice, telling him he’s a fine actor, but then also wonders why he doesn’t get more work. Maurice’s wife, Perla (the beautiful Bérénice Bejo, who more recently starred in The Artist), sticks up for Maurice. That leads to a mild argument between the couple later when they get outside. In the car, he takes a photo of her, saying: “I love your face when you’re angry. A rabbit in a pit bull skin.” And she, perhaps in spite of herself, gives him a little smile. This is an excellent sequence, as it establishes their characters, their relationship, Maurice’s work situation, and the fact that Maurice isn’t involved in his Jewish religion, and it does all of this without resorting to obvious exposition.

In another early scene, we see Maurice taking photos of his wife while she sets up her shop window. She doesn’t know he’s taking photos, but it doesn’t seem at all creepy. It somehow comes off as loving, almost like a game. Later we learn his wife also has a secret.

When Maurice and his friends (actors all) learn that a famous American director is coming to town and will be attending temple, they all decide it would be a good idea to embrace their faith as well, or at least to appear to. Maurice takes some time finding his yarmulke, then asks Perla, “Do I look like a regular temple-goer?” His friends poke fun at him for arriving to temple in a car until the director, Mr. Grichenberg (Peter Coyote), arrives by car too. They learn that Grichenberg is in Paris to shoot a Yiddish film version of The Merchant Of Venice, and Maurice soon gets a call from his agent, telling him he secured him an audition for the role of Shylock.

All of his friends have the same agent (a nice touch), and all but one of them are offered the chance to audition for Shylock. The agent meets all of them, and tells them to dress as Jews for their auditions. “Shylock’s a Jew, so dress Jewish.” The irony of these men all being actual Jews doesn’t enter into the agent’s thinking. It's all about business, and the agent is actually an interesting character.

When Maurice gets a callback, he and his wife postpone their trip to Israel to visit her sister. His friends are all incredibly supportive. But just when everything is going well, Maurice receives two blows, back to back. And the film takes a more serious turn.

The Grand Role stars Stéphane Freiss, Bérénice Bejo, Peter Coyote and Lionel Abelanski. It was directed by Steve Suissa. It is available on DVD through First Run Features. The DVD includes a photo gallery and an introduction by the director, in which he says they prepared the film as they would a play, with rehearsals.

Film Review: Maidentrip

Maidentrip is a completely engaging and warm documentary about Laura Dekker’s attempt to be the youngest person to sail around the world alone. She was fourteen when she set out on her journey in August of 2010, and all of the footage of her at sea was shot by Laura herself.

The film opens with footage that Laura shot of the supplies on her boat, focusing on water and food. We see the interior of her boat, and then she turns the camera on herself. In voice over, she tells us a bit about herself, including the fact that she was born on a boat and lived her first five years at sea. She does an excellent job of including herself in the footage she shot throughout the trip. And considering it’s a teenager holding the camera – a teenager whose passion is sailing, not filmmaking – the footage is shockingly good. It’s not too jumpy, a feat in itself, for it was shot on a boat.

The film focuses on her journey, but she had to go through another ordeal before even being able to set off on her trip. She says in voice over, “When I wanted to arrange my school the attendance officer sent Child Protection after me…They brought a court case against me and my parents.” The film includes some news footage regarding the case. It took nearly a year of battling in court before she won and started on her journey.

A title card then tells us: “Neither a follow boat nor a support team accompanied her.” And in case you think she’s way too mature for her age, she very soon shows us the kitchen in the boat, and it’s a mess, with pasta all over the floor, which works to endear her to us more.

And don’t worry – the film isn’t just footage of the oceans. She explains in voice over that she wasn’t attempting any sort of speed record. She wanted to see the world, to learn about other cultures. So we are treated to footage of the Canary Islands, St. Maarten, the Galapagos and other places. Her mother and sister visit her at one stop, and her father visits her at another point to help her repair the boat (and celebrate her sixteenth birthday).

The journey is also broken up by footage of her childhood, giving us more of a background and an understanding of why she wanted to do this. When her parents split up, she chose to live with her dad because he liked to sail while her mother didn’t.

But it is often the footage shot on the ocean which is the most compelling. When crossing the Atlantic, she talks to the camera about mixed feelings. At one point she is accompanied by some dolphins, and while filming them she expresses hope that they’ll stay with her for a while so she’ll have some company. And watching, you hope for the same thing. I couldn’t help but think that not only would it be exhilarating to make this trip, but it would also be terrifying because if you got sick of it in the middle, there would be no way to quit.

And yes, there are storms. The first rainstorm actually excites her. She says, “It’s really cool to see how the boat fights its way through the waves.” There is a truly adorable moment when she reaches the equator and offers a pancake to Neptune. On her first toss, the pancake lands on the deck of her boat.

Maidentrip was directed by Jillian Schlesinger, who also co-produced it with Emily McAllister. It was edited by Penelope Falk. The film features some excellent music written by Ben Sollee.

Maidentrip opens in New York on January 17, 2014.

DVD Review: Jayne Mansfield’s Car

Jayne Mansfield’s Car is an interesting and engaging family drama set in the south in 1969, when a death brings two very different, though perhaps equally dysfunctional, families together. It boasts a fairly incredible ensemble cast including Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Kevin Bacon, Robert Patrick, Ray Stevenson, Frances O’Connor, Ron White and Billy Bob Thornton, who also co-wrote and directed the film.

The film opens with a small anti-war demonstration in the town of Morrison, Alabama, while the two local cops look on. Meanwhile, the older folk are in a barber shop, discussing politics. Jim Caldwell (Robert Duvall) says, “You ought to have to be from here to run for office, the way I see it.” Another guy tells him, “Well, they’ve been here some forty-odd years, though, Jim.” Jim is then upset to learn that one of his sons, Carroll (Kevin Bacon) was the leader of the anti-war demonstration. He seems to be leaning pretty far to the right, so the sudden shot of Jim seated by a stream is completely welcome, for it makes us feel for him. It makes him more human.

This family has money. They live in a mansion. Skip (Billy Bob Thornton), one of the other sons, has a small collection of sports cars. But they are far from being trouble-free. Skip, though fifty years old, still lives at home. Jimbo (Robert Patrick), though married and with a son, also still lives at home. Jim lives partially in the past, harboring an anger, and also a morbid passion for car accidents. The family dynamic is almost immediately apparent during an early dinner scene at the house. Jim is interestingly quiet for the beginning of this scene, and he when he does speak, it’s to say basically what he said in the barber shop, which now simply comes off as rather sad instead of strong and indignant like the first time.

A phone call from England interrupts their dinner. Jim’s ex-wife – the mother to all of his children – has died and is going to be buried in Alabama. A death in the family is an easy way to make an audience feel for a group of people, but it’s really when Jim says, “She deserved to be with her people, don’t matter what she’d done to us” that you become involved and drawn in.

Sadly, the backstory of Naomi (Jim’s ex-wife) is provided by some clunky exposition by two supporting characters in a car. But that is one of only a very few weak moments in this film. Most of the scenes are strong, and work to develop the characters in this character-driven film. There is an early scene when Jim hears of a car accident over the radio and goes to see it. There is a nice moment when the two cops see him coming and exchange a few quick words before he arrives – “that son of a bitch shows up at every wreck there is,” “rich folks ain’t never got anything to do.” And as Jim gets closer, they greet him in a friendly manner. It’s a wonderful moment, showing perhaps that Jim doesn’t get the respect he thinks he does, and from the very people he’d expect it most. (It’s also interesting the order in which we’re given information. We’re allowed to develop our own opinion about Jim and his curiosity about accidents before learning that he actually was a medic in the first World War, so could actually provide some help in these situations.)

John Hurt plays Kingsley Bedford, Naomi’s second husband, who arrives for the funeral with his two grown children, Phillip (Ray Stevenson) and Camilla (Frances O’Connor). There is tension at first between the two families, who had never met before. But they then begin to get to know each other. Billy Bob Thornton is funny when he tells Camilla: “I like the way everything you say sounds. I wish I could speak English.” Actually, much of the film’s humor comes from their interactions. At one point he asks her straight out, “I was just wondering, sometime could we just slip off and you get naked and talk English and recite something, I don’t know, and just let me beat off to you.”

The film is really about these characters and their relationships. Often it’s the most quiet, most personal moments that are the best. For example, the scene where Jim asks Kingsley how he met Naomi is absolutely perfect and touching. The scene where Skip tells Camilla about the war is another excellent, quiet, intensely personal scene.

By the way, the film’s title comes from the car that Jayne Mansfield died in, a car that was shipped around to different towns where people could buy tickets to look at it.

Special Feature

The DVD contains one special feature, “Jayne Mansfield’s Car: Behind The Scenes,” which features interviews with Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Patrick, Ray Stevenson and Kevin Bacon. Billy Bob Thornton says the film is about how different generations view war, and it’s about “the romanticism of tragedy.” Robert Patrick talks about how they moved quickly on this film, doing between one and three takes. There is also some footage taken on the set.

Jayne Mansfield’s Car was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 10, 2013 through Anchor Bay.

DVD Review: Mike Birbiglia: “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” (2013)

Mike Birbiglia’s new comedy special, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, proves what an amazing talent he has as both a storyteller and a comedian. Here he tells a great story, with wonderful detours and side roads but always coming back to the main thread at just the right moment. He even allows serious and sweet moments into his routine. The main story is his relationship to Jenny and how that has changed him. But the road he takes to get there is truly hilarious and often touching.

He starts by talking about how a few years ago everyone he knew started getting married. He starts with a somewhat general statement that I can relate to: “Sometimes when I think I am right about something, it can be a real source of tension between me and the person I’m arguing with, and the reason it’s a source of tension is that I’m right.” He talks about how he thinks marriage is insane, and mentions how fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. He adds: “That’s just first marriages. Second marriages, sixty to sixty-two percent end in divorce. Third marriages, seventy to seventy-five percent end in divorce. That’s a learning curve.”

But don’t worry – he can be romantic, like when he says, “From the moment I met Jenny, I knew I wanted to sleep with her at least once.” And: “I remember the first time I fell in love. It was in high school, it was that first time where you fall in love and you’re just like, ‘This is it, I found her, I’m seventeen years old and I’m done.’”  I love his material about failed attempts at kisses, and about seeing people making out. “Making out is just sloppy. It’s like watching a dog eat spaghetti.” He also mentions how the way women argue can be maddening. “That’s how Jenny argues things sometimes. She’ll just say, ‘That’s how I feel.’ And I’ll say, ‘That’s not an argument.’”

He also has some wonderful self-deprecating humor. “If I stare at the mirror, I get angry. Like I feel like I’m complaining about a bad call a ref just made. I’m like, ‘Come on! You’re blind if you’re leaving the house like that!’”

His bit about the Scrambler is brilliant, especially as he acts out the motion of being on that carnival ride. (I had a similar experience when I was a kid, trying to tell the guy to stop the ride each time we flew by him – unsuccessfully, as my friend proceeded to vomit onto us. I never went on that ride again.)

Of course, I love that he rips on Texas: “I was coming back from a five-day stint in Texas, which was awful, because it was in Texas.” And I love his rant against marriage, about bringing the government into a relationship, and how people who don’t believe at all in a particular religion will have the ceremony performed in a church.

He really only breaks once from his routine to directly address an audience member. He jumps off the stage to grab someone’s leg who is wearing no shoes. Only in Seattle.

This is a comedy performance that I think I’ll be returning to, as it’s really like a one-man play, with a true story arc and lots of wonderful moments along the way. In that way, it’s quite a bit different from most stand-up specials.

Special Features

The DVD includes a fifteen-minute behind-the-scenes documentary titled How To Make Whatever This Is. It begins with Mike Birbiglia on stage, talking about how he’d done this show so many times, and kept tinkering with it. Mike Berkowitz (Mike’s agent) talks to Mike about the show being good enough, and it being time to stop “fixing” it. There is footage of Mike Birbiglia on The Bob And Tom Show, as well as footage from an earlier performance of the show. Jen Stein talks about how the show has broken boundaries in her life. Mike talks about how it’s hard for him to leave this show behind; after all, this material is his life.

There is also some bonus footage. The first is a short bit cut from the show in which he interacts with an audience member, imitating the person’s pose in her chair. The second is a post-show question and answer session, in which he talks about his sleeping disorder and a bit about the performance. The third is Mike asking folks to turn off their phones at the beginning of the show. He does a great bit about how there is no customer service anymore, how it’s difficult to get a real person on the phone.

My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend was released on DVD on November 25, 2013 through New Wave Dynamics. The DVD is approximately 76 minutes. My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend was also released on CD, that disc being approximately 72 minutes. One thing that is cut is the bit where he points out the audience member who has no shoes or socks.