City of Life and Dearh

There have been a number of good films about the Japanese invasion (and destruction) of the Chinese capital of Nanking in 1937 (an infamous tragedy now referred to as the Rape of Nanking). Director Lu Chuan’s version of the story, the stunning City of Life and Death, is one of the great ones. Shot in gorgeous black and white by cinematographer Yu Cao, the film makes the bold choice of leaving the politics of the war behind in favor of telling the story of the people on both ides of the fighting — the invaders and the invaded — to show how they lived and died in the three-day siege of the city. The fact that more than 300,000 people died in the battle for Nanking is a terrible reminder that a lot of people didn’t survive, but the power of the story comes from the fact that some did.

Composing Outside The Beatles

Together, they were the probably the greatest pop music writing team of all time. Once their days as the founding members of The Fab Four were over, though, ex-Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney struggled to find their solo musical voices. Combining a bit of archival interview footage from the musicians themselves and a lot of pontificating from rock music critics, this case this DVD tries to make about Lennon and McCartney consciously competing against each other is weak at best, but that’s OK. The trials and tribulations, successes and failures that they each go through in the seven years covered by the film stand on their own. The film is also a great reminder of how much good music — and musical history — Lennon and McCartney made once The Beatles broke up.

The Name of Love

When was the last time you fell absolutely head-over-heels in love with a leading lady? That’s just what will happen as you watch the wonderful Sara Forestier (Perfume) in this delightful romantic comedy. In the movie, Forestier plays Baya, a liberal young woman who has a unique way of changing the political world: she sleeps with the right wing politicians she doesn’t agree with until they change their outlook. Then she moves on to the next. Her plan for French domination hits a snag, though, when she meets a lonely bird expert, Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin) with no political or personal inclinations of his own beyond making her happy. The film’s probably a lot more scathing to French audiences who get all the political barbs thrown by director Michel Leclerc, but lack of insight into Parisian politics won’t stop you from loving every frame that Forestier appears in.

Fire of Conscience

It starts out feeling like just another police corruption drama, until about the halfway mark when the story – and the action – starts to accelerate to a breakneck pace that will leave you breathless. Police Captain Manfred (Leon Lai) isn’t averse to bending the rules – or breaking a few heads – if it means putting the bad guys away, but his penchant for using whatever means necessary get pushed to the limit when he partners with an inspector (Richie Ren) whose investigation of the police department may be a cover-up for a much darker problem. The script is complicated, but director Dante Lam (Vampire Effect) keeps it tight while filling the screen with lots of eye-popping, bone crunching action

Ray Charles Live in France

Back in 2004, director Taylor Hackford and actor Jamie Foxx did a pretty good job of dramatically bringing the life of pioneering musician Ray Charles to life in the biopic, Ray. Good as it was, though, the movie failed to capture the raw excitement of Charles in concert. This excellent concert DVD gives audiences a chance to see what it was really like when Charles and his band took to the stage. Filmed in 1961 at the Antibes Jazz Festival, Charles’ first time playing live in Europe, the DVD gives you a close up view of the band as they play a set of Ray Charles classics, along with some special surprises that show how diverse their repertoire really was. The constant cutting away from the band to show the audience gets a bit wearisome after a while, mainly because you want the camera to stay on the band as they play.

Nazi Hunters

There are so many movies and documentaries out there about WW II that it takes something really special to capture, and keep, your attention, and this National Geographic series has it. Each episode focuses on a Nazi war criminal – Adolf Eichman, Klaus Barbie, Herbert Cukurs and others – and gives viewers an in-depth, step-by-step explanation of how they were found and how they were captured. While the interviews with the men who actually did the capturing are fascinating, it is the way the plans are detailed, and then acted out in reenactments, that will keep you glued to the screen.

The Music Lovers

Ken Russell was a mad man. Long before he brought The Who’s rock opera Tommy to the big screen, the British director created this madcap film biography of Russian composer Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky and his struggles to create great music while battling against his homosexuality, a battle he all but loses when he marries a nymphomaniac whom he cannot satisfy. The music is, of course, gorgeous, and the way Russell uses it to tell his story is brilliant. It is the acting, though, that will haunt you long after the soundtrack has left your mind. Richard Chamberlain is stunning as Tchaikovsky, as is Glenda Jackson as his wife, Nina. They are the kind of performances that will mark each actor forever in your imagination.