DVDs of the Month: March

This month offers up a wide variety of DVDs, with the first award winners trickling in, and some of the most underseen (and best) films from the end of last year.

Call Me by Your Name

This beautiful coming-of-age story, adapted from André Caiman’s novel, is an authentic and touching romance, tinged with longing and a sense of melancholy, that seems built for the ages (and began the world’s Timothée Chalamet obsession). Set in Italy in 1983, the film charts 17 year old Elio’s (Chalamet) first experience of falling in love, over the course of the summer. The object of his desire is the American Oliver (Armie Hammer), a doctoral student staying with Elio’s family in order to assist his professor father (Michael Stuhlbarg). It is a tender and sensual affair, one that swells with so much desire and longing that it threatens to spill out of the screen. Gorgeous in both its emotional story and sun-soaked cinematography, the film envelopes its audience, transporting them to this time and place, and wrapping them up in the passion of the central relationship. The film also takes a different approach to the LGBTQ+ romance than mainstream audiences are perhaps used to seeing; there are no external oppositional forces, no disapproving parents or homophobic bullies, instead here the conflict lies within the characters themselves, especially Elio, as they come to terms with their own sexual awakenings. Featuring some powerhouse performances, this masterpiece manages to be raw and delicate, yet pack a powerful punch, and will have earned your heart by the time the credits roll (and throughout them).

Is it worth a Blu-ray? The stunning cinematography would no doubt be deserving of the high definition, but the real heart of this film lies in its characters’ interactions.

Read the full review: ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Review

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool

This true story of the unlikely romance between an aging Hollywood film star, Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening), and a young Scouse actor, Peter Turner (Jamie Bell), delivers another tender romance, albeit a far different one. The film flits between two time frames to craft a gradual picture of the couple’s relationship. With its present day set in the 1970s, the film charts a reunion between the pair after Grahame collapses in Lancaster and calls Turner, asking if she can recover at his family’s home in Liverpool, with the film then inserting numerous flashbacks to the beginning of their romance. The film feels almost like a play at times, predominantly due to the creative transitions between the two timelines we are following. The camera will turn a corner or walk through a doorway into another set, another time, another place, adding a unique sensibility to the film, and emphasising Grahame’s tendency to almost always be putting on a performance. The film rests on the very capable shoulders of Bening and Bell who exhibit a wonderful partnership that is sure to draw you into the story and feel believable, building up to an emotional crescendo that gives the inevitable (and predictable) ending the power it needs.

Is it worth a Blu-ray? Not really.

Read the full review: ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’ Review

Battle of the Sexes

This film charting the remarkable actions of a feminist icon over four decades ago was unfortunately all too relevant (still) when it was released at the end of last year. Arriving in amongst the heated beginnings of Me Too and Time’s Up, Battle of the Sexes carried an extra level of resonance afforded to it by the fact that we all really needed this tale of triumph over misogyny to boost our spirits in a time when so much disgusting behaviour and abuse was being revealed. However, the film also stands on its own two feet. Chronicling the lead up to the famous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) which, as a result of the sexism and pay disparity within tennis (which lead to the founding of the Women’s Tennis Association not long before the match – something also explored in the film), became symbolic as a stand off between women and the patriarchy. Diving in quickly, the film immediately highlights the bigger picture of the reputation of women’s sport at the time, before beginning to delve deeper into the personal stakes for the two competitors. We see into the preparations for both King and Riggs, but this is primarily King’s story. Not only does the film mark her fight for equality of the sexes, but also her personal (and private) battle with coming to terms with her own sexuality. In amongst the public tennis battles, we witness a romance blossoming between King and her hairdresser, Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough), and through this, the film begins to paint her more as a person than a symbol. Combined with the stellar central performances, this is where the film succeeds in peeking past the curtain and public personas to give us glimpses at the real people of King and Riggs (even eliciting some sympathy for the latter at times). The film highlights inequalities both big and small and is a fiercely feminist picture which, despite perhaps a dip in excitement in the match itself, still delivers some fist-pumping triumphs.

Is it worth a Blu-ray? Not especially.

Read the full review: ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Review

The Florida Project

One of my top films from last year, Sean Baker’s depiction of a single mother, Halley (Bria Vinaite), and her six year-old daughter, Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), living in a motel (run by caring manager, Bobby, played by Willem Dafoe) just outside of Disneyland is a wonderfully joyous yet utterly heartbreaking insight into the lives of the ‘hidden homeless’. Baker chooses to tell the story through the child’s eyes as we follow Moonee and her friends on their various summer adventures, allowing the film to predominantly feel joyful and bubbly as we are swept up in this six year-old’s mischief. Their gleeful innocence makes them, and often us, oblivious to the real hardships surrounding their life, but we are given glimpses of the darker things she doesn’t understand, such as the ways her mother is forced to find to provide enough money, or the instances where we are pulled away from the child’s eye view to witness some of the more disturbing moments between adults. However, Baker handles his tone masterfully, allowing the film to predominantly pulse with the life and joy of carefree childhood, but punctuating it every so often with the harsh reality that breaks the spell. These characters and this film feel so real, like they keep on living outside of the confines of the film’s running time (an especially important sense of authenticity due to the fact that sadly there are many families out there living like Halley and Moonee). The film is also visually stunning; painting a world full of bright colours and enchanting sights that burns images into your brain. It is an incredible film that manages to capture the innocence of childhood, but convey the horrible realities of the lives these people face. Both happy and emotionally devastating this is both a cinematic and humanitarian achievement.

Is it worth a Blu-ray? The bright colours could warrant the higher definition, but it isn’t necessarily needed.

Read the full review: ‘The Florida Project’ Review

Ingrid Goes West

A great entry into the stalker sub-genre, Ingrid Goes West is the perfect update for the social media age. Centering on Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza), the film follows her as she decides to leave behind her past and move west to L.A. in order to befriend Instagram star, Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), with whom she has become obsessed. This melds the notions of online stalking with that of real life to really highlight the superficiality of online personas, as well as the absurdity of the normalcy of online stalking by transplanting it ‘irl’. However, this isn’t a film bogged down in any condescending messages about millennials and their phones, instead it is a sharp satire that conveys its truthful message over the course of a film that provides brilliant and tense thrills, as well as darkly comedic moments. We empathise with Ingrid and root for her, despite her exhibiting some psychotic tendencies, and become embroiled in her scheme to make a distant online relationship a real, tangible one. However, her façade with Taylor doesn’t just threaten to tear apart her own life, but Taylor’s too. Plaza is phenomenal here, delivering a layered and brilliantly judged performance that manages to make Ingrid a sad and empathetic character as well as a clever and antagonistically twisted one. It proves she deserves to be given more roles to inhabit than those that seem to be a mere extension of her deadpan trademark. The rest of the cast, especially Olsen, are terrific too, filling out the world a bit more, and giving a wider scope on the consequences of Ingrid’s actions. It is a dark and brilliantly tense thriller laced with dark humour, and is ‘Instagram-worthy’ itself in its gorgeously photography. It might just make you think a little more about your relationship with your likes.

Is it worth a Blu-ray? There are wonderful colours in this cinematography, but it doesn’t quite necessitate a Blu-ray.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Anyone familiar with Yorgos Lanthimos’ previous work will have a notion of what they are going into with this film. For the uninitiated it will come as a startling shock. Following on from The Lobster, Lanthimos provides this dark psychological horror that will have you pinned to your seat and tensing every muscle in your body. The film focuses on Dr. Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell), a cardiovascular surgeon with a wife (Nicole Kidman) and two children, who has a strange relationship with a fatherless teenager (Barry Keoghan). One day, the teen reveals his true revengeful intentions, revealing a kind of curse that has been put on Murphy’s family as payback for his long-past wrongdoing. It is a horrifyingly tough sit. From that moment, the film sinks its teeth into you and doesn’t hold up for the rest of the run time. Events get increasingly disturbing, and with a seemingly inevitable result, the film explorers ever deeper (and darker) thoughts and themes. It is a brilliant piece of work, just one you need to be prepared for. The film is also delivered in Lanthimos’ signature deadpan rhythm which adds to the atmosphere, although may prove alienating for those unfamiliar with it. It is a hard one to shake, but for fans of Lanthimos’ films, or those who like offbeat psychological horror, it is a must watch.