Last year saw a distinct uptick in films about the unwitting and ultimately nebulous roles that characters themselves would play, a theme epitomized by the likes of "Holy Motors," "Cloud Atlas," "Ruby Sparks," the long-delayed "The Cabin in the Woods," hell, even "Wreck-It Ralph." I'm happy to report that Ari Folman's piece of satirical sci-fi, "The Congress," is very much of that theme, committing to Big Ideas of identity and integrity with Robin Wright remarkably anchoring it all as... well, herself. (Sort of.)

As major American filmmakers, the Coen Brothers -- Ethan and Joel -- have had their share of distinctly minor films, while others have earned a greater reputation following repeat viewings and prolonged consideration. To call "Inside Llewyn Davis" a minor work doesn't render it any less a pleasure to watch; it's to admit that the film's melancholy depiction of the '60s folk scene in Greenwich Village (and beyond) may only improve in the interim.

"French Masterworks: Russian Émigrés in Paris 1923-1928" (Flicker Alley) presents of the DVD debut of five silent classics from Film Albatros, a French studio founded by Russian artists: "The Burning Crucible," "Kean," "The Late Mathias Pascal," "Gribiche," and "The New Gentlemen."

 

Three of the films star Ivan Mosjoukine, the great Russian actor who fled the revolution and landed in Paris, and the other two are directed by Jacques Feyder. All of them are examples of the sophisticated filmmaking coming out of France in the twenties.

 

Which is not to say that they are all masterpieces -- "The Burning Crucible" (1923), which not only stars Mosjoukine but is written and directed by the actor, is inventive and full of lively images and playful techniques but is all over the place and jumps willy-nilly through styles and episodes -- but they are all tremendously entertaining and full of filmmaking energy. Mosjoukine plays eleven roles in "The Burning Crucible," including the leading role of Detective Z, a man of many disguises, and Mosjoukine the director rolls Russian formalism, German expressionism, and French surrealism together in a simplistic but richly imaginative story that at times borders on craziness of Louis Feuillade's serials of the previous decade.

 

Mosjoukine also stars in "Kean" (1924) as the great 19th century stage actor Edmund Kean and in "The Late Mathias Pascal" (1926), the fantasy epic directed by Marcel L'Herbier that Flicker Alley released on Blu-ray earlier this year. I reviewed it for Videodrone here.

 

The final pair of films in the set are from Jacques Feyder.

Continue reading at Videodrone 

For more releases, see Hot Tips and Top Picks: DVDs, Blu-rays and streaming video for week of May 14

Another colleague -- a different one from he of my first dispatch -- had greeted me at the Nice airport earlier in the week with a smile and a word of warning: "Everything in Cannes is hard." I suppose that a reality check might be better appreciated by a first-timer than delusions of convenience, but as the days went on, each new hurdle only seemed to further validate that notion.

The rainy weather continued as I made my way down to the Palais for a press screening of François Ozon's "Jeune et Julie (Young & Beautiful)," due to take place in the Grand Lumiere, perhaps the most iconically featured of the festival's venues. (The steps of the nearby Debussy are similarly clad in red carpet, but each is devoted to different arenas of programming.) The film was fine, a slight yet enjoyable coming-of-age tale concerning 17-year-old Isabelle (a very good Marine Vacth), whose loss of virginity results in a voluntary year-long stint as a supposedly 20-year-old prostitute in a discreet effort to earn some extra money and satisfy her burgeoning sexuality.

The Lumiere's mandate that all bags and umbrellas must be checked before entering the auditorium resulted in a lengthy post-movie wait at the coat check counter, forcing one to hastily relocate to the umbrella-friendly Debussy, proceed through identical security procedures and scamper for a seat in time for Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" (my review) to begin. I joked after the film that it was tempting to follow the gang's lead and rob the celebrity yachts of Cannes as their owners walked the red carpet at pre-listed call times, but then someone went and beat me to it.

In 2008 and 2009, a group of L.A. teens used their Internet savvy to determine where celebrities lived, when they'd be out of town (as well-documented by tabloid sites and the like) and how best to help themselves to more than $3 million worth of designer clothes, goods and cash, with their victims either unaware of the burglaries or unwilling to report the break-ins. What's more, their eventual capture would only result in the type of arbitrary celebrity status that their own glamorous role models enjoyed.

It's a fascinating story that encapsulates today's entitled youth culture, online transparency and do-anything desire for attention, one which namely resulted in a 2010 feature in Vanity Fair (brilliantly titled "The Suspects Wore Louboutins") and, now, a film in the form of Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring," which doesn't explore the who's and why's of the scenario so much as the how's and why-not's.

Fans of the number one paid app of all time are finally getting what they want, which bizarrely seems to mean making said app into a movie that doesn't involve any kind of gameplay, can't be held in your hand, and will cost even more to enjoy. That's right, "Angry Birds" is going to be a movie!

Bing: More on 'Angry Birds'

Sony Pictures Entertainment announced this week via press release that they've picked up the worldwide distribution rights to the "eagerly anticipated" film from Rovio Entertainment, which will unsurprisingly be an animated 3D feature (want to get us interested in an "Angry Birds" movie? make it live action). The film does not yet have a writer, director, or voice cast in place, but while we'll make fun of such a film until the pigs come home, Sony has certainly had great luck with their other animated properties, including "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "Arthur Christmas," and "The Pirates! Band of Misfits," so they will likely trot out some big name talent to puff up their new prize property. 

Bing: More on Rovio Entertainment

There's also no word on the finer plot details of the film, but we can only assume that it will center on some pissed off birds, desperate to exact revenge on the green pigs who have stolen their eggs. Perhaps the film will be an origin story of sorts, one that explains why the pigs are green and why they would steal oodles of eggs from some birds with anger issues. There's so many questions to answer!

The "Angry Birds" movie will open on July 1, 2016.

Let's all take a moment to remember the first "Hangover" film, a relatively simple story about three idiots, a tiger, a naked man, a baby, a stripper, Las Vegas, and a quest to find a dear friend. Remember how things seemed so innocent back in 2009, when the worst thing that could happen was that dear friend Doug (Justin Bartha) wouldn't be found in time to make it to his own wedding? Remember how shocking things like Mike Tyson and an abandoned baby and a visit to a strip club were back then? Remember the singing? Oh, the good old days.

When director Todd Phillips hit the jackpot with the first film, there was no question that the film would spawn a sequel, if not an entire franchise, but the film's immediate follow-up proved that perhaps comedic lightning really only does strike once. After all, "The Hangover Part II" was so clearly a complete rip-off of the first film (just set in Thailand, and made all the more wacky and over-the-top and totally impossible to believe) and that's what most audiences didn't like about it, so what could possibly happen in a third film that would endear the franchise to people again?

Apparently, nostalgia, plenty of f-bombs, and stakes a whole hell of a lot higher than "oops, I may not make it to a major life event!" - at least, that's what at play in a new red band trailer for the film. The first half of the red band trailer mixes up plenty of scenes from both the first film and its sequel (have fun trying to pick which scene is from which film!) in order to ramp up audience emotion for the final film (aw, the Wolfpack!), and it's followed by a bigger look at the final film (including tons of Ken Jeong and enough swearing to really earn that red band designation). If this trailer won't get you pumped for "The Hangover Part III," nothing will, and that's probably what Warner Bros. is betting on. Are you sold?

New Releases:

"Cloud Atlas" (Warner), the sprawling, dazzling, ambitious collaboration between "Matrix" makers Lana and Andy Wachowski and Germany's Tom Tykwer weaves together the six distinctive stories in six different eras with a cast that reappears throughout the timelines. At once literal and evasive, this is a film that wears its heart on its beautifully stitched sleeve and its meaning in its design and yet finds so many facets in which to mirror its ideas throughout its incarnations. It failed to connect with audiences on its initial release, but gets a second chance on home video, where its 170-minute length may not be such an issue. Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand. Videodrone's review is here.

 

Check out MSN's exclusive "Cloud Atlas" infographic and enter to win a Blu-ray combo pack from MSN and Warner Home Video.

 

"A Glimpse Inside the Mind Of Charles Swan III" (Lionsgate), the first feature from Roman Coppola since "CQ" more than a decade ago, stars Charlie Sheen as a hedonistic, ego-fueled graphic artist facing an early-life crisis. Blu-ray and DVD, also at Redbox.

 

"Frankie Go Boom" (Universal), a comedy about sibling rivalry and practical joking gone awry starring Charlie Hunnam and Chris O'Dowd "possesses a surprisingly sweet heart," recommends MSN film critic Kat Murphy. Blu-ray and DVD

 

Plus: the latest reboot of the landmark horror film titled simply "Texas Chainsaw" (Lionsgate, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, On Demand and at Redbox) and the historical epic "Back to 1942" (Well Go, Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand) from China.

 

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

 

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

  

TV on Disc:

The central conflict of "Dexter: The Seventh Season" (Paramount), Showtime's blackly-comic series about TV's favorite serial-killer hero, isn't with another killer. This season Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) adoptive sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), who happens to be a police detective, discovers his secret and has to come to terms with the fact that her brother is the killer she's been hunting all these seasons. Family secrets can be so divisive. Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone's review is here.

 

"The Bletchley Circle" (PBS) is a self-contained British mystery mini-series set in 1950s London, but it could easily launch a continuing series based on the strength of its characters, a quartet of women who were code breakers during World War II, and its setting. Blu-ray and DVD. Reviewed on Videodrone here.