This week, we begin in 16th-century Flanders: The Mill and the Cross (****) Not rated, 92 minutes. Available Tuesday on DVD. The Mill and the Cross, which takes the viewer inside Bruegel's masterpiece The Procession to Calvary." onclick="clickedImg(this);" alt="Kino Lorber" src="/s/dws/img/drc/02-12/0212dvdsm.jpg"> Kino Lorber Rutger Hauer plays painter Pieter Bruegel in The Mill and the Cross, which takes the viewer inside Bruegel's masterpiece The Procession to Calvary. View larger More photos Photo store
As strange as it sounds, this visually stunning film, a personal favorite from last year, from Polish writer-director Lech Majewski, actually "enters" a still painting - that of Pieter Bruegel's masterpiece The Procession to Calvary.
Majewski moves slowly in order to appreciate Bruegel's varying tableaux. The paintings come to life, as Majewski steers Bruegel (Rutger Hauer) among his family and around his native Flanders, which struggles with its occupation by Spanish armies. Majewski took more than three years to mix special effects, optics and polished computer imaging to complement his exquisitely composed scenes.
Michael York plays the painter's patron, and Charlotte Rampling appear as a stylized Virgin Mary.
The DVD offers the comprehensive 45-minute "making of" featurette "The World According to Bruegel," which includes interviews with Majewski, Hauer and York, as well as generous amounts of onset footage. Plus, a 20-minute interview with Majewski.
*
Take Shelter (***1/2) In what is probably the most unsettling mainstream movie from last year, Michael Shannon turns in a powerful performance as a man who suffers from strange weather-related nightmares. Texas filmmaker and Take Shelter writer-director Jeff Nichols slowly and craftily layers his film with a series of shocks and jolts (although he could have done with a few less wake-up-from-a-nightmare gimmicks).
Shannon plays Curtis, a small-town working man. His hallucinations and his premonitions of disaster, perceived by him to be true, make him turn against his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain).
He eventually rips up his backyard to build a tornado shelter, all while acting strangely and forecasting future doom. He loses his job, terrifies everyone and seems headed over the cliff.
Well-made film uses minimal special effects for maximum results.
Rated R, 120 minutes.
The DVD includes commentary from Nichols and Shannon, an 11-minute "behind the scenes" featurette, a 20-minute interview with Shannon and co-star Shea Whigham, and six minutes of deleted scenes.
*
Making their Blu-ray debut are three remastered classic comedies from cinematic masters Woody Allen and Billy Wilder.
Manhattan (****) Allen wrote, directed and starred in this elegiac 1979 film, a softly endearing story about love, loss and Allen's obsession with his hometown. Gordon Willis' stunning black-and-white cinematography captures the city's beauty while also rendering Allen's neurotic romances.
Rated R, 96 minutes.
Annie Hall (****1/2) For this iconic 1977 film, Allen nabbed Oscars for best picture, best director and best screenplay, and Diane Keaton earned best actress. Supposedly, the tumultuous on-screen romance between Allen and Keaton mirrored their real-life relationship. Touching and funny, with Allen at his best.
Rated PG, 93 minutes.
The Apartment (****) Legendary writer-director Wilder created this five-time Oscar-winning 1960 film. Wilder bitingly skewered the era's corporate culture, with Jack Lemmon playing a young executive who reluctantly makes compromises to succeed. Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray excel, respectively, as an elevator operator compromised by a top executive.
Not rated, 125 minutes.
The DVD includes a 30-minute "making of" featurette and a 13-minute segment on Jack Lemmon.
*
The on-demand Warner Archives release three new works, all distinguished by various well-known talents.
The Young Stranger (***) This 1957 coming-of-age drama marks the debut of television director John Frankenheimer, who eventually helmed The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May and many more. In The Young Stranger, a troubled teen (James MacArthur) lands in trouble with the police over a misunderstanding. His film producer father (James Daly) tries to intervene, causing resentment all around. For a first film, Frankenheimer admirably juggles the film's various emotional forces.
Not rated, 84 minutes.
Period of Adjustment (***) This 1962 film is an unlikely comedy from Tennessee Williams, and it marks the first film from director George Roy Hill (The Sting). Jim Hutton and Jane Fonda play newlyweds who quickly find something irritating about the other. On their ill-conceived honeymoon, they land at the home of one of his friends (Tony Franciosa) who makes the two knuckleheads realize how well they suit each other. Funny enough film, considering the source.
Not rated, 111 minutes.
The Fugitive (****) John Ford directed this 1947 film, based on a Graham Greene novel. Henry Fonda stars as a nameless Mexican priest fleeing the authorities. He lingers to celebrate Mass and give blessings, all while soldiers and policeman hunt him down. The beautifully photographed film captures the variegated enchantments of the Mexican countryside. With Dolores Del Rio.
Not rated, 99 minutes.
*
Big Year (***) Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson star in this buddy comedy about three male bird-watchers - or birders - at different points in their lives. They individually make the same decision to go for their "Big Year," a competition among birders about who can see the most species in a single year. This sets up nonstop cross-country road trips resulting in various madcap adventures as the three men rediscover their love of life outside their manic pursuit.
Director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) keeps the mood light and avoids the maudlin, while also capturing birders' enthusiasm.
Rated PG, 100 minutes.
The DVD includes both the theatrical and the extended versions of the film. Plus: an 18-minute "making of" featurette, a six-minute gag reel and more than 40 minutes of deleted scenes.
*
What My Husband Doesn't Know Multitalented playwright and filmmaker David E. Talbert pushes Tyler Perry for supremacy in the African-American market with his lengthy film about a man (Brian White) who discovers that because he has neglected his wife (Michelle Williams), she has found solace from another man.
Not rated, 150 minutes.
*
Metal Shifters (**1/2) This 1950s horror throwback, an original from cable channel Syfy, sports a cheesy monster, seen only briefly, terrorizing a community while a pair of lovers make it to safety.
In a small Alaskan village on Christmas Eve, a junkyard owner's man-made sculptor comes to life. The 20-foot heap of metal stomps through town, snapping off villagers until, finally, someone does the right thing and saves all.
Rated PG-13, 87 minutes.
The DVD also includes a 15-minute "behind the scenes" featurette.
*
Also available Tuesday on DVD: The Rum Diary, Paranormal Activity 3, Human Centipede II: Full Sequence, The Elite Squad (Blu-ray), The Perfect Weapon
DR. BOO ALLEN is an award-winning film critic for the Denton Record-Chronicle.
