This week, we begin in Lake Tahoe:
Out of the Past (****) Not rated, 97 minutes.
The Warner Archive Collection gives a Blu-ray release to director Jacques Tourneur’s 1947 film noir classic. The celebrated drama features tough Robert Mitchum as Jeff Bailey, a seeming patsy drawn into a web of escalating intrigue. Jane Greer plays Kathie, the quintessential femme fatale whose double and triple-crosses reach the ceiling (Greer appeared in the 1984 remake, Against All Odds).
Kirk Douglas is the evil Whit, a Lake Tahoe gambler who sets everything in motion by hiring Bailey to find Kathie after she shoots him, steals a large sum of money and leaves. Bailey follows her to Mexico, finds her, and then, naturally, falls for her. They return to live in San Francisco but discover they never lose Whit or his army of dangerous thugs.
Tourneur highlights Nicholas Musuraca’s evocative cinematography with its accentuated angles, deep shadows and rich chiaroscuro. Daniel Mainwaring, under the pseudonym Geoffrey Homes, wrote the screenplay from his novel Build My Gallows High, with uncredited assistance from noir master James M. Cain.
DVD extras: commentary from film noir historian James Ursini.
*
IFC Films releases two fine works from a pair of France’s most acclaimed directors.
A Promise (***) Patrice Leconte directed this English-language film, based on Stefan Zweig’s novel Journey Into the Past.
In 1912 Germany, Friedrich Zeitz (Richard Madden, Game of Thrones) begins work for metal industrialist Karl Hoffmeister (Alan Rickman), who’s married to the much younger Charlotte (Rebecca Hall).
Zeitz quickly advances professionally while also becoming friendlier with Charlotte. When the fatally sick Karl suspects a building romance, he sends Zeitz to Mexico to handle a new mining concern. Zeitz and Charlotte make a pledge that they will delay their inevitable union until his return.
World War I strands Zeitz and crashes the couple’s plans. Leconte lets his rhythm sag at times but deftly chronicles the building sexual tension.
Not rated, 98 minutes.
*
Young & Beautiful (***1/2) Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) continues his investigation of sexual nonconformity with this beguiling film.
Seventeen-year-old Isabelle (Marine Vacth) loses her virginity on her summer vacation with her parents. When she returns to the city, she proves a fast learner and begins moonlighting as a prostitute. She keeps her sideline a secret from everyone until an inevitable disaster occurs.
She throws her parents into confusion by showing no remorse, but instead an awareness of what she has done — and seems inclined to learn and even profit from it. Ozon presents Isabelle as a fascinating, fully formed figure, a girl already a confident young woman.
Not rated, 93 minutes.
Both discs are movie-only.
*
Richard Lewis: Bundle of Nerves This two-disc collection features the best of the high-energy Lewis, including his HBO stand-up special Magical Misery Tour, the TV movie Diary of a Young Comic, co-written by and starring Lewis, and the movie Drunks, featuring Lewis.
Not rated, 305 minutes.
DVD extras: commentaries, introductions from Lewis, and a new documentary on Lewis, “House of a Lifetime.”
*
And, for kids this week:
The Magic School Bus: Space Adventures Four episodes of the highly regarded TV series appear in this package that also includes a 70-page book about space exploration. Based on books from Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, the animated series features the lovable teacher Ms. Frizzle as she instructs her class on the planets, their atmospheres, and much more.
Not rated, 78 minutes.
DVD extras: the episode “Plays Ball.”
*
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 Warner Home Video continues releasing from its vault some of the most entertaining cartoons ever. This collection spans the 1930s to the 1960s and includes 50 remastered cartoons from Warner Bros. maven Chuck Jones and his gifted crew of animators.
Twenty-five entries star Bugs Bunny, including the Oscar-winning “Knighty Knight Bugs.” Others lovable characters from the Warners’ stable also make appearances: Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam, Tweety and Sylvester, and Foghorn Leghorn.
The collection is on two discs, and including extras, it clocks in at more than 11 hours.
DVD extras: commentaries, featurettes on “The Art of the Gag,” Bugs Bunny (“Ain’t He a Stinker?”), Robert McKimson’s artwork, Mel Blanc and Frank Tashlin, and about a dozen more segments detailing the legendary work done at the Warner Bros. studio.
*
And, finally, from this week’s TV arrivals:
Haven: The Complete Fourth Season This popular Syfy series rolls along with this release based on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid.
The series takes place in fictional Haven, Maine (although filmed in Canada), whose inhabitants have “troubles,” or supernatural curses. This season begins with Audrey (Emily Rose) working as a bartender in Boston, not knowing who she is or why she is there. Duke (Eric Balfour), before being released by one of the season’s new characters, Jennifer (Emma Lahana), is cuffed to the bed in a mental ward. Nathan (Lucas Bryant) looks for Audrey while encountering his own series of conflicts. Syfy regular Colin Ferguson guest stars as a mysterious stranger who seemingly knows Audrey and wants to help her.
The season is 13 episodes on four discs. Not rated, 572 minutes.
DVD extras: commentaries; 13 five-minute “Inside Haven” featurettes; three interviews with the cast; three separate Haven panel highlights totaling more than an hour; a four-minute “behind the scenes” featurette; a 12-minute blooper reel; episodes from the webisode series “Darkside Seekers,” and more.
*
Portlandia: Season Four Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein created, along with Jonathan Krisel, this consistently oddball comedy set in Portland, Oregon. Armisen and Brownstein also wrote many of the episodes while starring as two locals who continue to find themselves intertwined with local personalities: the often-spacey mayor (Kyle MacLachlan) and their environmentalist friend Ed (Ed Begley Jr.).
The season has guest appearances, including Kirsten Dunst, Duff McKagan, Michael Nesmith, Dan Savage, Olivia Wilde, Jeff Tweedy, Nick Swardson and k.d. lang.
Ten episodes come on two discs. Not rated, 220 minutes.
*
Criminal Minds: Season 9 The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit returns. The team, headed by David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), faces a series of new homicides and various challenges while using their analytical skills to uncover a season’s quota of deranged characters but both became serial killers. Thomas Gibson returns as head analyst Aaron Hotchner. With Shemar Moore, Kirsten Vangsness, A.J. Cook and Matthew Grey Gubler.
The season’s 24 episodes come on six discs. Not rated, about 17 hours.
DVD extras: Every episode includes a “behind-the-scenes” featurette, usually running from three to eight minutes. Plus: deleted scenes and a brief gag reel.
*
Also available Tuesday on DVD: American Promise, For No Good Reason, Horses of God, Night Moves and They Came Together.
