This week, we begin in Rome:
The Last of the Unjust (3 1/2 stars) Rated PG-13, 220 minutes. Available now on DVD and Blu-ray and in various digital download formats.
In 1975, documentary filmmaker Claude Lanzmann traveled to Rome for an interview that would form the basis of a follow-up to his monumental 1985 Holocaust examination Shoah.
In Rome, he interviewed Benjamin Murmelstein, the last president of the Jewish Council in Theresienstadt, a showplace for the Nazis, a so-called “model” ghetto in what is now the Czech Republic.
Murmelstein became one of the Jewish men selected to help the Nazis run what was in actuality a concentration camp. He relates his regular battles with Adolf Eichmann about trying to improve living conditions. He was the only one of these “elders” to survive the war. After the war, he was accused of collaboration and was not allowed to immigrate to the new state of Israel.
Lanzmann probes the willing Murmelstein, asking so many pertinent questions that it took nearly four decades for the director to assemble his materials. Lanzmann also tours the pertinent sites, reads from topical materials, and mixes in still photos and descriptive artwork of the concentration camps.
DVD extras: a four-minute interview with Lanzmann, and a large bundle of still photos.
*
Chinese Puzzle (3 stars) Inexplicably popular French actor Romain Duris stars again as Xavier Rousseau in the finale to writer-director Cedric Klapisch’s trilogy, following L’Auberge Espanole and Russian Dolls.
As Xavier approaches 40, his wife, Wendy (Kelly Reilly), divorces him and moves to New York City with their two young children. Xavier follows. In New York, he lives with Isabelle (Cecile de France), his free-spirited lesbian best friend. But while in town, Xavier’s former girlfriend Martine (Audrey Tautou) visits, causing anguish and doubts for everyone.
The director brings together many of his former characters as they finally mature and fade away. Empty and slight, but fast-paced with clipped dialogue.
Rated R, 117 minutes.
DVD extras: cast and crew interviews, a “making of” featurette.
*
Yankee Doodle Dandy (4 stars) The Warner Archive Collection releases an all-time favorite on Blu-ray. The 1942 biopic of George M. Cohan stars James Cagney in the role that earned Cagney his only Best Actor Oscar, thanks to the performer’s formidable singing and dancing skills.
Director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) follows Cohan through his eventful life as he composes some of the country’s best known and most patriotic songs. Nominated for eight Oscars and winner of three, the film flies along with an energetic Cagney taking the center stage and then dancing off.
Not rated, 125 minutes.
DVD extras: commentary, a 45-minute “making of” featurette, a five-minute featurette with John Travolta reminiscing about Cagney, the wartime short “You, John Jones” starring Cagney and directed by Mervyn LeRoy, the vintage Warner Bros. cartoon “Yankee Doodle Daffy,” and much more.
*
Satellite (2 1/2 stars) Returning for a second appraisal is this 2006 indie-romance written, edited and directed by Jeff Winner and set in New York City’s world of singles.
Kevin (Karl Geary) meets Ro (Stephanie Szostak) after she follows him (yes, like Amelie). They quickly bond, so much so that they quit their jobs and take off on an unplanned adventure. Everything goes well, until it doesn’t. Entertaining enough, if crudely made.
Not rated, 100 minutes.
DVD extras: commentary, and an eight-minute interview with the producers.
*
Free Fall (2 1/2 stars) Corporate intrigue gives way to the stuck-in-the-elevator gambit. Sarah Butler stars as Jane Porter, a promising young executive whose boss commits suicide by throwing himself off a building. When she discovers possible embezzlement and various misdeeds, a so-called “crisis manager” (D.B. Sweeney) arrives to eliminate Jane, even if it means fighting through elevator entrapments.
Rated R, 90 minutes.
DVD extras: a 25-minute “behind-the-scenes” featurette.
*
Breaking at the Edge (2 stars) Routine, derivative horror flick set in Savannah about Bianca Wood (Rebecca Da Costa), who believes something is amiss with her pregnancy. Her husband, Ian (Milo Ventimiglia), initially offers little help. But, as this is a horror flick, he eventually shows his dark side.
Predrag Antonijevic directs at a funeral pace but never passes up a chance to insert some cliches of the genre.
Rated R, 86 minutes.
*
A Golden Christmas Triple Feature: A Tail of Puppy Love, The Second Tail and Home for Christmas Three films with a Christmas theme and starring irresistible golden retriever puppies are included in this set. And, in all three, youngsters play an important part while also enjoying their Christmas mornings with the pups. Not rated, 265 minutes.
*
Family and Romance Holiday Collection Ten family and romance films, all with holiday themes and from the past decade, have been packaged on a single set of three discs.
The collection features a wide range of recognizable performers, including Cheryl Ladd, Barry Bostwick, Nicole Eggert, Billy Ray Cyrus, Shelley Long, Melissa Gilbert, Tom Arnold, Barbara Niven and others. The titles are: Holiday Engagement, Holiday Baggage, Christmas in Canaan, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, The Christmas Pageant, Moonlight & Mistletoe, Annie Claus, Merry In-Laws, A Christmas Proposal and 12 Days of Christmas Eve.
Not rated, 888 minutes.
*
The Magic School Bus: Season’s Greetings This latest release from Scholastic offers the popular science-adventure series for kids. Eight animated episodes come on two discs. Ms. Frizzle boards her magic bus to guide kids in exploration and discovery, but this time with a holiday theme.
Rated TV-G, 156 minutes.
*
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Season One Matthew Charles and Wayne Grayson supply most of the English-language voices for the collected 52 episodes of the first season of this Japanese anime manga series originally created by Kazuki Takahashi.
The season takes place a few years after the original series when young GX wants to become the next King of Games. To accomplish his goal, he follows Jaden Yuki into the harsh competition of the Duel Academy for training. There, he confronts challenges in the form of traps, mystical spells and ferocious monsters.
Not rated, about 19 hours.
*
Also available Tuesday on DVD: Begin Again, Beneath, Child of God, Nuclear Nation, The Prince, Wish I Was Here.
BOO ALLEN is an award-winning film critic who has worked for the Denton Record-Chronicle for more than 20 years. He lives in Dallas.
