DVD Corner

“All You Need is Love” – That’s a nice thought, but truth be told, Tony Palmer’s sweeping television series about the history of popular music also suggests it might be good to have a measure of talent, a bit of luck, some rhythm, a voice and the right people behind you so you can share that love with the masses. This 17-episode, five-disc set originally aired between 1976 and 1980, and it covers everything from vaudeville, country and ragtime to swing, rock and blues. And there’s more, with Palmer predictably exploring such pop-music greats as Elvis, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra to The Supremes, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. If there’s a caveat, it’s in all that’s missing after 1980 and how what came before it influences what we hear now. Since Palmer is still working, an overview of what has occurred in pop music in the interim could have made this already terrific collection outstanding. Grade: A-

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” Blu-ray – This stirring epic based on C.S. Lewis’ children’s book is filled with masterful touches that resonate, particularly on high-definition Blu-ray disc, where it thrives in a brilliantly sharp print. The film opens in the midst of World War II, the place is London, bombs are exploding and the blitz is on, with the four Pevensie siblings being whisked to a large manor house, where they allegedly will be safe from war. But when the youngest child, Lucy (Georgie Henley), steals into a wardrobe, what she finds inside is a magical world of great beauty and greater danger, the latter of which is personified by the wicked Valkyrie warrior, Jadis (Tilda Swinton), who has put the kibosh on Christmas throughout this netherworld called Narnia. To defeat her, the Pevensie children take up with a host of talking animals and creatures, as well as the great lion Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson) and his army. The ferocious war that ignites makes for a terrific, memorable film, indeed; the sequel hits theaters May 16. Rated PG. Grade: A

“The Great Debaters” – From Denzel Washington, a movie about finding the courage to raise your voice in the face of great hatred, opposition and fear. The film fictionalizes the true story of the all-black Wiley College debate team which, in 1935 Marshall, Texas, did what nobody had done before it. In the segregated Jim Crow South, where lynching was common, they found power in words and their own voices by debating at mostly white schools. Their coach was Melvin B. Tolson (Washington), the well-known poet, professor and activist who many believed was a communist. Washington is very good here, but the young actors portraying Tolson’s gifted students (Nate Parker, Jermaine Williams, Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker) are remarkable, offering a necessary counterweight to the otherwise formulaic script. Rated PG-13. Grade: B+

“I’m Not There” – The problem is that the movie itself isn’t there. Todd Haynes’ gimmicky, frustrating bear features six actors portraying different sides of Bob Dylan’s persona at different points in the musician’s life. Beyond Cate Blanchett, who nails the singer’s cagey rhythms (she’s the main reason to see the movie), those actors include Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin. While Haynes’ intent is obvious – he believes that Dylan is so difficult to peg, several actors, regardless of gender, age or race, could portray him – the follow-through is a failure. By forgoing any trace of narrative structure in an attempt to reflect the controlled chaos of Dylan’s mind, Haynes doesn’t achieve art. Instead, he just achieves canned chaos. Rated R. Grade: C-

“Mission: Impossible – Fourth Season” – Well, not impossible, though each mission certainly is a challenge. Since each show begins with the lighting of a fuse, it’s up to the writers, the director and the cast to sustain the excitement and tension inherent within. In the fourth season of this influential espionage show, that proves true once again, with the writing as tight and as inventive as ever. Here, the world is reduced to the size of a postage stamp and we’re all over it, with Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Greg Morris, Barbara Bain and Peter Lupus smoothly washing their hands of their share of criminals. Entertainment is key here – gadgets abound – but so is credibility. The show comes through with each. Grade: B+

“2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films” – This collection offers the viewer a great opportunity to see the range of amazing work being done in the short-film format, both animated and live action, which is so frequently and unjustly ignored. Each of the 10 films collected here is special, but one in each category is remarkable. First is Christian E. Christiansen’s harrowing and heart-breaking live-action Denmark film, “At Night,” in which three women struggle to cope with cancer and their own mortality at a cancer ward (it lost to the very good French film, “The Mozart of Pickpockets”). Second is the Academy Award-winning standout in the animated category, “Peter and The Wolf,” a fantastic entry from the United Kingdom and Poland that sometimes puts a lump in your throat before forcing it out with a laugh. After seeing this, you’ll likely never look at cats the same way again. Grade: A

“Youth Without Youth” DVD, Blu-ray – Leave the movie, take the wine. Francis Ford Coppola’s first film in 10 years turns out to be occasionally brilliant and sometimes involving, but mostly so dense and convoluted, it spoils whatever enjoyment might have been had in the process. Set during World War II, the film is a pretentious grind based on Mircea Eliade’s novella. It stars Tim Roth as Dominic, an elderly, suicidal linguist electrocuted by lightning who starts to age backward in a new infusion of youth. For a whole host of bizarre reasons, this causes its share of problems, not the least of which is the involvement of the Third Reich as well as what occurs to the love of his life (Alexandra Maria Lava), who is – you guessed it – struck by another bolt of lightning, which ages her. Tack this onto all sorts of muddled rhetoric about language and consciousness, and what you have is a movie that should be watched after finishing a bottle of one of Coppola’s popular wines. Those, at least, are rather good. Rated R. Grade: C-

WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, video podcasts, iTunes portal and archive of hundreds of movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at christopher@weekinrewind.com.