frank capra

frank capra collection box

I’m generally not a fan of the way Christmas Season keeps getting bumped farther and farther up the calendar. I don’t need to see giant, inflatable Santa Clauses the day after Halloween, thank you very much. I don’t want to hear Christmas Carols at the grocery store on the first of November. Don’t tell me about Black Friday deals six weeks before Thanksgiving. Let me enjoy Autumn for a little while before I have to start thinking about presents, and visiting my in-laws, and decorating the bloody Christmas tree.

There is an exception to my bah-humbug-iness.

I’m totally down with big boxed sets of Blu-rays getting released as early as possible. That gives me plenty of time to add things to my list.

Frank Capra was one of the great directors of classic cinema. He directed the greatest of all Christmas movies, It’s a Wonderful Life, and also It Happened One Night, You Can’t Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace, and many others.

This set includes 21 of his films that cover a great chunk of his career from his earliest silent movies to some of his great classics. It comes in a very nice-looking case and is loaded with extras.

The films include:

So This Is Love / The Way of the Strong / That Certain Thing / Submarine 4K SDR / The Younger Generation 4K SDR / Flight / Ladies of Leisure / Rain or Shine – 2 cuts / Dirigible 4K SDR / The Miracle Woman / Platinum Blonde 4K / American Madness / The Bitter Tea of General Yen / Forbidden / Lady for a Day / It Happened One Night 4K / Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 4K / Lost Horizon 4K / You Can’t Take It With You 4K / Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 4K / + Frank Capra: Mr America docu / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

This is definitely going on my Christmas wishlist and it is now this week’s pick.

Also out this week that looks interesting:

The Terminator (40th Anniversary, 4K UHD): I still remember my Dad renting this film back in the late 1980s. I had no idea what it was, had never heard of the film, and if I’m being honest I was probably too young to have been allowed to watch it. But I absolutely loved it. Still do. As far as I can tell the few extras that are included in this disc have been ported over from previous releases.

Godzilla Minus One (4K UHD): Forget all those silly American Godzilla flicks, this is the real deal. Just an all-around terrific Godzilla film.

A Simple Plan (Limited Edition 4K UHD): Sam Raimi’s thriller about a struggling couple who stumble upon a crashed plane with a load of cash in it got loads of critical acclaim when it came out, but I didn’t care that much for it. I think it is time for a revisit. Arrow Video has this release and they’ve loaded it with extras.

Speak No Evil: American remake of a Danish thriller about an idyllic weekend holiday that goes terribly wrong. Stars James McAvoy, McKenzie Davis, and Scoot McNairy.

Funny Girl (4K UHD): Criterion presents this musical from director William Wyler about a poor Jewish girl (Barbara Streisand) who rises to fame and fortune.

CC40: To celebrate their 40th anniversary the Criterion Collection has put together this boxed set of 40 films. There doesn’t seem to be anything special about the films they chose. They have all been released by Criterion before and as far as I can tell they don’t come with any additional extras. It would be a good starter pack for someone who doesn’t already own a lot of these films (and has a lot of money), but otherwise, I can’t see any reason to buy this.

Slap the Monster: Radiance Films continues its fantastic schedule of releasing relatively obscure Italian films. This one follows a newspaper as it tries to derail a murder investigation in order to support a fascist political candidate.

Japan Organized Crime Boss: Another Radiance Film release. This one concerns an elderly Yakuza soldier who just got out of prison. He wants to lead a straight life from now on but his former compatriots keep dragging him back into the life. You can read my full review here.

a hole in the head poster

I received A Hole in the Head for my birthday in a Frank Sinatra double pack with the original Manchurian Candidate. I had put off watching it because it did not seem like a movie I would particularly enjoy. But in my quest to watch and review all of my movies, I had no choice but to put it in the player. Of course, the fact that my wife wanted to watch it prompted me a little further even to the point of watching it out of alphabetical order.

Frank Capra is the great godfather of sentimental movies. Many of these are deservedly hailed by fans and critics. From Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to It’s a Wonderful Life and Arsenic and Old Lace Capra made movies about the little guys fighting the system and coming out on top. These movies are sentimental enough to be dubbed “Capracorn” by critics but are handled with masterful hands that rise above the schmaltz created by so many others. Besides little guys, he also flooded his movies with eccentric characters standing out in a world full of normal folk. Sadly, A Hole in the Head tries to mix both of these Capra types and fails on both accounts.

The film is the second to last picture ever made by Capra and was the beginning of an attempted comeback, as he’d taken a break from making Hollywood pictures. But instead of a comeback, this film serves only to remind us of what Capra used to be. Frank Sinatra plays a down-on-his-luck big dreamer who is about to be evicted from his hotel business in Miami, Florida. He calls up his brother, Edward G Robinson, and sister-in-law Thelma Ritter for help pretending his son is sick. Robinson and his wife quickly head down from New York to see what’s going on. Hilarity and sentimentality ensue. Swinging Sinatra butts heads with button-down Robinson until a quick ending and easy solution is found.

The performances of the stars are fine. At this point in their careers, Sinatra and Robinson are essentially playing themselves. Although Sinatra is more up and coming to the declining Robinson. There are some good jokes and the simple story is fair enough as it is. Capra fills Sinatra’s hotel with an odd collection of eccentrics that seem to have no other purpose but to fill up some time and tell a few jokes. The ending of the movie seems tied on and creates changes to some characters without any real provocation. The cheese factor is high even for a Capra film and it’s not subdued by any superb performances. The drama is not elevated above the schlock you would see in a made-for-TV movie.

The stand out of the film is Sinatra and his son singing the classic “High Hopes”. Being a fan of Sinatra more as a singer than an actor this amusing break in the middle of the picture helped keep my hopes up for a decent picture. Those hopes were not shattered, nor were they completely fulfilled. For beginners of “Capracorn” you should pick out some of his earlier, superior films. But for a lonely night in need of some corny sentiment, this is some fluffy candy that just might fill.