America Ferrera and Michael Peña in Cesar Chavez
Sidney Poitier and Paul Newman
in Paris Blues
We’re always looking for interesting things to share; and here are a few films you might want to add to your collection. Nova: D-Day’s Sunken Secrets, A Night in Old Mexico, Orphan Black Season 2, Rio 2, Cesar Chavez, Made in America, Xena Warrior Princess Season 5, and a few oldies like Marty, Paris Blues and Separate Tables. They’re all available now on DVD and/or Blu-ray. —A. Ortíz
Nova: D-Day’s Sunken Secrets
PBS’ NOVA always has some interesting subject matter; here’s another for the WWII history buff in you or someone you know. This DVD explores a massive underwater WWII archeological site.
A Night in Old Mexico
One of those sleepy films that you usually don’t discover until it ends up on cable or on DVD. It’s not a perfect film, but it reunites Robert Duvall and Lonesome Dove screenwriter Bill Witliff, as directed by Emilio Aragón. Duvall plays an old-school Texan losing the property his family has owned for generations. Also starring: Jeremy Irvine, Angie Cepeda, Luis Tosar, Joaquín Cosio, Javier Gutierrez, Jim Parrack, James Landry Hébert, Michael Ray Escamilla, Abraham Benrubi, and Renee Victor.
Orphan Black Season 2
If you saw the first season, you might want to check out the second. Also, nobody expected Tatiana Maslany to be as skilled an actress or as ridiculously cool a human being as she appears to be. You can get a sense of her Jennifer Lawrence-level charm and unaffected humor in this quick bit of an interview from BBC America’s YouTube channel.
Rio 2
Here is something for the kids or the kid in you. Brazilian animator/writer/director Carlos Saldanha offers a sequel to his hit feature about the plucky (and hilarious) birds of his native land, with Latino voices, both new and returning. Look for the sounds of Jake T. Austin, Bruno Mars, Miguel Ferrer, Andy Garcia, Jeffrey Garcia, George Lopez, and Rita Moreno, among many others.
Cesar Chavez
I wanted more from this film, but it’s a good beginning—the first film to start a conversation about the life of UFW leader Cesar Chavez. There’s some fine work by America Ferrera, Michael Peña, Rosario Dawson, Yancey Arias, Jacob Vargas, Gabriel Mann, John Malkovich, and actor/producer Diego Luna makes a respectabledirectorial debut. You can check out our interviews with Diego Luna here and America Ferrera here.
Made in America
Ron Howard’s first documentary–a collaboration between the Academy Award® winner and musician/producer Jay Z–is kind of a surprise. Given Jay Z’s involvement, you’d think the movie would focus on hip-hop only but no: it’s actually a celebration of both the unifying power of music and the pursuit of the American dream.
Xena Warrior Princess Season 5
Need some campiness in your life? You can’t go wrong with any of the Xena Warrior Princess episodes. And here’s a little trivia, writer/producer Roberto Orci was part of this series as co-executive producer and even a writer for one of the episodes during this season.
For those of you who enjoy some old classics, check these out:
Marty (available July 29, 2014)
Marty was originally a teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky. It was telecast live on May 24, 1953, on The Philco Television Playhouse with Rod Steiger in the title role. Then in 1955 it was adapted as a feature film starring Ernest Borgnine as Marty. Borgnine won the Academy Award for Best Actor and the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in a year that brought us quite a few movie treasures.
Paris Blues (available July 29, 2014)
For me, you can’t miss with the likes of Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll in the same movie. Newman and Poitier are expatriate American jazz musicians living in Paris who actually have a regular gig at a small popular club. But they both have dreams of more. I agree completely with Emma Knightley of knightleyemma.com: “Aside from romance, this film deals head-on with serious issues- ambition, racism, and drug abuse. The costumes, scenery, lighting, music, and dialogue are pitch perfect.” Here’s a beautiful black and white film for your enjoyment.
Separate Tables (available July 29, 2014)
The stage classic makes a classic film as well: the stories told of several people as they stay at a seaside hotel, dining at “Separate Tables.” The leads are Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino), Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster and David Niven.
