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Dolph Lundren in ‘Wanted Man’
Dolph Lundren in ‘Wanted Man’
“The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5”
(Cohen Media Blu-ray)
“Love is the unchallenged axis on which the World revolves,” the opening credits of Three Ages solemnly states. But the 1923 silent is a Buster Keaton film, and its overtures to romance are delivered with more than a pinch of irony.
Three Ages flips back and forth between the Stone Age, the Roman Age and the Modern Age (“of Speed, Need and Greed,” according to the intertitle). Keaton stars in each segment as a woebegone suitor, competing for a beautiful woman’s attention against men of greater wealth and physical prowess. In the Stone Age, he rides a dinosaur (neat special effects for 1923); in the Roman, a careworn chariot; and in the Modern, a jalopy that disintegrates as he drives it. There are many sight gags: in the Roman Age, Keaton wears a wristwatch with … Roman numerals. But much of the comedy is physical and facial as Keaton, forlorn, unemotional yet determined, surmounts the obstacles of an unfriendly world.
The 2022 restoration of Three Ages is out on Blu-ray, paired with Keaton’s 1923 comedy Our Hospitality. (David Luhrssen)
Day of the Locust
(MVD Blu-ray)
Day of the Locust (1975) was a product of Hollywood’s second golden age, an era when challenging, disturbing subjects were given big budgets with the expectation of filling theaters. Oscar-winner John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) directed Day of the Locust from Nathaniel West’s scathing 1939 novel, ripping away the artifice of Hollywood’s first golden age, revealing the tawdry decadence beneath the tinsel of the ‘30s studio system.
The protagonist (William Atheron) is an expressionist painter who finds work in Paramount’s art department. He falls in love with an aspiring starlet (Karen Black), a sexually manipulative woman in a world manipulated by powerful men. She is involved with several men, including a good natured but socially awkward accountant (Donald Sutherland). Anthony Burgess has a supporting role an aging failed actor, reduced to peddling wares wanted by no one.
Depression-era LA is depicted as a place of multiple animosities, with “talent” clawing for position on sound stages and back offices and gum-chewing gawkers craning their necks outside the gates for a glimpse. A mob mentality is at work, exploding into pyrotechnic violence in the climactic scene. (David Luhrssen)
Wanted Man
(Limited Theatrical Release & Streaming on VUDU, Jan. 19)
It’s an era of aging action stars gaining newfound popularity. Witness Dolph Lundgren who appeared in blockbusters such as The Expendables and Aquaman. For Wanted Man, the Swedish actor co-writes, directs and stars as veteran police detective Johansen. Working in New Mexico, Johansen’s old school methods result in a public relations debacle. To take the detective off the radar, the police captain sends Johansen to Mexico where he is to extradite a young woman (Christina Villa), the eyewitness to the murders of several DEA agents.
Once he has her in custody, Johansen is obliged to use all manner of guns to defend them—along with his detective skills—from termination by both Mexican cartels and by American forces with secrets to keep. Running out of places to run or to hide, Johansen desperately needs someone he can trust while running the gauntlet. Enter Kelsey Grammer as Brynner, the only person Johansen takes into his confidence. However, it remains to be seen whether the detective has chosen wisely or whether he is the right expendable cop for the job. Either way, he’ll spend these 86-minutes doing everything in his power in an effort to get himself and his witness back to New Mexico alive. (Lisa Miller)
