The Wave
In a remote Norwegian town, the monitors at the seismic early warning station are registering strangely. Everyone is nonchalant except Kristian, an engineer who actually read the manual and understands what would happen if the mountain collapses into the fjord, sending a tsunami through the channels and over the town. The Wave is a race-to-make-the-dummies see, clock-ticking geo-thriller. Great moment: the stupid teenager on his skateboard with headphones on, oblivious to the coming engulfing wave.
East Jerusalem/West Jerusalem
The media offers no hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but efforts to bring the sides together haven’t ceased. Prominent in the refusal to surrender to cynicism was the musical encounter led by Israeli singer David Broza and Palestinian counterpart Mira Awad with American alt-country star Steve Earle lending a hand. Hoping to “create a space for peace,” Broza initiated several days of cross-border conversation and music documented by filmmakers Henrique Cymerman and Erez Miller.
Under the Sun of Satan
The music under the credits sets the grave tone: Gérard Depardieu plays a troubled priest in this 1987 Cannes Film Festival prizewinner. The pale lighting and dark color scheme also sets the stage for a story about the power of evil and the fragility of the human spirit. Under the Sun of Satan was directed by French filmmaker Maurice Pialat, although you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a French-language film by Ingmar Bergman.
“Carol + 2: The Original Queens of Comedy”
Multi-talented Carol Burnett got her break in show business with the off-Broadway musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress. The latest release from the voluminous vaults of her television years includes her reprise of that performance on a 1972 CBS special with Ken Berry as the hapless prince and Bernadette Peters as his ravishingly jealous mother. Adding to the interest are the commercials from the original broadcast. Also on “+ 2” is a 1966 special with Lucille Ball.
