Tale of Tales
Fans of “Game of Thrones” might enjoy director Matteo Garrone’s Cannes Festival favorite Tale of Tales, an adaptation of fantastic stories by 17th-century folklorist Giambattista Basile (a one-man Italian brothers Grimm). The visually attractive film is set in a quasi-medieval world where lamas roam the streets along with knife jugglers, and jesters entertain the king and queen in their torch-lit throne room. Tale of Tales stars Salma Hayek, John C. Reilly and Vincent Cassel.
The First Monday in May
For a long time fashion (and “decorative arts” generally) were treated like the unwanted stepchild of fine arts. In recent years this has changed; fashion exhibits have become a cash cow, drawing around-the-block lines at museums. Unlike post-minimalism, fashion is a language most people understand. The First Monday in May is an uncritical documentary about New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, its lordly patroness Anna Wintour and the convergence of clothes, celebrity and money.
Pete Townshend’s Deep End: Face the Face
At the time he taped this concert for the West German “Rockpalast” TV show, Pete Townshend was on tour behind his newest release, White City: A Novel (1985). Performing with his large Deep End band, complete with horn section, harmonica player and a gaggle of backup vocalists, he included many recent numbers, heartfelt yet paling alongside “Behind Blue Eyes” and the concert’s rousing opener, “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour played lead guitar.
A Scandal in Paris / Lured
When a London sex killer lures women through personal ads, Lucille Ball becomes Scotland Yard’s bait in this 1947 thriller by Douglas Sirk, a director better known for such grandiose melodramas as Imitation of Life. Lured is a clever melodrama-comedy-police procedural whose top-drawer cast includes George Sanders as a playboy and Boris Karloff as a demented fashion designer. For Blu-ray release, Lured is paired with another Sirk film, the 1946 costume drama A Scandal in Paris.
