A Night at the Odeon: Hammersmith 1975
1975 was the year Queen broke out of cult status and into stardom. Originally aired on British television, the concert documentary A Night at the Odeon features a relatively simple show, just lights and a poof of indoor fireworks, driven by Freddie Mercury’s aggressive showmanship and Brian May’s astute, keening lead guitar. Even before “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Mercury aspired to operatic feats, sending early songs such as “Now I’m Here” and “Keep Yourself Alive” soaring.
Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman
Paul Newman played racecar drivers and true to his persona, he actually became one. According to interviews collected by director Adam Carolla for his documentary, Newman came to love racing more than acting. Mario Andretti recalls taking Newman for a spin in 1967; a year later, the actor learned to race for his starring role in Winning. From then on, Newman kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the finish line.
Faust
Depicting a war of shadow and light, the cinematography of F.W. Murnau’s Faust (1926) contains more of the former than the latter. In Murnau’s iteration of the literary archetype, Mephisto (Emil Jannings) appears to Faust (Gosta Ekman) as the kindly doctor despairs of curing plague victims, tempting him with the power to do good. But calamity and tragedy will follow. The new Blu-ray release contains two edits of the film plus an interesting making-of documentary.
“Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special”
The show begins with the U.S. Marine Corps chorus intoning, “It’s Christmas in the Playhouse.” Ah, for the days when America was at peace. Pee-wee Herman was all the rage in the late ’80s with his Jerry Lewis child-man act, and (no surprise) he hosted a Christmas special. All the usual household appliances were on hand, along with the Dinosaur Family, the Mail Lady and guest stars Frankie Avalon, Grace Jones and Annette Funicello.
