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“Immediate Family” (2024, Magnolia Pictures) * As with director Denny Tedesco’s previous documentary film “The Wrecking Crew” (about the eponymous and ubiquitous group ’60s studio musicians, which included his dad, guitarist Tommy Tedesco), “Immediate Family’ seeks to shine a light on hard-working sidemen who contributed key elements to some of the biggest rock and pop songs of the 20th century. The focus here is on a quartet of players – guitarists Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, and Steve Postell, bassist Leland Sklar, and drummer Russ Kunkel, all of whom are currently on tour as The Immediate Family – who backed the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, Don Henley, Linda Ronstadt and others during the 1970s and 1980s. Much of the film focuses on anecdotes from the quartet about their work on hits and praise from the major players, though the most intriguing elements come when they discuss the almost Zen quality required for studio/sidemen to blend into the artist’s particular vision (though Kortchmar suggests that he was less willing to simply play along), and in scenes where they recreate their contributions to some of the era’s biggest hits, proving that they were far more than hired guns.
“Silent Night” (2023, Lionsgate Entertainment) * “Suburban Dad Goes Apeshit” might be a more succinct title for this return to form for Hong Kong director John Woo, though it doesn’t address the key component of the film: save for a few toss-away “okays,” the film is totally free of dialogue spoken by characters on-camera. That conceit allows Woo to focus entirely on constructing his signature brand – a mix of heady emotions, unflinching and brutal violence, a rigid moral compass, and highly orchestrated stuntwork (and at least one portentous bird) – is on full display here, and anchored by a thin but compelling storyline: dad Brian (Joel Kinnaman) loses, in rapid succession, his son, his ability to speak, his marriage, and most likely, his marbles to vicious gangster Harold Torres, and decides (quietly) to wreak unholy vengeance. Woo’s work here isn’t quite on par with his most astonishing/outlandish product (those remain “The Killer,” “Hard Boiled,” and “A Better Tomorrow”) – but he still delivers action thrills with more panache and assurance than most of the many directors who have borrowed pages from his playbook. Lionsgate’s Blu-ray/DVD/digital release includes a brief making-of featurette and the theatrical trailer.
“Brothers Till We Die” (1978, Severin Films) * Vincenzo, the hunchbacked psychopathic crook played by Tomas Milian in Umberto Lenzi’s “The Tough Ones,” returns in slightly more palatable form for this Italian-made crime thriller, also by Lenzi, and brings along his dimwitted twin brother (also Milian), who appeared in “Free Hand for a Tough Cop.” The plot is passable at best – Vincenzo is double-crossed by his partners during a bank robbery and seeks revenge, with his brother in tow – and serves largely as a framework for Milian, who was given to writing his own dialogue, to riff on class issues, especially those that marginalize proletariat and criminals like the twins. But “Brothers” is also less sociopolitical harangue than broad comedy, albeit one spiced liberally with the breakneck violence of the poliziottetesci (gritty crime films) of the period. Your appreciation of the film depends entirely on how you view Milian, who here, as in most of his films, comes off as either cagey-cool or a relentless showboat, though there’s no denying that he’squite funny Vincenzo’s fright-wigged, mascara-caked brother (called “Pigsty” in the English dub). Severin’s Blu-ray – an uncut, 2K scan of the original camera negative – is part of their “Violent Streets” set, which bundles five Lenzi/Milian titles, each with English and Italian dubs, with interviews with the late Lenzi, editor Eugenio Alabiso, and composers Franco Micalizzi and Antonello Venditti, whose relentlessly funky score is also included on CD.
“The Devil’s Partner: Special Edition” (Film Masters, 1961) * A rash of deaths and other calamities reveals to the citizens of the tiny New Mexico town of Furnace Flats that handsome, can-do newcomer Ed Nelson, who claims to be the nephew of the town’s now-deceased Scary Old Hermit, is actually the old coot himself, revived by a LLC of sorts with Satan and up to no good. Curious low-budget supernatural feature, lensed in 1958 and distributed three years later by Roger Corman’s Filmgroup shingle, and co-written by East Side Kids/Bowery Boys alum Stanley Clements; the stakes are low – Nelson’s hoodoo only extends to Jean Allison, daughter of the town doctor (Edgar Buchanan) and her sourpuss fiance (Richard Crane) – and the major threat, from various animals bewitched by Nelson, is at times underwhelming. But “Devil’s Partner” is briskly made, well-acted, and its story of Old World-style witchcraft and Satanism in the modern-day U.S.A. feels like a proto-take on the current folk horror trend. As with Film Masters’ other recent Blu-ray releases, their restoration of “Devil’s Partner” should feel like a whole new viewing experience for those who saw it on late-night TV or streaming services; suffice it to say that the company consistently does right by old-school creature features. Speaking of such, they also bundle “Devil’s Partner” with a restored version of Corman’s “Creature from the Haunted Sea” (1962), a gassy goof on horror tropes, Cold War politics and gangster pics that sports one of the most (deliberately) ridiculous-looking monsters on movie record. The third part of the compnay’s documentary series on Filmgroup is featured here, and touches on some of Corman’s discoveries like Francis Ford Coppola; Corman himself, still sharp at 97, offers reminiscences, while the Monster Party podcast crew weighs in with commentary.
“Frogman” (2023, Rotting Press) * Frustrated filmmaker Nathan Tymoshuk heads to Ohio to prove that its homegrown cryptid, the Loveland Frogman, whom he captured on film as a teenager, really exists. Found footage horror film neatly sidesteps the pitfalls of the subgenre – headache-inducing shakycam, annoying protagonists, disappointing payoffs – by embracing a blend of indie drama (Tymoshuk is joined by pal Benny Barnett and unrequited crush Chelsea Grant) and creature feature, which embraces, at its climax, a sort of Lovecraftian paranoia. The close connection between the three friends is well handled (especially by Grant) and the monster business, while suffering from the usual budgetary restraints, is admirably gonzo and gross, which should ward off any concerns about another subpar trip to “Blair Witch” territory. Currently available to rent or purchase on various VOD platforms.
