Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! Today, the offbeat dramedy Babyteeth leads the way, in terms of new Blu-ray and DVD releases. It’s another pretty small slate this week, but there’s some interesting titles to consider, along with a book option! Read on for more…
Joey’s Top Pick
Babyteeth
A unique film from top to bottom, Babyteeth defies easy description. In broader strokes, it’s about a terminally ill teenager named Milla and her budding relationship with troublemaker Moses, as well as her parents’ reaction to it. However, as their daughter deals with first love during her last days, they set aside traditional morals, in favor of her actual happiness. It’s impeccably acted, moving, and unlike anything else out there. Our own Robert Hamer recently wrote an essay on the parental units of Babyteeth (found here), and now you can pick it up and see for yourself!
Recommended Viewing
Full Metal Jacket
Available for the first time in 4K, Stanley Kubrick‘s Vietnam War picture Full Metal Jacket is a true classic. Well, at least the first 45 minutes or so are. The war section is more hit or miss than the initial basic training sequence, which is one of the best ever put to film. Still, it’s a movie that’s impossible not to get sucked in by, so in 4K, it’ll be all the easier to appreciate.
Also Available This Week
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Fifth Season (TV)
Most Wanted
On a Magical Night
Rick and Morty: Season 4 (TV)
The Secret: Dare to Dream
Criterion Corner
Christ Stopped at Eboli
Description via Criterion: “An elegy of exile and an epic immersion in the world of rural Italy during the regime of Benito Mussolini, Francesco Rosi’s sublime adaptation of the memoirs of the painter, physician, and political activist Carlo Levi brings a monument of twentieth-century autobiography to the screen with quiet grace and solemn beauty. Banished to a desolate southern town for his anti-Fascist views, Levi (Gian Maria Volontè) discovers an Italy he never knew existed, a place where ancient folkways and superstitions still hold sway, and that gradually transforms his understanding of both himself and his country. Presented for the first time on home video in its original full-length, four-part version, Christ Stopped at Eboli ruminates profoundly on the political and philosophical rifts within Italian society—between North and South, tradition and modernity, Fascism and freedom—and the essential humanity that transcends all.”
Book Nook
The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film
Every so often, a book comes my way that’s worth sharing. Today, it’s the release of Matt Gatsby‘s The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film. Focusing on post-war fright flicks, from Psycho to It Chapter Two, it’s a must have for fans of horror movies, plain and simple!
Per this recommendation, I ended up renting Babyteeth today and I gotta say that Davis and Mendelsohn are as great as advertised. The parents’ responses to everything were really funny and interesting, not to mention critical to keeping everything from feeling too familiar and formulaic. Early on I definitely struggled with how distractingly awful the boyfriend character was (and I was especially not a fan of how much time the film makes you spend with him), but the back half of the film had quite a number of really excellent individual scenes that added up to an impressive whole.
Glad you gave it a look!