Knight at HOME at the Movies
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Three DVD releases with nothing in common -- except that they're all terrific and worth adding to your collection.
I think Ballets Russes, just out on DVD from Zeitgeist Films, has to be one of the
most charming documentaries of this or any year.  The movie tracks the course of
the legendary ballet company that was created after the demise of the original
Ballets Russes’ great impresario and creative genius, Sergei Diaghilev.

The newly formed Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo which again featured a bevy of
Russian born dancers was an immediate sensation but within its creation lay the
seeds of decades of infighting and an eventual splintering into two equally strong
companies.  Both these companies flourished in the late 1930s and 1940s and
brought the world of ballet to almost every corner of America.  Both are responsible
in large for modern ballet as we know it.  The story of the popularity of the
companies and their eventual demise is told through interviews with the extremely
personable survivors (many of them Russian expatriates) and through vintage
footage of these dancers at their glorious best.  A reunion in 2000 of many of the
dancers is also here along with tales of intrigue and competition on and offstage –
as one would expect.  At times this seems like the inspiration for the ballet classic,
1948’s
The Red Shoes.  Indeed, Leonide Massine who is credited here for bringing
glory to the company through his innovative choreography, did the same for the
Michael Powell movie (in which he also co-starred) while Anton Walbrook’s Boris
Lermentov clearly has role models in the impresarios that headed the real life
Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.  And the two films make for a terrific double feature.


On another note, the physical perfection and beauty of the male dancers (especially
the still agile George Zoritch) will be especially appealing to gay audiences – as well
as interviews with legendary gay porn director Wakefield Poole (who was a late
addition to the company – who knew?) and “Batgirl’s” Yvonne Craig.  The disc
includes a nice group of extras – supplementary interviews, rare performance
footage not seen in the theatrical version, an extensive photo gallery, and an
informative 12-page booklet insert (I love these).  The whole is narrated by the
sonorous theatrical legend Marian Seldes and also has one of the
most beautiful
and enchanting film scores of recent years by Todd Boekelheide and David Conte.



Kinky Boots, the based on a real life story of a shoe factory in England that
switches to making fancy footwear for drag queens has recently arrived on DVD from
Miramax.  The spritely comedy follows in the wake left by
The Full Monty, Calendar
Girls
, Mrs. Henderson Presents and other recent British situation comedies that aim to
titillate -- but not too much.  The movie has canny lead performances by Joel
Edgerton as the young heir to the factory and
Chiwetel Ejiofor as the (literally) larger
than life drag performer Lola who takes on the job of designing a proper pair of
kinky boots.  The disc has a nice assortment of deleted scenes, an interesting
making of featurette, commentary by the director, Ejiofor, Edgerton and Sarah-Jane
Potts who plays a spunky worker in the factory.  Best is a short feature in which we
see a quick montage of a Brogue -- the quintessential English shoe -- constructed
from beginning to end.  A pleasing, not terribly taxing movie with enough laughs,
"life lessons" and standard disco drag numbers to please the not too demanding.



The reputation of
Pretty Poison has grown greatly in stature since its unheralded
release in 1968.  Though film critic powerhouse Pauline Kael praised it and the
performances of leading players Tuesday Weld and closeted gay actor Anthony
Perkins to the skies, the film seemed too complicated emotionally to connect with
audiences.  And Weld’s character – the murderous, amoral sociopath disguised as
pretty cheerleader Sue Ann – was far from the conventional dumb blondes roles the
actress normally played.  What should have been a career enriching performance
was large unnoticed.  Less notable, only because he had played the part so many
times before, was Perkins' turn as yet another edgy, mentally disturbed young man.  
Dennis Pitt is nothing if not a distant cousin of Norman Bates but even Bates might
have quelled if confronted with someone as calculating as Sue Ann.


The movie centers on Dennis’ attempts to impress the apparently impressionable
Sue Ann with his made up tales of being a spy and other games.  But eventually,
the fantasies turn deadly and Dennis finds himself in way over his head.  Not really a
thriller or a film noir,
Pretty Poison is an interesting character study that also features
expert supporting performances from John Randolph, Dick O'Neill and especially
Beverly Garland as Sue Ann’s sluttish mother.  No extras on the just released disc
from 20th Century Fox.