The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television during the week of April 20, as well as notes on TV programming for the same week. Televised films may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations while the programs listed have not been reviewed and therefore are not necessarily recommended by OSV News.
Streaming Now
“The Age of Innocence” (1993; Netflix)
Screen version of the Edith Wharton novel about a wealthy young lawyer (Daniel Day-Lewis) torn between his sweet, socially acceptable fiancee (Winona Ryder) and his love for her independent-minded cousin (Michelle Pfeiffer) who has left her faithless husband behind in Europe to face the chilly embrace of the disapproving New York elite in the 1870s. Director Martin Scorsese’s visually opulent work skewers the shallow pretenses of high society while delicately exploring the emotions simmering behind the fragile facades of the three protagonists. Mild sexual references. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
“Concussion” (2015; Hulu)
Fact-based profile of Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), the Nigerian-born, Pittsburgh-based coroner whose autopsy of a retired professional football player (David Morse) led to his discovery that repeated jolts to the brain, such as those sustained on the gridiron, can cause a degenerative disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Together with his supportive boss, famed pathologist Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks), he publishes his findings, which gain him the backing of the Steelers’ former team physician (Alec Baldwin) but draw fierce opposition from the NFL whose in-house medical staff (led by Paul Reiser) schemes to vilify the outsider and discredit his research. Helping him endure these attacks is a recent immigrant from Kenya (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) to whom he first gives shelter — and then his heart. Working from a 2009 magazine article by Jeanne Marie Laskas, writer-director Peter Landesman presents viewers with the portrait of a generally admirable character shaped, more than anything else, by his devout Catholic faith. Earnest and idealistic, but leavened with humor, only the fact that its avidly patriotic protagonist’s Christian morals do not extend to the bedroom, together with some salty language in the script, hinders endorsement for teens of this otherwise appealing film. Gory medical images, a premarital situation, about a half-dozen uses of profanity, a couple of rough terms, occasional crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
“West Side Story” (1961)
Rousing Broadway musical, with choreography by Jerome Robbins and music by Leonard Bernstein, is a contemporary, inner-city adaptation of the classic Romeo and Juliet theme, with Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood playing the star-crossed lovers set apart ethnically and by their opposing street gang backgrounds. Directed by Robert Wise, the picture captures the grit of life in the city’s lower depths, with glimmers of hope and elements of tragedy in a delicate balance, carried along by song and the dance numbers that pulsate with energy and verve. Some of the social issues, relationships and street language, however, require a mature perspective. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
Looking Ahead
Sunday, April 20, 4:30-6:30 a.m. EDT (EWTN) “Solemn Mass of Easter Sunday.” Live broadcast from Rome as Pope Francis celebrates Mass and gives a traditional Easter address and blessing to the city of Rome and to the world. The address and blessing will re-air 11-11:30 p.m. EDT (TV-G — general audience).
Sunday, April 20, 1-4 p.m. EDT (AMC) “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989). The adventure trilogy ends by pairing Indy (Harrison Ford) with his father (Sean Connery), a medieval scholar trying to save the Holy Grail from 1930s Nazis. Director Steven Spielberg’s eye-popping stunts and intense comic-book violence are balanced by the humorous interaction between father and son whose survival depends on their resolving long-standing conflicts. Exhilarating, old-fashioned action movie, much too intense for youngsters but less threatening to older adolescents. Minor sexual innuendo and rough language. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (Followed by the earlier films in the series, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984), 4-6:30 p.m. EDT, and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), 6:30-9 p.m. EDT)
Sunday, April 20, 8-10 p.m. EDT (TCM) “Easter Parade” (1948). Classic Irving Berlin musical about a vaudeville dancer (Fred Astaire) who loses one dancing partner (Ann Miller) but gains stardom with another (Judy Garland). Directed by Charles Walters, the story’s little more than adequate but the principals make it all seem to matter, and the songs and dance numbers are bright and cheery. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-I — general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
Tuesday, April 22, 9-10 p.m. EDT (PBS) “Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On.” As the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the death camps, renowned historian Sir Simon Schama confronts the history of the Holocaust as not just a Nazi obsession but a Europe-wide crime.
Wednesday, April 23, 10 p.m.-12:15 a.m. EDT (TCM) “The Burmese Harp” (1956). Badly wounded in Burma at the end of World War II, a Japanese soldier (Shoji Yasui) is nursed back to health by a Buddhist monk, then devotes himself to searching the jungle battlefields for the abandoned remains of dead soldiers to give them a decent burial. Directed by Kon Ichikawa, the Japanese production takes a strong anti-war stance through a series of flashbacks to the horrors of battle, but uses hauntingly poetic imagery to convey the main theme of life’s value and the need to atone for its loss. Subtitles. Wartime violence. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
Saturday, April 26, 8-940 p.m. EDT (Cinemax) “Drag Me to Hell” (2009). Intentionally over-the-top horror tale in which a Los Angeles loan officer (Alison Lohman) is cursed to death and damnation by a woman (Lorna Raver) on whose home her bank is foreclosing and, with the reluctant support of her skeptical boyfriend (Justin Long), enlists the aid of a fortune teller (Dileep Rao) in her increasingly frantic efforts to undo the spell. Gross-out sight gags abound in director and co-writer Sam Raimi’s canny shockfest. But bloodletting is generally minimal and the occult elements, like the dubious premise that one person can consign another to Hades, need not be taken seriously. Some hand-to-hand violence, a premarital situation, a couple of uses of profanity and of the S-word, a few crass terms. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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