Now on DVD and a "must" for poetry lovers -- A FANATIC HEART: Bob Geldof on W.B. Yeats

Those who love the poems of W. B. Yeats -- is there anyone who truly cares about poetry that could not? -- will make a bee-line for the Irish documentary, A FANATIC HEART: Bob Geldof on W.B. Yeats (produced, I believe, for television) that made its debut back in 2016 and is finally reaching our shores in a three-disc DVD package (two DVDs and one CD) via MVD Visual. Here you will get not only a good deal of the poetry but also the history, personality and character of Yeats, as well as a grounding regarding the poet's contribution to the making of modern Ireland.

As directed by Gerry Hoban (shown at left) and written by Roy Foster and Bob Geldof (the latter of whom, shown above, acts as our guide and narrator), this 100-minute documentary may not offer reams of new information to Yeats scholars, but for those of us who know his poetry but not that much about his life nor how it plays into the slow and sometimes fiery creation of an Ireland that is still evolving, the film should be eye-opening, thought-provoking and mind-expanding.

History and poetry, together with character, carnality, mysticism and politics have seldom come together in such a surprising and bracing manner. Best of all, perhaps, is how Geldof and company are able to give us Yeats the great poet and Yeats the bumbling, foolish man (both are pictured below),

without in any way demeaning either. As I guess we ought to know by now -- and as the life here makes abundantly clear -- great art often comes from anything-but-great human beings.

Granted, we must remember that this was a life lived over a century ago. Still, this one -- filled as it was with everything from a ridiculously lengthy unrequited love and coming-of-age sexually (if perhaps ever?) at a very advanced age to a bizarre reliance on seances, horoscopes and oh-god-so-much-more -- may have your jaw drops further and further as this documentary moves along. What a wild and crazy guy! And yet: There are those poems.

Reading them to us are about as fine array of Irish actors and writers as you'll find under one roof (or film). From Stephen Fry, Edna O'Brien and Liam Neeson (above, and the greatest living voice we now have, I believe) to Colin Farrell (below), Dominic West (who reads perhaps Yeats' greatest work, The Second Coming, which is suddenly timely all over again, thanks to Donald Trump) and Richard E. Grant (who tears up so beautifully, unexpectedly and yet appropriately as he reads a certain line), the list goes on and on, and their readings will have you going back again, very likely as soon as possible, to the source.

We also get some time spent with the film's co-writer Foster (as well as historian and Yeats biographer), below, who, along with Geldof, fills us in on the history and politics of the poet's time. And though what we're told, I think, comes rather strongly from Geldof's ideas and viewpoint, I must say that the fellow makes awfully good sense most of the time.

Yeats' own ideas and feelings about Ireland and what it could and should become are seen here within the history of his time that includes Lady Gregory, the Abbey theatre and J. M. Synge, as well as the poet's unrequited love, Maud Gonne, below.

As Geldof (at left, below, with Van Morrison) muses along the way, this man, who wrote such fine poems of love, may never have really understood the deeper meaning of that word at all. Even so, our narrator's final thoughts about Yeats and what Ireland has become, will very probably bring tears to your eyes. They did to mine. And I'm not even Irish. 

From MVD Entertainment Group, this enormous three-disc set features the documentary, a bonus disc full of extras, and a CD of readings of the poet's work, some of which has been set to music. In all there are nearly three hours of extras here, only a bit of which I've had time for -- as of the posting of this review. The package hits the street this Friday, February 9 -- for purchase (and I would hope) rental, too.

John Butler's HANDSOME DEVIL embraces school ties, rugby, friendship and the GLBT life

A difficult movie not to like because, although it trods a road a number of other films have also taken, it does so with enough spirit and surprise -- together with a refreshing lack of the typical and expected -- HANDSOME DEVIL ensures that its entire experience will be easy to enjoy and embrace. Beginning with a young man telling us of his most embarrassing moment, and ending with this, too -- but with just enough of a twist to put a smile on our faces -- as written and directed by John Butler (shown below, who earlier gave us The Bachelor Weekend), the movie makes for swift, engaging fun.

Taking place in one of those British (or maybe Irish) boys' prep schools ripe for redress and comeuppance, where sports -- specifically rugby -- seems to be all-important, Butler's film has one of its two leading men, a bullied and bottled-dyed redhead named Ned (Fionn O'Shea, at left, below) forced to room with a new boy, Conor (Nicolas Galitzine, below, right), who turns out to be an ace rugby player.

How this relationship works out is not quite what you may expect, nor are the other major relationships in the film, which exist between Ned and his teacher, Mr. Sherry (the always on-target Andrew Scott, shown two photos below) and between Conor and his homophobic-but-hot rugby coach, Pascal (Moe Dunford, shown at left in the penultimate photo below).

There are a number of other subsidiary characters, but it is this quartet that carries the movie: they -- and the interesting plotting and byways down which the story carries us. Handsome Devil is not a "love story" in any usual sense of the word. Instead it's about friendship, sexual preference identity, and finding the strength to stick to your guns.

Granted all this is a tad easier when you're a crack sport star than when you're a bullied nobody. And the movie seems to understand this and take it all into account as it wends its way toward its expected happy ending.

But the way in which the movie reaches that ending is filled with enough growth and change to satisfy, I think, even some naysayers. Little wonder the film has done so well on the gay festival circuit. It's feel-good without the often accompanying baggage of feel-stupid.

From Breaking Glass Pictures and running a just-right 95 minutes, Handsome Devil opens in limited theatrical release this Friday, June 2, in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3 and in New York City at the Cinema Village. The film's VOD and DVD release will arrive hot-on-the-heels the following Tuesday, June 6.

Erik Poppe's 1,000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT tackles art, death, sacrifice, family, career and more....

...and the best thing about this movie is that it does not cheat or trivialize any of the subjects it touches. That the film deals especially with what we might call terrorist bombings (while the bombers themselves would undoubtedly call it freedom fighting) makes 1,000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT an especially fraught experience. When it is good, which is often, it is superb, and even at the times in which the movie lessens, it is never less than worthwhile. It is also one of the most serious and moving films about sacrifice that I have ever seen.

The Norwegian filmmaker, Erik Poppe (shown at right), a few years back gave us the excellent Troubled Water, and his new film is a fine follow-up. It stars the nearly always terrific Juliette Binoche as Rebecca, a famous war photographer and a woman considered among the best in her field who loves and understands her work and what it means and why she does it about as well as she possibly can. That she is married and has two children, whom she sees too seldom, is the point upon which the movie turns. Her husband, played by the hot and talented Danish actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (in the second and third photo below, and at bottom, left), has determined, after the shocking event that begins the film, that his wife must finally choose between her family and the ever-possibly-fatal career she pursues.

Mr. Poppe allows us to view Rebecca in the midst of the most dangerous parts of her work, and we see that she does it very well. She does not love it, exactly; rather, she experiences it as a necessity to help this dangerous world in which we live.

We can also understand the feelings of her family members. There are no villains here, not even -- and this is the film's most miraculous effect -- those people with bombs planted on their person, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. (I could have done without the candle-lit balloon lift off, below, but that's a minor quibble.)

In order to bring mom and elder daughter closer together, a trip to Africa (don't worry, they are told: It's a safe location) is planned. The result of this brings the film to its climax and proper close. Nothing goes quite as planned, but neither do things dissolve. Rather, the events that happen seem appropriate and important, and the decisions made are reached via genuinely felt and understood experience.

I think Mr. Poppe is one of our better directors -- interested in what is happening in our world and why, and what is to be done about it. If possible. He gets fine performances from his entire cast (Ms Binoche is, as always, sterling), and best of all, he addresses our world honestly, effectively, and without rancor or any of the feel-good cheating that is the hallmark of so many of our movies.

1,000 Times Good Night -- a Norway/Ireland/Sweden co-production released here by Film Movement -- opens theatrically this Friday, October 24, in New York City at the Quad Cinema and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal, among other major cities now, and in the weeks to come. You can view the entire list of currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters, by clicking here and then scrolling down.

Note: At NYC's Quad Cinema, director Erik Poppe will be present for a Q&A following the 7:30 show on Friday 10/24. In L.A., at the Royal theater, director of photography John Christian Rosenlund will participate in a Q&A at after the 7 PM screening on Friday, October 24, while the film's director/co-screenwriter Eric Poppe will participate in a Q&A after the 7 PM screening on Wednesday, October 29.