New Blu-rays from Cohen Media Group -- Bogdanovich's lovely Keaton paean, THE GREAT BUSTER: A CELEBRATION, and Julien Landais' gorgeous but rather silly version of THE ASPERN PAPERS

Let's get the silly out of the way first: Julien Landais' adaptation (he is director and co-writer) of THE ASPERN PAPERS, the duly famous Henry James novella, is a goregeous misfire in numerous ways. Set in Venice in the late 19th century, the film is full of delightful sets, costumes and architecture (when, after all, is a movie set in Venice not eye-poppingly beautiful?). It's a pleasure to view, even at its dumbest, which is when Landais (shown below) sees fit to offer up a bunch of soft-core sex scenes showing us the supposed affair

that took place between the younger Juliana and the late and famous, if fictional, romantic poet Jeffrey Aspern. So far as TrustMovies recalls, nothing like this took place in the original novella nor in any of the several theatrical or movie adaptations.

These flashbacks (as below) are not only not needed, they simply move this movie ever closer to downright schlock. Yes, they're somewhat sexy and might slightly induce our younger generation to pay attention awhile longer, but they add nothing at all in the way of character building.

So we're left with our trio of well-known actors to do the heavy-lifting, two out of three of which come through as expected: Vanessa Redgrave (below) as the elderly Juliana, who proves uber-protective of the old love letter exchanged between herself and Aspern,

and Redgrave's real-life daughter, Joely Richardson (below, and the best thing in the film) as Juliana's middle-aged and lonely niece, Tina, who cannot help but grow hopeful and attached to the man who has come to their palazzo in the guise of a wealthy fellow who loves their garden but who only really wants to get his hands on those letters.

As played with but a single pained, uncomfortable expression by Jonathan Rhys Meyers (below), who usually is able to help carry the movies in which he appears, here the actor becomes a real pain to have to endure after only a short while.

And so we move, over and over, between present day scenes and past would-be hot sex and melodrama, with only the beauty of Venice, the costumes and sets, and the talent of Richardson and Redgrave to keep us occupied.

This might well be enough for some, particularly lovers of Venice and the Redgrave family. In any case, this new version of The Aspern Papers, via Cohen Media Group and running 90 minutes, arrived on Blu-ray, DVD and digital streaming last week -- for purchase and/or rental.

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Much better in every  respect is the new documentary THE GREAT BUSTER: A CELEBRATION, also from Cohen Media Group, written, directed and narrated by Peter Bogdanovich, about the life, times and art of that great silent film comedian, Buster Keaton. Even if, I think, you know all or much of the films of Keaton, this documentary may still enrich and surprise you -- so well-constructed, lively, and full of facts and fun it consistently is. Bogdanovich, below, weaves archival footage and film footage of Buster in all his glory, along with talking-head comedians and filmmakers (such as Richard Lewis, in the penultimate photo below) who've been inspired by Keaton.

The end product is a keeper -- a movie that informs, entertains and burnishes to glory the reputation of one of cinema's greatest.

Bogdanovich's interesting mapping of Keaton's life and career seems pretty much standard, in that he moves ahead -- until he reaches the point of the 1920s and the comedian's most productive stage. He shows us this in a small dose, with the caveat that we'll be returning to that fertile period later on.

Indeed we do, and by then we've seen Keaton's entire career laid before us. Consequently, when we come back to those glory years and see these films in greater detail, this makes for an almost perfect conclusion to all that has come before.

Though I had seen Beckett's Film (as well as Ross Lipman's Not Film), I had forgotten about the work Keaton did at American International studios during the 1960s (Beach Blanket Bingo, etc.). Ditto many of the details of the performer's life.

Bognaovich's ability to give you so much information in such fine form will have you laughing and appreciating in equal measure. I can't imagine a better tribute to a titan of American comedy than this one.

Also from Cohen Media Group, and running 103 minutes, the documentary hit the street on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital last week -- for purchase/rental. 

Streaming "must": Amazon's THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL is all you've heard -- and more!

What a glory is both this new show (available now via Amazon Prime) and its star, the ravishing Rachel Brosnahan. Turns out I have seen Ms Brosnahan numerous times previously (from Netflix's House of Cards and Burn Country to James White and Patriots Day) but have managed to not really "notice" her until now. That won't happen again. THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL gives Brosnahan the kind of role actors would die for, and she fills it so completely and spectacularly that you cannot imagine anyone else possibly doing the job any better.

The brainchild of writer/director/producer Amy Sherman-Palladino and her producer/writer/director husband, Daniel Palladino (the pair shown at left), the series comes to immediate and fine life at the mid-1950s wedding, below, of Miriam Weissman (Ms Brosnahan) to Joel Maisel (the excellent Michael Zegen) and then moves mostly forward but occasionally back in time as the character and personality of our heroine come clear. What is most clear from the very start is that Miriam ("Midge") Maisel is a born comic: someone who is innately funny and can't help sharing this fact with the rest of the world. And yet, unlike so many stand-up comics who must always "own the room," Mrs. Maisel (and, it would seem, Brosnahan, too) leavens this need for control with such a dose of sweetness and charm that she completely seduces her audience. And us.

The arc of the series has our heroine moving from housewife and mother (a good one in both cases) to comic, and this turns out to be no easy task or any kind of overnight success. It's a slow (but always funny and entertaining) process, full of backsliding and doubt, while trying to appease some folk while keeping this goal a secret from the others.

The first-rate supporting cast includes the likes of Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle (above) as Midge's parents, and the wonderful Alex Borstein (below: remember MAD-TV's Ms Swan?) as Susie, the"gate-keeper"at the comedy club who pushes Midge into performing, after seeing her surprising and intoxicated stage debut (two photos below).

This series continually fosters a real and a deep appreciation of women's roles in our society, while keeping us laughing about these at the same time. The combination of Sherman-Palladino's writing skills and Brosnahan's performance turns The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel into something sneakily ground-breaking.

It will have you loving and appreciating all the women you see here, including even Penny Pan (Holly Curran), the home-wrecking secretary who helps cause the Maisels' separation, as well as Rose, Midge's strait-laced, appearances-are-all mother, whom Ms Hinkle bring to wonderful, sad life. You may not agree with these women or their choices, but you do understand them and feel for them.

This empathy extends to the men on view, too -- Midge's husband (Mr. Zegen is shown above, left, and below, right), her father and even her father-in-law (Kevin Pollack). We laugh at these guys, but we understand then and finally come to care about them.

Succulent smaller roles are brought to rich life by actors like Mary Testa (as Rose's fortune teller), David Paymer (as a higher-level agent/manager to whom Susie must turn for help), and Luke Kirby, doing a surprising and terrific turn as Lenny Bruce, whose path Midge crosses a number of times during this premiere season.

Especially commanding is Jane Lynch, above, who gets one episode nearly all to herself, playing a famous comic named Sophie Lennon (think maybe a combo of Sophie Tucker and Joan Rivers) who gives our gal advice that is used quite otherwise than intended. Ms Lynch is memorable indeed, and what Midge does with her advice is even more so.

Questions have been raised as to the provenance of the lead character. Is she based, for instance, on Joan Rivers? Yes, there is some similarity between Rivers' early work and what we see here. But not all that much. It seems to me that Miriam "Midge" Maisel is a character cut almost totally from "whole cloth" and all the better for it. Someone like this never really exited in the mid-20th-century, although comedy, New York and the world at large would have been better if she had.

By the time we've reached the end of this ten-episode (each around 50 minutes) series, everything is in place for what may be the most wonderfully "earned" and perfect ending in the history of exceptional television seasons. Oh, boy: what a moment. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel streams now via Amazon, and the series alone is worth the yearly hundred-dollar Prime membership fee. Whatever you do, don't miss Mrs. Maisel.

First time on DVD! THE IT CROWD: The Complete Series -- from MPI Media Group

Watching one of British television's (hell, television from anywhere) great series, THE IT CROWD, which ran from 2006 through 2013, proves just as spectacularly funny and off-the-wall an experience today, via the new DVD release of the complete series from MPI Media Group, as it did discovering it for yourself via the various sources it has graced down the years since its debut. If there is a single drawback, that would be the crass and stupid laugh track that accompanies it -- and which seems even louder and more crass now, sometimes nearly drowning out the delightful dialog, than it did a decade ago when the series made its debut.

The product of a very creative, talented and probably slightly unhinged writer/ director named Graham Linehan (shown at left), the show mixes to marvelous effect the talents of this funny fellow with those of his just-about-perfectly tailored cast of three leading actors plus several excellent supporting ones. Add to this the choice of the ideal workplace and occupation: the IT (Internet Technology) department located in the scuzzy basement quarters of a major corporation that seems to produce nothing and is run by perhaps the most obtuse, narcissistic and hilarious of bosses (think a British version of Donald Trump, if that sleazeball idiot were at all -- except for his appearance -- funny).

How all this works together for maximum effect -- silliness (based closely enough on reality to smart and sting) goosed into great, hilarious mountains of humor that arrives equally from character and situation -- is the stuff of legend. The cast, most of whom have gone on to some renown, includes Chris O'Dowd (above, center, and at bottom), Katherine Parkinson (above, left, and below) and Richard Ayoade (above, right, and at bottom)

Among the great episodes (there are many) is the one about the speech having to do with the Internet, in which one of our trio actually shows the audience the Internet itself! This is, I think, one of the funniest episodes I have ever seen because it makes such great use of so much that we think we know (and don't know) about the way we live now, while providing its characters (and actors) with the juiciest of moments to run with. And, oh god, they do.

A word must be said for subsidiary actors like Matt Berry (above, as the boss) and Noel Fielding (below, as, well, you'll discover who he is), both of whom add such bizarre and memorable moments to the show.

I do wish this amazing series could be separated from its god-awful laugh track. But I suppose we must be grateful for what blessings we have. And those, my friends, are copious indeed.

The new Five-Disc Boxed Set of the complete series hits the street this coming Tuesday, November 1, from MPI Media Group and includes the entire four seasons, plus the stand-alone program, The Internet Is Coming, which has never before been available here in the USA -- and is every bit as funny and wonderful as all that preceded it. Extras include a very nice 16-minute interview with Linehan and his cast.