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'The Grandfather': Fernando Fernán Gómez as the 'abuelo' of the title. 'The Grandfather' movie review: Gorgeous, surprisingly effective sentimental family drama with strong central performance The Grandfather / El abuelo is a film with a pedigree. It is based on a novel by Benito Pérez Galdòs, considered by many the greatest Spanish writer of the 19th century. Its director, José Luis Garci, took home the 1982 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award for Beguin the Beguine / Volver a empezar. Its star, veteran Fernando Fernán Gómez, whose film career spanned more than six decades, was one of the most admired actors in Spain. Add to that the stunning work of cinematographer Raúl Pérez Cubero and Manuel Balboa's evocative score, and the sum total should be a cinematic masterpiece. Well, not quite. Garci had perhaps been watching too many Mexican soap operas, for that is the feel he gives to this gorgeous-looking tale...

Lionsgate

Rating: ★★★★

Nothing is at seems in Sicario. Heck, the film itself is deceptive as a piece of mainstream entertainment. It sells itself as a action thriller about drug cartels and, while there’s plenty of brutality in there (expertly done I might add), it’s operating at a higher, more mature level than the ilk it shares the genre with.

The opening shot appears to be presenting a quiet desert town, only for it be swarmed by truckloads of FBI agents who discover a hell house that would make Jigsaw gag. They’re led by Kate (Emily Blunt), who initially appears to be independently capable, but over the runtime is dragged out of her comfort zone and systematically weakened, almost like a reverse Clarice Starling (although that simplifies her arc and greatly overplays how being a woman in a traditionally male role is at the root of her troubles...

With Father’s Day coming up, it makes perfect sense for Warner Bros. to look to the past, and release two impressive Blu-ray collections. Ultimate Gangster Collection Classic and Ultimate Gangster Collection Contemporary should make plenty of men happy*.

*Women are also allowed to be happy by this news.

Here is the news release…

Burbank, Calif., March 11, 2013 – As part of the studio’s 90th Anniversary celebration, eight of Warner Bros. Pictures’ greatest gangster films – from Edward G. Robinson’s 1931 classic Little Caesar to Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning masterpiece The Departed– will now be available in two Blu-ray sets May 21. Released to coincide with Father’s Day gift-giving, the WB genre greats, along with one of Paramount’s best gangster films, will be offered in the Ultimate Gangster Collection: Classic and Ultimate Gangster Collection: Contemporary.

The four films in the Classic Collection have been remastered for their Blu-ray debuts. They include...

Sundance will wrap up in only a few days, but the buys and various other dealings should continue in the days past its conclusion. In the meantime, Variety reports that Participant Media have acquired Middle of Nowhere, a film from writer and director Ava DuVernay that follows “a woman’s separation from her incarcerated husband and her journey to maintain her marriage and identity.” They’ll be putting it out later this year in an unusual way — by taking advantage of “marketing and promotional support through its broad grassroots collective powered by some of the nation’s top black film organizations.”

Reviews on this one have been fairly solid, while Participant exec VP of production Jonathan King said that Nowhere “reflects the finesse and sensitivity of a far more experienced storyteller and the kind of quality filmmaking that’s been a hallmark of Participant.” And, when speaking about that aforementioned campaign,...