Pan’s Labyrinth isn’t
the only Guillermo del Toro
production this week, as Hellboy: Sword of Storms,
an animated follow-up to his fairly popular 2004 comic
book adaptation, arrives in a straight-to-video package.
The stars of the live-action adventure flick—Ron
Perlman as the gruff, good-natured demon of the title,
Selma Blair as pyrokinetic love interest Liz Sherman
and Doug Jones as aquatic buddy Abe Sapien—provide
the voices, and the disc comes with a 32-page comic
book, which was apparently overseen by series creator Mike Mignola,
but, for some reason, not actually drawn by him. Likewise, del Toro
leaves the actual direction to animation vet Phil Weinstein. It’s a fun
enough romp, aimed more at the kid market than the somewhat darker
live-action movie.
Robert Bresson’s all-time tragic classic Mouchette arrives
this week in a
restored Criterion edition. The disc includes Au hasard Bresson, a doc
that
includes behind-the-scenes footage of the movie’s filming, an episode
of the
Cinéma TV show that focused on the production, and the original
trailer—
which wouldn’t be notable if it hadn’t been directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
Matthew Hays