March 21, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 25 Apartment becomes cage-like setting in ‘Carnage’ Christoph Waltz,” in which the actors field questions about the film; and “On the Red Carpet,” a look at the film’s premiere. “Carnage” is also available on DVD. “Battle Royale” (Anchor Bay) is director Kinji Fukasaku’s 2000 epic set in an undefined future period. Juvenile delinquency is out of control. The government has passed an act declaring that a class of ninth graders will be chosen by lottery to participate in a survival contest on a remote island. Each student is assigned basic supplies and a weapon. The kids are expected to kill each other until only one “winner” remains. The plot borrows heavily from Richard Connell’s classic tale, “The Most Dangerous Game” and from William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” Nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards, “Battle Royale” was often banned from screens by civic groups and distributors across the United States. Three years later, an equally disturbing sequel featuring a new class, new rules, and a brutal terrorist plot by the film’s young survivors initiated its own controversial firestorm around the world. “Battle Royale” is available as a single Blu-ray disc containing the director’s cut of the movie. Another option is the fourdisc complete collection containing the director’s cut, theatrical cut, 2003’s “Battle Royale II,” and bonus content. The three Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz, and Kate Winslet star in ‘Carnage.’ by Dennis Seuling “Carnage” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) is based on the hit play “Gods of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza. An altercation between two boys that resulted in two broken teeth brings together their parents -Penelope and Michael (Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly) and Nancy and Alan (Kater Winslet, Christoph Waltz) -- to discuss the situation with an aim to politely and civilly resolve it. What begins as a well-intentioned, level headed conversation gradually deteriorates into verbal warfare as all four parents reveal their true colors. The range of slights, both real and imagined, experienced by the principals and the various ways they react to insults and accusations is intriguing. As civility erodes, the comic possibilities escalate with the help of liberally imbibed scotch, and the characters are reduced to raw emotion and uninhibited vitriol as their true feelings come to the surface. Director Roman Polanski has the difficulty of working in a limited location: an apartment and hallway. Viewers do witness the act that initiates the get-together as one kid hits another in the face with a stick. This scene did not appear in the play, but is described. Through editing and the actors’ performances, Polanski manages to involve viewers for 80 minutes, essentially the real time of the movie’s action. Single-set films often feel claustrophobic, but the containment works well in this case. Once assembled, the parents become so embroiled in personal attacks and defensive postures that they lose any sense of courtesy, hospitality, and intelligent giveand-take discussion. The four walls of the apartment become a metaphorical cage for four enraged beasts. Blu-ray extras include “Actors’ Notes” (the four principals sharing their thoughts on the story’s themes, characters, strengths of script, and working in a confined space); “An Evening with John C. Reilly and films are in the Blu-ray format, the bonus material is on DVD. “Dangerous” (Warner Archive) is a Bette Davis star vehicle made during her heyday as Queen of the Lot at Warner Brothers. Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) is a prominent New York architect engaged to the beautiful and wealthy Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay) when he meets downand-out Joyce Heath (Davis). Once the most promising actress on Broadway until her luck changed, her shows folded, her romances ended, and she spent her days in a self-destructive stupor. But a new romance puts her on the road to recovery and holds the promise of marriage --if she can get her current husband out of the way. Davis initially turned down this role until Production Chief Hal B. Wallis convinced her she could make something special out of the character. She was determined to look like an actress on the skids and insisted Orry-Kelly design costumes appropriate for a woman who had seen better days. Davis won the Best Actress Academy Award for “Dangerous,” but always felt it was a consolation prize for not having been given the Oscar for “Of Human Bondage” the previous year. “A Lonely Place to Die” (IFC Films) is about a group of mountaineers who make a grim discovery in the Scottish Highlands: (continued on Crossword page)