December 18, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 27 ‘The Family’ features Americans in witness protection Giovanni Manzoni (Robert De Niro) and wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) in ‘The Family.’ by Dennis Seuling “The Family” (20th Century-Fox) is the story of the Manzonis, an American family hidden in a small French town through the Witness Protection Program. Giovanni Manzoni (Robert De Niro) has testified against big-time mob bosses and now has a price of $20 million on his head. Agent Robert Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones) is responsible for protecting Giovanni -- now called Fred Blake -- and family, making sure they don’t draw atten- tion to themselves. Wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), daughter Belle (Diana Agron), and son Warren (John D’Leo), while not exactly thrilled with their new home, try their best to acclimate. Dropping old ways is tough, and none of the family members is much good at keeping a low profile. Before long, Giovanni is beating people up, Maggie is blowing up the local supermarket after hearing anti-American comments, and Belle and Warren are figuring the angles and manipulating assorted cliques at the local high school. Director Luc Besson (“The Profes- sional,” “La Femme Nikita”) seesaws between dark comedy and graphic vio- lence as he chronicles the adventures of the “Blakes.” Because viewers never see what Giovanni’s crimes were, he comes off more as a cranky curmudgeon than a monster. De Niro and Pfeiffer balance the lighter moments with more intense scenes. Agron (from TV’s “Glee”) and D’Leo offer an interesting, even touching, portrait of sib- lings caught in a life not of their choos- ing. Blu-ray extras include a making-of fea- turette. “Elysium” (Sony Home Entertainment) imagines the future of humanity in 2154 when Earth has degenerated into a morass of pollution, overpopulation, and crum- bling infrastructure. The rich have aban- doned the planet to continue their lavish lifestyle in a space station called Elysium, a virtual paradise. Elysium Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster), has the job of preventing illegal immigrants from enter- ing the space station, and has no compunc- tion against shooting unauthorized space shuttles out of the sky. Back on Earth, factory worker Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) suffers a massive dose of radiation in an industrial accident. He will die within five days unless he can be transported to Elysium for medi- cal treatment. When his request is denied, he resolves to reach the space station by any means possible. Director Neil Blom- kamp (“District 9”) has borrowed a major theme from Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” -- contrasting worlds of affluence and drudgery as hundreds of workers toil to operate underground machines that power the ultra-modern city above where the wealthy bask in luxury. Bonuses on the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack include featurettes on the making of the movie, its production design, the visual effects, and profiles of Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. “The Blue Angel” (Kino Classics) is the 1930 German film that made Marlene Dietrich an international star. This early sound film, directed by Josef von Stern- berg, is a parable of one man’s fall from respectability. Emil Jannings stars as Pro- fessor Rath, a sexually repressed instruc- tor in a boys’ prep school. Learning of the pupils’ infatuation with a local nightclub singer, he decides to personally investigate the matter. However, as soon as he enters the shadowy Blue Angel nightclub and sees the smoldering Lola-Lola (Dietrich), Rath is seduced by her brazen sensuality. Despite Dietrich’s eye-commanding performance, Jannings holds his own and is superb as the tortured academic who realizes he is being drawn into dangerous territory, but simply cannot help himself. The two-disc ultimate Blu-ray edition includes both the German and English versions (Sternberg shot both versions version simultaneously), scene compari- sons of the two versions, Dietrich’s “Blue (continued on Crossword page) Correction The article about Café Amici that appeared in the Dec. 11 edition incorrectly identified the restaurant’s director of cater- ing. Owners Brent Castone and George DeLuca assist clients with this service. Villadom TIMES regrets the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.