January 15, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 27 ‘Fruitvale Station’ is tale of New Year’s Day shooting by Dennis Seuling “Fruitvale Station” (Anchor Bay) is based on the true story of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a young black man who was shot and killed early on New Year’s Day 2009 at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, California. The movie opens with actual footage, but rather than focus on the legal ramifications of the trag- edy, director Ryan Coogler follows Grant on the final day of his life as he drops his child off at day care, shops for a gift for his mother’s birthday, tries to get his grocery store job back, and weighs the pros and cons of selling marijuana to help his sister pay her rent. Having revealed Grant’s fate at the start, Coogler keeps viewers involved with Grant’s personal story so he emerges as a flesh-and-blood, flawed individual who can be thoughtful, desperate, selfish, and infuriating. This is not a movie about a martyr who dies for a great cause, but a tale about the senseless death of an everyman. As Oscar goes about his day, his encoun- ters with others create dramatic tension and an added level of meaning. Many scenes foreshadow the tragedy to come, and a sense of sadness and despair emerges as his encounter with a police officer on the station approaches. Melonie Diaz turns in a moving, spirited performance as Grant’s girlfriend, Sophina, and Octavia Spencer is effective as his stern but loving mother. Bonuses on the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack include a Q&A with cast and crew and the featurette “Fruitvale Station: The Story of Oscar Grant,” which at 22 minutes is more a gussied-up promotion for the movie than a detailed look at the life of the real Oscar Grant. “Throne of Blood” (The Criterion Col- lection) is Akira Kurosawa’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” set in feudal Japan. The Macbeth character takes the form of the samurai Washizu (Toshiro Mifune). The film opens with Washizu and his friend Miri riding through misty, rain- soaked pine forests before encountering a magical old woman spinning in a forest. This is Kurosawa’s rendition of the three witches in “Macbeth.” The movie switches from a deathly still- ness to moments of violent action, drawing not only from the original play but also from conventions of Noh drama. The mask-like Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) and girl- friend Sophina (Melonie Diaz) work at smoothing out a troubled relationship in ‘Fruitvale Station.’ white face of Asaji (corresponding to Lady Macbeth) appears to make her a ghost well before she is driven into madness. A flock of birds and a funeral procession advancing toward the castle prophesy Washizu’s inevi- table doom. Kurosawa eliminates many of Shake- speare’s minor characters and depends on striking visuals to create atmosphere. The cinematography is among the most beauti- ful of Kurosawa’s black-and-white features and the dialogue is streamlined. The movie is hardly subtle, beginning at a near-fever pitch and staying at that level through- out, with Mifune’s eyes serving to paint a crazed, murderous warlord. Extras on the dual-format edition Blu-ray/DVD include a making-of featurette, two alternate subtitle translations, and a booklet containing an essay on the movie. “We Are What We Are” (E One), based on a Mexican horror film of the same name, takes place in the backwoods of upstate New York, where the Parker family runs a trailer camp and otherwise keeps to themselves. When the family matriarch, Emma (Kassie DePaiva), has a seizure and drowns, father Frank (Bill Sage) assigns his oldest daughter, Iris (Ambyr Childers), to take over Mama’s role in the annual family ceremony. The ceremony relates to the “monsters” little brother Rory (Jack Gore) encounters in the cellar, noises the neighbor Marge (Kelly McGillis) hears, a 200-year- old journal, and a rash of missing persons around the area. Director Jim Mickle draws upon ele- ments of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” in serving up its horror. The film has its share of gruesome scenes, which will not disap- point genre fans, but it is the underlying theme of blind tradition that makes this film more than just another horror flick. It (continued on Crossword page)