Ned Benson went from making short films to the very ambitious project that was Eleanor Rigby. Filmed separately as The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her the two films were combined as The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them and released theatrically as simply The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. Jessica Chastain had the title role and James McAvoy the role of Conor Ludlow, her estranged husband. If it all sounds a bit precious, I’m sorry to say, it is.

Although the film features fine performances from both stars as well as its major supporting players, and has some very poignant scenes, the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Beatles song. It’s about a well-to-do New York couple who split after the death of their son. He finds some solace in the restaurant he owns but can’t make a success of. She finds some solace in re-connecting with her family. It helps that his best friend is played by Bill Hader and his successful restauranteur father by Ciaran Hinds. It helps that her parents are played by William Hurt and Isabelle Huppert and her professor/mentor by Viola Davis. It’s a shame it doesn’t add up to something more than a wistful two hours.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is available on both Blu-ray and standard DVD. All three versions are featured.

The recent uptick in Blu-ray catalogue upgrades continues unabated.

Warner Bros. has provided a stunning transfer of Vincente Minnelli’s 1956 classic, Lust for Life. Kirk Douglas had many memorable roles throughout his long career, but was never better than in his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh in this celebrated reconstruction of the Dutch artist’s tortured life. Anthony Quinn in an Oscar-winning role as his friend, fellow artist Paul Gauguin, is also unforgettable. James Donald as Van Gogh’s brother Theo is their equal. The vivid reproductions of Van Gogh’s paintings are breathtaking. This is one of legendary director Minnelli’s very best films.

Kino Lorber has released Lewis Milestone’s 1959 film Pork Chop Hill which is as important a record of the Korean War as Milestone’s 1930 film All Quiet on the Western Front was of World War I. Taking place in the last days of the war, a platoon led by Gregory Peck is ordered to defend the title hill, a seemingly unimportant piece of real estate in the conflict. Hundreds of American soldiers are killed defending it and thousands of Chinese are killed trying to take it as peace negotiations drone on. It is only when the slow-on-the-uptake American negotiators realize what the morose Chinese Communists are really up to that they send re-enforcements to support Peck and his few remaining men. Rip Torn, George Peppard, Harry Guardino and Woody Strode head a strong supporting cast.

Kino Lorber has also released Frank Capra’s penultimate film, 1959’s A Hole in the Head. The slight, but very funny comedy stars Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson as feuding brothers, Eleanor Parker as a widow that Robinson and his wife Thelma Ritter have set Sinatra up with, and Eddie Hodges as Sinatra’s impressionable son. They’re all terrific. Only a miscast Carolyn Jones as Sinatra’s latest brainless squeeze proves disappointing. The film’s highlight is the Oscar-winning song “High Hopes” sung by Sinatra and Hodges which became John F. Kennedy’s campaign song in 1960. This was 12-year-old Hodges’ film debut after his sensational Broadway debut as Winthrop Paroo in 1957’s The Music Man.

Shout Factory has released a double bill of Claude Berri’s 1986 French films of Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring which had been previously bundled on the original DVD release.

Best known for his 1929-1936 theatrical trilogy of Marius, Fanny and Cesar, and their later film versions; Broadway musical and 1961 Hollywood transposition, Jean de Florette, and its sequel Manon of the Spring were taken from his 1964 novels. Leisurely paced and breathtakingly filmed, the multi-award-winning films deal with treachery and revenge across generations of property owners and shepherds in rural France. Yves Montand, Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil star in the first, and Montand, Auteuil and Emmanuelle Béart in the second. It all holds up beautifully.

Sony Tri-Star has released P.J. Hogan’s 1997 fish-out-of-water comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding. Fresh off the international success of Muriel’s Wedding, the Australian director and his star, America’s reigning sweetheart Julia Roberts, created a film that was hugely popular in its day. Time, however, has not been all that kind.

Its unconventional ending still works because the object of Julia’s affection, played by Dermot Mulroney, is dull as dishwater. He belongs with Julia’s rival, Cameron Diaz. What doesn’t work as well is Rupert Everett’s once-hilarious portrayal of her gay best friend. Everett’s leading the rehearsal dinner party in Dionne Warwick’s “I Say a Little Prayer” may still be the highlight of the film, but the character of the gay guy who seemingly lives just for his best female friend has become such a cliché that it undermines his performance, and ultimately the film.

Olive Films has released writer-producer-director Bonnie Hunt’s Return to Me. The off-beat romantic comedy-drama starred Minnie Driver as a young woman who receives a heart transplant from David Duchovny’s wife (Joley Richardson). She and Duchovny eventually meet and fall in love, neither aware of their connection. The eventual revelation leads to their break-up, but this is a romantic comedy so what do you think happens?

The film is a pleasant time-killer with good performances from the stars, nice supporting work from director Hunt, Jim Belushi, Carroll O’Connor (in his last role), Robert Loggia and David Alan Grier.

Warner Bros. has released Alexander Payne’s 2002 idiosyncratic comedy-drama, About Schmidt. The acclaimed film started out awards season well with Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture-Drama, Director, Supporting Actress (Kathy Bates) and wins for Best Actor-Drama (Jack Nicholson) and Best Screenplay (Payne and Andy Taylor). By the time the Oscar nominations came along, however, it was down to just nods for Nicholson and Bates. Time, however, has been extremely kind to this one. It’s one of those films that just gets better with age. Payne would of course go on to receive three Oscar nominations for directing Sideways, The Descendants and Nebraska, and receive Oscars for writing Sideways and The Descendants, but he hit his stride with this one about a recently retired businessman questioning his own worth and place in the world. Nicholson and Bates as his daughter’s prospective mother-in-law have never been better.

This week’s new releases include Nightcrawler and Kill the Messenger.