Admissions Granted. 90 min. Collective Eye Films. 2023. DVD UPC 0446733098. $35.69.

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action regarding the college admission process. It was a landmark controversial decision, built upon the idea that affirmative action was biased against Asian American applicants. Hao Wu and Mia Wang’s film traces the case from its roots in district court all the way to the final judgment. It’s a complex subject with many layers that could resonate as a lightning rod for some viewers, but the filmmakers successfully portray many sides of the issue, going into the history of affirmative action as well as its contemporary effects. This is a difficult balance to pull off in a doc about a contentious topic. VERDICT A hot-button issue gets a nuanced, thought-provoking exploration.

Merchant Ivory: The Documentary. 111 min. Cohen Media Group. 2024. DVD UPC 3832926831. $19.99.

For over four decades, the filmmaking team of Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and Richard Robbins collaborated to make acclaimed historical literary adaptations, including A Room with a View, Howards End, and The Remains of the Day. Focusing mostly on Merchant and Ivory, Stephen Soucy’s appreciation of their movies has a standard format of clips and interviews, but as the clips reference such sophisticated, intelligent films, the source material seems to rub off on the documentary and elevate it. There are interviews with actors and crew members who clearly hold both Merchant and Ivory in high esteem, and their pride in the films shines brightly in their erudite remembrances. VERDICT Film lovers who appreciate the art house filmography of Merchant and Ivory will swoon.

Modernism, Inc.: The Eliot Noyes Design Story. 78 min. First Run Features. 2023. DVD UPC 2022991837. $19.99.

Architect and designer Eliot Noyes, a proponent of the midcentury modern aesthetic, was the man behind IBM’s design program and one of the key figures of the philosophy of total design that many corporations embraced during the 1950s. In total design, every aspect of a project is considered and connected to the larger whole; for instance, designs for an office building would include everything from the furniture to the typeface on the signage. The best element of Jason Andrew Cohn’s short film about Noyes’s modernism is its selection of archival materials from the period—super-colorful retro ads and footage of corporate spaces, all drenched in nostalgia. VERDICT A treat for anyone interested in design and architecture.

★Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus. 103 min. Criterion. 2023. DVD UPC 1551530591. $24.99.

In this swan song made shortly before his death from cancer in 2023 at the age of 71, Japanese composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto (winner of numerous Oscar and Grammy awards for his film scores) performs 20 of his most well-known and cherished songs solo on piano. Directed by Neo Sora, Sakamoto’s son, the resulting film is an austere statement on the strength of minimalism, powerful in its utter simplicity. Shot in stunning, high-contrast black and white (a perfect match to the atmosphere of the documentary), it’s a somber meditation with beautiful, spare piano arrangements from a legendary artist. VERDICT A bare-bones concert film, just one man and a piano, that is the perfect summation of a life devoted to music.