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Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., Sept. 10th:
Discovering a new Tennessee Williams screenplay is a ‘find,’ even if it turns out to be only a minor work. Set in Memphis in the 1920s and drenched in Southern Gothic atmosphere, “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” revolves around an arrogant, impetuous heiress (Bryce Dallas Howard) who loses a $5,000 heirloom belonging to her great-aunt (Ann-Margret) at a party given by her school chum (Mamie Gummer), where she bonds with a bed-ridden, elderly adventurer (Ellen Burstyn).
From the sublime to the ridiculous, “Killers” is a clumsy action comedy with Katherine Heigl as an unsuspecting naïf who marries a former superspy/assassinAshton Kutcher. Equally idiotic is “MacGruber,” stretching a SNL sketch into a raunchy, inane spoof, featuring Will Forte as the only American ever to become a Green Beret, Navy SEAL and Army Ranger and to cavort naked with a celery stalk sticking out of his derriere.
Set in the volatile, dangerous world of Rio de Janeiro’s Favela do Pavao, the documentary “Rio Breaks” features two surf-obsessed friends, 13 year-old Fabio and 12 year-old Naama. “For My Wife” is the story of Charlene Strong’s evolution into an equality activist after the tragic death of her partner. And with the recent UN resolution declaring access to clean water and sanitation as a fundamental human right, “Water Wars: When Drought, Flood and Greed Collide” gives a prescient glimpse into the future of water access and control.
For children, there’s “Shaun the Sheep: Party Animals,” “Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue – The Movie,” and the live-action movie “Marmaduke” about a huge, galumphing Great Dane and his hapless human family.
PICK OF THE WEEK: In “Solitary Man,” Michael Douglas plays a deeply disturbed car dealer whose corporate malfeasance has decimated his business, whose persistent philandering has destroyed his marriage to his college sweetheart (Susan Sarandon) and whose perpetual unreliability has strained his relationship with his daughter (Jenna Fischer) and grandson. Also supported by Mary-Louise Parker and Danny DeVito Douglas delivers an unforgettable performance, representing a beacon of quality in a summer filled with popcorn pictures.
Susan Granger’s DVD/Video Update for week of Friday, Sept. 3:
If you’re into conspiracy theories, “Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison” explores a mystery that exploded worldwide in 1969 and was considered a hoax, as Harrison reveals secret Beatles history, indicating that John Lennon was assassinated after he threatened to expose ‘Paul McCartney’ as an imposter.
Johnny Winter “Live Through the ‘80s” is an extensive retrospective of the legendary guitarist in live performance during what proved to be an incredibly prolific and successful decade, including archival footage on the tour bus and a rare, candid interview.
New Zealand’s Fourth Most Popular Folk Parody Duo is back with “Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection,” a five disc compilation, including the first two seasons plus the never-before-released “One Night Stand’ special.
From Wesley Strick, who wrote“Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Cape Fear,” comes the psychological thriller “Addicted to Love,” starring Lizzy Caplan, D.J. Cotrona and Daryl Hannah, revolving around a teenage outcast who finds an effective but dangerous way to impress his popular classmates. In the same horror vein, “Squeal” follows a dysfunctional group of rockers on their first tour when their van breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
“Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes” is a full-length, animated mystery caper, starring the popular cat-and-mouse duo as they attempt to nab a clever jewel thief with the help of legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson.
For little girls, “Angelina Ballerina: Love to Dance” pirouettes with an all-new look, new music, new friends and new dancing styles as she enters Camembert Academy.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Madeleine Sackler’s “The Lottery” is a controversial – and heartbreaking – documentary about the crisis of U.S. public education reform. It follows four families from Harlem and the Bronx who entered their children in a 2009 charter school lottery, hoping to avoid the failures of the traditional public school system. In a country where 58% of African American 4th graders are functionally illiterate, they represent hundreds of thousands of parents attempting to flee the system every year.
Susan Granger’s DVD/VIDEO UPDATE for Friday, Aug. 27:
Before “I Love Lucy” and “All in the Family,” there was “The Goldbergs” about a Jewish immigrant family living in the Bronx, starring writer/director/producer Gertrude Berg, and “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg” delivers the touching, timeless message that family and friends, not possessions, are what’s most important.
As summer winds down, A&E’s “Instant Expert” offers student and lifelong learners documentary “quick guides” on a wide array of subjects like “The Story of Oil,” explaining how oil changed the world, along with dangers on land and sea; “The French Revolution” and its reign of terror; “The Mayflower,” a flight from persecution and the true story of Thanksgiving; “Beowulf,” the western world’s oldest written story; “Egypt,” the world’s first superpower; and “Ben Franklin,” publisher/inventor/founding father.
Set in 2055, when Earth is devastated, “The Age of Stupid” focuses on an archivist (Pete Postlethwaite) trying to discover why we didn’t save ourselves when we still had the chance.
It’s fortunate that Jennifer Lopez is a successful pop singer because her taste in romantic comedies is formulaic and stale, as evidenced by “The Back-Up Plan,” in which she plays a Manhattanite who realizes that her biological clock is ticking faster than her ability to marry so she decides on artificial insemination. Right after the procedure, she meets Mr. Right (Alex O’Laughlin) – and you know they’re going to wind up together.
And despite its similar Victorian London setting, don’t confuse Colin Firth’s tepid re-make of “Dorian Gray” with the original Oscar Wilde classic, starring Hurd Hatfield.
PICKS OF THE WEEK: New Yorkers, particularly those with ties to the Bronx, may feel a special affinity to “City Island,” an amiable romantic comedy about an Italian/American family, starring Andy Garcia. As a companion piece, in “Lucky Days,” triple-threat writer/director/actress Angelica Torn has crafted a sympathetic slice-of-life, film noir-like drama that’s centered on the doomed enclave known as Coney Island, playing a conflicted, confused 30-something virgin who’s trapped by family obligation. It’s the first film in which Angelica appears on-screen with her father, Rip Torn, and the late Paul Newman is credited as “producer emeritus.”
Susan’s DVD UPDATE for week of Friday, August 20th:
Popular teen songbird Miley Cyrus is ‘way out of her depth in the contrived, beach-set melodrama “The Last Song,” based on another tear-jerking novel by Nicholas Sparks (“The Notebook,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Dear John”) and co-starring Greg Kinnear and Miley’s real-life squeeze Liam Hemsworth.
Not much better is “Furry Vengeance,” a disappointing family film about endangered animals that conspire to harass a construction manager (Brendan Fraser) for a so-called “green” housing development that will, in fact, wipe out an entire Oregon forest. Nor is the action thriller “Dead Man Running” with recording artist/actor Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as a vicious loan shark who is cashing in on all of his debts, or “The Assassin Next Door,” starring Olga Kurylenko as a sexy hit-woman seeking revenge on the mafia who have been forcing her to assassinate people on their behalf.
I do recommend “The Red Riding Trilogy,” an acclaimed trio of British neo-noir thrillers about a mysterious – and perhaps related – series of gruesome crimes in Northern England attributed to the Yorkshire Ripper in the 1970s and ‘80s. And “The Good, The Bad and the Weird,” a South Korean action adventure about Chinese bandits, directed by Kim Ji-Woon in the spaghetti Western style of Sergio Leone.
“Triage” is a direct-to-video drama about a battle-scarred war photographer (Colin Farrell) who returns from an assignment in Kurdistan without his partner.
And in “Breakfast Special: A Celebration of Great Morning Meals,” diverse “foodies” from around the country dish out little known facts, cooking tips and unique recipes.
PICKS OF THE WEEK: “The City of Your Final Destination” is James Ivory’s first film since the death of his longtime partner Ismail Merchant, continuing their elegant, exotic storytelling tradition. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney and Charlotte Gainsbourg, it’s a journey into self-discovery, set on a huge plantation in Uruguay in South America. And in “Temple Grandin,” Claire Danes delivers an outstanding performance as an autistic woman who became an esteemed scientist whose innate sensitivity and understanding of animal behavior led her to revolutionize the American cattle industry.
Susan’s DVD Update for week of Friday, July 23:
With a kinetic musical charge of female empowerment, “The Runaways” is a biopic about the rise and fall of the ‘70s most influential all-girl band with “Twilight’s” Kristen Stewart strutting as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning stealing the picture as Cherie Curie.
“Our Family Wedding” is a sweetly amiable, yet hackneyed and cliché-laden culture clash comedy about the travails of a Latino bride (America Ferrera from “Ugly Betty”) and her African-American groom (Lance Gross from “House of Payne”), proving once again that when you marry someone, you marry their entire family.
For those who like mindless mayhem, “The Losers” centers around renegade Special Forces soldiers, led by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and bankrolled by sexy, secretive Zoe Saldana, who vow revenge against a CIA betrayal that set them up for slaughter.
Aptly named “Cop Out” is Kevin Smith’s grossed-out, interracial buddy action comedy, teaming Bruce Willis with Tracy Morgan as longtime NYPD partners who become involved with a baseball-loving Mexican drug kingpin (Guillermo Diaz).
Artsy Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s slow, sordid “Chloe,” starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried, is an edgy, psychosexual “Fatal Attraction”-type thriller that turns out to be little more than soft-core pornography, revolving around a scorned woman.
Ric Burns’ PBS documentary “Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World” is equal parts fantastic sea adventure, mythic saga of man-vs.-beast, and cautionary economic and environmental tale, exploring the fate of the infamous whaleship Essex, interwoven with the story of the young Herman Melville, who later wrote “Moby Dick.”
For tots, there’s “Thomas & Friends: Creaky Cranky” and “Music, Music Everywhere” with Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, Kipper and Angelina Ballerina.
PICKS OF THE WEEK: The documentary “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” is as powerful as any fictional thriller. Directed by Judith Erlich and Rick Goldsmith, it details how disillusioned Ellsberg risked spending the rest of his life in prison to reveal how a litany of lies by five Presidents, from Truman to Nixon, fueled the U.S. war in Vietnam.
Susan’s dvd update for week of July 16:
Combining investigative reporting with personal experience, Reed Cowan’s “8: The Mormon Proposition” is an impassioned documentary about California’s Proposition 8 amendment, which restricts marriage to heterosexual couples, and the anti-gay efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No matter where you stand on gay marriage, seeing this will give you a broader definition of family values.
Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon and Carey Mulligan star in “The Greatest,” Shana Feste’s melodramatic, awkwardly-edited study of a family’s emotional devastation after the death of a ‘perfect’ teenage boy, whom everyone remembers as “the greatest.”
From A&E/Lifetime comes four made-for-DVD features. “What If God Were the Sun?” a poignant tale of faith, hope, love and loss, based on the novel of the same name by John Edward, featuring Lacey Chabert (“Mean Girls”) and Gena Rowlands (“The Notebook”), pondering the question: is there life after death? “The Dive From Clausen’s Pier” is a coming-of -age tale, based on Ann Packer’s best-seller, in which Michelle Trachtenberg (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer”) realizes that she’s no longer in love with her childhood sweetheart when a tragic diving accident leaves him paralyzed, and “The Other Woman” casts Josie Bisset as a devoted second wife who feels threatened by a sexy, younger woman. Kim Basinger finds herself feeling alone and restless in her 20-year marriage in “The Mermaid Chair” and “Plain Truth” is a riveting, multi-layered drama featuring Mariska Hargitay (“Law & Order: SVU”) as a tenacious criminal lawyer who infiltrates a small Pennsylvania Amish community where her client stands accused of murder.
Jennifer Aniston teams with Gerard Butler in “The Bounty Hunter,” playing a reporter just about to crack a murder cover-up/corruption case when her boorish, bitter, bounty hunting ex-husband decides he’s going to turn her in; bail on this obnoxious comedy.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Noah Baumbach’s serio-neurotic comedy “Greenberg” stars Ben Stiller as a curmudgeonly 40ish NYC rocker just released from a mental hospital who seeks refuge in his brother’s (Chris Messina) sprawling Hollywood Hills home and romances his sibling’s disarmingly honest personal assistant (Greta Gerwig).
Susan’s DVD UPDATE for week of Friday, July 9:
Best known as “Mr. Darcy” on the BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice,” Colin Firth delivers an extraordinary performance in “A Single Man,” a depressing, bleak drama about a discreetly gay, middle-aged man struggling with loneliness after the death of his partner of 16 years; Gucci creative director Tom Ford financed, produced, directed and co-wrote the non-linear, stream-of-consciousness, vignette-studded screenplay and displays a stylistic, sophisticated elegance.
Unfolding during one chaotic week, three conflicted, corrupt cops (Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke) face tough decisions in Antoine Fuqua’s “Brooklyn’s Finest” as the NYPD’s Operation Clean-Up targets a notoriously drug-ridden housing project, learning “There’s no such thing as right or wrong – only righter and wronger.”
Asking the question, “Are our skies safer after 9/11?” the documentary “Please Remove Your Shoes” scrutinizes corruption and vulnerabilities within US Aviation Security and TSA’s failure to keep travelers safe.
For quirky comedy, “The Flying Scissors” is set in the grueling world of Rock Paper Scissors; after touring 42 colleges, this satire has developed a cult following.
Foreign film aficionados may enjoy a Spanish-language drama, “The Wind Journeys,” that follows an old musician and his aspiring disciple as they undertake a legendary journey through the Colombian countryside. And “Sex Stories” is an explicit French film that explores the complexities of modern relationship; the script, which follows two dinner parties, is more conversational than carnal.
For tots, the first release from Sesame Street’s New Series “Preschool is Cool: ABCs With Elmo” introduces children to the alphabet with engaging extras like the music video “African Alphabet,” as well as a kid growth chart to use while learning letters.
PICK OF THE WEEK: The Swedish film version of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” is an intense, indelibly gripping thriller, totally capturing the mysterious essence of the international best-seller. As a Stockholm financial journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), struggles to regain respect after being found guilty of criminal libel, he teams up with an unlikely partner – punk, pierced-and-tattooed hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) – to solve a 40-year-old ‘cold case.’
Susan’s DVD Update for week of Friday, July 2nd:
Jon Amiel’s biographical drama “Creation,” starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, celebrates the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking scientific treatise, “On the Origin of the Species – By Means of Natural Selection,” which became the foundation of evolutionary biology.
Spooky, suspenseful and scary, “The Crazies” chronicles a grisly gorefest in the quiet farming community of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, where something mysterious and deadly has polluted the local water supply, turning ordinary townsfolk into cold-blooded, zombie-like killers.
Chazz Palminteri and Drea DeMatteo put their hearts on the line in “Once More With Feeling,” a music-filled comedy-drama about a successful psychiatrist whose old dreams of becoming a singer are revived. And fans of Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) will view him in a new light with “Stolen,” a mystery-thriller in which he plays an obsessed detective who is haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his young son eight years earlier.
From PBS and NOVA, the revealing and insightful “Mind Over Money” delves into the ongoing financial crisis, exploring the warning signs that global economists missed and revealing how our emotions interfere with our decision-making ability.
“Truth of Dare” was among the earliest independent horror/slasher films to be distributed straight-to-video, establishing a trend to which there are two new additions: “Truth of Dare: A Critical Madness,” introducing “Backstreet Boys” A.J. McLean, and “Inbred Redneck Vampires.”
For preschoolers, “Let’s Grow: Safety First” focuses on safety-themed learning, featuring Barney, Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and Kipper.
PICKS OF THE WEEK: For provocative, adult viewing, Austrian director Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” (“Das Weisse Band”) is an intense, foreboding tale of a former schoolteacher in a small, feudal German village in 1913, just before World War I. And for grossed-out, politically-incorrect fun, “Hot Tub Time Machine” is a wild, raunchy fantasy that plunges three regretful middle-aged men (John Cusack, Rob Coddry, Craig Robinson) and their nerdy young companion (Clark Duke) into a surreal time-travel adventure back to 1986, the year their lives first started going downhill.
Susan’s DVD Update for week of June 25:
“Green Zone” re-teams Matt Damon with “Bourne” director Paul Greengrass for a gritty, far-fetched thriller set in the chaotic early days of the Iraqi War when no one could be trusted and every decision could detonate unforeseen consequences.
Robert Pattinson segues from vampire in the “Twilight” franchise to tortured young man mode in “Remember Me,” which begins in the summer of 2001 as two grief-laden New York college students embark on a romantic relationship.
Aimed specifically at ‘tweens and teens, the imaginative fantasy-adventure “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” finds frustrated Percy (Logan Lerman) sent to Half-Blood Camp, where a centaur (Pierce Brosnan) tells him he’s a demigod, son of Poseidon, and suspected as a thief. Since Percy’s real name is Perseus, it’s inevitable that he and his pals will decapitate menacing, snake-haired Medusa (Uma Thurman).
A dorky TSA agent (Jay Baruchel) can’t believe his luck when a blonde bombshell (Alice Eve) falls for him in “She’s Out of My League,” a crass rom-com filled with gross-out humor and absurd sex jokes. And you can skip “Thirst,” a nightmarish story of what can happen when stranded in the hot, desolate California desert.
Foreign film fans will enjoy “The Maid,” Sebastian Silva’s darkly humorous film about an overworked, psychotic 41 year-old housemaid (Catalina Saavedra) in the upper class suburbs of Santiago, Chile; it’s in Spanish with English subtitles. And the documentary “Sex Positive” explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M-hustler-turned-AIDS activist who helped ‘invent’ safe sex.
“Tom and Jerry Deluxe Anniversary Edition” celebrates the most enduring duo in animation history, compiling 30 of their best, most popular shorts, including a 1945 “Anchors Away” excerpt in which Jerry dances with Gene Kelly.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren play acclaimed Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy and his aristocratic wife, Countess Sofya, in “The Last Station,” an intriguing, if melodramatic true story that chronicles the final year of his life, tackling universal themes like love, greed and sexual politics, set against the perennial divergence between idealism and reality.
Susan’s DVD update for week of June 18:
Denzel Washington plays a mysterious traveler in post-apocalyptic America in the grim, brutal “Book of Eli,” carrying in his knapsack the world’s only remaining Bible, a leather-bound King James edition that’s coveted by Gary Oldman, as the self-proclaimed dictator of a repopulated outpost. The Blu-ray disc features immersive Maximum Movie Mode, which includes 40 min. of picture-in-picture commentary with Denzel Washington and the Hughes Brothers, along with 10 Focus Points.
For Father’s Day from the Warner Archive Collection, consider “Alibi Ike,” Ring Lardner’s baseball classic with Joe E. Brown as rookie pitcher, Francis “Ike” Farrell, who suddenly shows up to help the Chicago Cubs win the National League pennant.
“New York Street Games” brings back childhood memories of playing stickball and kick-the-can, interviewing prominent New Yorkers like Ray Romano, Regis Philbin, Hector Elizondo, Joe Pantoliano, Curtis Sliwa and Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Or, on a more serious note in Chris Smith’s “Collapse,” visionary journalist Michael Ruppert lays out the harrowing causes of the current economic crisis and makes a passionate plea for our future. Is he a conspiracy theorist or a prophet? You decide.
First there was Angelina, then Madonna, now Pauly Shore acquires an instant family in Africa in the politically incorrect “Adopted,” written, directed, produced and starring Pauly Shore.
In the wretched romantic comedy “When in Rome,” Kristen Bell is a Guggenheim Museum curator who wades into a Trevi-like fountain in the Eternal City and, instead of tossing in a coin and making a wish, she removes five coins, causing the men who once owned them to pursue her throughout Manhattan.
For kids, there’s “Barney: Songs from the Park” with its bonus five-song music CD, along with “Bob the Builder: Building from Scratch” and Sara Hickman’s “Big Bird, Little Bird.”
PICK OF THE WEEK: In the coming-of-age comedy “Youth in Revolt,” based on C.D. Payne’s acclaimed novel, Michael Cera (“Juno,” “Superbad”) plays two very different adolescents. The first is a charmingly reticent, tongue-tied lad and the second is his rebellious alter-ego with a French-style moustache, ascot and cigarette in hand.
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