Susan Granger’s DVD update for week of Fri., March 23:
“We’re trying to get the old gang back again,” croaks Kermit the Frog in “The Muppets,” reviving the once-lucrative puppet franchise started by Jim Henson. Sweet ‘n’ silly, it’s fuzzy, family-friendly fare. And timed for the upcoming holidays, “Hop” is a colorful combination live-action/animation comedy, filled with frantic Easter Bunny banter.
David Fincher’s Americanized version of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” features Daniel Craig as the disgraced Stockholm journalist who teams up with Rooney Mara as the avenging, computer-hacking investigator.
Based on the Broadway play, “Carnage” is a simmering, scathing comedy revolving around bourgois differences in ethics and styles of parenting, as Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly trade caustic barbs with Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz after their young son is attacked on a New York City playground.
Cynical and sinister, the remake of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” revives John le Carre’s 1974 Cold War spy thriller when Gary Oldman embarks on a dreary, retro journey behind the Iron Curtain.
In his last nerdy role before losing weight and garnering an Oscar nomination, Jonah Hill embodies “The Sitter,” a crass, raunchy comedy about an irresponsible college student minding three children.
“Roadie” is a soulful, downbeat drama about a longtime roadie (Ron Eldard) for Blue Oyster Cult who’s fired when the band has to cut back and he’s forced to give up his youthful dreams.
Morgan Freeman narrates “Born to be Wild,” an inspiring documentary about two ‘real’ fairy godmothers: Daphne Sheldrick, who runs an elephant orphanage in Kenya, and Birute Mary Galdikas, who raises/rehabilitates orphaned orangutans in Borneo.
Cleverly inventive, “Sing-a-Long Beatlesongs” introduces a whole new generation to the best-selling band while helping youngsters learn to read and speak English in an interactive way.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Heartbreaking and life-affirming, Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants,” starring George Clooney, is an intelligently written, beautifully photographed, intensely emotional family drama that becomes an absurdist, funny and voraciously smart journey of self-discovery. It balances tough truth with compassionate understanding of what it means to love, to forgive and to be a family.