Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Jan. 18:
In the preachy yet persuasive “Won’t Back Down,” Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis team up as exasperated mothers determined to rescue and re-design a decrepit Pittsburgh elementary school.
Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan star in “The Possession” about a hapless family in upstate New York that unearths a dibbuk (a malicious spirit that captures and devours the soul of an innocent person), while Nicolas Cage and Josh Lucas team up in “Stolen,” a fast-paced action thriller set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Famed director Ted Kotcheff’s early Australian shocker, “Wake in Fright,” unseen for decades, arrives at last, revealing the story of a schoolteacher in the Outback taking a journey into the heart of darkness.
From the makers of “Jesus Camp,” Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’ highly acclaimed documentary “Detropia” chronicles the collapse and potential renewal of America’s Motor City. And “Battle for Brooklyn” documents the controversial land grab that enabled construction of the Barclays Center.
In French with English subtitles, Nenoit Jacquot’s period drama “Farewell My Queen” speculates that Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger) was in love with her best friend, Gabrielle de Polignac (Virginia Ledoyen); the sets are gorgeous and the costumes are stunning. Also in French, “17 Girls” is based on the headline-gripping true story of 17 teenagers who made a pregnancy pact.
For family viewing in time for Chinese New Year, “Stone Soup…and Other Stories from the Asian Tradition,” and to commemorate Black History month, “March On: The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World.” For pre-schoolers, in “Thomas & Friends: Muddy Matters” the engines get down and dirty – in a good way – as they work on the Island of Sodor.
PICKS OF THE WEEK: In Woody Allen’s fanciful “To Rome With Love,” Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz and Roberto Benigni find adventure and romance in Italy’s Eternal City. And in “Taken 2,” Liam Neeson returns as the former CIA agent; this time, he and his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) are abducted in Istanbul, and only their teenage daughter (Maggie Grace) is able to track them.