Susan Granger’s dvd update for week of Fri., Dec. 26th:
Something’s rotten in the state of Arizona as a delusionary Tucson high-school theater teacher (Steve Coogan) writes a garish sequel called “Hamlet 2” in an effort to save the drama department. It’s intermittently amusing but it wastes a lot of potential; a sharper script might have made a big difference.
In the ultimate, ultra-violent sports event, “Death Race,” starring Jason Statham and Tyrese Gibson, hardened criminals race to earn their freedom; it’s the ultimate demolition derby and the bonus documentary shows how the jaw-dropping, stunt-driven spectacle was made.
Rather than a re-make, Diane English’s version of “The Women,” starring Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes and Annette Bening, is a cinematic sacrilege when compared with George Cukor’s hilarious 1939 comedy, adapted from Clare Boothe’s play and starring Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell and Norma Shearer. Even English’s feminist context of empowerment seems muddled. Female friendship deserves better.
Winner of the 2007 Sundance Grand Jury Prize under its original title “Padre Nuestro,” Christopher Zalla’s “Sangre di mi Sangre” is a suspenseful drama about the immigrant experience, centering on a father’s reunion with a son he never knew he had. The twist is that the teen is an impostor (Armando Hernandez) who met the real son (Jorge Adrian Espindola) in a tractor-trailer filled with undocumented Mexicans and stole his identity.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Ethan and Joel Coen’s silly, satirical “Burn After Reading” is a farcical thriller about dumb, middle-aged misfits caught in capricious CIA paranoia. It’s not the contrived plot that matters; it’s the lunatic execution, as the Coens are masters of broadly-drawn characters and stylized visuals. As the story goes, they asked George Clooney, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt to “embrace their inner knucklehead” to embody their moronic characters.