Susan Granger’s dvd update for week of Friday, September 5th:
“Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer” chronicles the extraordinary life of the legendary jazz vocalist, following her early days singing alongside Gene Krupa, Roy Eldridge, Stan Kenton, Louis Armstrong and Hoagy Carmichael through her failed marriages, abortions, arrests and 20-year heroin and alcohol addiction.
Another interesting documentary is “Lynch,” turning the lens on director David Lynch during the filming of his weirdly enigmatic “Inland Empire.”
The holdup genre gets remixed in “How To Rob a Bank” with perspectives and loyalties shifting so quickly it’s tough to tell exactly who is doing what to whom and why – with Nick Stahl, Erika Christensen and Gavin Rossdale involved.
Hong Kong action stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li team up for the first time in “Forbidden Kingdom,” a martial arts muddle, filled with cliché-ridden, chop-schlocky action.
In “The Promotion,” John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott play mid-level Chicago supermarket employees who compete ruthlessly in a contest of wits for a coveted managerial post at a new store location.
Synchronized swimming surfaces in Celine Sciamma’s “Water Lilies” about two teenage French girls discovering sex; thematically, it’s related to Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides,” turning hormonal eruptions into tragic phantasmagorias.
For kids, there’s “Bratz Girls Really Rock” with its Make Your Own Music Video feature; “Bob the Builder: On-Site,” delving into construction; and “The Best of Barney,” featuring the most memorable moments with everyone’s favorite purple dinosaur.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Harrison Ford dons his famous fedora and snaps his bullwhip in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” a thrill-filled fantasy-adventure set in 1957, as he’s pursued by a contemptuous Soviet parapsychologist (Cate Blanchett). At his side are a motorcycle-riding kid (Shia LeBeouf) and his old flame (Karen Allen).