Susan Granger’s dvd update for week of Friday, June 13th:
With gas prices rising and diesel fuel at an all-time high, what would happen if the trucking industry shut down? The insightful documentary “Big Rig” takes a deep look at America’s most underrated industry and the long-haul truckers who propel it.
Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games” is a suspenseful, sadistic thriller about a yuppie couple (Naomi Watts, Tim Roth) who are terrorized when they allow two polite, well-spoken psychopaths (Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet) into their Hamptons vacation home.
Another slasher fest, “The Signal,” references George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” and Kioshi Kurosawa’s “Pulse;” its three-part format revolves around hapless citizens of a fictional city called Terminus who are driven into zombie rage by a mysterious signal that jams phones and televisions.
With “The Tudors” over until next season, the royal intrigue of Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) and her sister (Scarlett Johansson) continues in “The Other Boleyn Girl” which, admittedly, is more soap opera than historical drama.
“Heavy Metal in Baghdad” is a documentary about the Iraqi band Acrassicauda and their journey from Saddam’s dictatorship, through the US invasion, to their exodus as refugees in Istanbul, as they attempt to keep both their music and themselves alive.
Adrenaline-fueled NASCAR fans can get behind the wheel with “ESPN Inside Access: Jeff Gordon,” packed with race highlights, and New York Mets enthusiasts will treasure “Shea Goodbye: 45 Years of Amazin,'” commemorating the beloved stadium in all its glory, history and fanfare.
FATHER’S DAY PICK OF THE WEEK: Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman team up in “The Bucket List,” directed by Rob Reiner. This heartwarming adventure shows it’s never too late to live life to its fullest as two men with a common bond choose rectify their regrets about all those “missed opportunities.”