Susan Granger’s dvd/video update for week of Friday, May 2nd
“27 Dresses” is an amusing chick-flick with Katherine Heigl as a perennial bridesmaid who can’t find her own happy ending until she meets a cynical newspaper reporter (James Marsden). It’s a fluffy, frivolous indulgence for those who still enjoy the occasional wedding fantasy.
Adapted from the first book in Phillip Pullman’s sci-fi series, “The Golden Compass” involves a 12 year-old orphan girl (Dakota Blue Richards) who lives in an alternate world under the guardianship of icily manipulative woman (Nicole Kidman) who transports her to the frozen Arctic to find her adventurous uncle (Daniel Craig). It’s light on plot and heavy on CGI, particularly a spectacular showdown between two armored polar bears.
Like “Stomp the Yard,” the Canadian-made “How She Move” showcases another exhilarating urban dance form, starring Ruta Wesley as an energetic Jamaican who joins the all-male “Jane Street Junta.”
Aside from its incongruous title, “What Would Jesus Buy?” is Rob VanAlkemade’s funny and informative examination of the American commercialization of Christmas.
For kids, ages 6 and up, I highly recommend Trevor Romain’s “If You Don’t Take Care of Your Body, Where Else Are You Going to Live?” which issues a fitness challenge, along with his “Cliques, Phonies & Other Baloney,” “Taking the ‘Duh’ Out of Divorce,” “Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain,” “Facing Fear Without Freaking Out,” “How to Do Homework Without Throwing Up” and “What on Earth Do You Do When Someone Dies?”
PICK OF THE WEEK: In French with English subtitles, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” is the story of how 43 year-old Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of Elle France, suffered a stroke and was left almost entirely paralyzed yet dictated a best-selling memoir, communicating only by blinking. It’s a testament to the indomitable human spirit.