Susan Granger’s dvd/video update for week of Friday, July 17th:
“The Haunting in Connecticut” is a creepy, hokey ghost story revolving around a spooky, old Victorian house in Southington, which was once a funeral parlor, that’s been purchased by an unsuspecting mom (Virginia Madsen) who moves in with her three children, only to find that her teenage son (Kyle Gallner) is plagued by visions of a clairvoyant child (Erik Berg) as a dying priest/exorcist (Elias Koteas) senses evil afoot.
Dennis Quaid stars in “Horsemen” as a recently widowed detective who discovers a shocking connection between himself and the suspects in a perverse serial killing spree rooted in the Biblical prophecy of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Gritty “Explicit Ills” examines inner-city life in Philadelphia in stories about love, drugs and poverty, featuring Rosario Dawson, Paul Dano and Lou Taylor Pucci.
As the hospital doors shut for the last time, “ER: The Complete Eleventh Season” contains all 22 emotion-packed episodes with bonus features. And there’s “Mad Men: Season Two,” timed to coincide with the show’s third season premiere on AMC.
For early learners, “HIT Favorites: School Days” gets ready for September with Thomas, Barney, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Fifi and the Flowertots and Kipper. And there’s an all-new “Thomas & Friends: Percy and the Bandstand” and “Bob the Builder: Built for Fun,” which comes with a collectible toy vehicle. Plus, all these favorite preschool characters have new DVD Lunch Box Gift Sets packed with episodes from each series.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Oozing great sparks of wit and emotion, Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange deliver daring performances as “Little Edie” and “Big Edie” Beale, Jacqueline Kennedy’s eccentric Long Island relatives, in “Grey Gardens.” Additional content compares and contrasts this HBO Film with the documentary by Albert and David Maysles that inspired it. And “The Edge of Love” is an intense, dark drama set in war-torn 1940s London, involving Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) and his wife (Sienna Miller) who embark on a scandalously close, amorous relationship with a friend named Vera (Keira Knightley).