Susan’s DVD Update for week of Friday, April 30th:
Idiosyncratic filmmaker Terry Gilliam visually dazzles with “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” a fantastical morality tale, starring Christopher Plummer and Heath Ledger with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell filling in after Ledger’s untimely, mid-production death in January, 2008.
“In Search of Beethoven” is a comprehensive documentary about the life and works of composer Ludwig van Beethoven, delving beneath the mythical image, while “Michelangelo: Self Portrait” is a testament to the pain and frustration, as well as the joy and triumph, entailed in artistic creation and in ordinary life.
“Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight” reveals the graphic designer best known for co-founding New York magazine and honored by President Obama with the 2009 National Medal of Arts. “William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe” follows this radical attorney from early civil rights activism and representation of the “Chicago 8” to later controversial cases defending accused rapists and assassins. And “The End of Poverty,” narrated by Martin Sheen, connects the dots from colonialism to now in an indictment of the free market system, blamed for the worst global recession in decades.
The vulgar, confrontational drama “44-Inch Chest” involves a jealous husband (Ray Winstone) and his cronies (John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Dillane, Ian McShane) who kidnap his wife’s young lover, seeking retribution for his wounded ego. And Liam Neeson talks endlessly in “Five Minutes of Heaven” as a Protestant who, in 1975, at age 17, murdered a 19 year-old Roman Catholic dock worker in Belfast.
Exploring the perils of asking for advice, “The Blue Tooth Virgin” is about a writer (Austin Peck) who gives a script to a friend (Bruce Johnson) to read and both men must reevaluate their need for praise and validation to see themselves for who they are.
For youngsters, Beverly Cleary’s beloved mouse Ralph comes to life seeking fur-raising adventures in “Runaway Ralph.”
PICK OF THE WEEK: If you’re in the mood for a delightful middle-aged romantic comedy, Nancy Meyers’ ferociously clever yet deliciously loony farce, “It’s Complicated,” finds Meryl Streep courted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.