Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Friday, March 18:
Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” is an unconventional, melancholy meditation on mortality and the afterlife, beginning in 2004 in a tropical beach resort in Indonesia, where a French TV newswoman (Cecile de France) nearly drowns in a tsunami. Meanwhile, in London, a lonely lad mourns the death of his identical twin brother and, in San Francisco, a psychic (Matt Damon) realizes his bizarre ‘gift’ alienates him from everyone else.
Jennifer Aniston stars in “The Switch,” another formulaic and utterly predictable rom-com about a woman who conceives through a sperm donor (Patrick Wilson), only to discover her neurotic best-friend (Jason Bateman) has surreptitiously foiled her plans.
Set in the Jazz Age of the 1920s, “Hemingway’s Garden of Eden” follows a successful American writer (Jack Huston) and his beautiful wife (Mena Suvari) on their extended honeymoon in Europe. And “Helena From the Wedding” focuses on newlyweds (Lee Tergesen, Melanie Lynsky) who host a New Year’s Eve party in a remote mountain cabin, where a surprise guest (Gillian Jacobs) incites emotional turmoil.
Lucy Walker’s documentary “Waste Land” is an inspiring look at the life-changing collaboration between renowned Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and some of the poorest residents of Rio de Janeiro, rummaging in the world’s largest garbage dump. And Chinese-Canadian Lixin Fan’s “Last Train Home” chronicles the annual pilgrimage made by millions of migrant workers to their homes for the Chinese New Year and examines the devastating human cost of China’s embrace of capitalism.
Focusing on alternative and natural cures for cancer and other chronic diseases, “The Beautiful Truth” is now available on Blu-ray along with two bonus features “Dying to Have Known” and “The Gerson Miracle,” offering options on methods of treatment.
For pre-schoolers, the “Barney: Mother Goose Collection” includes a 64-page activity book, 15 sing-alongs and 17 rhyme-alongs.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Christian Bale and Melissa Leo won Supporting Actor Oscars for their roles in “The Fighter,” David O. Russell’s gritty, real-life drama about a boxing ‘contender’ (Mark Wahlberg), his crack-addicted older brother (Bale) and their dysfunctional family, the Wards of Lowell, Massachusetts.