Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., April 27:
Established in 1891, The Yankee Pedlar Inn in Torrington, CT is the setting for “The Innkeepers,” in which the historical tavern is preparing to shut its doors forever when the college dropouts (Sara Paxton, Pat Healy), who are covering the front desk, and a vodka-swilling, once-famous actress-turned-psychic healer (Kelly McGillis) discover that it’s haunted.
Based on actual events, “The Fields” is a Gothic thriller about a young boy (Joshua Ormond) who is sent to live in the Pennsylvania countryside with his grandparents (Cloris Leachman, Bev Appleton) in the summer of 1973, as his parents work through their marital problems.
Defined as “a person without status, a rejected member of society, an outcast,” “The Pariah” is the story of a troubled, street-wise 17 year-old African-American woman (Adepero Oduye) who realizes she’s homosexual and is looking for a lesbian lover in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood.
“Michael Tilson Thomas: The Thomashefskys” is a live performance recorded in April, 2011, with the New World Symphony; it’s a musical showcase recalling the birth of the American Yiddish Theater.
For foreign film aficionados, Johann Wolfgang Goethe remains Germany’s most famous poet/philosopher and is the subject of “Young Goethe In Love,” a sumptuous, romantic drama about the 23 year-old Johann in his summer of self-discovery and unrequited love.
Classic film lovers will appreciate Lerner and Loewe’s “Camelot 45th Anniversary,” starring Richard Harris as King Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere and Franco Nero (Redgrave’s real-life husband) as Lancelot, packaged as a premium Blu-ray with a bonus CD soundtrack. And the chilling mystery, “The Red House,” starring Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson, Rory Calhoun and Julie London, has been restored and is available in HD for the first time ever.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Back in 1973, Robin Hardy’s “The Wicker Man” opened to mediocre reviews but eventually achieved cult classic status. Encompassing several genres, revolving around pagan religion and the spiritual power of beliefs, it’s now spawned a satirical yet suspenseful sequel – “The Wicker Tree,” a wildly wicked fantasy/horror/black comedy that pits Christianity against Celtic traditions. Full disclosure: James Mapes, who plays the preacher, is my husband.