Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Friday, August 31
Lawrence Kasdan’s “Darling Companion” is a mildly amusing comedy with Diane Keaton and Kevin Line as a couple whose marital problems surface when he loses the bedraggled dog that she’d rescued in Denver during a hike near their vacation home in the Rockies.
Riffing on comedian Steve Harvey’s humorous dating advice book, “Think Like a Man” explores the differences between the way men and women view sex and romantic relationships.
Based on Nicolas Sparks’ sappy, sentimental novel, “The Lucky One” introduces a Marine (Zac Efron) who credits his survival in Iraq to a photograph he found after a skirmish with insurgents and follows his search for the beautiful blonde (Taylor Schilling) posing in front of a lighthouse.
Inspired by the board game, “Battleship” is a flimsy, formulaic, cliché-riddled popcorn picture as Taylor Kitsch and pop star Rihanna battle an alien attack with Transformer”-like special effects.
Daniel Lam’s “The Viral Factor” tries to be an action movie and a soap opera but succeeds at neither, churning on about unleashing a kind of smallpox virus, hoping to profit from vaccine sales.
“Baseball’s Greatest Games” series introduces “San Francisco Giants First Perfect Game,” and “The Essential Games” series now includes the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs.
Narrated by Jude Law, “Beyond Time: William Turnbull” explores the life and work of the artist recognized as one of the pioneers of modernism in Britain.
In Norwegian & Danish with English subtitles, “Headhunters” is a dark comedy thriller about an Oslo corporate recruiter who’s also an art thief. And “Monsieur Lazhar” is an eloquent French-Canadian drama about an Algerian immigrant who sought political asylum in Quebec and is hired as a substitute after another teacher commits suicide.
“Looney Tunes: The Chuck Jones Mouse Chronicles” showcases the daring adventures of those mischievous mice, and “Bob the Builder: The Ultimate Can-Do Crew Collection” teaches teamwork.
PICK OF THE WEEK: “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” is the swashbuckling animated tale of a bumbling Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) whose chances of winning the coveted Pirate of the Year Award increase when he and his underachieving shipmates encounter a research ship carrying Charles Darwin.