Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., Oct. 19
Science-fiction doesn’t get much more exciting or provocative than Ridley Scott’s visionary “Prometheus,” integrating thematic concepts of a robot with artificial intelligence with the visceral horror of slithering, carnivorous alien creatures.
“Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” once again follows the quartet of anthropomorphic animals who are determined to make their way back to New York City’s Central Park Zoo.
Hugo Weaving (“Matrix,” “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) stars in “Last Ride,” as a desperate fugitive and his 10 year-old son take on the rugged Australian Outback. Also set Down Under, Simon Wincer’s “The Cup” revolves around jockeys Damien Oliver and his brother, who were both destined for greatness until tragedy struck just before the prestigious Melbourne Cup race.
Six “extreme tourists” visit the Ukrainian ghost city of Prypiat in “Chernobyl Diaries,” a dismally contrived thriller, cursed with shaky camerawork and clichéd dialogue. And Adam Sandler’s relentlessly vulgar “That’s My Boy” is based on the notorious 1996 report of a junior high school student who impregnated his seductive teacher.
“The Forgiveness of Blood” finds a teenager (Tristan Halilaj) becoming a marked man after his father kills a neighbor in a land dispute and, under ancient custom, the dead man’s family is entitled retribution – in Albanian with English subtitles.
“Turn Me On, Dammit!” is Jannicke Systad Jacobsen’s whimsical, refreshingly honest coming-of-age story about the blossoming sexuality of a gawky 15 year-old girl – in Norwegian with English subtitles.
Film buffs will enjoy the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in the 50th anniversary edition of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” and the suspense of Grace Kelly/Ray Milland in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” in 3D. And new from Turner Classics’ Legends Collection, focusing spotlights on Lauren Bacall, Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Wes Anderson’s wryly tender, melancholy “Moonrise Kingdom” follows two troubled 12 year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact and run away together into the coastal wilderness off New England’s Narragansett Bay. As a violent storm brews, various adults (Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman) try to find them.