Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., June 14:
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson uses brains, not brawn to protect his son in “Snitch,” playing a
trucking company owner who cuts a deal with an ambitious D.A. (Susan Sarandon) to go undercover as an informant and help the DEA catch a drug kingpin in exchange for his son’s freedom.
In “A Bullet to the Head,” Sylvester Stallon plays a gritty, grizzled New Orleans hitman teaming up with a young, techno-savvy detective (Sung Kang) to bring down a hulking killer (Jason Momoa from “Game of Thrones”), sleazy lawyer (Christian Slater) and real estate developer (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).
“Knife Fight” is a savvy contemporary thriller, starring Rob Lowe as a manipulative political strategist, delivering a satirical message about the end justifying the means.
“Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” is a preposterous, blood-splattering, campy horror/action/comedy with Jeremy Renner and Gemma Atherton as revenge-seeking vigilantes.
Michael Landon Jr. directs “Beverly Lewis’ The Confession,” a heartwarming, inspirational drama
about a young Amish woman (Katie Leclerc) searching for her identity.
But don’t bother with “Wrong,” in which writer/director Quentin Duplex strings together a surrealist litany of episodic absurdities centered around a man trying to find his lost dog.
Jerry Aronson’s “The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg” documents American activist counterculture, as epitomized by the iconic poet, visionary and outspoken champion of human rights, while “Honor Flight” follows four elderly Wisconsin veterans who visit the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. And “Hellbound” is Vancouver-based Kevin Miller’s thought-provoking debate about the Christian doctrine of hell.
Foreign film aficionados: French superstar Vincent Cassel plays a 17th century Capuchin preacher who struggles with temptation in Domink Moll’s sexy French thriller “The Monk,” adapted from Matthew Lewis’ cult classic gothic novel.
PICK OF THE WEEK: “Oz the Great and Powerful” is a spirited, family-friendly prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” delving into the charlatan-behind-the-curtain’s origin story. James Franco stars as
Oscar “Oz” Diggs, a conniving carnival magician who’s transported to a fantastic realm, where he meets a trio of Witches (Mila Kunis, Rachel Weitz, Michelle Williams) and is befriended by a wisecracking, winged monkey and a tiny China Doll.