Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., August 3:
“Scalene,” is Zack Parker’s enigmatic, edgy thriller, starring Emmy Award-winner Margo Martindale (“Justified,” “A Gifted Man”) as a mother with a mentally handicapped son (Adam Scarimbolo) and his caregiver (Hanna Hall).
Morgan Spurlock’s witty, comedic documentary, “Mansome,” looks at men’s self-image and identity through the exploration of their idiosyncratic grooming habits, while “Gone: The Disappearance of Aeryn Gillern” focuses on a mother desperate search for a former Mr. Gay Australia and why the Viennese police will not assist her.
In “Mysteria,” a washed-up, whiskey-soaked screenwriter (Robert Miano) finds himself the center of a police inquiry into the murder of a prominent politician’s wife by hard-nosed investigators (Danny Glover, Michael Rooker).
Can reality television save the marriage of a bickering couple (Christy Scott Cashman. Jay Harrington) counseled by “The Love Guide,” a hippie-yogi, personal growth TV guru (Parker Posey) who lives in the moment with only the slightest grasp of reality? You guess.
And sci-fi fans will enjoy “Extraterrestrial,” a dark romantic comedy by the Spanish director Nacho Viglondo.
For pre-schoolers, “Timmy Time: Happy Birthday Timmy” finds the mischievous lamb celebrating in the barnyard.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Set in the titular French port, legendary Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki’s uplifting, warm-hearted “Le Havre” is revolves around a down-on-his-luck shoeshine man (Andre Wilms) and his ailing wife (Kati Outinen) who befriend an African lad (Blondin Miguel) who’s being hunted by the police for deportation after escaping from a ship container filled with illegal immigrants from Gabon.