Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., July 19:
In “Erased,” when an ex-CIA agent/tech-whiz (Aaron Eckhart) discovers that he and his teenage daughter (Liana Liberato) have been marked for termination as part of an international conspiracy, a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse ensues as he tries to outsmart his pursuers and uncover the truth.
Fred Alvarez’s recent remake of Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead” isn’t anywhere near as good as the
1981 horror classic, set in a remote, allegedly abandoned cabin which becomes a house of horrors when a group of twentysomething friends unwittingly awakens its ancient demons.
Swordplay and sorcery abound in “Solomon Kane,” featuring a brutally efficient 16th
century assassin and starring James Purefoy, the late Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Hurd-Wood and Max Von Sydow.
Henry Jaglom’s showbiz-themed “45 Minutes from Broadway” follows an actress (Tanna Fredrick)
who flees to her family’s ramshackle upstate country house, where her non-theatrical sister (Julie Davis) and her sister’s non-Jewish fiancé (Judd Nelson), are also arriving for the family’s annual Passover Seder.
At the end of 2008, 27 year-old environmentalist Tim DeChristopher became “Bidder 70” at a federal auction of oil and gas drilling rights in prime Utah wilderness. Bidding $1.7 million (which he didn’t have), he won 22,000 acres with no intention to drill. His two-year federal prison sentence, according to documentarians Beth and George Gage, ignited the climate justice movement.
Another documentary, “An Affair of the Heart,” is named for the classic Rick Springfield song and
follows the singer’s unique relationship with seven uber-fans who follow him on tour. And “The Life After Death Project” attempts a scientific investigation of apparent messages from the ‘Other Side.’
For kids, there’s “Tom and Jerry: No Mice Allowed!” showcasing 30 cartoons and “The Smurfs:
Smurfs To the Rescue?” with six entertaining adventures.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Revealing blatant racial bigotry, “42” is the inspiring story of how courageous Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) broke Major League baseball’s color barrier in 1947, when he was signed by Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.