Susan Granger’s dvd/video update for week of Friday, March 20th:
Tonight from 10 pm until midnight, retailers will stay open to celebrate the release of Catherine Hardwicke’s film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s young adult vampire tale, “Twilight,” a horror drama starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison that’s been described as a “full-blown cultural phenomenon,” and www.tightlightthemovie.com will feature a store locator to find the nearest party.
Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick play a dysfunctional couple in “Marie and Bruce,” a comedy which never got a theatrical release but went, instead, straight-to-DVD. And Ray Stevenson takes over as the vengeful antihero in “Punisher: War Zone” with Dominic West as his Mob boss nemesis.
From 1955-58, family entertainment on Thursday nights revolved around the beloved, action-packed “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon,” as the brave Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer – with his sled dog Yukon King and trusted horse Rex – embarked on another thrilling adventure. Now, all 33 episodes of the inaugural season have been digitally re-mastered in a special edition, five-disc collector’s set.
“Goal II; Living the Dream” follows soccer player Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) as he eaves England to join the Real Madrid Football Club with cameos by David Bechham and some of the world’s greatest players.
Michael Landon Jr.’s “The Velveteen Rabbit,” inspired by Margery Williams’ classic novel, combines live-action with animation, utilizing the voices of Jane Seymour, Tom Skerritt and Ellen Burstyn, to tell the story of a lonely boy who wins over his distant father and strict grandmother with the help of a stuffed toy rabbit and other toys he befriends in the attic.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Intelligent, adult and provocative, Isabel Coixet’s “Elegy” explores the psyche of a celebrated NPR talk show host/university professor (Ben Kingsley), his estrangement from his grown son (Peter Sarsgaard), friendship with a philandering poet (Dennis Hopper) and casual sex partner (Patricia Clarkson) in the light of his passionate obsession with a radiant, much-younger graduate student (Penelope Cruz). Based on Philip Roth’s novel, it’s an insightful, evocative meditation on lust and death.