Susan Granger’s dvd/video update for week of Friday, March 13
In “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” the tragedy of W.W.II and the haunting horror of the Holocaust take on an entirely different perspective as seen through the eyes of a naive eight year-old German lad whose father is a high-ranking SS commandant.
“Cadillac Records” delves into the controversial character of Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), whose R&B record company attracted talents like Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Etta James (Beyonce Knowles) and Chuck Berry (Mos Def), among others; the title stems from Chess’ penchant for gifting each star with a new Cadillac.
Jason Statham drives again in the testosterone-fueled “Transporter 3,” playing the indestructible, imperturbable Mediterranean mercenary whose specialty is transporting ‘difficult’ packages; this time, his passenger is the kidnapped – and thoroughly irritating – daughter of a top Ukraine official.
God and Satan vie for the soul of a troubled ‘teen scream’ girl, played by Haley Bennett, in “The Haunting of Molly Hartley,” as she’s surrounded by friends and foes, like Chace Crawford , Shannon Marie Woodward and Shanna Collins.
Charlie Kaufman’s tiresome, almost incomprehensible “Synedoche, New York” is a weird rumination on love, hate and the creative process as an upstate New York theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) finds his marriage to a painter (Catherine Keener) is on the rocks and his world disintegrating into a surreal, synaptic blur.
If you like documentaries, I recommend “The Matador” chronicling David Fandila’s quest to reach 100 bullfights in a single season, a goal only 12 matadors so far have achieved, and “Chris & Don: A Love Story,” revealing the passionate three-decade Hollywood romance between British writer Christopher Isherwood and American portrait painter Don Bachardy.
PICK OF THE WEEK: From British filmmaker Mike Leigh (“Secrets & Lies,” “Vera Drake”), “Happy Go Lucky” is a lighthearted, life-affirming comedy, starring Sally Hawkins as a London primary school teacher who sees the best in everyone: her paranoid driving teacher (Eddie Marsan), grumpy flatmate (Alexis Zegerman) and school’s social worker (Samuel Roukin).