Susan Granger’s dvd/video update for week of Friday, March 6th
Timed to coordinate with the new movie, “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” contains all 12 chapters from the graphic novel, adding motion, voice and sound to the book’s striking panels, spanning everything from the Comedian’s mysterious demise to the crisscrossed destinies of the various superheroes to their fateful impact on the world. These 30-minute chapters were previously available only as iTunes downloads.
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is a good-natured comedy with Drew Barrymore as the voice of Chloe, a diamond-clad pooch who enjoys her luxurious lifestyle so much that she barely notices Papi (voiced by George Lopez) who’s head-over-paws in love with her. But when Chloe gets lost in Mexico with only a street-wise German Shepherd (voiced by Andy Garcia) to help her, Papi heads south of the border to rescue her.
“Lake City” is a dramatic thriller about a young man who gets into trouble with a local drug dealer and heads to the last place on earth he wants to go: his childhood home. Sissy Spacek plays a Southern mother who reunites with her son (Troy Garity, Jane Fonda’s real-life son) under desperate circumstances after a family tragedy drove them apart.
Set on Christmas Eve, “Exit Speed” is a ferocious, low-budget direct-to-dvd action-thriller about 10 passengers on a bus traveling across Texas that collides with a meth-addicted biker. Forced off the road by his gang, they’re forced to defend themselves.
For kids: “The Smurfs: Vol. 1” contains five uncut episodes of the animated series, along with a bonus feature, “Meet the Smurfs.” “Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective” features a 12 year-old chasing down leads and laughs. And “Where Will My Feet Take Me Today?” delivers six segments from the delightful PBS pre-school series “Franny’s Feet.”
PICK OF THE WEEK: As viewed through the eyes of a half-Aboriginal child, Baz Luhrmann’s epic-length “Australia” is a frontier romance starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Awesomely photographed and creatively challenging, it’s an enormous, exotic adventure.