Susan Granger’s dvd update for week of Friday, Dec. 11th:
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” begins ominously with storm clouds roiling over London while Death Eaters wreak destruction. As suspense mounts in this sixth installment of J.K. Rowlings’ series, teenagers Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are on hormone overload, feeling “love’s keen sting.”
Johnny Depp stars as bank robber John Dillinger in “Public Enemies,” leading a notorious 1930s crime wave that infuriated crusading J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) and his fledgling FBI. There’s ironic humor amid the shoot ‘em-ups, plus atmospheric authenticity.
Impeccably crafted, “The Cove” is a suspenseful expose of the dolphin capture trade in Taiji, Japan, following activists (including Hayden Panettiere), filmmakers and divers on a covert mission to penetrate a remote, hidden cove to document a gruesome secret.
In “The World’s Greatest Dad,” Robin Williams plays a divorced high-school poetry teacher whose teenage son (Daryl Sabara) dies in an apparent suicide; written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, it ridicules collective grief and the news media’s cynical marketing of inspirational uplift after a tragedy.
Christopher Denham’s “Home Video” reveals what happens when that all-American keepsake, the family home video, reveals that the kids are definitely not all right; with a nod to “The Blair Witch Project,” this depravity-and-death drama features Adrian Pasdar and Cady McClain. Tim Daly stars in “The Skeptic” as a rational lawyer/control freak who has his doubts about the paranormal challenged big-time in his elderly aunt’s big, creepy Victorian mansion. And the cult classic “Drop Dead Rock” stars ‘80s music icons Adam Ant and Deborah Harry; it’s a rock ‘n’ roll comedy about a band that kidnaps their favorite British rock star and holds him hostage.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Whether you like to cook or just enjoy eating, “Julie & Julia” is a gastronomic delight, starring Meryl Streep as the legendary Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, a downtrodden NYC administrative assistant who seeks solace by attempting all 524 butter-laden recipes in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in one year and writing about her travails in a blog. Bon Appetit!