Susan’s DVD Update for week of January 29:
You gotta love Drew Barrymore! Her first directorial job, “Whip It,” follows a frustrated 17 year-old (Ellen Page) as she discovers real “girl power” at a rowdy roller derby match. This rough-and-tumble coming-of-age story celebrates friendship and camaraderie while delineating the struggle within families to understand one another.
Armando Iannucci’s “In the Loop” is a cynical, profanity-laden British geopolitical satire about the incompetence of government officials, as a low-level dolt (Tim Hollander) makes a verbal blunder, causing international chaos; there’s a memorable scene in which James Gandolfini uses a toy calculator to explain the costs of war to Mimi Kennedy.
With a cast headed by Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick and Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, “Gamer” is a sci-fi action thriller in which gaming and entertainment evolve into an exhilarating yet terrifying new hybrid. And “Blood Creek” is a supernatural horror tale concerning two brothers at the center of a terrifying occult experiment that began in 1936 in Town Creek, West Virginia, when a German scientist comes to stay with their family and continue Third Reich experiments.
Timely and courageous, “Tru Loved” tells the story of a 16 year-old (Najarra Townsend) who is uprooted by her lesbian moms from gay-friendly San Francisco and moved to a conservative Southern California suburb.
“Prom Night in Mississippi” documents how and why the tiny town of Charleston, Mississippi, integrated its senior prom, accepting an offer by Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman; the result is black, white and a whole lot of taffeta.
“Jackie Chan Presents Wushu” introduces a new generation to the art of combat; it’s recommended for those who love a good kung-fu actioner.
Rapidly turning rancid, Bob Gosse’s bitterly misogynistic adaptation of Tucker Max’s bed-notching memoir “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” revolves around a bachelor party descending into drunken debauchery.
PICK OF THE WEEK: In “Bright Star,” New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion revels in the captivating-yet-chaste Victorian romance between early 19th century poet John Keats (Ben Whitshaw) and radiant Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). It’s a visually resplendent, lyrically seductive superbly acted, intimate drama.