Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., May 27:
In the devilishly sleazy “Drive Angry,” Nicolas Cage plays a murderer who escapes not only from jail but also from Hell. Teaming up with a feisty waitress (Amber Herard), he’s returned to Earth determined to rescue the infant who was kidnapped from his murdered daughter by the leader of a satanic cult.
Dimpled model-turned-actor Alex Pettyfer stars in “I Am Number Four,” an angst-and-alienation tale about extraterrestrials from the planet Lorien who fled to Earth after their civilization was annihilated by the evil Mogadorians.
Hayden Panettiere and Marcia Gay Harden star in the controversial Lifetime story “Amanda Knox” about the American exchange student who was convicted of murder in an Italian court. But did she commit the crime of which she was accused, or was she herself a victim of circumstance?
This week, there are several fascinating documentaries: Arne Glimcher’s “Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies” graphically illustrates the cinema’s influence on these legendary Cubist artists. “God Went Surfing With the Devil” is Alex Klein’s recollection of the difficulties and dangers encountered by a ragtag group of surfing enthusiasts who tried to deliver surfboards into the Palestinian city of Gaza on a Surfing 4 Peace mission in 2008. And “A Small Act” chronicles an inspiring journey of hope, reflecting on how a single gesture can have enormous impact, as a Kenyan student, now a Harvard Law School graduate and Human Rights Lawyer in Geneva, acknowledges an 85 year-old Jewish Holocaust refugee in Sweden who made his education possible.
From the Disney Channel comes “Lemonade Mouth,” extended edition, a music-filled story about five Mesa High teens whose band breaks through to become the voice of their generation.
And for pre-schoolers: “Sweet Dreams” is a new, eight-episode bedtime story collection.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Eccentric, silly and aimed at a juvenile audience, “Gnomeo and Juliet” is a goofy, G-rated romantic comedy, a revisionist, Shakespeare-based fairy tale about lovelorn British lawn ornaments; on Blu-ray, there are two alternate endings, two alternate openings and six deleted scenes.