Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., April 6:
Affectionate and amusing, “We Bought a Zoo” is an uplifting, feel-good family film about a widower (Matt Damon) and his two youngsters who leave suburban Los Angeles and move to Rossmoor Animal Park, which comes with a menagerie of 200 animals and their devoted, if eccentric keepers.
Jeff Prosserman’s “Chasing Madoff” reveals the struggle to expose Bernard L. Madoff’s elaborate Ponzi scheme and how a Boston-based securities analyst brought him down.
Somber tragedy strikes the snowy, working-class town of “Angels Crest,” where a loving father (Thomas Dekker) causes the accidental death of his three year-old son and a dour district attorney (Jeremy Piven) is determined to bring him to trial for criminally negligent homicide.
Starring Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan, “Tyrannosaur” follows two lonely, damaged people who are brought together by circumstance, as events spiral out of control.
From Smithsonian Channel, “Titanoboa: Monster Snake” is longer than a bus, eats crocodiles for breakfast and makes the anaconda look like a garter snake! Scientists believe that 60 million years ago, a colossal snake ruled a lost world.
Chris Mortensen’s documentary “Ayn Rand & The Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged” explores Rand’s controversial 1957 novel, challenging the moral code of altruism and revealing dire predictions for the future of America.
Based on his 2006 autobiography, “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey” is a documentary about Kevin Clash, best known as Elmo’s hand, voice and soul.
Foreign film aficionados: Shinsuke Ogawa’s “Red Persimmons” is an authentic depiction of a beautiful part of Japanese life and it’s packaged with the insightful “A Visit to Ogawa Productions.”
For pre-schoolers: “A Wuzzleburg Tale” uses humor to teach early social skills, like sharing, self-awareness, listening, compromising, helping and appreciating others. Plus there’s “Sesame Street: Big Elmo Fun,” “Fireman Sam: Rescue on the Water” and “Angelina Ballerina: Ultimate Dance Collection” is a three-DVD set with a bonus four-song CD.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Set in rural England and Europe during W.W. I, Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” is a visually stunning and emotionally heartwarming, epic adventure about an unforgettable horse name Joey and his miraculous journey home.