New on DVD: A Serious Man, Couples Retreat

New DVDs coming Tuesday, February 9

(Next Week: Hunger and Revanche on Criterion plus Audrey Tautou in Coco Before Chanel and Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler in Law Abiding Citizen.)

(recommended movies underlined. All ratings out of 5 stars)

A Serious Man (**** 1/2). Joel and Ethan Coen return to their roots (a Jewish family living in a Minnesota suburb in the 1960s) for this jet black comedy about a professor and family man plunged into a theological crisis when his ordinary world inexplicably begins to crumble around him. The dialogue is as sharp, deliberate and as clearly rendered as any Coen film, though it’s more naturalistic and less exaggerated. As put-upon professor Larry Gopnik, Michael Stuhlbarg takes the Coen verbal stylization and makes it feel real. With line readings that are unforced, natural and full of pathos, he might be one of the most unambiguously sympathetic Coen characters to come along outside of Carla Jean Moss. And then there’s that unsettling ending… well you’ll just have to see it for yourself.
(Opened: 10/2/09) Trailer / Review
Buy: DVD Blu-ray
Rent

Couples Retreat. In order to qualify for a group rate, a couple on the rocks convinces a group of their happily married friends to join them for marriage counseling at a tropical resort. Unfortunately, it turns out participation in the counseling is mandatory. Suddenly, blissful marriages aren’t on such solid ground after all. Funny, right? Probably not, but you have to like the talent involved: Vince Vaughn and John Favreau co-wrote and star alongside Jason Bateman, Kristin Bell, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Faizon Love, Kali Hawk and Jean Reno. Look. No offense to my married friends, but couplehood is only funny to other couples. A single person’s solution to your wacky couple problems? Stop being a couple. Seriously. Don’t like it that he leaves the toilet seat up? Dump him. Problem solved.
(Opened: 10/9/09) Trailer
Buy: DVD Blu-ray
Rent

The Song of Sparrows (****). A rural Iranian’s pastoral life is turned upside down when he’s forced into the city to earn money to repair his daughter’s hearing aid. There, his once simple needs are twisted by greed and commercialism. Shifting quietly from the amusing to the dramatic, this gently neorealistic parable from Majid Majidi (Children of Heaven) has a simple message, but the real beauty lies in the little moments and details between the big story beats. Sparrow’s tropes will be instantly recognizable to anyone who makes a habit of watching foreign films and the familiarity is almost off-putting at first, but the film sticks with you days after you see it. It is so unassuming that its subtle pleasures might not be apparent right away, but they’re there and they have a nice way of lingering.
(Opened: 4/3/09) Trailer / Review
Buy: DVD
Rent

The Stepfather. A remake of the 1980s cult classic about a murderous stepfather. I have fond memories of the original starring Terry O’Quinn (Lost) and pretty Jill Schoelen, but I can’t think of a single reason to see this PG-13 rated turd. Can you? Penn Badgley, Sela Ward, Amber Heard and Dylan Walsh star.
(Opened: 10/16/09)
Buy: DVD Blu-ray
Rent

The Time Traveler’s Wife. The Time Traveler’s Wife. Audrey Niffenegger’s 2.5 million copy selling debut novel about a man who experiences random, unpredictable jumps in time and the woman who loves him made it to the big screen in 2009 starring Eric Bana as the former and Rachel McAdams as the latter. I like the cast but this sort of material is constantly in danger of devolving into eye-gouging schmaltz. I’m skeptical, but I’ll watch it with you if you buy me dinner. The screenplay is by Bruce Joel Rubin who also co-wrote the fantasy romance Ghost. Great. Now I’ve got that freaking Unchained Melody song stuck in my head again. That is not righteous.
(Opened: 8/14/09) Trailer
Buy: DVD Blu-ray
Rent

Bronson (** 1/2). I should admit right up front that I’m not a huge fan of this film, but I also have to say the internet buzz around it since it hit these shores at Sundance has been loud and positive. I found the surfeit of (Kubrick-cribbed) style over substance to be ultimately off-putting, but the performance by Tom Hardy is magnetic and the story makes up in entertainment what it lacks in depth. As Charlie Peterson, a real-life 19-year-old ne’er-do-well who parlayed a conviction for simple armed robbery into 34 years behind bars and a reputation for being the most violent prisoner in Britain, Hardy delivers a fully committed performance full of manic energy and gusto. It’s only too bad the story and the character itself don’t live up to it. Nevertheless, I have to admit it’s something to see and Bronson is recommended particularly to fans of films like A Clockwork Orange. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher).
(Opened: 10/9/09) Trailer
Buy: DVD Blu-ray
Rent

Dare. High school drama with Emmy Rossum as a high school senior…experiencing drama. Alan Cumming and Sandra Bernhardt play older teacher/advisor types. Yawn. Here’s the official blurb I’m too lazy to summarize: “When a pompous actor tells good girl Alexa (Rossum) that she hasn’t lived, she embarks on a bold journey that takes her to mysterious bad boy Johnny . Envious, her shy best friend Ben also dares to pursue Johnny, complicating Alexa’s romance and pushing the boundaries among the three friends.”
(Opened: 11/13/09) Trailer
Buy: DVD Blu-ray
Rent

Endgame. This political thriller about the secret talks that led to the end of Apartheid in South Africa already played on PBS so I don’t know why it turned up in theaters last fall. On the other hand Chiwetel Ejiofor and William Hurt star so maybe it’s worth a look if you neglected to Tivo it.
(Opened: 11/6/09) Trailer
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Rent

I Hate Valentine’s Day. I hate Valentine’s Day too, but not as much as I hate insipid romantic comedies. Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) wrote, directed and stars in this one. She plays a florist with a strict “five dates” rule when it comes to romance, but when she meets her Greek Wedding costar John Corbett, she actually falls in love! Bleh.
(Opened: 7/1/09) Trailer
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Rent

Peter and Vandy. A love story told out of order so that the heady beginning contrasts with the unpleasant ending. Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler star.
(Opened: 10/9/09) Trailer
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Rent

The Pleasure of Being Robbed. I’m not sure if this one ever got a proper theatrical release or if it just played the festival circuit. I saw it at LAFF in 2008 and pretty much hated it. Directed by Josh Safdie, The Pleasure of Being Robbed is kind of a character portrait about a kleptomaniac named Eléonore (played by Eléonore Hendricks) who doesn’t steal for the material gain so much as to form a strange connection to her victims. I don’t mind plot-free movies if the characters are people I’m interested in spending time with, but that’s not the case here.I couldn’t get away from Eléonore fast enough.
Trailer / Review
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Rent

Serious Moonlight. Cheryl Hines (Waitress, HBOs Curb Your Enthusiasm) directs the last screenplay of murdered actress/writer/director Adrienne Shelly (Suddenly Manhattan, Waitress). Meg Ryan plays a lawyer whose husband Timothy Hutton announces he’s leaving her for younger woman Kristin Bell on what is supposed to be a romantic weekend for the couple. When Bell and gardener Justin “iStooge” Long show up, it’s a foursome of funny. I guess.
(Opened: 12/4/09) Trailer
Buy: DVD Blu-ray
Rent

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