Entertainment, Movies - Navy Times

What’s new on DVD for July 11

“Stop-Loss”

(3½ stars out of four) 2008, Paramount, rated R, $30

Though MTV’s logo on an Iraq war drama promises little, this imperfect box office underperformer is among 2008’s few major studio releases (so far) worth anything, much more affecting than “In the Valley of Elah” and “Redacted.”

Back story: Director Kimberly Peirce’s first outing since her sterling 1999 “Boys Don’t Cry” debut was inspired by the Iraq service of her brother. Taken from the veteran’s point of view — exhausted and prone to an overdose of drunken mayhem — it’s extremely authentic in its portrayal of small-town life and a certain kind of small-town woman (a dead-on Abbie Cornish).

Extras, extras: Commentary by Peirce and co-scripter/fiction writer Mark Richard; featurettes on the research, which involved talking to veterans, and on toughening up the actors.

“The Girl on the Bridge”

1999, 2000 in the USA; Paramount/Legend, R, no extras, $15

A knife thrower off his game (Daniel Auteuil) encounters a would-be suicide (Vanessa Paradis) eyeballing the Seine. Given this mind-set, why not use her in the act?

Back story: France’s Patrice Leconte (“Ridicule”; “Intimate Strangers”) is a remarkably versatile cult director, so when Paramount Home Entertainment failed to release this, one his best films in North America, eight years ago, fans were irked. Finally available, though said to be visually inferior to the long available foreign DVD version, this is a keen character study in which the knife throwing stirs the participants into a kind of erotic frenzy. The soundtrack is brainy (Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry” to Benny Goodman’s “Goodbye”), and Paradis takes strikingly to the short-hair look after Auteuil suggests trimming.

“Honeydripper”

(3 stars) 2007, Universal, PG-13, $28

Can New Orleans sensation “Guitar Sam” get it together enough to save the humble nightspot of blues pianist “Pinetop” Purvis (Danny Glover) in rural 1950 Alabama? This is the kind of character drama, with heavy pop-culture flavoring, that writer/director John Sayles does so well.

Back story: Expanding his short story “Keeping Time,” Sayles was inspired by the real Guitar Slim, who frequently didn’t show to promote his 1954 song “The Things That I Used to Do.” Purvis faces a doubting wife (Lisa Gay Hamilton) and a corrupt sheriff (Stacey Keach). Yaya DaCosta is appealing as Glover’s daughter, and Sayles provides a good role for Mary Steenburgen.

Extras, extras: Interviews with Sayles, Glover, Charles S. Dutton and producer Maggie Renzi.

“Definitely, Maybe”

(2½ stars) 2008, Universal, PG-13, $30

Despite a whopper of a screenplay contrivance, plus the casting of normally smarmy Ryan Reynolds in the lead, this Valentine’s Day theatrical release has its moments. Playing a just-divorced father of by now multiplex-ubiquitous Abigail Breslin, Reynolds divulges details to her of three major life romances. Changing the parties’ names while keeping Breslin (and us) in the dark as to which one is Mom, the movie presents 1992-2008 Manhattan as an evolving character and, at this, succeeds fairly well. Reynolds is restrained and functional, a big step up for him. The women are Elizabeth Banks (also adequate), Rachel Weisz (better) and Isla Fischer (magnetic and in versatile contrast to her randy romping in “Wedding Crashers”). Bonus amusement: Fischer’s natural Australian accent in the DVD extras.

“Phase IV”

1974, Paramount/Legend, PG, $15

From their intricately designed network of underground tunnels, ecologically affected Arizona ants attack a farm family. Because Saul Bass was probably the greatest creator of opening/closing credit sequences ever (see the ‘56 “Around the World in 80 Days” or “Psycho”), you hope for more from the only feature he ever directed. Still, this is the kind of chilly, only fitfully dramatic sci-fi movie to which genre aficionados sometimes gravitate, and an arresting premise half-carries the story. With: Michael Murphy, Nigel Davenport and Lynne Frederick, who, in real life, inherited most of husband Peter Sellers’ estate, despite a brief three-year marriage, before her own premature death.

“Hitler: The Last Ten Days”

(2½ stars) 1973, Paramount/Legend, PG, $15

Alec Guinness applying his superb mimicry skills to Der Fuhrer is a tantalizing concept, but with action mostly restricted to “the bunker,” a movie that arguably is more watchable than its reputation indicates hasn’t much to exploit. Better, and an interesting comparison, is “Downfall,” a 2004 foreign-film Oscar nominee.

Box sets

“The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet: Best of Ricky and Dave”

1953-66, Shout! Factory, unrated, $35

The titles tell a lot (“Ricky Grades a Test,” “Dave and the Fraternity Lease”), and Ricky rocks out on “Hello Mary Lou Stood Up” and “Waitin’ in School.”

“The American Film Theater”

1973-75, Kino, unrated, $200

Newly available after a $130 price reduction, here are 14 plays-to-film that were briefly shown in major markets. Despite some bombs, there are such highly regarded titles as Simon Gray’s “Butley” (with Alan Bates), Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming” (Ian Holm), and John Frankenheimer’s rendering of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh,” with Lee Marvin, Jeff Bridges, Fredric March and Robert Ryan.

Top 5 DVD rentals for July 11

1. “Vantage Point”

2. “Drillbit Taylor”

3. “10,000 B.C.”

4. “Fool’s Gold”

5. “The Bucket List”

Top 5 rentals: life.usatoday.com

Source: (c)Home Video Essentials, Rentrak Corp.

Due July 15

Mr. Hulot is back in Jacques Tati’s “Trafic”; political subtext makes “The Bank Job” above-average fun; “Step Up 2: The Streets” is for the undiscriminating