DREAMSVILLE’S WEEK IN DVD
“Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance” is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) — famous for portraying an iconic superhero — as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. Riggan Thompson was Birdman, a crime-stopping superhero with a beak and a three-film franchise. Now, he’s a washed up actor trying to get his career and life back together by opening his own play on Broadway. On the eve of it’s opening, the play is close to falling apart and Riggan is forced to sign a younger, egotistical lead actor, whom he despises. What
Bill Murray has finally come into his own as one of this country’s best dramatic actors, and he comes to the fore in “St. Vincent,” a bittersweet comedy about a crumpy older man, his Russian prostitute girlfriend and his new neighbors. Maggie (Melissa McCarthy), a single mother, moves into a new home in Brooklyn with her 12-year old son, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). Forced to work long hours, she has no choice but to leave Oliver in the care of their new neighbor, Vincent (Murray), a retired curmudgeon with a penchant for alcohol and gambling. An odd friendship soon blossoms between the improbable pair. Together with the pregnant Russian hooker Daka (Naomi Watts in a wonderful role), Vincent brings Oliver along on all the stops that make up his daily routine — the race track, a strip club and the local dive bar. Vincent helps Oliver grow to become a man, while Oliver begins to see in Vincent something that no one else is able to: a misunderstood man with a good heart. A thoroughly enjoyable — if predictable — outing. From The Weinstein Co.
The documentary “The Sixties” (2014) explores the most turbulent decade of the modern era in America. From the Cold War to the War in Vietnam, from the Space Race to the Long March to Freedom and Civil Rights, the events of the 1960s were both dramatic and transformative. The Beatles invaded America, Man landed on the Moon and the Women’s, Environmental, Conservative and
“An Autumn Afternoon” (1962), the final film from Yasujiro Ozu, was also his last masterpiece, a gently heartbreaking story about a man’s dignifed resignation to life’s shifting currents and society’s modernization. Though widower Shuhei (frequent Ozu leading man
In “No Tears for the Dead” (2014 — South Korea), Gon (Jang Dong-gun), abandoned by his mother shortly after immigrating to America, is raised by the mafia and grows up to become a cold-blooded hit man. Though usually flawless in taking out his targets, Gon makes a terrible mistake by killing an innocent young girl. A flood of guilt takes over his life and the situation becomes worse when his boss assigns him the job of killing the young girl’s mother — until he begins the fight to save her life. From the director of “The Man From Nowhere.” On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from CJ Entertainment