Less than 10 days before Christmas, the happiest season of the year is here! There is no better way to jumpstart the jolly season with stocks of DVDs for long Christmas break. Here are the must see and top Ten DVD releases for this week:
Denzel Does Vigilante in Adaptation of Eighties TV Series
Denzel Washington plays Robert McCall, a perfectly-pleasant, affable widower and sales associate at a hardware superstore where he jokes with co-workers who call him “Pops.” He lives in a modest apartment in a working-class Boston community. A nearby dingy diner is a place he frequents to read a book into the wee hours of the morning.
Teri, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, is a provocatively-dressed prostitute who hangs out there between clients. She is beaten up by her pimp and McCall exacts revenge for what the pimp did to her.
“Who are we, and where do we come from? The fundamental drive to answer these questions is at the heart of Finding Your Roots… As Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. shows us, the tools of cutting-edge genomics and deep genealogical research now allow us to learn more about our roots, looking further back in time than ever before.”
Rocks!
A character-driven examination of a dysfunctional Jewish family about as wacky as they come.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity, sexuality and drug use
Running time: 103 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Makers: Women Who Make America 2
Altina is a frustrating tease of a tribute that seems to merely scratch the surface of an overprotected child of privilege-turned-irrepressible bon vivant.
Altina
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
In English and Spanish with subtitles
Running time: 80 minutes
Distributor: First Run Features
Honorable Mention