This Week’s DVD Releases
Double Indemnity – 70th Anniversary Limited
Edition
This is the conscientious objector documentary that revisits disgraced Heavyweight Champ Muhammad Ali’s legal battle to overturn his five-year sentence for refusing to serve in Vietnam. His argument for refusing to serve was “Ain’t no Viet Cong ever call me [N-word].”
Midsomer Murders: Village Case Files [Series Eight and Nine]
The Invisible Woman was rated PG-13 for sexuality, mature themes and brief violence. The historical drama revolved around Charles Dickens’ clandestine relationship with the mistress he kept hidden from the height of his career until his death. Dickens is played by Ralph Fiennes, and his mistress is Felicity Jones. Also in the cast are Kristin Scott Thomas, Michelle Fairely and Tom Hollander.
As Prairie Miller wrote in NY Film Festival: Ralph Fiennes Does A Devious Dickens in The Invisible Woman The Invisible Woman is based on the biography by Claire Tomalin about Ellen ‘Nelly’ Ternan, played by Felicity Jones. A failed young actress, Nelly was just a teenager when she became infatuated with Dickens, a forty-five year old Victorian version of a rock star back then. And Dickens seems to have been in the throes of midlife crisis, as he abandons his wife and ten children for the adoring but emotionally ambivalent groupie.
The Curse of the Gothic Symphony
“Philomena” was nominated for Best motion picture of the year produced by Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward.
Honorable Mention
This week, I give 15 DVDs an honorable mention.
PBS Kids: Between the Lions – Vowel Power
TV Guide Spotlight: Totally 80s Toons
Thomas & Friends: Railway Mischief
Barney: Happy Birthday Barney!
Angry Birds Toons: Season One, Volume Two
Better Living through Chemistry
