Picks of the Week
Ne Change Rien
Ne Change Rien (Cinema Guild) — Stunningly sculpted in high-contrast black-and-white celluloid, Pedro Costa’s Ne Change Rien is one of the few documentaries that can rightfully claim to actually be about music. Not a story about a musician or a band, and not a concert film either, but something different. And in a landscape overloaded with media, to find something that stands out as truly “different” is a rare gift, indeed. Read Cullen Gallagher’s full review, then buy it on DVD.
Recommended
Police, Adjective (Zeitgeist Films) — Corneliu Porumboiu’s second feature, following 2006’s 12:08 East of Bucharest, puts the “procedure” back into “police procedural.” Cristi (Dragos Bucur), a cop in the sleepy city of Vaslui, is assigned to investigate a high school student rumored to be a hashish dealer. Porumboiu films the action in patiently observant long takes that sometimes last for several minutes; like Cristi, we wait, we watch, we ponder what we’re watching. Instead of the usual dramatic clichés of the policier, we get real-time stakeouts, endless negotiations over paperwork, everyday workplace squabbles and shit-shooting. Porumboiu does bring in one familiar genre element, the old theme of the letter versus the spirit of the law, but even that gets a devastatingly original twist in the film’s climactic scene. An ingenious formal experiment masquerading as a naturalistic docudrama, a quietly hilarious deadpan comedy, and, of all things, a thought-provoking rumination on language, Police, Adjective marks yet another stunning success for the new generation of Romanian filmmakers. Buy it on DVD. (Nelson Kim)
True Adolescents (New Video) — Buy it on DVD.
Me Too (Olive Films) — Buy it on DVD.
If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Oscilloscope) — Buy it on DVD.
New/Old To DVD/Blu-ray Picks of the Week
The Complete Jean Vigo (À propos de Nice, Taris, Zéro de conduite, and L’Atalante) (Criterion) — Buy the multi-disc set on DVD or Blu-ray.
If… (Criterion) — Buy it on Blu-ray.
Orpheus (Criterion) — Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Coen Brothers Collection: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Fargo (20th Century Fox) — Buy the 4-Blu-ray Set, or buy them individually on Blu-ray: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Fargo.
An American Family: Anniversary Edition (PBS) — Warning: This contains highlights from the complete groundbreaking 12-part series from 1971 as opposed to the whole series itself. Buy it on DVD.
Face To Face (Olive Films) — Buy it on DVD.
Good Will Hunting (Miramax/Lionsgate) — Buy the Blu-ray + Digital Copy.
Have Not Seen Yet But Really/Kinda/Sorta/Maybe Wanna
In A Better World (Sony Classics) — Buy the 2-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo.
The Perfect Host (Magnolia) — Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Skateland (20th Century Fox) — Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Wrecked (MPI Home Video) — Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.
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