THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2010
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NewDVDs OF NOTE
GREENBERG R, 2010, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98
The basics: Ben Stiller is Roger Greenberg, a 40- year-old New Yorker who has just been released from a mental hospital and is house-sitting for his brother in Los Angeles. He befriends his brother’s assistant, Florence (an endearing Greta Gerwig), who is also a soul adrift. The lowdown: A story of grown-ups trying to grow up, “Greenberg,” which was directed by Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”), is incon- sistent and draggy, especially in the beginning. But then Stiller hits his stride, and the humor picks up. You’ll find yourself rooting for the unlikable Roger, not to mention Florence and Roger’s friend Ivan (Rhys Ifans). The extras: Very skimpy bonus features, including a look behind the scenes that is essentially an ex- tended trailer.
TERRIBLY HAPPY Unrated, 2008, $29.99
WILSON WEBB/FOCUS FEATURES Ben Stiller plays a soul adrift in “Greenberg.” 6 from previous page
has been feathering their handsome Upper East Side nest, while the others navigate motherhood, careers and menopause. As the story takes them to a freebie junket in Abu Dhabi, the script visits one indignity af- ter another upon “the girls,” from Miranda’s desperate whoops of fake glee to Saman- tha’s compulsive penchant for dirty puns. Carrie & Co. run amok, dressed like the off- spring of Barnum & Bailey and Alexis Car- rington, making jokes about burqas and, in Samantha’s case, engaging in exhibitionis- tic displays that border on the psychotic, making a mockery of the surface pleasures that the series could always be counted on to provide. (R, 140 minutes) Contains strong sexual content and profanity. At AMC Loews Georgetown.
BBBSHREK FOREVER AFTER
The Shrek we meet at the start of this film is a shell of an ogre: mean and green on the outside, but all mellow yellow inside. In an attempt to get back some of his mojo, Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) for 24 hours in his old life. In return, Rumpelstilts- kin gets to take a day from Shrek’s life. Rumpelstiltskin picks the day Shrek was born, meaning that, while Shrek now finds himself in a world of responsibility, it’s also a world in which all the good he’s done has had no effect. He didn’t rescue his wife, Fio- na (Cameron Diaz). Rumpelstiltskin is now king and the kingdom a police state run by witches who hunt down ogres. Fiona is the leader of the ogre resistance movement. Fortunately, there’s an escape clause: If he and Fiona share “true love’s kiss,” Shrek gets his life back. All he has to do is make Fiona fall in love with him — all over again. If he doesn’t, he’ll evaporate come sunrise. (PG, 98 minutes) Contains slapsticky action and bathroom humor. At Fairfax Corner.
BB1⁄2 SOLITARY MAN
By the end of the film, Ben Kalmen, played by Michael Douglas, has isolated himself, one by one, from nearly everyone that once meant something to him. His girlfriend (Mary-Louise Parker) dumps him for sleep- ing with her teenage daughter (Imogen Poots). His own daughter Susan (Jenna Fischer) cuts him off, refusing to let him see his grandson. The once-successful car dealer is reduced to slinging hash in a diner belonging to his childhood pal Jimmy (Dan- ny DeVito), after a fraud conviction de- stroys his string of BMW dealerships. Be- sides Jimmy, Ben’s ex-wife (Susan Saran- don) is practically the only person still talking to him. But Ben wasn’t always this way. He was once crazy about his wife, and
ON WASHINGTONPOST.COM/DVDS. More DVD reviews and information.
The basics: This intriguing Danish thriller (which was Denmark’s submission to this year’s Academy Awards) follows a Copenhagen cop sent to work in a remote village after pulling a gun on his wife and having a nervous breakdown. It’s based on a novel by Erling Jepsen, a childhood friend of the director, Henrik Ruben Genz. The lowdown: This offbeat black comedy is more often dark than comic, bringing to mind the Coen brothers, especially in its setting (mud replacing “Fargo’s” snow). The movie is a bit slow-moving but has enough twists and turns to keep you watching. An American version is said to be in the works. The extras: The special features include commen- tary by Genz and an entertaining sit-down with Jep- son and Genz as they describe their unusual col- laboration creating the film.
— Amy Hitt TOP
What Washington is watching
5
“Brooklyn’s Finest” (with Wesley Snipes, above left, and Don Cheadle)
1
his business slogan used to be “New York’s honest car dealer.” Despite its name, this isn’t a film about Ben, but about relation- ships — and you’ll want to see more of even the most minor ones. (R, 90 minutes) Con- tains crude language, sexual content and a beating. At AMC Loews Shirlington and Bow Tie Harbour.
BBBTOY STORY 3 — A.H.
Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and their toy- box friends return to the screen in a film set during the week before Andy goes to college. Buzz and Jessie and the gang are sent to a day-care center that winds up being, as one survivor puts it, a place of squalor and despair, “run by an evil bear who smells of strawberries.” The toys’ break-out from the day-care center winds up being the ballast of the film. Woody meets a new group of toys, in- cluding a hedgehog who approaches pre- tend tea parties with the thespian seri- ousness of Daniel Day-Lewis. Ultimately, every “Toy Story” movie is not just about
— M.O.
the film’s plot or narrative, but the sto- ries the characters want to be in when Andy plays with them. It’s just this deep sense of longing that will bring adult viewers to that Disney-approved point of smiling even as they weep openly. (G, 103 minutes) Contains some themes that may be frightening for the youngest viewers. Area theaters.
BBBTHE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
In this installment of the “Twilight” series, 17-year-old heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) inches ever closer to becoming a vampire and joining her forbidden love, Ed- ward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Bella is also being pursued by Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard), who is amassing an army of “newborn” vampires to wreak vengeance on Bella and the Cullen clan. With all the talk about the Big Change to come and Bella longing for physical intimacy with Edward and Edward valiantly resisting, the cardinal “Twilight” themes of longing, chastity and protection are stronger than ever. More deeply psychological than the first two,
“Eclipse” goes further not just in advancing the story but also illuminating the tension that Bella embodies — between autonomy and surrender — and clarifying her desire to become a bloodless being with no human connections. (PG-13, 121 minutes) Contains intense sequences of action and violence, and sensuality. Area theaters.
— A.H. BB1⁄2 WINTER’S BONE
Adapted from Daniel Woodrell’s novel, this movie limns the impoverished backwoods culture of the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri, a landscape of drug labs, rural de- tritus and foreclosed hopes. Ree Dolly (Jen- nifer Lawrence), 17, is trying to keep her fragile household together, taking care of her younger siblings, as well as her invalid mother. Her father, Jessup, has been away for weeks when a sheriff arrives to tell her that he was arrested for cooking meth and has put the family’s house up as bond. He’s due in court, and if Ree can’t find him, she’ll lose her home and her family will be torn apart. Co-written and directed by Debra Granik, “Winter’s Bone” teeters uncomfort- ably between patronizing its hard-bitten characters and romanticizing their folk- ways, from the gorgeous musical interludes that punctuate the film to their terse rhe- torical flourishes. (R, 100 minutes) Contains drug material, profanity and violence. Area theaters.
Repertory
“CARY GRANT — A STAR TO REMEMBER” “His Girl Friday,” Monday at 6:30. Free, tickets distributed 30 minutes prior to screening. National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. 202-628-6161.
www.nationaltheatre.org.
— M.O.
“I [HEART] THE ’90S” ROSSLYN OUTDOOR FILM FESTIVAL At Gateway Park: “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” Friday at 8. Lee Highway and North Lynn Street, Arlington. 703-276-7759.
www.rosslynva. org.
AFI SILVER THEATRE “Back to the Future,” Friday at 7, Saturday at 8:30 and Thursday at 6:30. $6-$10. “The Bad Sleep Well,” Saturday and Sunday at 12:45, Monday at 6:30. $6-$10. “High and Low,” Saturday and Sunday at 3:30, Tuesday at 6:30. $6-$10. 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-495-6720.
www.afi.com/silver.
PHOTO BY KIMBERLEY FRENCH/© 2009 SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”
AMERICAN CITY DINER “The Birds,” Friday at 8:30. Free. “The Graduate,” Saturday at 8:30. Free. “Anatomy of a Murder,” Sunday at 8:30. Free. “Broadway’s Danny Rose,” Monday at 8:30. Free. “The Maltese Falcon,” Tuesday at 8:30. Free. “The Rainmaker,” Wednesday at
DUE TUESDAY
Action-comedy in Cop Out and The Losers; real-life suspense in The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers; and musical nostalgia in The Runaways.
“She’s Out of My League”
— A.H. “Shutter Island”
2 3
“The Wolfman” “Remember Me”
4 5
SOURCE: Redbox, for the week ended July 11.
— A.H.
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