Now on DVD and Blu-ray: Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Baaria' and Kevin Smith's 'Red State'
"Baaria"
Writer-director Giuseppe Tornatore, whose graceful and highly personal 1988 film "Cinema Paradiso" won an Oscar and Golden Globe for best foreign film, has crafted another sweeping epic about his Sicilian homeland. This 2009 film follows three generations of a family in the province of Palermo, from the 1920s to the 1980s. Francesco Scianna stars as Peppino, who witnesses injustices by landowners and becomes a communist, only to be disillusioned in the end by corruption and compromise. The powerful musical score is composed by Ennio Morricone, a frequent Sergio Leone collaborator who won an honorary Oscar in 2007. Unrated, 151 minutes. DVD and Blu-ray extras: deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, a director interview and director commentary. From Image Entertainment. Released Oct. 18.
"Red State"
John Goodman and Melissa Leo star in writer-director Kevin Smith's disturbing 2011 horror thriller about crazed religious fundamentalists. Michael Angarano plays a high school student who with two friends is lured by an online invitation for group sex. It proves to be a trap, he is taken prisoner by a deranged pastor with an affinity for weaponry. This violent film created a stir at the Sundance Film Festival, where Smith, also known as Silent Bob, announced that instead of auctioning the film's rights, he would self-release it, in the style of Mel Gibson. Since then, the film has received only a very limited theatrical release, and now it arrives on DVD and Blu-ray. Co-starring Michael Parks, Kevin Pollak and Stephen Root. R, 88 minutes. DVD and Blu-ray extras: deleted scenes, a making-of doc, interviews and Smith's Sundance speech. From Lionsgate. Released Oct. 18.
"The Shock Doctrine"
This 2009 documentary argues that political leaders sometimes use times of disaster to push through radical free-market reforms. The film expands on Naomi Klein's best-selling 2007 book of the same name, which says these unregulated remedies, which benefit corporations over the public, are promulgated during a trumped up war or natural disasters. The film starts with the work of economist Milton Friedman and the Chicago School, moves to Pinochet's Chile, and on to the American Neocon's directives to invade Iraq and Afghanistan to show how these policies have taken hold, shifting money to the wealthy. The fascinating film is co-directed by Michael Winterbottom ("24 Hour Party People") and Mat Whitecross, who previously teamed up on the 2006 documentary "The Road to Guantanamo." Unrated, 79 minutes. No extras. From Zeitgeist Films. Released Oct. 18.
"A Better Life"
Demian Bichir plays a modest East L.A. gardener fighting an uphill battle to avoid immigration officials while keeping his son from falling in with gangs. The stirring 2011 drama, with an almost entirely Hispanic cast, was directed by Chris Weitz, an Oscar nominee for best screenplay for "About a Boy." PG-13, 98 minutes. From Summit Entertainment. Released Oct. 18.
Now on DVD and Blu-ray: Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Baaria' and Kevin Smith's 'Red State'
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