In This Issue:

November 2009

What's New on DVD

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

Drama/Foreign/Longer Films/Film Series/Collections. Brainy/Offbeat/Spine-tingling.
Color. 201 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Chantal Akerman. Starring Jan Decorte and Delphine Seyrig.
Despite the long running time, Akerman's meticulously detailed slice-of-life drama pays handsome rewards to those who surrender to its real-time rhythm. Akerman is so attentive to Dielman's ... Read More >
 

Julia (2008)

Drama/Mystery/Suspense. Fast-paced/Intense/Spine-tingling.
Color. 144 mins. Rated R. Directed By Erick Zonca. Starring Saul Rubinek, Tilda Swinton and Kate del Castillo.
Tilda Swinton turns in a tour de force performance in Erick Zonca's cross-border thriller "Julia," playing a conniving, selfish drunk who resorts to crime and other extreme measures when she loses ... Read More >
 

Mirush (2007)

Drama/Foreign. Intense/Moving/Spine-tingling.
Color. 100 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Marius Holst. Starring Enrico Lo Verso and Nazif Muarremi.
Holst gracefully orchestrates this unusual father-son drama, tracing the conflict between a boy's desire for emotional security and paternal guidance and the reality of the deeply flawed man (a ... Read More >
 

Silent Light (2007)

Drama/Foreign. Intense/Moving/Scenic.
Color. 136 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Carlos Reygadas. Starring Cornelio Wall Fehr, Maria Pankratz and Miriam Toews.
The strain between ultra-traditional faith and carnal desire, betrayal and grace gets a subtle, but powerful reworking in "Silent Light," the mesmerizing third feature by Mexican auteur Carlos ... Read More >
 

Sugar (2009)

Drama/Foreign. Moving.
Color. 120 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring Algenis Perez Soto and Rayniel Rufino.
Fleck and Boden's beautifully low-key drama is an underdog baseball tale, to be sure, but it's also a story about the immigration experience, told through the soulful eyes of a sweetly naive, ... Read More >
 

The Class (2008)

Drama/Foreign. Brainy/Intense.
Color. 128 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Laurent Cantet. Starring Francois Begaudeau and Franck Keita.
Cantet's "Class" is a spirited classroom drama, shot in an improvisational manner with actual students, and starring a real-life teacher (Begaudeau) whose bestselling book about his teaching ... Read More >
 

The Country Teacher (2008)

Drama/Foreign. Moving/Scenic.
Color. 113 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Bohdan Slama. Starring Pavel Liska and Zuzana Bydzovska.
Czech director Bohdan Slama's gently rendered, bittersweet drama tells the story of a science educator troubled with uncertainty about his sexual orientation. Petr spends his days teaching students ... Read More >
 

Tulpan (2008)

Comedy/Drama/Foreign. Offbeat/Scenic.
Color. 100 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Sergey Dvortsevoy. Starring Askhat Kuchinchirekov and Ondasynbesikbasov.
Who knew life in a yurt could be so much fun? Shot in the arid, forbidding region of southern Kazakhstan, Dvortsevoy's endearingly loony "Tulpan" is a brilliant mix of gentle comedy, docu-realism, ... Read More >
 

Tyson (2008)

Documentary. Brainy/Intense.
Color. 90 mins. Rated R. Directed By James Toback.
Regardless of whether you're a boxing fan or what your opinion of Tyson might be—he is, after all, a convicted rapist and a disgraced fighter best remembered for biting a chunk out of Evander ... Read More >
 

Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)

Documentary. Moving/Scenic/Witty.
Color. 96 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Matt Tyrnauer.
Matt Tyrnauer's celebrated docu-portrait of a fashion icon begins with the designer's 75th birthday party and final show, then arcs backward to detail Valentino's rise in the industry and the ... Read More >
 

Theme of the Month: The Journey Home

In the third week of November many of us make our way home to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. We honor this yearly ritual with movies that focus on going home - when often the journey itself takes on more meaning than the destination.

A Sunday in the Country (1984)

Foreign Language/Drama. Moving/Scenic.
Color. 94 mins. Rated G. Directed By Bertrand Tavernier. Starring Michel Aumont and Louis Ducreaux.
A subtly drawn, gentle tale about the vagaries of family and the reality of encroaching mortality. With stunning color photography romancing the lush French countryside, director Tavernier layers ... Read More >
 

Coming Home (1978)

Romance. Intense/Moving/Brainy.
Color. 127 mins. Rated R. Directed By Hal Ashby. Starring Bruce Dern, Jon Voight and Jane Fonda.
A love story to be sure, but also a highly original take on the human price of war. This riveting film is propelled by intense performances from the three leads, all of whom were Oscar-nominated ... Read More >
 

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Foreign Language/Comedy. Moving/Witty.
Color. 124 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By Ang Lee. Starring Sihung Lung and Kuei-Mei Yang.
Though the film is Taiwanese, the emotions and issues feel universal, as captured by "Wedding Banquet" director Ang Lee. Exploring the conflicts and disappointments that arise in the daughters' ... Read More >
 

Finding Nemo (2003)

Comedy/Family. Wholesome/Farr-cical/Fast-paced.
Animation. 100 mins. Rated G. Directed By Andrew Stanton. Starring Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres.
Written and directed by "Toy Story" alum Andrew Stanton, this hilarious undersea romp from the fabled Pixar studio features an eye-popping cast of characters voiced by Willem Dafoe, Eric Bana, ... Read More >
 

Lassie Come Home (1943)

Family. Moving/Wholesome.
Color. 88 mins. Rated G. Directed By Fred Wilcox. Starring Roddy McDowell and Elizabeth Taylor.
Touching tale gets full MGM treatment, with sumptuous Oscar-nominated Technicolor and a solid cast, including Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester as Joe's parents, and Elizabeth Taylor in her first MGM ... Read More >
 

Pieces of April (2003)

Drama. Moving/Witty.
Color. 80 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Peter Hedges. Starring Oliver Platt, Katie Holmes and Patricia Clarkson.
"Pieces of April" is a little picture with a big heart, both funny and sad--one of those movies that sneaks up on you. The frenzied comic shenanigans involved in pulling off this meal belie a ... Read More >
 

Rabbit Proof Fence (2002)

Action/Adventure/Drama. Intense/Moving.
Color. 93 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Philip Noyce. Starring Kenneth Branagh and Everlyn Sampi.
Based on a true story that marks an especially repugnant episode in Australian history, Noyce's visually arresting, powerfully moving "Fence" concerns efforts begun in the 1930s to ... Read More >
 

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Drama. Moving/Intense.
Black & White. 168 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By William Wyler. Starring Fredric March and Myrna Loy.
Thanks to William Wyler's expert, understated direction, each of the three characters that make up this remarkably sensitive, perceptive picture is subtly drawn, evoking the complex challenges that ... Read More >
 

The Quiet Man (1952)

Romance. Moving/Scenic.
Color. 129 mins. Rated Unrated. Directed By John Ford. Starring John Wayne.
Immortal director Ford directed this Oscar-winning valentine to his ancestral home, a love story that soars thanks to Ford's resplendent shooting and a solid, flavorful performance from the Duke. ... Read More >
 

The Road Home (2001)

Drama/Foreign/Romance. Moving/Scenic/Wholesome.
Color. 89 mins. Rated G. Directed By Zhang Yimou. Starring Honglei Sun and Zhang Ziyi.
Wrapping a love story about undying hope and desire around a glancing study of China's turbulent modern political history, celebrated director Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red Lantern") employs black and ... Read More >
 

Spotlight

• If you didn't catch John last month on CNN's Joy Behar Show, here's the clip: Joy Behar.