DVD Tuesday - In Bruges

It's Tuesday, which means it's DVD new release day. There haven't been many notable new releases lately, but today is a banner day.

Number one on my list of DVD's you need to add to your Netflix queue is In Bruges. I was lucky enough to see its world premiere at Sundance in January. It opened this spring in theaters but didn't seem to make much of a splash. I thought in Bruges was fantastic and it was my favorite film of the festival. Very funny, very violent and sometimes shockingly gory. Great dialog and interesting script by Oscar winning (short film) director Martin McDonagh, who is known for his award winning plays in Ireland. Colin Farrell was brilliant in the film. He was very funny, cries several times and then is shockingly violent and explosive showing an extensive range in the film. I thought the role fit him very well, one of his best in years, and really showcased him. Ralph Fiennes cracked me up because he usually plays so highbrow, and this role was with a low class accent and kind of a thug character. Brendan Gleeson was his usual wonderful character actor self. My husband and I still quote dialog from this film to each other. Our favorite exchange between Brendan and Colin:

Ken: Ray, you are about the worst tourist in the whole world.
Ray: Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.

It's in the trailer here:


Persepolis, the amazing Oscar nominated animated film is also out today, and Definitely, Maybe with adorable Abigail Breslin and Ryan Reynolds is worth a rental.

Persepolis - review

Persepolis is something truly special. This is a unique film, an Oscar nominated animated film that is the biography of Marjane Satrapi. Marjane Satrapi wrote her story of growing up in Iran during the revolution in two best-selling graphic novels. She was born in 1969, and was a spunky outspoken little girl who loved Bruce Lee, The Bee Gees and her Adiddas shoes. The revolution is seen through the eyes of this child, and the stark black and white of the images make the emotions more powerful than live action might have. Eventually, her outspokenness makes her parents fear for her safety, and they send her to go to a French school in Vienna. Imagine being a teenager that truly doesn't fit in -- one who has seen war and revolution and had relatives executed in prison.

I'm making it sound like this movie is full of doom and gloom. There is sadness, because there was tragedy and hardship in her life, but the film is full of funny moments. Marjane has a special relationship with her equally outspoken Grandmother. Marjane marries young, and comes weeping to her grandmother that she wants a divorce. Her Grandmother laughs, "Divorce! I thought someone had died! The first marriage is just practice for the next one."

This coming of age film tells a story that probably isn't unique in Iran -- that of a girl who lived in a secular family that became oppressed by the Islamic revolution. But to us in the West, this story is different, and I love that it is told from the viewpoint of this outspoken freespirited girl. Persepolis is a film that lost to Ratatouille for the Oscar for Animated film, but it made many critics top 10 films of year lists, and now I know why. It's a beautiful film, with an extraordinary story. Persepolis will be released on DVD June 24th.