Death Defying Acts

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the selections below you can also add to your queue the kid-friendly adventure Journey to the Center of the Earth.

The L Word
Before the fifth season of Showtime's The L Word started this Summer, there were a lot of questions: Is Jenny still going to be so terrible? Is Shane settling down to make a family (uh, for real this time)? Will Alice stay with Tasha when she's shipped back to Iraq? Well, some of you may know the answers to these questions and some may not.

Now you can take home the entire season to catch up or relive the glory this Winter before the sixth and final season airs Sunday, Jan. 18. Special features include "The 2008 Wolfe Women's Party in Tampa" and "The Making of the Subaru Pink Ride."


Two more selections up next so read more

Hmm. . . a movie with two relatively big-ish actors (Catherine Zeta-Jones is perhaps more recognizable, but Guy Pearce is an exceptional actor, as you may recall from a little something called Memento) that has been completed for many months but gets practically no U.S. promotion whatsoever, even as its release date (July 11) fast approaches? It kinda makes you wonder about this Harry Houdini drama, Death Defying Acts.

Little Women director Gillian Armstrong leads the dramatic tale of escapism and romance. The story takes place in 1926 Britain where Houdini "enters into a passionate affair with a Scottish psychic (Zeta-Jones). The psychic and her daughter (Saoirse Ronan) attempt to con Houdini during a highly publicized séance to contact his mother whose death has haunted him for many years. However, all does not go to plan."

The story has so much potential to be dark and intriguing, and I am always curious about what Guy Pearce is up to. Plus, there's a pre-Atonement (and thus pre-Oscar nom) Saoirse Ronan and she is a pretty great little actress.

The movie already had an Australian premiere and I will probably give it a shot when it comes to a theater near me. To check out the trailer, read more