Bright Star

This Winter Tuesday brings lots of great new DVD releases (a blessing if you're stuck inside!). In addition to the titles below, Robert Pattinson's Little Ashes, The Boys Are Back, horror flick Saw VI, and Surrogates are all out on video.

Whip It

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut didn't chart highly at the box office, but I enjoyed her girl-power good time a great deal. The story of a meek young girl who finds freedom with a roller derby league, Whip It is way too much fun. Providing hilarious support are Arrested Development alum Alia Shawkat, funny girl Kristen Wiig, and Barrymore herself — rent it for your next girls' night in.

The DVD extras include nine deleted scenes and an alternate opening scene.

82%

This Is It

Kenny Ortega's documentary about Michael Jackson, This Is It, gives you a chance to experience what would have been the king of pop's last tour. That Jackson died this year just makes the experience of getting to see the tireless work and production put into Jackson's concerts that much more special. I thought it was a striking, intimate tribute, and worth seeing if you're a fan.

The DVD's extras include an hour of unseen footage, a making-of documentary and featurettes about the costumes, the dancer auditions, and Jackson's closest friends revealing memories of him.

80%

See one more new release when you read more

I remember reading the poet John Keats's work as a college student, and I very specifically recall the page-long description of his life. Two facts dominate his bio: that he died young and that he fell in love with the girl next door, Fanny Brawne. It was obvious that a romantic love story existed in that bare-bones text — and filmmaker Jane Campion has brought it to life in Bright Star.

Campion's film is the gorgeous and tragic story of Keats and Brawne. She doesn't merely set her movie in the early 1800s England and leave it there, she gives you an appreciation for a time when literature was exalted and marriage was a financial transaction.

To hear what I thought about the film, just read more

Director Jane Campion won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for The Piano (she was nominated for Best Director as well, losing out to Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List), and the trailer for her next film, Bright Star, already has some tongues wagging about "Oscar bait." The rich, dreamy quality to the film is certainly appealing, and the two stars at the center of the story, Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw, make for a sweet romantic pair. Whishaw plays the poet John Keats, "the dreamer," who falls in love with "a realist," Fanny Browne (Cornish).

The trailer is already lovely on its own; I can't wait to see the whole movie when it opens Sept. 18 (here in San Francisco, anyway). To take a peek at Bright Star, read more