Let's take a look at the best DVDs for July 2010.
Colin Firth gives an Oscar-nominated performance in this drama based on Christopher Isherwood's novel. The film marks the directorial debut of Tom Ford, the fashion designer who became famous for his Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent work. The setting is the L.A. area in 1962, when being gay was generally strongly disapproved. Firth plays George Falconer, a British-born college professor who is grief-stricken when his lover (Matthew Goode) of 16 years is killed in an accident. Other characters include George's friend (Julianne Moore) and a good-looking gay student (Nicholas Hoult).
Noah Baumbach (
The Squid and the Whale,
Margot at the Wedding) directed this small, talky character study starring Ben Stiller as Roger Greenberg, who gives the movie its title. Stiller gives a fine performance, as does his costar, Greta Gerwig, previously known for mumblecore films like
Hannah Takes the Stairs. The neurotic 41-year-old Greenberg is going through an identity crisis when he house-sits for a few weeks. He meets 27-year-old Florence (Gerwig), who has her own identity issues. There's little plot, but the movie's strength is in closely observing unglamorous life in LA.
This documentary is about the battle over an art collection that boasts 181 Renoirs, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos and 69 Cezannes. The collection was assembled by the quirky Alfred C. Barnes, who intended the art works be displayed in an educational environment at a place called The Barnes Foundation located in the Philadelphia suburb of Merion, Pennsylvania. Barnes' will stipulates that the collection can never be moved, but there's been a lengthy legal battle to relocate it to a new museum in central Philadelphia, where it is expected to be a major tourist attraction.
The first in a series of three Swedish films, this thriller is a generally faithful adaptation of the first novel in Stieg Larsson's bestselling trilogy. The title character is a talented computer hacker in her mid-20s named Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). The other main character is middle-aged financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist). An elderly rich man pays Blomkvist handsomely to investigate the disappearance of his niece 40 years earlier, and along the way the journalist hooks up with Salander as a lot of secrets are gradually revealed.
Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star in this film about the 1970s all-girl rock band that gives the movie its title. This is the first feature film directed by Floria Sigismondi, who has a music video background. Set mostly in the L.A. area, the movie focuses on guitarist Joan Jett (Stewart) and lead singer Cherie Currie (Fanning). Another character is promoter Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), who acts as a sort of Svengali for the teenage girls who make up the band. There's plenty of drugs, sex and music as the Runaways have a meteoric rise, then go into a downward spiral.
