DVD of the Week: Volver

My DVD pick this week is Pedo Almodovar's darkly comic and deeply moving family drama Volver. The film deals with subjects as benign as daily housework and as extraordinary as murder and ghosts from the great beyond. Primarily, it is the story of mothers and daughters connecting through strange circumstances and against all odds. It stars a wonderful ensemble of Spanish actresses including Academy Award nominee Penelope Cruz who finally has the ability to show us her talent after scraping by in outlandish American action flicks for far too long.

I also want to mention Robert DeNiro's The Good Shepherd, a highly calculated thriller whose pace might grow infuriating but whose pay off works marvelously. Matt Damon gives another great steely spy performance as an intensely diligent CIA operative attempting to balance his complex job with his life at home. The film is rich with details and varied layers all of which may seem excessive but most of which factor strongly into the film's gripping final act. It's definitely a film worth seeing. Also, today marks the release of 3 Needles, a captivating and tragic AIDS drama that's beautifully poignant and thankfully not at all preachy about its social agenda. It creates awareness through multiple deftly crafted narratives rather than bluntly bashing its message into our fragile movie goer minds. The massive ensemble cast includes talent such as Lucy Liu, Chloe Sevigny, Sandra Oh, Stockard Channing, Olympia Dukakis, Shawn Ashmore and many more.