Dealt
Get Out
Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) is a little wary of visiting his white girlfriend’s parents at their posh country home. But he has no idea of the fate intended for him. Writer-director Jordan Peele won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for this pointed social satire dressed in the blood-spurting trappings of a contemporary horror flick. Get Out works as a reminder of the discomfort of African Americans in a white world that remains patronizing at best.
Shop title on Amazon:
Dealt
Card magician Richard Turner begins his day with a workout, and before going on stage he recites tongue twisters. His mind is focused, his fingers are fast—and he’s blind. Luke Korem’s documentary, Dealt, looks at a man who has gone beyond his physical limitations. Interesting for its grasp on card tricks and inspiring for its story, Dealt includes interviews with family and admiring stage-magic colleagues along with footage of Turner in action cutting the deck.
Shop title on Amazon:
The Girl Without Hands
The Girl Without Hands represents the pushback to the software-driven animation that fills the multiplexes. French director Sébastien Laudenbach works with pen, paper and paint, crafting his take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale with simple lines and color blocks that suggest—without replicating—Japanese woodblock prints. The Girl Without Hands won several awards and was screened at Cannes. The DVD/Blu-ray combo contains bonus features including an interview with Laudenbach and several of his short films.
Shop title on Amazon:
No Orchids for Miss Blandish
The staging is sometimes silly, it’s clearly a B-minus picture, but the 1948 thriller is interesting for several reasons. First of all, it’s a U.K. production set in New York, with an Anglo-American cast whose British members impersonate tough guy Yankee gangsters and their molls. Britain’s censorship was looser than in the U.S. at the time, making it racier than Hollywood allowed. Jack La Rue turns in a decent performance in cut-rate Bogart mode.
Shop title on Amazon:
