Hold on to your real estate, your daughters, and your organs: this week's best new world and independent DVDs prominently feature thieves, poachers, cheats, and kleptomaniacs. Jennifer Connelly loses her home in "House of Sand and Fog," Irish girls their freedom in Peter Mullins' "The Magdalene Sisters," and immigrants their kidneys in Stephen Frear's "Dirty Pretty Things." Also: The return of the talented Mr. Ripley!
1. House of Sand and Fog
Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley and Shoreh Aghdashloo deliver stunning performances in this Great American Tragedy based on the novel by Andre Dubus III. Special features include commentary by director/screenwriter Vadim Perelman, original author Andre Dubus III, and star Ben Kingsley, deleted scenes, a documentary featurette, and the original audition tape of Oscar nominated Iranian actress Shoreh Aghdashloo.
2. The Magdalene Sisters
Up until the 1960s, Irish girls accused of "moral crimes" were sent to work in laundries to atone for their sexual sins. These asylums, known as the Magdalene Asylums, were virtual prisons for what is estimated to be roughly 30,000 innocent young women. Peter Mullins' "The Magdalene Sisters" is a bold, shocking and powerful film that recreates a shameful period in Irish history through the fictional stories of three wrongfully imprisoned girls.
3. Dirty Pretty Things
They are the people you don't see: they drive your taxis, clean your dirty hotel rooms, sew your clothes in unseen sweatshops, and worse. Stephen Frear's drama of illegal immigrants (convincingly played by French gamine Audrey Tautou and Chiwetal Ejiofor) living in London is an enthralling thriller that will open your eyes.4. Ripley's Game
How can it be that this European art-house hit, the sequel to the "Talented Mr. Ripley" starring John Malkovich, went straight to video? There is no valid explanation. Malkovich plays Ripley (the role made famous by Matt Damon) a freelance criminal who, out of pique, draws an innocent picture framer (Dougray Scott) into a murder scheme.5. Seventh Heaven (Septieme Ciel)
French filmmaker Benoit Jacquot creates a vague but lovely drama about an unfulfilled young wife (Sandrine Kiberlain), a kleptomaniac with fainting spells and a fear of intimacy, whose cure through hypnotism and feng shui upsets her husband's (Vincent Lindon) well ordered life. It's a treat to be in the hands of these wonderful French performers (who happen to be truly be married).