Middle-aged women bare their breasts, squat French mothers and overweight dogs travel across the Ocean is search of kidnapped bicylists, teenage girls kiss, Scarlett Johansson seduces, and Sam Shepard acts his heart out in this week's top DVD releases.
1. Calendar Girls
Nude pictures of middle-aged women! "Calendar Girls" is a small, lovely film about women posing topless--for charity, of course. Terrific English actresses Helen Mirren and Julie Walters star as best friends from a small village whose pleasant lives are shattered when Walters' husband dies of leukemia.
2. Triplets of Belleville
Sylvain Chomet's wildly inventive and highly original animated feature was one of the suprise hits of 2003. Kidnapped by mysterious square-shouldered henchmen, a Tour de France cyclist named Champion is spirited across the ocean to the teeming metropolis of Belleville. His grandmother and faithful dog follow his trail and are taken in by a trio of eccentric jazz-era divas.
3. The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
Maria Maggenti's comic love story was something of a revelation when it first debuted in 1995. Laurel Holloman is a white, rebellious working-class underachiever having an affair with an older woman. Nicole Ari Parker is a black, popular girl who just broke up with her boyfriend. Romance is last thing the two young women expect. The result is a hilarious delight.4. Girl With a Pearl Earring
The movie based on the book based on the 17th century painting: Scarlett Johansson sits for Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) in this tale of clogs, canals, and jealousy. Johansson received a Golden Globe nomination for her intense, almost wordless performance.5. Fool For Love
Robert Altman directed this 1985 adaptation of Sam Shepard's acclaimed play, with Shepard himself in lead as the cowboy. Shepard tracks down his runaway lover (Kim Basinger) and the ghost of the Old Man (Harry Dean Stanton) looks on. Special features include the featurette "Robert Altman: Art and Soul."