This week's blockbuster release is the Johnny Depp hit based on the amusement park ride "Pirates of the Caribbean," but in the world of foreign and indie films, there are notable new DVDs from Russia, Japan, and the digital dazzle that is Resfest.
1. The Cuckoo
September 1944, in a land torn apart by war, a Finnish sniper is labeled a coward by his compatriots; as punishment, he is nailed to a rock and left to his own devices. Diana Hotlzberg, of indieWIRE, calls the film "original, poetic and poignant." Anni-Kristina Juuso, Viktor Bychkov, Ville Haapasalo star in Alexander Rogozhkin's captivating drama.
2. The Best of RESFEST Volume 2
The Best of RESFEST Volume 2 features 12 shorts: Oscar Nominees Copy Shop (by Virgil Widrich) and More (Mark Osborne's animated film and winner of the first RESFEST Audience Choice Award), Daniel Loflin's dark comedy Delusions in Modern Primitivism, Elyse Couvillion's DV short Sweet, Bad Animals (David Birdsell), Bike Ride (Tom Schroeder), Counterfeit Film (Brett Simon), and more.
3. The Best of RESFEST Volume 3
The Best of RESFEST Volume 3 features 11 shorts: Stefan Nadelman's Terminal Bar (winner of the Audience Choice Award at RESFEST and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival), Junji Kojima's comedy Japanese Tradition (Sushi), Robert Bradbrook's Home Road Movies, Matt McCormick's mockumentary The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal, Birdbeat (Geoff Adams), and more.4. Darling
Luminous Julie Christie won her Best Actress Oscar (1965) in John Schlesinger's portrait of Swinging Sixties London in the title role. The film also won Oscars for Frederic Raphael's original screenplay and for costume design, and the New York Film Critics bestowed best Actor, Director, and Actress laurels on "Darling."5. Suicide Club
50-odd schoolgirls hold hands, chant, and leap in front of an oncoming subway train, and that's just the beginning of the wave of youth suicide that grips Tokyo. Shion Sono directs this mad Japanese horror film that is like nothing you've ever seen before.