Stoner jokers, coming of age in Italy, and a gorgeous Benetton ad in space--it's a great week for new DVD releases. Make sure to check out Greg Araki's hilarious comedy Smiley Face starring the fearlessly funny Anna Faris. Also: Caterina in the Big City and Sunshine.
1. Smiley Face
First Look Pictures
After a short run at the IFC Center, Greg Araki's Smiley Face went straight to DVD, a somewhat inexplicable move for a movie this funny. Minus the moralistic ending, Smiley Face seems destined for cult classic status. Anna Faris stars as Jane, an unemployed actress and enthusiastic pothead who starts her day by accidentally eating her roommate's marijuana cupcakes. The consequences of her misstep send her on an epic screwball adventure through the streets of Los Angeles. Faris (Lost In Translation, Scary Movies) is a gifted comedian, and her hazy freakouts will have you laughing so hard it hurts.
2. Caterina in the Big City
First Run Features
Paolo Virzì's Caterina in the Big City is a lovely surprise: an insightful, charming story of a fifteen-year-old girl who moves from a small backwater Southern beach town to cosmopolitan Rome. Caterina's indoctrination into the cruel world of adolescent girls is similar to the Mean Girls, but unlike Lindsay Lohan, who turns into a veritable plastic girl, this Caterina never loses sight of herself.
3. Sunshine
Fox Searchlight
Danny Boyle sends an extraordinarily good looking crew of multi-cultural astronauts – Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, and Rose Byrne among them – on a mission to deliver a giant nuke in order to restart our dying star and save mankind. Though guilty of borrowing nearly every sci-fi trope under sun, Sunshine makes for a handsomely crafted, engaging, even nerve-wrecking space adventure.
