Three excellent films that got short shrift in movie theaters are now available on DVD: Fatih Akin's breathtaking The Edge of Heaven plays on missed chances and human connection. John Cusack stars in War, Inc., a must see satire of the Iraq war that was unfairly skewered by critics. Lucia Puenzo's XXY is a coming-of-age story like you have never seen before.
1. The Edge of Heaven
Strand Releasing
With The Edge of Heaven, the marvelously talented Fatih Akin, a German filmmaker of Turkish origin, continues to explore questions posed in Head On. Delving into the complicated co-existence of Turks and Germans in an ever-changing Europe, the new film, which won Best Screenplay at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, casts a wider net, crisscrossing back and forth between nations and focusing on a larger pool of characters.
2. War, Inc
First Look Pictures
John Cusack's labor of love War, Inc. took a beating with the critics. The satire, directed by John Seftel, has received a variety of damning insults from "despicable" to "regrettable misfire." Hopefully this bad buzz paves the way to future cult classic. What's not to like? The ridiculous, reliable charm of Cusack, in the role of a tormented hit man? The trenchant theories of Naomi Klein? Marisa Tomei is more appealing than ever as a fearless reporter, and Hillary Duff as teenage pop princess with the memorable monicker Yonica Babyyeah.
3. XXY
Film Movement
Alex (Ines Efron) is an immensely appealing fifteen-year-old girl exploring her sexuality in Lucia Puenzo's unique coming of age drama XXY. She's not really a girl; the troubled teen is a hermaphrodite who has begun to question the decisions her concerned parents have made for her. Prepare to be stunned by the startling sex scene between the young hermaphrodite and a teenage boy uncertain about his sexuality. Like the entire film, Puenzo handles the scene with enormous sensitivity and insight.
