New on video: ‘Denial’ is crackling and relevant entertainment
New on Blu-ray
“Denial” (Universal DVD, $22.98; Blu-ray, $29.98; also available on VOD)
Though it never became a player in the 2016 Oscar race, the courtroom drama “Denial” is still a crackling and relevant entertainment and should pick up some fans now that it’s clear of the hubbub of awards season. Rachel Weisz plays Deborah Lipstadt, a professor and author who made international headlines in the ’90s when she was sued for libel in the United Kingdom for criticizing notorious Holocaust denier David Irving (played by Timothy Spall). The parts of the movie that have to do with confirming the historical record are a little pat, covering well-trod cinematic ground. But it’s fascinating to watch an opinionated American navigate the quirks and conservatism of the British legal system, with the help of a stubborn barrister (Tom Wilkinson). More importantly, “Denial” raises provocative, of-the-moment questions about what could happen if we decide as a culture that facts are relative.
[Special features: A making-of featurette]
VOD
“Newtown” (available Jan. 3)
Kim A. Snyder’s documentary “Newtown” is an emotionally draining experience, but for viewers with the fortitude to watch it, it’s also a rewarding and even inspiring one. Filmed off and on over the course of three years, the movie checks in periodically with three families who lost children in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, watching as they struggle to recover from an unimaginable tragedy. Though it’s threaded with an implicit critique of guns and gun violence, “Newtown” is less a politically charged film than it is a touching look at how people can endure the worst and keep waking up every day, hoping for better.
TV set of the week
“Girls: The Complete Fifth Season” (HBO DVD, $24.98; Blu-ray, $34.98)
As HBO’s polarizing comedy “Girls” prepares to air its final season (beginning in February), there’s still time to catch up with last year’s 10-episode run of the show, which was its best season in years. Approaching the end has really focused creator/star Lena Dunham and her team, pushing them to up the stakes for their cast of young Brooklynites as they search for romantic and career fulfillment. Flightiness and irresponsibility become less cute as these ladies age, which is something “Girls” addresses head-on in Season 5, via stories that see the characters squabbling with each other and realizing that they’re running out of second chances. The series is arcing toward a conclusion that could be a profound, enduring statement about what coming of age in New York in the ’10s has been like.
[Special features: Deleted scenes and featurettes]
From the archives
“The Internecine Project” (Kino Studio Classics DVD, $14.95; Blu-ray, $29.95)
The early 1970s were such a fertile era for genre filmmaking that even half-forgotten thrillers like “The Internecine Project” are little gems. In cinema history, the movie is notable for featuring a script by a then-young Barry Levinson (co-written with Jonathan Lynn), and a jazzy score by the great British composer Roy Budd. But it’s also a cleverly plotted and well-acted cloak-and-dagger exercise, with James Coburn playing a secret agent masterminding a complicated series of assassinations intended to save his job. Smart and enjoyably sinister, this is a film that’s just as unpretentiously entertaining today as it was over 40 years ago.
[Special features: A charmingly reflective Lynn commentary track]
Three more to see
“Blair Witch” (Lionsgate DVD, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99; also available on VOD); “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life” (Lionsgate DVD, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99; also available on VOD); “The Monkey King 2” (Well Go USA DVD, $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.98)
