THE SCREENING ROOM

DVD: “Skyfall,” “Bully,” “Perks Of Being A Wallflower,” And More

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This week is bursting with fantastic home entertainment: Daniel Craig’s 007 returns in one of the best Bond films yet and openly queer Ezra Miller plays Emma Watson’s charismatic gay brother in the acclaimed The Perks of Being A Wallflower.

Documentary Bully chronicles the brutal harassment faced by today’s adolescents, while the Dardenne Brothers’ naturalistic The Kid With A Bike charts a heartbroken boy’s search for the father who abandoned him.

On the international front, late gay Monty Python member Graham Chapman is re-animated—literally—in A Liar’s Autobiography, while Argentina’s Sexual Tension: Volatile, presents six erotic tales of homo and homoerotic hijinks.

http://youtu.be/6kw1UVovByw

Skyfall
($39.99 Blu-ray, $29.98 DVD; MGM)

One of the best Bond film openings ever (and a great Adele song) kicks off Skyfall, in which Daniel Craig’s 007 faces a vengeful villain determined to take down M16 and Judy Dench’s M. Javier Bardem’s Silva is a creepy, queer baddie in the classic mold, while possibly-gay cutie Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas) is a treat as the new Q.  Extras include commentary tracks, making-of featurettes, footage from the film’s London premiere, and more.

 

http://youtu.be/2393JZxbiKc

Bully
($29.99 Blu-ray, $24.99 DVD; Anchor Bay)

Lee Hirsch catches kids and adults behaving badly in this heartwrenching documentary about bullying and how it’s dealt with in some communities. Shooting over a year, Hirsch interviewed parents of preteens children who committed suicide because of bullying, and chronicled galling acts of abuse, particularly against Alex, a Sioux City 12-year-old whose daily bus ride includes being punched, choked, and stabbed with pencils. A wealth of extras includes a specially cut version for younger audiences, deleted scenes, updates, and more.

 

http://youtu.be/w1g_CN3z684

The Perks of Being A Wallflower
($39.99 Blu-ray, $29.99 DVD; Summit)

Writer-director Stephen Chbosky adapts his own ’80s-era young-adult novel about an awkward high-school freshman, Charlie, who falls in with a clique of Freaks & Geeks-y seniors. Ezra Miller co-stars as Patrick, the openly gay stepbrother of Charlie’s crush, Sam (Emma Watson). Extras include commentary tracks, deleted scenes, raw “dailies,” and more.

 

http://youtu.be/gR0FDi6fJUQ

Sexual Tension: Volatile

($19.99 DVD; TLA)

This erotic anthology from Argentine directors Marco Berger (Plan B) and Marcelo Monaco offers six vignettes about men and boys on the scantily-clad edge—from a young fellow whose tattoo artist injects him with more than ink to a pair of muscular dudes willing to do anything while sexting their girlfriends.

 

http://youtu.be/dbW842eMNtI

A Liar’s Autobiography
($34.99 Blu-ray; $24.99 DVD; Virgil Films/Arts Alliance)

Prior to his death from cancer in 1989, openly gay Monty Python troupe member Graham Chapman recorded himself reading his tongue-in-cheek memoir. Combining that audio, new footage from surviving MP  members and outrageous 3D animation, this utterly unique biopic traces Chapman’s life from childhood to sexual awakening to Python fame.

 

http://youtu.be/Ce3t1YIYokY

The Kid With a Bike
($39.95 Blu-ray, $29.95 DVD; Criterion Collection)

Left at a boy’s home, 11-year-old Cyril decides to track down his dad and, even more critically, his beloved bicycle. Enter Samantha, a kindly hairdresser, who helps the wounded, increasingly aggressive Cyril in his quest. Things get even more complicated when an older boy with dubious motives enters the picture. Winner of  Cannes’ Grand Jury prize in 2011, Bike is possibly the best work by the Dardenne Brothers (L’Enfant)— a humane, observant, and gripping piece of modern neorealism that never condescends or resorts to sentimental Hollywood parlor tricks. Extras include filmmaker and cast interviews, a making-of featurette, and more.

 

Nurse Jackie- Season 4ALSO OUT ON DVD

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

Robot & Frank

The Man With the Iron Fists

Nurse Jackie: Season 4

Weeds: Season 8

 

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