THE SCREENING ROOM

DVD: “Side Effects,” “Struck By Lightning,” “Yossi,” And More!

By
YOSSI

It’s a pretty darned queer, and international, week in home entertainment.

Glee‘s Chris Colfer both wrote and stars in high school flick Struck By Lightning, while one of the hot young gay twink Israeli soldiers from 2002’s Yossi & Jagger is revisited 10 years later in the drama Yossi.

The burgeoning sexuality of a young European hipster drives the atmospheric Atomic Age, while the American slow-burn thriller Side Effects sees the danger that a prescription medication can bring.

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Side Effects

($34.98 Blu-ray, $29.98 DVD; Universal)

When a doctor (Jude Law) prescribes a drug called Ablixa to a suicidal patient (Rooney Mara), he finds himself in hot water when she suffers an unexpected, horrific side effect. Steven Soderbergh’s next-to-last film before his self-imposed retirement (the last is Liberace biopic, Behind The Candelabra, which debuts on HBO May 26th) is a stylish, slow-burn thriller with a – SPOILER ALERT! – hot lesbian twist. Fun, beautifully shot stuff with solid performances. Alas, co-star Channing Tatum doesn’t hit the runway and strip in this one. Extras include a behind-the scenes featurette, the “Aliza Website Experience,” and a commercial for the fictional drug, Ablixa.

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Atomic Age

($19.99 DVD; TLA)

Young Euro-hipster pals Victor and Rainer hit Paris one night, but what starts as a bit of clubbing leads to some unexpected detours – least of which, into their sexual identities. Atmospheric, hypnotic, gorgeously shot, and featuring some darned cute lads, this won a critics’ prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

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Yossi

($27.99 DVD; Strand)

This sequel to director Eytan Fox’s 2002 romance about two gay Israeli soldiers, Yossi & Jagger, picks up a decade later. Yossi is now a Tel Aviv cardiologist, closeted, and still scarred by the heartbreaking death of his lover and is unhappy with his older, bear-like appearance. Could an openly gay, young twink soldier he meets while on a vacation provide liberation from the past… and an embracing of the present?

 

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Struck By Lightning

($29.95 Blu-ray, $26.95 DVD; New Video Group)

Chris Colfer makes his screenwriting debut and stars in this tale of ambitious high school senior, Carson, who, after being hit by a fatal bolt of lightning in the opening scene, takes us back through the final months of his life. Always a treat, Allison Janney plays Carson’s dysfunctional mom, while Rebel Wilson plays his BFF. Extras include a behind-the-scenes, an interview with Colfer and director Brian Dannelly, outtakes and deleted scenes.

ALSO OUT:

true-blood-season-five-blu-rayTrue Blood: The Complete Fifth Season

Come Undone

Stand Up Guys

The Last Stand

The ABCs of Death

Beautiful Creatures

 

 

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