Fresh plastic packaging and trite, spliced together kudos...it must be time for New DVD Tuesday!

That also means it's time for a visit with our good buddy the renowned film geek and threat to mediocre tastes, Videoport Jones!

"Away From Her"
VPJ: "The lovely and talented Sarah Polley becomes even more formidable with this, her directorial debut. It's a devastatingly sad story of a husband and wife whose near 50-year marriage begins to crumble when she starts showing signs of Alzheimer's. While it might sound Hallmark theater sticky, this one's got a lot more dramatic integrity, and two great performances by Gordon Pinsent and the luminous Julie Christie, who will win the best actress Oscar this year."

JE: "I have heard good things about this movie, which is considerable because every time someone mentions Sarah Polley I draw a blank for a few minutes. Plus, working on anything that deals with Alzheimer's has the potential to be extremely wrenching and forceful, or just overly sappy. Polley, as I just learned this morning, was the little girl in Terry Gilliam's 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.' Whoa. Multi-talented indeed."

"Snow Cake"
VPJ: "It's gorgeous, amazing actress-of-a-certain-age-with-an-awful-disease-week at Videoport as Sigourney Weaver plays a high-functioning autistic woman who falls in love with Alan Rickman. Probably not the barrel-o-laugh's their last team up 'Galaxy Quest' was..."

JE: "You guys have a special week set aside for that? Does that mean lots of Helen Mirren and Ellen Burstyn? Did not see this one, but I do enjoy Weaver and Rickman, and was completely caught off guard by 'Galaxy Quest' in a good way."

"Private Property"
VPJ: "Speaking of alluring, talented older women- rreeeooowwwrrrr. It's Isabelle Huppert this time in yet another intense French psychological drama. I mean, she's great in them and everything (see 'The Piano Teacher,' 'Ma Mere,' 'Time of the Wolf,' etc), but I hope she never forgets that she can play a daffy, sexy comic thing too (like in 'Amateur' and 'I Heart Huckabee's')."

JE: "You're scaring me Jonesy. Come back from the edge."

"Bobby Z"
VPJ: "I only mention this almost-direct-to-DVD thriller because it's got Laurence Fishburne as a G-man who recruits terminally bland Paul Walker to impersonate a dead drug lord. Sometimes, in my weaker moments, I like to imagine Larry getting fed up with being billed below the next Hollywood prettyboy and just taking a swing at one."

JE: "Paul Walker falls into the Ryan Gosling-Chris Klein-Scott Speedman-category where they may be good, but they certainly don't show it, and they continue to get second chances. And that's Laurence, never Larry, Fishburne. Maybe he did it to pay the bills? Then again, maybe 'The Matrix' trilogy got to him."

"Grey's Anatomy"- Season 3
VPJ: "Yeah, St. Elsewhere did all this better about 20 years ago, but the kids seem to like it. Oh, enjoy this last season before it drives off a cliff, what with one character leaving for a spinoff, and another leaving for, well, being a bigoted (expletive deleted)."

JE: "Yet another member of the 'missed the hype/have not seen/wait for syndication' club. Then again, it's possible I'm not in the 'Grey's' demographic. I'd much rather watch Tina Fey on Thursday nights anyway. High five!"

Finally, here's Jonesy's picks for what's new down at Videoport:

"Supernatural"- Season 2: "Hunky dudes. A couple o' ghosts. I have no more information."

"American Cannibal" - Searing documentary about the hideous, sleazy world of reality television.

"The Teen Wolf/Teen Wolf, Too" Double Feature: Yeah baby! Both of these barely-tolerable nostalgia items on one DVD!

"I Witness" - Thriller about civil rights abuses inflicted upon Mexican workers starring James Spader and Jeff Daniels.

"A Few Days In September" - Another thriller I'd never heard of boasting a strong cast, this pre-9/11 flick can boast Juliette Binoche, John Turturro, and Nick Nolte.

"Sliders"- season 1: Nerd alert! At least it's got the perky, dishy Sabrina Lloyd, late of "Sports Night"

Have some thoughts on any of the new releases? Jonsey's obsession with seasoned actresses, reality TV or James Spader?

Have your say and be eligible for Commenter of the Week honors!

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