SWEET LAND
[Fox] $28
Sometimes movie gems come out of left field. Case in point is this independently made romantic drama by Minnesota-based, first-time feature writer-director Ali Selim.
The critically acclaimed tale revolves around a German-born mail-order bride (Elizabeth Reaser) who arrives in rural Minnesota in the 1920s to marry a taciturn Norwegian immigrant farmer (Tim Guinee).
Alan Cumming, who was also a producer, Lois Smith and Paul Sand also star in the film, which was made for a mere $1 million. A darling on the festival circuit, Sweet Land was the winner of the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature.
On the DVD, extras include a "making of" featurette and informative commentary from Selim, his two stars, producer Gil Bellows (Billy from Ally McBeal) and others who talk about the difficulties and rewards of bringing this intimate romance to life.
AFTER THE WEDDING
[IFC] $25
Though it lost the best foreign language film Oscar this year to Germany's The Lives of Others, Danish director Susanne Bier's Wedding is a beautifully wrought romantic drama starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) as a thirtysomething Dane struggling to keep his orphanage and food program open in India.
One day, he receives news from a billionaire Danish businessman (Rolf Lassgard) that he will fund the orphanage on the condition that Mikkelsen return to Denmark to meet him. Sidse Babett Knudsen also stars as the wife of the businessman. Extras include a thoughtful interview with Bier.
MGM FILM NOIR COLLECTION
[MGM] $20 each
Edward G. Robinson is in fine form in three of the titles offered here. In Fritz Lang's impeccable 1944 thriller The Woman in the Window, he plays a college professor who finds himself embroiled in murder when he hooks up with a femme fatale (Joan Bennett). In 1946's The Stranger, he stars as an investigator searching for an escaped Nazi war criminal (Orson Welles, who also directed); and in 1955's low-budget A Bullet for Joey, Robinson plays a dogged cop trying to capture a thug (George Raft) and his crew who have been hired to murder a federal agent. Rounding out the collection is the taut Kansas City Confidential (1952), starring John Payne.