Here are some DVDS and Blu-Rays that our library staff have enjoyed watching recently, featuring a host of DVD releases of 2023 films and some deep-cuts from the collection.
Kath’s Pick
Think Bridesmaids but in China. Joy Luck Club but a raucous adult comedy. It’s a delight to watch four mega talented Asian actors stretch their comedy muscles while also running a storyline with a heart. Some of the scenes in this are outrageously funny, some wistful and sad. If you love a good wild road trip comedy, you’ll love this one. Bonus hot guys as side characters.
Shinji’s Picks
Close – Lukes Dhont
One fine morning - Mia Hansen-Løve
The blue caftan – Maryam Touzani
Other people’s children - Rebecca Zlotowski
Amy’s Picks
One of the funniest films I have watched this year. Most of the time it is a silly comedy but occasionally it knows just how to stir up your emotions. My one piece of advice is don’t watch it with your parents.
I recently rewatched Florida Project, and I just can’t get over how good this film is. It will make you feel every emotion and puts you right back into the world of being a kid. On top of all that is just how incredible Brooklyn Prince’s acting is at only the age of 7.
Kyan’s Pick
It’s Barbie. If you don’t know what that is or whether you’d like to watch it I can’t help you.
We have it on BluRay and DVD now if you’d like to watch it or re-re-rewatch it.
It holds up.
Gus’ Picks
The Lion in winter
On Christmas of 1183, King Henry II clashes with his treacherous wife Eleanor of Aquitaine over which of their sons will inherit the throne of England. A sharply written historical drama that plays like Succession meets Shakespeare, with a cast of greats including Peter O’Toole, Katherine Hepburn and a young Anthony Hopkins.
Alan Partridge: Alpha papa
Steve Coogan brings his over-the-hill media persona Alan Partridge to the big screen, as he helps negotiate a hostage situation after a recently-fired DJ takes their radio station hostage. Light in step but pitch-black in humour, it’s a joke-a-minute action comedy that had me cackling through the entire runtime.
24 hour party people 
A slick postmodern music biopic about the rise and fall of Factory Records, the label behind such greats as Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays. Director Michael Winterbottom (The Trip series, The Look of Love) excels at this sort of breezy but meticulous historical recreation, buoyed by Steve Coogan as the aggressively postmodern Factory Records founder Tony Wilson.
Gone girl – I rewatched this for the first time since I saw it in theatres, and was relieved to know that it still holds up as a slick but trashy modern thriller (and also made me weirdly nostalgic for muted Recession-era aesthetics). To me, this remains Ben Affleck’s finest hour as an actor, and Rosamund Pike is perfectly cast as the overachieving but vacuous Amy.
Playtime – An absurdist French satire making fun of modernism, our dependence on technology, and how easily our world could fall to pieces around us in the flimsiest of ways. I sought this out after I heard it inspired some of the set design in Barbie, particularly the Mattel office scenes.
Sylvia’s Pick
Un village français. [Vol. 1]
– I’d highly recommend the DVD series Un Village Francias.
There are 7 box sets, covering the period from 1939, when the Germans first arrive in the fictional French village, to 1945 when the Allies arrive.
If you enjoy listening to the beautiful French language, you will soon become immersed in the lives of the inhabitants – soap opera style! The series casts a fascinating light on French history, often in quite shocking ways – such as the roundup and deportation of all Jewish inhabitants.
