• “The Lighthouse”: Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star as two men attempting to stay sane on an 1890s New England island, stuck after a storm, residing in a, well, you know. Disturbing imagery abounds as Winslow (Pattinson) begins experiencing disturbing visions, and the film may deeply affect your relationship with those beacons of the sea.
It’s weird, and it’s dark, and we should expect nothing less from director Robert Eggers, whose debut was the 2015 feature “The Witch.”
• “Joker”: In one of the most polarizing movies of 2019, Joaquin Phoenix stars as Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who, struggling with mental illness and an unjust system, devolves into becoming the infamous DC Comics supervillain and archrival of Batman. The film aims to create empathy for the character, blaming his environment for inspiring his eventual life of crime. Todd Phillips left comedy to direct the film.
But considering the controversy that came with it, wrote Tribune News Service’s Katie Walsh in her review, it doesn’t live up to the hype.
” ‘Joker’ is cloaked in the kind of prestige that tricks you into thinking there’s something more meaningful there: moody cinematography, bursts of extreme violence, an actor who doesn’t so much as perform but psychically channel a character,” wrote Walsh. “But this is all window dressing, smoke and mirrors to distract from the story being painfully thin and told with all the nuance of a sledgehammer.”
Also new on DVD
• “A Million Little Pieces”: A writer with a drug addiction (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) checks in to a Minnesota rehab.
• “Big Little Lies: The Complete Second Season”: Three mothers in affluent Monterey, Calif. (Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley), have a dark secret in this HBO mystery series.
• “Bulletproof 2”: A special agent (Faizon Love) disguises himself as a member of a criminal family and unintentionally puts the person he’s impersonating (Kirk Fox) in danger.
• “Crown Vic”: An LAPD officer (Thomas Jane) attempts to catch two criminals who have killed cops.
• “Girl on the Third Floor”: A flawed husband (C.M. Punk) attempts to fix up a dilapidated house with a dark past.
• “Imprisoned”: A prison warden (Laurence Fishburne) frames an ex-convict out on parole (Juan Pablo Raba) for murder.
• “Mine 9”: A group of Appalachian miners fight to survive after being trapped underground because of a methane explosion that limits their oxygen.
• “Paradise Hills”: Young women (Emma Roberts, Awkwafina, Eiza Gonzalez, Danielle Macdonald) must escape from an peaceful island after learning the disturbing truth behind it.
• “The Shed”: Bullied teens (Jay Jay Warren, Cody Kostro) hatch a sinister plan after discovering a vampire in one of their backyards.
Digital HD
• “Countdown”: A nurse (Elizabeth Lail) must beat the clock after opening an app that says she’ll die in three days.
