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LITTLE ROCK — Recent DVD releases:

50/50 (R, 100 minutes) — A genuinely fresh and heartening comedy about a 27-yearold National Public Radio reporter (Joseph Gordon Levitt) dealing with a diagnosis of spinal cancer, his luggish best friend (Seth Rogan) and the inexperienced counselor who actually ends up helping (Anna Kendrick). With Angelica Huston and Bryce Dallas Howard as the ultimate bad girlfriend. Grade: 88

Bombay Beach (Not rated, 80 minutes ) — Visually engaging look at one of California’s poorest communities, a once bustling vacation destination on the shores of the manmade Salton Sea that has fallen on hard times. Director Alma Harel’s documentary limns the faded “Palm Springs-by-the-sea” as an isolated, forgotten wonderland of dead fish, abandoned houses and creative lawn art. And that would probably have been enough for a dreamy, haunting short but she tries to entwine three disparate narrative threads into a real story about the place, succeeding only in imposing an off-putting artificial flavor. The obvious re-creations are highly stylized and obviously carefully choreographed, and as such they don’t offend the viewer’s sense of fairness, but they also feel forced and unnecessary. Grade: 85

Cold Sweat (Not rated, 80 minutes) — There’s some interesting things going on in this Argentine horror comedy by Adrian Garcia Bogliano, most of which have to do with the visual channel. The editing and cinematography are splendid, indicative of a genuine talent, and the soundtrack is a doomy, industrial techno miasma that contributes to an overall atmosphere of tense dread. Unfortunately the writing and acting are only passable, which makes this feature feel more like an intriguing audition reel than a full-blooded movie. On the other hand, Bogliano tends to prefer suspense to gore, and he understands exactly how preposterous his movie is, so if you’re a fan of the genre there’s absolutely no reason not to check this one out. And it gets bonus points for delving into Argentinean political history. Grade: 85

Paranormal Activity 3 (R, 89 minutes) — I’ll admit that I’m tired of these “found footage” horror films but I understand that they’re cheap to produce and henceforth very lucrative. By the conventions of the genre, this one is quite good, although it’s hard for my exhausted soul to work up any enthusiasm for it. I wasn’t particularly fond of co-directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s Catfish either, but they’re clever lads and so they are able to do something with the old campfire spook story routine. Boo! Grade: 85

Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? (Not rated, 83 minutes) — An alternate look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of the amiable 2005 documentary The Real Dirt on Farmer John. Like that film, this one is gently entertaining even as it presents us with some sobering facts. And while it goes a little overboard on the sacredness of bees, it’s a lot better than The Secret Life of Bees. Grade: 87

Restless (PG-13, 92 minutes) — Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper star in what is, at best, a very minor Gus Van Sant movie that pales in comparison to the less ambitious yet far more profound cancer comedy 50/50, to which it will inevitably be compared. While that movie makes a virtue of the everydayness of its characters, Restless seems contemptuous of “normal” folks and seems to suggest that the day-to-day business of life is somehow beneath the beautifully souled kids whose conventionally unconventional romance provides the hub of this determinedly quirky movie. Maudlin, derivative and twee, with an uncharacteristically overtly annoying Danny Elfman score, Restless shares with some of Van Sant’s best work its gritty Portland, Ore., locations and a washed out palette. But that’s all. Grade: 80

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MovieStyle, Pages 35 on 01/27/2012

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