Two Lovers — Most people probably know Two Lovers as the movie Joaquin Phoenix was promoting when he lost his damn mind and started showing up on talk shows in a woolly beard and sunglasses, mumbling about his new career as a rapper and utterly failing to sell audiences on the film. In fact, James Gray’s fourth feature is a departure from his usual crime-and-grime milieu; it’s a downbeat romance starring Phoenix as an emotionally disturbed Brooklynite torn between the two lovers of the title: sensible Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) — the daughter of a business associate of his parents, who would love to settle down with him — and mercurial Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a striking blonde who also happens to be a drug addict having an affair with a married man. If your idea of romance leans toward the doomy-Leonard-Cohen-ballad end of the spectrum, forget about Phoenix’s antics and make Two Lovers your rental of the week.
Do the Right Thing: 20th Anniversary Edition — Is there anything sexier than a sweltering summer day on a city block simmering with racial tension? Actually yes, but Rosie Perez’s gyrations under the opening credits still sizzle, as you’ll see in this latest edition of what remains after two decades Spike Lee’s best movie.
Eastbound & Down: The Complete First Season — Call your favorite lefty reliever in from the bullpen for a few innings of raunchy fun with Danny McBride as disgraced ex-major leaguer Kenny Powers, in this six-episode comedy from HBO.
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience — Ladies, we’re going to keep this one simple: if your new fella shows up at the door with this DVD and you don’t have a fourteen-year-old daughter he’s trying to win over, the date is officially over.
