New DVD Picks of the Week: 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' & 'Romance and Cigarettes'

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 40th Anniversary Edition
Forty years may have passed, but Stanley Kramer's Oscar-winning 1967 film is still worth your time and attention. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play a man and wife whose daughter (Katharine Houghton) is bringing her doctor boyfriend home for dinner. The twist -- he's Sidney Poitier, and he's black. To top that off, they've fallen in love, they want to get married, and it all has to be decided before a 10 p.m. flight -- not the most realistic circumstances, but that's forgivable with a cast like this. While the subject is heavy, Kramer tackles it in a light manner with powerful performances pulled from the all-star lineup. Note: This was Spencer Tracy's last film. He died shortly after filming.

Please, forget the terrible, insulting abomination that is Guess Who. This is the only dinner that matters.

Being 4 decades old, this is one heck of a solid DVD, offering intros by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Tom Brokaw, Quincy Jones, and Karen Kramer, a number of featurettes, and awards footage.

Buy the DVD

Romance and Cigarettes
John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes is a musical about a man's infidelity and redemption, and also boasts one heck of an irresistible cast -- Gandolfini, Sarandon, Winslet, Buscemi, Cannavale, Moore, Parker, Walken, Sukowa, Stritch, Izzard, and Sedaris. You really can't get much better than that for a stylish and musical look on working class New York. But really, Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken going old-school is enough. The one downfall, which disappointed me long ago when the film screened at TIFF -- the performances are given over a real soundtrack, so both voices can be heard. It's a shame that they have to battle with the greats who performed the songs, but it's still a fun, modern musical with real flair, rather than razzle dazzle.

The film might not have gotten a lot of play nation-wide, but the disc does get some love -- there's a commentary by John and Amedeo Turturro, intros to both the film and deleted scenes, and a featurette.

Buy the DVD

Other New DVD Releases (February 12)

Becoming Jane -- This could've been a contender, but I just can't feature Jane every week.
No Reservations
We Own the Night
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?
Martian Child