DRAWING ON A STEELY RESOLVE IN THE FACE OF TRAGEDY
New on Blu-ray
Jackie 20th Century Fox DVD, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99; also available on VOD
The Oscar-nominated Natalie Portman gives one of her best performances in an impressionistic look at how Jacqueline Kennedy reacted to the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. Director Pablo Larrain and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim focus primarily on how the former first lady stood up to the incoming Lyndon Johnson administration (and to one reporter, played by Billy Crudup) to make sure that JFK’s memory and legacy were respected. Portman invests her Jackie with equal parts iron will, calculated style and deep grief, while cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine’s grainy visual textures and Mica Levi’s abrasive score help make the movie more immersive. This is a film of ideas, arguing for the value of ritual and for the importance of American institutions that are sometimes dismissed as frivolous. Special features: A Larrain-Portman commentary track and a featurette about the movie’s historical context
VOD
Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe Available Tuesday
Part retro erotica, part empowering performance art, the modern revival of old-fashioned burlesque has developed a cult following in hip cities across the United States. Jon Manning’s documentary offers a good overview of the phenomenon via interviews with a handful of performers and footage of some of their shows. The striptease acts themselves are plenty entertaining — mixing grace and kitsch — but even better is the way these men and women articulate the philosophies underlying their hobby. Each has his or her own reasons for going onstage, from the sheer love of creation to the thrill of pretending to be someone else.
TV set of the week
The Americans The Complete Fourth Season 20th Century Fox DVD, $39.98
There are only two seasons left in one of the best TV dramas (the penultimate one of which debuts this week), and as “The Americans” heads down the stretch, it’s as strong as it’s been during its entire run. The 13 episodes included in “The Americans: The Complete Fourth Season” turn the screws on the show’s main characters, a married pair of Soviet spies (well played as always by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) who work undercover in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s. As the U.S. government gets closer to learning their secrets, the Jenningses find themselves betraying old alliances and putting their kids at risk in plot lines that cleverly play on the audience’s stubborn sympathies for our nation’s sworn enemies. Special features: Extended and deleted scenes.
From the archives
Popcorn Synapse DVD/Blu-ray combo, $45.95
The American horror genre was in a lull when Alan Ormsby and Mark Herrier wrote and directed 1991’s “Popcorn,” a clever attempt to fuse the ’80s-style slasher with gimmicky ’50s B-movies. Set at an all-night frightflick festival, the film follows a college cinephile (played by Jill Schoelen) who becomes haunted by visions of a killer who seems to have been conjured from strange, old motion pictures. Though too meta and comedic to be scary, “Popcorn” even now is a reminder that horror movies, when made with genuine enthusiasm for the form, can be fun. Special features: Commentary track and interviews.
Three more to see
The Eyes of My Mother Magnolia/Magnet DVD, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98; also available on VOD Moana Disney/Buena Vista DVD/Bluray combo, $27.99; DVD/Bluray/3-D combo, $29.99; also available on VOD Trespass Against Us Lionsgate DVD, $19.98; Blu-ray, $24.99; also available on VOD