‘Looper’ can be too clever for its own good
In “Looper” (2012, Sony, R, $30), the latest brain-teaser from Rian Johnson (“Brick”), Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a contract killer whose victims are beamed back to him from the future. Things get dicey when Gordon-Levitt is ordered by his boss (Jeff Daniels) to kill a sixtysomething version of himself (Bruce Willis).
In a twist worthy of “The Terminator,” Willis escapes and goes in search of his nemesis the Rainmaker, then only a young boy. “Looper” is occasionally too clever for its own good but Johnson knows how to build momentum and get the best out of his actors, including a terrific Emily Blunt and Paul Dano. Extras: featurettes, deleted scenes and commentary with actors and Johnson. Also New This Week: “Cosmopolis” (2012, E1, R, $30) Not even a parade of cameos by firstrate actors like Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton, Jay Baruchel and Paul Giamatti can save the latest provocation from David Cronenberg (“Spider.”) “Twilight’s” Robert Pattinson stars as a selfmade billionaire who’s traveling across town in a stretch limo to get a haircut. Along the way, he crosses paths with protestors as well as an array of assistants, art dealers and former flames. Cronenberg intended the film to be a moral fable but the script is pretentious and plodding; and Pattinson fails to exude the necessary toxic menace. Extras: featurettes and Cronenberg commentary.
“The Trouble With Bliss” (2012, Anchor Bay, PG-13, $15) This annoying comedy centers on a 35-year-old wet blanket named Morris (Michael C. Hall) who, despite living in a tiny East Village apartment with his widowed father (Peter Fonda) and dressing like a 10-year-old, is irresistible to every woman he meets, including his married neighbor (Lucy Liu) and the 18-year-old daughter (Brie Larson) of a high-school buddy (Brad William Henke). Inept on just about every level, “Bliss” is the kind of stinker that gives indie movies a bad name. Extras: interview with Hall and deleted scenes.
“Fred & Vinnie” (2012, Kino, unrated, $30) “Everybody Loves Raymond” co-star Fred Stoller wrote (and plays himself) in this autobiographical saga of his unusual friendship with Vinnie D’Angelo (Angelo Tsarouchas), a baseball card-obsessed shut-in from Philly. Trouble arises when Vinnie decides to move to Hollywood to become an extra. He camps out with Fred but quickly resorts to his agoraphobic ways. There’s not a lot of meat on the bones of this modest, 89-minute film, but director Steve Skrovan makes something fresh and funny out the relationship between these two worldclass neurotics. Extras: featurettes and deleted scenes.
“Rites of Spring” (2012, IFC, unrated, $25) Padraig Reynolds’ horror shocker boasts a lot of genre clichés, including an axwielding psycho, ritualistic murders, a kidnap gone wrong, and victims who are strung up and tortured. But, rather ingenuously, Reynolds manages to jumble up those clichés in such a way that the whole enterprise feels fresh. Two parallel stories, each about abductions, feel like different movies until the midway point when the plots intersect in a totally satisfying, if slightly demented, way. Extras: commentary and storyboards.
“Little Birds” (2012, Millennium, R, $29) Stellar performances by Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker elevate this coming-ofage indie about two teens who depart their impoverished lives in California’s desolate Salton Sea for an even tougher existence on the streets of L.A. Written and directed by newcomer Elgin James, “Little Birds” is slow-moving but it does manage to fly free of Hollywood formula. Extras: featurette, deleted scenes and commentary by James.
“Death Valley” (1982, Shout Factory, R, $27) From Shout Factory comes the hi-def debut of one of the forgotten horror gems of the early ’80s. Peter Billingsley of “A Christmas Story” stars as a New Yorker forced to go out West on vacation with his just-divorced mother (Catherine Hicks) and her new boyfriend (Paul Le Mat). After stumbling on a murder scene, Billingsley spends the rest of the movie playing a nerve-wracking game of cat and mouse with the killer. “Death Valley” is straightforward but surprisingly suspenseful. Extras: commentary by director Dick Richards.
“Catch Me If You Can” (2003, Paramount, PG13, $23) While Steven Spielberg is collecting accolades for “Lincoln,” the filmmaker’s very different biopic about con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. is hitting Blu-ray. Starring a never-better Leonardo DiCaprio, “Catch Me” tracks the master of deception as he pulls off one outlandish scheme after another, including posing as an airplane pilot, a physician and a lawyer. The relationship between Abagnale and a determined FBI agent (Tom Hanks) never quite gels but Spielberg turns the film into a visual wonderland while eliciting nuanced turns from a cast of pros (Christopher Walken, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner.) Extras: featurettes, including one about the real Abagnale.
Amy Longsdorf is a freelance entertainment writer. Her DVD reviews appear Sunday in The Mercury.