Saturday Night Movie Recommendations with Abe

Welcome back to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. I'm going to be providing a handy guide to a few choice movies currently playing in theatres as well as several films newly released on DVD. I’ll also aim to comment on those films I have not yet had the chance to see, and I invite you to add in your thoughts on any films I haven’t seen in the comments below. Understandably, some weeks will have considerably fewer releases to address than others.


Now Playing

The East (highly recommended): This new thriller from director Zal Batmanglij is a competent and engaging story about an operative who goes undercover with an ecoterrorist group. It functions both as a great film and a compelling social argument. Alexander Skarsgaard and Ellen Page are particularly well-cast. Now playing at Landmark Sunshine and AMC Lincoln Square. Read my review from yesterday.


New to DVD

Lore (recommended): This past year’s Australian Oscar submission for Best Foreign Film is a Holocaust movie from a different perspective, following the children of an arrested Nazi officer trying to safely pass through post-war Germany. It’s a miserable but generally effective and worthwhile film.


New on Netflix Instant Streaming

Peep World (highly recommended): This ensemble dramedy puts together a fine cast, including Michael C. Hall, Rainn Wilson, Sarah Silverman, Ben Schwartz, and Kate Mara, for a family reunion of epic proportions that feels fresh and funny and should have received a warmer reception upon its theatrical release back in March 2011.