Sundance Channel Home Entertainment

Omagh

A gripping and emotional examination of the aftermath of the 1998 Real IRA bombing that killed 29 people in Omagh Northern Ireland.2005 BAFTA Award for Best Single Drama2004 IFTA Award for Best Actor (Gerard McSorley)2004 IFTA Award for Best Irish Film2004 Best European Film Award2004 Discovery Award Winner at Toronto International Film FestivalSystem Requirements:Running Time: 106 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/TRUE STORY Rating: NR UPC: 829567027721 Manufacturer No: SC0277D

The August 15, 1998 terrorist bombing in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh that killed 29 and injured hundreds of others is the raison d'etre for director Pete Travis's movie of the same name. But the bulk of this moving, beautifully-made film is devoted to the aftermath of the bombing, and American viewers still reeling from the atrocities of 9/11/01 and the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina may well find those events to be not merely compelling but hauntingly familiar. There's little suspense here; indeed, we know what's going to happen from the opening credits, when we see the bomb being made and planted in a car parked on the town's busy main street. Thereafter, people like Michael Gallagher (a fine, low key performance by Gerard McSorley) and his family must first deal with the excruciating agony of losing a loved one. But when weeks pass without a single arrest having been made, Gallagher and others form a support group and ask a simple question: Why? Instead of anything resembling justice, what they encounter are a host of incompetent, slow-reacting politicians and other officials offering little more than smarmy evasions. And that's not even the worst of it; in the most harrowing echo of 9/11 and Katrina, the film suggests that the folks in charge may even have ignored explicit warnings that the bomb (which was the work of a group calling itself "the real Irish Republican Army") was coming. Dramatic and moving without being the least bit sappy or sentimental, Omagh is a riveting, relevant piece of work. --Sam Graham

Scotland, PA

Think of Scotland, PA. as truck-stop Shakespeare, Macbeth given a drive-through makeover as the deadliest of deadpan comedies. Writer-director Billy Morrissette got this wacky idea from an early job at Dairy Queen. He makes the most of that bad memory by casting his own wife (ER's Maura Tierney) and indie stalwart James LeGros as Pat and Mac McBeth, a married pair of Pennsylvanian schemers, circa 1973, who plot to escape their thankless jobs at Duncan's burger joint. They dispatch Duncan in a sizzling accident (you want fries with that corpse?) and inherit the diner from Duncan's stoner son (who's also a suspect), hoping to prove to Detective McDuff (Christopher Walken, at his funniest) that their newfound happiness is entirely legal. Like The Big Lebowski, this movie's hilarious if you're in on the joke, and familiarity with Shakespeare is optional when you've got a "rock block" of Bad Company hits to keep the grisly comedy on track. --Jeff Shannon

Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood (Special Collector's Edition)

Under Milk Wood is an imaginative, cinematic rendering of Dylan Thomas's famous "play for voices," typically read on stage by a handful of actors expressing the dialogue of more than 50 characters living in a small, Welsh fishing village. Filmmaker Andrew Sinclair sets the story in a real seaside community and visually complements the text's lengthy, opening narration by enlisting Richard Burton both for his brooding voiceover and a mysterious, on-screen role as a drunken gadabout soaking in the very soul of the town Thomas' words describe. Once the narration ends, the film breathes freely with a succession of lively vignettes, some funny, some dramatic, but all rooted in the peculiar circumstances of characters who either feel trapped by or ensconced in their home. Peter O'Toole plays the wizened, blind Captain Cat, haunted by memories of drowned sailors but so attuned to the sounds of village life outside his window he can identify the children screaming in a park. Elizabeth Taylor (Burton's wife at the time) makes a brief appearance as Rosie Probert, and the other players include Glynis Johns, Vivien Merchant, and Victor Spinetti. --Tom Keogh

The Slaughter Rule

While it may sound like some brutal warrior metaphor for life, this story of a high school boy facing up to the complexities of the adult world is a tender drama about troubled souls. Amiable, good-natured Roy (Ryan Gosling) keeps life at arm's length until renegade coach Gid (a paternal David Morse, who nurses his own emotional wounds) scouts him for a rural six-man football league--a rough, unforgiving game as much rugby as traditional gridiron action--and brings out his hibernating alpha-wolf. Roy also gets lessons in love from "older woman" Clea Duvall, but this is not your usual coming-of-age film. Set on the forever plain and under the magnificent sky of the Montana high desert, and photographed with the crispness of a winter morning, The Slaughter Rule offers an unsentimental portrait of a world in which winning is secondary to simply surviving till the end of the game. --Sean Axmaker

Scotland, PA.

Think of Scotland, PA. as truck-stop Shakespeare, Macbeth given a drive-through makeover as the deadliest of deadpan comedies. Writer-director Billy Morrissette got this wacky idea from an early job at Dairy Queen. He makes the most of that bad memory by casting his own wife (ER's Maura Tierney) and indie stalwart James LeGros as Pat and Mac McBeth, a married pair of Pennsylvanian schemers, circa 1973, who plot to escape their thankless jobs at Duncan's burger joint. They dispatch Duncan in a sizzling accident (you want fries with that corpse?) and inherit the diner from Duncan's stoner son (who's also a suspect), hoping to prove to Detective McDuff (Christopher Walken, at his funniest) that their newfound happiness is entirely legal. Like The Big Lebowski, this movie's hilarious if you're in on the joke, and familiarity with Shakespeare is optional when you've got a "rock block" of Bad Company hits to keep the grisly comedy on track. --Jeff Shannon

Book of Love

Book of Love takes what could be a trashy premise and turns it into a strikingly honest examination of human messiness. Elaine (Frances O'Connor, Mansfield Park) and David (Simon Baker, The Ring Two) are a happy, successful couple who befriend a clever, athletic, but lonely 16 year-old boy named Chet (Gregory Smith, Everwood). But when Chet falls in love with Elaine, she responds and sleeps with him out of a mix of sympathy and desire. From here the story could have become overwrought melodrama, but the subtle script, perfectly-pitched performances, and lucid direction make Book of Love a portrait of smart, articulate people at the mercy of their least articulate emotions: lust, jealousy, anger, fear. Writer/director Alan Brown, making his debut feature film, even manages to weave in issues of goodness and the history of Cambodia without the movie ever feeling academic or didactic--on the contrary, the movie feels intimate and physical throughout, as concerned with the character's animal responses as with their struggle to remain rational. Also featuring Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village) and music from indie bands The Magnetic Fields and Clem Snide. --Bret Fetzer

Elaine and David seem to have the perfect marriage. But everything changes when they meet Chet, an innocent 15 year old boy full of youthful wonder. The threesome form an immediate bond, but a momentary lapse in judgment threatens to rupture the core of the trio's seemingly idyllic lives. A sensual tale of the complexity of marriage and desire, Book Of Love examines the choices we make in our daily lives-and the consequences that follow.

The Other Side of the Bed

Sometimes the game of love requires a little cheating… The Other Side of the Bed is a raucous and sexy romantic comedy with a musical twist. The film tells the story of two couples, along with a collection of their friends and co-workers, whose switching back and forth between lovers leads to lies and heartache - and lots of song and dance.

Sundance Film Festival Collection: Celebrating 25 Years

This limited edition, special collectors' DVD set celebrates 25 years of the Sundance Institute. It contains ten ground-breaking films that embody the sprit of independence, creative risk-taking, and diversity that define the Sundance Film Festival. Bonus materials include a booklet and an 11th disc with behind-the-scenes footage from the Sundance Institute Labs and never-before-seen interviews with filmmakers and founder Robert Redford.

The Heart of Me

A rich and emotionally charged drama about the seductive and destructive nature of passion. Socialite Madeleine invites her bohemian sister Dinah to stay with her and her husband, Rickie. Rickie and his sister-in-law find themselves unable to control their desire for one another. What starts as a momentary affair spirals into decades of deception, ecstasy, and passion.

Swimming

Swimming is a bittersweet and intimate look at friendship, love and growing up. The easy life of summertime in Myrtle Beach is turned upside down for one local girl when two strangers come to town: a beautiful temptress and a charming drifter. "The Boston Globe" says "Swimming is a rarity among modern movies…bolstered by a luminous lead performance by Lauren Ambrose."