What's out on DVD this? The art-house darlings I'm Not There and Teeth as well as the romantic dreck P.S. I Love You and Over Her Dead Body

I'm Not There purports to be a bio-pic on music icon Bob Dylan. Rather than stick to the paint-by-numbers story most films about musicians, co-writer/director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) decides to have different actors play different "styles" of Bob Dylan's artistic evolution. There's folksy activist Bob Dylan played by Christian Bale and there's electric Bob Dylan played by actress Cate Blanchett (the film's best performance). None of these characters are actually called Bob Dylan and none of them are connected with one another. In fact, some characters exist at the same time. This is a unique concept but fails because the film fails to show how any of these different styles actually create a cohesive artist. I'm Not There concludes by saying Dylan remains a mystery and seeks to go no deeper than that. As long as someone goes to the effort of making a movie, then perhaps they should give finding a conclusion a shot. Oh well. The film also stars Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, and Kris Kristofferson. The film is rated R for language, some sexuality and nudity.

1 Walk the Line + 1 Velvet Goldmine = 2 I'm Not There

I am not going to type precise details about the plot of Teeth. Let's just say Dawn (Jess Weixler, who deserves to be discovered) is a high-school girl who leads the teen abstinance program. She learns - the hard way - that she suffers from this condition: http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/13198_2.html I will leave you to read about this. Dawn has to figure out the ramifications of this and how it leaves her at a (dis)advantage. While the film is certainly ambitious in its attempt to be a spoof of conventional horror films and a satire of sexual politics, the high concept of the plot makes such a balance dificult to maintain and sustain. But the film has a goofy, cheesy tone that keeps it from being too serious and certainly delightfully shocks the audience. If you can handle it. This film is rated R for  disturbing sequences involving sexuality and violence, language and some drug use.

I didn't get a chance to see P.S. I Love You or Over Her Dead Body. They both promise to be a lot less heavy than those weird-o flicks I did get to check out.