Top Picks: 'Free State of Jones' on DVD, Angel Olsen's 'My Woman,' and more
Powerful fight
Matthew McConaughey stars in the movie as real-life figure Newton Knight, a Mississippi resident who brought together slaves and others to fight the Confederacy. Our film critic, Peter Rainer, called the film 鈥減owerful.鈥� Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mahershala Ali are highlights. It鈥檚 available on DVD and Blu-ray.聽
Dark angel
Some records pull you in from the very first breath. Before you know it, you鈥檙e hanging on every word, every lonely guitar chord, every beat 鈥� a willing captive to the artist鈥檚 singular vision. Angel Olsen has always had that power and never more so than on her third release, . She channels the command of Roy Orbison, with a voice rich with hurt and passion. When she sings, 鈥淲here you are is where I want to be,鈥� you take a peek out the window, expecting her to pull into the driveway any minute. Start engraving the Grammys.
Examination of race
Director Ava DuVernay received raves for her work on the Martin Luther King Jr. drama 鈥淪elma,鈥� and now she鈥檚 turning her camera to current events with the documentary , which looks at race in the United States, examining particularly the American prison system. The film will debut on Netflix on Oct. 7. Viewers should be aware of violent content.聽
Great shakespeare
The film that our movie critic, Peter Rainer, found to be 鈥渓ikely the greatest Shakespearean film ever,鈥� , is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. Director Orson Welles stars as Falstaff. The actor 鈥渨as destined to play Sir John Falstaff ... his usual flagrant theatricality is, this time, at the service of a character infinitely rich in emotional possibilities,鈥� Rainer wrote.
Neighborhood change
New York鈥檚 West Chelsea and the gentrification that is happening there are examined in the documentary , which airs on HBO Oct. 3 at
8 p.m. In West Chelsea, public housing is located near a private school, prompting discussion of neighborhood change and economic inequality. It鈥檚 directed by Marc Levin.
