The year ends with a whimper, with a handful of also-ran releases, just perfect for people who have nothing better to do on New Year's Eve than to catch up with movies that are pretty good (but not good enough to make anyone's best-of list). Still, you could do a lot worse than Ghost Town, the high-concept Ricky-Gervais-talks-to-ghosts vehicle that's more sweet than funny, but is definitely entertaining. Also better than its rep: The Duchess, with Keira Knightley as Georgiana Spencer, an 18th century celebrity who advocated for democracy in public but accepted limited personal liberty in her private life. The documentary Toots is a conventional but interesting look at legendary New York restaurateur Toots Shor; while documentarian Nick Broomfield ventures into feature-length dramatization in his recreation of the Iraq War's Battle For Haditha. Finally, mumblecore meets low-budget horror with Baghead, a film by Mark and Jay Duplass about a group of aspiring filmmakers who find their stupid idea for a fright flick–a killer with a bag over his head–coming to life.
So… yeah. Next week will be better; I promise.
10 Items Or Less: Seasons One & Two (Sony, $29.95)
$100 Taxi Ride: Season One (Echo Bridge, $19.99)
99 Pieces (Vanguard, $19.95)
An American Carol (Vivendi, $26.99; Blu-ray, $34.99)
Anger (MGE, $24.95)
Baby (Xenon, $24.98)
Baghead (Sony, $28.96)