Seen on DVD: Confessions of a Superhero, Baghdad Cafe, Death to Smoochy

• Shana Wride
• Director, Walter Cronkite Is Dead at San Diego REPertory Theatre

If you love Absolutely Fabulous, then you’ll love the entire French & Saunders series. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, the comedy team responsible for Ab Fab, are two of the funniest women ever born. The entire series is worth renting but I will focus on Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders because the movie satires are perfection.

Confessions of a Superhero is an amazing documentary by Matt Ogens about the eccentric people who dress up on Hollywood Boulevard for photos and tips. It’s a fascinating and sometimes heartbreaking look at people who truly don’t care what other people think.

• French & Saunders: Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders
• (England) 1990, BBC Warner
• List price: $9.98
• Confessions of a Superhero (USA) 2007, Virgil Films
• List price: $14.95

• 
  Wilda Wong
• Visual Communications manager, San Diego REPertory Theatre

Baghdad Cafe is one of my all-time favorite films. A random assortment of characters and the American desert are movie themes that speak to me. It pairs well with Walter Cronkite Is Dead at the REP, as it looks to two women (portrayed by CCH Pounder and Marianne Sagebrecht) who seem to have absolutely nothing in common and who come to accept and eventually change each other. Funny and heartwarming.

I’m a strong believer that anything Tilda Swinton does is worth watching. I Am Love is a lush and moving portrayal of a woman who secretly struggles with being the matriarch of a powerful dynasty. The intensity of the story has the viewer on edge until the operatic finale. Swinton speaks Russian and Italian in this, and few things are sexier to me than an actor showing off unexpected (and competent) language skills.

• Baghdad Cafe (USA/West Germany) 1987, MGM
• List price: $9.98
• I Am Love (Italy) 2010, Magnolia
• List price: $26.98

• 
  Trevor Hewey
• “Development Guy,” San Diego REPertory Theatre

Before Alfonso Cuarón directed Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter, and Children of Men, he worked his magic on the wonderful little film A Little Princess. You’ll get lost in the beautiful imagery, human drama, and uplifting spirit of this movie. Most people missed it at the box office, but do yourself a favor and check it out. If you don’t feel your heart warmed after watching this, check yourself for a pulse.

The self-proclaimed shame of Jon Stewart’s career (this from a guy who was in The Nanny) is a truly underrated film. If you have a dark sense of humor, you need to see this. It’s a hilarious take on the fictional seething underbelly of the children’s television industry. It’s so wrong that you can’t help but laugh the whole time. Directed by Danny DeVito, it features outstanding performances from Robin Williams, Edward Norton, and Catherine Keener.

• A Little Princess (USA) 1995, Warner
• List price: $12.98
• Death to Smoochy (USA) 2002, Warner
• List price: $14.97