This week, we start in Sweden: Everlasting Moments (****) Not rated, 131 minutes. Now available on DVD.

Although this Swedish jewel appeared only last year, the Criterion Collection is bringing it back with a new high-definition digital transfer and a fully digital soundtrack. Director Jan Troell oversaw the production of this new release, which isn’t surprising for an artist who has released only 14 films in 69 years and is a stickler for detail.

Criterion Collection

Jesper Christensen plays Sebastian Pedersen, left, and Maria Heiskanen is Maria Larsson in Everlasting Moments, directed by Jan Troell.

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Here, Troell dips into memoir, telling the true story of Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen).

At the turn of the 20th century, she had six children while suffering through an abusive marriage. When she and her husband win a camera, Larsson uses it and discovers an outlet for personal exploration.

Through a caring acquaintance, she also expands her knowledge, learning about the comedies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, a joyous world she had never known or experienced. Often heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting film.

Disc 1 holds the film. Disc 2 includes a 28-minute “making of” featurette, a nine-minute featurette on the true story of Maria Larsson, and Troell’s Magic Mirror, an engaging hourlong documentary on the director. Plus, an 18-page booklet written by film scholar Armond White.

*

Repo Men (**1/2) Before this bleak science-fiction thriller flies off the rails, it conjures up thoughts and images from such genre standards as Blade Runner and Minority Report, or anything Philip K. Dick ever wrote.

Jude Law plays Remy, a repo man for the Union, a futuristic company that peddles human organs to poor people, drawing them in with enticing offers and “affordable” interest payments (sound familiar?). This twist means Remy and his partner Jake (Forest Whitaker) track down those delinquent on their payments, zap them, remove their organs, and then return them to the office headed by sinister Frank (Liev Schreiber).

Just about the time Remy questions the morality of his actions, irony strikes when he needs a heart and has to sign up for the usurious lending rates. When he can’t pay, he flees, picking up Beth (Alice Braga) along the way.

Director Miguel Sapochnik creates a nightmarish world, filled with a harrowing mix of brutality and computer-generated images.

The DVD, also on Blu-ray, comes in R-rated (113 minutes) and unrated (120 minutes) versions. The DVD includes commentary, six deleted scenes with commentary, a six-minute “making of” featurette and seven commercials for the Union. The Blu-ray version holds additional materials.

*

Entre Nos (***1/2) Another side of the immigration debate unfolds in this touching tale of Mariana (Paola Mendoza), mother of a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old. They come to the New York City borough of Queens from Colombia to join her husband. He soon abandons her, leaving her in a strange city with little money, no skills and unable to speak English. She valiantly struggles to care for her children, even after they are evicted from their apartment. But they survive as a family, as she tries to sell empanadas on the street and finally resorts to collecting and selling cans.

Mendoza also co-wrote and co-directed, with Gloria La Morte, and loosely based the story on the immigration to America of her, Mendoza’s, mother.

Not rated, 81 minutes.

The DVD includes directors’ commentary, a 15-minute “behind the scenes” featurette, a brief segment on “How to Make Empanadas” and Mendoza’s seven-minute short film Still Standing.

*

Artois the Goat (**) The whimsy content runs high in this ultra lightweight comedy about Virgil Gurdies (Mark Scheibmeir), a corporate type who ditches his career in quest of the greatest goat cheese in the world.

Somewhere along the way, he purchases Artois the goat. Sydney Andrews plays Angie, the love interest who spurs Virgil to these greater heights. Although Artois has amateurish acting, faulty production values and a wildly uneven narrative, writing/directing brother team Kyle and Cliff Bogart show flashes of inspired creativity, hinting that their best work may lie ahead.

Not rated, 109 minutes.

*

Accidents Happen (***) Geena Davis receives top billing as Gloria Conway in this murky, family-oriented comedy-drama, but it is Harrison Gilbertson as her son Billy who dominates the action and the screen. The Conway family looks fragile, with a past tragedy hanging over every action. Billy gives the film its spark, landing in good-natured trouble with his friends and causing his parents grief. Andrew Lancaster directed from Brian Carbee’s script.

Rated R, 98 minutes.

*

Sorry kids, but it looks like a slow week:

Barney: Furry Friends The purple one returns with Baby Bop, BJ and other playground friends as they learn about cats and dogs. Subjects covered include guide dogs, tigers and lost cats.

Not rated, 65 minutes.

The DVD also holds an “Animal Tracks” matching game.

*

In this week’s TV offerings:

Life After People — The Complete Season Two The second season of this eerie History series continues to examine what the earth would look like if all humans disappeared. The 10 episodes, on three discs, cover such topics as what would happen to the food supply, how animals would react, what would happen to our homes and how natural forces would overwhelm the environment. The Sweetwater snake roundup, the Turin Shroud and Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer statue are among the topics covered.

Ample use of expert commentary, CGI footage and excellent cinematography aid this entertaining mix of science, history and conjecture. Ominously narrated by James Lurie.

Not rated, 470 minutes. 

*

Also available this week: Clash of the Titans, Dog the Bounty Hunter: Crime is on the Run

DR. BOO ALLEN is an award-winning film critic for the Denton Record-Chronicle.