Very Good Girls (2012/Well Go USA Blu-ray)/Words & Pictures (2013/Lionsgate Blu-ray)

Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: C+/B- Films: B-

Here are two drama/comedies that I found to be very pleasant surprises...

Naomi Foner's Very Good Girls (2012) has a terrific pairing of two actresses, Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen, very convincingly playing longtime best friends who are having what will be their last summer together before one of them goes to college. Lilly (Fanning) has an oppressive family environment (Clark Gregg and Ellen Barkin play her parents who are about to have a falling out) while Gerri (Olsen) has very open parents (Demi Moore and Richard Dreyfuss) though it does not totally help either outright. At the same time, a photographer (Boyd Holbrook) is selling out of an ice cream truck when he sees them early on and becomes interested in Lilly. Or is he interested in both?

This has really nice, real, honest moments throughout and I hope this is not the last pairing of the leads, as Foner adds to a pleasant increase of a true female cinematic discourse that rings true most often. Fanning's Night Moves co-star Peter Sarsgaard, plays her inappropriate boat tour boss and this is a real independent film that deserves a wide, large audience. This is not just a gals film, but one for everyone and I very much recommend it.

Extras include Interviews and an Original Theatrical Trailer.

In his best work in years, Fred Schepsi's Words & Pictures (2013) is an inspired comedy about two teachers who see life in two different way, land up challenging each other from their side of things and it gets more interesting from there. Clive Owen is a writer who believes in words and literature, struggles with alcoholism and cannot seem to get his career going, but is a decent teacher albeit a talky loudmouth. Juliette Binoche is a painter and art teacher with a physical impairment who feels images can do things words cannot, so they land up going from debating to a friendly battle between them and students at their fancy prep school.

It gets a little too serious when some students land up going at it with each other and the teachers get more serious about each other, yet the screenplay is exceptionally thought out and the whole cast (including Bruce Davidson and Amy Brenneman) is more than up to the task of carrying it off. This could have been a sappy mess, but Schepsi manages to handle it all well and I wonder if we'll be seeing more of the young actors in the future because they all made a good impression.

Extras include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-ray adds a feature length audio commentary track with Schepsi and a Behind The Scenes featurette.

Performance is very nice and similar with both HD-shot films presented in 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers can show the limits of their HD camera, but also produce many nice, consistent shots. They use the scope frame well enough, if not spectacularly so and are more than just flat shoots that most dramatic HD-shot features tend to be today. The same for the sound, well recorded DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that are laid-back and dialogue-based, yet not exactly using the multi-channel track at full force, nor do they need to. These are great examples of how to record, mix and present dramas sonically and will pleasantly surprise audiophiles and movie fans alike.

- Nicholas Sheffo