DVD Release: The Help

Bottom Line: One of the year’s best movies, it shows a triumph of goodness over systematic and banal evil, a conquest of daring friendship over societal cages, and the superiority of the human spirit against anything that tries, and sometimes seemingly succeeds, to keep us down. It’s also quite funny and enjoyable. Full review here.

The Gist: When Skeeter sets out to write a journalistic account of the lives of black maids in her Jim Crow Southern town, she opens a window into the world of the women so closely integrated with their white employers. She also kicks a hornet’s nest.

The Verdict: This is one of my must-watch movies of 2011.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for thematic material, including racism and some racism-induced violence.