Communism redux

“Goodbye, Lenin!”

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A young man (Daniel Bruhl) growing up in East Berlin witnesses the changes that occur over the years, especially after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Then his mother (Katrin Sass), having seen him participating in a protest march, suffers a heart attack that puts her in a coma.

To protect her health when she wakes up months later, the boy does everything he can to convince her that nothing has changed. Political as well as humorous, touching as well as satirical, “Goodbye, Lenin!” blends comedy with a real issue: how the “triumph” of the West hasn’t fulfilled everyone’s dream of the capitalism that socialism at least promised. (DVD, VHS; 2:00; rated R for profanity, brief nudity).

“Kill Bill: Vol. 2”

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The Bride (Uma Thurman) continues her quest to find those who, at the order of Bill (David Carradine), murdered everyone in what would have been her wedding party.

And with a few detours, what “Vol. 2” demonstrates best is Tarantino’s vast knowledge of martial-arts films, his uncanny ability to find the best music to suit certain scenes and his unerring ear for entertaining dialogue.

Spliced together, the two halves of “Kill Bill” could possibly be the kind of brilliance that would be expected from the director of “Pulp Fiction.”

Split in two, though, it makes for an interesting, if not completely successful and quite possibly cynical, experiment in marketing. (DVD, VHS; 2:26; rated R for violence, language, brief drug use.)

“The Prince & Me”

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A randy Danish prince (Luke Mably), wanting to get away from his controlling parents, decides to attend college in Wisconsin. There, he meets a premed student (Julia Stiles). Hate erupts, then turns to love, then the lovers must confront reality. Sound familiar? No problem, the movie’s as it wants to be, light and lots of fun. (DVD, VHS; 1:43; rated PG for sex-related material, language.)

Now available: “Kill Bill: Vol. 2,” “Goodbye, Lenin!” “Johnson Family Vacation,” “The Prince & Me.”

Available Tuesday: “Taking Lives,” “Godsend,” “New York Minute,” “Connie and Carla,” “Bon Voyage,” “Da Ali G Show: The Complete First Season,” “Happy Days: The Complete First Season,” “Laverne & Shirley: The Complete First Season.”