On Demand picks

July 10, 2009

(Showtime on Comcast) The story of Christopher McCandless, a middle-class son of privilege whose journeyings across America led him to Alaska and death. Adapting Jon Krakauer’s 1996 nonfiction bestseller, Sean Penn has made his best, most ambitious work as a director, but he loves his young hero too much to get the proper distance. With Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, Hal Holbrook. (R; runs through July 11) TY BURR

(Starz on Comcast) Kirsten Dunst stars in a comedy of Southern California high school cheerleading angst, squeaking her way through one crisis after another with improbable allure, aided mightily by a couple of much cooler big-city girls played by Gabrielle Union and Eliza Dushka. (PG-13; runs through July 12)

(HBO on Comcast) A onetime ping-pong prodigy (Dan Fogler) faces off against a triad kingpin obsessed with the sport (Christopher Walken), with help from an FBI agent (George Lopez) and a blind table-tennis grandmaster (James Hong). The humor is very broad, starting with the title, and usually extremely funny. All four leads are terrific. (PG-13; runs through July 13) MARK FEENEY