Top DVD Releases for the Week of December 16 2008
Here is a list of the DVD Releases for the week of December 16 2008:
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Synopsis: Explorer Rick O’Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex, wife Evelyn and her brother, Jonathan. And this time, the O’Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service. Doomed by a double-crossing sorceress to spend eternity in suspended animation, China’s ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors have laid forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as a vast, silent terra cotta army. But when dashing adventurer Alex O’Connell is tricked into awakening the ruler from eternal slumber, the reckless young archaeologist must seek the help of the only people who know more than he does about taking down the undead: his parents. As the monarch roars back to life, our heroes find his quest for world domination has only intensified over the millennia. Striding the Far East with unimaginable supernatural powers, the Emperor Mummy will rouse his legion as an unstoppable, otherworldly force… unless the O’Connells can stop him first.
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh, Maria Bello
Recommendations: Adventure and mummies. How can you go wrong? Worst comes to worst, it would make a nice Christmas gift.
(Note from Sandie: I would put this in the “Hell Will Freeze First” category, but that’s just me…)
Synopsis:When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn. A mysterious figure with a web of connections to terrorist organizations, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The inter-agency task force looking into the case meets with Carter, a veteran CIA contractor who seemingly has his own agenda and Max Archer, a fellow FBI agent. The task force links Horn to a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, but a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a disaffected former military operative — or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue.
Cast: Don Cheadle, Archie Panjabi, Guy Pearce, Aly Khan, Simon Reynolds
Recommendations: Don Cheadle is great at whatever he does and plus I like spy movies so this is a winner.
Synopsis 
onna, an independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, is about to let go of Sophie, the spirited daughter she’s raised alone. For Sophie’s wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends–practical and no-nonsense Rosie and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tonya–from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own. On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna’s past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard
Recommendations: Not usually my thing but I saw the musical in Vegas and it was alright. Maybe worth a look.
Synopsis: The Women tells the story of Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), a clothing designer who seems to have it all – a beautiful country home, a rich financier husband, an adorable 11-year-old daughter and a part-time career creating designs for her father’s venerable clothing company. Her best friend, Sylvie Fowler (Annette Bening), leads another enviable life – a happily single editor of a prominent fashion magazine, a possessor of a huge closet of designer clothes and a revered arbiter of taste and style poised on New York’s cutting edge. But when Mary’s husband enters into an affair with Crystal Allen (Eva Mendes), a sultry ‘spritzer girl’ lurking behind the Saks Fifth Avenue perfume counter, all hell breaks loose. Mary and Sylvie’s relationship is tested to the breaking point while their tight-knit circle of friends, including mega-mommy Edie Cohen (Debra Messing) and author Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett-Smith), all start to question their own friendships and romantic relationships as well.
Cast: Meg Ryan, Candice Bergen, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Bette Midler, Cloris Leachman, Carrie Fisher, Lynn Whitfield, Ana Gasteyer, Debi Mazar, Joanna Gleason
Recommendations: This one is for the women (Get it? *wink* *wink*).
Synopsis:Shelley Darlington has lived at the Playboy mansion for the last nine years. She is Hef’s favorite and acts like a den mother to the other girls. On her birthday, she is unceremoniously evicted from Hef’s pad for ‘being too old.’ Homeless and without essential skills, Shelley wanders around L.A. until she finds a new job–the housemother at the most unpopular sorority on campus.
Cast: Anna Faris, Katharine McPhee, Emma Stone, Rumer Willis, Kat Dennings
Recommendations: OK, let’s put aside the ridiculous premise. There is Katharine McPhee and Rumer Willis in this movie. Need I say more.
