New DVD Releases for the Week of March 17 2009

Here is a list of the new DVD Releases for the week of March 17 2009:

Twilight (March 21)

Synopsis: Twilight is an action-packed, modern day love story between a vampire and a human. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has always been a little bit different, never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother remarries and sends Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn’t expect much of anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she’s ever met. Intelligent and witty, he sees straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than a mountain lion, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands – and he hasn’t aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he’s immortal. But he doesn’t have fangs, and he doesn’t drink human blood; Edward and his family are unique among vampires in their lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for – a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. But what will Edward & Bella do when James (Cam Gigandet), Laurent (Edi Gathegi) and Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre), the Cullens’ mortal vampire enemies, come to town, looking for her?

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Rachelle Lefevre , Peter Facinelli, Taylor Lautner, Cam Gigandet, Jackson Rathbone

Director: Catherine Hardwicke

Recommendations: For all the fans of the book, this is sort of a must.

Buy it: Twilight on Amazon

Seven Pounds

Synopsis: Centers on a guilt-ridden man who inadvertently falls in love while attempting to kill himself. Dawson will play a love interest who suffers from a serious heart condition. Harrelson will portray a motel attendant who becomes intrigued by his suicidal new tenant.

Cast: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy, Sarah Jane Morris

Director: Gabriele Muccino

Recommendations: I really enjoyed this movie, but let me warn you it’s pretty depressing so get your box of tissues ready.

Buy it: Seven Pounds on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

Bolt (March 22)

Synopsis: For super-dog BOLT (voice of JOHN TRAVOLTA), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue—at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet—a cross-country journey through the real world. Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions: a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voice of SUSIE ESSMAN) and a TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino, Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero.

Cast: John Travolta, Susie Essman, Miley Cyrus, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell, Diedrich Bader, Nick Swardson, Chloe Moretz, Greg Germann, Cheech Marin, Chris Marquette, Tom Everett Scott

Director: Chris Williams, Byron Howard

Recommendations: I haven’t seen Bolt yet, but I’m curious to find out what it’s all about.

Buy it: Bolt on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

Elegy

Synopsis: Driven by Isabel Coixet’s visually assured and deeply observant direction, “Elegy” charts the passionate relationship between a celebrated college professor and a young woman whose beauty both ravishes and destabilizes him. As their intimate connection transforms them—more than either could imagine—a charged sexual contest evolves into an indelible love story. With humanistic warmth, wry wit and erotic intensity, “Elegy” explores the power of beauty to blind, to reveal and to transform.

David Kepesh (Sir Ben Kingsley) glories in the pursuit of adventurous female students but never lets any woman get too close. When gorgeous Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz) enters his classroom, however, his protective veneer dissolves. Her raven-haired beauty both captivates and unsettles him.

Even if Kepesh declares her body a perfect work of art, Consuela is more than an object of desire. She has a strong sense of herself and an emotional intensity that challenges his preconceptions. Kepesh’s need for Consuela becomes an obsession, but ultimately his jealous fantasies of betrayal drive her away.

Shattered, Kepesh faces up to the ravages of time, immersing himself in work and confronting the loss of old friends. Then, two years later, Consuela comes back into his life—with an urgent, desperate request that will change everything.

Cast: Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, Peter Sarsgaard, Dennis Hopper, Deborah Harry

Director: Isabel Coixet

Recommendations: I’m curious to watch the movie, especially because of Ben Kingsley, but I think I can wait to watch it on TV.

Buy it: Elegy on Amazon

Punisher: War Zone

Synopsis: Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the “Punisher Task Force” hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

Cast: Ray Stevenson, Dash Mihok, Colin Salmon, Doug Hutchinson, Dominic West, Wayne Knight, Julie Benz

Director: Lexi Alexander

Recommendations: The first Punisher wasn’t that great to start with, so I think I’ll wait for this one to air on TV.

Buy it: Punisher: War Zone on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)