New DVD Releases for the Week of April 7 2009
Here is a list of the new DVD Releases for the week of April 7 2009 (for TV on DVD releases head over to Daemon’s TV):
Bedtime Stories
Synopsis: An adventure comedy starring Adam Sandler as Skeeter Bronson, a hotel handyman whose life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true. He attempts to take advantage of the phenomenon, incorporating his own aspirations into one outlandish tale after another, but it’s the kids’ unexpected contributions that turn Skeeter’s life upside down.
Cast: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Teresa Palmer, Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Richard Griffiths, Lucy Lawless, Courteney Cox-Arquette, Aisha Tyler, Jonathan Pryce
Director: Adam Shankman
Recommendations: Adam Sandler in what looks like to be a new entertaining movie.
Buy it: BEDTIME STORIES on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
Doubt
Synopsis: Set at a Catholic school in the Bronx, it centers on a nun who grows suspicious when a priest begins taking too much interest in the life of a young black student. Is she being overly protective or not protective enough? And can she work within the system to discover the truth?
Cast: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis
Director: John Patrick Shanley
Recommendations: With so much critical acclaim, this had to make my rental list.
Buy it: DOUBT on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
Yes Man
Synopsis: Jim Carrey stars as Carl Allen, a man who signs up for a self-help program based on one simple principle: say yes to everything…and anything. At first, unleashing the power of “yes” transforms Carl’s life in amazing and unexpected ways, but he soon discovers that opening up his life to endless possibilities can have its drawbacks.
Cast: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Molly Sims
Director: Peyton Reed
Recommendations: Yes Man might not be the best movie ever made, but it was pretty fun.
Buy it: YES MAN on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Synopsis: “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is 20th Century Fox’s contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. Keanu Reeves portrays Klaatu, an alien whose arrival on our planet triggers a global upheaval. As governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor’s appearance, a woman (Jennifer Connelly) and her young stepson get caught up in his mission – and come to understand the ramifications of his being a self-described “friend to the Earth.”
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese, Jon Hamm, Brandon Jackson
Director: Scott Derrickson
Recommendations: Unfortunately, even having Keanu Reeves in the movie wasn’t enough to make it good. But if it’s on TV you might want to take a look.
Buy it: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
The Tale of Despereaux
Synopsis: Once upon a time, in the faraway kingdom of Dor, there was magic in the air, laughter aplenty and gallons of mouthwatering soup. But an accident left the King broken-hearted, the Princess filled with longing and the townsfolk without their soup. Sunlight disappeared. The world became gray. All hope was lost in this land…until Despereaux Tilling was born.
A modern fairy tale from visionary filmmaker Gary Ross, together with directors Sam Fell & Rob Stevenhagen, The Tale of Despereaux tells the story of several unlikely heroes: Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a brave mouse banished to the dungeon for speaking with a human; Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a good-hearted rat who loves light and soup, but is exiled to darkness; Pea (Emma Watson), a Princess in a gloomy castle who is prisoner to her father’s grief; and Mig (Tracey Ullman), a servant girl who longs to be a Princess, but is forced to serve the jailer (Robbie Coltrane).
Tiny and graced with oversized ears, Despereaux was born too big for his little world. Refusing to live his life cowering, he befriends a Princess named Pea and learns to read (rather than eat) books—reveling in stories of knights, dragons and fair maidens. Banished from Mouseworld for being more man than mouse, Despereaux is rescued by another outcast, Roscuro, who also wants to hear the tales. But when the Princess dismisses Roscuro’s friendship, he becomes the ultimate rat and plots revenge with fellow outsider Mig.
After Pea is kidnapped, Despereaux discovers he is the only one who can rescue her…and that even the tiniest mouse can find the courage of a knight in shining armor. In this tale of bravery, forgiveness and redemption, one small creature will teach a kingdom that it takes only a little light to show the truth: what you look like doesn’t equal what you are.
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Stanley Tucci, Sigourney Weaver, Robbie Coltrane, Ciaran Hinds, Christopher Lloyd, Justin Long, Tracey Ullman, Tony Hale, Ben Falcone, Emma Watson
Director: Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen
Recommendations: Even though I haven’t heard all that many good things about this movie, I still think it looks kind of sweet.
Buy it: THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
