New DVD Releases for the Week of April 28 2009
Here is a list of the new DVD Releases for the week of January 6 2009 (for TV on DVD releases head over to Daemon’s TV):
Bride Wars
Synopsis: Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) are best friends who since childhood have planned every detail of their respective weddings. At the top of their bridal “must have” list: a ceremony at New York’s ultimate bridal destination, the Plaza Hotel.
Now, at age 26, they’re both about to get married; they’re about to realize their dreams; and they’re about to live happily ever after.
Or maybe not…
When a clerical error causes a clash in wedding dates – they’re now to be married on the same date! – Liv, Emma and their lifelong friendship are put to the ultimate test. Liv, a successful lawyer who is used to getting what she wants, including the perfect job and the perfect man, won’t settle for anything less than the perfect wedding she has dreamed of for years. Emma, a schoolteacher who has always been good at taking care of others, but not so much in looking after herself, discovers her inner Bridezilla and comes out swinging when her own dream wedding is imperiled.
Now, the two best friends who’d do anything for each other, find themselves in a no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners struggle that threatens to erupt into all-out war.
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson, Candice Bergen, Kristen Johnston, Bryan Greenberg, Steve Howey, John Pankow
Director: Gary Winick
Recommendations: I wasn’t too sure whether Bride Wars was going to be good, but turns out it was really fun. Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson are a great team and this is a great Saturday night movie.
Buy it: BRIDE WARS on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
Nothing but the Truth
Synopsis: Inspired by today’s politically charged climate, “Nothing But The Truth” features Kate Beckinsale as Washington, DC political journalist Rachel Armstrong, who writes an explosive story about a government scandal in which she reveals the name of a covert CIA agent (Vera Farmiga). When a special government prosecutor (Matt Dillon) demands she divulge her source, she refuses and finds herself behind bars, struggling to defend the principles she has based her career upon.
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, David Schwimmer, Vera Farmiga, Edie Falco, Alan Alda, Angela Bassett, Noah Wyle, Harry Lennix
Director: Rod Lurie
Recommendations: I saw the trailer for this not too long ago and it looks like an interesting political movie.
Buy it: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH on Amazon
S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale
Synopsis: S. Darko takes place in the summer of 1995, seven years after the original film. It follows Donnie Darko’s younger sister, Samantha (Daveigh Chase), who, in the wake of his death, has found herself at age 17 with a broken family, mired in feelings of insignificance. She and her best friend Corey (Evigan) set off on a road trip to Hollywood in a bid to ‘make it big’, but their journey is cut short when their car breaks down unexpectedly, leaving them stranded in a small desert town. When a meteorite happens to crash-land nearby, Samantha is plagued by bizarre visions telling of the universe’s end and it appears that their breakdown was part of some grander plan. When she finds out she was actually adopted by the Darkos, and that she is in no way related to Donnie, she must face her own demons and, in doing so, save the world and herself.
Cast: Daveigh Chase, Justin Chatwin, Briana Evigan, Elizabeth Berkley, Ed Westwick, Jackson Rathbone
Director: Chris Fisher
Recommendations: Not that I think this sequel will be anything close to as good as Donnie Darko was, but I kind of want to see what they came up with.
Buy it: S. DARKO: A DONNIE DARKO TALE on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
What Doesn’t Kill You
Synopsis: Brian and Paulie are two young punks running loose on the hard streets of South Boston. Coming from separate but equally broken homes, the boys bond of friendship makes them brothers. They do whatever it takes to survive, living by the code of their dog eat dog neighborhood.
As Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke) get older, petty crimes and misdemeanors grow into more serious offenses. Eventually, they fall under sway to the organized crime boss Pat Kelly (Brian Goodman) who runs the felonious backroom businesses and illicit trades in Southie. They also find themselves the targets of unwanted attention from Detective Moran (Donnie Wahlberg) one of Boston’s finest. And Brian in particular becomes lost in haze of drugs and rebellion. Even the love he has for his wife Stacy (Amanda Peet) and his children isn’t enough to redeem him.
In time, the friends find themselves in jail – just a part of doing business on the mean streets they call home. Although not gone away forever Brian and Paulie are incarcerated long enough to learn a few lessons, but will they lead to changed lives on the outside? A storm of trouble is brewing: Paulie has big plans to liberate them from their life of crime – just one more job – one last heist – a bold and potentially violent daylight robbery. But Brian has used his time in jail to make amends to his family and get clean. When Paulie comes to him for help, Brian must face the biggest challenge to his code of honor that he could ever imagine: stand by his friend or salvage his family … he cannot do both!
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo, Amanda Peet, Brian Goodman
Director: Brian Goodman
Recommendations: Hadn’t heard of What Doesn’t Kill You, but just for the cast alone, I think it’s worth a look.
Buy it: WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
Hotel for Dogs
Synopsis: When their new guardians forbid 16-year old Andi (Roberts) and her younger brother, Bruce (Austin) to have a pet, Andi has to use her quick wit to help find a new home for their dog, Friday. The resourceful kids stumble upon an abandoned hotel and using Bruce’s talents as a mechanical genius, transform it into a magical dog-paradise for Friday – and eventually for all Friday’s friends. When barking dogs make the neighbors suspicious, Andi and Bruce use every invention they have to avoid anyone discovering “who let the dogs in.”
Cast: Emma Roberts, Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon, Johnny Simmons, Troy Gentile, Robinne Lee
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Recommendations: This one is for the kids, but it doesn’t prevent everybody from enjoying it, especially on TV.
Buy it: HOTEL FOR DOGS on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
While She Was Out
Synopsis: Prepare yourself for the ultimate white-knuckle thrill ride trough the horrific trenches of America’s back woods. Academy Award® winner Kim Basinger (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, 8 MILE) delivers perhaps the most audacious performance of her illustrious career, as Della, a suburban housewife, hell bent on survival as she is mercilessly stalked by a group of teenage thugs let by a manipulative psychopath (Luke Haas of WITNESS). Armed with only a toolbox and the will to survive, can Della make it through the night, or will this pack of rabid predators have their way? Craig Sheffer (TV’s ONE TREE HILL) co-stars in this intense suspense thriller about one women, a night full of terror and the ultimate breaking point that lives in us all.
Cast: Kim Basinger, Lukas Haas, Craig Sheffer, Luis Chávez, Leonard Wu, Jamie Starr
Director: Susan Montford
Recommendations: While She Was Out sounds a little disturbing, so I think I might take a look at it on TV, but I don’t think I would rent it.
Buy it: WHILE SHE WAS OUT on Amazon
The Uninvited
Synopsis: Based on Kim Jee-Woon’s 2003 Korean horror film, The Uninvited revolves around Anna (Emily Browning), who returns home after spending time in the hospital following the tragic death of her mother. Her recovery suffers a setback when she discovers her father (David Strathairn) has become engaged to her mother’s former nurse, Rachel (Elizabeth Banks). That night, Anna is visited by her mother’s ghost, who warns her of Rachel’s intentions. Together, Anna and her sister (Arielle Kebbel) try to convince their father that his current fiancee is not who she pretends to be, and what should have been a happy family reunion becomes a lethal battle of wills between stepdaughters and stepmother.
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, David Strathairn, Arielle Kebbel, Emily Browning
Director: Thomas Guard, Charles Guard
Recommendations: The Uninvited is for horror fans, but I think I’ll just skip it.
Buy it: THE UNINVITED on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
JCVD
Synopsis: JCVD is an action-packed, comedic satire of the life of movie hero Jean-Claude Van Damme (Bloodsport, Universal Soldier), who’s known throughout the world as the “Muscles from Brussels.” In a bold and self-deprecating role, Jean-Claude finds himself out of money, fighting for custody of his daughter and losing every good action role to Steven Seagal. In an attempt to escape, the aging star walks away from his shrinking spotlight and returns home to his native Brussels. But when he is thrown into a real-life hostage situation, everyone sees a side of Van Damme they’ve never seen before as he takes on the police, battles the perpetrators and creates a media firestorm that captures the attention of the world.
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra, Jean-François Wolff, Anne Paulicevich
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Recommendations: I wasn’t really interested in watching JCVD at the movies, and I don’t think I’ll watch it on DVD either.
Buy it: JCVD on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)
