New DVD Releases for the Week of June 23 2009

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Here is a list of the new DVD Releases for the week of June 23 2009:

Phoebe in Wonderland

Synopsis: Confounded by her clashes with the seemingly rule-obsessed world, a little girl seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher.

Cast: Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Elle Fanning, Bill Pullman, Campbell Scott, Ian Colletti, and Caitlin Sanchez

Director: Daniel Barnz

Recommendations: I saw the trailer for Phoebe in Wonderland a while back and I remember really enjoying it. So I’m curious to find out how good the movie is.

Buy it: PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND on Amazon

Waltz with Bashir

Synopsis: One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari Folman about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life.
Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images …

Cast: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Dror Harazi

Director: Ari Folman

Recommendations: I honestly haven’t seen much from Waltz with Bashir, but I have heard really good things about it, so I’ll give it a look.

Buy it: WALTZ WITH BASHIR on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

Table for Three

Synopsis: Scott Teller’s life is turned upside down when he meets Ryan and Mary, a seemingly perfect couple who move into his apartment and his life. He quickly becomes their third wheel. But when Scott meets the girl of his dreams in Leslie he believes that Ryan and Mary are intentionally sabotaging his chances with her because they desperately need him in their life to hold their dysfunctional relationship together.

Cast: Jesse Bradford, Sophia Bush, Jennifer Morrison, Brandon Routh

Director: Michael Samonek

Recommendations: This is what I call a “thoughtless movie.” I can just sit down, relax and enjoy. Nothing too deep, just pure fun.

Buy it: TABLE FOR THREE on Amazon

Bob Funk

Synopsis: After he’s fired from his job – by his mother, no less – Bob Funk agrees to quit drinking, see a therapist, and eventually report to a new boss, who might just be the woman of his dreams.

Cast: Rachael Leigh Cook, Amy Ryan, Grace Zabriskie, Eddie Jemison, Stephen Root

Director: Craig Carlisle

Recommendations: Bob Funk sounds like another “thoughtless movie” that I can enjoy.

Buy it: BOB FUNK on Amazon

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Synopsis: Rebecca Bloomwood is a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny, little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: she’s hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt.
While Rebecca has dreams of working for a top fashion magazine, she can’t quite get her foot in the door—that is, until she snags a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine published by the same company.
Overnight, her column becomes hugely popular, turning her into an overnight celebrity. But when her compulsive shopping and growing debt issues threaten to destroy her love life and derail her career, she struggles to keep it all from spiraling out of control… and is ultimately forced to reevaluate what’s really important in life.

Cast: Isla Fisher, Joan Cusack, John Goodman

Director: P.J. Hogan

Recommendations: I don’t know why, but the trailer just looked ok to me, so I think I’ll just wait to catch that one on TV.

Buy it: CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

Inkheart

Synopsis: Mortimer “Mo” Folchart and his 12-year-old daughter, Meggie, share an extraordinary gift for bringing characters from books to life when they read aloud. But there is a danger: when a character is brought to life from a book, a real person disappears into its pages. On one of their trips to a secondhand book shop, Mo locates a book he’s been searching for since Meggie was three years old, when her mother, Resa, vanished into its mystical world. But Mo’s plan to use the book to find and rescue Resa is thwarted when Capricorn, the evil villain of Inkheart, kidnaps Meggie and, discovering she has inherited her father’s gift, demands that she bring to life his most powerful ally, the Shadow. Determined to rescue his daughter and send the fictional characters back where they belong, Mo assembles a small group of friends and family — some from the real world, some from the pages of books — and embarks on a daring and perilous journey to set things right.

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Rafi Gavron, Eliza Bennett, Sienna Guillory, Jennifer Connelly

Director: Iain Softley

Recommendations: I saw Inkheart when it came out to theaters and unfortunately, it wasn’t as good as I had hoped for. So I would suggest you wait for it to air on TV.

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

The Pink Panther 2

Synopsis: The Pink Panther 2, the sequel to the 2006 worldwide hit, stars Steve Martin as he reprises the role of intrepid-if-bumbling French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. When legendary treasures from around the world are stolen, including the priceless Pink Panther Diamond, Chief Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese) is forced to assign Clouseau to a team of international detectives and experts charged with catching the thief and retrieving the stolen artifacts. Martin is joined by his co-stars Jean Reno (as Ponton, his partner) and Emily Mortimer (as Nicole, the object of his awkward affections). The investigative dream team is played by Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina, Yuki Matsuzaki (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Lily Tomlin also stars. The story is set in Paris and Rome.

Cast: Steve Martin, Andy Garcia, John Cleese, Alfred Molina, Aishwarya Rai, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Molly Sims

Director: Harald Zwart

Recommendations: Even though I usually like the actors involved, I just couldn’t get through the first one and am definitely not going to be watching #2.

Buy it: THE PINK PANTHER 2 on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)