New DVD Releases for the Week of September 1 2009
Here is a list of the new DVD Releases for the week of September 1 2009, as well as my intentions to buy, rent, watch on TV, or skip (for TV on DVD releases head over to Daemon’s TV):
Earth
Synopsis: The first film in the Disneynature series, “Earth,” narrated by James Earl Jones, tells the remarkable story of three animal families and their amazing journey across the planet we all call home. “Earth” combines rare action, unimaginable scale and impossible locations by capturing the most intimate moments of our planet’s wildest and most elusive creatures. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the acclaimed creative team behind the Emmy Award®-winning “Planet Earth,” combine forces again to bring this epic adventure to the big screen.
Cast: James Earl Jones
Director: Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield
Recommendations: I didn’t get to catch Earth in theaters, but I’ve been meaning to see it, so it’s going into my Netflix list.
Buy it: EARTH on Amazon
State of Play
Synopsis: Oscar® winner Russell Crowe leads an all-star cast in a blistering thriller about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in an case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders. Crowe plays D.C. reporter Cal McAffrey, whose street smarts lead him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation’s most promising political and corporate figures in State of Play, from acclaimed director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland).
Handsome, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party’s contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out.
McCaffrey has the dubious fortune of both an old friendship with Collins and a ruthless editor, Cameron (Oscar® winner Helen Mirren), who has assigned him to investigate. As he and partner Della (Rachel McAdams) try to uncover the killer’s identity, McCaffrey steps into a cover-up that threatens to shake the nation’s power structures. And in a town of spin-doctors and wealthy politicos, he will discover one truth: when billions are at stake, no one’s integrity, love or life is ever safe.
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Recommendations: I heard some good things about this film and I like the cast, so it’s definitely going into my rental queue. Although I do have to watch the original series first.
Buy it: STATE OF PLAY on Amazon
Bring It On: Fight To The Finish
Synopsis: Christina Milian stars as sassy cheer captain Lina Cruz, whose world is turned upside-down when her family moves from the urban streets of East Los Angeles to the sunny beach town of Malibu. At her new school, Lina clashes with Avery, the ultra-competitive all-star cheer captain, while also falling for Avery’s super-cute brother, Evan. Lina’s always been able to rise to a challenge, but can she create a new all-star squad, beat Avery at the Spirit Championships, and still keep her romance with Evan? Hot music, fierce competition and high-flyin’ fun continue in this all-new movie!
Cast: Christina Milian, Rachele Brooke Smith, Cody Longo, Vanessa Born, Meagan Holder
Director: Bille Woodruff
Recommendations: I’m not expecting great things from this new Bring It On movie, but who knows if it’s on TV I might sit down and watch it. Sometimes, I like cheap entertainment. We also have a giveaway for the DVD that you might want to enter.
Buy it: BRING IT ON: FIGHT TO THE FINISH on Amazon
Sin Nombre
Synopsis: Sin Nombre is an epic dramatic thriller written and directed by Student Academy Award winner Cary Joji Fukunaga in his feature debut. The filmmaker’s firsthand experiences with Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of the Spanish-language movie.
Sin Nombre tells the story of Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a teenager living in Honduras, and hungering for a brighter future. A reunion with her long-estranged father gives Sayra her only real option – emigrating with her father and her uncle into Mexico and then the United States, where her father now has a new family.
Meanwhile, Casper, a.k.a. Willy (Edgar Flores), is a teenager living in Tapachula, Mexico, and facing an uncertain future. A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang brotherhood, he has just brought to the Mara a new recruit, 12-year-old Smiley (Kristyan Ferrer), who undergoes a rough initiation.
While Smiley quickly takes to gang life, Casper tries to protect his relationship with girlfriend Martha Marlene (Diana García), keeping their love a secret from the Mara. But when Martha encounters Tapachula’s Mara leader Lil’ Mago (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), she is brutally taken from Casper forever.
Sayra and her relatives manage to cross over into Mexico. There, they join other immigrants waiting at the Tapachula train yards. When a States-bound freight train arrives one night, they successfully rush to board – riding atop it, rather than in the cars – as does Lil’ Mago, who has commandeered Casper and Smiley along to rob immigrants.
When day breaks, Lil’ Mago makes his move and Casper in turn makes a fateful decision. Casper must now navigate the psychological gauntlet of his violent existence and the physical one of the unforgiving Mara, but Sayra bravely allies herself with him as the train journeys through the Mexican countryside towards the hope of new lives.
Cast: Paulina Gaitan, Edgar Flores, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Diana García, Héctor Jiménez
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Recommendations: I heard some really good things about this movie, but since my rental queue is already so long, I think by the time I get to it, it’ll be on premium cable, so that’s why it’s classified as watch on TV.
Buy it: SIN NOMBRE on Amazon
Sugar
Synopsis: SUGAR is a coming-of-age tale that follows Miguel Santos, a.k.a. “Azucar” (Sugar), a pitcher from the Dominican Republic town of San Pedro de Macoris, who grew up poor but talented, always believing baseball was his ticket out of poverty. Playing professionally at the Kansas City Knights baseball academy, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States’ minor league system. Miguel travels to a small town in Iowa corn country, where he and other Latin American teammates are the only Spanish-speaking people and have trouble learning the new language and culture. Despite the welcoming efforts of his host family, Miguel is faced with an isolation he never before experienced. When his performance on the mound falters, he begins examining more closely the world around him, his place within it, and ultimately questions his life’s singular ambition.
Cast: Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino
Director: Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden
Recommendations: I’m not sure Sugar is a movie that I would want to rent. Although it sounds like a nice story, I think I can wait to watch it on TV. I’m not in a hurry.
Buy it: SUGAR on Amazon
