Real Life in the movies
Based on the high-profile price fixing scandal in the mid-1990's, Stephen Soderbergh's The Informant! stars Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, the highest level executive ever to become a whistle-bower for the FBI. Encouraged by his wife (Melanie Lynskey) to "do the right thing," Whitacre begins working with a Bureau agent (Scott Bakula), taping meetings and phone calls in order to expose the corruption of his superiors (Andrew Daly) and his company. The movie tells the tale as a series of comic misadventures, as Whitacre's evidence begins to unravel and the case becomes a media circus, the situation spirals further and further out of control. On DVD and Blu Ray.
The Damned United recounts Brian Clough's (Michael Sheen) time in 1974 as the manager of the Leeds United football club, as he inherits the team from a bitter rival (Colm Meaney) and tries to win over a team loyal to the old management. The story of Clough's short time with Leeds covers the larger-than-life personalities in professional sports, including his relationships with two assistants (Timothy Spall and Maurice Roeves) and the club's chairman (Henry Goodman), and tells the tale of epic rivalry, loyalty, and what it takes to make a team. With Jim Broadbent and Brian McCardie. On DVD and Blu Ray.
An Englishman in New York stars John Hurt as gay icon Quentin Crisp during his later years in New York City. After his autobiography The Naked Civil Servant, Crisp travels to New York to put on an Off-Broadway show, and the film details the irrepressible author/performer's relationship with his agent (Swoozie Kurtz), playwrights (Cynthia Nixon), artists (Johnathan Tucker) and friends (Denis O'Hare) during the height of his fame.
Set during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, Flame & Citron follows a pair of resistance fighters: the young idealist codenamed Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and the intense family man called Citron (Mads Mikkelsen). As the most successful hunters of Nazi sympathizers and collaborators, they in turn are hunted by the SS, and can only trust one another. Shot as a dark, noir thriller, the film sends the pair on their most dangerous mission, one that could make them both heroes.
The two new documentaries out this week are The September Issue, about the year's most important edition of Vogue, its influence on the fashion world, and legendary Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's work in creating the year's "fashion bible;" and Blood on the Flat Track, about the current resurgence of roller derby in the United States, the Rat City Rollergirls, and the personalities behind the tattoos, short skirts, and bruises on the track.
Dangerous Pursuits
Richard Kelly's The Box takes place in the 1970s, where a financially struggling couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) receive an anonymous package in the mail: a wooden box with a red button under a glass dome. When a mysterious stranger (Frank Langella) knocks on their door, he explains the conditions of the box... and a sticky moral choice. As they begin to understand the meaning behind the box and search for the identity of the stranger, their world becomes more mysterious and frightening as they struggle to keep their family together. With James Rebhorn. On DVD and Blu Ray.A pair of friends find themselves on opposite sides of a war in The Vampire's Assistant, where nice guy Chris Massoglia finds himself working for John C. Reilly, a peaceful vampire living among humans in a traveling freakshow. His rebellious and violent best friend (Josh Hutcherson) is introduced to the more dangerous vampires by a the mischievous Mr. Tiny (Michael Cerveris), and the two friends are suddenly bitter rivals in a centuries old struggle. With Willem Dafoe.
The Norwegian Dead Snow puts a group of med students in a remote, snowbound cabin (with no cell phone service), and unleashes one of the most over-the-top horror movie conceits ever: Nazi zombies. Trapped in the mountains, they have to employ all the tools in and around the cabin in order to survive, pitting zombies against hammers, hatchets, shotguns, chainsaws, and s a snowmobile. On DVD and Blu Ray.
When a pledge prank goes wrong and one of their own dies, the sisters of Theta Pi swear themselves to silence in Sorority Row. Eight months later, as graduation approaches, revenge for the girl's death is taken out on the witnesses and participants one by one, in increasingly grisly ways, and the film offers one of this week's best tag lines: "It's all fun and games until someone gets stabbed with a tire iron."
Similarly, the plot synopsis of Open Graves is too good to pass up: "A group of surfers discover an old board game that claims a life every time it's played." Eliza Dushku and Mike Vogel star as two of the surfers who play the game at a party one night, only to find the cryptic writings on the game's cards have foreshadowed the deaths of all the players. As they begin to die, one by one, the survivors have to find ways to survive the fates the game has planned for them.
Drama
With his family reunion cancelled, Robert DeNiro heads out on a cross country journey to reconnect with his grown children in Everybody's Fine. Traveling from his daughter (Kate Beckinsale), who tells him it's a bad time and pretends to be sick, his son (Sam Rockwell) who isn't as successful as he lead his father to believe, and to his other daughter (Drew Barrymore), who was warned and is expecting him... the movie tells the story of their lives across the visits, and between the siblings phone calls to one another, revealing the loves and dysfunctions of the family.The low key French romance Shall We Kiss spends the evening with Gabriel and Emilie, who get along very well, but when Gabriel suggests a "kiss without consequences," Emilie reveals a story, told in flashbacks, about the meanings and implications of a simple kiss.
Justin Frost is a small town slacker, working with his friend and taking care of his single mother (Leah Thompson) in Splinterheads. When the circus rolls into town, he meets the beautiful Rachael Taylor, who works as a "splinterhead," one of the barkers who draws locals in to play the unwinnable games on the carnival boardwalk... and her violent and jealous boyfriend (Dean Winters). As he struggles with his never-been-anywhere life and she fights against her tour of America's parking lots, the two could make an unlikely couple, if everything in their lives doesn't get in the way. With Christopher McDonald.
The Vicious Kind stars Adam Scott as a man who returns home for thanksgiving with his new girlfriend (Brittany Snow) in tow, but his antagonistic brother (Alex Frost) seems to have trouble with their life... and his own. Unable to sleep, his behavior is always a little off, but he seems to have his reasons, and his relationship with both of them is destined to evolve over time. With J.K. Simmons.
Comedy
Uma Thurman is a stay-at-home mother of two in Motherhood. The movie takes place over the course of one day, as she prepares for her daughter's 6th birthday... and the event sends her through a series of comic misadventures, each threatening to push her past the breaking point. While her clueless but well-meaning husband (Anthony Edwards) is oblivious to the stresses in her life, her best friend (Minnie Driver) can see that this is a woman on the edge.Gordon Michaels is the title character in Unbeatable Harold, an assistant manager at a staekhouse, and a superstar personality with the Cadillac and sideburns to match. When the girl of his dreams (Nicole DeHuff) walks into his life, he pressures his boss (Henry Winkler) to give the girl a waitressing job and keep her in Harold's life. Unfortunately, her ex-rockstar boyfriend (Dylan McDermott) has rolled into town to reclaim her... but Harold's up to the challenge.
Patton Oswalt's Comedy Central special, No Reason to Complain, is also new this week on DVD, including a full, live comedy performance.
Animated
A series of vignettes depicted in stop-motion, $9.99 drifts from story to story, framed by a not-quite-omnicient angel (Geoffrey Rush) who usually keeps his wings hidden. From story to story, everyone seems to have the same questions and quest for meaning, but if an angel doesn't have the answers, it might be for sale in a book for just about $10. With Anthony LaPaglia, Roy Billing, and Ben Mendelsohn.Elaborating on the popular video game series, Halo: Legends takes the same approach as The Animatrix and Gotham Knight, telling stories in the Halo world as drawn in a variety of styles by various animators.
New this week to Reckless Video's TV New Release section are the debut seasons of the science fiction Flash Forward, Comedy Central's ultra-violent Superjail!, and the medical drama series Nurse Jackie. Also new this week is the 6th season of Project Runway, as well as Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
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