Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Week of February 1

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Dramatic Lives

Raised in an English boarding school, Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield), and Ruth (Keira Knightley) discover they aren't normal children in Never Let Me Go. As they grow up and gradually learn that they are clones, raised to donate organs to people in need, they realize that their lives will be short. Each of them tries to make the most of the time they have, and struggle with their feelings of love, jealousy, and betrayal before they "complete." On DVD and Blu Ray.

Marcus (Anthony Mackie), a former Black Panther, returns to his Philadelphia neighborhood in Night Catches Us. Set in 1976, Marcus goes home to bury his father, but the fallout of his previous life in the black power movement is waiting for him when he arrives. His ex (Kerry Washington) has become a prominent lawyer, a cop (Wendell Pierce) with a score to settle, and a former Panther (Jamie Hector) out for revenge because he thinks Marcus informed to the FBI. As Marcus tries to work through his personal and family ties, he's forced to contend with the neighborhood, the former activists who've become jaded, and the youth trying to live up to their idea of radical revolutionaries.

Doug and Lois Riley (James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo) have drifted apart since the death of their daughter in Welcome to the Rileys, but when Doug meets a young stripper (Kristen Stewart) while attending a conference in New Orleans, he unofficially adopts the girl. At first, the girl sees him as a source of money, and Doug sees her a girl that needs a father figure, but their time together illuminates issues they all need to resolve.
Valerio Mastandrea is an acclaimed writer, coasting through his professional life and his personal relationship with his wife and daughter in Giulia Doesn't Date at Night. When they move to a new home, he stays in their old apartment to work on his new novel... and that's when he meets Giulia (Valeria Golino), a swimming instructor with a troubled past. Their affair walks a dangerous line between selfishness and denial, and could come to a disastrous end.

Monstrous

Let Me In
Now & Then
Bullied at school and unhappy at home, young Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) makes a new friend when the strange and mysterious Abby (Chloe Moretz) moves in next door in Let Me In. Though she's a good friend to Owen, Abby and her guardian's (Richard Jenkins) arrival coincides with a series of murders, and one detective (Elias Koteas) begins to suspect they might not be natural. Remade from 2008's critically acclaimed Let the Right One In. On DVD and Blu Ray.

An American photojournalist (Scoot McNairy) is tasked with escorting his boss' daughter from Mexico to the United States in Monsters, but the area around the border has become a forbidden zone infested with giant, alien creatures. When they miss the ferry, the pair has to journey over land through a danger zone leveled by constant bombings and monster rampages, and their troubles may not end when they cross the wall that guards the American border. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Eastern

A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop
Now & Then
Director Zhang Yimou's interpretation of a Coen Brothers' classic, A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop transmutes the Coen's neo-noir into a Chinese period piece, where the owner of a noodle shop (Ni Dahong) loses faith in his wife and employees. When an immoral detective (Sun Hong-Lei) enters the fray, the lives of everyone involved become more uncertain, and the story unfolds in the style of Zhang's grim fairytales. On DVD and Blu Ray.

The story of Ryu (Rinko Kikuchi), a beautiful woman who works in a Tokyo fish market, Map of the Sounds of Tokyo follows Ryu from her menial job to her lavish apartment... to her night job as an assassin, as her life is narrated from afar by Min Tanaka. Contracted to kill a Spanish wine-shop owner (Sergi Lopez), Ryu becomes infatuated with her prey and begins to question the work in her contract.

True Stories

Based on the true story of Betty Anne Waters, Conviction stars Hilary Swank as the woman who puts herself through law school when her brother (Sam Rockwell) is sentenced to life in jail for murder. When no one is willing to take the case, Betty remakes herself as the only lawyer who believes in her brother, balancing law school with a waitressing job while raising two boys. With Peter Gallagher and Melissa Leo.

Director Amir Bar-Lev's documentary The Tillman Story recounts the story of football star Pat Tillman, who gave up his sports career to join the Army Rangers. The movie tells the story of Tillman's deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, his death due to friendly fire, and the controversy surrounding his death and its attempted cover-up.

Blood into Wine is a documentary about rockstar Maynard James Keenan's vineyard in northern Arizona. Told partly as a comedy, partly as an exploration of wine culture, the film explores Keenan and vintner Eric Glomski's attempts to make a sustainable winery in a landscape not known for agriculture.

Kids' Sequels

Now that Chloe (Odette Yustman) and Papi (George Lopez) are married, their comic misadventures revolve around their litter of puppies in Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. They have to take their adventures on the road once their human owners get into trouble, and Chloe, Papi, and family have to take their antics out into the world to save their home.

In the made-for-TV sequel Mean Girls 2, Jo, the new girl in school (Meaghan Martin), sees her new outcast friend (Jennifer Stone) bullied by a new generation of Plastics. With a canny sense of mischief, Jo goes about setting the Plastics to rights and putting an end to girl clique bullying.


Reckless Video's only addition to the TV New Releases section this week is the first season of the Los Angeles police drama Southland.

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