Week of April 26

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Off the beaten path

Dan Ireland's Jolene paces fifteen years of the title character's life, following Jolene (Jessica Chastain) from a fifteen-year-old child bride along her journey of self discovery. Thrown out of her home because of an affair with her uncle (Dermot Mulroney), Jolene matures as she forms a string of relationships (including Chazz Palminteri, Rupert Friend, and Michael Vartan), each leading her to the next stage of her life. With Denise Richards.

Car-obsessed Bo's (Gabriel Macht) life is turned upside-down when he lands another DUI and his prized 1970 Plymouth Barracuda is impounded in One Way To Valhalla. Forced to bike to work, an accident lands him in the hospital with a head injury, changing Bo from a chain smoking, hard drinking motorhead into someone his wife (Kim Dickens) and friends (Brad William Henke and Kate Walsh) don't recognize. Only his black sheep stepdaughter (Alison Pill) sees his new state as an "awakening," and she tries to guide the new Bo through a life not obsessed with beer and cars.

Based on a controversial French autobiography, Student Services is the story of Laura (Deborah Francois), a university student who can't make rent or afford food. Feeling she has no options, Laura answers a personal ad offering 100₣ for "tenderness," but she quickly slides into a life of prostitution. Though she's able to pay rent, her new profession begins to take over her life instead of financing her student life, and threatens to take her over completely.

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Irreverent

Raju is going to engineering school to raise his family's fortunes and Farhan's parents decided he'd be an engineer the moment he was born, but their life in college is quickly defined by their friend Rancho (Aamir Khan) in 3 Idiots. While the dean (Boman Irani) teaches rote memorization, Rancho infects his friends with understanding and imagination, and the war is one... especially when Rancho meets the dean's daughter (Kareena Kapoor). True to form, the movie mixes comedy and drama, and tells a large-scale story of love and friendship punctuated by musical numbers.

Stephen (Edward Hogg) goes on an epic journey without leaving his apartment in Bunny and the Bull, abandoning his hermetically sealed life by an adventure in his mind. Recalling last year's travel through Europe with his reckless friend Bunny (Simon Farnaby), the duo bounce from one strange situation to another, funded by a winning bet on a longshot horse. Though Stephen is withdrawn and sheepish, Bunny is usually drunk and carousing, and the two always seem to find some kind of trouble to keep their trip interesting.

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B-Pictures

Bonnie (Tiffany Shepis) and Clyde are shooting their way through 1930s America, living a hardscabble life between jobs in Bonnie & Clyde vs Dracula, until their next heist puts them in the way of someone more notorious than themselves: Dracula. Blending mad scientist science fiction with monster movies and wild outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde have to survive both Dracula and the doctor that resurrected him.

Continuing SyFy's tradition of bad-but-lovable creature features, Dinoshark follows Sharktopus' example, putting a sailor (Eric Balfour) in the wake of a murderous, ancient shark released from its glacial suspended animation by global warming. As the body count rises, no one will believe Balfour when he tries to warn the world about the Dinoshark... until it's too late. With Humberto Busto.

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New this week to Reckless Video's TV New Releases are the nature documentary series Human Planet narrated by John Hurt, as well as the 14th season of Trey Parker & Matt Stone's South Park and the complete series of Testees, about two guys who work as test subjects at a research facility.

Week of April 19

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High Profile Dramas

The story of King George VI, The King's Speech was the big winner at this year's Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Director (Tom Hooper), and Actor (Colin Firth). After a disastrous speech, Prince Albert (Firth) begins seeing Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an unconventional speech therapist. With broadcasting becoming a fundamental part to leadership and his brother's (Guy Pearce) abdication, Logue must help Prince Albert overcome the impediment that's handicapped him since childhood and become King George. With Helena Bonham Carter and Jennifer Ehle. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Nicole Kidman was nominated for an Oscar for her role in John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole as Becca, a woman mourning the recent death of her four-year-old son. While Howie(Aaron Eckhart), her husband, believes in support groups and wants to keep reminders of their son, Becca has closed herself off, keeping house and looking after her unruly younger sister (Tammy Blanchard). As they both seek solace in their own way, they try to keep their family together and come to terms with the turns their life has taken. With Dianne Wiest and Sandra Oh. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Stephen Dorff is aimless movie star Johnny Marco in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere. Johnny's adrift in random drink, pills, and women when he's suddenly put in charge of his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning). As the two spend time together in luxury hotels and travel to promote Johnny's new movie, he has to adapt to being a father, which could be the most meaningful thing he's ever done. With Chris Pontius. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Janusz (Jim Sturgess) is sent to Siberia for being critical of Stalin in Peter Weir's The Way Back. As his fellow inmates starve and freeze, Janusz joins an escape attempt with a hardened Russian criminal (Colin Farrell), a solitary American (Ed Harris), and an actor (Mark Strong). They escape during a snowstorm so their tracks can't be followed, but their real challenge is surviving the elements through the long walk to Mongolia, especially after they're joined by a runaway (Saoirse Ronan) when food is already scarce. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

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Comedies

Gulliver (Jack Black) has a dead-end job in the mail room in Gulliver's Travels, but his attempts to impress a travel writer (Amanda Peet) end up stranding him in the strange land of Lilliput. The tiny Lilliputians see Gulliver as a giant beast, and he's imprisoned by their General (Chris O'Dowd) along with Horatio (Jason Segel), who committed the crime of liking the General's betrothed, Princess Mary (Emily Blunt). When he saves the king's (Billy Connolly) life, Gulliver becomes the most powerful man in Lilliput, and his buddy Horatio is on the top of the world... but the General doesn't like the new order, and wants Lilliput to return to its pre-Gulliver ways. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Terry and Dean (David Lawrence and Paul Spence) are back in Fubar: Balls to the Wall, doing the unthinkable: getting jobs. Traveling to Alberta for high paying jobs laying an oil pipeline, they finally have some money, but while Dean tries to make the best of workman's comp, Terry's starting to settle into domestic life with a local waitress. Trouble between Terry and Dean is guaranteed to involve vandalism and violence, but is the new rift so serious it can split them up forever?

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Imports

Continuing where Ip Man left off, Ip Man 2 follows Wing Chun Master Ip (Donnie Yen) to Hong Kong, where he opens a school. Master Ip has trouble attracting students because he has no reputation in the new city, but a series of challenges make a name for him quickly. A new school isn't welcomed, and Ip man has to face his challengers to secure his school before finally accepting the challenge of Twister (Darren Shahlavi), who disparages all Chinese fighters. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

The German Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen is the story of the progressive 12th century Benedictine nun Hildegard von Bingen (Barbara Sukowa), a scientific-minded and progressive woman in an era where her ideals weren't celebrated. As von Bingen applies strategy to have her will done against all who would be resistant to her, she emerged as a writer, composer, and mystic who rose to lead her order and become a force within the Roman Catholic church. With Heino Ferch.

Luciano lives a slacker life, listening to records and putting off finishing his work in the Argentine The Paranoids. Struggling to complete his screenplay, he's visited by his successful childhood friend Manuel and Manuel's beautiful girlfriend Sofia. When Manuel is called away on business to develop his show ("The Paranoids," about a hypochondriac loser named Luciano), Luciano is left alone with Sofia.

Maria and Andre (Isabelle Huppert and Christopher Lambert) run an African coffee plantation in the French White Material. Their plantation is already failing, but the eruption of civil war means they will soon be overrun with rebel soldiers, and as Maria and Andre struggle to keep their world from falling apart, Maria complicates matters by tending to a wounded rebel officer (Isaach De Bankole).

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Documentaries

Lixin Fan's Last Train Home documents the migration that occurs in China every spring as city residents travel to their home villages. Focusing on one couple, the film follows their journey from the city where they work to their rural home amidst the largest human migration in the world, including 130 million people.

Billy Corben's Square Grouper: The Godfather of Ganja is the story of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, who asserted smoking marijuana was part of their religious freedom. Though the Coptics were a fiercely conservative church, their ganja use made them high volume drug smugglers between Jamaica and Miami, and they became high profile targets for the FBI and DEA.

An investigation into the effects of producing and distributing plastic, Plastic Planet asks several scientists and manufacturers about the negative effects of the widely used substance. As well as looking into the issue of widespread litter and pollution, the film interviews manufacturers and scientists about plastic, generally considered non-toxic, and it's possible harmful effects on humans and animals.

Following the release of Burlesque, Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque recounts the history of the form via first-hand accounts by the performers. Tracing Burlesque from chorus girls to traveling circuses to variety shows and large-scale dance hall acts, the film discusses not just the dancers but the entire show and it's heritage from vaudeville.

Week of April 12th

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Penultimate

With few allies left, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is on the run and in hiding in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Instead of returning to Hogwarts, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) take their last steps toward a final battle between Harry Potter and the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), gathering what they need and deciphering the clues to their destiny. With Voldemort growing stronger and few elders left to guide them, Harry, Ron and Hermione fight against the corrupt wizards and witches threatening their world, and prepare for their ultimate battle. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

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Tough Lives

When Hope Davis dies in a car accident, her family needs some time and distance from the tragedy in A Summer in Genoa. Her husband Joe (Colin Firth) is offered a job in Italy by an old friend (Catherine Keener), but the beautiful locale can't repair the broken family as their older daughter (Willa Holland) begins to rebel and their younger daughter (Perla Haney-Jardine) is wracked with guilt, seeing visions of her mother everywhere.

Country superstar Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) is emerging from rehab in Country Strong, about to start a new tour and reclaim the love and respect of her fans with the help of her manager and husband (Tim McGraw). Joining Canter's comeback tour are a grassroots singer/songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) and a flashy beauty queen (Leighton Meester) who both prosper by touring with an icon, but Kelly Canter's addictions and tragedies could ruin everything if she can't summon the strength to get back on stage and sing. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Factory worker Paco (Sergi Lopez) gets together with his single-mother co-worker Katie in Francois Ozon's Ricky, and their baby together proves to be a great blessing to the family. As their miracle baby attracts attention and changes their lives, Ricky's inexplicable difference could provide answers or just ask more unanswerable questions.

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Deals Made, Prices Paid

Jamie (Jim Sturgess) has trouble dealing with the world, made self-conscious by the heart-shaped birthmark on his face, in Heartless. When his world starts to crumble and he has nothing left to lose, Jamie makes a Faustian bargain with Papa B (Joseph Mawle) who frees him of the heart-shaped mark. Jamie's new life wins him the girl of his dreams (Clemence Poesy), but when the payment comes due, Papa B demands more than the terms of the original bargain. Jamie must choose between returning to his old life or agreeing to the new, sinister terms.

In their 20s and 30s, the youngest generation of a group of families (including Rochelle Aytes, D.B. Woodside, Golden Brooks, and Darrin Dewitt Henson) travels to a snowy cabin for a family reunion in The Inheritance. They all want something from "The Elders" of their families, but their reunion seems to be based around their Uncle Melvin's (Keith David) spooky stories instead of the kind of inheritance they were after. As the group becomes aware of the family's rituals, they slowly realize their true birthright.

Unstoppable hitman Frank Ng meets his match when his next mark turns out to be undead in God of Vampires. The unkillable vampire leaves Frank alive, but swears vengeance: now the hitman is being hunted as the vampire torments him, making his life unbearable. Frank's only chance is a team of unlikely vampire hunters with knowledge of the lore that could kill what's already dead.

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Among the nonfiction and television releases this week are the Antarctic documentary film The Last Continent and the three-part documentary series Antarctic Mission (exploring the worlds of the penguins, seals, and more), as well as the BBC series The Last Place on Earth which tells the stories of Robert F Scott and Roald Amundsen and their race to the north and south poles, respectively, and features Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and Max von Sydow. We also have the new Dana Brown surf movie Highwater, a documentary about the Triple Crown competition in Hawaii.

Also new is Spring Shena-a-anigans, a new collection of Aardman Animation's Shaun the Sheep show, and two more Dinosaur Train collections: Pteranodon Family World Tour Adventure and Dinosaurs under the Sea.

Week of April 5th

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Continuing Sagas

Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) lives recklessly, doing his best to live up to the ideals of his father, ever since virtual world designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) disappeared 20 years ago. When Sam gets a message from his missing father, he follows a path that leads him into a glowing virtual world in Tron: Legacy, where he can reunite with his father. The system is a dangerous place: programs are in danger, Kevin Flynn is in hiding, and one of Flynn's most special programs has gone rogue. With only one ally they can count on (Olivia Wilde), father and son have to put the system to right in a battle that could decide the fate of both the system inside the machine and the real world outside. With Bruce Boxleitner and Michael Sheen. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) returns for his third struggle against his stern father-in-law Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) in Little Fockers. Greg still hasn't won Jack's trust and respect, and Jack implies that he'd like his daughter (Teri Polo) to divorce Greg and reunite with an old flame (Owen Wilson). Once again, it's the Focker family (headed by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) against the Byrnes (including Blythe Danner) as Greg has to step up and prove that he can be not just a husband and father, but the head of a family. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

The youngest two Pevensie children, Lucy and Edmund (Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley) are summoned back to Narnia in Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader... unfortunately, their obnoxious cousin Eustace (Will Poulter) accidentally comes with them. Fished out of the ocean by Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) and Reepicheep (Simon Pegg), the three children are brought aboard The Dawn Treader, adventuring to islands of invisible threats, dragons, and eventually to then end of the world itself. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

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Real Life

Based on the exploits of a legendary con man, Jim Carrey stars as Steven Jay Russell in I Love You Phillip Morris. When Russell comes out to his wife (Leslie Mann) and starts to live an active gay lifestyle, he leaves his old life as a police officer and begins to fund his new life through cons and scams... which lands him in prison. When he meets fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), Russell's found the love of his life, but his plan to keep them together is uniquely his own, based on actual accounts of his multiple cons, frauds, and prison breaks. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

The dramatization of the story of Jack Arbramoff (previously told in the documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money), Casino Jack stars Kevin Spacey as the "super lobbyist" who sees his job as a necessary part of American democracy. When he and his partner (Barry Pepper) find ways to fund their more personal goals, they end up in league with a sleazy ex-lawyer (Jon Lovitz), and their plans spiral out of control into the grand jury investigations that made Jack infamous. With Kelly Preston and Rachelle Lefevre.

The documentary Ayn Rand: In Her Own Words tells the story of the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged author, in her own words, provided from recorded interviews and archived footage and photographs, detailing her history and philosophy.

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Adapted from the Ernest Hemingway novel, The Garden of Eden stars Jack Huston as David Bourne, a writer on his honeymoon in the French Riviera after World War I. Catherine (Mena Suvari), his new wife, channels her restlessness with their vacation into a series of games, challenging David... and her most aggressive move is to invite beautiful Marita (Caterina Murino) into their honeymoon adventures. With Richard E. Grant.

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Korean horror fable Hansel & Gretel reimagines the fairy tale as a young man who gets lost on a country road and finds a house in the middle of a forest. When he finds himself trapped in the house with children who never age, and all of his escape attempts fail, he discovers a way out in a storybook... a book that seems to be telling his very own story. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

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New this week to Reckless Video's TV New Releases are the fifth and final season of the highschool football drama Friday Night Lights. We also have the complete 60's Hanna-Barbera Yogi Bear series (in support of the recent movie), as well as two new Shaun the Sheep discs: Party Animals and A Wolly Good Time, the Spongebob Squarepants The Great Patty Caper, and the Dinosaur Train collection Dinosaurs in the Snow.