Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Week of December 27

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Genre Pictures, Numerical

Taking place eleven years ago, Final Destination 5 is a prequel to the Final Destination series that sends a group on a company retreat. While aboard the chartered bus, Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto) saves his co-workers after he has a vision of a bridge collapsing beneath him, killing all of the bus passengers. Though Sam saved them, his best friend's (Miles Fisher) girlfriend dies in a freak accident, followed by one of his co-workers (P.J. Byrne), and they slowly realize that surviving the bridge didn't stop their deaths... it just delayed them a little. Worse, they're being investigated by Courtney B. Vance, who's suspicious of the mounting deaths among the office-mates, and the mysterious coroner (Tony Todd) has only vague clues about how they might beat Death at its own game. With Emma Bell, Arlen Escarpeta, and David Koechner. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Though the launch was officially cancelled, the 18th Apollo mission was launched in secret in 1974, and the conspiracy of the flight is revealed in the science fiction/horror Apollo 18. Released Blair Witch-style as found footage, the film is cut together from NASA footage of astronauts Anderson (Warren Christie) and Walker (Lloyd Owen) as they touch down on the moon to place monitoring devices that could warn the US of ICBM launches. Once there, things are not what they seem-- finding a Soviet lunar vehicle in their destination, communications with Houston start to fail, and paranoia sets in. Stranded in space, the astronauts have to learn what killed the russians if they're to survive and make it home. With Ryan Robbins. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Cult-status filmmaker Uwe Boll's In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds trades the first movie's video game origins for time travel. Granger (Dolph Lundgren), an ex-special forces soldier who gets whisked away to a mystical land of dragons and sent on a quest. According to the king (Lochlyn Munro), Granger is "the chosen one," a prophesied hero from the future who has to fight the forces of darkness. With Natassia Malthe. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Explicitly Funny

Developmentally arrested partier Eric (Jason Sudeikis) is about to lose his father's house in the Hamptons and the site of his high concept theme events in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy. He has time for one last party, and he's hosting an orgy. He invites an varied group of friends: his best friend (Tyler Labine), the real-estate agent (Leslie Bibb) he's always had a crush on, a psychologist (Lake Bell) on the rebound, a workaholic (Nick Kroll) who desperately needs to relax, a law student and his girlfriend (Martin Starr and Angela Sarafyan), a pair of newlyweds (Will Forte and Lucy Punch), a teacher (Lindsay Sloane) with self-esteem issues, and Michelle Borth, who's infatuated with Eric. Set up as an ensemble comedy, it assembles a who's-who of comic talent, puts them in an awkward situation, and turns them loose.

When Alex's internship after high school graduation dries up, he heads to Los Angeles to work for his
cousin's (Matthew Lillard) successful engineering firm in The Pool Boys. There's only one catch-- Alex's cousin is actually just a pool boy, but being pool boys to the Hollywood rich & famous gets access to a mansions while the owners are out of town. With an escort (Rachelle Lefevre) in the mix, the three of them hatch a get rich quick scheme before you can say "Risky Business," which leads to misunderstandings, naked women, and celebrity cameos..

Mysteries

A film noir set amidst the British clashes between the mods and rockers in the 1960's, Brighton Rock sets a small-time gangster called Pinky (Sam Riley) on the rise. Pinky romances and then intimidates Rose (Andrea Riseborough), a witness who works for Helen Mirren, but he doesn't kill her. Not killing a witness causes an upset within the gang, but Pinky starts making moves to take over, keeping Rose (who trusts him completely) under his wing... but Pinky's life is violent, and as the stakes increase, everyone around him is in danger. With John Hurt, Philip Davis, and Sean Harris.

Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a powerful businesswoman in Love Crime, but she uses her power to emotionally undermine Isabelle (Ludivine Sagnier), her younger assistant. Isabelle's job depends on tolerating her boss' behavior, but both Christine and Philippe (Patrick Mille), Christine's boyfriend, are obsessed with Isabelle, and their cross-purposes drive them all towards an inevitable tragedy.

K.C. (Peter Dinklage) needs to pay off a loan shark when he finds out an old friend has died in Pete Smalls Is Dead. Jack (Mark Boone Junior), a mutual friend, offers to give him the money he needs if K.C. will fly to Los Angeles for the funeral, but once he gets there, both men find themselves drawn into a strange mystery. Though Jack doesn't actually have any money, K.C, Jack, and Pete's old friendship might still pay off some debts-- Pete Smalls (Tim Roth) was a director finishing a film, and if they can lay some claim to the in-demand movie, they could still get paid... but the trail leads through a strange, meta-noir of the Hollywood underworld, one strange character after another. With Steve Buscemi.

Reality

Based on the true story of an 84-year-old Kenyan man who decides to begin the education that had been denied to him, The First Grader takes place after the 2003 announcement of free, universal education by the Kenyan government. When the elderly Maruge goes to register for classes in his village's new school, the teacher (Naomie Harris) tells him it's impossible: the rest of her students are children. Maruge is determined-- after a hard life defying British rule, he's determined to get the education that was promised to all Kenyans, and he's not about to give up now.

Featured at the Seattle International Film Festival, the documentary Eames: The Architect & the Painter tells the story of husband and wife Charles and Ray Eames, creative partners who made an impact on several aspects of modern life. Making their initial splash with iconic designs for office furniture in the 1940s, their creative endeavors became more ambitious over time, including a 1970s application of "Apple" philosophy to computers years before the start of Apple Computers. Narrated by James Franco.

Jane Goodall, now in her 70s, has her life and achievements documented in Jane's Journey, covering her life in animal and environmental conservatism. From her arrival in Africa at the age of 26, the film recounts her fifty-plus years as an advocate of her personal and professional life and her relationship to the jungle, the environment, and animals.


New this week in our TV New Releases:
The Borgias
Season 1
Jeremy Irons is Pope Alexander in the Showtime historical drama about the rise of the Borgia dynasty in the 1400s. Archer
Season 2
Superspy Sterling Archer and the barely competent staff of ISIS have a new series of comic misadventures.
The Adventures
of Tintin

Season 1
The television series based on the original comic books about a young reporter whose job sends him on a series of heroic adventures. The Increasingly
Poor Decisions
of Todd Margaret

Season 1
An American gets a job promoting an energy drink at a London office... but he's not well suited to the job or the culture.
Shameless
Season 1
William H. Macy is the single father of six children in this Showtime drama, but he's an alcoholic with very little ambition for himself or his family. Max & Ruby
Brother and sister rabbits Max and Ruby have a lot of activities and goals, but have different ways of going about things.
Doc Martin
The Movies
The features that launched the popular BBC series, including Doc Martin and Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie.      

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