Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Week of January 24th

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Everyone Loves an Underdog

Former boxer Charlie (Hugh Jackman) hasn't transitioned well in a world where human boxers have been replaced by robots in Real Steel-- he owes money to a boxing promoter (Kevin Durand), his robot is destroyed, and he's obligated to take care of a son he's never known. When Charlie runs into a childhood friend (Evangeline Lilly) who's taken over her father's gym, he bonds with his son as they fix up an old obsolete fighting robot. Together, father and son take their underdog robot to an unlikely series of victories until they have to face a well funded champion (Karl Yune) and his state of the art robot... Can a family and their pet project defeat the corporate giants? On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Based on a true story, The 5th Quarter stars Ryan Merriman as Jon, a college linebacker whose life is changed by the death of his little brother. While his parents (Aidan Quinn and Andie Macdowell) struggle with the loss of a son, Jon dedicates his football season to his brother; he's "playing for two" now. Driven to be the best he can be to honor his brother's memory, Jon becomes an example that could lead his normally-lackluster team to excellence.

Holding Together

Lynn (Ellen Barkin) travels across the country for her estranged son's wedding in Another Happy Day, navigating the tensions within her complicated family. While the groom was raised by Lynn's ex-husband (Thomas Hayden Church) and his new wife (Demi Moore), Lynn has raised her daughter (Kate Bosworth) and two boys from her second marriage on her own, and their family events are fraught with tension. Overseen by the family grandparents (Ellen Burstyn and George Kennedy), the wedding opens long-buried troubles throughout the family both comic and tragic.
27-year-old Adam's (Joseph Gordon Levitt) life is turned upside-down when he's diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 50/50. As he begins his chemotherapy treatments, shaves his head, and starts to deal with his new situation, he's helped by his loutish best friend (Seth Rogen), girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), and starts session with an inexperienced therapist (Anna Kendrick). Knowing his chances are fifty-fifty, Adam tries to stay positive, meeting older cancer patients (Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer) and learning how to live with his disease, but he's got a difficult time ahead and no guarantee of a positive outcome. With Anjelica Huston. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Kaja maintains a relentlessly chipper attitude in the Norwegian Happy Happy, a small town schoolteacher with a repressed, distant husband and their young son. When a seemingly perfect couple move in across the street, they're everything Kaja imagines perfection to be: intelligent, elegant, and urbane. The relationship between the couples illuminates the troubles within each, but the ever-optimistic Kaja is determined to find her happiness however she can.

Alice (Isabelle Huppert) is a "specialist," a high-priced prostitute catering to the Parisian upper-class in Special Treatment. Treating her profession with more and more disdain over time, she's begun to view her clients a lump sums and the amenities they afford her... and her professional attitude is mirrored by psychoanalyst Xavier (Bouli Lanners), who sits silently as his patients bare their souls. As their worlds overlap, they discover how much they actually have in common and they struggle to overcome their professional distance, something neither of them have done in a long time.

Young Enoch has little attachment to life in Gus Van Sant's Restless: his best friend is the ghost of a WWII kamikaze pilot (Ryo Kase) and he visits strangers' funerals for fun. When Enoch meets Annabelle (Mia Wasikowska) at a funeral, the two begin an unlikely relationship, and they bond over their shared relationship with mortality... but they each have their reasons for their attitude toward life and death, and they can't avoid them forever. On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Based on actual events, The Whistleblower is the story of Kathy Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz), a Nebraska cop who takes a U.N. peacekeeping job in Bosnia in 1999. As she takes part in raids within the Bosnian sex trade, she sees girls forced into slavery ignored by the United Nations, and the corruption and payoffs that keep the system from changing. Finding an ally in the head of the Human Rights Coalition (Vanessa Redgrave) and an internal affairs officer (David Strathairn) who sees how dangerous the situation is, Kathy is entangled in a scandal the U.N. will do anything to avoid. With Monica Bellucci.


Documenting a tape-trading phenomenon, Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure is the story of two roommates who taped the loud and constant arguments of Pete and Jay, their next-door-neighbors. As the audio cassettes of the Shut Up Little Man circulated the world, they inspired an audio verite phenomenon, inspiring comics, plays, and even brokered a movie deal.

The Nine Nation Animation disc includes nine animated shorts from around the world, providing an anthology that reaches from South Africa to Norway.


New this week in our TV New Releases:
Timmy Time
Timmy Takes a Bath
Timmy the lamb cleans up in episodes of Aardman Animation's Timmy Time.

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