Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Week of March 26

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History

Daniel Day-Lewis won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as the 16th President of the United States in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. Taking place during President Lincoln's second term, in the twilight of the Civil War, the film focuses on the president's struggle to pass the 13th amendment, outlawing slavery in the Constitution. Walking a fine line between the radical Republicans (Tommy Lee Jones) who would alienate the public by demanding complete equality for freed slaves and the Democrats who would naturally oppose him, Lincoln gains the backing of the founder of his party (Hal Holbrook) to rally support. With his Emancipation Proclamation ready to be overturned at the end of the war and the Confederates (Jackie Earle Haley) willing to treat with him, Lincoln does whatever he must to see the abolition of slavery made into law before his radical measure can be rejected upon the arrival of more moderate times. With Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and David Strathairn. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Married to Danish King Christian VII, British Caroline (Alicia Vikander) is quickly pushed aside by her petulant, unpredictable husband in the critically-acclaimed, Danish A Royal Affair. As the king's behavior becomes more erratic, and 18th century Denmark is ruled more by their royal council than the king and queen, Caroline retreats to her gilded cage, where her only companionship is the court's doctor, Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen). Struensee is a supporter of the Enlightenment, and as he and Caroline become closer, their distaste for the traditional, repressive rule of Denmark begin to foment change... but at great cost to them both. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Restoring the Balance

In over their heads, amateur crooks Frankie and Russell (Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn) rob a mobster's poker game during the 2008 presidential elections in Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly. Their plan for the robbery is upended when the crime's fall-guy (Ray Liotta) walks in on Frankie and Russell in the act, and the mafia sends an emissary (Richard Jenkins) to clean up the mess. He hires a hitman (Brad Pitt) to make sure that none of the culpable parties are left standing, but as he methodically conducts his business, the film contrasts the lofty ideals of presidential campaign speeches with the ground-level tactics a hired mercenary uses to get his job done. With James Gandolfini. On DVD and Blu Ray.

The tentative peace between Sultan Nesib (Antonio Banderas) and Sultan Amar (Mark Strong) is threatened when Americans (Corey Johnson) tell them there is oil in their midst in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Day of the Falcon. Set in the 1930s, Amar rejects the west's intrusion while Nesib sees the new wealth as a benefit to his people, but their clash is felt most severely by Amar's sons (Tahar Rahim and Akin Gazi) and Nesib's daughter (Freida Pinto), and the marriage that was supposed to unite their clans.





Inspired by his trip to Sound City Studios to record Nevermind with Nirvana, musician Dave Grohl directed Sound City: Real to Reel. Exploring the history of the legendarily low-rent studio, from its foundation in 1969, through the legendary albums recorded there, to its closing in 2011, the film talks to the artists that recorded there (including Neil Young, Tom Petty, Rage Against the Machine, Rick Springfield, Kyuss, REO Speedwagon, Fleetwood Mac, Tool, and many more), telling the story of a studio that made an indelible impression on the musical landscape. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Though he loved his job as a radio sports announcer, Artie (Billy Crystal) is forced into retirement because he's not modern enough in the family comedy Parental Guidance... but that gives Artie and his wife Diane (Better Midler) a chance to spend time with their grandchildren. When their daughter (Marisa Tomei) and son-in-law (Tom Everett Scott) go on vacation, the grandparents are left in charge, but while Diane wants to prove to the kids that they're not just "the other grandparents," Artie is having the same problem that cost him a job: he's not modern, can't relate to his grandkids, and doesn't understand the cutting-edge world around them. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Elena (Emma Fitzpatrick) flees the dancefloor of a warehouse party to get away from her cheating boyfriend and finds herself one of the only survivors of a slaughter in The Collection, the sequel to The Collector. Hiding in an out-of-the-way room, she finds Arkin (Josh Stewart), who barely survived the previous movie, who saves her from the Collector's Saw-like traps, and the two plan their escape. Meanwhile, Emma's father (Christopher McDonald) will do anything to protect his daughter, and sends in an elite squad (led by Lee Tergesen) to stop the Collector and rescue Emma... but even trained professionals aren't prepared for the lethal maze they have to navigate.

New this week in our TV New Releases:
The Borgias
Season 2
Jeremy Irons is the head of the Borgia family in the 16th century as they maneuver their way to the heights of Roman society and the power of the church. Veep
Season 1
The vice-president of the United States (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) doesn't have a lot of power, but tries to navigate an In the Loop-like political system that seems stacked against her.
MST3K
Volume 26
Volume 26 of MST3K includes The Magic Sword, Alien from L.A, Danger!! Death Ray, and The Mole People. Continuum
Season 1
When a group of terrorists escape the year 2077, they bring an unexpected hitchhiker: a Protector, a law enforcement officer trapped in 2012, determined to stop them changing the future and taking more lives.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Week of March 19

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Epic in Scope


Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) would rather stay in his Hobbit hole in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and isn't interested in adventures (horrible, nasty things that make one late for supper), but the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) has big plans for Bilbo. Suddenly, his home is crowded with loud, irreverent Dwarves, led by the arrogant Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), planning the kind of epic quest that Bilbo would rather avoid... but Gandalf is persuasive, and Bilbo is adopted as the group's burglar as they contend with rock giants, goblins, orcs, trolls, and the ill portents that have begun to creep into the world. On DVD, Blu Ray, and 3D Blu.

Les Miserables:
Now & Then
Anne Hathaway won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as Fantine in Tom Hooper's Les Miserables. A film adaptation of the award-winning musical (itself an adaptation of the classic Victor Hugo novel), Les Miserables is an ensemble story set in 19th century France where an ex-convict (Hugh Jackman) rises to a position of power. Taking care of an orphaned girl (Amanda Seyfried) and on the run from a police inspector (Russell Crowe), their story spans years during a tumultuous time as France endures violent, political turmoil. With Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Eddie Redmayne. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Zero


"Politics are changing, and you
don't want to be the last one
holding a dog collar when
the Oversight Committee comes."
Two years after the 9/11 attacks, CIA operative Maya's (Jessica Chastain) first assignment deploys her to Pakistan in Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty, where she's dropped into a fellow officer's (Jason Clarke) interrogation of a detainee. Over the course of almost ten years, Maya works to uncover informers, intelligence, and leads to pinpoint to location of Osama bin Laden. Her single-minded pursuit unfolds like an international police procedural, chasing leads through changes in policy and shifts in agency personnel, until she can finally request the now-famous raid on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound. From the attacks on her colleagues (and herself), the compromises she makes, and the night-vision raid that closes the case, Maya-- based on an actual CIA operative-- is the driving force that refuses to let the investigation fold, but what will she have left when it's all over? On DVD and Blu Ray.

A young martial arts prodigy has a condition that can only be remedied by learning "internal kung fu" in Tai Chi Zero, but when he arrives in Chen village, no one will teach Chen style kung fu to outsiders. Though his persistence helps him befriend the local handyman (Tony Leung Ka Fai), the Chen family refuses to help... though the village has bigger problems: a railroad they don't want is about to plow through their town. The story unfolds as a kung fu epic with comic book and video game elements, set against steampunk technology of the railroad's mechanical monsters. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Comic Togetherness

Becky (Rebel Wilson) is the first of her close-knit high school group to get married, so her friends plan to throw her a massive party in Bachelorette. Reuniting her alpha-female maid of honor Regan (Kirsten Dunst), constantly wasted party girl Katie (Isla Fisher), and rampantly promiscuous Gena (Lizzy Caplan), Becky calls it a night when they ruin her rehearsal dinner... but the girls have no intention of stopping. When they rip Becky's wedding dress, Regan, Katie, and Becky need to find a way to save the wedding through a haze of drugs and alcohol (and a series of disastrous hi jinks) and maybe discover that they each need to take control of their lives. With Adam Scott, James Marsden, Kyle Bornheimer, and Hayes MacArthur. On DVD and Blu Ray.

In the "sort-of sequel to Knocked Up," Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) are about to celebrate their birthdays-- less than a week apart-- in Judd Apatow's This Is 40, but they're having a hard time coping with their kids, their mortgage, their jobs, and growing up in general. Pete's running a small, struggling record label and loaning too much money to his deadbeat father (Albert Brooks), and Debbie suspects her employees (Megan Fox and Charlene Yi) of stealing, but their troubles are as much a collection of little, everyday things as their larger issues. With John Lithgow. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Complicated Relationships

Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts) is an unemployed single father who just moved to the south of France in Jacques Audiard's Rust and Bone when he rescues Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) from a bar brawl and escorts her home. When they meet again, Stephanie has suffered an accident at work, and is missing both her legs. While Stephanie is feeling the psychological impact of her accident, Alain's problems stem from his violent nature and first instinct to pummel any of his obstacles... though they might each find the help they need from the other. On DVD and Blu Ray.

High school senior Dave (Dylan O'Brien) meets sophomore Aubrey (Britt Robertson) in the alley behind a Friday night party in The First Time, right before the police show up. The two form a connection over the course of the night, but Aubrey has an older boyfriend (Craig Roberts) and Dave has a long term crush on his dream girl (Victoria Justice). They both had plans for their weekend, but their new circumstances interrupt everything, and Monday morning will put them somewhere neither of them expected.

Robert's life as an artist in San Francisco hasn't panned out the way he'd hoped in Falling Uphill: his art isn't selling, and he's secretly in love with his roommate Jenny. The day before he's about to leave for his hometown of Rochester, NY, he runs into Sara, who has a package for a friend of Robert. Sara veers wide of "manic pixie dream girl:" she lies, steals, and erratically switches moods... but she just won't go away. Sara may or may not be crazy, but she does make Robert think about Jenny and his need to go back to Rochester.

Scott (Ryan Phillippe) returns to the family he hasn't seen in years in Straight A's, finding his sister-in-law Katherine (Anna Paquin) less than thrilled to see him. His brother (Luke Wilson) is away on a business trip, and Scott's southern drifter's charm works on the kids, but he and Katherine were highschool sweethearts, and she's not interested in making him feel welcome. When the family does sit down together, the truth of Scott's visit after so many years is stranger than anyone imagined.

Documentary

Nominated for the Best Documentary at this year's Oscars, How to Survive a Plague tracks the long history of AIDS awareness and treatment. Looking back at the years when the public was terrified of even mentioning the disease, the film provides footage from within the ACT UP movement and their "Silence = Death" campaign, helping to turn the tides from ignorance and fear to education and public knowledge.

Perplexed by America's obsession with gurus, New Jersey native Vikram conducts a social experiment in Kumare: he grows out his hair and beard, adopts his grandmother's accent, and reinvents himself as Kumare, a spiritual guru. Kumare's teachings are simple, telling followers that they are no more enlightened than he is (and that he is not the key to their enlightenment), but his false guru seems to bring people real joy. In the end, he must reveal his true self to his followers, but along the way, Kumare has taken on a life of his own.


New this week in our TV New Releases:
Ripper Street Set immediately after the last Jack the Ripper killing in the late 19th century, the Whitechapel police investigate the violent crime in East London as Detective Inspector Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) begins to suspect the Ripper might be back.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Week of March 5th

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Player One

Every time someone puts a quarter into the arcade game Fix-It Felix, the player controls Felix (Jack McBrayer), the hero of the game, but no one gives any thought to the villain in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph. Though they've been in the same game for 30 years, Felix is treated like a hero by the other video game characters while Ralph (John C. Reilly) is snubbed and ignored. Though the villains from other games tell him to accept his role, Ralph wants to win games... so he breaks into a modern action game ,joining a squad of alien-fightng marines (led by Jane Lynch) to win a medal and prove he can be a hero. Instead, he finds himself stranded in a racing game called Sugar Rush, with his future in the hands of a "glitch" called Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) who has never been allowed to race before. While the ruler of Sugar Rush (Alan Tudyk) tries to stop Vanellope from racing, afraid for the future of his game, Felix enters Sugar Rush to find Ralph... because there's nothing for Felix to fix if there's no Ralph to do the wrecking. On DVD, Blu Ray, and 3D Blu.

A Little Help

Driss (Omar Sy) is an ex-con applying for jobs he'll never get to secure his unemployment benefits in the French The Intouchables, but his devil-may-care demeanor secures a trial period as a caretaker for rich, quadriplegic Phillippe (Francois Cluzet). Phillippe's gruff and combative nature drives off most eager-to-please caretakers in less than a month, but Driss is a different sort of character altogether: able to find humor in nearly everything and completely willing to talk back to his wealthy benefactor, Driss is exactly the kind of person Phillippe needs in his life. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Embracing Adulthood

Coping with her divorce, Amy (Melanie Lynskey) spends most of her time curled up into a ball of depression in a baggy t-shirt in Todd Louiso's Hello I Must Be Going. Her mother (Blythe Danner) is exasperated taking care of her 35-year-old daughter and her father (John Rubinstein) is preparing to close the deal that will secure his retirement, but Amy can hardly get out of bed... until she meets Jeremy (Christopher Abbott). As Amy and Jeremy sit at an uncomfortable dinner party, while their parents sideline and dismiss them both, they become an unlikely couple-- Amy is fifteen years older than Jeremy-- but Jeremy helps her discover what she needs in her life beyond her parents and her ex-husband.

Red Dawn:
Now & Then
When the United States' military is disrupted by a new weapon, the skies in Spokane, WA are darkened by North Korean parachutes in Red Dawn. Luckily, Jed Eckhert (Chris Hemsworth) is a Marine just returned from active duty, staying with his police sergeant father (Brett Cullen) and highschool football playing brother Matt (Josh Peck), and Jed has the combat experience to help Matt and his friends (including Josh Hutcherson and Adrianne Palicki) not just escape the North Korean invasion, but fight back, too. Calling themselves The Wolverines (after their school football team), they set about disrupting the North Korean occupation of Spokane and proving to the foreign commander (Will Yun Lee) that American soil is too dangerous for invaders to hold. With Jeffrey Dean Morgan. On DVD and Blu Ray.


Ex-pro-footballer George Dryer (Gerard Butler) is barely getting by, but finally starts forming a real relationship with his son Lewis by coaching the kids' soccer team in Playing for Keeps. George's legendary glory days win him the support of the team's wealthy sponsor (Dennis Quaid) and his accent and good looks attract every young mother on the soccer field (including Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Judy Greer), but he's shocked to find out Lewis' mother (Jessica Biel) is getting re-married. Suddenly, George has to choose between his self-involved lifestyle and dedicating himself to the family he's neglected for years. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Non Fiction

Nominated for a Best Documentary Academy Award, 5 Broken Cameras is the story of Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat and his attempts to film his village's protests on the West Bank Barrier... protests the begin peacefully but invariably end in beatings, stun grenades, and Emad's smashed cameras. Co-directed by Palestinian Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi as they record the seemingly endless conflict, personally recording the effects of life on the Barrier at ground level as the struggles take place.

Focusing on the birds that gather in urban parks, Birders: The Central Park Effect interviews birders and ornithologists that frequent New York's Central Park. Following the change in seasons as migration brings different birds into and out of the city, the documentary tells the story of the birders that delight in the diverse birds that gather in the city parks.

Eco-Horror

Framed as a rogue transmission by a reporter (Kether Donohue) on the scene, Barry Levinson's The Bay re-imagines the real ecological disasters in the Chesapeake Bay as a disaster/monster movie. Assembled from cell phone footage, video chats, police car dashboard footage, and other on-the-scene video sources, the story of a small town unfolds as mysterious rashes and unexplained disappearances turn a 4th of July weekend into a catastrophe. With Kristen Connolly.