Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Week of June 25th

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Aspiring to Greatness


Zoe's Corner

One of the big new releases this week is The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a comedy that pokes fun at the business of magic. The sad part is that it will be one of the last movies James Gandolfini is remembered for. His part as the egotistical casino owner is larger than life, and let's face it, he is the man for the job. But it does not do justice to his body of acting.

I first became aware of him in True Romance. He plays his typical thug-for-hire in a short but pivotal scene. An amazing scene where he and Patricia Arquette dance a bloody pas-de-deux full of violence and heart. When it is all over, you feel for him. Not an easy thing in that moment.
Albert and Anthony wanted to be magicians since they were kids, and grew up to become successful Vegas staples Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. After 10 years on stage, performing the same tricks every night, Burt has lost the wonder of magic, and his crowds are thinning as an edgy street magician (Jim Carrey) gains popularity. Driving Anton away with his arrogance and fired by the casino owner (James Gandolfini) who puts on his show, Burt falls from the penthouse to skid row, but rediscovers his love of illusions in a retirement home where he meets the magician (Alan Arkin) who first inspired him as a child. With Olivia Wilde. On DVD and Blu Ray.
Pete (Eric Mabius) doesn't have any lofty ambitions in Price Check-- his grocery store administration job doesn't pay much, but it's not stressful and allows him lots of time with his wife (Annie Parisse). Pete's passed up for promotion when his old boss quits, but no one's prepared for the new boss, Susan (Parker Posey). Susan is a driven, enthusiastic team-builder in charge of a less-than-ambitious workforce, but she's intent on making the most of her staff, starting with her new assistant: Pete. The higher up the ladder Susan pushes her new assistant, the bigger Pete's paychecks grow, but his ascent begins to challenge his family life... especially since Susan doesn't know the meaning of the word "inappropriate."

Star Crossed

Living on twin, connected planets, Adam (Jim Sturgess) and Eden (Kirsten Dunst) begin a forbidden romance in Upside Down. Because he lives on the impoverished Down world, forbidden even to talk on the privileged Up resident Eden, their rendezvous ended so tragically, Adam assumed she had been killed. When he finds out she's alive ten years later, Adam applies for a job at her world-spanning firm, makes friends with an Up (Timothy Spall) bureaucrat, and cross worlds to reconnect with Eden... who doesn't remember him. Surviving the tragedy that separated them left Eden with amnesia, and Adam has to defy gravity to restore their planet-spanning love. On DVD, Blu Ray, and 3DBlu.

A Bad Man at Large

911 operator Jordan (Halle Berry) is traumatized from a caller she couldn't save in Brad Anderson's The Call. Six months later, she takes an emergency call from Casey (Abigail Breslin)-- Casey was abducted in a mall parking lot, and is calling 911 from the trunk of a car. Together, Jordan and Casey have to lead the police to the car and catch Casey's kidnapper, but they have little time, and the more they learn, the more they discover how dangerous Casey's kidnapper really is. With Morris Chesnut. On DVD and Blu Ray.
Ex-con Kev (Hugo Weaving) is on the road with his 10-year-old son Chook (Tom Russell) in Last Ride. Though the boy's mother thinks he should be in school, Kev thinks Chook needs to learn about the real world with his father. Though he tries to bond with his son, Kev's fatherly moments are offset by violent outbursts and criminal habits, and while Chook doesn't understand much about their journey, he slowly starts to realize they're not heading toward anything... his father is running away from a past that is bound to catch them both. With Kelton Pell.

Pusher
Now & Then
A remake of Nicolas Winding Refn's gritty, verite gangster tale, the British Pusher is the story of low-level drug dealer Kevin (Richard Coyle) and his childlike buddy Tony (Bronson Webb). After a deal goes wrong and Kevin has to dump his merchandise, he's forced to pay his Serbian supplier (Zlatko Buric) the money he owes, in a no-win situation between unreliable mules, deadbeat buyers who can't pay him, and higher-ups that won't accept his excuses. Kevin needs to settle his debt, one way or another. On DVD and Blu Ray.
 
Based on the legendary family of Scottish cannibals, Lord of Darkness sets Sawney Bean (David Hayman) loose on the highlands. Assumed to have been stamped out in the 16th century, the clan has survived to modern day, with a recent murder catching the attention of an investigative journalist. Sawney keeps hunting his prey, but as the bodies are discovered, the macabre cannibal clan inches closer to being discovered by the modern world.

Hunger

A documentary about the increase of the hungry and malnourished in America, A Place at the Table explores the health of the working poor and the effects of obesity in a system that encourages food with little nutritional value. The film offers insights into the fates of children and malnourishment on development, as well as the changing prices of different food and the limits of food stamps.

Based on a True Story

The story of the 1988 vote to remove or maintain Augusto Pinochet, the Oscar-nominated No stars Gael Garcia Bernal as Rene Saavedra, a driven advertising executive. Hired because of his success on a soft drink campaign, the "zero more years" campaign presses Rene into service. With Chilean public asked to vote if Pinochet should serve eight more years in office, Rene discovers that the problem isn't getting people to vote No... it's getting them to vote at all.

Set in the Norwegian winter of 1940, the survivng crew of a German plane encounter a British crew in the same situation in Into the White. At first, the opposite sides of World War II see each other as enemy combatants, but they quickly discover their real enemy is the weather. The Germans (including David Kross, Stig Henrik Hoff, and Florian Lukas) and the British (including Rupert Grint) are forced to live out the winter in a remote cabin, discovering they have no reason to fight one another. On DVD and Blu Ray.

On the brink of retirement, Russian submarine captain Demi (Ed Harris) is given one last mission by his commanding officer (Lance Henriksen) in Phantom. Sent out on the final voyage of an about-to-be-decomissioned submarine, Demi and his rising star executive officer (William Fichtner) are ordered to accommodate the top secret mission of Bruni (David Duchovny), an unwelcome presence on their boat who could be a danger to them all. On DVD and Blu Ray.

New this week in our TV New Releases:
Todd & the Book of Pure Evil
Season 2
Todd might be too dim to understand whether or not he is the Pure Evil One, but he and his friends are the only ones prepared to stand up to the Book of Pure evil as it wreaks blood-splattered comic mayhem on the students of Crowley High.

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