Week of June 24th

Website is best viewed at RecklessVideo.com.  Pop-up credits links are inactive on Blogger.

Reality-Stretching Fantasies

While Leonidas leads his small band of Spartans against the Persian armies in 300, Athenian General Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) engages the Persian navy in 300: Rise of an Empire. Vastly outnumbered, Themistocles has to face Persia's most formidable general: Artemisia (Eva Green), a vengeful Greek organizing the destruction of her home country. In her ambition, Artemisia shaped Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) into a "God King" and pointed him towards Greece, and Themistocles only chance of stopping her is to unite Greece-- he must survive battle after bloody battle, hoping to rally Queen Gorgo (Lena Heady) and the Spartan navy to join him, forming a united Greek army to destroy their would-be invaders once and for all. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Based on the classic novel, Winter's Tale stars Colin Farrell as Peter Lake, a small time hood working for demonically evil gangster Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) in 1916. Leaving the gang, Peter needs one last heist to start a new life, but his final break-in puts him face to face with Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay)... and he quickly forgets about money, crime, or Soames (who would like to see him dead.) Their magical romance becomes a whirlwind of miracles, demons, supernatural horses, enchanted gemstones, and tragedy that catches up with Peter in 2014. Not having aged at all and suffering from amnesia, Peter is still being chased by the seemingly eternal Soames, but he finds an echo of his past love in Jennifer Connelly's young daughter and the miracle that could save her. With William Hurt. On DVD and Blu Ray.

History professor Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) lives a humdrum, monotonous life with his barely attentive girlfriend (Melanie Laurent) when he becomes fascinated with someone who looks exactly like him in Enemy. Watching a movie, he notices an actor that could be his double, and seeks him out. With a little internet research and some careful stalking, Adam finds Anthony (also Gyllenhaal) living in an expensive high-rise with his pregnant wife (Sarah Gadon), but making contact immerses both of them in jealousy, deception, and paranoia.

The Mob

After he's released from prison for petty robbery in the early 90s, Tommy (Michael Pitt) reconnects with his girlfriend Rosie (Nina Arianda), but he's not the kind of guy who can be content with normal life. Inspired by the trial of mob boss John Gotti, Tommy concocts a scheme to catch the New York gangsters unarmed in their nightclubs in Rob the Mob-- brandishing a weapon and collecting the wallets and jewelry of wealthy men who never thought they could be held up. Because of the police and media attention of the Gotti trial, the mafia (including Andy Garcia) are unable to retaliate, and Tommy and Rosie continue to rampage through neighborhood bars and smoky backroom card games, surviving on hubris, youthful determination, and blind luck. With Ray Romano. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Released after 12 years in prison, Chris (Clive Owen) tries to honor his parole and take an honest job in Guillaume Canet's Blood Ties, but life isn't easy for an ex-con in 1974 Brooklyn. He joins his family-- his ailing father (James Caan) and younger brother Frank (Billy Crudup)-- and reconnects with his ex-wife (Marion Cotillard) who's fallen on hard times, but his attempt at a straight life is sidelined by a violent disposition and a number of friends in organized crime. Frank's job as a New York cop puts him in direct conflict with Chris' new venture, but both men know what they need to survive. With Zoe Saldana and Mila Kunis. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Legendary

Now in her eighties, Broadway theater icon Elaine Stritch is the subject of her own documentary portrait in Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me. Covering her rise in theater, as well as roles in film and television, the film captures an unvarnished portrait of the multiple award-winner as she contends with the current state of show business, diabetes, alcoholism, and age.

Remembering and Reconnecting

After a car accident drastically changed his life four years ago, Tommy (Anthony Mackie) has moved on, left the past behind, and lives a quiet life with his wife (Sanaa Lathan) in Repentance. Tommy's done everything he could to move beyond what happened years ago, reinventing himself as a life coach and self-help author to help others do the same, when his brother Ben (Mike Epps)-- who was in the car with him that night-- re-emerges and threatens to reveal their dark secret to the world. With his safe, stable life in peril, taking on an obviously unbalanced client like Angel Sanchez (Forest Whitaker) is just one more act that could shatter the carefully designed facade he's created.

Though she has a husband (Sven Nordin), a family, and a happy life in Norway in the early 90s, Katrine's (Juliane Kohler) life has been shaped by incredible forces decades earlier in Two Lives. Reunited with her mother (Liv Ullmann) after escaping Germany during World War II and relocating in another country, the fall of the Berlin Wall reveals a secret history that forces Katrine to question everything about her past. With the help of a lawyer (Ken Duken), she embarks on a quest for the truth for all the children who escaped Nazi Germany.

Marie (Shirley Knight) steps out of her southern Oregon retirement community and decides to walk 80 miles to the Pacific coast in Redwood Highway. She used to love the ocean shore, but she's also determined to attend her granddaughter's wedding while avoiding her controlling son-- to arrive on her own terms. On her days-long journey, her path intersects with a variety of colorful characters (including Tom Skerritt) as she rediscovers her life and her place among her family.

New this week in our TV New Releases:

	Masters of Sex Season 1		Based on the real-life exploits of Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) in the 1950s, Dr. Masters and his research assistant Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) make the first scientific investigation into human sexuality as their work affects the families, romances, and social mores of the world around them.
	Lost Girl Season 4		Bo and her friends must band together after her return from the beyond. As an unaligned Succubus, she can only count on her true friends after her resurrection gains her new enemies and blurs the lines between light and dark Fae folk.
	The Bridge Season 1		A killer on the US/Mexican border forces police from both sides to cooperate on the case, creating an unlikely partnership between noble, against-the-grain Detective Marco Ruiz and emotionally crippled Detective Sonya Cross.

Week of June 17th

Website is best viewed at RecklessVideo.com.  Pop-up credits links are inactive on Blogger.

Grand Adventure

Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel is mostly the story of Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), the flamboyant, irrepressible concierge of the Republic of Zubrowka's most elegant hotel. Though the film dances through several eras, Monsieur Gustave's adventure in the 1930s is a mosaic of stolen paintings, wild romance, murder, a grasping heir (Adrien Brody) and his psychopathic henchman (Willem Dafoe), fascist regimes, an incorruptible lawyer (Jeff Goldblum) executing a hotly contested will, jailbreaks and daring escapes, ski chases, and a powerful secret organization of concierges known as "The Order of the Crossed Keys." Part caper, part elaborate fairytale, Gustave and his faithful lobby boy Zero Moustafa charge through Anderson's ornate world, fighting for elegance, appreciation, and honor of respecting a fallen friend's will. With Saoirse Ronan. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Animation

Unlike the other mice around her, Celestine (Mackenzie Foy) doesn't fear bears in Ernest & Celine, and convinces the first bear she meets, Ernest (Forest Whitaker), not to eat her: they break into a candy store instead. In a world where bears drive cars, live in apartments, and own stores, most mice stay in the sewers... but Celestine and her new friend Ernest are trying something new by sticking together, proving to the world that mice and bears can be friends. On DVD and Blu Ray.

"You are The Special. The embodiment
of good, foiler of evil, the most talented,
most brilliant, most important person
in the universe."

Everyman Lego construction worker Emmet (Chris Pratt) goes along with the crowd and follows the instructions... until he finds out he's "The Special" in Phil Lord & Chris Miller's The Lego Movie. When Emmet finds The Piece of Resistance, revolutionary action fighter Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) takes him to the sage Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) where he's tasked with the duties of every "chosen one:" he must stop Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from using the Kragle to freeze all of Lego-kind into place. To win the day, Emmet and Wyldstyle join a team of Master Builders who can use the Legos around them to make whatever they can imagine, including Batman (Will Arnett), giant pirate Metalbeard (Nick Offerman), impossibly happy Princess Unikitty (Allison Brie), and spaceship obsessed Benny (Charlie Day), to defeat Lord Business and his bad-cop henchman (Liam Neeson). On DVD and Blu Ray.

Troubled Past

Fifteen-year-old Gary (Tye Sheridan) is looking for a job to support his family in David Gordon Green's Joe and finds himself working for Joe (Nicolas Cage), poisoning forests to allow lumber companies to plant more profitable trees. Struggling with a rocky home life and abusive stepfather, Gary finds an unlikely companion in the rage-filled, alcoholic Joe, but though they make their living under questionable legality, both men embrace a drive to live their own lives. In backwoods, poverty-stricken Texas, bucking convention could prove dangerous for both of them. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Based on the actual, published case study, Jimmy P. is the story of psychoanalyst Georges Devereux's (Mathieu Amalric) treatment of Blackfoot Indian James Picard (Benicio Del Toro) in post-WWII America. A veteran suffering from debilitating headaches, Picard's clinic in Montana isn't sure how to treat him (the orderlies insist on calling him "chief,") so they summon Devereux, an expert on Native Americans who spent years with the Mojave. Together, the two men begin exploring the foundations of Picard's pain, and the troubles that locked him away from the larger world.

Horrors

Seth has a few, scattered memories of the night his friend Mark vanished in Almost Human: strange lights in the sky, otherworldly sounds, and other vague impressions that make most people assume he's either crazy... or making up stories to cover up his guilt. When Mark reappears two years later, he makes his way home, killing everyone in his path; for every of Mark's murders, Seth can see the acts in a trancelike vision. The two men are somehow linked, and Seth has a front row seat to a spree that involves not just killing, but a grand plan to "improve" the victims.

Dutiful Captain White (Jennifer Morrison), aggressive Private Oldsman (Josh Stewart), and accommodating Sergeant Diego are leaving their veteran's clinic in Alpha Alert when their elevator comes to an unexpected stop. Each finishing their sessions with Dr. Andrews (James Frain) as they attempt to come to terms with their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the three of them each react differently to being trapped, especially as radio fails and sounds of explosions penetrate their immobile box. As rumors of radiation and terrorism filter down to them, and the maintenance crew that could save them are forced to evacuate the building, the soldiers have to confront their fears, and each other, if they are going to survive.

Comedy

Small-time news personality Meghan Miles (Elizabeth Banks) comes home to an empty house-- her boyfriend moved out and took everything-- on the same day she's passed over for a major network anchor job. Her girlfriends (Gillian Jacobs and Sarah Wright) take her out for a wild night and Meghan gets drunk and goes home with a would-be poet bartender (James Marsden), but the aftermath leaves her in downtown LA, with no wallet or ID, in a slinky dress in Walk of Shame. If she can make it home, Meghan might be able to reclaim her network job, but the road is littered with mistaken identities, cops (including Ethan Suplee) who assume she's a prostitute, unhelpful cab drivers, and comically overblown crack dealers.

New this week in our TV New Releases:

	House of Cards Season 2	Even though he's ascended to the office of the Vice President of the United States, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) hasn't finished maneuvering for greater power, and continues to manipulate or destroy everyone in his way until he gets everything he wants.		Regular Show Season 3	Mordecai and Rigby aren't very good park groundskeepers-- which is to be expected of a bluejay and a raccoon-- but they do their best to slack off, amuse themselves, and show up their rivals Muscle Man and High-Five Ghost.
	Death in Paradise Series 1	Buttoned-down London policeman Richard Poole is sent to the Caribbean to solve a murder and ends up inheriting the job of senior detective on the tiny island of Saint-Marie, where his by-the-book approach is undermined at every turn.		Scott and Bailey Series 1	Impulsive, argumentative Rachel Bailey and subtle, intelligent Janet Scott balance their friendship, intense personal lives, and partnership in the Manchester police's Major Incident Team as they apply their odd-couple dynamic to solving high-profile crimes.
	The Escape Artist	Though he doubts some of his clients' innocence, hotshot barrister Will Burton (David Tennant) has never lost a case, but his motto-- "Everybody deserves a defense"-- is tested when he's faced with a defendant accused of harming Will personally.

Week of June 3rd

Website is best viewed at RecklessVideo.com.  Pop-up credits links are inactive on Blogger.

Crime in Our Midst

Robocop
Now & Then

Though his enforcement/pacification drones are effective in overseas war zones, OmniCorp CEO Raymond Sellers (Michael Keaton) can't get his technology into American cities in Robocop, not even with the support of vocal, television pundits (Samuel L. Jackson). Since US citizens don't want robots patrolling their streets, Sellers hires a talented doctor (Gary Oldman) to resurrect fallen Detroit police officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) as a man within a machine. Murphy's brain is intact, and he tries to reclaim his life with his family (Abbie Cornish) and partner (Michael K. Williams), but OCP isn't really interested in saving wounded police- Alex is supposed to put a human face on OCP military hardware, making the company (and their drones) more acceptable on city streets. When when he starts asking the wrong questions, Murphy will have to overcome their programming to take the fight to the people who killed him... and the people who want to control him. With Jackie Earle Haley. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Fresh out of the academy, FBI Agent Mike Warren is sent to live in a beach house with a group of undercover agents in Season 1 of USA Network's Graceland. He's a promising recruit, smart and intuitive, but he's still naive and trying to find his way in a household filled with operatives more experienced than himself. As Mike takes on assignments and infiltrates gangs, drug cartels, and gun runners, his cover identity has to be twice as strong as his comrades for one important reason: he's there to investigate his fellow agents.

Saviors

Based on the personal memoir of mission survivor Marcus Luttrell, Peter Berg's Lone Survivor stars Mark Wahlberg as Luttrell, a member of four-man SEAL Team 10 as they're dropped into Afghanistan. Luttrell, team leader Murph (Taylor Kitsch), communications specialist Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and sniper Axe (Ben Foster) are inserted into hostile territory for a reconnaissance mission, but when they encounter a goatherd and his sons, they decide not to execute the Afghani civilians, even though setting them free alerts the Taliban to their whereabouts. Outnumbered and on the run, the SEALs have to abort their mission and take on a new objective: survive their chase, outrun and out-fight the pursuing Taliban hordes, and make it home alive. With Eric Bana. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Compiling the Jesus-based stories from the History Channel miniseries The Bible, Son of God is framed by the Apostle John as he tells his tale. Combining scenes from the original series with unaired, supplementary footage, the film illustrate's John's tale of Christ's birth, his journey to Galilee, the gathering of his flock (including Amber Rose Revah and Darwin Shaw), and his eventual betrayal and execution.

For and Against Humanity

With Bill reincarnated after the events of Season 5, he, Sookie, and the rest of their group has to flee the Authority Compound in Season 6 of True Blood. Resurrection changes everything in vampire society, and Bill's reemergence sends shockwaves through their world: they all have a chance at heightened powers and true immortality. While they all try to comprehend Bill's new power-- and his possible corruption by Lilith-- Louisiana's new governor declares open season on vampires.

After the arrival of the friendly alien race the Volm at the end of Season 2, humanity finally has a chance to fight back in Season 3 of Falling Skies. With the help of the Volm and the rebels from the other side, the human resistance is now a real threat to the Skitters that have overtaken the Earth... but now that they can fight back, the Skitters are more determined than ever to crush the human resistance by any means necessary.