Week of July 29th

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

The Larger World

In a dying world where the cities of the industrial civilizations are failing, Noah (Russell Crowe) and his family are the last of their kind, living off the land and taking only what they need in Darren Aronofsky's Noah. When The Creator blesses Noah with a vision, he takes his wife (Jennifer Connelly), sons (Douglas Booth and Logan Lerman), and adopted daughter (Emma Watson) to consult with Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) about the nature of his revelation: The Creator is going to destroy the world in a flood. Tasked with beginning the world anew, Noah must build a massive ark to survive the flood, but Tubal-cain (Ray Winstone) and his tribe of warrior/conquerors aren't content to simply be wiped off the face of the earth... and they'll take the ark by force, if they have to. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Sisters Olanna (Thandie Newton) and Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) choose very different lives in Half of a Yellow Sun. Based on the beloved novel, the sisters deal with the upheavals in 1960s Nigeria differently: Olanna marries a radical activist (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and is brought into his traditional mother's home while socially ambitious Kainene enters the lucrative family business. As their country descends into revolution and citizens are forced to flee, the bonds between families and marriages are tested while the world changes around them. With Jon Boyega.

Elizabeth (Melanie Papalia) begins researching graduate thesis on a Chatroulette-esque website in The Den, but her life is turned upside-down when she makes contact with a violent stalker online. After a series of pranks and stunts online, Elizabeth questions whether or not the murder she saw onscreen was real. She asks her tech-savvy friend (Adam Shapiro) to track down the user that showed her the murder, but every friend she involves is a new real-world target the on-line stalker can threaten. Portrayed entirely through webcams and chat windows, Elizabeth's chat channel (and the hacker's control of it) records the horror movie that has become her life. With Katja Pevec.

After saving his elephant, Khon, in the first film, Kham (Tony Jaa) returned to his village to live a simple life. After refusing to sell his elephant to a ruthless businessman, Kham is horrified to find Khon stolen and has to travel to Bangkok to save him in The Protector 2. On the run in the big city, Kham finds himself chased by the police, in epic fights with gangs, chased by vengeful relatives (JeeJa Yanin), and targeted by the head of an underground fighting ring (RZA) who will use Khon to force him to fight for the criminal underworld. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Personal

Carly's (Cameron Diaz) nothing-too-serious dating rules are put on hold when she meets perfect, handsome, successful Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). She's serious enough about him to drop in on him for a surprise apology visit after a spat... only to run into Mark's wife Kate (Leslie Mann) in The Other Woman. Both women are horrified that Mark has been lying to them and-- though no-nonsense Carly just wants to walk away from the whole mess-- with nowhere else to turn, flighty, nervy Kate forces herself into Carly's life. Together, they discover that Mark's been seeing younger, bustier Amber (Kate Upton) behind both their backs, and the three women decide to take revenge on the unrepentant liar who tried to take advantage of them all. With Don Johnson.

Unadventurous office nebbish Bruce (Nick Frost) doesn't think he has a chance with the company's beautiful new boss Julia (Rashida Jones), especially since arrogant Drew (Chris O'Dowd) brags that Julia will quickly be his. When he sees Julia attending a salsa dancing class, Bruce is spurred to action in Cuban Fury: in his youth, he was a salsa champion. Though Bruce turned his back on dancing after being humiliated as a boy, Julia inspires him to reclaim the one thing that always made him special-- he tracks down his old dance teacher (Ian McShane) and starts to reawaken his old talent. Bruce's gradual acceptance of himself, his skills, and the joy of embracing who he really is may impress Julia more than the dancing itself. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Now in her 60s, former beauty queen Bettie (Catherine Deneuve) is a put-upon restaurant owner with a meddling mother, estranged daughter, and a married lover who still hasn't left his wife in On My Way. When she heads out to run some errands, Bettie just starts driving-- her quick jaunt impulsively becomes a full-fledged road trip through the French countryside as she puts everything from her troubled life in her rear-view mirror... everything but her young grandson, who is riding with her.

Velvet's (Alice Eve) afternoon is derailed when former lover Fred (Stanley Tucci) appears on her doorstep in Neil LaBute's Some Velvet Morning. Fred has finally left his wife and is intruding on Velvet with all of his luggage in tow, but she hasn't seen him in four years, wasn't expecting him, and is surprised to have her day's plans sidetracked. Fred's in the middle of a tumultuous day and was expecting a warmer welcome, Velvet's moved on and has a life of her own, and her attempts at civility crash into his anger issues as they both push for what they want: Velvet wants him to leave, and Fred wants Velvet.

New this week in our TV New Releases:

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume 30

Mike, Joel, and the bots mock a new crop of bad movies from their perch on the Satellite of Love, including giant monster movie The Black Scorpion, 80s fantasy adventure Outlaw of Gor, man-playing-god horror film The Projected Man, and 70s vampire film It Lives By Night.