Week of July 8th

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On the Spot

Though he's a few decades older than the rest of the competitors, Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) meets the requirements to join the largest spelling bee in the country in Bad Words: he didn't graduate 8th grade before the cutoff date... but unlike the rest of the kids in the spelling bee, he probably never will. Accompanied by a journalist (Kathryn Hahn) eager to find the story behind the 40-year-old misanthrope tearing through a children's contest, Trilby offends parents, humiliates kids, infuriates the judge (Allison Janney) and embarrasses the event's founder (Philip Baker Hall). When he gets to know one of the kids (Rohan Chand), Trilby has to weight just how much he disgrace he needs to sow to do complete his plan-- and he definitely has a plan-- without completely upstaging all the kids. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Craig (Pat Healy) never became the writer he thought he'd be-- he's struggling to provide for his wife and baby, but just his job and can't pay his rent in Cheap Thrills. When he runs into Vince (Ethan Embry), an old friend from highschool, and Vince drags him into partying with the recklessly rich Violet and Colin (Sara Paxton and David Koechner). Colin's idea of a good time begins with offering $50 to whoever finishes their drink first, but quickly progresses: $100 for ignoring the strip club's "hands off" policy, $300 to punch the security guard that comes after them. Colin and Violet have a twisted sense of fun and an unlimited amount of money, and Craig and Vince's profits are only limited by their pain tolerances, gag reflexes, and cutthroat competition.

Ever since their superstar mother (Minnie Driver) was killed backstage after a performance of The Haunting of the Opera, Camilla (Allie MacDonald) and Buddy (Douglas Smith) have been in the care of her old Broadway producer Roger (Meat Loaf) in Stage Fright. Roger's musical theater summer camp is in the red and facing foreclosure, so he takes extreme measures: his director and the kids at camp will revive The Haunting of the Opera. Though she's just a member of the staff, Camilla is vying to sing the lead and reprise her mother's role... even if the production has a rising body count due to a masked, theater-hating, heavy metal killer, and Camilla might end up sharing her mother's fate.

Fallout

Omar and his friends Amjad and Tarek are Palestinian militants plan to carry out operations in Israel in the Oscar nominated Omar, but sensitive, intelligent Omar is more interested in Tarek's sister Nadia than their political agenda. When the mission fails and Omar is captured, he faces a series of compromises that put weigh heavily on his relationship with his friends, loyalty to his country, and the possibility of ever seeing Nadia again. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Computer scientist Vincent's (Toby Stephens) work in artificial intelligence is cutting-edge but being funded by the military in The Machine. While Vincent is hoping to use his technology to rehabilitate soldiers with brain damage, the program director (Denis Lawson) is more interested in combat applications. Vincent's work brings a machine (Caity Lotz) to life, and he comes to believe that she's a truly free-thinking, feeling intelligence. The military would prefer her to be rebuilt as an obedient supersoldier and Vincent has to choose between everything he's been offered and the life of his creation.

New this week in our TV New Releases:

Vicious

Freddie and Stuart (Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi) have lived together as a couple for nearly fifty years, but after so much time together, most of the conversation between the egotistical actor and his long-suffering partner is made up of barbs, feints, and insults as the men consistently grate on each others' nerves.