Week of December 18th

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Flash, Spectacle, and Chase

Total Recall
Now & Then

Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is unsatisfied with his life as a factory worker post-WWIII, traveling from his home in the United Federation to work in The Colony through the planet's core, in Len Wiseman's Total Recall. When he visits Recall, his memory-alteration vacation goes awry, and he's suddenly capable of taking down ten armed men single-handedly. Quaid still thinks of himself as an average guy, but his wife (Kate Beckinsale) of seven years reveals their whole life was implanted into his mind: she was assigned to watch him six weeks ago, and now she's trying to kill him. With a war brewing between the Federation's Chancellor (Bryan Cranston) and the Colony, Quaid has to find the only people that can help him (Jessica Biel) and figure out which side he's actually fighting for... chased the whole way by the woman he thought was his wife. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Taking place immediately after the events of Resident Evil: Afterlife, Alice (Milla Jovovich) is held captive by the Umbrella Corporation in Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil: Retribution. Rescued by Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez), returning from the first Resident Evil movie, Alice plans to escape Umbrella by infiltrating the base under the polar ice caps they use to test their zombie-making T Virus. Pursued by Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), brainwashed by Umbrella to side against Alice, she has to put her more-than-human skills at fighting, running, and shooting to work to prevent an Umbrella Corporation apocalypse from wiping out what's left of humanity. On DVD and Blu Ray.

New York bike messenger and fixie enthusiast Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) makes his living dodging city traffic in Premium Rush, but he's got a lot more to out-maneuver when he picks up a hotly contested package. When Michael Shannon demands Wilee give up his cargo, something a courier can't do, Wilee just bikes away... but he doesn't know how dangerous the man chasing him really is. Using real bicycle stunts instead of CGI, what follows is a break-neck chase through New York city as Wilee has to contend with New York bicycle cops, rival messengers, and the pursuer that seems to want him dead. With Dania Ramirez. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Just out of prison, master thief Will Montgomery (Nicolas Cage) wants to leave the life of crime behind him and focus on his family in Simon West's Stolen, but no ex-con is ever allowed to do that: he gets drawn into one last job. His former partner (Josh Lucas), wanting compensation for the failed job that sent him away has kidnapped Will's daughter. If he's going to have a family to live a clean life with, Will has to pull one more heist, even if the cop that busted him (Danny Huston) is waiting and watching for his return to capers.

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Comedies

from high-strung to low-key

Read the Review

Meredith reviews
Sleepwalk with Me

Based on his one-man show, comedian Mike Birbiglia writes, directs, and stars in the semi-autobiographical Sleepwalk with Me. Telling the story of his reluctance to marry his girlfriend of eight years (Lauren Ambrose) and the stress that caused him to sleepwalk in more and more dangerous ways (falling off furniture, jumping through windows), Birbiglia's fears and neuroses also move him past the hacky jokes he had been telling since college and help him find his comic voice. On DVD and Blu Ray.

35-year-old Jesse (Josh Radnor, who also writes and directs) returns from New York to his Ohio alma mater for his second-favorite professor's (Richard Jenkins) retirement in Liberal Arts. While there, he re-discovers college life, the campus, the parties... and meets Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), a bright, thoughtful, 19-year-old student. He writes Zibby when back in New York, and she's inspired him to look at his life in a new way. She asks him to come back to campus, but Jesse has a lot to consider before starting a relationship with a girl 16 years his junior. With Allison Janney. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Aspiring DJ and remixer Beca (Anna Kendrick) is reluctantly attending college in Pitch Perfect where she's talked into joining the Bellas, an all-girl a cappella group. Though the Bellas' leader, Aubrey (Anna Camp), keeps a tight grip on the group, Beca knows they'll have to diversify the music if they want to contend with rival campus vocal group the Treble Makers and their showboating front man (Adam DeVine). Aubrey's control of the group goes so far as to forbid dating rivals, keeping Beca from a Treble Maker (Skylar Astin) who could be worth her time, but the Bellas need Beca's fresh ideas to stay competitive. On DVD and Blu Ray.

An ensemble cast gathers for their ten year high school reunion in 10 Years, mingling the stories of a group of friends that kept in touch after school. Prom king turned successful mortgage broker Jake (Channing Tatum) is considering proposing to his girlfriend when his prom queen (Rosario Dawson) unexpectedly arrives. Marty (Justin Long) tries to impress their class' party girl (Lynn Collins) with tales of New York success, but he's stuck with the worst wing-man ever (Max Minghella). Former bully Cully (Chris Pratt) tries to apologize to his former victims, but the more he drinks, the more his apologies sound like harassment as his boorishness embarrasses his wife (Ari Graynor). Reeves (Oscar Isaac) has a song on the pop charts but ignores his classmate-fans to spend time with the wallflower (Kate Mara) no one ever seems to notice. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Greg (Zachary Gordon) could be in real trouble in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days-- Roderick (Devon Bostick) is a model student after being sent to military school, and if Greg doesn't stop causing trouble, his father (Steve Zahn) will send him too. This doesn't stop Greg and Rowley (Robert Capron), his best friend, from finding a way into the country club where Holly (Peyton List) works, because he'd do anything to get her number. Greg, Rowley, and country clubs don't mix, and trouble is guaranteed, but maybe Greg can earn some good behavior points in the Wilderness Explorers. With Rachel Harris. On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Sticky Situations

Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is a hedge fund power player about to sell his company and retire, spending more time with his wife (Susan Sarandon) and family in Arbitrage. When he crashes a car, killing his mistress (Laetitia Casta), he flees the scene, and the detective (Tim Roth) looking into the death would love to make a manslaughter arrest involving such a rich, high profile suspect. With his daughter (Brit Marling), also his chief investment advisor, questioning some unorthodox numbers in the company records and the police suggesting murder, the walls are closing in on Robert's life from all sides. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Chris (Emile Hirsch) is a small-time Texas loser with big-time gambling debts in William Friedkin's Killer Joe, but he comes up with an easy way out. He proposes to his father (Thomas Haden Church) and step-mother (Gina Gershon) to hire an assassin: a cop who moonlights as a hit man called Killer Joe (Matthew McConaughey). If Joe kills Chris' mother, her life insurance policy will pay out to his little sister Dottie (Juno Temple), and Dottie's inheritance will pay Joe's fee, Chris' debt, and earn the family some spending money... but there's never been a scam that Chris couldn't botch. If the deal goes south and they can't pay Joe, they've still got something the killer wants: Dottie. On DVD and Blu Ray.

British Doctor Martin Blake (Orlando Bloom) transfers to a Southern California hospital in The Good Doctor to begin his residency, but the day-to-day grind of medical work isn't everything he imagined. A young patient (Riley Keough) forms a bond with Doctor Blake, and though he treats her successfully, he doesn't want to lose the one face in the hospital that makes him happy... so he alters her treatment to keep her dependent on him. Though his superiors (Rob Morrow) have faith in Martin, one orderly (Michael Pena) knows the truth, and he has to decide how far he'll go to keep his secrets. On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Family

Georgia teenager Flik is sent to Brooklyn to spend a summer with his grandfather, Bishop Enoch Rouse (Clarke Peters), in Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer. Though Flik's new environment is a little rough-- his grandfather's tenement isn't exactly grandiose-- his grandfather's world exposes him to the moral implications of pollution, poverty, and cultural disintegration. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Gus (Clint Eastwood) is an aging baseball scout with a questionable recent record in Trouble with the Curve, but his boss, Pete (John Goodman), loyal and standing by Gus' long-term record, is fighting to give him one more chance. Pete asks Gus' daughter Mickey (Amy Adams) to accompany him on the next scouting trip-- though she's now a lawyer, Mickey grew up around baseball, and knows more about the sport than even Johnny (Justin Timberlake), one of Gus' pro ball recruits turned scout. With Gus and Johnny both on the road, an old baseball scout trying to stay relevant and a young scout trying to prove himself, Mickey's got her hands full and a short time before she has to return to her law office. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Julio and his mother find a baby in an alley in the Venezuelan Hermano. Sixteen years later, Julio is the captain of his barrio's football team and his little brother Daniel is proving himself to be unusually gifted on the field. When a scout arrives, the bond between the brothers is tested, and the realities of their lives in the slums of Caracas are brought into sharp focus.

Johnny stumbles into a world he's not prepared for when he meets Stephanie at the gym in Bro'. She introduces him to her rough and tumble brother, motocross professional Jesse... but suburban Johnny is slowly introduced to Jesse's downtown world of parties, drugs, casual hookups, and violence, providing a cautionary tale that casts motocross bikers across from actors like Danny Trejo and Larry Fessenden.

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Behind the Scenes

Italian-American actor John Tuturro travels to Sicily to look at the indigenous perceptions of death, theatricality, and puppetry in the documentary Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy. Tuturro visits the birthplace of his maternal grandparents, and explores the Sicilian penchant for foreboding and darker themes.

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New this week in our TV New Releases:

	House of Lies Season 1	Don Cheadle runs a team of management consultants (including Kristen Bell) that will go to any extreme to close business deals, with little concern for honesty or ethics.			Shameless Season 2	Frank (William H. Macy) will probably never get his life together, but his six kids still try to maintain the family they've cobbled together around him.
	Californication Season 5		Three years after Hank (David Duchovny) published his novel at the end of season 4, he's licking his wounds in New York City... but ends up drawn back into his normal routine.

Week of December 11th

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Other Operatives

With government officials going public about Jason Bourne and other secret assassins, the director of the CIA (Scott Glenn) closes down every one of their clandestine programs in writer/director Tony Gilroy's The Bourne Legacy... which includes killing all of the Bourne-esque spies involved. Barely escaping an assassination attempt, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) has to stay alive, survivng a government that will kill to keep its secrets. As a member of a chemically enhanced super-soldier program, Cross needs to find a way to stay functional without the government's chemicals. His only hope is the doctor (Rachel Weisz) in charge of his enhancements, but, just like Aaron Cross, the CIA plans to make her disappear. With Edward Norton. On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Makeshift Families Make Funny

John (Mark Wahlberg) isn't moving forward with his life, or growing up at all, in Ted. Lori (Mila Kunis), his girlfriend, would like to settle down and get married, but John spends all his time partying with Ted (Seth MacFarlane), his foul-mouthed, hard-drinking, pot-smoking, wild-partying teddy bear. John's constant hi jinks with Ted could give Joel McHale an opportunity with the constantly disappointed Lori, but swearing off Ted and committing to her could leave Ted all alone... and there are plenty of crazy people (Giovanni Ribisi) in the world who would like a magically animated teddy bear all to themselves. On DVD and Blu Ray. 

The herd has matured-- Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano) spends most of his time trying to shelter his rebellious teenage daughter (Keke Palmer) and the formerly familyless Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) is saddled with his rambunctious granny (Wanda Sykes) in the fourth Ice Age movie, Ice Age: Continental Drift. When the gang gets separated from their loved ones, set adrift on an iceberg, their only goal is to get back to the mainland, but they run afoul of Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage) and his crew of ice pirates. The odds are against Manny and friends, but Sabertooth Tiger Diego (Denis Leary) might be able to win over Gutt's first mate (Jennifer Lopez) and add another member to their extended family. On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Eli (Jesse Eisenberg) hopes to leave home and attend a prestigious music conservatory, but he can't leave home until his mother (Melissa Leo) goes through rehab in Why Stop Now. His mother's been a junkie as long as he can remember, and Eli won't leave his little sister in her care unless she cleans up... but when she passes her drug test, the clinic won't accept her. Eli has to find his mother's drug dealers (Tracy Morgan and Isiah Whitlock Jr), get his mom high so she can fail a drug test, enroll her in rehab, wow the judges at his audition, and pick up his sister after school. It's not as simple as it sounds, and Eli has to scramble to keep up with every little mistake spiraling into a catastrophe.

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A three-part anthology, the Korean Doomsday Book contends with the end of days in individual stories: a meek scientist disgusted by the garbage and rot around him becomes the patient zero of a zombie apocalypse in Brave New World, a technician is called in to repair a service robot at a monastery that the monks believe is the living Buddha in Kim Ji-Woon's Heavenly Creature, and a young girl's internet order arrives-- from space-- as a meteor that could exterminate all life on Earth in Happy Birthday.

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A comedy documentary about the concept of manliness in the age of fashion conscious "manscaping," Morgan Spurlock's Mansome assembles a group of experts, celebrities, and comedians to discuss male identity. From segments on grooming products to facial hair to shaving, the film tackles how men view themselves, with the segments separated by Jason Bateman and Will Arnett's visit to a spa.

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New this week in our TV New Releases:

	Futurama Volume 7	Fry, Leela, Bender, Amy, and Zoidberg keep Professor Farnsworth's Planet Express delivery company running as well as they can... while managing to cause as much trouble as possible.			Girls Season 1	Tiny Furniture director Lena Dunham's new HBO series has her trying to survive in Brooklyn after her parents stop financially supporting her post-college life.
	World Without End		The follow-up to Pillars of the Earth explores the lives of ordinary citizens during the Hundred Years War in 1300s England, set among the plague, unrest between the church and crown, and war with

Week of December 4th

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Gotham's Reckoning

It's been eight years since anyone's seen the Batman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, and since the events of The Dark Knight, Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) has kept the secret that made Batman a scapegoat. After years as a recluse, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is inspired to reemerge when a beautiful cat burglar (Anne Hathaway) breaks into his mansion, and the Batman reappears when the city is threatened by a masked mercenary called Bane (Tom Hardy). Wayne is in no shape to take on a younger, stronger opponent, and Arthur (Michael Caine) is afraid Bruce is courting death by putting on the cape and mask again, but Batman will have to give everything to stop his enemies from destroying the city and everything he stands for. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, and Morgan Freeman. On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Children

Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) are devastated to learn they can't conceive a child in The Odd Life of Timothy Green, and they spend one night writing down the details of the perfect child they wish they could have, put the notes in a box, and bury the box in their garden. Later that night, they discover ten-year-old Timothy, who claims Cindy and Jim as his parents, magically hatched from their wishes. Timothy is a special boy, and the Greens are immediately called upon to be new parents, and they're bound to make mistakes, but Timothy naturally becomes the boy that is everything they wished for that night... but there are conditions to having their wishes fulfilled. With Rosemarie DeWitt and David Morse. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Six-year-old Hushpuppy lives with her father in a Louisiana bayou called "The Bathtub" in the Cannes & Sundance Award Winning Beasts of the Southern Wild. With the polar ice caps melting (and releasing giant, dinosaur-like beasts from the ice), The Bathtub-- separated from the rest of the world by a levee-- is flooded by a storm. As Hushpuppy, her father, and the rest of the community plot to blow up the levee, drain the water, and start rebuilding The Bathtub, their journey shows Hushpuppy how sick her father has become, and how she will have to cope with his illness. On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Comedies

Kay and Arnold Soames (Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones) sleep in separate rooms in the romantic comedy Hope Springs until Kay decides she wants to put some life back into their marriage. They head to a resort town in Maine to spend a week in the care of prestigious marriage counselor Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell). While Kay is enthusiastic about the intensive therapy, Arnold sternly resists any break in his deeply rutted routine and doesn't want to even leave town, much less have frank discussions about his love life with a stranger. Once therapy begins, Kay and Arnold learn that keeping their relationship alive will take a lot of work from both of them. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Paul Maddens (Martin Freeman) always dreamt of being in show business in Nativity!, but his life as a teacher has left him uninspired and barely present. When his headmaster (Pam Ferris) asks Paul to direct the school's nativity play, he's got plenty to deal with: his formal drama school rival is directing the play at a competing school, his kids don't seem to be very talented, his assistant is an unmanageable manchild, and his feelings towards Christmas have been pretty negative since his girlfriend (Ashley Jensen) left him during the holidays. Paul tries to inflate his pageant by saying a Hollywood producer is interested in his production, but as the play progresses and he starts working with the kids, the pageant becomes the largest part of his life.

Destiny (Yara Shahidi) is a 10-year-old in her newest foster home, taken in by Jill and Ethan Emmett (Alicia Silverstone and Rob Corddry) in suburban Iowa in the competition satire Butter. Always told she was never good at anything, Destiny is inspired by a compliment by champion butter-sculpture-carver Bob Pickler (Ty Burrell) and tells her new foster parents she wants to compete in the state fair. Destiny doesn't have to win against Bob's undefeated sculptures, since he's stepping aside, but Bob's shrill, competitive wife (Jennifer Garner) has entered the butter-carving contest to ensure the Picklers keep winning, and she'll do whatever it takes to stay on top. With Olivia Wilde and Ashley Greene. On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Splatter

A killer Santa Claus is on the loose in a small midwestern town in Silent Night, and the sheriff (Malcolm McDowell) refuses to believe that a serial killer is crossing off the "naughty" entries on his naughty/nice list. While the sheriff is convinced he's solved the problem by locking up a misanthropic, foul-mouthed, department store Santa (Donal Logue), but his deputy (Jaime King) knows the rampage isn't over-- the town will be consumed with flamethrower deaths, Christmas light electrocutions, and topless women running from killer Santas until she finds and stops the murderer. On DVD and Blu Ray.

A horror anthology film, V/H/S sends a group of petty criminals into a house to steal a VHS tape, but the house is littered with tapes. As they look through the tapes, they find a collection of found-footage recordings: a group of internet pornographers with a hidden-in-glasses camera that recorded a disastrous hotel encounter, the video diary of a couple's second honeymoon that captures a mysterious third party (directed by Ti West), a girl who brings her friends and a camera into the woods to prove a legend, a video chat session that records ghostly images in an apartment, and a group that interrupts a Halloween party that turns out not to be a game.

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An ambulance driver is the leader of a group that impersonates recently deceased people for their mourning friends and family in Dogtooth director Giorgos Lanthimos' Alps. Consisting of the driver, a nurse, a gymnast and her coach, they go about the strange and highly symbolic business of grief counseling via impersonation, conducted with the shock and absurdity Lanthimos' previous film.

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New this week in our TV New Releases:

	Eastbound & Down Season 3	Arrogant former baseball star Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) has finally made it back into the minor leagues and can start rebuilding his career... but he's still not ready to take responsibility for his own life, much less his 1-year-old son.		The Simpsons Season 15	Season 15 lets the Simpson family reunite with Homer's mother, Marge writes a romance novel, Bart and Lisa become friends, and more
	Angry Boys	The 12-part mockumentary investigates the lives of the 21st century male, from Australian delinquent twins to an LA rapper, all played by Summer Heights High Australian comedian Chris Lilley.		We Can Be Heroes	Five nominees for the Australian of the Year (again: all played by Chris Lilley) compete for the fame and fortune that come with the award..
	Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXV	Joel, Mike, and the bots are keep their sanity on the Satellite of Love by mocking terrible movies, including Robot Holocaust, Operation Kid Brother, Kitten with a Whip, and Revenge of the Creature.		Call the Midwife Series 1	A new midwife in a nursing convent in 1950s London learns the realities of women's health in a poor neighborhood.