New DVD & Blu-Ray Releases
New This Week
Tower Heist
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck
Director: Brett Ratner
The Scoop: Murphy is pretty much the master of the buddy comedy, so it's only fitting that he's teaming up with fellow funnyman Stiller for this tale of two crooks whose get-rich-quick plan goes horribly awry. And since Ratner (the mastermind behind the "Rush Hour" films) is behind the camera, fans pretty much know exactly what they're going to get with this high-octane action comedy. If that's your kind of thing, then this is your kind of thing, you dig?
Rated PG-13, 104 min. | Watch the trailer
J. Edgar
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts
Director: Clint Eastwood
The Scoop: Oscar winning director Eastwood teams up with Oscar nominees DiCaprio and Watts for what is likely to be one of 2011's top Oscar bait films. DiCaprio plays the infamous head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, detailing the decades of ruthless and often illegal activities Hoover instigated in order to promote his version of the American Way.
Special Features: Ultra-Violet Digital copy, featurette
Rated R, 137 min. | Watch the trailer
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes
Director: Sea Durkin
The Scoop: One of the breakout hits at this year's Sundance Film Festival, this follows a girl who falls in -- and then out -- of a dangerous cult of weirdoes. That cult is led by Oscar nominee Hawkes ("Winter's Bone"), while the quadruple-named lead is portrayed by newcomer Olsen, the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Unlike them, however, Elizabeth is getting rave reviews for her acting, so you go, little sis.
Rated R, 120 min. | Watch the trailer
The Son of No One
Starring: Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Katie Holmes, Juliette Binoche
Director: Dito Montiel
The Scoop: First, let's all admit that, scientifically speaking, it's impossible to be the son of no one. That out of the way, Tatum plays a cop trying to fight the good fight on New York City's mean streets. When an anonymous source tips him off to a police cover-up, however, he begins an investigation that threatens to tear down everything he's worked to create.
Rated R, 95 min. | Watch the trailer
London Boulevard
Starring: Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, Ray Winstone
Director: William Monahan
The Scoop: If you re-imagine "The Bodyguard" as a seedy London crime noir gangster flick, you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect from this. Knightley plays a reclusive young movie star who hires an ex-criminal (Farrell) to protect her from some jiggery-pokery (Winstone). Naturally, star and bodyguard fall into unlikely love — only with gritty accents and such.
Special Features: Making-of featurette
Rated R, 103 min. | Watch the trailer
Unforgiven (Blu-ray)
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman
Director: Clint Eastwood
The Scoop: (1992) Eastwood has been a major Hollywood star for half a century now, but the Eastwood we know today – respected director and creator of serious films – was born when this hit theaters. Deconstructing the western genre and, not incidentally, his own career, Eastwood created a masterpiece that celebrates its 20th anniversary with this new special edition Blu-ray.
Special Features: Commentary, featurettes, Eastwood bios, trailer, etc.
Rated R, 131 min. | Watch the trailer
Honey (Blu-ray)
Starring: Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer, Romeo
Director: Bille Woodruff
The Scoop: (2003) Harken back, if you will, to when the world was first starting to realize that Alba is really hot. Enter "Honey," her first big leading role, where she played a dancer and choreographer trying to make it big in the cutthroat world of hip-hop music videos. Tough business, but luckily she had "8 Mile" veteran Phifer to help show her the ropes. And the rest of history.
Special Features: Commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, music videos
Rated PG-13, 94 min. | Watch the trailer
Fort Apache (Blu-ray)
Starring: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple
Director: John Ford
The Scoop: (1948) This is one of the first westerns to look at the Native American side of things and is considered by many to be one of the finest films of Wayne's legendary career. He plays a cavalry officer who is passed over for command in favor of an arrogant Easterner (Fonda), a decision that leads to disaster when the new commander's actions enflame the native Apache.
Special Features: Commentary, location featurette, trailer
Unrated, 125 min. | Watch the trailer
Recent Releases
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
Starring: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
The Scoop: How do you top a drug-induced escape from a not-so-secret CIA prison for terrorists? Why, by going to the North Pole, of course. That's the latest twist for the "Harold & Kumar" series, which reunites Penn and Cho (as well as scene-stealer N.P.H.) for another epic farce. This time, they're in 3-D, though, so there's no telling how out of control some of their scatological jokes may get. We can't wait to see — and smell? — the answer.
Rated R, 90 min. | Watch the trailer
Anonymous
Starring: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis
Director: Roland Emmerich
The Scoop: Shakespeare is widely considered to be the greatest writer in the history of the English language — but was he even Shakespeare at all? That's the question asked by this movie, which stars Ifans as Edward de Vere, a 17th century nobleman caught up in intrigues at the court of Queen Elizabeth and who may or may not be the real author of Shakespeare's plays. Whatever name you call him though, his works still smell as sweet.
Special Features: Commentary, featurettes
Rated PG-13, 130 min. | Watch the trailer
In Time
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy
Director: Andrew Nicchol
The Scoop: If you don't recognize the name of Timberlake's newest film, don't worry, because "In Time" has gone through about a dozen monikers in the last year while they try to figure out how to best market a sci-fi thriller about a society where people are immortal. To keep population down, though, only rich folk get to live past 25, which becomes a problem when Timberlake simultaneously inherits a fortune and is accused of murder. Hate it when that happens.
Rated PG-13, 115 min. | Watch the trailer
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Director: Bill Condon
The Scoop: This is what you've all been waiting for. The wedding. The sex. The resulting monster baby. The first half of the fourth entry in the fan favorite "Twilight Saga" is here and it's clear that Bella (Stewart) has finally joined Team Edward (Pattinson) for good. But is that the best thing for her? The claws tearing at her from inside her own womb say maybe not.
Special Features: Wedding video, documentary, featurettes, etc.
Rated PG-13, 135 min. | Watch the trailer
The Rum Diary
Starring: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart
Director: Bruce Robinson
The Scoop: Depp is known for his long standing friendship with gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, whom he portrayed in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Thompson may be gone, but his works remain and so does Depp's devotion to adapting them to the big screen, hence this take on Thompson's classic about a writer who heads to Puerto Rico during the 1950s and gets caught up in all sorts of dangerous things.
Special Features: Featurettes
Rated R, 110 min. | Watch the trailer
The Double
Starring: Topher Grace, Martin Sheen, Stana Katic, Richard Gere
Director: Michael Brandt
The Scoop: Brandt, the writer behind screenplays like "Wanted" and "3:10 to Yuma," makes his directorial debut in this ensemble thriller about a retired CIA operative (Gere) who teams up with a wet-behind-the-ears FBI guy (Grace, protecting America) to solve the murder of a U.S. senator.
Special Features: Interviews, commentary, trailers
Rated PG-13, 98 min. | Watch the trailer
The Big Year
Starring: Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Steve Martin
Director: David Frankel
The Scoop: The to-good-to-be-true premise behind this is pretty simple: Black and Martin strike up an unlikely friendship when they team up to defeat defending champion Wilson in a nationwide bird watching competition. This pretty much writes itself, y'all. Frankel ("Marley & Me," "The Devil Wears Prada") handles the directing duties.
Rated PG, 100 min. | Watch the trailer
Project Nim
Starring: Bob Angelini, Bern Cohen, Reagan Leonard
Director: James Marsh
The Scoop: Not to be confused with the classic animated hit 'The Secret of NIMH," which was about people experimenting on rats, "Project Nim" is a documentary about people experimenting on moneys. Specifically, the film explores how a group a researchers in the 1970s tried to teach a chimp sign language by raising him in a human family with the name Nim Chimpsky. The doc was a Sundance fave.
Rated PG-13, 93 min. | Watch the trailer
Lady and the Tramp (Blu-ray)
Starring: Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Peggy Lee
Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
The Scoop: (1955) Now this is how to do a rom-com the right way: using animated dogs. Sure, it sounds like a weird idea, but Disney proved that if you make a film with heart, even an animated dog rom-com could become one of the most beloved films of all time. And really, who doesn't want to see the iconic spaghetti scene one more time?
Special Features: Featurettes, deleted scenes, bonus song, storyboards, music video
Unrated, 76 min. | Watch the trailer
Dream House
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts
Director: Jim Sheridan
The Scoop: This is already well known to most film fans thanks to the fact that stars Craig and Weisz ended up getting married after the shoot. But there's also an actual movie here as well: the newlyweds play a couple who buy their dream home only to discover it is haunted by the ghosts of the murdered family who used to live there. Let's hope this isn't a bad omen for Craig and Weisz.
Rated PG-13, 92 min. | Watch the trailer
Take Shelter
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham
Director: Jeff Nichols
The Scoop: "Boardwalk Empire" star Shannon, who previously earned an Oscar nod for his role in "Revolutionary Road," stars as a regular guy whose regular life is upended when he starts having terrifying visions about a coming apocalypse. Now he has to decide whether or not to act on his visions — or risk his family's safety on the distinct possibility that he's actually just crazy.
Special Features: Commentary, featurettes, interviews
Rated R, 123 min. | Watch the trailer
The Thing
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
The Scoop: Dear God, what is that "Thing?!" Why, it's the prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic about an alien that lands in the arctic, shapechanges into various human and non-human forms and pretty much eats the unholy hell out of everybody. "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"'s Winstead headlines this effort, which tells the story of the doomed Norwegian expedition that first found the "Thing."
Rated R, 103 min. | Watch the trailer
Shakespeare in Love (Blu-ray)
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush
Director: John Madden
The Scoop: (1999) Hard to believe, but once upon a time, a rom-com actually won Best Picture. That time was when "Shakespeare in Love" – which stars Fiennes as William Shakespeare and Paltrow as the beauty who inspires all his best writing – shocked everybody in the entire universe by somehow beating "Saving Private Ryan" for the top honor. Are you listening, Katherine Heigl?
Special Features: Commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers
Rated R, 123 min. | Watch the trailer
The English Patient (Blu-ray)
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas
Director: Anthony Minghella
The Scoop: (1996) "The English Patient," which tells the story of a doomed love affair during World War II (among other things), won a whopping nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Yet despite this, stars Fiennes (who plays a badly disfigured victim of a plane crash) and Scott Thomas (who plays the lady he's having an affair with) both lost. That doesn't seem right, does it?
Special Features: Commentary, interviews, featurettes, deleted scenes,
Rated R, 162 min. | Watch the trailer
To Kill a Mockingbird (Blu-ray)
Starring: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton
Director: Robert Mulligan
The Scoop: (1962) In the 50 years since its release, this has become one of the most beloved films of all time, which is no surprise considering it's an adaptation of one of the most beloved books of all time (by reclusive author Harper Lee). So will this new anniversary edition of the story of racism in a small town become one of the most beloved Blu-rays of all time? We're gonna go with yes.
Special Features: Commentary, documentary, interview, featurettes, trailers
Unrated, 129 min. | Watch the trailer
Cold Mountain (Blu-ray)
Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger
Director: Anthony Minghella
The Scoop: (2003) Based on the popular novel of the same name by Charles Frazer, "Cold Mountain" tells the story of a Confederate soldier during the Civil War (Law) who marches on foot across the ravaged south to return to his one true love (Kidman). Zellweger won Best Supporting Actress. Bonus note for literature buffs: The story is a retelling of Homer's "The Odyssey."
Special Features: Commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, stage special, storyboards
Rated R, 154 min. | Watch the trailer
The Piano (Blu-ray)
Starring: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin
Director: Jane Campion
The Scoop: (1993) Back before she was Sookie Stackhouse in "True Blood," Paquin rose to instant superstardom by becoming the second youngest Oscar winner ever, taking home the golden statue at the ripe old age of 11 for her role as the daughter of a mute woman (Hunter, who also won Best Actress) who moves to New Zealand during the 19th century.
Rated R, 121 min. | Watch the trailer
Dangerous Liaisons (Blu-ray)
Starring: Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman
Director: Stephen Frears
The Scoop: (1988) Close and Pfeiffer earned two of the seven Oscar nominations handed out to "Dangerous Liaisons," which also stars Malkovich in one of the best roles of his career. The three stars – along with Thurman – play French aristocrats who engage in a deadly dance of backstabbing and subterfuge in an attempt to one-up each other in the game of love.
Special Features: Commentary, trailer
Rated R, 119 min. | Watch the trailer
Love Story (Blu-ray)
Starring: Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal, John Marley
Director: Arthur Hiller
The Scoop: (1970) Romantic comedies are a dime a dozen, but when it comes to romantic tragedies, really only two immediately spring to mind: "Romeo + Juliet" and "Love Story." We don't want to give anything away, but you might need a box of tissues for the climax, which also provided the world with the famous line, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." We're tearing up just thinking about it.
Special Features: Commentary, historical retrospective, trailer
Rated PG, 99 min. | Watch the trailer
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (Blu-ray)
Starring: Mike Meyers, Spencer Breslin, Dakota Fanning
Director: Bo Welch
The Scoop: (2003) The books of Dr. Seuss have been treasured by children and adults of all ages, and none more than "The Cat in the Hat." So making it into a big screen blockbuster featuring the madcap antics of everyone's favorite Canadian funnyman, Meyers, seemed like a sure thing. Of course, the film was a huge critical and commercial flop, but if you love Dr. Seuss, you owe it to yourself to check it out anyway.
Special Features: Commentary, deleted scenes, outtakes, dance along, featurettes
Rated PG, 82 min. | Watch the trailer
Nothing in Common (Blu-ray)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Jackie Gleason, Eva Marie Saint
Director: Garry Marshall
The Scoop: (1986) What do you get when you team up rising comic star Hanks with comic legend Gleason in a film directed by the master of the sitcom, Marshall? Well, somehow you end up with a drama. Or a dramedy. Or whatever. The story, about a guy whose aging parents go through a messy divorce, is pretty much beside the point; the point is seeing a young Hanks test out his dramatic chops.
Rated PG, 118 min. | Watch the trailer
All Quiet on the Western Front (Blu-ray)
Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray
Director: Lewis Milestone
The Scoop: (1930) Based on the novel by Erich Maris Remarque, this won Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for its moving depiction of the horrors of modern war as seen through the eyes of German soldiers during World War I. The film, which over the years had been heavily edited and trimmed down by the studio, has been fully restored by the Library of Congress due to its historical significance.
Special Features: Silent version, trailer, featurettes, etc.
Unrated, 113 min. | Watch the trailer
Malcolm X (Blu-ray)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo
Director: Spike Lee
The Scoop: (1992) Kids probably know Malcolm X mainly as the Magneto to Dr. Martin Luther King's Professor X, but the leader, who famously promoted racial equality by any means necessary, is one of the most influential figures of 20th century America. So it's only fitting that his story received an epic big screen treatment by director Lee and Washington, who earned a Best Actor Oscar nod for the role.
Special Features: Commentary, documentaries, deleted scenes, trailer
Rated PG-13, 202 min. | Watch the trailer
Adaptation (Blu-ray)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper
Director: Spike Jonze
The Scoop: (2002) Director Jonze re-teamed with "Being John Malkovich" writer, Charlie Kaufman, for this amazing tour-de-force in screenwriting brilliance. Cage plays a fictionalized version of Kaufman struggling to adapt an un-adaptable book into a movie; Cage also plays Kaufman's entirely fictional twin brother, who he enlists in a last ditch effort to make the movie watchable. Perhaps the greatest bit of self-referential meta-commentary ever put to film.
Rated R, 114 min. | Watch the trailer
Frida (Blu-ray)
Starring: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush
Director: Julie Taymor
The Scoop: (2002) Taymor may be best known right now for the complete mess known as the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," but way back when, she directed Hayek to an Oscar nomination in this well-received biography of Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo, who did her damndest to turn the unibrow into an acceptable fashion statement.
Special Features: Commentary, interviews, featurettes, promo piece
Rated R, 123 min. | Watch the trailer
