Tuesday, August 16, 2011

New Quick Flicks for the Week of August 16, 2011

The
 Conspirator
The Conspirator
By Redford, Robert
2011-08 - Lions Gate Home Entertainment
0031398140627 Check Our Catalog

In the wake of Abraham Lincolns assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (ROBIN WRIGHT), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth (TOBY KEBBELL), 26, and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous backdrop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer Frederick Aiken (JAMES McAVOY), a 28-year-old Union war ero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt, her own son, John (JOHNNY SIMMONS). As the nation turns against her, Surratt is forced to rely on Aiken to uncover the truth and save her life. From director Robert Redford, THE CONSPIRATOR is a riveting thriller that tells a powerful story about America then and now. …More


Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil
Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil
By Disa, Mike
Director Close, Glenn Disa
Voice by Panettiere, Hayden
2011-08 - Tcfhe/Anchor Bay/Starz
0013132356792 Check Our Catalog

The good... the bad... the Twitchy. From the team that brought you HOODWINKED, the comedic portrayal of the fairy tale Red Riding Hood, comes the all-new animated family comedy HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL in 3D. The sequel finds our heroine, Red (Hayden Panettiere), training with a mysterious covert group called the Sisters of the Hood. But Red is forced to cut her training short when she gets an urgent call from Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers), who returns as head of the super-secret Happily Ever After Agency, aka the HEA. A wicked witch (Joan Cusack) has abducted two innocent children, Hansel (Bill Hader) and Gretel (Amy Poehler), and Nicky needs Red for the search-and-rescue mission. Of course, what is a sequel without guest stars from the original? Thankfully, Granny (Glenn Close) and the rest of the HOODWINKED gangincluding the ever-clueless Wolf (Patrick Warburton) and his over-caffeinated little partner, Twitchy (Cory Edwards), join Red to solve the forest's latest caper. Fracturing fairy tales and pop culture with good-natured glee, HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD vs. EVIL in 3D takes viewers on a rollicking roller coaster ride combining edge-of-the-seat adventure with classic, zany cartoon antics. …More


Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
By Fukunaga, Cary
Director Fassbender, Michael Fukunaga
2011-08 - Universal Home Video
0025192074745 Check Our Catalog

Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) star in the romantic drama based on Charlotte Bronts classic novel, from acclaimed director Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre). In the story, Jane Eyre flees Thornfield House, where she works as a governess for wealthy Edward Rochester. As she reflects upon the people and emotions that have defined her, it is clear that the isolated and imposing residence and Mr. Rochesters coldness have sorely tested the young womans resilience, forged years earlier when she was orphaned. She must now act decisively to secure her own future and come to terms with the past that haunts her and the terrible secret that Mr. Rochester is hiding and that she has uncovered. …More


Life During Wartime
Life During Wartime
By Solondz, Todd
2011-07 - Image/Sphe
0715515084512 Check Our Catalog

In LIFE DURING WARTIME, independent filmmaker Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse) explores contemporary American existence and the nature of forgiveness with his customary dry humor and queasy precision. The film functions as a distorted mirror image of Solondzs acclaimed 1998 dark comedy Happiness, its emotionally stunted characters now groping for the possibility of change in a post-9/11 world. Happinesss grim New Jersey setting is transposed to sunny Florida, but the biggest twist is that new actors fill the roles originated in the earlier filmincluding Shirley Henderson (Topsy-Turvy), Allison Janney (The Ice Storm), and Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club) as alarmingly dissimilar sisters, and Ciarn Hinds (Persuasion) hauntingly embodying a reformed pedophile. Shot in expressionistic tones by cinematographer extraordinaire Ed Lachman (Far from Heaven), Solondzs film finds the humor in the tragic and the tragic in the everyday. …More


The
 Music Never Stopped
The Music Never Stopped
By Kohlberg, Jim
2011-08 - Lions Gate Home Entertainment
0031398140399 Check Our Catalog

From the author of Awakenings comes a heartwarming tale of a father and son, who find a connection through the music that embodied the generation gap of the 1960s. An unforgettable soundtrack features the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills and Nash, and many more. …More


The
 Perfect Game
The Perfect Game
By Dear, William
2011-08 - Image/Sphe
0014381706826 Check Our Catalog

Living amidst the gritty poverty of 1957 Monterrey, Mexico, a ragtag group of boys from the wrong side of the tracks discovers the joy of sandlot baseball under the guidance of Cesar, an aspiring Major League Coach thwarted by discrimination. Armed with the dream of playing a real Little League game, the young players defy a total lack of resources, disapproving parents, and widespread prejudice to score their first Little League victory and find themselves at the beginning of a once-in-a-lifetime journey. Relying on their faith, a warm-hearted priest and their love of the game, the nine players and their coach embark on an incredible, record-breaking winning streak that leads them across the border to America, and all the way to the 1957 Little League World Series where a miracle will cement their place in history and change their lives forever. …More


Priest
Priest
By Stewart, Scott
2011-08 - Sony Pictures Home Ent
0043396384309 Check Our Catalog

A legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills. …More


Queen to Play
Queen to Play
By Bottaro, Caroline
2011-08 - Zeitgeist Films
0795975113632 Check Our Catalog FRE

Oscar winner Kevin Kline and the luminous Sandrine Bonnaire (Vagabond) square off in this stylish and sophisticated dramedy of newfound passions and mid-life triumphs, set on the postcard-perfect isle of Corsica. Lovely, repressed and quietly intelligent, French chambermaid Hlne (Bonnaire) discovers she has a knack for chess. This obsessionmuch to the chagrin of her husband and teenaged daughterleads her to seek the clandestine tutelage of a reclusive American doctor (Kline, in his first French-speaking role)a liaison that radically transforms both of their lackluster lives. Show Less …More


Something Borrowed
Something Borrowed
By Greenfield, Luke
2011-08 - Warner Home Video
0883929156436 Check Our Catalog

Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a talented attorney at a top New York law firm, a generous and loyal friend and, unhappily, still single...as her engaged best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson) is constantly reminding her. But after one drink too many at her 30th birthday party, perpetual good girl Rachel unexpectedly ends up in bed with the guy she's had a crush on since law school, Dex (Colin Egglesfield), who just happens to be Darcy's fianc. When Rachel and Darcy's lifelong friendship collides with true love, it leads to unexpected complications and potentially explosive romantic revelations. Meanwhile, Ethan (John Krasinski), who has been Rachel's constant confidante and sometimes conscience, has been harboring a secret of his own, and Marcus (Steve Howey), an irrepressible womanizer, can't keep his mind out of the gutter or his hands off any girl within reach. …More


Stake Land
Stake Land
By Mickle, Jim
Director Harris, Danielle Mickle
2011-08 - MPI Home Video
0030306818498 Check Our Catalog

America has fallen. A vampiric scourge sweeps the nation, turning brother on brother and parent on child as the blood-hungry beasts take deeper and deeper hold upon the land. It's hard for the survivors to know whether to be more afraid of the creatures themselves or the violent religious groups that have sprung up in response, but there is clearly only one choice: fight or die. …More


The Bang Bang Club
As apartheid comes to a violent end in South Africa, four fearless photographers, bonded by their friendship and a sense of purpose, risk their lives to capture the bloody struggle and expose the truth.

The Best and the Brightest
Follows a fresh-faced young couple from Delaware, Jeff and Samantha, who have only recently entered the world of New York City's elite private kindergartens. Every private school in the city informs Sam that she's simply too late to apply for a kindergarten spot for her five-year-old daughter this fall, but she begs Jeff to hire a 'consultant' to find a crack in the system.

Camp Hell
At the end of every summer, the children of a local community attend Camp  Hope. While teaching them the ways of a proper society, one teacher leads them, unknowingly, into a world of evil. As deep dark secrets are exposed about Camp Hope, the children's bodies slowly start to be taken over by something evil. What was supposed to be a safe summer camp has now turned into a nightmare that not even faith can end.

Cold Weather
After abandoning a promising academic career in forensic science, self-styled detective Dough returns to Portland, Oregon to live with his more responsible sister Gail. He lands a dead-end job working in an ice factory, but soon finds an opportunity to use his passion and skill in detective work when his ex-girlfriend Rachel goes missing. Enlisting a team of ramshackle slacker-sleuths, Doug leads the way down a complex trail of clues that brings him close to discovering the truth about Rachel.

Grace Card
Police officer Mac McDonald's life is shattered when a tragic accident takes the life of his son. Years later, Mac's bitterness and pain has eroded his love for his family, strained his relationships on the force, and left him angry with God. When Mac gets partnered up in the squad car with Sam Wright, an African-American ordained minister-turned-cop, will the two be able to join forces and help one another when it's impossible to look past their differences?

Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird
Fifty years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, To Kill a Mockingbird remains a beloved best seller and quite possibly the most influential American novel of the 20th century. Mary McDonagh Murphy's Hey, Boo explores the To Kill a Mockingbird phenomenon and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding Harper Lee, including why she never published again. It also brings to light the context and history of the novel's Deep South setting and the social changes it inspired after publication.

Idiots & Angels
Angel, a selfish, abusive, morally bankrupt man, hangs out at his local bar, berating the other patrons. One day, Angel mysteriously wakes up with a pair of wings on his back. The wings make him do good deeds, contrary to his nature. He desperately tries to rid himself of the good wings, but eventually finds himself fighting those who view the wings as their ticket to fame and fortune.

Marley & Me: The Puppy Years
Marley is back for more tail-wagging fun, and this time he speaks! That's right, the world's worst dog has a frisky voice and an attitude to match. Join Marley for his mischievous puppy years as he and his summer pal, Bodie Grogan, wreak havoc on a neighborhood dog contest. Marley outwits dobermans, shepherds, and collies, while stealing hearts in his own unique and lovable way. Fetch big laughs for the whole family!

Oprah: The Past, Present, and Future
Oprah Gail Winfrey is the most influential woman in the world. The Oprah Winfrey Show has been on the air for 25 years, and is the highest rated show of its kind in history. Her tenacity, vision, and passion are just a few attributes that make her extraordinary! In an inspirational documentary film, examine her trials, tribulations, and triumphs. It's the untold story of a true American icon.

Super
"When sad-sack loser Frank, a short-order cook, sees his ex-addict wife willingly snatched away by a seductive drug dealer, he finds himself bereft and unable to cope. But he decides to fight back under the guise of a do-it-yourself superhero called Crimson Bolt. With a red handmade suit, a wrench, a crazed sidekick named Boltie, and absolutely nothing in the way of superpowers, Crimson Bolt beats his way through the mean streets of crime in hopes of saving his wife."

Tactical Force
A training exercise for the LAPD SWAT Team goes terribly wrong when they find themselves pitted against two rival gangs while trapped in an abandoned hangar.

Tracy Morgan: Black & Blue
An hour of adults-only humor told in the quirky, shocking, matter-of-fact style that has earned Morgan a place in the upper echelon of today's most sought-after comedians. Taped before a live audience at the Apollo Theatre in New York City, the stand-up special will feature Morgan's comedic takes on politics (including meeting President Obama), the differences between white and black culture, celebrities, our Founding Fathers, sex, superheroes and more.

Trapped: Haitian Nights
Detective Violet Martin is assigned to investigate the case of Nadine Lazard, the wife of a prominent Haitian doctor, who has turned up missing.