New on DVD and Blu-ray this week…
COSMOPOLIS (2013)
Director David Cronenberg adapts author Don DeLillo’s novel about a Manhattan billionaire (Robert Pattinson) who finds his quest to get a haircut from his father’s old barber complicated by the presidential motorcade, a gang of violent anarchists, and a funeral procession for a famous hip-hop star.
Meanwhile, the wealthy 28-year-old’s vast fortune rests on the value of the yuan, which he continually monitors from the comfort of his stretch limo. – Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric
Director(s): David Cronenberg
MPAA Rating: R
BUY IT: Cosmopolis [Blu-ray]
LITTLE BIRDS (2013)
The friendship between two teens is put to the test when they run away together on an ill-fated adventure in this independent drama. Lily (Juno Temple) and Alison (Kay Panabaker) are two close friends growing up in a dead-end community near the Salton Sea. Both girls are 15 years old, and Lily is already desperate to pull up stakes and move on to somewhere more exciting. Alison, on the other hand, is content in her hometown and isn’t eager to accept the responsibilities of adulthood just yet. But she wants to support her best friend, and when Lily steals her stepfather’s truck and announces she’s headed for Los Angeles, Alison impulsively agrees to tag along. The girls soon fall in with a gang of scruffy skate punks; Lily becomes infatuated with one of the guys, who barely acknowledges she’s around, while Alison becomes increasingly convinced they’re bad news, especially when they try to lure the girls into a potentially dangerous scheme to make money. Little Birds was an official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Cast: Juno Temple, Kay Panabaker, Leslie Mann, Kate Bosworth, Kyle Gallner
Director: Elgin James
MPAA Rating: R
BUY IT: Little Birds
THE TROUBLE WITH BLISS (2013)
Disillusioned and dead broke, apathetic New Yorker Morris Bliss (Michael C. Hall) begins to view the ever-widening cracks in his life as potential paths to escape his stagnant existence. Thirty-five and still floundering, Morris lives with his widowed father (Peter Fonda) in a cramped New York apartment. With no job to speak of, he can’t raise the cash to visit all the places he’s dreamt of visiting, but lately his love life has taken an intriguing twist.
As his relationship with the teenage daughter (Brie Larson) of an old high-school friend threatens to blow up in his face, Morris also begins a tenuous romance with his sexy neighbor (Lucy Liu), who doesn’t mince words when revealing what she really wants in a man. Just when it seems like Morris’ life can’t get any more complicated, he begins to recognize that he’s finally being presented with a unique opportunity for real change. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Cast: Michael C. Hall, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, Brad William Henke, Sarah Shahi
Director(s): Michael Knowles
MPAA Rating: PG-13
BUY IT: The Trouble With Bliss
NEW ON DVD & BLU-RAY LAST WEEK – Dec. 25, 2012
LOOPER (2012)
A hired gun from the future discovers that his greatest adversary is himself in this twisting sci-fi mindbender starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom). In the year 2047 time travel has yet to be invented. Thirty years later, however, it has. Though immediately outlawed, time-travel technology is quickly appropriated by the mob, and used to cleanly dispose of anyone deemed a threat.
The process is simple: When the mob wants someone to disappear, they simply send them back to the year 2047, where an assassin known as a “looper” quickly carries out the hit, and disposes of the body. Joe Simmons (Gordon-Levitt) is one of the most respected loopers around. Each kill earns him a big payday, and he’s got big plans to retire to France. Then, one day, as Joe patiently awaits the appearance of his next target near the edge of a remote corn field, he’s shocked to come face-to-face with his future self (Bruce Willis).
When the younger Joe hesitates, the older Joe makes a daring escape. Now, in order to avoid the wrath of his underworld boss (Jeff Daniels), young Joe must “close the loop” and kill his older counterpart. Meanwhile, the revelation that a powerful crime boss in the future has set the underworld ablaze pits the two Joes on a violent collision course, with the fate of a devoted mother (Emily Blunt) and her young son hanging in the balance. Paul Dano and Piper Perabo co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Cast: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan
Director: Rian Johnson
MPAA Rating: R
BUY IT: Looper (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
NEW ON DVD & BLU-RAY – Dec. 18, 2012
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)
School is out and Greg is ready for the days of summer, when all his plans go wrong.
Cast: Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Robert Capron, Steve Zahn
Director: David Bowers
MPAA Rating: PG
BUY IT: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days [Blu-ray]
Arbitrage (2012)
When we first meet New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller (Richard Gere) on the eve of his 60th birthday, he appears the very portrait of success in American business and family life. But behind the gilded walls of his mansion, Miller is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before the depths of his fraud are revealed.
Struggling to conceal his duplicity from loyal wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and brilliant daughter and heir-apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), Miller’s also balancing an affair with French art-dealer Julie Cote (Laetetia Casta). Just as he’s about to unload his troubled empire, an unexpected bloody error forces him to juggle family, business, and crime with the aid of Jimmy Grant (Nate Parker), a face from Miller’s past. One wrong turn ignites the suspicions of NYPD Detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth), who will stop at nothing in his pursuits.
Cast: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta, Nate Parker
Director: Nicholas Jarecki
MPAA Rating: R
BUY IT: Arbitrage [Blu-ray]
COMING UP:
January 8, 2013
- Frankenweenie
- Hit & Run
- House at the End of the Street
- Touchback
- Jack & Diane
- Compliance
- Dredd
- The Inbetweeners
- Samsara
January 15, 2013
- Taken 2
- Won’t Back Down
- Branded
- Battle for Brooklyn
- Runaway Slave
- Farewell, My Queen
- To Rome With Love
- The Possession
January 22, 2013
- End of Watch
- Keep the Lights On
- The Paperboy
- Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai
- Searching for Sugar Man
- The Imposter
- For a Good Time, Call…
- Nobody Walks
- Pina
January 29, 2013
- Hotel Transylvania
- The Awakening
- The Cold Light of Day
- Paranormal Activity 4
- Big Boys Gone Bananas!*
- Hello I Must Be Going
- Seven Psychopaths
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