The Ghost Writer (2010)
Director: Roman Polanski
Ewan McGregor, Kim Cattrrall, Pierce Brosnan, Jon Bernthal
When a gifted ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) is hired to write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), he quickly finds himself trapped in a web of political and sexual intrigue. Lang is implicated in a scandal over his administration’s harsh tactics, and as the ghostwriter digs into the politician’s past, he discovers secrets that threaten to jeopardize international relations forever. Co-starring Olivia Williams and Kim Cattrall, it’s a taut and shocking thriller from acclaimed director Roman Polanski (The Pianist). Polanski won Best Director Award at the Berlin International Festival for this film.
Drama, Mystery, Thriller - DVD and Blu-Ray -
Trailer
Happiness Runs (2010)
Director: Adam Sherman
Hanna Hall, Andie MacDowell, Mark L. Young
A young man named Victor realizes the shortcomings of the Utopian ideals on the hippie commune where he was raised. Victor's mother is funding the commune where the guru Insley hypnotizes and seduces women with a technique he calls "running." Insley manipulates the minds of these women so that they give him their bodies and all their worldly possessions. Victor's childhood love, Becky, returns to take care of her deathly ill father. Victor, haunted by visions of Becky's death, is desperate to save her and himself by escaping from the polygamous cult. Preoccupied with Insley's free love philosophy, the adults of the community overlook the painful reality that the self destructive behavior of their children is most certainly due to early exposure to sex and drugs. To afford an escape, Victor tries to sell weed but is cut out by rivals competing for Becky's affection. Finally, Victor is torn between getting money from his mother who is entirely under Insley's influence, dealing with the violent drama of his drug-addled friends, and staying to save Becky as she spins out of control.
Trailer
Drama - DVD
Kick-Ass (2010)
Director: Matthew Vaugh
Aaron Johnson, Garret M. Brown, Clark Duke, Evan Peters, Chloe Moretz
KICK-ASS tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name -- Kick-Ass -- assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. There’s only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers.
His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes -- including an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo, Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) -- and forges a friendship with another fledgling superhero, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But thanks to the scheming of a local mob boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), that new alliance will be put to the test.
Trailer
Action, Crime, Thriller - DVD and Blu-Ray
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Chloe Moretz
Meet the kid who made "wimpy" cool, in a family comedy based on the best-selling illustrated novel by Jeff Kinney. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID chronicles the adventures of wise-cracking middle school student Greg Heffley, who must somehow survive the scariest time of anyone's life: middle school. Chloe Moretz "Hit Girl" from Kick-Ass also stars in this movie.
Trailer
Comedy, Family - DVD
After.Life (2009)
Director: Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Justin Long
After a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) preparing her body for her funeral. Confused, terrified and feeling still very much alive, Anna doesn’t believe she’s dead, despite the funeral director’s reassurances that she is merely in transition to the afterlife. Eliot convinces her he has the ability to communicate with the dead and is the only one who can help her. Trapped inside the funeral home, with nobody to turn to except Eliot, Ana is forced to face her deepest fears and accept her own death. But Anna’s grief-stricken boyfriend Paul (Justin Long) still can’t shake the nagging suspicion that Eliot isn’t what he appears to be. As the funeral nears, Paul gets closer to unlocking the disturbing truth, but it could be too late; Anna may have already begun to cross over to the other side.
Trailer
Drama, Mystery, Thriller - DVD
Finding Bliss (2009)
Director: Julie Davis
Leelee Sobieski, Matthew Davis, Donnamarie Recco
Aspiring filmmaker Jody Balaban (Leelee Sobieski) takes a job at a porn studio, planning to use the company’s lush facilities to secretly film her own movie after hours. When Jody’s ruse is discovered, she’s forced to collaborate with infamous porn director, Jeff Drake (Mat Davis) – an initially fractious relationship that simmers into an unexpected romance.
Trailer
Comedy, Romance, Independent - DVD
Open House (2010)
Welcome to the Neighborhood
Director: Andrew Paquin (Anna's Older brother...)
Brian Geraghty, Rachel Blanchard, Anna Paquin
A couple on the verge of a nasty divorce attempt to sell their empty love nest and move on with their lives, separately. After a successful open house they are horrified to discover, days later, that a potential buyer didn't leave their home. While Alice is being held captive in the basement, the unannounced house guest moves in upstairs. She senses her capture is being kept a rebellious secret. She knows her way only way out if she can only get out alive.
Trailer
Crime, Drama, Thriller, Horror - DVD
Humanoids from the Deep (1980)
From the Roger Corman Cult Classics Collection
Directors: Barbara Peeters and Jimmy T. Murakami
Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, Vic Morrow
In a Pacific Northwestern Town many fisherman have their livelihood endangered due to a new salmon cannery being built which many of the townspeople support. Scientific experiments backfire and produce horrific mutations: halfman, halffish which terrorize a small fishing village by killing the men and raping the women.
Horror, Sci-Fi, Cult - DVD and Blu-Ray
Piranha (1978)
From the Roger Corman Cult Classics Collection
Director: Joe Dante
Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy
Two people unwittingly free a mad military scientist's mutant fish near a summer camp and resort lake.
Horror, Comedy, Sci-fi, Cult - DVD and Blu-Ray
World Cinema
A Prophet (2009)
Un Prophete
Director: Jacques Audiard
Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif
Nineteen year-old Franco-Arab Malik El Djebena is just starting his six year prison sentence in Brécourt. Although he has spent the better part of his life in juvenile detention, this stint is his first in an adult prison. Beyond the division of Corsicans and Muslims in the prison (the Corsicans who with their guard connections rule what happens in the prison), he has no known friends or enemies inside. He is just hoping to serve his time in peace and without incident, despite having no prospects once he's out of jail since he's illiterate and has no support outside of the prison. Due to logistics, the head of Corsican inmates, a sadistic mafioso named César Luciani, co-opts Malik as part of the Corsicans' activities, not only regarding what happens inside the prison, but also continued criminal activities outside. The innocent Malik has no idea what to do but cooperate. This move does not sit well with the other Corsicans, who only see Malik as a dirty Arab, and the Muslims who now mistrust him. But as time goes on, Malik works to save himself while in prison, while setting up his life post prison on his own terms. Both his demon and his salvation in prison is the specter of one of the first people he really got to know during his incarceration. (Huggo). Nominated for Oscar.
Won 25 Awards. Trailer
Foreign, French/Italian, Drama. In French, Arabic. Subtitled - DVD and Blu-Ray
Towards Zero (2007)
L'Heure Zero
Director: Pascal Thomas
Francois Morel, Danielle Darrieux, Laura Smet (daughter of the rock musician
Johnny Hallyday and the actress
Nathalie Baye), Chiara Mastroianni (Daughter of actors
Marcello Mastroianni and
Catherine Deneuve)
When Guillaume has the bizarre idea of inviting his ex-wife Aude to a family reunion at the luxurious coastal estate of his wealthy Aunt Camilla, his tempestuous new wife Caroline becomes filled with rage. Guillaume hopes that they'll become friends but the two women despise one another. But things turn ugly when Camilla is found dead in her bedroom - and only the trusty Inspector Bataille can put together the pieces. But as the Inspector untangles her mysterious death, he also begins to unearth dark family secrets, brewing jealousies, and perhaps even a murderer in their midst.
Foreign, French, Comedy, Mystery - DVD
Eclipse Series 23 - The First Films of Director:Akira Kurosawa
SYNOPSIS: Years before Akira Kurosawa changed the face of cinema with such iconic works as
Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and
Yojimbo, he made his start in the Japanese film industry with four popular and exceptional works, created as World War II raged. All gripping dramas, those rare first films—
Sanshiro Sugata; The Most Beautiful; Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two; and
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail—are collected here and include a two-part martial arts saga, a portrait of female volunteers helping the war effort, and a kabuki-derived tale of deception. These captivating films are a glorious introduction to a peerless career.
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
Sugata Sanshiro
Denjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Yukiko Todoroki
Kurosawa’s effortless debut is a thrilling martial arts action tale, but it’s also a moving story of moral education that’s quintessential Kurosawa.
Foreign, Japanese, Action, Adventure, Drama - DVD
The Most Beautiful (1944)
Ichiban utsukushiku
Takashi Shimura, Shoji Kiyokawa, Ichiro Sugai
This portrait of female volunteer workers at an optics plant during World War II, shot on location at the Nippon Kogaku factory, was created with a patriotic agenda. Yet it anticipates the aesthetics of Japanese cinema’s postwar social realism.
Foreign, Japanese, Drama - DVD
Sanshiro Sugata Part Two (1945)
Zoku Sugata Sanshiro
Denjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Yukiko Todoroki
Kurosawa’s first film was such a success that the studio leaned on the director to make a sequel. The result is a hugely entertaining adventure, reuniting most of the major players from the original.
Foreign, Japanese, Drama - DVD
The Men Who Thread on the Tiger's Trail (1945)
Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi
Denjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto
The fourth film from Akira Kurosawa is based on a legendary twelfth-century incident in which the lord Yoshitsune and a group of samurai retainers dressed as monks in order to pass through a dangerous enemy checkpoint.
Foreign, Japanese, Drama, Adventure, Thriller - DVD
Part-Time Work of a Domestic Slave (1973)
Gelegenheitsarbeit einer Sklavin
Director: Alexander Kluge
Ursula Birichs, Traugott Buhre, Alfred Gartmann
The most significant work by Alexander Kluge, architect of the New German Cinema, features his sister Alexandra as Rosewitha Bronski, a woman trying to make her way in a hostile society. Rosewitha is a wife and mother, a local abortionist, and a factory worker turned labor activist.
Foreign, German, Drama. In German with English subtitles - DVD
The Patterns Trilogy and Other Short Films by Jamie
Travis (2007)
Director: Jamie Travis
Christopher Redman, Courtenay Webber
Jamie Travis's darkly ironic and stunningly designed comedies have established him as a filmmaker with a distinctive cinematic vision. An international festival favorite since his award-winning 2003 short
Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner, the young Canadian auteur often compared to David Lynch, Todd Solondz, Peter Greenaway and Wes Anderson is a talent to keep an eye on.
- The Patterns Trilogy (2005-2006): A woman waits by the phone. A man watches a teacup spin. Are they lovers? Yes, they are. Now let's watch them sing and dance. A gorgeously styled, fabulously poppy triptych, The Patterns Trilogy is a singularly epic musical-thriller/anti-romance.
- The Saddest Boy In The World (2006): Timothy Higgins is having his worst year ever. Always picked last for the team, this eight-year-old lives in a world of friendlessness, suburban complacency and prescription drugs. Now his ninth birthday party has arrived, and he prepares to upstage the musical chairs and birthday cake with a show-stopping suicide.
- Why The Anderson Children Didn't Come To Dinner (2003): Travis's first award-winning short tells the gloriously surreal story of three seven-year-olds forced to endure their mother's culinary abuses. Anderson Children premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to play at over forty festivals worldwide, including South by Southwest and Slamdance. In 2004, the film made its US television debut on PBS's Independent Lens, hosted by Susan Sarandon; and on Canada's late-night CBC series ZeD. Deemed Sumptuously visualized and darkly hilarious by critics, Film Threat magazine voted it the No. 2 Short Film of 2004.
A suspense thriller, a love story, a dreamscape and a musical extravaganza. Fantastic! --The Austin Chronicle
Foreign, Canadian, Independent, Shorts, Comedy - DVD
Oldies but Goodies
The Kim Novak Film Collection
Special Features:
Kim Novak's Hollywood Picnic
Reflections In The Middle of The Night
Backstage and At Home with Kim Novak
Select Scenes Commentary with Kim Novak and Author Stephen Rebello
Bewitched, Bothered and Beautiful
Drama, Film Noir, Biography, Romance - DVD
- Picnic (1955) It's Labor Day weekend, and fresh off a freight train is Hal Carter (William Holden), a happy-go-lucky drifter who's looking for a brand new start in life. A robust, handsome show-off, Hal has come to Kansas to seek gainful employment in his old fraternity brother Alan's family granary. But despite his high hopes and expectations, Hal's ambitious plans soon go away when his sexual magnetism attracts every woman in town, including 19-year-old Madge Owens (Kim Novak) -- the alluring young beauty queen who also happens to be Alan's girlfriend. Won 2 Oscars. Trailer
- Jeanne Eagels (1957) The short and tortured life of Broadway actress and silent screen star Jeanne Eagels was a perfect vehicle for Miss Novak. As a small-town beauty whose ambition for the legitimate stage drove her to self-destruction, the film showcased Novak’s dramatic talents in one of her favorite roles. Richly photographed in Black and White, and directed by George Sidney (Kiss Me Kate, Viva Las Vegas), with strong support from the legendary Agnes Moorehead and Jeff Chandler.
- Bell, Book, and Candle (1958) Meet Gillan Holroyd (Kim Novak), Greenwich Village's most seductive sorceress. Powerful, glamorous, and a wee bit bored, Gillian knows that witches can't fall in love. But they can have fun... especially if their lover belongs to another woman! So when Gillian discovers handsome new neighbor Shep Henderson (James Stewart) is the fiance of an old college nemesis (Janice Rule), she promptly puts the befuddled publisher under her spell. But while her sex hex may have heated up Shep's heart, it has also unthawed her own, leading to a romantic complication that not even Pyewacket, Gillian's mind-reading cat, could have foreseen. Presented in eye popping Technicolor transfer that beautifully captures James Wong Howe's stunning cinematography, Bell, Book and Candle co-starring Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, and Elsa Lanchester is "a delightful spoof on witchcraft with the cast members at their very best." THE MOTION PICTURE GUIDE! Trailer
- Middle of the Night (1959) Paddy Chayefsky’s story, pairing her with actor Frederick March, allowed Novak to again display the richness of her talent. Novak is a young divorcee who falls into an uneasy romantic relationship with her clothing manufacturer boss (March), who is more than twice her age. The anxieties and opinions of family and friends press on the couple and strain the fragile relationship. Directed by Delbert Mann on location in New York, the terrific supporting cast includes Martin Balsam and Lee Grant.
- Pal Joey (1957) Pal Joey stars Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Kim Novak in a sophisticated musical comedy. Sinatra plays Joey Evans, a cabaret singer who romances wealthy socialite Hayworth into financing his own nightclub, but then falls for voluptuous chorine Novak. Pal Joey took 17 years to get to the screen. Based on a series of stories written as letters by John O'Hara for THE NEW YORKER, the letters were all signed "Your Pal Joey" by a mythical dancer. O'Hara later adapted the stories as a book for the Broadway musical which starred Gene Kelly. When Columbia bought the film rights, studio chief Harry Cohn wanted Kelly for the lead and Hayworth for the younger role of Linda. But Kelly was already contracted to MGM and the project was shelved. At one time, Billy Wilder was interested in doing the picture with Marlon Brando and Mae West-but the studio passed. It finally took the combined talents of Hayworth, Sinatra, and newcomer Kim Novak to bring Pal Joey to the screen. The gossip columns were filled with stories of an impending battle over credits. Sinatra was at the height of his film popularity, but Hayworth's contract stipulated she receive top billing. The battle however, was never fought. Sinatra gladly took the second slot-"I don't mind being in the middle of that sandwich," he quipped. Pal Joey contains some of Rogers and Hart's best songs including "My Funny Valentine," and one of Sinatra's biggest hits, "The Lady Is A Tramp." Hayworth's vocals were dubbed by Jo Ann Greer, Novak's by Trudi Erwin. Pal Joey was nominated for four Academy Awards(r) (1957) for Art Direction-Set Decoration, Sound Recording, Costume Design (by Jean Louis) and Film Editing. Although Pal Joey was a huge commercial success, it would be Rita Hayworth's swan song for Columbia. The studio machine that had turned Margarita Cansino into the glamorous Rita Hayworth, would now turn its attentions to Chicago-born Kim Novak, the last in a long line of studio-made stars. Trailer
Documentaries
Sweetgrass ( 2009)
The Last Ride of the American Cowboy
Directors: Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
In the summer of 2003, a group of shepherds took a herd of sheep one final time through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, in the extreme northwest of the United States. It was a journey of almost 300 kilometers through expansive green valleys, by fields of snow, and across hazardous, narrow ridges - a journey brimming with challenges. The aging shepherds do their very best to keep the hundreds of sheep together; the panoramic high mountains are teeming with hungry wolves and grizzly bears. Description written by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
Documentary -
Trailer - DVD
Henson's Place: The Man Behind the Muppets (1984)
Director: Tim Conrad
Take a peek behind the curtain with HENSON'S PLACE, the original documentary about Jim Henson, the creative visionary that brought us the enchantment of “The Muppet Show,” THE DARK CRYSTAL and more! From honing his skills as a puppeteer in college to creating some of the world’s most beloved characters in the last 30 years, see the imaginative genius like never before. Enjoy interviews with Henson, his wife Jane, long-time puppeteer partner Frank Oz and others, as they share memories of the legendary “Muppet Show,” “Sesame Street,” and “Fraggle Rock,” with a behind-the-scenes look inside the revolutionary Henson Workshop. Experience Henson’s desires to not only create new worlds, but also to celebrate the child inside all of us!
Documentary, TV, Muppets - DVD
Television
Max Headroom: The Complete Series (1987)
Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays
This set has all 14 uncut episodes and lots of extras,
660 minutes!
Original publicity was designed to make the audience believe that Max Headroom was a completely computer-generated character, rather than computer-enhanced footage of a live actor.
Television, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Music - DVD
Heroes: Season 4
Hayden Panettiere, Zachary Quinto, Masi Oka, Jack Coleman
Experience all the intrigue and suspense of Heroes: Season 4 in this 5-disc set that includes all 18 gripping episodes from the fourth season’s volume, Redemption. As the Heroes mourn fallen friends and face dangerous new foes, prepare for a wild ride — filled with shocking twists and turns — through an ominous funhouse that culminates in a Brave New World. Then step right up and
explore hours of exclusive, behind-the-curtain magic with the show’s writers, stars and artists. 812 minutes.
Television, Drama, Sci-Fi - DVD
Mercy: The Complete First Season (2009)
Taylor Schilling, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jaime Lee Kirchner
Three nurses deal with patients and personal issues at Mercy Hospital.
Television, Drama - DVD
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell (2002)
Volume 3
Directors: Beth McCarthy-Miller, Stacey Foster, James Signorelli
Will Ferrell, Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Garth Brooks, Jim Carrey, Tina Fey, Jeff Goldblum
It's Saturday Night Live baby!!
Television, Comedy - DVD
Family
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| P is for Princess |
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| Wubbzy Goes to School |
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| Sweet Pea Beauty |
