| February DVD Releases | |
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Here's a selection of new movies on DVD for February 2008.
February 5, 2008
Across the Universe
Directed by Julie Taymor (Broadway's The Lion King), Across the Universe is a musical centered on Beatles songs, although the numbers are not performed by the Beatles. In the 1960s, Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a young Liverpool dockworker who travels to Princeton, where he meets college student Max (Joe Anderson), and the two guys relocate to lower Manhattan. There they live the bohemian life and are soon joined by Max's teenage sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). These three people get caught up in the emerging counterculture, and Jude and Lucy fall for each other.
The Brave One
Jodie Foster stars in this drama directed by Neil Jordan. Erica (Foster) is a New York radio talk show host. One evening she and her fiancé are taking a walk in Central Park when they are attacked. Her fiancé is killed, and she is badly injured. Erica then purchases a gun and is soon involved in a series of situations where she shoots bad guys, but she manages to avoid being identified. The police become aware there's a vigilante on the loose, although they don't know who it is. But Erica becomes friends with homicide detective Mercer (Terrence Howard), leading to a strange relationship.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
This historical drama is the sequel to Elizabeth (1998), and Cate Blanchett reprises her role as Queen Elizabeth I, while Geoffrey Rush returns as the Queen's closest adviser Sir Francis Walsingham. This time around Clive Owen plays the dashing Sir Walter Raleigh, who names Virginia after the Virgin Queen and also impregnates her favorite lady-in-waiting (Abbie Cornish). Elizabeth's biggest problem is Philip II of Spain, who builds a mighty armada. And there are a number of plots to assassinate Elizabeth, who imprisoned her cousin, Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton).
Gone Baby Gone
Adapted from Dennis Lehane's novel, this crime drama marks the directorial debut of Ben Affleck and stars his younger brother Casey. The story is set in Boston, and the main characters are Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), who live together and run a private detective agency together. When a four-year-old girl disappears and the police, led by Capt. Doyle (Morgan Freeman), don't seem to be making much progress on the case, the girl's aunt and uncle hire Kenzie and Gennaro to investigate. Ed Harris also appears in the movie.
No Reservations
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart are paired in this romantic comedy, a Hollywoodized remake of the 2001 German film Mostly Martha. In No Reservations, Kate (Zeta-Jones) is an unmarried, work-oriented woman who is the head chef at a chic Manhattan restaurant. But when her sister is killed in an accident, Kate's world is turned upside down. She has difficulty adapting to having her 10-year-old niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin of Little Miss Sunshine) living with her, and she feels threatened at work when the restaurant hires Nick (Eckhart) as sous-chef.
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?
Janet Jackson is a member of an ensemble cast in this drama written and directed by Tyler Perry, who also appears on camera in a major role. However, this movie doesn't involve Perry's signature character Madea. Why Did I Get Married? is about four upper-middle-class African-American couples who go to a snowy Rocky Mountain resort to work on their marital issues. Jackson plays a successful author whose husband is an architect. Perry portrays a pediatrician married to a workaholic attorney. Jill Scott plays a woman whose husband is unhappy about her weight.
February 19, 2008
American Gangster
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe star in this crime drama directed by Ridley Scott. Washington portrays a fictional version of Frank Lucas, a real-life Harlem drug lord circa 1970. Lucas becomes a highly successful businessman by getting heroin from Southeast Asia and selling a high-quality product in New York. Crowe plays incorruptible Jersey cop Richie Roberts, who switches over to the feds in a dogged attempt to stem the flood of narcotics. Lucas's and Roberts' stories unfold in parallel, and meanwhile there's trouble from a corrupt NYPD cop (Josh Brolin).
Lust, Caution
Ang Lee directed this Chinese-language period drama based on a short story by Eileen Chang. The film takes place during World War II, primarily in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, where Mr. Yee (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) is head of the secret service of the collaborationist Chinese government. The resistance targets Yee for assassination, and an attractive, patriotic young woman going by the name Mrs. Mak (newcomer Tang Wei) takes on the mission of seducing Yee to set him up. The heart of the tale is the complex relationship that develops between Mak and Yee.
Michael Clayton
George Clooney stars as the title character in this legal thriller. An attorney at a prestigious New York law firm, Clayton is talented at handling messy situations. After Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), the firm's lawyer representing agrichemical giant U/North in a class action suit, has a nervous breakdown, Clayton gets involved in the case. A major problem he faces is that U/North's chief counsel Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) will stop at nothing to protect her company. Even though Clayton is used to working in gray areas, he is soon plunged into a crisis of conscience.
Rendition
Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon star in this drama about the U.S. practice of having people tortured in other countries. Egyptian-born Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) moved to America as a teen and became an engineer. He goes on a business trip to Cape Town and when he doesn't return, his wife (Witherspoon) begins to make inquiries. It turns out he is suspected of a terrorist act and is being tortured in an unnamed North African country. Gyllenhaal plays a CIA analyst involved in the interrogation, and Meryl Streep portrays a key CIA terrorism official.
February 26, 2008
30 Days of NightThis gory, action-packed horror film is based on a graphic novel and features Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston and Ben Foster. It's a vampire movie set in Barrow, Alaska, during the part of winter when this northerly town remains in darkness for a month. Many residents get out of town during this period, but among those who stay are the sheriff (Hartnett) and the fire marshal (George). Then there's the creepy stranger (Foster) who arrives spouting warnings. When the long night begins, a horde of vampires led by Huston's character descends on Barrow.
Beowulf
While the narrative is based on the Old English heroic epic poem, this action-adventure movie looks a lot like a video game and uses performance capture like The Polar Express. Beowulf takes place in the sixth century, and Ray Winstone plays the title character. Beowulf first goes to Denmark, ruled by King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins), and there battles the hideous monster Grendel (Crispin Glover). Next, Beowulf gets entangled with Grendel's seductive mother (Angelina Jolie), then he returns to Geatland (now southern Sweden), where he fights a mighty dragon.
The Darjeeling Limited
Directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou), this seriocomedy stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman. The story is about the estranged Whitman brothers - Francis (Wilson), Peter (Brody) and Jack (Schwartzman) - who take a long train trip across India together in an attempt at reconciliation. Along the way, they have quirky adventures as they try to come to terms with their differences, and Francis wants them to visit their mom (Anjelica Huston), a nun in a Himalayan convent.
