The Best New Movies on DVD and Video for August, 2006
Let's take a look at the best new movies on DVD for August, 2006.
V for Vendetta
Written and co-produced by the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix) and adapted from a graphic novel, this action thriller stars Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving. V for Vendetta is set in a near-future Britain ruled by a fascist dictator. Rebelling against the government is V (Weaving), who wears a Guy Fawkes mask. (Fawkes was the historical figure who attempted to blow up Parliament in 1605.) V rescues Evey (Portman) from rape by government-affiliated thugs, and she joins him in trying to start a revolution.
August 8, 2006
Brick
This unusual little movie earned writer-director Rian Johnson a prize at Sundance for originality of vision. His idea was to bring the Dashiell Hammett hardboiled sensibility to a detective story set in the world of contemporary Southern California high school students. The intricate plot involves archetypal film noir characters. A teenager named Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) plays the Sam Spade role. When Brendan's ex-girlfriend goes missing, he investigates. The movie's title refers to a brick of heroin.
Inside Man
Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster star in this crime drama directed by Spike Lee. Supporting roles are played by Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Four armed criminals go into a Wall Street bank and take about 50 people hostage. Veteran police detective Keith Frazier (Washington) is called in to try to find a way out of the crisis. As a cat-and-mouse game ensues, Frazier comes to realize that the situation is not as it first seems because some participants have unexpected agendas.
August 15, 2006
No DVD recommendations for this week.
August 22, 2006
No DVD recommendations for this week.
August 29, 2006
Akeelah and the Bee
This inspiring drama centers around an 11-year-old African-American girl named Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) who attends an inner-city middle school in South Los Angeles. Akeelah's widowed mom (Angela Bassett) doesn't push her, and the girl mostly just tries to blend in at school. But staff and faculty recognize Akeelah is good at spelling and urge her to enter the school's bee. Then the strict Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) becomes her coach, and she gets a shot at the national championship in Washington, D.C.
Friends With Money
Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener and Joan Cusack star in this social comedy written and directed by Nicole Holofcener. The movie is about four Los Angeles women friends and the relationship between money and happiness in their lives. Three of the women (McDormand, Keener and Cusack) are married and affluent in varying degrees. The fourth (Aniston) is a former schoolteacher who ekes out a living cleaning homes. She is single and gets involved with an unlikable guy.