July 6, 2004 - New DVD Releases

"The Butterfly Effect" DVD
In this sci-fi thriller, Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) had some traumatic experiences as a boy, and he kept a journal. Now an adult, he discovers that by reading his journal, he can revisit his boyhood and relive the part of his life he's reading about. He further learns he can make small changes in the past that result in big changes in the present. But things spiral out of control as Evan repeatedly tweaks the past, projecting vastly differing versions of the present.

"Monsieur Ibrahim" DVD
In this French-language drama set in the 1960s, Momo is a Jewish boy who's struggling with growing up in his working-class Paris neighborhood. But he befriends the Koran-quoting Monsieur Ibrahim (Omar Sharif), a Turk who runs a small grocery store. Eventually, the elderly Muslim buys an automobile, and he and the teenage Jew set off together on a trip to Turkey. This modest movie tells a sentimental tale of tolerance and understanding.

July 13, 2004 - New DVD Releases

"Against the Ropes" DVD
Meg Ryan stars in this sports drama, playing a character inspired by real-life boxing promoter Jackie Kallen. Although Kallen's first boxer turns out to be a junkie, she then takes on green middleweight Luther Shaw (Omar Epps). She brings a trainer out of retirement to handle Shaw, and he starts winning. But Kallen faces an uphill battle as the lone woman in a male-dominated world, and things get worse when the publicity goes to her head.

"Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London" DVD
Frankie Muniz returns as the star of this kids' action-adventure movie, the sequel to "Agent Cody Banks" (2003). This time around, Cody is a 16-year-old C.I.A. agent assigned to travel to London. There he poses as a musical prodigy while trying to stop villains from gaining possession of a mind-control device that fits inside a tooth. Hilary Duff, costar of the earlier film, is absent from the sequel, where Anthony Anderson has an important role.

"The Barbarian Invasions" DVD
Written and directed by Denys Arcand, this French-language drama is about the death from illness of a Montreal history professor named Rémy. But Rémy's son Sébastien has gotten rich in the London financial arena, and he uses his wealth to make his father's passing as pleasant as possible. Using heroin to ease his pain, Rémy is surrounded by old friends, and they look back over the years at lives fully lived, suffusing the movie with wit and joy.

"The Dreamers" DVD
Bernardo Bertolucci directed this English-language drama, which is available for home viewing in two versions, one rated NC-17, the other R. The movie chronicles the quirky relationship that develops among three young adults in Paris during the 1968 civil unrest. There's lots of nudity as the trio explore their sexuality against the political backdrop. But cinephiles will delight in the many references in "The Dreamers" to old films.

"Never Die Alone" DVD
DMX and David Arquette star in this crime drama. DMX plays a drug dealer known as King David, who dies, leaving behind a diary on audiotape. When aspiring journalist Paul (Arquette) comes into possession of King David's tapes, he begins an investigation into the drug dealer's life and death. Via the audiotapes, King David narrates his own story from beyond the grave, and Paul learns a lot, putting the journalist in grave danger.

July 20, 2004 - New DVD Releases

"The Big Bounce" DVD
Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman star in this caper comedy set in Hawaii. Jack Ryan (Wilson) is a petty criminal who works as a handyman at a resort owned by a judge (Freeman). But Ryan teams up with the gorgeous Nancy Hayes (Sara Foster) and starts to plan a robbery of a shady real estate tycoon (Gary Sinise). This is the second movie based on the same Elmore Leonard novel; the earlier one (1969) starred Ryan O'Neal and Leigh Taylor-Young.

"Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" DVD
Aimed at girls, this Disney comedy stars Lindsay Lohan. Lola (Lohan), a 15-year-old, is upset when her family moves from Manhattan to a New Jersey suburb. Lola fits in poorly with her new classmates at school, and she competes with another girl for the lead in a musical version of "Pygmalion." Then Sidarthur, Lola's favorite rock group, announces their breakup, and she tries to arrange to attend the farewell concert and party.

"Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" DVD
"Dirty Dancing" (1987) was a hit movie about romance in the Catskills that starred Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" transposes the story of the earlier film to 1958 Cuba, shortly before Castro came to power. Katey Miller (Romola Garai) is an American girl, unhappy about moving to Havana until she meets Javier Suarez (Diego Luna). While preparing for a Latin ballroom dance contest, Katey and Javier fall in love.

"The Human Stain" DVD
Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman star in this drama based on a Philip Roth novel. Coleman Silk (Hopkins) is still angry about the circumstances that caused him to leave his job as a classics professor when he becomes romantically involved with the unlettered Faunia Farley (Kidman). As he tries to figure out how to deal with her scary ex-husband, Silk struggles to come to terms with his concealment of his ethnicity.

"Starsky & Hutch" DVD
Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson star in this comedy based on a 1970s TV series. David Starsky (Stiller) and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Wilson) are police detectives in 1970s Bay City, California. Their investigation of a dead body washed ashore leads them to a crime lord who has developed a form of cocaine undetectable by dogs. The film showcases the chemistry between Stiller and Wilson and has some fun with '70s clothes and hairdos.