More new movies on DVD for April, 2007.
April 17, 2007
Freedom Writers
Hilary Swank gives a fine performance in this inspiring drama based on a true story. The movie is set in 1994 Long Beach, California, and centers around racially troubled Wilson High School. Idealistic Erin Gruwell (Swank) joins the faculty and finds a way to reach students previously considered unteachable: she gets the youngsters to keep journals. Also, the students read The Diary of Anne Frank. In real life, the written output of Gruwell and her students was published as The Freedom Writers Diary.
The Last King of Scotland
Forest Whitaker gives a strong performance as historical figure Idi Amin in this drama based on Giles Foden's novel. The story is set in the 1970s and told by a Scottish doctor named Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy). After Garrigan finishes school, he chooses to provide medical services in a remote village in Uganda. Then the naïve Garrigan accepts the job of personal physician to the country's charismatic new leader Idi Amin. But Garrigan comes to realize he's working for a monster, and he must decide what to do.
Notes on a Scandal
Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett star in this drama based on Zoë Heller's novel. The story is told by Barbara (Dench), a lonely, older woman who has taught for years at a London school. When the much younger Sheba (Blanchett) joins the faculty there, Barbara goes out of her way to befriend the new teacher. The attractive Sheba lives with her husband and two children, but she begins a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old working-class male student. The ensuing events reveal much about both women.
Smokin' Aces
Joe Carnahan (Narc) wrote and directed this pulpy crime drama that features Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck and Alicia Keys. Buddy "Aces" Israel (Piven) is preparing to become a government witness against the Nevada mob, and they put out a million dollar contract on him. A bounty hunter (Affleck), two hit women (Keys plays one), and neo-Nazis are out to get Aces, while F.B.I. agents (Garcia, Liotta, Reynolds) try to protect him. This leads to spectacular shoot-outs.
April 24, 2007
Deja Vu
A science fiction thriller, Deja Vu is the third movie Denzel Washington has starred in that was directed by Tony Scott, the previous two being Crimson Tide and Man on Fire. In Deja Vu a bomb explodes on a New Orleans ferry, killing 543 people, and ATF agent Doug Carlin (Washington) investigates. Carlin makes use of a newly developed system that can create images of events occurring four days earlier. A beautiful dead woman may hold the key to the blast, and through images of her past, Carlin starts to fall for her.
Night at the Museum
Ben Stiller stars in this comedy that was a huge box-office hit. Larry Daley (Stiller) desperately needs a job to convince his ex-wife and their 10-year-old son that he's a suitable father, so he takes a job as a security guard at New York's American Museum of Natural History. At night, the museum's exhibits come to animated life, including a T. rex skeleton, an Easter Island sculpture, a miniature cowboy (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams) and a key-stealing capuchin monkey.
The Queen
Helen Mirren gives a towering performance as Elizabeth II in this drama based on recent history. The story takes place in 1997, mostly in the days following the death in a car crash of Diana, Princess of Wales. The queen at first remained aloof on grounds that Diana was divorced from the royal family, but the public became outraged that Elizabeth was making no public gesture of mourning. That's when Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) began trying to convince the queen her behavior was threatening the monarchy.
More April DVD Releases on the Previous Page
