DVD Watch

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Here are the DVD's being released thisweek.  Enjoy!

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Last Song - Miley Cyrus stars as a teenager who reconnects with her father years after her parents go through a nasty divorce in this adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel. The novelist also provides the screenplay for the production, which is directed by Julie Ann Robinson.

Skellig: The Owl Man - Tim Roth stars in this suburban tale with an otherworldly twist as Skellig, a seemingly weakened bird-like angel who young Michael finds living in a shed at the far end of his parent's garden. Distraught by the news of his baby sister's congenital heart problems, Michael is in need of a friend, and Skellig may be the unlikely soul to fulfill that duty. Funny, fantastic, and rooted in reality, this unconventional family-friendly mystery-fantasy is based on an award-winning novel by David Almond and co-stars John Simm (Doctor Who), Kelly Macdonald (Transpotting), and Bill Milner as Michael.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird - As the Korean peninsula falls into the hands of Japanese imperialists and countless Koreans seek refuge in the vast wilderness of Manchuria, a determined thief, a cold-blooded hitman, and a mysterious bounty hunter all vie for an elusive map that could lead them to a buried treasure from the Qing Dynasty. Taegu is "The Weird," a thief who comes into possession of the sought-after map while boldly robbing a train of Japanese military officers. But at the very same time Taegu attacks the train, relentless assassin Changyi and his violent gang of bandits beset the locomotive as well. Changyi is "The Bad," and he'll kill anyone who tries to come between him and the untold treasures of the Qing Dynasty. Just as the cloud of gunpowder begins to clear, a shadowy stranger suddenly appears and rescues Taegu from certain death. That stranger is Dowon, "The Good." Dowon has been chasing Taegu in hopes that he can capture him and collect the reward money. Now, as these three resolute strangers converge in a sprawling landscape that none of them can truly call home, they quickly discover that Korean resistance fighters, resilient mountain bandits, and the Japanese army also covet the prized map. The fight on the train is only the beginning, too, because when the stakes are this high the action is bound to get bloody.

Conversation - Made between The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), and in part an homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's art-movie classic BlowUp (1966), The Conversation was a return to small-scale art films for Francis Ford Coppola. Sound surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is hired to track a young couple (Cindy Williams and Frederic Forrest), taping their conversation as they walk through San Francisco's crowded Union Square. Knowing full well how technology can invade privacy, Harry obsessively keeps to himself, separating business from his personal life, even refusing to discuss what he does or where he lives with his girlfriend, Amy (Teri Garr). Harry's work starts to trouble him, however, as he comes to believe that the conversation he pieced together reveals a plot by the mysterious corporate "Director" who hired him to murder the couple. After he allows himself to be seduced by a call girl, who then steals the tapes, Harry is all the more convinced that a killing will occur, and he can no longer separate his job from his conscience. Coppola, cinematographer Bill Butler, and Oscar-nominated sound editor Walter Murch convey the narrative through Harry's aural and visual experience, beginning with the slow opening zoom of Union Square accompanied by the alternately muddled and clear sound of the couple's conversation caught by Harry's microphones. The Godfather Part II and The Conversation earned Coppola a rare pair of Oscar nominations for Best Picture, as well as two nominations for Best Screenplay (The Godfather Part II won both). Praised by critics, The Conversation was not a popular hit, but it has since come to be seen as one of the artistic high points of the decade, as well as of Coppola's career. Its atmosphere of paranoia and suspicion, combined with its obsessive loner antihero, made it prototypical of the darker "American art movies" of the early '70s, as its audiotape storyline also made it seem eerily appropriate for the era of the Watergate scandal.

Ca$h - A suitcase full of cash spells big trouble for a Chicago couple, who quickly find out that their big windfall comes with some barbed-wire strings attached. Sam Phelan (Chris Hemsworth) was just driving down the street when his life changed in the blink of an eye. Now, Sam and his wife, Leslie (Victoria Profeta), will never have to worry about money again. They will, however, have to worry about Pyke Kubic (Sean Bean), a vicious criminal who has every intention of finding his lost cash. When Pyke discovers that Sam and Leslie have already spent a sizable portion of the loot, he hatches a plan to make them work off their debt by robbing stores. Realizing that the only way out of their mess is through the thick of it, the clean-cut couple begins their life of crime, sinking ever deeper down a spiraling pool of obligation and desperation.

Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms - In this classic martial arts adventure (which, incidentally, isn't actually a sequel to Five Deadly Venoms, though it features many of the same actors), Tu TinTo (Chen KuanTai) and his son (Lu Feng) are unscrupulous warlords drunk with power who will cripple anyone who crosses their path. Five men who have fallen victim to the violence of Tu TinTo and his son band together -- a blind man (Phillip Kwok Tsui), a deaf-mute (Lo Meng), a man with no legs (Sun Chien), a man who has been rendered an imbecile through torture (Chiang Sheng), and a gifted kung-fu master. The master teaches the four maimed men deadly fighting skills, and they set forth to reclaim their village from Tu TinTo's reign of terror. Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms, originally titled Can Que, was also released as Crippled Avengers.

Assassin Next Door - In an old apartment building on the wrong side of the tracks, Galia and Eleanor share two things: an adjoining wall and a need to escape. Galia is an assassin, forced against her will to kill for the Mafia. She longs for her freedom and to reunite with her young daughter, whom she left back in Russia. Eleanor is a grocery store cashier who dreams of winning the lottery and running away from her abusive husband. The two women unite to take action against their oppressors in an action-packed fight for survival and freedom.

Off and Running - With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers - one mixed-race and one Korean - Brooklyn teen Avery, a local track star in high school, grew up in a unique and loving household. But Avery's curiosity about her African-American roots compels her to contact her birth mother, thrusting her into a complicated exploration of race and identity that threatens to distance her from her family. But when Avery decides to pick up the pieces of her life and make sense of her identity, the results are inspiring. OFF AND RUNNING follows Avery to the brink of adulthood, exploring the strength of family bonds and the lengths people must go to become themselves.

Furry Vengence - Sometimes, four legs are better than two. Dan (Brendan Fraser, The Mummy franchise) just moved his wife and son to the woods to take a new job with a supposedly eco-friendly housing development. But the fur and Dan's temper is sure to fly when the local critters learn of the bleak plans for their forest home and stop at nothing to halt construction. Brooke Shields (TV's Lipstick Jungle ), Matt Prokop (High School Musical 3: Senior Year), Ken Jeong (Knocked Up) and Angela Kinsey (TV's The Office ) co-star in this comedy for the whole family.

Cemetery Junction - Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the duo behind the BBC's Office, travel back to 1973 for this serio-comic coming-of-age story. Inspired by Gervais's Reading hometown, Cemetery Junction is the type of small-minded burg Freddie Taylor (Christian Cooke, likable and attractive) longs to escape. Fortunately, he receives a job offer from Mr. Kendrick (a smarmy Ralph Fiennes), leading to a gig selling life insurance. His best mates, the goofy Snork (Jack Doolan) and rebellious Bruce (Tom Hughes, the film's true star), can't imagine anything more dull, but Freddie, who wants to travel the world, sees it as his way out. Kendrick pairs Freddie with Mike (Matthew Goode, great value), who proves that the nice-guy approach loses sales (Emily Watson shines as Kendrick's browbeaten wife). While Freddie pines for the boss's daughter (and Mike's fiancée), Julie (Felicity Jones), Bruce works with Freddie's father, Len (Gervais), in a factory, and tangles with the law (refreshingly, the local sergeant has a sympathetic side). If things end as one might expect, that doesn't make Cemetery Junction any less enjoyable, but it does help to explain why it didn't receive a U.S. theatrical release. By focusing on a young Brit anxious to find his place in the world, the directors provide a companion piece to pictures like Starter for 10 and An Education. Familiar or not, it's still superior to most mainstream comedies… including a few with which Gervais has been involved. A soundtrack filled with energizing glam-rock classics further elevates their efforts.