DVD Releases December 23 2008

The Duchess
Directed by Saul Dibb
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Swaddled in whalebone and wigs, Keira Knightley steps into the restricted world of the Duchess of Devonshire, a royal lady popular with her subjects but stuck in an unhappy marriage. If this situation recalls Princess Diana (a descendent of the Duchess's family), so much the better for the purposes of director Saul Dibb and company; this film is eager to draw parallels with the unfortunate Lady Di, even if she is never directly mentioned. Knightley's unsuspecting girl is married off to the Duke (Ralph Fiennes), a distracted jerk who craves male sons, and obviously has never thought of women as anything other than a means to achieve an heir. When the Duchess launches her procreative career with a couple of daughters, well, the Duke begins to get nervous--and partners outside the marriage become increasingly appealing. The Duchess serves up lavish portions of Brit-movie staples: costumes (which, in Knightley's case, are nothing short of spectacular), landscapes,! and gorgeous music (by Rachel Portman). If it falls short in some vague way, perhaps it's because the film is a mostly one-note affair, meaning exactly what it seems to mean at every moment. Charlotte Rampling appears too briefly as Knightley's mother, and Dominic Cooper and Hayley Atwell (from Brideshead Revisited), rising stars both, contribute attractive lures for the principals. They prove the old movie adage: there's a lot to be said for eye candy. --Robert Horton

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Eagle Eye [Blu-ray]
Directed by D.J. Caruso
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The "cell phone thriller" is becoming a genre unto itself, and Eagle Eye should be considered a key example of the form. Frankly preposterous but compulsively watchable, this movie puts Shia LaBeouf in a mess of trouble instigated by a mysterious telephone voice. If he doesn't follow orders, dire things will happen--although when he does follow orders, the consequences are pretty dire, anyway. Also being blackmailed is a single mom (Michelle Monaghan) receiving similar phone calls. Why are they being jerked around by the purring female voice, and why is the road leading to Washington, D.C.? Actually, you won't have time to contemplate these questions, because director D.J. Caruso (who guided LaBeouf in Disturbia) keeps the action going at the customary breakneck pace. This is a wise move, because the real questions you'd likely be asking have to do with the plausibility of events on a minute-by-minute basis (most notably: how could Mysterious Phone Voice possibly know that the two pigeons would survive the hoops she makes them fly through, each one more death-defying than the last?). The actors tumble through this mayhem like scattering bowling pins, including Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson as government agents. Nobody has time to make much of an impression, and LaBeouf has much less room for puppydog charm than he did in Disturbia. Even that would be all right within the movie's berserk parameters, but the really irritating thing is the way the tacked-on final scenes reverse what would have been a heroic climax. No guts, no glory. --Robert Horton

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Ghost Town
From Dreamworks Video
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Ricky Gervais is brilliant in Ghost Town, playing an unnervingly rude dentist, Bertram, who dies for a few minutes during surgery and acquires the unwanted ability to see ghosts. Chased throughout Manhattan by a gaggle of restless spirits begging him to take care of their unfinished business on Earth, Bertram turns them all away except Frank (Greg Kinnear). The latter, a rogue who cheated on his archaeologist widow, Gwen (Téa Leoni), wants Bertram to intervene in a romance between Gwen and a starchy activist (Bill Campbell). Misanthropic Bertram has to polish his relationship patter, but ends up sounding a lot like Gervais' infamous character in the original The Office, unable to complete a sentence without making others uncomfortable. In time, of course, Bertram falls for the wonderful Gwen, setting up a bunch of overlapping conflicts. Cowritten and directed by David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Ghost Town walks a fine line between comic freshness and a story idea with elements that have become overly familiar in movies and on television. Kinnear and Leoni have never been better on screen, but Ghost Town is well worth seeing because no one like Gervais has previously played the hapless hero in a high-concept film such as this one. With Gervais doing his familiar, hilariously discomfiting thing, it really doesn't matter what kind of movie Ghost Town is. Happily, it's a pretty good film in every respect. --Tom Keogh

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Resident Evil: Degeneration [Blu-ray]
Directed by Makoto Kamiya
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A zombie attack brings chaos to Harvardville Airport. Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield who fought the sinister Umbrella Corporation during the Raccoon City tragedy 7 years ago, are back. In high-octane Resident Evil style, they're ready to battle a rogue warrior who is seeking revenge after his family was killed in Raccoon City. The deadly G-Virus is unleashed and a new mutated monster goes on the rampage. Will Claire and Leon be able to terminate the virus before history repeats itself?

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Savage Grace
From Ifc
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Set across a stunning backdrop ranging from New York to Paris to Cadaqués, Savage Grace is the incredible true story of a scandal that even today remains shocking. The beautiful Barbara Daly (Academy Award-nominee Julianne Moore; The Hours, Boogie Nights) marries above her social class to the dashing heir of the Bakelite plastics fortune, Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane of the HBO miniseries "John Adams"). The birth of the couple's only child, Tony (Eddie Redmayne of The Good Shepard), intensifies the already volatile marriage. As Tony matures, he becomes an unwilling pawn in the psychosexual games of his parents, and the seeds for a tragedy of spectacular decadence are sown which challenge even the most shocking taboos. Tom kalin's (Swoon) return to cinema has dazzled and stunned audiences from the Cannes to the Sundance Film Festivals.

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WWE Edge- A Decade of Decadence
From World Wrestling Entertainment
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Fans may love to hate Edge, but they'll love this impressive collection of matches where Edge has won the WWE Championship (2 times), World Heavyweight Championship (2 times), Intercontinental Championship (5 times), U.S. Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship, and World Tag Team Championship (11 times!). To date, the "Rated R Superstar" has never had a DVD collection highlighting his amazing career, but Edge--A Decade of Decadence changes that. This 3-DVD set will feature dozens of the greatest matches and moments from Edge's career.

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WordWorld: The Race to Mystery Island
Directed by Wordworld
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Welcome to WordWorld, where words are the stars of the show! WordWorld, the first preschool series where words are truly the stars of the show! Come along for an adventurous romp into a colorful vibrant world of words, with the lovable, legible WordFriends-- animals whose bodies are made up of the letters that spell the word they are. The WordFriends go on comic adventures and face challenges that can only be resolved with the right word. That word is built letter-by-letter, sound-by-sound, during the funky "Build a Word" song at the end of every episode. Once the word is built, it morphs--or comes alive-- into the thing it is! Word building reinforces the pre-reading concept that letters (and their sounds) make words, and that words have real meaning...and power. The series introduces literacy concepts that preschoolers will encounter as they become readers, such as sounding out letters and rhyming. But most of all, WordWorld helps children get excited about reading and see words as their friends!

Includes these episodes:
Pig's Present: When Pig tries to peek at the gift his nephews are word building for his birthday, he receives an unexpected present: a lesson in patience.
The Race to Mystery Island: Pig and Frog take the competitive spirit a bit too far when they go all-out on a word building race to Mystery Island. But it's teamwork that eventually turns them into winners. The Rainbow Birthday Cake: While Duck makes Frog the biggest, most colorful birthday cake ever, he learns about recycling and the many words that start with the word "can." One Hat Fits All: On a windy day, the WordFriends discover that a word can have different meanings each time they build a magical H-A-T.

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WWE: Survivor Series 2008
From World Wrestling
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For the 22nd consecutive year, the Superstars of WWE come together for Survivor Series. Its unique 5-on-5 elimination matches have always been favorites among WWE fans. Last year's event saw the unlikely duo of Triple H and Jeff Hardy survive, as well as Edge making a controversial return to WWE TV when he disrupted a brutal Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Batista and Undertaker. This year will see some unique teams built, and many of the biggest superstars in WWE look to leave an indelible mark on the sports entertainment landscape.

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Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]
Directed by Terry Gilliam
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Import Blu-Ray/Region All pressing. When a business trip to las vegas becomes more trip than business renegade journalist raoul duke and dr. Gonzo are forced to do the unthinkable be normal. Starring: Johnny Depp Benicio Del Toro.

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