DVD Releases December 9 2008

WantedWanted (Single-Disc Widescreen Edition)
From Universal Studios
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
Average customer review:

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As the impresario behind gravity-defying Russian blockbuster Night Watch, it's inevitable that Hollywood would come calling for Timur Bekmambetov. With a studio budget and an international cast, including two Oscar winners, Timur cooks up a Hong Kong-styled actioner bursting with fast cars and big guns. Our unlikely hero is mild-mannered Chicago accountant Wesley Gibson (Atonement's James McAvoy), whose father died when he was a tot. Wesley never learned to stand up for himself, and his girlfriend, boss, and best buddy all take advantage until the seductive Fox (Angelina Jolie) rescues him from a sharpshooter named Cross (The Pianist’s Thomas Kretschmann). After which, she whisks him away to a mansion on the edge of town to meet the other members of the Fraternity, where leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) informs Wesley that Cross, a rogue agent, executed his father. Sloan believes Wesley has the goods to take him out, so he undergoes the Fraternity's brutal training regimen (Marc Warren and Common dish up some of the abuse). When he's ready, Sloan sends him out to fulfill his duty, but matters become complicated when Wesley finds out someone isn't telling the truth, leading our former milquetoast to exact an elaborate revenge. For those who've been following McAvoy's career to date, Wanted will surely come as a surprise. In adapting Mark Millar's comic series, Timur offers buckets of blood and a smidgen of depth, but fans of The Matrix and Mr. and Mrs. Smith will want to give this one a look. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Wanted (Single-Disc Widescreen Edition)

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies

Moonlight - The Complete SeriesMoonlight - The Complete Series
From Warner Home Video
Average customer review:

Product Description

Any private eye knows a lot about other people's secrets. L.A. private eye Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) has a secret of his own. He’s a vampire, dwelling in a covert netherworld complicated by friendship with an undead finance honcho (Jason Dohring), memories of the alluring ex- wife (Shannyn Sossamon) who turned him into a vampire, and a relationship with a human (Sophia Myles) he feels drawn to protect – and maybe to love. But no matter how tempting, Mick knows a vampire-human romance is eternally dangerous. This 16-episode, 4-disc set of the series voted the 2008 People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama is a sure entertainment bet for all who like their vampire stories sleek, intense and passionate.

Moonlight - The Complete Series

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Widescreen)The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Widescreen)
From Universal Studios
Average customer review:

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The third film in the The Mummy series freshens the franchise up by setting the action in China. There, the discovery of an ancient emperor's elaborate tomb proves a feather in the cap of Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford), a young archaeologist and son of Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello, taking over the role from Rachel Weisz). Unfortunately, a curse that turned the emperor (Jet Li) and his army into terra cotta warriors buried for centuries is lifted, and the old guy prepares for world domination by seeking immortality at Shangri La. The O'Connells barely stay a step ahead of him (climbing through the Himalaya mountains with apparent ease), but the action inevitably leads to a showdown between two armies of mummies in a Chinese desert. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has a lot to offer: a supporting cast that includes the elegant Michelle Yeoh, Russell Wong, and Liam Cunningham, the unexpected appearance of several Yeti, and a climactic battle sequence that is nightmarishly weird but compelling. On the downside, the charm so desperately sought in romantic relationships, as well as comic turns by John Hannah (as Evelyn's rascal brother), is not only absent but often annoying. Rarely have witty asides in the thick of battle been more unwelcome in a movie. Rob Cohen's direction is largely crisp if sometimes curious (a fight between Fraser and Jet Li keeps varying in speed for some reason), but his vision of Shangri La, in the Hollywood tradition, is certainly attractive. --Tom Keoghbr>

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Widescreen)

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies

Lost: The Complete Fourth Season Lost: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray]
From TOUCHSTONE / DISNEY
Average customer review:

Product Description

DESCRIPTION: After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, it s survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island hold many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, a strange French woman and another group of island residents known as The Others. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past.

Lost: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray]

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies

Step BrothersStep Brothers (Single-Disc Unrated Edition)
Directed by Adam McKay
Average customer review:

Product Description

Brennan Huff, a sporadically employed thirty-nine-year-old who lives with his mother, Nancy. Dale Doback, a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his father, Robert. When Robert and Nancy marry and move in together, Brennan and Dale are forced to live with each other as step brothers. As their narcissism and downright aggressive laziness threaten to tear the family apart, these two middle-aged, immature, overgrown boys will orchestrate an insane, elaborate plan to bring their parents back together. To pull it off, they must form an unlikely bond that maybe, just maybe, will finally get them out of the house.

Step Brothers (Single-Disc Unrated Edition)

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies

The X-Files: I Want to BelieveThe X-Files: I Want to Believe (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)
From 20th Century Fox
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
Average customer review:

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The feature film The X-Files: I Want to Believe is a satisfying if unspectacular installment in the X-Files series, taking place an unspecified time after the show's nine-year television run. Former agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is now a doctor, while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is being hunted by his former agency and living in seclusion. He and Scully are summoned back by a case involving a missing agent and a former priest (Billy Connolly) who claims to be able to see clues to the agent's whereabouts psychically, though his initial search turns up only a severed limb. Don't expect the usual cast of characters; the FBI has completely turned over (except for the George W. Bush portrait), and the only reason Scully and Mulder are back is because agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) remembers his success on similar cases involving the unexplainable. Don't expect the same rogues' gallery either; unlike the previous X-Files feature film, which was inextricably linked to the series' convoluted mythology arc (and served as a bridge between the fifth and sixth seasons), I Want to Believe is a stand-alone piece that makes use of the series' roots in horror/sci-fi and moody Vancouver, B.C., locales. Also unlike the previous film, which was almost self-consciously shot for the big screen, this film is on a smaller scale, like a double-length episode of the series. But it's still a good reminder of the creepy vibe that hooked fans for years. And the relationship between Mulder and Scully? It seems to have resumed pretty much where it left off, at least when you take into account the long period of separation. But stick around for the end-credit sequence to take in all the possibilities for the future. --David Horiuchi

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies

The Shawshank RedemptionThe Shawshank Redemption (Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray]
Directed by Frank Darabont
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
Average customer review:

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who's sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there's reason to believe the banker's crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker--a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Tim Robbins returns to his best form with his haunted, cunning portrayal of Andy Dufresne, a young banker sentenced to life imprisonment. It's the nineteen-forties, and he is sent to Shawshank, a dark and doomy jail where the inmates protest their innocence and the satanic warden (Bob Gunton) brandishes a Bible. Frank Darabont's movie never grabs at you, preferring to work patiently on your sympathies and nerves while finding time for casual jokes. What at first seems like a plotless tale of companionship-principally between Andy and a fixer named Red (Morgan Freeman)-tightens into excitement. There are moments of hokey togetherness, and way too much voice-over, but the picture stays on track and leaves you, appropriately enough, with a surging sense of release. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

The Shawshank Redemption (Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray]

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies

Perry MasonPerry Mason - The Third Season - Vol. 2
From Paramount
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
Average customer review:

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Perry Mason is an attorney who specializes in defending seemingly indefensible cases. With the aid of his secretary Della Street and investigator Paul Drake, he often finds that by digging deeply into the facts, startling facts can be revealed. Often relying on his outstanding courtroom skills, he often tricks or traps people into unwittingly admitting their guilt.

Perry Mason - The Third Season - Vol. 2

Customer Reviews:
DVD Releases
Cheap New DVD Movies