DVD Releases March 10 2009

Milk

From Universal Studios
Average customer review:

When a famous person, like the nation's first openly gay male city supervisor, inspires an acclaimed book (The Mayor of Castro Street) and Oscar-winning documentary (The Times of Harvey Milk), a biopic can seem superfluous at best. Taking over from Oliver Stone and Bryan Singer, Gus Van Sant, whose previous picture was the more experimental Paranoid Park, directs with such grace, he renders the concern moot. Unlike Randy Shilts' biography, which begins at the beginning, Dustin Lance Black's script starts in 1972, just as Milk (Sean Penn, in a finely-wrought performance) and his boyfriend, Scott (James Franco, equally good), move from New York to San Francisco. Milk opens a camera shop on the Castro that becomes a safe haven for victims of discrimination, convincing him to enter politics. With each race he runs, Harvey's relationship with Scott unravels further. Finally, he wins, and the real battle begins as Milk takes on Proposition 6, which denies equal rights to homosexuals. He does what he can to rally politicians, like George Moscone (Victor Garber) and Dan White (Josh Brolin). While the mayor is willing, the conservative board member has reservations, and after Milk fails to back one of White’s pet projects, the die is cast, leading to the murder of two beloved figures. If Van Sant’s film captures Harvey in all his complexities (he was, for instance, a very funny man), Milk also serves as an enticement to grass-roots activism, showing how one regular guy elevated everyone around him, notably Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the ex-street hustler who created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial. Released in the wake of Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay marriage amendment, Milk is inspirational in the best way: one person can and did make a difference, but the struggle is far from over. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Absolutely wonderful film
This is not the typical bio-pic. It is a remarkable story with an unbelievable performance by Sean Penn. You don't have to be gay to be moved by the story of Harvey Milk. The tragedy may have happened over 30 years ago, but it could have just have likely happened in 2009. I happily recommend this outstanding film.

Buy >> Milk

DVD Releases >> Milk

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Milk

Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

Directed by Ben Sharpsteen;Hamilton S. Luske
Average customer review:

This Disney masterpiece from 1940 will hold up forever precisely because it doesn't restrain or temper the most elemental emotions and themes germane to its story. Based on the Collodi tale about a wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy, Pinocchio is among the most magical, mythical, and frightening films to come from the studio in its long history. A number of scenes make permanent impressions on young minds (just ask Steven Spielberg, who quoted the film more than once in Close Encounters of the Third Kind), and the songs ("When You Wish upon a Star") can't be beat. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Song of the South
I just bought Pinocchio for my granddaughter. She loves all the Disney movies. I just read a review of a retired professor saying that Eisner won't release the Song of the South due to it being NON politically correct. Well, my little Angel sat on my lap and loved the movie. My kids loved it when they were her age. So took NO racial or other implications away from the movie and the word "Slave" NEVER occurred in the show! I firmly believe that any small child would love to see this movie and be able to judge it on what they see and not on what we are afraid of them to see. I can't wait to get Pinocchio for my grandchildren to watch! I hope this lessens the Professors bitterness a bit. And I am a retired Police Sergeant with nearly 30 years on the job in NY!!!

Buy >> Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

DVD Releases >> Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

Rachel Getting Married

From Sony Pictures Classics
Average customer review:

Pitched between Robert Altman's A Wedding and Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding--but more cautiously optimistic than both--Rachel Getting Married marks a change in course for director Jonathan Demme. Granted, few Oscar winners have walked a more diverse path. After a series of documentaries and remakes, the Silence of the Lambs helmer tries his hand at the intimate chamber drama. With the help of actress Anne Hathaway and screenwriter Jenny Lumet, daughter of filmmaker Sidney, he pulls it off. The festivities kick into high gear once Kym (Hathaway, with smeared eyeliner and unkempt hair) takes a break from rehab for her sister's big day. It soon transpires that Kym, who hides her wounded soul behind a veil of sarcasm, serves as the Buchman's resident black sheep. The problem goes deeper than drugs to a tragedy in which she played a part. As Kym, bride Rachel (Mad Men's Rosemary DeWitt), their parents (Bill Irwin and Debra Winger), groom Sidney (TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe), and the rest of the bohemian Connecticut brood struggle with the past, the nuptials continue, graced by performances from past Demme collaborators like Sister Carol East (Something Wild) and Robyn Hitchcock (Storefront Hitchcock). The hours between reception and after-party contain humor, affection, and painful revelations. In the press notes, Demme claims that he and cinematographer Declan Quinn (In America) attempted to make a film that looked like "The most beautiful home movie ever made." Using handheld cameras and believably flawed characters, they've done just that. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

A Very Different Hathaway
It's a beautiful film about a recovering addict trying to figure out exactly where up is. Kym is a former model currently in rehab. She has been let out due to her older sister Rachel's upcoming marriage. During this happy time there are many family secrets that begin to surface and bring up the long lasting tension. I love this movie so much. It was definitely one of the best films in 2008. It's so different from what we normally see from Anne. I especially love how the film was shot in a documentary naturalistic style. It was very unique and appropriate for the mood and setting of the movie. The whole entire cast was wonderful. I was so proud to see it receive nominations and recognition.

Buy >> Rachel Getting Married

DVD Releases >> Rachel Getting Married

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Rachel Getting Married

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Directed by Mark Herman
Average customer review:

The innocence of childhood savagely collides with the Holocaust in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) knows that his father is a soldier and that they have to move to a new house in the country... a house near what he thinks is a farm. But his father isn't just a soldier; he's a high-ranking officer in Hitler's elite SS troops who's just been placed in command of Auschwitz. As Bruno explores the woods around the house, he discovers the concentration camp's perimeter fence. On the other side sits a boy his own age, with whom Bruno strikes up a friendship--a friendship that will have tragic consequences. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is most powerful in the details: The casual brutality of a Nazi lieutenant; the uncomfortable juxtaposition of the family's domestic life with glimpses of the treatment of the imprisoned Jews; a ghastly propaganda film suggesting that life at Auschwitz was like a holiday. But more than anything else, Butterfield's performance makes this film compelling. The young actor perfectly conveys Bruno's limited perspective even as the film carefully unveils the larger, darker reality. The movie's ending will undoubtedly spark arguments, but only because of the emotional complexity of what happens--The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is made with great skill and compassion. Also featuring David Thewlis (Naked) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed) as Bruno's parents. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Prepare to be shaken to the very core of your being.
This movie was incredible.I am still choked up days after seeing it.These are the stories that must be told.Hard to watch,very well-acted.It will leave a lasting impact on you.I will have all my children watch this.

Buy >> The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

DVD Releases >> The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Cheap New DVD Movies >> The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Transporter 3 [Blu-ray]

Directed by Olivier Megaton
Average customer review:

Jason Statham is back as Frank Martin, the Transporter, in this explosive third installment of the action-adventure series. This time, Frank is presented an offer he can’t refuse and ends up with a mysterious passenger and a dangerous destination - calling for a new machine and new rules. The stakes are bigger, the enemy is deadlier, and the action has never been hotter.

Customer Reviews

It's only Entertainment.
I love Jason Statham as Frank Martin, he is a true action actor. Don't take the movie serious, just enjoyed it.

Buy >> Transporter 3 [Blu-ray]

DVD Releases >> Transporter 3 [Blu-ray]

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Transporter 3 [Blu-ray]

South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season

From Comedy Central
Average customer review:

All fourteen uncensored episodes from South Park's twelfth season are now available in this exclusive three-disc set. In this collection, South Park follows the new President-elect from his acceptance speech to his first official day of duty as Commander in Chief. The boys keep busy helping a pop-princess who's down on her luck, negotiating a truce for striking Canadians, and preventing giant rodents from destroying the world. For them, it's all part of growing up in South Park.

Customer Reviews

Contains some of the best episodes... EVER
So what did we learn from season 12 of South Park? Well, apparently aids IS curable, but the cure is out of reach for most people. We learned young stars are harvested by the people and the media. By far however, one of my favorite episodes is "Major Boobage", a hilarious homage to the 1981 film Heavy Metal. It's just outrageous because everything and I mean EVERYTHING is decorated with [.......]. It's insane. I love this episode though because it features a lot of music from the soundtrack, which is one of the best ever. This set also features the brilliant episode "The China Probrem", which is about Cartman and Butters taking over PF Changs and Butters continually(and accidentally) shooting guys in the crotch, which prompts Cartman to say "Butters! You never shoot a guy in the [...]! That is not cool!". There's also a great subplot about a "friend" who was raped. It's darkly hilarious and offensive, but from a certain point of view it makes all the sense in the world. One whole episode is dedicated to fitting in and kids giving into fads, in the episode "Elementary School Musical". It's great because the main four kids make a pact never to give in and go with the crowd and start singing during class and at other inappropriate times. Unfortunately... they eventually cave in at the worst possible time. This show also features the Ungroundable, a thought-provoking and deeply funny look at the culture of the Goth kids and the Vampire kids who drink tomato juice and like the movie Twilight for no other reason then it's about vampires. Hey kids, what's wrong with "Love at first bite" Starring George Hamilton? I almost forgot to mention the episodes "Pandemic" and "Pandemic 2: The Startling". It's hard to figure out at first, but it quickly becomes clear that it's a take-off on Cloverfield, with Guinea pigs trying to take over the world. It was hilarious to see live action Guinea Pigs dressed in cute costumes invading South Park. It was a brilliant and inspired idea, and a wonderful look at the underused character, Craig.
I suppose one could argue this season had it's low points, but really even the worst of South Park is far and away better then any other show out there(especially Family Guy). I highly recommend this season, but for God's sakes people don't let your kids watch it until they are old enough.

Buy >> South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season

DVD Releases >> South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season

Cheap New DVD Movies >> South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season

Let The Right One In

Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Average customer review:

The enduring popularity of the vampire myth rests, in part, on sexual magnetism. In Let the Right One In, Tomas Alfredson's carefully controlled, yet sympathetic take on John Ajvide Lindqvist's Swedish bestseller-turned-screenplay, the protagonists are pre-teens, unlike the fully-formed night crawlers of HBO’s True Blood or Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight (both also based on popular novels). Instead, 12-year-old Oskar (future heartbreaker Kåre Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson) enter into a deadly form of puppy love. The product of divorce, Oskar lives with his harried mother, while his new neighbor resides with a mystery man named Håkan (Per Ragnar), who takes care of her unique dietary needs. From the wintery moment in 1982 that the lonely, towheaded boy spots the strange, dark-haired girl skulking around their outer-Stockholm tenement, he senses a kindred spirit. They bond, innocently enough, over a Rubik's Cube, but little does Oskar realize that Eli has been 12 for a very long time. Meanwhile, at school, bullies torment the pale and morbid student mercilessly. Through his friendship with Eli, Oskar doesn't just learn how to defend himself, but to become a sort of predator himself, begging the question as to whether Eli really exists or whether she represents a manifestation of his pent-up anger and resentment. Naturally, the international success of Lindqvist's fifth feature, like Norway's chilling Insomnia before it, has inspired an American remake, which is sure to boast superior special effects, but can't possibly capture the delicate balance he strikes here between the tender and the terrible. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

iconoclastic vampire story artfully filmed
While watching this film on the big screen just yesterday, I was struck by the realization that perhaps no other genre of film plays so heavily on architecture than the vampire film. This modern, contemporary, even human -- vampire story is no different, but is also very different. Rather than the cliche dark forboding castle or gothic mansion, we have the unsettling normalcy of the empty spaces of the modern world. In fact, it is through this interplay between the entrapment of enclosed spaces and the vulnerability of open spaces that most of this film's suspense is built. That, and the crossing over from the lighted space to the dark and vice versa are deftly, almost subliminally, handled. Two scenes, edited crisply together, really represent the permeability of thresholds (and our blithe obliviousness to them) quite aptly -- young Oskar shuts the lights off in an empty classroom, and then steps from the darkened space of the room to the well lit hallway. Instantly we are edited to a shot of him emerging from the well lit building into the darkened space of the out of doors on a wintery Swedish afternoon, where the trio of bullies await. Almost all of the most tiresome and cliche aspects of the vampire legend, with all its baggage, are missing here. By having the main characters so young, and the girl as vampire, the legend is interestingly DE (and then RE) sexualized. In an awkward scene with Oskar, his estranged father and another man (dad's gay partner?) the theme of lonliness and heartache is lingered over yet again. There are also overtones of Von Sternberg's "The Blue Angel" (the clown who lingers in Lola Lola's shadow that we encounter when Emil Janning's professor character first meets her...) that inform this films conclusion (No spoilers here!) Like everyone else says, this film is beautifully shot, wonderfully lit by the natural glow of the dying sun and the eerie glare of the incandescent bulbs of walkways, intersections, bridges. Besides Murnau's historic "Nosferatu" and Herzog's romantic remake of same, I've never had much use for the vampire film. This is a very special film -- one you'll think about for days after seeing it. You might not be scared, but you will be haunted.

Buy >> Let The Right One In

DVD Releases >> Let The Right One In

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Let The Right One In

Howard the Duck

From Universal Studios
Average customer review:

If you concentrate on the fact that Howard the Duck was a notorious box office dud (still brought up today) and considered one of the worst films of the '80s, it's entirely possible to enjoy this special effects piffle. Howard, played by a special effect puppet, lives on a planet where ducks evolved instead of apes, but one day he's sucked into a vortex and deposited on Earth. There he befriends Beverly Switzler (Lea Thompson), lead singer for the Cherry Bombs, becomes their manager, and, oh yeah, saves the Earth from the Dark Overlords. Jeffrey Jones is the villain and Tim Robbins (!) is there for comic relief. And who can resist the culmination of synthesizer pop, the Howard the Duck theme song, as realized by the Cherry Bombs? A midnight movie that your kids might watch more than you. --Keith Simanton

Customer Reviews

If a duck talks in an empty theater will anyone hear it?
Apparently yes they did, as it is a fave of some reviewers here! And I'm on that list. This is a fun film, though clearly not a great one. The creator (Steve Gerber) of HTD was ignored and had to sue to get the rights back. If they had consulted him this film would be better. The comic book was more satirical and Howard was less obnoxious in it. And despite the description of the film here, there was a man (little person) in the costume, That in my opinion was a mistake. Having Howard be animated in a live action world would have made it much better as a film as Roger Rabbit proved a few years later. Give it a try!

Buy >> Howard the Duck

DVD Releases >> Howard the Duck

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Howard the Duck

Role Models

Directed by David Wain
Average customer review:

Raunchy, but not nauseating, Role Models is an exceptionally funny slacker comedy co-written by Paul Rudd. Rudd stars as Danny, one-half of a team (along with Seann William Scott's character, Wheeler) that visits schools on behalf of a power-drink company. With his lack of enthusiasm for work and his life painfully evident, Danny loses his live-in girlfriend, Beth (Elizabeth Banks), and soon has a run-in with the law resulting in community service for him and Wheeler. Ordered to appear at a Big Brothers-like organization, Danny is partnered with a lonely if brilliant adolescent boy, Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), while Wheeler is hooked up with a foul-mouthed pre-teen named Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson). Neither of the men has anything in common with their charges, a fact exacerbated when Danny reluctantly attends Augie's participation in a weekend role-playing fantasy game with a medieval flavor. Meanwhile, Wheeler just tries to survive his ongoing power struggle with Ronnie. Both sets of relationships improve when Danny and Wheeler begin to meet their kids halfway and even learn to empathize with them, though the results are sometimes comically bumpy before the characters all hit their groove. There are a number of hilarious scenes (the film definitely deserves its R rating) and more than a few thoughtful ones, including a terrific moment where Danny defends Augie to the latter's critical parents over an awkward dinner. Jane Lynch is very funny as a semi-insane director of the program pairing kids and adults, and Banks (W.) is very appealing as Danny's unhappy ex-girlfriend. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

funny stuff
Funny movie with some great one liners. If you want to watch a goofy comedy with a little heart this is for you. Paul Rudd is a very underapreciated actor and shines in this movie. Sean William Scott and Mc'lovin are quite funny as well, this is just a really good movie all the way through. Yes it has some bad language but it's funny the way it is used. If you enjoyed the 40 year old virgin, american pie, superbad you will like this movie.

Buy >> Role Models

DVD Releases >> Role Models

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Role Models

Happy-Go-Lucky

Directed by Mike Leigh
Average customer review:

Mike Leigh has made a career out of unusual films--who else would make a biopic about Gilbert & Sullivan?--but Happy-Go-Lucky may be his most unusual yet: A movie about a woman who is almost compulsively cheerful. Poppy (Sally Hawkins, star of the 2007 miniseries of Persuasion) may at first seem like the most annoying human being alive. She can't help but try to get a smile from someone who's ignoring her. When her bicycle gets stolen, she shrugs it off and decides to learn how to drive, which leads her to form a strange sparring relationship with her frustrated driving instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan). Meanwhile, she takes flamenco lessons, visits with her squabbling family, tries to help a troubled boy at the school where she teaches, and encounters a homeless man--but this bland catalogue of events doesn't capture how Poppy's relentless optimism acts as a rorschach test to the people around her, reflecting back their worst or best feelings about themselves. Poppy, whose natural impulse is to empathize, discovers she needs to draw boundaries between herself and a world that wants to interpret her cheerfulness in unintended ways. The result is a unique movie experience, one that defies conventional notions of what's dramatic yet grows more absorbing with every moment. Just as it's hard to imagine anyone liking Poppy at the start of Happy-Go-Lucky, it's hard to imagine that anyone doesn't care about her by the movie's end. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Plot, Good; Character Study, Great
This is all about Poppy, played by Sally Hawkins. Single in London. Positive, cheerful, and generally embodies the title of the movie. Every situation is to be faced with good spirit, a light attitude, and cheer.

At the beginning it seems that she will overrun a challenge like a tank running over a building in a WW II flick. Smiles. Banter. Humor. Irrepressible. Even when alone.

The challenges grow. A problem student. A vagrant in a deserted part of town. A doctor visit. A dance instructor with issues.

And then the new champion for Driving Instructor From Satan, played by Eddie Marsan. These scenes are classics. As in many movies confrontation is important to good comedy or drama. The theater I saw this in was laughing its collective heads off. The driving lessons make me smile even as I type this.

How Poppy reacts to each challenge - and how others react to Poppy - is the core of this movie. The plot is mostly a string of episodes. Mike Leigh does an outstanding job directing, finding a second level to each situation. Funny and happy. But also thoughtful and a little gritty.

Sally Hawkins should be up for an Oscar in 2009, but that is a whole other discussion.

Buy >> Happy-Go-Lucky

DVD Releases >> Happy-Go-Lucky

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Happy-Go-Lucky

Story of India

Directed by Jeremy Jeff
Average customer review:

If you like the idea of watching a really good National Geographic article brought to life, with the lush photography, fascinating facts, sense of discovery and slight superficiality that implies, you ll love THE STORY OF INDIA. --Mike Hale, The New York Times

Customer Reviews

Beautiful, Educational. . . and Honest
This series, though far from perfect, is a must see for anyone of Indian descent, or who is interested in insight into a paradoxical but fascinating country. As stated by other reviewers, the series is forced to be superficial on many aspects, but the photography, the passionate narration of Mr. Wood, and the attempts to link India's past to explain the paradoxes of her present make it a must-have.
I felt the viewpoints presented were balanced and insightful. Many topics were by necessity dealt with superficially, but always with respect. After spending 41 of my 43 years in the USA, this series left me with a thirst for more insight and knowledge of India's peoples and past, and hopefully will do the same for my children.
Based on the appearance of the series on standard TV, the upcoming Blu-Ray transfer (April) should be stunning and worth the wait.

Buy >> Story of India

DVD Releases >> Story of India

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Story of India

Batman Anthology (Batman / Batman Returns / Batman Forever / Batman & Robin) [Blu-ray]

Directed by Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher
Average customer review:

This year the BAT goes BLU…BATMAN - Batman (Michael Keaton) vs. The Joker (Jack Nicholson) in the amazing first extravaganza! With Kim Basinger. BATMAN RETURNS - The Bat (Michael Keaton), the Cat (Michelle Pfeiffer), the Penguin (Danny DeVito). And Christopher Walken, too! BATMAN FOREVER - Riddle me this: The Dark Knight (Val Kilmer) bat-battles Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and the Riddler (Jim Carrey). With Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell. BATMAN & ROBIN - Will Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) put the world on ice? George Clooney wears the hero's cape. Also with Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone. All four box office hits on Blu-Ray for the very first time!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-10
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 508 minutes

Customer Reviews

Wait for the individual movies to come out on Blu-ray
I currently have this anthology, but not in Blu-ray. I feel the only movie I really would want in this Blu-ray anthology is Batman. Great movie (though TDK now tops this), great score, and great Batman vs. Joker showdown. Batman Returns and Batman Forever are not bad movies, but I don't see myself paying over $20 for the Blu-ray version of both right now. When the individual Blu-ray discs come out for each movie, and then drop, then I would get Returns and Forever. As for B&R, us Batman fans consider that a Batman movie in title only. Thanks to Christopher Nolan everyone knows now that Batman is a bad-@ss character, not a comedian.

Seriously, if like all these movies and would want them on Blu-ray then go ahead and get them. Great savings right now on Amazon. However, if like me you want to wait for these to come out individually (b/c we know they will eventually) then save your money for now.

Amazing Detail!
Okay, first off, Batman & Robin was the worst Batman movie ever made but seeing it in Blu-ray made it so much better! Warner did a great job!

Buy >> Batman Anthology (Batman / Batman Returns / Batman Forever / Batman & Robin) [Blu-ray]

DVD Releases >> Batman Anthology (Batman / Batman Returns / Batman Forever / Batman & Robin) [Blu-ray]

Cheap New DVD Movies >> Batman Anthology (Batman / Batman Returns / Batman Forever / Batman & Robin) [Blu-ray]

Top 10 DVDs. Top 10 Box Office. The Best DVDs of 2008: TV

DVD releases UK

Technorati Tags: dvd, dvd releases, movie, movies, dvd movie, dvd movies, releases, new dvd, new movies, new dvd movies, new dvd releases, new movies releases, march, mar 10,