12.07.09 | Jerry Frebowitz | New Releases This WeekPrint this Post
New DVD Releases for this week include Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, Johnny Depp as Public Enemy Number One in Public Enemies and Julie & Julia along with other theatrical newcomers and for admirers of director Akira Kurosawa's achievements, a new boxed set is being offered with 25 of his most popular films. In addition, documentaries take center stage this week with Leonard Bernstein, Knut the polar bear and a story about the "Lost Boys" of Sudan. And for those out there who join the myriads of Johnny Mercer fans, Warner Brothers has compiled a thoroughly enjoyable commemorative documentary, Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me, narrated by Clint Eastwood.
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Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)
With Voldemort's minions on the march, Harry returns to Hogwarts for year six and a dangerous mission with Dumbledore, one involving new potions professor Horace Slughorn and long-hidden secrets in the dark lord's past. Will the secrets--and a book that once belonged to the mysterious Half-Blood Prince--be enough, though, to help save someone close to Harry from being killed? Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson star.
Public Enemies (2009)
Though Depression-era gangster John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) has been branded Public Enemy Number One, the fearsome power he secures through thievery and violence keeps him out of police custody. As his romance with singer Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) opens some cracks in his armor, FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) takes pains to close in on the villainous folk hero. Director Michael Mann's moody crime thriller co-stars Billy Crudup, Lili Taylor, Stephen Dorff.
Julie & Julia (2009)
Meryl Streep delivers a superb performance as culinary icon Julia Child in this quirky seriocomedy that chronicles her time in Paris in the mid-20th century. Paralleling Child's story is that of modern-day New Yorker Julie Powell (Amy Adams), who prepared all 524 of Child's cookbook recipes over the course of a year and then wrote a blog about it. With Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch. Based on Powell's memoir "Julie & Julia" and Child's autobiography "My Life in France"; directed by Nora Ephron.
World's Greatest Dad (2009)
Failed novelist-turned-high school poetry teacher Robin Williams is faced with a sudden--and morbid--new inspiration he believes will catapult him to literary greatness after a sudden tragedy involving his rebellious son (Daryl Sabara). His new work finds a cult audience quickly, but the success of the piece raises troubling moral issues for the "world's greatest dad." Alexie Gilmore, Michael Thomas Moore co-star in director Bobcat Goldthwait's dark comedy.
The Marc Pease Experience (2009)
What's the experience of being Marc Pease (Jason Schwartzman)? It's the shame of fleeing the stage of your high school production of "The Wiz," much to the consternation of the mentor and music teacher (Ben Stiller) who offered encouragement. It's wooing a winsome gal (Anna Kendrick) still in school. It's continuing to nurse dreams of musical stardom well past their sell-by date. It's this comic romp co-starring Kelen Coleman, Gabrielle Dennis.
The Skeptic (2009)
After a lawyer (Tim Daly) devoted to rational thinking inherits his deceased aunt's Victorian mansion and is met with "things that go bump in the night," he recruits a medium (Zoe Saldana) when his capacity to explain the inexplicable is exhausted. The secrets he eventually uncovers are far more frightening--and personal--than he expects. Intelligent shocker co-stars Tom Arnold, Edward Herrmann, and Andrea Roth.
The Cove (2009)
Using stealth and ingenuity, documentary filmmakers penetrate the wall of security around a cove near the Japanese village of Taiji, where unscrupulous fishermen lure dolphins to mass slaughter in order to misrepresent them as whale meat on the market. This film not only sheds light on this horrifying practice, but reveals how corporate interests allow or encourage the abuse of these animals and the mistreatment of the environment.
Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me (2009)
The celebrated lyricist and singer's life story is told in memorable words and pictures in this commemorative documentary produced to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth in 1909. In three 40-minute segments, iconic star Clint Eastwood is joined at the piano by John Williams, Jamie Cullum, Tony Bennett, Julie Andrews, and other stars to perform and pay tribute to the musical master.
Knut & Friends (2008)
Cared for by a sensitive Berlin zookeeper, the adorable polar bear cub named Knut is closely observed in this delightful German-made documentary. In addition to Knut's charming adventures, viewers will witness the struggles of a newborn trio of cubs in the Arctic wilderness and a pair of brown bear orphans with a mischievous streak.
Rebuilding Hope (2009)
Had three of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan lost their homes and families in the years after they were relocated to the United States as children? This documentary follows the young men (now in their 20s) back to Africa where they reconnect with the South Sudanese people and explore the nature of the nation's civil war, its connections to the Darfur genocide, and questions of ethnic identity.
Beautiful Losers (2008)
Celebrating the world of underground, "do-it-yourself" art--in particular, the movement pushed along by outsider artists interested in skateboarding, graffiti, the punk scene, and related subcultures emerging in New York City of the early 1990s--this documentary profiles some of its most notable practitioners. Includes appearances by skateboarder Ed Templeton, filmmakers Harmony Korine and Mike Mills, artist Shepard Fairey, and others.
AK 100: 25 Films By Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa's directing debut "Sanshiro Sugata" (1943) concerns a 19th-century Jujutsu student engrossed by judo; "Sanshiro Sugata, Part II" (1945) follows Sugata as he fights foreign combatants; Kurosawa focuses on "The Most Beautiful" (1949) women who work nobly in factory jobs during World War II; "The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail" (1945) follows a fugitive clan lord and his six aides as they flee through medieval Japan. Twenty-five disc set also includes "No Regrets for Our Youth," "One Wonderful Sunday," "Drunken Angel," "Stray Dog," "Scandal" (1950), "Rashomon," "The Idiot," "Ikiru," "The Seven Samurai," "I Live in Fear," "The Lower Depths" (1957), "Throne of Blood," "The Hidden Fortress," "The Bad Sleep Well," "Yojimbo," "Sanjuro," "High and Low," "Red Beard," "Dodes'ka-Den," "Kagemusha," and "Madadayo." 49 1/3 hrs. total. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: Japanese Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English. In Japanese with English subtitles. Includes a commemorative book.
Leonard Bernstein Omnibus
The 1954-58 series "Omnibus" hosted by Alistair Cooke offered master conductor Leonard Bernstein a stunning showcase for his energetic delivery of classical music to the masses. In this four-disc set, a collection of seven complete episodes features Bernstein leading performances of "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony" (1954); a program on "The World of Jazz" (1955); a class on "The Art of Conducting" (1955); answers to the question "What Makes Opera Grand?" (1958); and more.
Ghosted (2009)
"Seduction: The Cruel Woman" helmer Monika Treut delves into themes of lesbian love with this mesmerizing tale of a German artist (Inga Busch) who broods over the unsolved murder of her Taiwanese lover. After the artist meets a journalist (Ting-Ting Hu) looking into the crime, a series of flashbacks gradually unveils deeper truths about the romance and the facts behind the killing.
Gozu (2003)
A young Yakuza mobster, ordered by his boss to bump off an older colleague, thinks he's lucked out when his doomed friend is accidentally killed along the way. But when he arrives at a remote village to drop off the body, he encounters a series of strange residents, from a cow-headed man to a gorgeous woman who claims to be the dead man. Surreal crime drama from Takashi Miike stars Hideki Sone, Sho Aikawa, Kimika Yoshino. Unrated director's cut; in Japanese with English subtitles.
Lion's Den (Leonera) (2008)
Accused of murder, arrested, and imprisoned while she awaits trial, a pregnant young woman (Martina Gusman) gives birth to her son while in jail. To manage the hells of captivity and protect the welfare of her newborn, she befriends a helpful and caring fellow inmate even as her mother attempts to wrest the child from her custody. Bracing drama from Argentina co-stars Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Soupy Sales In Living Color
Ready for another helping of piping hot Soupy? Then why not join the "Prince of Pies" and his colorful cast of cut-ups for more vintage shenanigans, from the radio weather reports and "Soupy's Words of Wisdom" to White Fang, Black Tooth, and "the man at the door," all in glorious color.
For details and availability of more of this week’s new releases, click here
