Two Lovers
Set in the insular world of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. A charismatic but troubled young man (Joaquin Phoenix) moves back into his childhood home following a recent heartbreak. While recovering under the watchful eye of his parents (Isabella Rossellini and Moni Monoshov), Leonard meets two women in quick succession: Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a mysterious and beautiful neighbor who is exotic and out-of-place in Leonard's staid world, and Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the lovely and caring daughter of a businessman who is buying out his family's dry-cleaning business. Leonard becomes deeply infatuated by Michelle, who seems poised to fall for him, but is having a self-destructive affair with a married man. At the same time, mounting pressure from his family pushes him towards committing to Sandra. Leonard is forced to make an impossible decision -- between the impetuousness of desire and the comfort of love -- or risk falling back into the darkness that nearly killed him.
Vitals: Director: James Gray. Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Isabella Rossellini, Elias Koteas, Moni Moshonov.
2009, CC, MPAA rating: R, 110 min., Drama, Box office gross: $3.109 million, Magnolia Pictures.
All DVD Releases
Apollo 11: A Night to Remember
(2009) Rare, recently recovered archival footage from the BBC follows the Apollo 11 astronauts from their preflight breakfast on July 16, 1969, to their splashdown in the Pacific eight days later. Includes the suspense of countdown, the thunder of blastoff, the epic 218,096-mile flight and, of course, Neil Armstrong’s "one giant leap for mankind." $24.99. (Acorn Media).
The Betrayed
(2008) Melissa George, Oded Fehr, Christian Campbell. A young woman is kidnapped and told that if she is to see her son again, she has to kill her husband, whom the captors say is a brutal killer who has stole millions from their mysterious crime syndicate. (MGM).
Blue Murder, Set 4
(2009) Two-disc set with six episodes of the hit U.K. crime drama about DCI Janine Lewis of the Manchester police, a woman valiantly struggling to balance a dangerous, high-profile career with the demands of being a single mother of four; $39.99. (Acorn Media).
Change Your Life!
(2009) Tony Plana, Ada Maris, Taylor Negron. Mockumentary about Ponzi schemes, multi-level marketing scams, and the get-rich-quick mindset that nearly bankrupted America. Release (June 29) coincides with the sentencing of financial evildoer Bernie Madoff. (www.GetRichQuickFlick.com).
Do the Right Thing 20th Anniversary Edition
(1989) Dir.: Spike Lee; Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Paul Benjamin, Frankie Faison. Extras: "Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later"; deleted and extended scenes; commentary by Spike Lee; commentary by Lee, drector of photography Ernest Dickerson, production designer Wynn Thomas and actor Joie Lee; behind-the-scenes featurette; "Making Do The Right Thing"; "The Riot Sequence"; "Cannes, 1989." Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Universal).
Dog the Bounty Hunter: Best of Season 5
(2008) Single disc, $19.95. (A&E Home Video).
Eastbound & Down
(2009) Two-disc set with six episodes of the new HBO comedy series about a washed-up former Major League Baseball star forced to return to his hometown to teach P.E. at his old middle school; $29.98. (HBO Home Entertainment).
The Education of Charlie Banks
(2007) Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Eva Amurri, Christopher Marquette, Sebastian Stan, Gloria Votsis. Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst's directorial debut. Coming of age story about students at an elite upstate New York College in the 1980s. (Anchor Bay Entertainment).
Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season
(2008) Three-disc set with 12 episodes, $39.98. (HBO Home Entertainment).
Eureka: Season 3.0
(2008-09) Two-disc set, $29.98. Extras: Deleted scenes, commentary. (Universal).
Hide
(2008) Rachel Miner, Christian Kane, Polly Shannon, Beth Grant. A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde terrorize the South. Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurette. (MTI Home Video).
The Human Contract
(2008) Joanna Cassidy, Caleeb Pinkett, Steven Brand, Anne Ramsay, Tava Smiley, T.J. Thyne. Sensual tale of an uptight businessman who becomes entangled with a seductive stranger who encourages him to live life with reckless passion; directed and written by Jada Pinkett Smith. Extras: Commentary by Jada Pinkett Smith and cinematographer Darren Genet, "The Human Experience" making of featurette, "The Roll of Film" featurette. (Sony).
The IT Crowd: The Complete Second Season
(2008) Six episodes of the IFC comedy series, $24.98. Extras: Outtakes, commentary. (MPI Media Group).
Jockeys
(2009) Two-disc set with 14 episodes of the series that follows the trials and tribulations of horse racing's diminutive heroes, $19.95. (Animal Planet/Genius Products).
Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience -- Deluxe Extended Movie
(2009) A 3-D concert film of the 2008 Jonas Brothers "Burning Up" concert tour, as well as documentary footage on the lives of the three brothers. Also available on Blu-ray Disc.
Lookin' to Get Out
(1982) Dir.: Hal Ashby; Jon Voight, Burt Young, Ann-Margret. Hal Ashby's ("Being There," "Coming Home," "In the Heat of the Night") comedy will debut in a never-before-seen cut that represents the director's original vision. The new version was recently uncovered with the help of its star, Jon Voight, Ashby-biographer Nick Dawson and Ashby's daughter, Leigh MacManus, who found that, unbeknownst to anyone, the director had re-edited the film after its release, then donated it to the UCLA archives prior to his death. Part of Warner's Director's Showcase: Take Four. Extras: "Lookin' to Get Out: The Cast Looks Back" with all new interview with Jon Voight, Burt Young and Ann-Margret. Originally scheduled for May 26 but delayed. (Warner).
The Lucille Ball Specials
Two 1975 TV specials: "Lucy Gets Lucky" starring Dean Martin, "Three for Two" starring Jackie Gleason, $19.98. Extras: "Let's Talk to Lucy," long-lost radio interviews with Dean Martin, bloopers, featurette with guest actor Gino Conforti, rare Lucy footage. (MPI Media Group).
Monsterquest: Season 3, Set 1
Two-disc set of episodes from the series that explores strange and unknown creatures that have been spotted in various parts of the world, $24.95. (A&E Home Video).
Muhammad Ali: In His Own Words
(2009) "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee..." Documentary on "The Greatest." $9.98. (MPI Media Group).
Nostradamus: 2012
(2009) History Channel documentary takes a look at the predictions of the prophet (credited with foreseeing some of the world's most shocking events hundreds of years before they ever took place), connecting his End of Days prophecy with those of the Hopi and Mayan shamans. $19.95. (A&E Home Entertainment).
Parker Lewis Can't Lose: The Complete First Season
(1990-91) Four-disc set with 26 episodes, $49.99. Extras: Commentaries, "A Look Back at Parker Lewis Can't Lose With the Cast and Creators" featurette, booklet with an introduction by creator Clyde Phillips, (Shout! Factory).
Princess Protection Program
(2009) Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato. Disney Channel Original Movie about two very different girls -- a princess from a small kingdom who's whisked to the States in the Princess Protection Program when her small country is invaded and the small town Wisconsin girl who helps the princess pass as a normal teen. (Disney).
The Queens of Country
Three-disc set with "Dolly & Friends," "Loretta Lynn: Songs of Inspiration" and "Patsy Cline: Sweet Dreams Still," $24.98. (MPI Media Group).
Reba: The Complete Sixth Season
(2006-07) Single disc with 13 episodes, $24.98, (Fox).
RiP! A Remix Manifesto
(2009) Innovative, surprisingly raucous and energetic documentary exploring the complexities of intellectual property in the era of peer-to-peer file sharing. An audience favorite at film festivals worldwide, this movie-as-mash-up shatters the wall between users and producers, as Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor invites audiences to remix his raw footage (at opensourcecinema.org), allowing them to become part of the film itself. Extras: Deleted scenes, mash-up favorites from OpenSourceCinema.org. $24.95. (Disinformation Company).
Sea Beast (aka Troglodyte)
(2008) Corin Nemec, Miriam McDonald, Daniel Wisler, Brandon Jay McLaren. Fourteenth installment in the Maneater series. When sea creatures surface in search of something more substantial to devour than marine life, a captain and a sea biologist must wage a battle against them in order to save mankind from total extinction. (RHI Entertainment/Genius Products).
Stargate: Atlantis Season 5
(2008-09) Five-disc set with 20 episodes, $49.98. Extras: Extended episodes "Vegas" and "Enemy at the Gate," behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews, commentaries. (MGM).
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
(2009) Kristin Kreuk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Neal McDonough, Taboo, Chris Klein, Moon Bloodgood, Edmund Chen, Cheng Pei Pei, Josie Ho, Robin Shou. Available as an "Unleashed & Unrated" three-disc Blu-ray and two-disc DVD. Extras: Theatrical and unrated feature; commentary by Patrick Aiello, Ashok Amritraj, Neal McDonough and Chris Klein; Deleted Scenes; "Marvel vs. Capcom 2: Sneak Peek"; "Becoming a Street Fighter"; "Chun Li: Bringing the Legend to Life"; "Fox Movie Channel Presents Making a Scene"; "Recreating the Game": arcade to film comparisons; "The Fight in Black and White": storyboard gallery; "Behind the Fight" production gallery; " Street Fighter Round One: FIGHT!" animated comic movie. (Fox).
Tokyo!
(2008) Directors Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), Leos Carax ("The Lovers on the Bridge") and Bong Joon-Ho ("The Host") use their unique brand of storytelling to weave a thematic tale (Transformation, Anarchy, and Rebirth respectively) set in the ultra-modern metropolis of Tokyo in this three-part anthology film. Extras: Three making-of featurettes. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Liberation Entertainment). Go here for more information on "Tokyo!"
Tunnel Rats
(2008) Dir.: Uwe Boll; Michael Pare. The year is 1967. American troops are making their way through the jungle of the Cu Chi District of Vietnam. A special U.S. combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the Viet Cong soldiers in a man-to-man combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of Vietnam. Extras: Deleted scenes, behind the scenes, interview with director Uwe Boll. (Vivendi Entertainment).
12 Rounds
(2008) Dir.: Renny Harlin; John Cena, Steve Harris, Aidan Gillen, Brian White, Gonzalo Menendez.
Available as a standard DVD and unrated Blu-ray Disc. Blu-ray extras: Commentary by director Renny Harlin, alternate endings, featurettes, digital copy. (Fox).
Two Lovers
(2009) Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Isabella Rossellini, Elias Koteas, Moni Moshonov. (Magnolia Pictures).
WWE: Backlash 2009
(2009) WWE rivalries intensify after the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania, featuring Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Triple H, a six-man tag team match and more. $24.95. (World Wrestling Entertainment).
WWE: Judgment Day 2009
(2009) Wrestling battles pick up where WrestleMania left off. $24.95. (World Wrestling Entertainment).
