August 2009 DVD & Blu-rays

In "The Soloist," an emotionally soaring drama about the redemptive power of music, journalist Steve Lopez (Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr.) discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Oscar winner Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives. "The Soloist" is directed by Joe Wright (Golden Globe winner for Best Drama and Oscar nominee for Best Picture "Atonement").

The thriller casts Idris Elba as an asset manager who has a knockout wife (Beyonce Knowles) and thriving career until a temp office worker (Ali Larter) begins stalking him.

"Race to Witch Mountain" is a thrilling action-adventure about a hard luck Las Vegas cab driver Jack Bruno, whose life is thrown into chaos when apparent "runaway" teenagers Sara and Seth jump into his taxi. He soon realizes his two fares are children with exceptional paranormal powers whom he must protect as they elude a collection of ruthless enemies.

Based on Michael Chabon's novel, the film chronicles the defining summer of a recent college graduate who crosses his gangster father and explores love, sexuality, and the enigmas surrounding his life and his city.

The land of Jhamora is torn apart by the mutual prejudice of two peoples—the winged Nohrin, masters of the skies, and the terrestrial Lockni, who harness the mystical powers of the land. When Delgo (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), a reckless Lockni teenager, forms an outlawed friendship with the spunky Nohrin Princess Kyla (Jennifer Love Hewitt), hostilities between the two peoples escalate, setting the stage for an exiled Empress Sedessa (Ann Bancroft) to exact her revenge and reclaim her rule.

Thomas Jane stars as Major Mitch Hunter, a 23rd century soldier who leads humans in a fight against a demonic, marauding army of underworld NecroMutants.

A young woman to pretends to be pregnant in order to avoid being fired from her job. When that gets her a bunch of special treatment by everyone involved in her life, she tries to keep up the lie for nine months.

What would you do if you got a second shot at life? Class of 1989, Mike O'Donnell is a star on his high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future in his grasp. But instead, he decides to throw it all away to share his life with his girlfriend Scarlett and the baby he just learned they are expecting. Almost 20 years later, Mike's glory days are decidedly behind him. His marriage to Scarlett has fallen apart, he has been passed over for a promotion at work, his teenage kids think he is a loser, and he has been reduced to crashing with his high school nerd-turned-techno-billionaire best friend Ned. But Mike is given another chance when he is miraculously transformed back to the age of 17. Unfortunately, Mike may look 17 again, but his thirtysomething outlook is totally uncool in the class of 2009. And in trying to recapture his best years, Mike could lose the best things that ever happened to him.

In “I Love You, Man,” a comedy from John Hamburg (“Along Came Polly,” co-writer of “Meet the Parents,” “Meet the Fockers,” “Zoolander”), Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd, “Knocked Up” “The 40 Year Old Virgin”) is a successful real estate agent who, upon getting engaged to the woman of his dreams, Zooey (“The Office’s” Rashida Jones), discovers, to his dismay and chagrin, that he has no male friend close enough to serve as his Best Man. Peter immediately sets out to rectify the situation, embarking on a series of bizarre and awkward “man-dates,” before meeting Sydney Fife (Jason Segel, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), a charming, opinionated man with whom he instantly bonds. But the closer the two men get, the more Peter’s relationship with Zooey suffers, ultimately forcing him to choose between his fiancée and his newfound “bro,” in a story that comically explores what it truly means to be a “friend.”

In 1957, local townspeople must hunt down the alien Ghota and neutralize it before it consumes all the local inhabitants and uses the human fuel to multiply and conquer the world.

The story sees a college student named Andy egged on by his rascally friends to stop worrying so much about his girlfriend back-home and start ejoying college life to the full. So he does. And meets a ‘Beer Pong' model named Jenna. He becomes rather besotted. Unfortunately, the girlfriend decides to transfer to Andy's university so she can be closer to him - and on all days, the day he and his friends have decided to hit the road chasing Jenna and her model friends in their big-ass tour bus.

Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.

A drama set in 1936 Paris about a small working class neighborhood. An election stirs up extremist passions while the town hopes to see a brighter future.

Willy is terrified about moving into the family's new house. In response to his wish for someone to save him, a large creature named Gooby comes to life.

Two adventurous teen girls are kidnapped, raped and murdered by a gang of thugs. The killers unwittingly hole up in the home of one victim's parents, who, upon realizing what their guests did, devise gruesome revenge.

A romantic comedy, set on Cape Cod in 1905, about three 70-year-old retired sea captains who try to lure an attractive middle-aged woman into marriage.

The Garden is an look at the struggle between urban farmers and the City of Los Angeles and a powerful developer who want to evict them and build warehouses.

An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning.

Oscar® winner Julia Roberts and Clive Owen reunite for "Duplicity," from writer/director Tony Gilroy (seven-time Oscar®-nominated "Michael Clayton"). In the film, they star as spies-turned-corporate operatives in the midst of a clandestine love affair. When they find themselves embroiled in a high-stakes espionage game, they discover the toughest part of the job is deciding how much to trust the one you love.

CIA officer Claire Stenwick (Roberts) and MI6 agent Ray Koval (Owen) have left the world of government intelligence to cash in on the highly profitable cold war raging between two rival multinational corporations. Their mission? Secure the formula for a product that will bring a fortune to the company that patents it first.

For their employers—industry titan Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and buccaneer CEO Dick Garsik (Paul Giamatti)— nothing is out of bounds. But as the stakes rise, the mystery deepens and the tactics get dirtier, the trickiest secret for Claire and Ray is their growing attraction. And as they each try to stay one double-cross ahead, two career loners find their schemes endangered by the only thing they can't cheat their way out of: love.

It's the summer of 1987, and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), an uptight recent college grad, can't wait to embark on his dream tour of Europe. But when his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) announce they can no longer subsidize his trip, James has little choice but to take a lowly job at a local amusement park. Forget about German beer, world-famous museums and cute French girls-James' summer will now be populated by belligerent dads, stuffed pandas, and screaming kids high on cotton candy. Lucky for James, what should have been his worst summer ever turns into quite an adventure as he discovers love in the most unlikely place with his captivating co-worker Em (Kristen Stewart), and learns to loosen up.

The story focuses on a 30-year-old woman (Amy Adams) who has squandered her life's potential on dead-end relationships and her younger sister, who is trying to find her way in the world. The sisters find meaning and understanding through an unlikely enterprise, their own crime scene cleanup business.

The drama is set over the course of a week in 1983, in the chillingly nihilistic world of Ellis' youth in Los Angeles. Seven storylines intersect, involving movie execs, rock stars, a vampire and other morally challenged characters.

Six young criminals break into hidden catacombs underneath their town and attempt to steal jewelry buried from the "Great Depression" only to find inhabitants guarding the precious belongings. After being trapped in this dark maze of crypts the group tries to escape alive.