DVD & Blu-rays Released September 7, 2004

Tuesday, September 7

The United States of Leland R

This is the story of a sensitive teenager, Leland (Ryan Gosling), faced with issues of morality and hope under difficult circumstances, who is arrested and sent to juvenile hall, after he kills an autistic child out of sympathy. Once there, he meets a teacher, Mr. Pearl (Don Cheadle), who helps him figure out the reasons for why he committed the crime, as we also see the ramifications of the murder have on his community, his family, and that of the victim.
Ryan Gosling, Kerry Washington, Kevin Spacey, Ron Canada, Troy Winbush, Bernie Morris, Palmer West, Jonah Smith
Drama Crime Teen Gangster

The Ladykillers R

Academy Award winner Tom Hanks teams up for the first time with Academy Award–winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?") for this retelling of the critically acclaimed 1955 comedy, "The Ladykillers". Hanks stars as Goldthwait Higginson Dorr III, Ph.D., a charlatan professor who's assembled a gang of "experts" for the heist of the century. The thieves: experts in explosions, tunneling, and muscle, and the critical "inside man." The base of operations: the root cellar of an unsuspecting, church-going little old lady named Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall). The ruse: the five need a place to practice their church music. The problem: it quickly becomes evident that Dorr's thieves lack the mental capacity to do the job. The bigger problem: they all have seriously underestimated their upstairs host.
Barry Sonnenfeld, Max D. Adams, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Tom Jacobson, Barry Josephson, Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans
Drama Comedy Crime

Soul Plane

Why just fly when you can soar with soul! After a humiliating experience on an airplane, Nashawn Wade sues the airline and is awarded a huge settlement. Determined to make good with the money, he creates the full-service airline of his dreams, complete with sexy stewardesses, funky music, a hot onboard dance club, and a bathroom attendant. Departing from all-new Terminal X in Los Angeles, "Soul Plane" gives "fly" a whole new meaning, taking its passengers on a maiden voyage full of comedy.
Kevin Hart, D.L. Hughley, K.D. Aubert, Method Man, Dwayne Adway, Ryan Pinkston, Missi Pyle, John Witherspoon
Comedy Remake
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Buffalo Soldiers R

Set on an American Army Base in 1989, as the Berlin Wall is about to fall, "Buffalo Soldiers" takes a satiric look as these men steal, drink, fight, and make, take, and sell drugs. Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) is the brains behind the operation, easily duping his superior (Ed Harris) and sleeping with his wife (Elizabeth McGovern). But with the arrival of the new Sergeant (Scott Glenn), everything changes. The Sergeant cracks down; Elwood retaliates by dating his daughter (Anna Paquin) and attempting a big "weapons for drugs" deal, with the Sergeant in closer pursuit.
Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Dean Stockwell, Elizabeth McGovern, Gregor Jordan, Scott Glenn, Anna Paquin, Gabriel Mann
Drama Comedy Crime
103 mins

Jersey Girl PG-13

Ollie Trinke (Ben Affleck) is at the top of his game. A smooth, Manhattan music publicist, Ollie has just married the love of his life (Jennifer Lopez) and has a child on the way. It's a perfect life that is tragically upended when he suddenly finds himself a single father unqualified for his new role. Before long Ollie's big city lifestyle clashes head on with fatherhood. After losing his job, he's forced to move back in with his father (George Carlin) in the New Jersey Suburb where he was raised. With the help of a beautiful young friend (Liv Tyler) who opens him up to love again, and the daughter (Raquel Castro) who gives him the courage to keep going, he begins to realize that sometimes, you have to forget about what you thought you were and just accept who you are.
Jennifer Lopez, Jeff Anderson, Ben Affleck, George Carlin, Betty Aberlin, Jason Biggs, Raquel Castro, Matt Damon
Drama Comedy Romance

The Holy Land

Set in the world's holiest city during the dawn of the new century as fanatical Christians from across the globe arrive in hopes of provoking a confrontation between the many extremist Arabs and Jews, the plot of "The Holy Land" focuses on Menachem Weinbaum ("Mendy"),a young rabbinical student who is restless to learn about the bigger world. On the advice of his slightly demented teacher, Mendy visits a brothel in Tel Aviv so he can be rid of his 'madness' and return tohis studies. There he meets Sasha, a nineteen-year-old Russian prostitute, whose dire situation and immense beauty captivates him. But Mendy's world really opens up when he discovers Mike's Place, a real-life magnet for the lost souls who flock to Jerusalem. A place where Arabs, Christians and Jews drink side by side, Mike's Place introduces Mendy to a gun-toting American-born settler, a shady entrepreneurial Arab and a slew of American expatriates, forever changed by the sixties, who act out biblical roles. As Mendy becomes more immersed in this culture of the millennium he begins to wonder if Mike and his band of misfits are as harmless as they seem? Or are they intent on provoking Armageddon? A story of doomed, passionate love and coming of age in troubled times -- set in a world-famous place not unlike Rick's Cafe American or the Cantina in "Star Wars" -- "The Holy Land" explores the underbelly of real life in Jerusalem after the sun goes down and the tourists and Orthodox families go to sleep.
Oren Rehany, Tchelet Semel, Saul Stein, Albert Illouz, Aryeh Moskona
Drama

The Punisher R

Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is a man who has seen too much death in his life, first as a Delta Force Op and later as an FBI special agent. He has managed to beat considerable odds, and is finally moving out of the field and into a normal life with his wife and son. On his final assignment, Castle plays his undercover role perfectly, but the operation spins out of control. This places the FBI on the wrong side of Tampa businessman Howard Saint (John Travolta) and his glamorous wife Livia (Laura Harring). Notwithstanding their glossy social profile, the Saints are no genteel Florida couple; behind their copious wealth are violent beginnings, underworld ties – and a chilling capacity for brutality. Castle's worst nightmare is about to come true, as Howard Saint and his lieutenants unleash hell at the Castle family reunion. But Castle, to his everlasting torment, survives. Drawing upon all he has learned in 20 years, Castle sets in motion a brilliant plan to punish the murderers. He takes up residence among in a dilapidated tenement building on Tampa's industrial waterfront, where his fellow tenants include Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), a waitress at a nearby diner who is trying to put her life back on track. Castle's neighbors become his last link to the idea of human community and warmth. It is this makeshift family – forgotten men and women with no one to protect them - who enable Castle to find the one thing he least expects: redemption.
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Thomas Jane, Samantha Mathis, Avi Arad, Gale Anne Hurd, Jonathan Hensleigh, Gerry Conway, John Travolta
Action Adventure Crime Superhero
85 mins

Kaena: The Prophecy PG-13

Set in a world where a giant tree called Axis rises 100 miles above the planet surface, this is an adventure story about a spirited, young woman, Kaena (Kirsten Dunst), who leaves her tree village hoping to discover why the plant's sap is disappearing, thus threatening her people's way of life. Against the wishes of her village elders, she climbs down past the cloud level, and encounters the Selenites, a race that is trying to keep the tree from dying by enslaving another species. Richard Harris plays Opaz, an elderly sage, Anjelica Huston is the evil Queen of the Selenites, Keith David plays her second-in-command, while Greg Proops and Michael McShane are comic relief characters, the Worms.
Anjelica Huston, Richard Harris, Pascal Pinon, Marc DuPontavice, Chris Delaporte, Tarik Hamdine, Kirsten Dunst, Greg Proops
Action Adventure Fantasy Sci-Fi Animation

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring R

The exquisitely beautiful and very human drama "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring", from director Kim Ki-Duk, is entirely set on and around a tree-lined lake where a tiny Buddhist monastery floats on a raft amidst a breath-taking landscape. The film is divided into five segments with each season representing a stage in a man's life. Under the vigilant eyes of Old Monk, Child Monk learns a hard lesson about the nature of sorrow when some of his childish games turn cruel. In the intensity and lushness of summer, the monk, now a young man, experiences the power of lust, a desire that will ultimately lead him, as an adult, to dark deeds. With winter, strikingly set on the ice and snow-covered lake, the man atones for his past actions, and spring starts the cycle anew...
Ki-duk Kim, Yeong-su Oh, Jong-ho Kim, Jae-kyeong Seo, Young-min Kim, Yeo-jin Ha
Drama

Tuesday, September 7