DVD & Blu-rays Released September 13, 2005

Tuesday, September 13

100 mins

Palindromes

A fable of innocence: thirteen-year-old Aviva Victor wants to be a 'mom'. She does all she can to make this happen, and comes very close to succeeding, but in the end her plan is thwarted by her sensible parents. So she runs away, still determined to get pregnant one way or another, but instead finds herself lost in another world, a less sensible one, perhaps, but one pregnant itself with all sorts of strange possibility. She takes a road trip from the suburbs of New Jersey, through Ohio to the plains of Kansas and back. Like so many trips, this one is round-trip, and it's hard to say in the end if she can ever be quite the same again, or if she can ever be anything but the same again.
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lisa Muskat, Todd Solondz, Mike S Ryan, Derrick Tseng, Stephen Adly-Guirgis, Ellen Barkin, Rachel Corr
Drama
141 mins

Nobody Knows PG-13

Four siblings live happily with their mother in a small apartment in Tokyo. The children all have different fathers. They have never been to school. The very existence of three of them has been hidden from the landlord. One day, the mother leaves behind a little money and a note asking her 12-year-old boy to look after his younger siblings. And so begins the children's odyssey, a journey nobody knows. Despite their mother's abandonment, the four children do their best to survive in their own little world, devising and following their own set of rules. But when they have no choice but to engage with the world outside the apartment, the fragile balance that has sustained them collapses. Kore-eda incorporated documentary techniques to makes this film extraordinarily intimate and unaffected. Filmed chronologically over a year, "Nobody Knows" captures the young amateur actors growing as their characters do, highlighting the details of the children's lives, whether the nuances of a manicure, a toy piano, squeaking sandals, a cup of instant noodles, or a box of chocolates, to evoke not only the distinctive world of these particular abandoned children, but the gentleness and beauty of every childhood.
Yûya Yagira, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Hirokazu Koreeda, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu, Hanae Kan, You
Drama Foreign

Rock School

Rocks Stars. Guitar Gods. Kids. At some point in almost everyone's life, they dream of becoming a rock star: feeling the roar of the crowd; basking in the adoration of legions of fans; experiencing the adventures of life on the road. Now imagine fulfilling that fantasy as a child. Welcome to "Rock School". A meditation on talent and teaching, "Rock School" is a celebration of youthful promise and steadfast dreams. It is also a kick-ass music movie that should be played loud!
Sheena M. Joyce, Don Argott
Drama
Advertisement
110 mins

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy PG

Earthman Arthur Dent is having a very bad day. His house is about to be bulldozed, he discovers that his best friend is an alien--and to top things off, Planet Earth is about to be demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Arthur's only chance for survival: hitch a ride on a passing spacecraft. For the novice space traveler, the greatest adventure in the universe begins when the world ends. Arthur sets out on a journey in which he finds that nothing is as it seems: he learns that a towel is just the most useful thing in the universe, finds the meaning of life, and discovers that everything he needs to know can be found in one book: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
John Malkovich, Bill Nighy, Warwick Davis, Jay Roach, Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Todd Arnow, Gary Barber
Drama Action Adventure Fantasy Sci-Fi

Madison PG

The true story of a dying river town in Indiana, which in 1971 succeeded in becoming the host for the Gold Cup of hydroplane boat racing. Competing on the racing circuit requires deep-pocketed sponsorships and top-of-the-line technology and equipment. Jim McCormick, even though he's now a father with a family to support and has a steady job, has never abandoned his dream of piloting the community-owned Miss Madison to victory in the sport's biggest event. Alas, the economic struggles of this trade-diminished municipality have severely crimped its level of support. But faced with the opportunity to welcome the prestigious championship, McCormick wins, or more correctly hustles, the town's backing and, despite the misgivings of his wife and a sizable percentage of his neighbors, undertakes to race Miss Madison and compete with the big boys.
Jim Caviezel, William Bindley, Jake Lloyd, Mary McCormack, Scott Bindley, Brent Briscoe, Bruce Dern, Kristina Anapau
Drama Historical Sports

Winter Solstice

In this suburban drama, a widower (played by Anthony LaPaglia) confronts his older son's (played by Aaron Stanford) decision to leave home and his younger son's self-destructive behavior.
Mark Webber, Josh Sternfeld, Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford, Allison Janney
Drama
101 mins

Fever Pitch PG-13

A contemporary romantic comedy about a high school teacher who meets and falls in love with a successful businesswoman. Although their lives are vastly different, the relationship seems perfect until the baseball season begins and she has to compete with his first true love: the Boston Red Sox.
Jimmy Fallon, Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farelly, Gil Netter, Drew Barrymore, Nancy Juvonen, Alan Greenspan, Bradley Thomas
Comedy Sports

It's All About Love R

"It's All About Love" takes place in the near future and tells the story of a couple fighting for their love, and ultimately for their lives, in a world out of balance. John (Joaquin Phoenix) and the world famous ice skater Elena (Claire Danes) have a modern marriage and they have lived apart for several years, John in Poland and Elena mostly in New York. Time has made the distance between them grow, and eventually John goes to see Elena in New York to get her signature on their final divorce papers. Upon arriving in New York, John realizes that strange and unexpected things are happening around Elena. People he once knew as friends seem not to be friends after all. The love he thought was dead blossoms once more. And it's up to John to save Elena from her fate, if he can.
Joaquin Phoenix, Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov, Claire Danes, Sean Penn, Alun Armstrong, Margo Martindale, Harry Ditson
Drama Romance

Tuesday, September 13