Best DVD & Blu-rays Released August 2012
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August 7 • August 14 • August 17 • August 18 • August 21 • August 28
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Despite warnings from the tree-loving Lorax, a greedy entrepreneur strips a forest of its stock of Truffula trees to manufacture clothing. The results are catastrophic as all the animals leave and nothing's left.
Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Chris Meledandri, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, Chris Renaud, Cinco Paul
Killing Bono
Two brothers attempt to become global rock stars but can only look on as old school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world.
Nick Hamm, Ben Barnes, Dick Clement, Krysten Ritter, Pete Postlethwaite
Warriors Of The Rainbow: Seediq Bale
Some eighty years ago, in the mountains of Taiwan, two races clashed in defense of their faiths. One believed in rainbows, the other believed in the sun. Neither side realized that they both believed in the same sky.
Te-Sheng Wei
Blue Like Jazz
In Blue Like Jazz, Don (Marshall Allman), a pious nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, impulsively decides to escape his evangelical upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at one ofthe most progressive campuses in America, Reed College in Portland. Upon arrival, Reed's surroundings and eccentric student body proves to be far different than he could possibly imagine from the environment from which he came, forcing him to embark on a journey of self-discovery to understand who he is and what he truly believes.
Tania Raymonde, Steve Taylor, Marshall Allman, Claire Holt
Girlfriend
A young man with Down's Syndrome romantically pursues a small town single mom who is still mixed up with her volatile ex-boyfriend.
Shannon Marie Woodward, Justin Lerner, Jackson Rathbone, Patch Mackenzie, Evan Sneider, Amanda Plummer
The Raid: Redemption
As a rookie member of an elite special-forces team, Rama (Iko Uwais) is instructed to hang back during a covert mission involving the extraction of a brutal crime lord from a rundown fifteen-story apartment block. But when a spotter blows their cover, boss Tama (Ray Sahetaphy) offers lifelong sanctuary to every killer, rapist and thief in the building in exchange fortheir heads. Now Rama must stand in for the team's fallen leader (Joe Taslim) and use every iota of his fighting strength - winding through every floor and every room to complete the mission and escape with his life.
Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais, Doni Alamsyah, Joe Taslim
Hick
The story is about a 13-year-old who runs away to Las Vegas after being abandoned by her parents in Nebraska. Along the way, the girl learns some truths about American society and the peril of her own sexual curiosity.
Juliette Lewis, Eddie Redmayne, Blake Lively, Derick Martini, Steven Siebert, Christian Taylor, Andrea Portes, Chloë Grace Moretz
Tonight You're Mine
An American pop star and British rock chick find themselves accidentally handcuffed together.
David MacKenzie, Luke Treadaway, Thomas Leveritt, Natalia Tena
Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment
The 100 year history of Israel's kibbutz movement. Can a radically socialist institution survive a new market-driven reality with its ideological integrity intact?
Toby Perl Freilich
Assassin's Bullet
When an unknown vigilante begins killing high-priority terrorists from America's Most Wanted list in Europe, a former FBI field agent (Christian Slater) is brought in by the US Ambassador (Donald Sutherland) to discover the identity of the assassin.
Isaac Florentine, Christian Slater, Donald Sutherland, Elika Portnoy, Timothy Spall
The Snowtown Murders
Based on a true story involving Australian serial killer John Bunting, the film follows a 16-year-old who begins a friendship with a charismatic older man. As the relationship grows, the teen finds his world threatened by both his loyalty for, and fear of, his newfound father-figure.
Shaun Grant, Sarah Shaw, Justin Kurzel, Anna McLeish, Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris
Art Is...The Permanent Revolution
Three contemporary American artists and a master printer help explain the dynamic sequences of social reality and protest. While their graphics sweep by, the making of an etching, a woodcut and a lithograph unfolds, as the contemporary artists join their illustrious predecessors in creating art of social engagement.
Manfred Kirchheimer
The Samaritan
Samuel L. Jackson plays Foley, a grifter trying to escape from his past having spent 20 years in prison. But he gets ensnared in the plans of a young protege and it becomes all too clear to Foley that some wrongs can never be made right.
Elan Mastai, David Weaver, Andras Hamori, Geoffrey Brandt, Mark Musselman, Samuel L. Jackson, Luke Kirby, Ruth Negga
The Hunger Games
Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year old from a poor territory that was once Appalachia, becomes a gladiator in a reality-show that is a battle to the death against other teens from the 12 districts of the former United States.
Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Gary Ross, Billy Ray, Josh Hutcherson, Dayo Okeniyi, Amandla Stenberg
Chimpanzee
This DisneyNature documentary spans 15 years as it follows a chimpanzee named Senengal and her journey from childhood to motherhood. Reflecting chimps' genetic closeness to humans, these animal subjects inject plenty of humor and drama into this remarkable film.
Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
The Dictator
Revolves around a goat herder and a deposed foreign dictator who gets lost in the United States.
Scott Rudin, Alec Berg, David Mandel, Sacha Baron Cohen, J.B. Smoove, Larry Charles, Jeff Schaffer, Jason Mantzoukas
Hide Away
Follows the story of a successful businessman (Josh Lucas) attempting to resurrect his life. Entering an idyllic harbor as a broken and haunted man, he buys and boards the dilapidated sailboat, Hesperus. Disturbed at night by unsettling dreams of his past, the boat becomes a beacon of hope as he begins the challenge of bringing back the shine to the tarnished vessel--and to his life.
Josh Lucas, Ayelet Zurer, James Cromwell, Chris Eyre, Jon Tenney, Taylor Nichols, Casey LaBow
Bernie
A Renaissance man-community leader-mortician Bernie strikes up an unlikely friendship with a wealthy but very particular widow. When he kills her, he goes to great lengths to maintain the illusion that she is still alive.
Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey, Richard Linklater, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Liz Glotzer, Ginger Sledge
I Am Bruce Lee
Features interviews with people who knew Bruce intimately, along with a broad array of international icons from the entertainment and athletic fields combined with rarely seen archival footage and classic photos.
Pete McCormack
Freelancers
The son of a slain NYPD officer joins the force, where he falls in with his father's former partner and a team of rogue cops.
Randall Emmett, Robert De Niro, Mark Canton, Beau Garrett, Daniel Wagner, Jessy Terrero, George Furla, Philippe Casseus
Virginia
A pariah to most in her small beach boardwalk town, Virginia was diagnosed early-on as a hair shy of mentally stable. Her closest friend and 15- year-old son, Emmett, is more father than son to his impulsive, ill-behaved mother. Their shared dream: to skip town for California. They've been packed for years. Mussing things up, we discover Emmett's father is likely the older married Mormon sheriff his mother's been having an affair with for decades, and whose daughter Emmett dreams of eloping with. But secrets have a way of not staying so secret, and circumstances surrounded by madness have a way of getting dire. In their bent world a perfectly reasonable solution arises: to rob Virginia Beach blind on the day the President of the United States pays a much-anticipated visit.
Yeardley Smith, Amy Madigan, Susan Johnson, Gus Van Sant, Ed Harris, Toby Jones, Dustin Lance Black, Michelle Weisler
Lovely Molly
The movie examines the thin line between demonic possession and psychosis. It begins with things that go bump in the night but slowly turns into a thriller about the evil power that exists inside one troubled young woman.
Alexandra Holden, Robin Cowie, Jamie Nash, Bob Eick, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Ken Arnold, Lauren Lakis
A Separation
Set in Contemporary Iran, Nader And Simin, A Separation is a compelling drama about the dissolution of a marriage. Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband Nader and daughter Termeh. Simin sues for divorce when Nader refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer-suffering father. Her request having failed, Simin goes back to her parents’, but Termeh decides to stay with Nader…
Asghar Farhadi
Weekend
On a Friday night after hanging out with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a nightclub, alone and on the pull. Just before closing, he meets Glen. And so begins a weekend that will resonate throughout their lives
Andrew Haigh, Tom Cullen, Chris New
Home Run Showdown
Two little league teams take on their coaches sibling rivalry, and end up doing battle in a place the baseball world never expected it: in the outfield of the Home Run Derby.
Dean Cain, Annabeth Gish, Oz Scott, Joe Gressis, Dena Hysell, John Bella, Tim Cavanaugh, Matthew Lillard
Battleship
Battleships fight on the open seas.
Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker, Taylor Kitsch, Sarah Aubrey, Brian Koppelman, Peter Berg, Bennett Schneir, Brian Goldner
The Lucky One
Logan Thibault (Zac Efron), a Marine, survives three tours in Iraq. He attributes his good fortune to a photograph he carried of a woman (Taylor Schilling) he has never met, and he sets out to meet his good-luck charm when he returns to North Carolina.
Zac Efron, Kevin McCormick, Blythe Danner, Scott Hicks, Denise DiNovi, Douglas McGrath, Will Fetters, Taylor Schilling
What to Expect When You're Expecting
Story will follow the relationships of four interconnected couples as they experience the thrills, terrors, surprises, aches and pains of preparing to embark on life’s biggest journey, parenthood.
Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Brooklyn Decker, Dennis Quaid, Kirk Jones, Shauna Cross, Chris Rock, Chace Crawford
Think Like a Man
An ensemble comedy about romantic relationships.
Sherri Shepherd, Wendy Williams, David A. Newman, Kevin Hart, Will Packer, Taraji Henson, Regina Hall, Michael Ealy
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
A group of swashbuckling pirates team up with different historical and fictional characters and attempt to help them in their adventures & travels.
Salma Hayek, Kevin Cecil, David Tennant, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, David Sproxton, Gideon Defoe, Brendan Gleeson
Moth Diaries
A teenage girl at a boarding girl suspects her roommate is a vampire.
Sarah Bolger, Mary Harron, Edward R. Pressman, Lily Cole, Scott Speedman, Sarah Gadon
The Highest Pass
Anand, a modern Indian yogi and guru, asks his student Adam to join him on a motorcycle expedition through the highest passes of the Indian Himalayas.
Jon Fitzgerald
Apartment 143
A team of parapsychologists sets out to investigate a series of anomalous phenomena taking place in a newly occupied apartment. Telephone calls with no caller, mysterious shadows, extraordinary light emissions, flying objects, and exploding light bulbs, are some of the events they will face while recording their every step with state-of-the-art technology. Using infra-red filming, digital photography, psychophonic recordings, movement detectors, and magnetic field alteration meters, the group's attempts to contact the "other side" will grow increasingly dangerous as they near a point of no return...
Fiona Glascott, Carles Torrens, Gia Mantegna, Rodrigo Cortés, Kai Lennox, Michael O'Keefe, Rick Gonzalez
Darling Companion
The film follows a woman (Keaton) who takes in a stray dog as a companion to fill the void left by her distracted husband (Kline), only to see him lose the mutt after a wedding at their vacation home in the Rockies. A search for the animal includes several guests and a mysterious young woman.
Elisabeth Moss, Mark Duplass, Sam Shepard, Lawrence Kasdan, Elizabeth Redleaf, Meg Kasdan, Kevin Kline, Richard Jenkins
I Heart Shakey
Single father J.T. and his precocious daughter Chandler move from a small town to Chicago with their lovable family mutt Shakey. After missing the fine print in their rental contract, J.T. is forced to find Shakey a new home. Chandler hatches a plan to keep Shakey and teach J.T. a valuable lesson about loyalty and the importance of keeping family together.
Beverly D'Angelo, Philippe Brenninkmeyer, Kevin Cooper, Eric Stolze, Steve Guttenberg, Steve Lemme, Alfonso Arau, Michael Yurchak
Monsieur Lazhar
Bachir Lazhar has emigrated from his native Algeria to Canada, where he is awaiting approval of his asylum application. When he is hired as a substitute teacher at a French-Canadian school, Bachir finds that he is often ill-equipped to deal with his new students and their shock over their previous teacher’s death.
Philippe Falardeau
Headhunters
An unscrupulous corporate headhunter is also a secret art thief.
Aksel Hennie, Morten Tyldum, Ulf Ryberg
Changing The Game
An intelligent young African-American man rises from the oppressive streets of North Philadelphia to become a shining star at Wall Street's most prestigious firm. However, he soon finds that the white-collar world is filled with crime and death just like the streets he left behind.
Rel Dowdell, Sticky Fingaz, Tony Todd, Irma P. Hall
L!fe Happens
Two best friends fight to maintain normalcy in their lives after one of the friends gets pregnant and has a baby.
Kate Bosworth, Justin Levine, Corbin Timbrook, Kat Coiro, Krysten Ritter, Rachel Bilson, David J. Phillips