Best DVD & Blu-rays Released January 2011
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January 1 • January 4 • January 11 • January 18 • January 25
Guzaarish
On the fourteenth anniversary of an accident that left him paralyzed, magician Ethan decides to seek control over his own life. He petitions the Court to end his life and leaves his nurse and companion Sofia in an impasse that challenges their relationship and their love.
Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Machete
He looked like just another day laborer from the streets, and the perfect fall guy for a crooked political assassination. But he turned out to be Machete (Danny Trejo), a legendary ex-federale with a deadly attitude and the skills to match.
Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Danny Trejo, Lindsay Lohan, Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis, Rick Schwartz
Case 39
"Case 39" is a horror film starring Renée Zellweger as family services social worker Emily Jenkins. Emily thinks she has seen it all until she meets her newest, most mysterious case, troubled 10-year old Lilith Sullivan (Jodelle Ferland). Emily's worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to kill Lilith, their only daughter. Emily saves her and decides to take her in herself until the right foster family comes along.
Bradley Cooper, Steve Golin, Kerry O'Malley, Callum Keith Rennie, Christian Alvart, Kevin Misher, Ray Wright, Renée Zellweger
Dinner for Schmucks
The story focuses on a weekly dinner party held by a Paris publisher who challenges his friends to bring the most pathetic guest to the gathering.
Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jay Roach, Ken Daurio, David Guion, Jon Vitti
The Last Exorcism
A troubled evangelical minister agrees to let his last exorcism be filmed by a documentary crew.
Caleb Landry Jones, Patrick Fabian, Huck Botko, Daniel Stamm, Eli Roth, Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Tom Bliss
Catfish
Nev, a 24-year-old New York-based photographer, has no idea what he's in for when Abby, an eight-year-old girl from rural Michigan, contacts him on Facebook, seeking permission to paint one of his photographs. When he receives her remarkable painting, Nev begins a friendship and correspondence with Abby's family. But things really get interesting when he develops a cyber-romance with Abby's attractive older sister, Megan, a musician and model. Prompted by some startling revelations about Megan, Nev and his buddies embark on a road trip in search of the truth.
Ariel Schulman, Brett Ratner, Henry Joost, Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Ryan Kavanaugh
Yellow Handkerchief
The story is about a convict released from prison for an old murder who is thinking about returning to his ex-wife and his former life.
Kristen Stewart, Eddie Redmayne, Udayan Prasad, William Hurt, Maria Bello
Ticking Clock
When an investigative reporter stumbles upon the journal of a murderer replete with plans to butcher specific people, he investigates on his own, and finds that every trail leads to a seemingly anonymous 9-year-old orphan living in a group home.
Neal McDonough, Cuba Gooding Jr., Austin Abrams, Ernie Barbarash, Brad Krevoy, John Turman
ZMDs: Zombies of Mass Destruction
"ZMD" is the story of a new government weapons program that drops zombies, designed to be photosensitive and dissolve by a set time, into war zones at night to destroy the enemy population. But after one fails to self-destruct in the Middle East, a team of elite soldiers must enter hostile territory to stop a growing zombie army.
Josh Feldman, Jake Weiner, Kevin Grevioux, Dirk Blackman, Howard McCain
The Social Network
On the Harvard campus in 2004, sophmore Mark Zuckerberg starts the social networking site, Facebook.
Michael De Luca, Kevin Spacey, Caleb Landry Jones, Rooney Mara, Scott Rudin, Aaron Sorkin, Andrew Garfield, Brenda Song
Alpha and Omega
What makes for the ultimate road trip? Hitchhiking, truck stops, angry bears, prickly porcupines and a golfing goose with a duck caddy. Just ask Kate and Humphrey, two wolves who are trying to get home after being taken by park rangers and shipped halfway across the country. Humphrey is an Omega wolf, whose days are about quick wit, snappy one-liners and hanging with his motley crew of fun-loving wolves and video-gaming squirrels. Kate is an Alpha: duty, discipline and sleek Lara Croft eye-popping moves fuel her fire. Humphrey’s motto – make ‘em laugh. Kate’s motto – I’m the boss. And they have a thousand miles to go. Back home rival wolf packs are on the march and conflict is brewing. Only Kate and Humphrey can restore the peace. But first, they have to survive each other.
Justin Long, Kevin Sussman, Anthony Bell, Ben Gluck, Ken Katsumoto, Richard Rich, Chris Denk, Steve Moore
Piranha 3D
The updated picture will take place at a spring break destination in Arizona when a tremor in the ground causes the lake to open up and release a group of ravenous piranhas.
Adam Scott, Riley Steele, Mark Canton, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames, Richard Dreyfuss, Kelly Brook, Alexandre Aja
Shake Hands with the Devil
General Romeo Dallaire's frustrated efforts to stop the Rwandan Genocide.
Roger Spottiswoode
Picture Me
A personal video diary charting model Sara Ziff’s rise from fresh face to one that adorns billboards. The film considers the demand for adolescent models, the pressure to stay thin, the abuse of drugs and the persistence of sexual harassment.
Ole Schell, Sara Ziff
Heartbreaker
Alex and his sister run a business to break up relationships. A rich man hires them to break up the wedding of his daughter that is in one week.
Pascal Chaumeil
The Virginity Hit
Follows four friends exploiting their teen sexuality for Internet popularity.
Will Ferrell, Huck Botko, Adam McKay, Matt Bennett, Jacob Davich, Zack Pearlman
Takers
The thriller casts Idris Elba as a member of a group of bank robbers enlisted in pulling off a $20 million heist. Matt Dillon stars as Los Angeles Det. Jack Welles, a troubled workaholic who pursues the robbers.
Zoe Saldana, John Luessenhop, Idris Elba, Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Glenn S. Gainor, Morris Chestnut, William Packer
Buried
Ryan Reynolds will star in "Buried", playing a civilian contractor who's kidnapped in Iraq and awakens buried in a coffin in the desert, armed only with a cell phone, a candle and a knife.
Ryan Reynolds, Warner Loughlin, Robert Paterson, Rodrigo Cortés, Chris Sparling, Samantha Mathis
Stone
Based on a play by "Junebug" screenwriter Angus MacLachlan. Robert De Niro will play a parole officer who develops a friendship with a teaching assistant.
Edward Norton, Robert De Niro, Milla Jovovich, John Curran, Angus MacLachlan, Frances Conroy
Jack Goes Boating
A stoner limo driver embarks on such missions as cooking and swimming lessons, and developls an unlikely relationship with another lovable loser.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Marc Turtletaub, John Ortiz
Death Race 2
Newly arrived at Terminal Island, a prison for the most nonredeemable of convicts, Carl "Luke" Lucas must prove his mettle in a race to the death.
Jeremy Bolt, Mike Elliott, Luke Goss, Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, Roel Reiné, Paul W.S. Anderson, Sean Bean
Down Terrace
A genre-bending portrait of a crime family.
Ben Wheatley, Robin Hill
The Freebie
Darren (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Aselton) have an enviable relationship built on love, trust and communication-they still enjoy each other's company and laugh at each other's jokes. Unfortunately, they can't remember the last time they had sex. They begin to flirt with an idea for a way to spice things up. The deal: one night of freedom, no strings attached, no questions asked.
Katie Aselton, Mark Duplass, Dax Shepard, Bellamy Young, Sean Nelson
Break Ke Baad
Abhay and Aaliya have known each other since they were four years old. Things come to a head when Aaliya decides to go to Australia to study and Abhay has to deal with the prospect of a long term relationship, secretly fearing that he will lose Aaliya forever. He takes a leap of faith and they decide to take this time off from each other to figure out what they want to do.
Danish Aslam
Paper Man
A once-successful novelist (Jeff Daniels), constantly attended by the imaginary superhero who has been his pal since he was a kid, struggles to recover what made him great while watching his marriage fail. He derives some inspiration from his platonic friendship with a Cape Cod high-school girl.
Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Lisa Kudrow, Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney, RIchard Gladstein, Guymon Casady, Jeff Daniels
Eichmann
Based upon the final confession of Adolf Eichmann, made before his execution in Israel as he accounts to Captain Avner Less, a young Israeli Police Officer, of his past as the architect of Hitler's plan for the final solution.
Robert Young, Snoo Wilson, Thomas Krestchmann
Lebanon
June, 1982 - The First Lebanon War. A lone tank and a paratroopers platoon are dispatched to search a hostile town - a simple mission that turns into a nightmare. The four members of a tank crew find themselves in a violent situation that they cannot contain. Motivated by fear and the basic instinct of survival, they desperately try not to lose themselves in the chaos of war.
Samuel Maoz, Yoav Donat, Michael Moshonov, Zohar Shtrauss, Dudu Tassa, Itay Tiran
Freakonomics
Based on the bestseller Freakonomics, where economist Steven D. Levitt uses statistics and theory to analyze pop culture.
Rachel Grady, Alex Gibney, Seth Gordon, Eugene Jarecki, Morgan Spurlock, Heidi Ewing, Chad Troutwine, Jeremy Chilnick
Animal Kingdom
The story of seventeen year-old Josh as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.
Guy Pearce, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, David Michôd, Liz Watts, James Frecheville
Secretariat
Based on "Secretariat," the 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse and its owner, Penny Chenery. Chenery was a mother and housewife who knew little about horses when she was pressed to take over her ailing father's horse farm in Virginia. Though Secretariat came along and began to take shape as a potential champion, Chenery was pressured to sell the farm after her father died and she was hit with a multimillion-dollar inheritance tax. She saved both the farm and the horse, and watched as Secretariat became the first thoroughbred to win the Triple Crown in 25 years, taking the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in dominating fashion. Chenery became known as the "first lady of racing."
Diane Lane, Scott Glenn, Mike Rich, Dylan Walsh, Otto Thorwarth, Carissa Capobianco, Graham McTavish, William Johnson
Red
A former black-ops CIA agent's quiet life in retirement is disrupted when a high-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his secret identity compromised and his love interest in danger, the man must reassemble his old team to figure out who is out to get them.
Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Mark Vahradian, Jon Hoeber, Helen Mirren, Richard Dreyfuss, Geoff Shaevitz, Robert Schwentke
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
In the final part of the Millennium Trilogy, Lisbeth Salander is hospitalized after meeting with her father. Mikael Blomqvist continues to uncover the reasons why Lisbeth has been treated harshly by the Swedish authorities.
Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Daniel Alfredson, Jonas Frykberg, Ulf Ryberg, Lena Endre, Peter Haber
Peepli Live
On the eve of national elections in the Indian village of Peepli, two poor farmers, Natha and Budhia, face losing their land over an unpaid government loan.
Anusha Rizvi, Mahmood Farooqui
Client 9
The rise and fall of New York Attorney Governor Elliot Spitzer, who rose to power as NY Attorney General prosecuting Wall Street corruption. His political downfall came when the public discovered his involvement in prostitution.
Alex Gibney
White Wedding
Elvis sets off from Johannesburg to travel the 1800 kilometers that lie between him and his bride to be. They are to be married on Saturday. Firrst stop is Durban by Greyhound, but he misses the bus, misses his bachelor party and then things get worse.
Jann Turner
Nowhere Boy
A biopic of a young John Lennon.
Thomas Sangster, Douglas Rae, Sam Taylor Wood, Kevin Loader, Matt Greenhalgh, Kristin Scott Thomas, Aaron Johnson, Anne-Marie Duff
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Biopic of Ian Dury who was crippled by polio at age 10 and told he would amount to nothing, but went on to become one of the founders of the British punk movement in the 1970s.
Ray Winstone, Olivia Williams, Toby Jones, Andy Serkis, Mat Whitecross, Paul Viragh, Naomie Harris, Mackenzie Crook
Enter the Void
Nathaniel Brown and Paz de la Huerta star in a visceral journey set against the thumping, neon club scene of Tokyo, which hurls the viewer into an astonishing trip through life, death, and the universally wonderful and horrible moments between.
Gaspar Noe, Nathaniel Brown
Open Season 3
The comedy begins when Boog’s pals choose their family obligations over the annual guy’s trip, and a disappointed Boog decides to take a trip on his own, which leads him right into the middle of a circus ring. When he switches places with a devious look-a-like circus grizzly and falls for an alluring Russian troupe member, he’ll come to realize that maybe you don’t have to choose between family and friendship after all.
Ciara Bravo, Joel McHale, Mike Epps, Cody Cameron, Kirk Bodyfelt, David I. Stern, Jane Krakowski, Billy Connolly
Adventures of Power
In his quest to become the world's greatest air-drummer, a small-town mine-worker must overcome obstacles and ridicule to save the day.
Michael McKean, Christopher Woodrow, Jane Lynch, Adrian Grenier, Gill Holland, Ari Gold, Andrea Sperling
Feed the Fish
The story follows the story of Joe “G.G.” Peterson, a burned-out kids book writer who’s approaching his mid-life crisis. With his career at a standstill and his relationship in shambles, he does what any self-respecting dreamer would do, he leaves town to go with his best buddy to do the Polar Bear Plunge in the dead of winter in northern Wisconsin. On his quest for escapism, he meets: Axel, an inspirational mentor; The Sheriff, an obsessed law enforcement professional; and Sif, his muse and a professional female hockey player.
Michael Matzdorff, Nick Langholff, Alison Abrohams, Tony Shalhoub, Seymour Cassel
Inhale
A district attorney uncovers nefarious activities while on a desperate search for a doctor to save his young daughter.
Dermot Mulroney, Baltasar Kormakur, Sam Shepard, Jordi Molla, John Claflin, Diane Kruger, Nathalie Marciano, Jennifer Kelly