November 2006 DVD & Blu-rays

After taking moviegoers magically into the realm of toys, bugs, monsters, fish, and superheroes, the masterful storytellers and technical wizards at Pixar Animation Studios and Academy Award-winning director John Lasseter, hit the road with a fast-paced comedy adventure set inside the world of cars. Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson), a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters –including Sally (a snazzy 2002 Porsche voiced by Bonnie Hunt), Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, voiced by Paul Newman), and Mater (a rusty but trusty tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) – who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship. The all-star vocal cast also includes free-wheeling performances by racing legend Richard Petty and. Fueled with plenty of humor, action, heartfelt drama, and amazing new technical feats, "Cars" is a high octane delight for moviegoers of all ages.

A man anxious to be a father mistakes an extremely short-statured, baby-faced criminal on the run as his newly adopted son.

In this computer-generated animated feature, on which Christopher Reeve was the original director before his passing, a boy travels across the country on a mission to return Babe Ruth's bat before the deciding game of the 1932 World Series. Along the way, he meets a quirky array of characters that aid him on his comic journey.

"Shadowboxer" centers on the unusual relationship between a mother and her stepson. The duo, who have a romantic relationship, work as contract killers. Bentley will play the lead villain on the hunt for the killer couple.

Set during the 12th century in the holy city of Jerusalem, a young Muslim peasant and blacksmith, Salaq Ul-Hul (Orlando Bloom), becomes a knight so that he may help repel the Crusaders who took control of the city in 1099. Meanwhile, the young knight also falls in love with the city's beautiful princess...

High school senior Bartleby "B" Gaines (Justin Long) is on his way to scoring eight out of eight rejection letters from colleges--which isn't going to go over big with Mom and Dad. At least he's not alone in the exclusion. Several of his crew of outcast friends are in the same, college-less boat. So...how does a guy facing a bleak career please his parents and get noticed by dream girl Monica (Blake Lively)?

Simple. Open his own university.

B and his band of misfit freshmen take "liberal" arts literally when they fool their parents and peers and create the esteemed South Harmon Institute of Technology. They clean up an abandoned psychiatric facility, employ a buddy's brilliant?but subversive—uncle (Lewis Black) as the dean and create a fake web site as their campus calling card. Bam! South Harmon, the alternative school of higher learning, is born.

Just as they are settling in, B and company realize they've done their jobs too well. Dozens of other college rejects show up for classes at this less-than-lofty institute. Under the scornful eyes of the privileged students from the neighboring college, B and his friends forge ahead with maintaining a fake, functioning university. Their efforts to explore alternative education result in a battle between the South Harmon co-eds and the "sister" school snobs.

With his future in the balance, it's going to take more than just sleight of hand to keep B out of jail as he strives to get the girl, impress his parents and just become... "Accepted".

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci—clues visible for all to see—yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret—and an explosive historical truth—will be lost forever.

The story follows the misadventures and confusion of a groom (Ed Burns) and his four groomsmen the week before a wedding. Wrestling with issues of fatherhood, honesty and growing up, the five thirtysomethings discover their extended adolescence might be finally coming to a close.

Based on a true story, the film recreates one Christmas night during WWI when enemies were able to lay aside their differences, visit each others trenches and celebrate the holiday.

It was among the fastest, most efficient production car ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV-1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?

"Who Killed the Electric Car?" chronicles the life and mysterious death of the EV-1; examining the cultural and economic ripple effects caused by its conception and how they reverberated through the halls of government and big business.

When three popular girls from different cliques discover they've all been dating the school stud, they band together to seek revenge. Despite the jerk's charm and ever-growing popularity, the girls cleverly scheme with the help of the inconspicuous new girl in town, to soil his reputation and break his heart.

In 1963, a 13-year-old baseball player falls under the spell of his fantastic coach John Jennings while playing on a Southern California Pony League baseball team. By the time the summer was over, Coach Jennings had robbed a string of 20 banks up and down the California coast, using the team's travel as cover.

Since bursting onto the scene in 1967, Leonard Cohen has inspired generations with his unique personality and haunting music, becoming one of the most original and enduring artists to emerge from the 1960s. Now, Lions Gate is proud to celebrate Cohen's legacy with director Lian Lunson's "Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man", an intimate look at the songs, poetry and life of one of music's most celebrated and influential troubadours.

In January, 2005, Lunson traveled to Sydney to film the historic "Came So Far For Beauty" show, a tribute to Leonard Cohen at the Sydney Opera House organized by famed music producer Hal Willner. "Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man" includes behind-the-scenes interviews and live performances from this event by Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Martha Wainwright, Beth Orton, Linda Thompson, Teddy Thompson, Jarvis Cocker, The Handsome Family, Julie Christensen and Perla Battala, as well as a special performance of "Tower of Song" by Cohen and U2. And in a series of candid interviews, Cohen himself reveals his trademark wry humor and soulful intensity, using his own artwork, poetry and personal collection of photographs to reflect upon his colorful past and his creative process.

Set in 1938, a loyal collie travels over 1,000 miles from northern Scotland to Yorkshire to return to her young friend. The dog, having been sold to a wealthy Duke because the boy's father was out of work, runs away and braves starvation and treacherous conditions to follow the pull of her heart toward the family who loves her.

While Skrat the Saber Toothed Squirrel is still ineffectually trying to regain his precious acorn, the misfit trio of Manny the Mammoth, Sid the Sloth and Diego the Sabretooth Tiger have settled down in an isolated valley with numerous other animals. However, the trio discover that the ice wall surrounding the valley is barely holding back a massive body of water behind it and it's melting state threatens to break and flood the valley. With their one chance of survival being a boat at the other end of the valley, the trio follow the desperate exodus there. Along the way, they meet Ellie, a female mammoth who is convinced she's a opossum like her brothers. While the strange group continues the trek, they must learn to get along even as Manny struggles to find some connection to this strange female who may be the only other one of his kind.

A group of South Central Los Angeles Hispanic teenagers do not conform to the hip-hop culture of their neighborhood, but instead ride skateboards and listen to punk rock. These kids take busses to Beverly Hills to skate and meet rich girls which leads to trouble with parents, police and boyfriends.

Carl and Molly Peterson (Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson) are just starting their new life together—complete with a cute house, boring neighbors, stable jobs and the routines of newlywed existence. There's just one unfortunate hitch in their perfectly constructed new world... And his name's Dupree.

Randy Dupree (Owen Wilson), Carl's oldest friend and perpetual bachelor, has found himself with nowhere to go after being fired. Carl yanks his jobless/homeless pal out of the bar he's living in and invites him to temporarily crash on the couch—that's just what friends do.

At first, Carl is quite pleased to have his good buddy as a permanent couch guest, while Molly bears the brunt of Dupree's immature antics. But, as Carl becomes buried in his grown-up job, he finds it harder and harder to juggle Dupree and his responsibilities as a husband. To make matters worse, Dupree uses his ample spare time to become a great companion for Molly. Even her dad (Michael Douglas) and the neighbors are falling for his carefree wisdom and charm—frustrating Carl to no end.

Soon, everyone (but Carl) begins to root for Dupree to stick around. But as Dupree starts to become a fixture in the Peterson's home, three becomes not just a crowd...but a full- blown, hilarious catastrophe.

A student journalist, for a college paper, visiting friends in contemporary London happens upon the scoop of a lifetime. Along the investigative trail, she finds magic, murder, mystery - and perhaps love, with a British aristocrat.

One night, Samson's (Sutherland) son, Ryan, accidentally causes a gazelle stampede. Father and son have a heated argument that leads to Ryan running away and hiding in an empty crate, without realising that it's in a truck marked "Return to the wild" - Africa. Samson and his friends take off into the real Wild, New York City and end up at New York harbour where they arrive just in time to see Ryan take off on a boat. Our rescue squad, commandeer a boat and head off to Africa after Ryan. Once in Africa, their adventure continues as they search for Ryan and encounter a herd of wildebeests who are bent on eating all of our zoo friends… except Nigel the koala (Eddie Izzard) who they believe is God-like. Our heroes lives, as well as Ryan's, now lie in Nigel's hands, or paws, but will he let his new-found fame go to his head.

The film weaves the science behind the issue of global warming with the former vice president Al Gore's personal history and longtime commitment to communicating the pressing need to reverse the effects of global climate change.

Jason Statham returns in his signature role: ex-Special Forces operative Frank Martin, aka "The Transporter." Now retired in Miami, Martin makes a living driving for a wealthy family, including twin brothers with whom he has unexpectedly bonded. But when the boys are abducted, Martin must use all his skills to bring them to safety and discover the kidnapper's master plan.

Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth in the epic action-adventure "Superman Returns", a soaring new chapter in the saga of one of the world's most beloved superheroes. While an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all, Superman faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has moved on with her life. Or has she? Superman's bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him. In an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction, Superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.

A group of county jail inmates are sent on a work release weekend to rehab an old hotel into housing for the homeless. They soon discover the secure hotel is not empty—and they are trapped in a madman's lair.

"The Ant Bully" is based on a book by John Nickle, which tells the tale of a young boy who floods an ant colony with his water-gun, and is magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to hard labor in the ruins. Before returning to half-pint stature, he comes to appreciate the selfless nature of the ants and learns a valuable lesson about tolerance and empathy.

From the imagination of Oscar-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola ("Lost in Translation") comes a vibrant retelling of the classic story of "Marie Antoinette", the naïve Austrian princess, who is thrown into the scandal-ridden world of the French aristocracy, when she is betrothed to King Louis XVI. While still a teenager, Marie Antoinette conquers her fears and becomes France's iconic queen. Marie Antoinette stars Kirsten Dunst in the title role with Jason Schwartzman as King Louis XVI. Other members of the ensemble, portraying various members of the elitist court of Versailles include Rip Torn (in the role of King Louis XV), Judy Davis (as the Comtesse de Noailles), Steve Coogan (as Mercy), Asia Argento (playing the Comtesse du Barry), Danny Huston (as Joseph), Rose Byrne (in the role of Polignac), Molly Shannon (as Aunt Victoire) and Shirley Henderson (as Aunt Sophie).

This documentary investigates the stories of the dozens of thousands of Jews who emigrated to Israel in 1948 from Iraq, making up 25% of the new nation's Hebrew population. Leaving an Iraq in the 1940s in which Jews lived in peace with Christian and Muslim neighbors, these emigres found themselves pitched into a new political environment in which they were not exactly welcomed, with Ben Gurion once saying of the Iraqi Jews, "We kicked out good Arabs and brought in bad Jews". Director Samir interviewed a quartet of elderly survivors from that time (who also happened to be Communists, which was another reason they were not welcomed), along with NYU film historian Ella Shohat, to make a film that combines their testimony with light-hearted fragments of the last 100 years of Jewish culture as documented in the movies, to demonstrate the sometimes thin, sometimes thick lines between Arabs, Jews, and those who have claim to both heritages (ie, the "Mizrahim", or Eastern Jews).