New Blu-Ray and DVD Releases for January 26, 2010

This Is It

Genre: Documentary, Music

MPAA Rating: PG

Studio: Columbia Pictures (Sony)

Director: Kenny Ortega

Screenwriter: None

Movie Website: ThisIsIt-movie.com

Actors/Actresses: Michael Jackson, Kenny Ortega, Travis Payne, Michael Bearden, Dorian Holley, Judith Hill, Orianthi, Tommy Organ, Bashiri Johnson

Plot Summary: “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London’s O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from April through June, 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. Audiences will be given a privileged and private look at Jackson as he has never been seen before. In raw and candid detail, “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show. Kenny Ortega, who was both Michael Jackson’s creative partner and the director of the stage show is also directing the film, which is being produced by Randy Phillips, Kenny Ortega and Paul Gongaware. Executive producers are John Branca and John McClain.

Saw VI

Genre: Horror, Thriller

MPAA Rating: R

Studio: Lionsgate

Director: Kevin Greutert

Screenwriter: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan

Trailer

Movie Website: Saw6film.com

Actors/Actresses: Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Peter Outerbridge

Plot Summary: Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw’s legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw’s grand scheme is finally understood.

Whip It

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Director: Drew Barrymore

Screenwriter: Shauna Cross

Trailer

Movie Website: Whip-It.net

Actors/Actresses: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Julieete Lewis, Eve, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern, Drew Barrymore

Plot Summary: “Whip It,” the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, stars Ellen Page (“Juno”) as Bliss, a rebellious Texas teen who throws in her small town beauty pageant crown for the rowdy world of roller derby. Marcia Gay Harden (“Mystic River,” “Pollock”) plays Bliss’ disapproving mother, while Kristen Wiig (“Saturday Night Live”) and Juliette Lewis (“Old School”) play roller-derby stars. Also starring Eve, Jimmy Fallon, and Daniel Stern.

Surrogates

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Studio: Touchstone Pictures (Disney)

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Screenwriter: Michael Ferris, John Brancato

Trailer

Movie Website: ChooseYourSurrogate.com

Actors/Actresses: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, James Francis Ginty, Boris Kodjoe, Ving Rhames

Plot Summary: FBI agents (Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves—fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles—enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The murder spawns a quest for answers: in a world of masks, who’s real and who can you trust?