September 29, 2009 DVD Releases
September 29, 2009
Monsters vs Aliens
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Animation
MPAA Rating: PG
Studio: DreamWorks Animation (Paramount)
Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Screenwriter: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, Rob Letterman, Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Movie Website: MonstersvsAliens.com
Actors/Actresses: Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert, Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Rudd
Plot Summary: When California girl Susan Murphy is unwittingly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk on her wedding day, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall. Alerted to the threat of this new monster, the military jumps into action and Susan is captured and secreted away to a covert government compound. There, she is renamed Ginormica and placed in confinement with a ragtag group of other monsters: the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement is cut short, however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country. In a moment of desperation, The President is persuaded by General W.R. Monger to enlist the motley crew of Monsters to combat the Alien Robot and save the world from imminent destruction.
Shrink
Genre: Comedy, Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Roadside Attractions
Director: Jonas Pate
Screenwriter: Thomas Moffett
Movie Website: Shrinkthemovie.net
Actors/Actresses: Kevin Spacey, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Griffin Dunne, Robin Williams, Pell James, Robert Loggia, Keke Palmer, Laura Ramsey, Gore Vidal, Dallas Roberts, Mark Webber, Jesse Plemons, Ashley Greene
Plot Summary: What happens when the people we count on to hold us together… are barely holding it together themselves? Jonas Pate’s “Shrink” is a striking, fast-paced exposé of the “other” Hollywood, featuring folks living outside their comfort zone and the people who put them there. Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) is a psychiatrist with an A-list clientele, including a once-famous actress (Saffron Burrows), an insecure young writer (Mark Webber), and a comically obsessive-compulsive superagent (Dallas Roberts). Henry is not in a good place, however. He has been asked to take his first pro bono case, a troubled teenage girl from a neighborhood far from the Hollywood hills. Considering his present state of mind, is he ready for the real-life troubles of a young woman who loves the world of movies he has become so jaded by? At its core, “Shrink” is a study of control and our endless need for it, even when it grows increasingly impossible to obtain. Writer Thomas Moffett uses classic archetypes in this modern Hollywood tale, but never pushes them over the edge of credibility. Performed by a well-matched cast at the top of their form, the result is both satisfying and exhilarating. Watching “Shrink” makes us feel like voyeurs looking through a window into the lives of people who look great, feel worse, and end up behaving badly.
Away We Go
Genre: Comedy, Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Focus Features
Director: Sam Mendes
Screenwriter: Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida
Movie Website: FilminFocus.com
Actors/Actresses: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Chris Messina, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Schneider, Carmen Ejogo, Jim Gaffigan, Josh Hamilton, Melanie Lynskey
Plot Summary: Directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”) from an original screenplay by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, this funny and heartfelt film follows the journey of an expectant couple (John Krasinski ["The Office"] and Maya Rudolph ["Saturday Night Live"]), as they travel the U.S. in search of the perfect place to put down roots and raise their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover “home” on their own terms for the first time. The movie features the music of Alexi Murdoch.
Management
Genre: Comedy, Romance
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Director: Stephen Belber
Screenwriter: Stephen Belber
Movie Website: Managementfilm.com
Actors/Actresses: Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Woody Harrelson
Plot Summary: “Management” is a romantic comedy that chronicles a chance meeting between Mike Cranshaw (Steve Zahn) and Sue Claussen (Jennifer Aniston). When Sue checks into the roadside motel owned by Mike’s parents in Arizona, what starts with a bottle of wine “compliments of management” soon evolves into a multi-layered, cross-country journey of two people looking for a sense of purpose. Mike, an aimless dreamer, bets it all on a trip to Sue’s workplace in Maryland – only to find that she has no place for him in her carefully ordered life. Buttoned down and obsessed with making a difference in the world, Sue goes back to her yogurt mogul ex-boyfriend Jango (Woody Harrelson), who promises her a chance to head his charity operations. But having found something worth fighting for, Mike pits his hopes against Sue’s practicality, and the two embark on a twisted, bumpy, freeing journey to discover that their place in the world just might be together.
The Girlfriend Experience
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Actors/Actresses: Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Glenn Kenney, Peter Zizzo
Plot Summary: Set in the weeks leading up to the 2008 presidential election, “The Girlfriend Experience” is five days in the life of Chelsea (adult film star Sasha Grey in her mainstream film debut), an ultra high-end Manhattan call girl who offers more than sex to her clients, but companionship and conversation – “the girlfriend experience.” Chelsea thinks she has her life totally under control—she feels her future is secure because she runs her own business her own way, makes $2000 an hour, and has a devoted boyfriend (Chris Santos) who accepts her lifestyle. But when you’re in the business of meeting people, you never know who you’re going to meet…
The twentieth film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh, “The Girlfriend Experience” is a sexy, gorgeously shot time capsule from the not-too-distant past.
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