November 6, 2007

Stretching Out

Seeming almost like a response to The Incredibles excellence-by-birthright, the second Brad Bird/Pixar collaboration contends that excellence can be found in the most extraordinary places: Ratatouille gives a rat, Remy, a talent for cooking and a desire to be more than is expected of him. Featuring the voice talent of Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, Venus) and Janeane Garofalo (Dogma, The Laramie Project), Pixar has created another G-rated picture that is both smart and funny, with compelling characters and gorgeous animation. Also new this week is the Pixar Short Films Collection, bringing Pixar's acclaimed shorts (many aired in theaters before Pixar features) to DVD.

Adam Sandler (50 First Dates, Reign Over Me) and Kevin James (Hitch) put a gay-marriage twist on the Pretending To Be Married™ storyline in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, as two straight men feign couplehood to ensure a pension. Andy Dick (Reality Bites, The Hebrew Hammer) writes, directs, and stars in Danny Roane: First Time Director, a mockumentary about a down-on-his-luck actor whose comeback movie pushes him over the edge.

Getting a jump on the December rush, we have two Christmas movies on the wall: Deck The Halls stars Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Stepford Wives) and Danny DeVito (Death to Smoochy, L.A. Confidential) as neighbors trying to one-up each other and "win" Christmas. A family man sets out researching and setting up Father Christmas, hoping he can capture the man and prove his existence in Stalking Santa.

Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11) has released his newest documentary, Sicko, a look into the application of the healthcare system in the United States, and how it compares to the rest of the world. Our newest IMAX documentary is Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon, offering NASA footage of the moon and narration by Tom Hanks (Bachelor Party, Splash). Seven of the world's top surfers appear in the documentary The Forgotten Coast as they travel to Indonesia to find the world's most incredible undiscovered waves.

The newest picture by Korean auteur Kim Ki-Duk (3-Iron, The Isle) is Time, a film about the modern era's obsession with youthful physical perfection, where a jilted woman attains a new face and loses her identity.Four Sheets to the Wind is the story of an Oklahoma Indian who, after burying his father, has to come to understand both his father, his culture, love, and death. Centered around a documented 1931 trial, Heavens Fall is the story of nine young black men pulled off an Alabama freight train, accused of rape, quickly tried and convicted, and the attorney who fought their appeal.

BBC's smash hit, the modern continuation of the classic Doctor Who, has just released their third season, newly available this week. Also releasing their third season, Bravo has made available the newest issue of their popular Project Runway. Political Satirist Stephen Colbert appears in a Best Of his award winning Colbert Report, and we have the complete final season of the legendary situation comedy Seinfeld. We have the first season of HBO's Flight of the Conchords, a subtle musical comedy out of New Zealand, as well as the complete Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the newest show created by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Sports Night). Finally, we have the first season of The Slayers, our first new anime series in a while, an action/comedy fantasy series that should be quite a turn from our recent, darker anime acquisitions, like Gilgamesh and Witchhunter Robin (now in our Anime section).