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The quirks of the academic circle
Smart People is this weeks newest comedy, about an arrogant english professor (Dennis Quaid: In Good Company, Wilder Napalm), completely miserable with his life as a widower. His world gets more complicated when his slacker brother (Thomas Haden Church: Sideways, George of the Jungle) shows up to borrow money and convince his overachieving daughter (Ellen Page: Juno, Hard Candy) to loosen up, and more complicated still when he runs into one of his former students (Sarah Jessica Parker: The Family Stone, Sex in the City) who has always had a crush on her former professor. With a tagline like "sometimes the smartest people have the most to learn," Smart People follows closely behind recent releases like Dan in Real Life and P.S. I Love You.
Alan Rickman (Galaxy Quest, Sweeney Todd) stars in The Search for John Gissing, a film by writer/director Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger, Reign Over Me). Rickman plays John Gissing, a businessman whose new American consultant is being groomed to take over... but not one to go quietly, he sends the American on a series of detours and comic misadventures to make him reconsider his stay in England. Also starring Janeane Garofalo (Wet Hot American Summer, Mystery Men).
Family
CJ7 is the newest movie by Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer), this time playing a devoted father who can't spend enough time with his son because he has to work such long hours, but the boy finds a new companion in a cuddly extraterrestrial with miraculous powers.
Following the success of High School Musical, mTV pictures has released The American Mall, a teen musical set in the most sacred of teen hangouts: the mall. Focusing on a varied group of teens (including Autumn Reeser: Lost Boys: The Tribe, The Girl Next Door), their personal relationships, comedy, drama, and musical numbers.
Action!
Wesley Snipes (Blade, Murder at 1600) returns as Agent Neil Shaw in this week's sequel, Art of War: The Betrayal. Coming out of hiding to avenge the death of his mentor, he finds himself involved in a mystery where he could be the hero, the scapegoat, or the bait.
When Stephen Dorff (Botched, Blood and Wine) accidentally kills a burglar in his home, he loses everything and finds himself incarcerated with a brutal mass murderer (Val Kilmer: Deja Vu, Batman Forever) as his cellmate in Felon. Suffering under brutal guards and violent prisoners, becoming the toughest felon in prison may be the only way to survive.
Three beautiful college freshman have to balance their studies, their nighttime stripping job, and an action-adventure rescue mission in Ninja Cheerleaders. When their sensei (George Takei: Star Trek, Heroes) is kidnapped, they'll do whatever it takes the get him back.
the downbeat
David Duchovny (Full Frontal, Things We Lost in the Fire) stars in The Secret, a husband whose wife (Lili Taylor: Factotum, The Haunting) is suddenly killed in a car accident, which somehow puts her soul into the body of her teenage daughter (Olivia Thirlby: Juno, United 93). Originally hoping to just be able to say goodbye to her family, she starts to become immersed in her daughter's life, and learns more than she expected.
The Killing of John Lennon is the dramatization of the last few months of Mark Chapman's life before his assassination of John Lennon, and his obsession with The Catcher in the Rye, which served as his inspiration.
Two new documentaries are new this week. National Geographic's Aftermath: Population Zero investigates the course the world would take if there were no human beings left to maintain it, and anticipates the decay of roadways, buildings, and man-made geographies. Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File is an investigative documentary about former KGB and FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died of poisoning after providing incriminating information about his former employers.
New to Reckless Video's TV New Releases wall this week are the highly anticipated 5th season of The Wire, the third season of Prison Break, and season 11 of the indefatigable South Park. We also have a new BBC presentation of Charles Dickens movies, including David Copperfield with Ian McKellen (Cold Comfort Farm, Richard III) and a very young Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, December Boys), Dombey & Son with Julian Glover (Troy, The Empire Strikes Back), The Old Curiosity Shop with Natalie Ogle (The Importance of Being Earnest, Silas Marner), and The Pickwick Papers with Clive Swift (Excalibur, A Passage to India).
