| <--prev |
Summer Action
Liam Neeson (Batman Begins, Leap of Faith) plays a retired agent, trying to reconnect with his daughter (Maggie Grace: The Jane Austen Book Club, The Fog) in Taken. When she travels to Paris, she and her friend are abducted... which sends the father on a ruthless mission to rescue his daughter. Using the skills of his former trade, he tears through the Parisian underworld, ruthlessly working his way through anyone who may have a hand in his daughter's abduction, and showing no mercy to the people who've endangered his family.
A prequel for the popular Underworld series, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans fleshes out the mythological history of the series, as elder vampire Viktor (Bill Nighy: Love Actually, Notes on a Scandal) raises Lucian (Michael Sheen: The Four Feathers, Blood Diamond), the first werewolf that is able to take human form, and uses him to create an army of Lycans to guard them during daylight. A forbidden love between Lucian and Viktor's daughter Sonja (Rhona Mitra: Doomsday, Sweet Home Alabama) throws their world into chaos, and the Underworld's spark is set: the Lycan/Vampire wars. On DVD and Blu-Ray.
Supernatural Thrillers
Reprising her role as Samantha Darko, Daveigh Chase (Donnie Darko, The Ring) stars in S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale, as her road trip with a friend (Briana Evigan: Step Up 2: The Streets) is halted, and the two of them are left stranded in a small town. Samantha is haunted by prophetic dreams and visions of a future that may or may not exist, and she may be a key to repairing a hole in time and space. With Ed Westwick (Breaking and Entering, Son of Rambow) and James Lafferty (One Tree Hill, A Season on the Brink).
Andre Braugher (Frequency, The Mist) convinces therapist Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married, Get Smart) to work with the survivors of a plane crash in Passengers. When one survivor (Patrick Wilson: Hard Candy, Lakeview Terrace) begins behaving strangely, she begins to work with him outside of her survivors' group... but when members of the group begin to disappear, and an airline representative (David Morse: Disturbia, The Green Mile) asks her not to investigate the crash, she begins to suspect that there's something strange about the survivors' situation. With Clea DuVall (21 Grams, She's All That) and Dianne Wiest (The Lost Boys, Synecdoche New York).
Smaller Pictures
Jason Mewes (Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), Corin Nemec (Killer Bud, Drop Zone), and David Faustino (Kiss & Tell, MacArthur Park) star in High Hopes as three roommates trying to make an
independent film amid relationship troubles, unemployment, and big league acting auditions... but when a local drug dealer (Danny Trejo: Halloween, Con Air) is killed and several million dollars worth of marijuana are left unclaimed, the trio concoct a scheme to raise the money for their film almost immediately.
Lying puts Chloe Sevigny (Big Love, Zodiac), Jena Malone (The Go-Getter, Saved!), and Leelee Sobieski (88 Minutes, Joy Ride) together as strangers who leave New York begin to interact and become friends in the countryside. As one of them is slowly revealed to be a pathological liar, the film unfolds slowly as they re-evaluate their relationships to one another.
Based on real events, Kevin Bacon (Death Sentence, Sleepers) stars as Colonel Michael Strobl in Taking Chance, tasked with returning the deceased Chace Phelps home from Iraq. Originally screened at Sundance, the film examines the toll of a soldier's death on small town America. With Tom Aldredge (All the King's Men, Rounders), Nicholas Art (Syriana, The Nanny Diaries), and Blanche Baker (The Girl Next Door, Raw Deal).
Animated
Three more volumes of the Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films are new this week, including such Disney shorts as The Tortoise and the Hare, The Wind in the Willows, and The Reluctant Dragon.
Also new this week is the newest offering from animator Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad), Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, coming to DVD completely uncensored.
