Me Without You (DVD)
ME WITHOUT YOU, directed by Sandra Goldbacher (THE GOVERNESS), follows two girls who promise to be best friends forever. Marina (Anna Friel) is troubled, extroverted, and the product of a broken home, while Holly (Michelle Williams) is a quiet girl who escapes from her overprotective family into a world of books, music, and imagination. As the girls grow up together, their paths diverge but they cling to each other as the one constant in each other`s life. Holly also secretly has a strong attraction to Marina`s older brother, Nat (Oliver Milburn). Eventually Holly comes to feel trapped by Marina`s possessive, controlling friendship, and she realizes that being with Nat is the only way to truly be herself.
Filmed with close attention to period detail, Goldbacher anchors each phase of Holly and Marina`s friendship with clothes, production design, and especially music, meant to evoke life in Britain from the 1970s and `80s. From Punk and New Wave to the more materialistic Thatcherite era, Friel and Williams portray two girls desperately trying to keep up with the pace of their lives and the world around them. Ultimately, they have to discover how to be both the girls they were together and the women they have become individually.R"
Director: Sandra Goldbacher
ACTORS: Michelle Williams, Anna Friel, Kyle MacLachlan, Oliver Milburn, Trudie Styler
The Thin Red Line (DVD) Fox War Classics Terrence Malick returns to Hollywood after a two-decade hiatus with this adaptation of the classic WWII novel by James Jones. The story follows the efforts of an army platoon to capture the Japanese-controlled island o...
Terrence Malick returns to Hollywood after a two-decade hiatus with this adaptation of the classic WWII novel by James Jones. The story follows the efforts of an army platoon to capture the Japanese-controlled island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific Ocean, which will have a major effect on the outcome of the war. The members of C-for-Charlie Company are all fighting for different reasons: Some to achieve glory, some to fight for democracy, and some simply to remain alive. They spend the quieter moments reflecting upon their existence, searching for meaning amid the senselessness of war.
Malicks reputation as one of cinemas most brilliant directors, based on his masterworks BADLANDS and DAYS OF HEAVEN, enabled him to pull together one of the largest ensemble all-star casts in Hollywood history. The result is a sprawling epic that carries itself like a poem read in a dream, a feeling that is greatly enhanced by John Tolls floating camerawork and Hans Zimmers haunting score. Rather than concentrating solely on the violence and destruction of war, Malick uses the situation to address philosophical questions such as man versus nature, war versus peace, and good versus evil. THE THIN RED LINE proves that after a 20-year layoff, Malick hasn`t lost a step.
R"
Director: Terrence Malick
ACTORS: Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Ben Chaplin, Elias Koteas
Campus Man (DVD)
When enterprising college student and athlete Todd Barrett (John Dye) comes up $10,000 short of his tuition, he decides to market a calendar of Arizona State`s top male athletes to female classmates. Todd`s enterprise takes the campus by storm, bringing him excess cash, but he winds up threatening his dreams of Olympic gold and exploiting and alienating his best buddies in the process. Based on a true story.PG"
Director: Ron Casden
ACTORS: John Dye, Steve Lyon, Morgan Fairchild, Kim Delaney, Kathleen Wilhoite
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & the Island of Misfit Toys (DVD)
Right up there with Santa Claus as the most loveable children`s Christmas figure, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is both an entertaining and inspiring character. This animated musical tells the story of the adorable and heroic reindeer and the problems he must tackle when he and Santa come upon an island of toys who just won`t behave. With the voices of famous actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Rick Moranis, and Richard Dreyfuss, this animated Christmas musical is a delightful, heartwarming tale that captures the holiday spirit.NR"
Best Laid Plans (DVD) Special Edition Nick (Nivola) and Lissa (Witherspoon) are in love but dying to get out of their hometown of Tropico. When Nick is offered a shady job that would pay enough for the couple to leave, he jumps at the opportunity, but thing...
Nick (Nivola) and Lissa (Witherspoon) are in love but dying to get out of their hometown of Tropico. When Nick is offered a shady job that would pay enough for the couple to leave, he jumps at the opportunity, but things go wrong and Nick gets in trouble with the local drug dealer. Nick and Lissa then plan to scam the money they need from an old friend, Bryce (Brolin) but once again, things don`t go as planned. A twisty neo-noir with plot turns galore.
R"
Director: Mike Barker
ACTORS: Alessandro Nivola, Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin, Rocky Carroll, Michael G. Hagerty
