DVD Releases
Big movies coming to the small screen
By Marni Weisz
MARCH 3
AUSTRALIA
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman
Director: Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!)
Story: Amid the breathtaking landscape of pre-WWII Australia, an English aristocrat (Kidman) and a rugged Aussie ranch hand (Jackman) bond while trying to keep her inheritance — a plot of land and a bunch of cattle — from falling into a rival’s hands. Then they have to deal with those invading Japanese forces.
DVD Extras: deleted scenes
MILK
Stars: Sean Penn, James Franco
Director: Gus Van Sant (Elephant)
Story: Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man to hold public office when he was elected to San Francisco’s City Council in the 1970s. This bio-pic begins with his assassination at the hands of a disturbed co-worker (Josh Brolin), and then darts back in time to tell his remarkable story of patience and perseverance.
DVD Extras: deleted scenes, “Remembering Harvey,” “Hollywood Comes to San Francisco”
SOUL MEN
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac
Director: Malcolm D. Lee (Roll Bounce)
Story: After a 20-year estrangement, a couple of bickering backup singers (Jackson, Mac) travel cross country together to attend a tribute concert for their group’s recently deceased lead singer. Sadly, Mac and co-star Isaac Hayes both died before the film was released.
DVD Extras: commentary, “A Tribute to Bernie Mac,” “A Tribute to Isaac Hayes,” “Bernie Mac at the Apollo”
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein
Director: Philippe Claudel (debut)
Story: Fresh from prison, Juliette (Scott Thomas) moves in with her sister Léa (Zylberstein) and Léa’s family. Adjusting to life on the outside isn’t easy for Juliette, especially since no one seems to want to talk about her conviction or the crime.
MARCH 10
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Stars: Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman
Director: Mike Leigh (Vera Drake)
Story: Hawkins earned all sorts of accolades for her performance as an unlikely optimist whose unrelenting sunny disposition can be a bit much for the people around her.
DVD Extras: commentary, “Happy in Character,” “Behind the Wheel of Happy-Go-Lucky”
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (left)
and Paul Rudd in Role Models
|
ROLE MODELS
Stars: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott
Director: David Wain (The Ten)
Story: After a particularly embarrassing driving mishap, a
couple of soft-drink reps (Rudd, Scott) are sentenced to volunteer for
a Big Brothers-type organization and slowly bond with their outcast
charges — a streetwise troublemaker (Bobb’e J. Thompson) and a
role-play-loving nerd (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).
DVD Extras: deleted scenes, alternate takes, bloopers, “Game On: Creating a Role-Playing World”
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt
Director: Jonathan Demme (Philadelphia)
Story: After 10 years spent in and out of rehab, recovering
addict Kym (Hathaway) attends her sister Rachel’s (DeWitt) wedding. But
just because Kym’s been clean for nine months doesn’t mean she won’t
make trouble.
DVD Extras: deleted scenes, “The Wedding Band,” “Cast and Crew Q&A,” commentary
|
MARCH 17
ELEGY
Stars: Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley
Director: Isabel Coixet (The Secret Life of Words)
Story: A horny old English prof (Kingsley) in the habit of seducing one student every semester finally meets his match in a Cuban-American hottie (Cruz).
MARCH 21
TWILIGHT
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
Director: Catherine Hardwicke (Lords of Dogtown)
Story: Who knew there were vampires living in glum, rainy Forks, Washington? Not Bella (Stewart), an Arizona teen who moves to Forks with her dad. Always a bit of a loner, Bella is quickly entranced by a sullen Forks lad named Edward (Pattinson). Why should the fact that he’s a 90-year-old member of the undead who feeds on the blood of animals keep them apart?
MARCH 24
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Stars: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko
Director: Marc Forster (The Kite Runner)
Story: Still reeling from the death of his lover Vesper Lynd, James Bond (Craig) discovers her killers are linked to the mysterious Quantum organization. With the help of a Bolivian babe (Kurylenko), he infiltrates said organization and goes after their leader, a faux environmentalist who has anything but good intentions toward the Earth.
DVD Extras: “Another Way to Die” music video