CONTRABAND
(Universal) Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Caleb Landry Jones, Lukas Haas, Diego Luna, J.K. Simmons, William Lucking. Directed by Baltasar Komakur
A former smuggler who had managed to escape the life of crime and go straight is drawn back in when his foolish brother-in-law screws up a drug deal and has to get rid of his cargo. Trying to make up for his brother-in-law’s foul-up not only brings him back into the life, but also puts his wife and sons into the crosshairs of the druglords and crooked cops who have a vested interest in his new cargo – counterfeit bills being smuggled in from Panama to New Orleans. He will have to rely on some very rusty skills if he is to see this thing through.
See the trailer, clips, promos, an interview and web-only content here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Action
Rating: R (for violence, pervasive language and brief drug use)
Beauty and the Beast 3D
(Disney) Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach. After a successful re-release of The Lion King last year, Disney once again moves to add a third dimension to another classic movie. While some (myself included) have bitched about the Mouse House squeezing every last dime from their classic films, it might be well to remember that they have had a history in the pre-home video days of periodically re-releasing their classics for those who haven’t seen it in a theater. Of course, they didn’t up-charge for those re-releases either…
See the trailer, clips, featurettes, music videos and a link to buy the movie at Amazon.com here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Animated Feature
Rating: G
Carnage
(Sony Classics) Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly. The latest from director Roman Polanski is based on an acclaimed stage play. When a child injures another child in a Brooklyn park, the parents get together to discuss the situation in a civilized and adult manner. However as the evening wears on, the veneer of civilization begins to dissolve and the “adults” prove to be worse than children.
See the trailer and clips here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Drama
Rating: R (for language)
The Iron Lady
(Weinstein) Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Roger Allam, Anthony Head. The story of Margaret Thatcher, one of the most powerful women of the 20th century and an icon of the conservative movement. Her era as Prime Minister is roughly concurrent to the Reagan years here and was very similar in many ways – neither Reagan nor Thatcher would have been considered leadership material and yet through savvy politicking and an understanding of what their electorates needed, both became influential in the world of the 1980s and their leadership, for good or not, still has ramifications in the world today.
See the trailer, a promo, a featurette and a clip here.
For more on the movie this is the website.
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Biographical Drama
Rating: PG-13 (for some violent images and brief nudity)
Joyful Noise
(Warner Brothers) Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Courtney B. Vance. Two feuding divas in a church choir find their tiff growing when one’s grandson falls for the other’s daughter. On top of it all, their choir is competing in the National Joyful Noise Competition and their community is counting on them to bring home the gold, which is hard to do when their best can’t agree on anything.
See the trailer and a clip here.
For more on the movie this is the website
Release formats: Standard
Genre: Musical
Rating: PG-13 (for some language including a sexual reference)
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