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Dvd release date: 02/23/2010

Starring: Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore
Director: Kirk Jones
Category: Drama
Rated: PG-13

Robert DeNiro leads an acclaimed all-star cast – Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell – in “Everybody’s Fine”, the heartwarming film that will move you to laughter and tears. When Frank Goode’s (DeNiro) grown children cancel a family reunion, the recent widower sets off on a cross-country journey to reconnect with each of them. Expecting to share in the joys of their happy, successful lives, his surprise visits reveal a picture that’s far from perfect. A family separated by physical and emotional distance finds a way to come together in a story that will touch your heart. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: *** (out of four)
USA Today: **1/2 (out of four)

Overall: *** (out of four)

Dvd release date: 02/23/2010

Starring: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Category: Thrillers
Rated: R

What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion. But before all that can happen, the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent. Unfortunately for the FBI, their lead witness hasn’t been quite so forthcoming about helping himself to the corporate coffers. Whitacre’s ever-changing account frustrates the agents (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) and threatens the case against ADM as it becomes almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is the product of Whitacre’s active imagination. Academy Award winner Matt Damon stars in “The Informant!”, based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history. The film also stars Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: ***1/2 (out of four)
USA Today: *** (out of four)

Overall: ***1/2 (out of four)

Dvd release date: 02/15/2010

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler
Director: F. Gary Gray
Category: Thrillers
Rated: R

When a home invasion robbery turns deadly, the lone survivor will stop at nothing to avenge his lost loved ones in “Law Abiding Citizen”, an explosive examination of blind justice from the director of “The Italian Job”. Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is an upstanding family man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered during a home invasion. When the killers are caught, Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx), a hotshot Philadelphia prosecutor, is assigned to the case. Nick offers one of the suspects a light sentence in exchange for testifying against his accomplice. Fast forward ten years. The man who got away with murder is found dead and Clyde Shelton coolly admits his guilt. Then issues a warning to Nick: Either fix the flawed justice system that failed his family, or key players in the trial will die. Soon Shelton follows through on his threats, orchestrating from his jail cell a string of spectacularly diabolical assassinations that can be neither predicted nor prevented. Philadelphia is gripped with fear as Shelton’s high-profile targets are slain one after another and the authorities are powerless to halt the terror. Only Nick can stop the killing, and to do so he must outwit this brilliant sociopath in a harrowing contest of wills in which even the smallest misstep means death. With his own family now in Shelton’s crosshairs, Nick finds himself in a desperate race against time facing a deadly adversary who seems always to be one step ahead. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: *1/2 (out of four)
New York Post: * (out of four)
USA Today: ** (out of four)

Overall: *1/2 (out of four)

Dvd release date: 02/09/2010

Starring: Vince Vaughn,Jason Bateman
Director: Peter Billingsley
Category: Comedy
Rated: PG-13

Vince Vaughn leads an all-star cast in the laugh-out-loud comedy about eight friends whose vacation in paradise is one they’ll never forget. Their group-rate vacation comes at a price when they discover that participation in the resort’s unconventional couples therapy activities is anything but optional. Co-starring Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Malin Akerman, “Couples Retreat” is a hilarious party in paradise, loaded with laughter and fun. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: ** (out of four)
USA Today: *1/2 (out of four)

Overall: ** (out of four)

Dvd release date: 02/09/2010

Starring: Sari Lennick, Michael Stuhlbarg
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Category: Comedy
Rated: R

Imaginatively exploring questions of faith, familial responsibility, delinquent behavior, dental phenomena, academia, mortality, and Judaism – and intersections thereof – “A Serious Man” is the new film from Academy Award winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen who brought you “The Big Lebowski”, “Fargo”, “No Country For Old Men” and “Burn After Reading”. “A Serious Man” is the story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry’s unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny (Aaron Wolff) is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry’s chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person – a mensch – a serious man. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: **** (out of four)
New York Post: **** (out of four)
USA Today: ***1/2 (out of four)

Overall: **** (out of four)

Dvd release date: 02/02/2010

Starring: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere
Director: Mira Nair
Category: Drama
Rated: PG

Two-time Academy Award Winner Hilary Swank delivers an unforgettable performance as Amelia Earhart, the legendary American aviatrix who boldly flew into the annals of history. Richard Gere co-stars as her charismatic business partner and adoring husband George Putnam. Bound by ambition and love, their enduring marriage could not be broken by Amelia’s determination to fly – nor her passionate affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). Equal parts gripping drama, stirring romance and epic adventure, “Amelia” will take your breath away and send your spirit soaring. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: ** (out of four)
New York Post: ** (out of four)
USA Today: **1/2 (out of four)

Overall: ** (out of four)

Dvd release date: 02/02/2010

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Category: Horror
Rated: R

Nerdy college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has survived the plague that has turned mankind into flesh-devouring zombies because he’s scared of just about everything. Gun-toting, Twinkie-loving Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) has no fears. Together, they are about to stare down their most horrifying challenge yet: each other’s company. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin co-star in this double-hitting, head-smashing comedy. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: ***1/2 (out of four)
New York Post: *** (out of four)

Overall: ***1/2 (out of four)

Dvd release date: 01/26/2010

Starring: Michael Jackson
Director: Kenny Ortega
Category: Documentary
Rated: PG

“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” is a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts at London’s 02 Arena. Chronicling the months from April through June 2009, this film was produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. In raw and candid detail, “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his planned final London shows. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: *** (out of four)
New York Post: * (out of four)
Rolling Stone: ***1/2 (out of four)
USA Today: *** (out of four)

Overall: **1/2 (out of four)

Dvd release date: 01/26/2010

Starring: Ellen Page, Jimmy Fallon
Director: Drew Barrymore
Category: Comedy
Rated: PG-13

The directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, stars Ellen Page (“Juno”) as Bliss, a rebellious Texas teen who throws in her small town beauty pageant crown for the rowdy world of roller derby. Marcia Gay Harden (“Mystic River”, “Pollock”) plays Bliss’ disapproving mother, while Kristen Wiig (“Saturday Night Live”) and Juliette Lewis (“Old School”) play roller-derby stars. Also starring Eve, Jimmy Fallon and Daniel Stern. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: *** (out of four)
New York Post: ***1/2 (out of four)
Rolling Stone: **1/2 (out of four)
USA Today: ** (out of four)

Overall: *** (out of four)

Dvd release date: 01/19/2009

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner
Director: Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson
Category: Comedy
Rated: PG-13

From Ricky Gervais, the award-winning creator and star of the original BBC series “The Office” and HBO’s “Extras”, comes the new romantic comedy “The Invention of Lying”. “The Invention of Lying” takes place in an alternate reality in which lying – even the concept of a lie – does not exist. Everyone – from politicians to advertisers to the man and woman on the street – speaks the truth and nothing but the truth with no thought of the consequences. But when a down-on-his-luck loser named Mark (Gervais) suddenly develops the ability to lie, he finds that dishonesty has its rewards. In a world where every word is assumed to be the absolute truth, Mark easily lies his way to fame and fortune. But lies have a way of spreading, and Mark begins to realize that things are getting a little out of control when some of his tallest tales are being taken as, well, gospel. With the entire world now hanging on his every word, there is only one thing Mark has not been able to lie his way into: the heart of the woman he loves. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Chicago Tribune: *** (out of four)
New York Post: ** (out of four)
Rolling Stone: **1/2 (out of four)
USA Today: *** (out of four)

Overall: **1/2 (out of four)