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Dvd release date: 03/02/2010

Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet
Director: Roland Emmerich
Category: Action & Adventure
Rated: PG-13

From Roland Emmerich, director of “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Independence Day”, comes the ultimate action-adventure film, exploding with groundbreaking special effects. As the world faces a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions, cities collapse and continents crumble. “2012″ brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors. Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

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

Overall: ** (out of four)

Dvd release date: 03/02/2010

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Armand Schultz
Director: Sophie Barthes
Category: Drama
Rated: PG-13

In this surreal comedy, Paul Giamatti plays an actor named… Paul Giamatti. Paul very well might have found the key to happiness for which he’s been searching, soul storage. But complications arise when he is the unfortunate victim of “soul trafficking.” Balancing a tightrope between deadpan humor and pathos, and reality and fantasy, “Cold Souls” is a true soul searching comedy. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

Rolling Stone: *** (out of four)
USA Today: *** (out of four)

Overall: *** (out of four)

Dvd release date: 03/02/2010

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Yuria Nara
Director: Hayao Miyazaki, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis
Category: Anime & Animation,
Rated: G

Welcome to a world where anything is possible! Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, “Spirited Away”) and legendary filmmaker John Lasseter together with Disney bring to life a heartwarming and imaginative telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship and discovery before Ponyo’s father, a powerful sorcerer, forces her to return to her home in the sea. But Ponyo’s desire to be human upsets the delicate balance of nature and triggers a gigantic storm. Only Ponyo’s mother, a beautiful sea goddess, can restore nature’s balance and make Ponyo’s dreams come true. “Ponyo” will delight your family with its magnificent animation and timeless story. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

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

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

Dvd release date: 03/02/2010

Starring: Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Spike Jonze
Category: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Rated: PG

Innovative director Spike Jonze collaborates with celebrated author Maurice Sendak to bring one of the most beloved books of all time to the big screen in “Where The Wild Things Are”, a classic story about childhood and the places we go to figure out the world we live in. The film tells the story of Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. Max lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions. The Wild Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as Max longs for a kingdom to rule. When Max is crowned king, he promises to create a place where everyone will be happy. Max soon finds, though, that ruling his kingdom is not so easy and his relationships there prove to be more complicated than he originally thought. (Publisher)

Summary of critic ratings:

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

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

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)