Top DVD Releases for the Week of November 25 2008

Here is a list of the DVD Releases for the week of November 18 2008:

Synopsis: There are heroes… there are superheroes… and then there's Hancock (Will Smith). With great power comes great responsibility – everyone knows that – everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock's well-intentioned heroics might get the job done and save countless lives, but always seem to leave jaw-dropping damage in their wake. The public has finally had enough – as grateful as they are to have their local hero, the good citizens of Los Angeles are wondering what they ever did to deserve this guy. Hancock isn't the kind of man who cares what other people think – until the day that he saves the life of PR executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), and the sardonic superhero begins to realize that he may have a vulnerable side after all. Facing that will be Hancock's greatest challenge yet – and a task that may prove impossible as Ray's wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), insists that he's a lost cause.

Cast: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman

Recommendations: Will Smith is just so committed in every movie he does, and I have to say, I enjoyed Hancock quite a bit. Based on that I think Hancock is definitely a Must Buy.

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Fred Claus

Synopsis: This is a story you've never heard before, a hilarious and heartwarming comedy about Fred Claus, Santa's brother - and complete opposite. After growing up in saintly Nick's shadow, Fred becomes a grouch who's lost his belief in Christmas. Then, one magical December, Fred flies north (first class via reindeer) to find brother Nick is in trouble: a scheming efficiency expert is out to shut down Christmas forever! Expect fun by the sleighful as Fred helps save Christmas and rediscovers the gift of family.

Cast: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey.

Recommendations: I thought it was a fun movie and with Christmas coming, it's a great one to rent.

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River Queen

Synopsis: New Zealand, 1868. Sarah O’Brien (Samantha Morton) has grown up among soldiers in a frontier garrison on Te Awa Nui, the Great River. Pregnant at 16 by a young Maori boy, she gives birth to a son. When, 7 years later, her son, Boy, is kidnapped by his Maori grandfather, Sarah is distraught.

Abandoned by her soldier father, Sarah’s life becomes a search for her son. Her only friend, Doyle (Kiefer Sutherland) is a broken-down soldier without the means to help her.

Lured to the ill rebel chief Te Kai Po’s village by the chance to see her child, Sarah finds herself falling in love with Boy’s uncle, Wiremu (Cliff Curtis) and increasingly drawn to the village way of life.

Using medical skills she learned from her father, Sarah heals Te Kai Po (Temuera Morrison) and begins to reconcile with her son (Rawiri Pene). But her idyllic time at the village is shattered when she realises that she has healed the chief only to hear him declare war on the Colonials, men she feels are her friends, her only family. Her desperation deepens when she realises that Boy intends to prove himself in war, refusing to go back down river with her.

As the conflict escalates Sarah finds herself at the centre of the storm, torn by the love she feels for Boy and Wiremu, anguished over the attachments she still has to the white man’s world, and sickened by the brutality she witnesses on either side.

And when the moment comes, Sarah must choose where she belongs; will she be forced back into the white man’s way of life, or will she have the courage to follow the instincts that are telling her where she truly belongs? (Source: Wikipedia)

Cast: Samantha Morton, Kiefer Sutherland, Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison, Anton Lesser, David Rawiri Pene, Stephen Rea

Recommendations: Kiefer Sutherland is in it, that's all I need to hear for me to take a look at it.

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Space Chimps

Synopsis: Blast off an out-of-this-world animated adventure the whole family will love! When Ham III, the slacker grandson of NASA's legendary chimpanzee astronaut, is recruited to help retrieve a lost space probe, he has a close encounter of the hilarious kind as he teams up with the lovely Lieutenant Luna and their by-the-book commander, Titan. But when the ship crash-lands on a strange planet, can this mismatched chimp crew work together to save the mission without driving one another bananas?

Recommendations: Monkeys in space? I'm gonna pass.

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Meet Dave

Synopsis: A massive fireball from space hits New York's Central Park and an ordinary man emerges unscathed. The man turns out to be a spaceship operated by 100 human-looking aliens who are one-quarter inch tall and seeking a way to save their planet; complications ensue when their captain falls in love with an Earth woman who's always picked losers for previous romances. (Source: Yahoo! Movies)

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms, Elizabeth Banks, Judah Friedlander

Recommendations: Apart from Shrek, what good movie has Eddie Murphy done lately?