New DVD Releases for the Week of August 4 2009

Here is a list of the new DVD Releases for the week of August 4 2009 (for TV on DVD releases head over to Daemon's TV):

August

Synopsis: August centers on two brothers fighting to keep their start-up company afloat on Wall Street during August 2001, a month before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, Robin Tunney

Director: Austin Chick

Recommendations: I honestly had never heard of this movie before, but I'm going to rent it mostly because I like the cast.

Buy it: AUGUST on Amazon

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

Synopsis: Set in Pittsburgh in the early eighties, the story chronicles the last true summer of Art Bechstein's (JON FOSTER) youth. Stuck in a dead-end job working for his eccentric sometime girlfriend Phlox (MENA SUVARI), and forced into an endless series of airless dinners with his mobster father (NICK NOLTE), Art begins to believe that perhaps he doesn't even exist at all.
What begins as a mundane summer is quickly interrupted when he encounters a beautiful debutante (SIENNA MILLER) and her lusty, no good hoodlum of a boyfriend Cleveland (PETER SARSGAARD). Together they reveal a side of Art and Pittsburgh that he has never known.
As the summer boils on and their adventures darken, Art decides to risk everything to preserve his new-found paradise, and thrusts himself headlong into the blurring boundaries of family, friendship, and love.

Cast: Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sienna Miller, Nick Nolte, Mena Suvari

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Recommendations: I have been meaning to see this for a while, and have just added it to my Netflix queue.

Buy it: THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

Race to Witch Mountain

Synopsis: For years, stories have circulated about a secret place in the middle of the Nevada desert, known for unexplained phenomena and strange sightings. It is called Witch Mountain, and when a Las Vegas cab driver (DWAYNE JOHNSON) finds two teens with supernatural powers in his cab, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of an adventure he can't explain. When they discover that the only chance to save the world lies in unraveling the secrets of Witch Mountain, the race begins, as the government, mobsters and even extraterrestrials try to stop them.

Cast: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Ciaran Hinds, Alexander Ludwig, Carla Gugino, Garry Marshall

Director: Andy Fickman

Recommendations: I saw this in theaters and it was better than I thought it was going to be. I think it would make a good rentals especially if you have kids.

Buy it: RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

The Soloist

Synopsis: Based on the true story of musical prodigy Nathaniel Ayers, who developed schizophrenia in his second year at Juilliard and ended up homeless on the streets of downtown L.A. where he performs the violin and cello. The drama is based on the relationship the musician developed with Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times reporter whose column informed the script, as did a book Lopez is writing that Putnam will publish in the spring.

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener, Rachael Harris

Director: Joe Wright

Recommendations: I haven't seen The Soloist and a lot of it had to do with the movie getting bad reviews, but it's Robert Downey Jr., so I have to at least rent it.

Buy it: THE SOLOIST on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

Delgo

Synopsis: Delgo is an original tale set in a magical world combining action, humor and romance. A fantasy adventure film featuring epic battles, devious traitors, bizarre monsters, and thrilling aerial chases, Delgo is a ride audiences won't forget.
In this film a troubled youth and some unlikely friends must save the world from itself.

Cast: Val Kilmer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anne Bancroft, Chris Kattan, Louis Gossett Jr., Eric Idle, Kelly Ripa, Michael Clarke Duncan, Burt Reynolds, Malcolm McDowell, Sally Kellerman, Freddie Prinze Jr.

Director: Marc F. Adler, Jason Maurer

Recommendations: I don't really know anything about Delgo, and although I don't expect much from it, it could be something fun to watch on TV.

Buy it: DELGO on Amazon

Fragments

Synopsis: A group of strangers form a unique relationship with each other after surviving a random shooting at a Los Angeles diner.

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Forest Whitaker, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Guy Pearce

Director: Rowan Woods

Recommendations: I kind of want to see this based on the story and the cast.

Buy it: FRAGMENTS on Amazon

Mutant Chronicles

Synopsis: In the year 2707, war rages between earth's four giant corporations as they battle over the planet's dwindling resources. In an era marked by warfare and social regression, the earth is on the verge of ruin, destruction is everywhere; battles explode on every ravaged continent. Amidst heavy combat, an errant shell shatters an ancient buried seal releasing a horrific mutant army from its eternal prison deep within the earth. As the mutant scourge threatens human extinction, a single squad of soldiers descends into the earth to fulfill the ages-old prophesy of the MUTANT CHRONICLES and save mankind.

Cast: Thomas Jane, John Malkovich, Stephen Rea, Ron Perlman, Devon Aoki, Benno Fürmann, Sean Pertwee, Anna Walton

Director: Simon Hunter

Recommendations: I'll probably check out Mutant Chronicles on HBO or something mostly because of the cast.

Buy it: MUTANT CHRONICLES on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)

Obsessed

Synopsis: Derek Charles (Idris Elba), a successful asset manager who has just received a huge promotion, is blissfully happy in his career and in his marriage to the beautiful Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles). But when Lisa (Ali Larter), a temp worker, starts stalking Derek, all the things he's worked so hard for are placed in jeopardy.

Cast: Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles, Ali Larter

Director: Steve Shill

Recommendations: This just doesn't sound good to me at all.

Buy it: OBSESSED on Amazon (also available on Blu-ray)