Week of April 28

by Philip Yu    April 27, 2009

In this week's new DVD releases, two sisters investigate their scary stepmother, clever kids create a hounddog hotel, and a hit conspiracy thriller comes to Blu-ray.

Pick of the Week

The Uninvited Elizabeth Banks stars as the scary stepmother-to-be in a terrifying psychological thriller from the producers of 'The Ring.' A remake of a hit Korean horror movie, it tells the tale of Anna, a girl who is driven by her mother's ghost to investigate her untimely death. When her father becomes engaged to Rachel, her mother's former nurse, Anna and her sister look into Rachel's past and begin to suspect that she is not what she seems. As horrifying truths are revealed, Anna and Rachel engage in a letal battle of wills with a shocking conclusion.

New on Blu-ray

The Da Vinci Code Just in the time for the theatrical release of the 'Angels & Demons,' a new extended cut of director Ron Howard's 'The Da Vinci Code,' with 28 minutes of never-seen-before footage, comes to Blu-ray. Based Dan Brown's international bestseller, Tom Hanks stars as symbologist Robert Langdon, who embarks on a heart-racing quest to solve a bizarre murder mystery connected to ancient secret society. A trail of symbols, codes and clues lead him closer to the truth -- a discovery that will unearth the biggest cover-up in human history.

Family Fun

Hotel for Dogs Dogs, dogs, and more dogs -- a hotel full of them! When their new guardians forbid Andi and Bruce to have a pet, they have to get creative fast and find a new home for their dog, Friday. The resourceful kids stumble upon an abandoned hotel, and using Bruce's talents as a mechanical genius, transform it into a magical dog-paradise for Friday -- and eventually for all of Friday's friends. But when barking dogs make the neighbors suspicious, they must use every invention they have to avoid anyone discovering "who let the dogs in."

Coming Next Week

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in this critically acclaimed drama about a man born under very "unusual circumstances." Adapted from the 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald story, Benjamin Button is born in his eighties and mysteriously ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. Directed by David Fincher, with award-winning, groundbreaking visual effects, the film is an epic tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the joys and romance of life and what lasts beyond time.