Week of May 5

by Philip Yu    May 4, 2009

In this week's new DVD releases: a man mysteriously ages backwards, two lonely souls find each other, and an idealistic drifter falls on hard times.

Pick of the Week

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in the Academy Award-winning 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 dazzling, 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.

Lonely Souls

Last Chance Harvey Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson star in a romantic comedy about two lonely souls searching for something better. Harvey is a down-on-his-luck jingle writer who travels to London to attend his daughter's wedding, only to learn she's chosen to have her stepfather walk her down the aisle. Kate is a prickly British bureaucrat whose life is limited to work, the occasional humiliating blind date and endless phone calls from her smothering mother. Their chance meeting inspires a deep, unexpected connection that might just transform each other's lives.

You May Have Missed...

Wendy and Lucy Michelle Williams stars in an acclaimed indie drama about an idealistic young drifter, her faithful dog and the wide-open spaces of the Pacific Northwest. Wendy is driving to Alaska in the hopes of finding lucrative summer work at a fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. But when her car breaks down in Oregon, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far ranging repercussions for herself and Lucy.

Coming Next Week

Taken Liam Neeson stars as a former government operative whose worst fears are realized when his daughter is kidnapped in broad daylight while vacationing in Paris. Now, piecing together the clues of her final phone call, he embarks on the longest 96 hours of his life -- a dark and violent journey into the Paris underworld to find her. Armed with his special skills and experience as a black ops "preventer," he'll stop at nothing from saving his daughter... and make her abductors pay.