New DVDs – December 2007

Alias: The Complete Fourth Season
When Sydney (Jennifer Garner) leaves the CIA to join a powerful new Black Ops unit, she has no idea of the reunion in store for her.

Alias: The Complete Fifth Season
Secret agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) returns to settle the score once and for all.

Amazing Grace
Based on the life of William Wilberforce and his perseverance to pass a law ending the slave trade in the late 18th century and the people who pushed him to pursue it to the end. Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Ciaran Hinds, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Albert Finney. Rated PG

Book of Stars
A story about the relationship between two sisters, Mary, a terminally ill but resilient 16-year old and Penny, a jaded ex-poet who doesn’t believe in her sister’s magical vision of life. It’s up to Mary to believe for both of them. Cast: Mary Stuart Masterson, Jena Malone, Karl Geary, D.B. Sweeney, Delroy Lindo. Not Rated

The Bourne Ultimatum
Bourne (Matt Damon) races to discover the final mysteries of his past while a government agent tries to track him down after a shootout in Moscow. Rated PG-13

The Christmas Blessing
A young doctor (Neil Patrick Harris) encounters romance and deals with his past when he returns to his hometown during the holidays. Not Rated

A Christmas Memory
In this adaptation of Truman Capote’s short story, a young boy who was abandoned by his parents is raised by some older unmarried cousins. Cast: Patty Duke, Piper Laurie, Jeffrey Demunn, Anita Gilette, Eric Lloyd. Not Rated

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
The widow McDowell and her seven-year-old son Thomas ask the gruff Jonathan Toomey, the best wood-carver in the valley, to carve the figures for a Christmas creche. Not Rated

The Christmas Shoes
A workaholic attorney (Rob Lowe) crosses paths with a young boy on Christmas Eve and rediscovers the true meaning of love, life, and the holiday season. Not Rated

Criminal Minds: The First Season
Join an elite team of FBI profilers as they analyze the country’s most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they can strike again. Cast: Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Lola Glaudini, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler. Not Rated

Deck the Halls
Two neighbors (Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito) go to war when one of them decides to decorate his house with so many Christmas lights that they are visible from space. Rated PG

Grey’s Anatomy: Season Three
A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of surgical interns and their supervisors at Seattle Grace Hospital.

Hairspray
A plump teenager girl teaches 1960s Baltimore about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show. Cast: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden. Rated PG

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Young Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) turns 15, and along with adolescence come changes, including his first major crush. Rated PG-13

Hidden Blessings
A female detective investigates the murder of the wife of a prominent architect. Even though the husband is the prime suspect of this seemingly open and shut case, the detective finds herself hopelessly falling in love with him. Not Rated

High School Musical 2 Extended Edition
During the summer vacations a talent show is organized in a local country club and Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad and Taylor take part in it. Rated TV G

The House Without a Christmas Tree
A young Nebraskan girl named Addie wants nothing more for the holidays than a Christmas tree. Her bitter, widowed father (Jason Robards) refuses, but slowly learns the spirit of the season. Not Rated

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Two Brooklyn firefighters (Kevin James & Adam Sandler) pretend to be gay so that they can receive domestic partner benefits. Rated PG-13

In the Land of Women
Heartbroken and depressed, Carter (Adam Brody) escapes L.A. to suburban Michigan to care for his sick grandmother. Rated PG-13

J.K. Rowling & the Birth of Harry Potter
This biographical film offers an insight into the author’s “rags to riches” story, exploring Rowling’s meteoric rise to fame as well as the people and places that shaped her as an author.  Not Rated

Jack Frost
A dead man’s spirit returns to his family in the form of a snowman. Cast: Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston. Rated PG

Live Free or Die Hard
John McClane (Bruce Willis) is back to take on an Internet-based terrorist organization who is systematically shutting down the United States. Rated PG-13

Lonely Hearts
A murderous couple finds their victims by answering personals ads in the newspaper. Resourceful detectives attempt to track them down. Cast: John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Scott Caan, Alice Krige, Laura Dern. Rated R

Lord of the Flies
Adaptation of William Golding’s novel about a group of English boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island. Without adult control, the boys regress to savagery. Rated R

Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon
Tom Hanks narrates this IMAX film that transports you to the lunar surface, where you can walk alongside the 12 extraordinary astronauts who have been there, experiencing what they saw, heard, and felt. Not Rated

Mr Bean’s Holiday: Disaster is Just a Small Step Away
Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a trip to Cannes where he unwittingly separates a young boy from his father and must help the two come back together. Rated PG

Midsomer Murders: Set 9
The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these British mysteries based on the novels of Caroline Graham and originally broadcast on A&E TV. Not Rated

The Namesake
The son of Indian immigrants born in America wants to fit in with fellow New Yorkers, but his family is unwilling to let go of their traditional ways. Based on the book by Jhumpa Lahiri. Rated PG-13

Neverwas
A psychiatrist (Aaron Eckhart) leaves an academic career behind to work at an institution where his novelist father lived before writing a renowned children’s book. Acclimating to his position, he befriends a schizophrenic man who helps him discover the book’s secrets. Rated PG-13

Ocean’s Thirteen
Danny Ocean and his band of thieves return, this time teaming up with their old nemesis, Terry Benedict. Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Bernie Mac, Al Pacino, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Ellen Barkin, Andy Garcia. Rated PG-13

Pathfinder
A Viking boy is raised by Native Americans and becomes a hero when his tribe fights the Norsemen. Rated R

The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
A demented doctor kidnaps an opera singer so that he can turn her into a mechanical nightingale. Not Rated

Pirates of the Caribbean at World’s End
Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Captain Barbossa must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.
Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Stellan Skarsgård, Bill Nighy, Chow Yun-Fat, Geoffrey Rush. Rated PG-13

Pittsburgh
Actor Jeff Goldblum stars in this fly-on-the-wall mockumentary in which he plays himself taking a career hit by playing Harold Hill in a regional theatre production of The Music Man. Not Rated

Planet Earth: the Complete Series
This BBC production presents footage from diverse parts of the earth, showing a variety of creatures in their natural habitats. Narrated by David Attenborough. Not Rated

Ratatouille
In this animated feature, a rodent with a fondness for good food moves to Paris in order to pursue his dream of becoming a great chef. Rated G

Rescue Dawn
Director Werner Herzog’s film about Dieter Dengler, a German pilot (Christian Bale) who joins the U.S. military, fights in Vietnam, and is captured by Vietcong guerillas. Based upon his documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Rated PG-13

Russian Bride
Natasha finds a new life through an Internet marriage agency, but her dreams are shattered in an abusive household. Rated R

Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Santa (Tim Allen) tries to juggle his family life with stopping Jack Frost, a cold foe who wants to put an end to Christmas. Rated G

The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton
The BBC-TV production based on the life of Isabella Beeton, author of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management and the most famous cookbook author in British history. Isabella was an accomplished business woman who couldn’t cook but ended up producing the world’s most famous recipe book. Not Rated

Severance
A team-building weekend in the mountains of Eastern Europe goes horribly wrong for the sales division of a multinational arms manufacturer. Rated R

Shrek The Third
King Shrek? Not if he can help it. When his father-in-law dies, Shrek does everything he can to stay out of the castle and stay in the swamp. Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz reprise their roles in this animated feature. Rated PG

Sicko
Filmmaker Michael Moore is back with a comedy about the state of the health care system the U.S. Rated PG-13

Slow Burn
A district attorney (Ray Liotta) is involved in a 24-hour showdown with a gang leader (LL Cool J) and is, at the same time, being manipulated by an attractive assistant district attorney (Jolene Blalock) and a cryptic stranger. Rated R

Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Four men, dressed in identical garb, separate a car from a subway train and demand that New York City pay them one million dollars in ransom. Cast: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo. Rated R

Tara Road
Two women (Andie MacDowell and Brenda Fricker), one American and one Irish, agree to a two-month house exchange in order to find healing and strength through new surroundings and the kindness of others. Rated PG

To Market To Market To Buy a Fat Pig
A celebration of market houses, market places, and farmers’ markets across the United States. Rick Sebak checks out crab cakes in Baltimore’s Lexington market, shops with a chef in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Farmers’ Market, and more. Not Rated

Transformers
Dueling alien races, the Autobots and the Decepticons, bring their battle to Earth, leaving the future of humankind hanging in the balance. Rated PG-13

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas
Set during the Great Depression, a 12-year-old girl is sent to live with her Aunt in the country where she enlists the town’s dogs into a colorful holiday pageant that reminds the inhabitants that even the hard times can’t ruin the magical spirit of Christmas. Rated G

The Up Series
A series of six films that, every seven years, visits fourteen individuals from different parts of England to examine the current state of their lives. The first film shows them at age 7; the sixth revisits twelve of the original at 42 in 1998. Not Rated

Vacancy
A couple (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) stranded at an isolated motel realize they are in the middle of horror film. Rated R

Waitress
When Jenna, a waitress in a cheery southern diner, discovers that she’s pregnant, she doesn’t exactly jump for joy. Cast: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Eddie Jemison, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith. Rated PG-13

The War: A Ken Burns Film
Tells the story of ordinary people in four quintessentially American towns – Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; and Luverne, Minnesota – and examines the ways in which the Second World War touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America. Not Rated

You Kill Me
A hit-man (Ben Kingsley) trying to turn his life around gets a job in a mortuary, where he meets a woman who is a relative of one his hits. Rated R