New Releases on DVD – May 2008

Eagle vs Shark
When Lily, an oddball fast-food waitress and hopeless romantic, and Jarrod, another forsaken eccentric, connect at a ‘dress as your favorite animal’ party, it’s a match seemingly made in outcast heaven. Cast: Loren Horsley, Jemaine Clement, Brian Sergent, Rachel House, Craig Hall.
MPAA Rating: R.

The Golden Compass
In a wondrous parallel world where witches soar the skies and Ice Bears rule the frozen North, one special girl is destined to hold the fate of the universe in her hands. When Lyra Belacqua becomes the keeper of the Golden Compass, she discovers that her world and all those beyond are threatened by the secret plans of Mrs Coulter. With the help of Lord Asriel and a group of unlikely allies ready to stand at her side, Lyra embarks on an extraordinary quest that celebrates friendship and courage against all odds. Cast: Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliott, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Freddie Highmore, Kathy Bates, Kristin Scott Thomas, Daniel Craig. Based on the book “Northern lights” by Philip Pullman. Rated PG-13.

Good Luck Chuck
In order to keep the woman of his dreams from falling for another guy, Charlie Logan has to break the curse that has made him wildly popular with single women: Sleep with Charlie once, and the next man you meet will be your true love. Cast: Dane Cook, Jessica Alba, Dan Fogler.
Rated R

The Great Debaters
Inspired by a true story, Melvin B. Tolson is a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African American college students into an historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite. Cast: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker, John Heard, Kimberly Elise. Rated PG-13

The Invasion
Something terrifying has come to Earth, something that attacks us while we sleep and turns us into soulless replicants. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam, Jeffrey Wright. Based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. Rated PG-13

Love in the Time of Cholera
Florentino is a poetry-writing telegraph operator who lives in a Central American city. He spots the graceful Fermina while making his rounds, and finds himself in love. While Florentino’s mother encourages the courtship, Fermina’s father absolutely forbids it. Years pass, and the well-born Dr. Urbino treats Fermina for a case of cholera. When Urbino proposes, Fermina accepts. A distraught Florentino decides to wait. With the help of his uncle, he amasses wealth of his own. All the while, he drifts from woman to woman, never really finding what he is looking for in a woman. After five decades of waiting, he gets a second chance to win Fermina’s heart. Cast: Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Hector Elizondo, Liev Schreiber, Fernanda Montenegro, Laura Harring, John Leguizamo. Based on the novel by Gabriel García Marquez. Rated R

Mad Money
Bridget is a stay-at-home wife whose life as she knows it ends when her husband loses his cushy, high-paying job. Her college degree in literature does not help her find a substantial job, so she accepts a janitorial position at the Federal Reserve. There, she meets Nina and Jackie, who could use some spare scratch as well. Suddenly, it dawns on Bridget that the bank has plenty of what they need – money. The plan is to take the old bills that are headed for the shredder and recycle them back into the economy by spending it. Cast: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson, Stephen Root, Christopher McDonald, Adam Rothenberg. Rated PG-13

National Treasure Book of Secrets
When a missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth surfaces, Ben Gates’ great-great grandfather is suddenly implicated as a key conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In order to find a clue so that he can clear his family’s name, Ben must kidnap the President of the United States. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Bruce Greenwood, Helen Mirren.v Rated PG

Over Her Dead Body
When Kate is killed by an ice sculpture on her wedding day, her fiancé Henry gives up on romance until he falls for the beautiful psychic who’s supposed to be helping him move on. But Kate is not having any of it, and now she’s making it her heavenly duty to send their budding relationship six-feet-under. Cast: Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Lindsay Sloane, Jason Biggs. Rated PG-13

P.S. I Love You
Holly Kennedy is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life – a passionate, funny, and impetuous Irishman named Gerry. So when his life is taken by an illness, it takes the life out of Holly. Nobody knows Holly better than Gerry, so it’s a good thing he planned ahead. Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of letters that will guide her, not only through her grief, but in rediscovering herself. The first message arrives on Holly’s 30th birthday in the form of a cake and a tape recording from Gerry. In the weeks and months that follow, more letters from Gerry are delivered in surprising ways, each sending her on a new adventure and each signing off in the same way – P.S. I Love You. Holly’s mother and best friends begin to worry that Gerry’s letters are keeping Holly tied to the past, but in fact, each letter is pushing her further into a new future. Cast: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, Harry Connick, Jr., Gina Gershon, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kathy Bates. Based on the novel by Cecelia Ahern. Rated PG-13

Reservation Road
Two fathers are forced to live with the same tragedy in two very different ways after an incident that involves them both on the same road. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino. Rated R

27 Dresses
Jane is a romantic, completely selfless woman who’s been a happy, helpful bridesmaid no less than 27 times. But her own fairy-tale wedding seems to be nowhere in sight, until younger sister Tess captures the heart of Jane’s boss with whom she’s secretly in love. This inspires Jane to change her “always a bridesmaid” destiny. Cast: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Judy Greer, Edward Burns. MPAA rating: PG-13.