DVD Releases for Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Aug. 24 2010, Published 9:15 a.m. ET
Ajami (Not Rated)
Crime, love, and loyalty mix with simmering racial tensions in this taut film about intersecting lives in a Tel Aviv neighborhood. Ajami weaves together the stories of four men with vastly different circumstances, from a young Israeli is up against a criminal vendetta against his family to a Palestinian refugee who’s working illegally to pay for a family member’s surgery. As their stories unfold and overlap, tensions rise until a tipping point that affects them all, for a compelling movie that scored an Oscar nomination. (Shahir Kabaha Omar, Ibrahim Frege Malek, Scandar Copti Binj)
Five Dollars a Day (PG-13)
With an all-star cast and dead-pan humor, Five Dollars a Day adds a new twist to the age-old story of fathers and sons who don’t get along. When a con-man dad convinces his button-down son to take him across the country, supposedly for medical care, the two set off for an unpredictable road trip. During a journey that includes a few quick getaways, scrounging for cash and encounters with bikini-clad ladies, they get down to some old-fashioned bonding, and find out the true meaning of family and forgiveness. (Christopher Walken Nat Parker, Alessandro Nivola Ritchie Flynn Parker, Amanda Peet Maggie)
Ninjas Vs. Zombies (Not Rated)
Get ready for doom and destruction, brimming over with blood and gore in a low-budget film that combines two cult genres for one, action-packed ride. The indie fave features seven friends in the doldrums of early adulthood. When a loved one rises from the dead and threatens to destroy their town with an army of zombies, three of the friends are granted ninja powers, and must lead to the fight against the forces of bloodthirsty evil. Throw in frequent cursing and a few women without clothes, and Ninjas Vs. Zombies offers a little something for the geek in all of us. (Daniel Ross Kyle, Cory Okouchi Cole)
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The Back-Up Plan (PG-13)
Leave it to Jennifer Lopez to put the sexy (and the booty) back in baby-making. Her recent taste of the big screen features the multi-hyphenate mogul as a single New Yorker who becomes impregnated through artificial insemination -- just hours before she meets hunky Stan, the man of her dreams. As things heat up between them, her growing belly and its implications (not to mention some fashion disasters) threaten to derail their picture-perfect pairing. Can their love overcome the inconvenient timing? (Jennifer Lopez Zoe, Alex O’Loughlin Stan)
The Square (R)
This edgy Australian thriller had critics raving when it arrived earlier this year with a dark tale of romance and intrigue that will keep you at the edge of your seat. In The Square, lovers Carla and Ray seem to have solved all their problems when they make a run for it with cash from Carla’s husband’s latest crime. But when a blackmail note arrives out of the blue, their moral and emotional limits are put to the test and their desperation hits fever pitch. (Joel Edgerton Billy, David Roberts Ray, Claire van der Boom Carla)