****new release list no.202

Ah, what a day it was today! The day after Martin Luther King Day and Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America! I sat with Amy and the kids watching the show this morning, and I realized it was the first inauguration I’ve cared to watch since President Carter’s back in 1977. I was also struck with excitement knowing that my kids are growing up in a world where truly anyone can get elected president.

I walked up to Cortland afterwards, and I found the street bubbling with excitement. I ran into friends and we were literally gushing with respect for our new President. I kept feeling almost embarrassed to be so full of passion about him. I don’t think I have ever looked at a politician as a role model. But I am struck all the time by President Obama’s calmness, his sense of integrity, his patience and his intelligence.

And Mr. Bush? Well, we’ll see what history holds for him. I will keep my thoughts (mostly) to myself on this blog regarding him. Suffice to say, I won’t miss that moron.

Happy MLK Day everyone! Happy Inauguration Day! Did you hear the President say he would extend a hand to those who hate us if they are willing to unclench their fist to accept it? Words to live by…

Scroll on down to read about the movies.

Love and Kisses,
Ken

............//NEW RELEASES//............

AMERICAN EAST.
Drama.
Erick Avari/Sayed Badreya.
Directed by Hesham Issawi.
* A cultural crossroads occurs when a Middle Eastern man and a Jewish man open a restaurant.

CHARLIE & ME.
Drama/Family.
Tom Bosley/Jordy Benattar.
Directed by David Weaver.
* A 12-year old girl (Benattar) gets involved with helping her very ill grandfather.

THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI.
Drama.
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers/Radha Mitchell/Chow Yun-Fat/Michelle Yeoh.
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode.
* A British journalist (Rhys-Meyers) and an Australian nurse rescue a group of orphaned children in China during the Japanese occupation of the late 1930’s .

CHRIS ROCK: KILL THE MESSENGER.
Stand-up Comedy.
Chris Rock.

CITY OF EMBER.
Drama/Indie.
David Ryall/Bill Murray/Tim Robbins/Martin Landau.
Directed by Gil Kenan.
* From the popular book comes this film about a couple children trying to unwrap the mystery of their bizarre and beautiful underground city before their generator fails and plunges their existence into darkness.

CONFESSIONS OF AN ACTION STAR.
Comedy.
David Leitch/Angelina Jolie/Carrie-Anne Moss/Sean Young.
Directed by Brad Martin.
* A mockumentary about a former exotic dancer named Frank Sledge (Leitch) who becomes a super successful Hollywood stunt man.

DEAL.
Comedy.
William H. Macy/Meg Ryan/LL Cool J/Jason Ritter/Elliot Gould.
Directed by Steven Schacter.
* Strange comedy about a Hollywood producer on the downside who agrees to make his nephew’s film only to have one thing go wrong after the next.

EL NORTE.
Drama/Criterion.
Zaide Guttierez/David Villalpando.
Directed by Gregory Nava.
* Powerful 1983 film about a couple of Mayan Indian siblings from Guatemala who escape a massacre on their village and head north to the USA to try to start a new life.

THE EXPRESS: THE ERNIE DAVIS STORY.
Action/Sports.
Dennis Quaid/Robert Brown.
Directed by Gary Fleder.
* The story of Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy (College Football Athlete of the Year).

HENRY POOLE IS HERE.
Comedy/Drama.
Luke Wilson/Radha Mitchell/Adriana Barraza.
Directed by Mark Bellington.
* A story about hope and potential about a man who tries to run away from life and instead runs directly into its arms.

IGOR.****ALSO IN BLU-RAY****
Animation/Comedy.
John Cusack/Steve Buscemi/Jeremy Priven/Molly Shannon/Christian Slater/Arsenio Hall/John Cleese.
Directed by Anthony Leondis.
* The story of a hunchbacked evil scientists assistant who wishes he could be the evil scientist that wins the big, uh, evil scientist contest.

KATT WILLIAMS PRESENTS: KATTHOUSE COMEDY.
Stand-up Comedy.
Katt Williams.

LA LEON.
Drama/LBGT/Foreign (Spanish).
Jorge Roman/Daniel Valenzuela.
Directed by Santiago Otheguy.
*Slow and burning Argentinean film about a gay man living a closeted life working in the river jungle of his country.

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.
Drama/Criterion.
Jane Wyman/Rock Hudson.
Directed by Douglas Sirk.
* A man survives an accident, but as he is saved another man dies as a direct result. The survivor finds himself examining his existence and trying to become like the deceased man.

MAX PAYNE.
Action/Crime/Videogame.
Mark Wahlberg/Mila Kunis/Beau Bridges/Chris O’Donnell.
Directed by John Moore.
* Max Payne (Wahlberg) is a DEA agent whose family has been brutally murdered and is out for revenge .

OPIE GETS LAID.
Comedy/Indie.
James Ricardo/April Wade.
Directed by James Ricardo.
* Dude has never gotten any action at all, and suddenly is dating three very different women at once .

PALO PINTO GOLD.
Western.
Trent Willmon.
Directed by Anthony Henslee.
* A Texas Ranger turns bad and murders for gold! Is this the Alex Rodriguez story or what?.

SAW V.
Horror/Crime.
Costas Mandylor/Meagan Goode.
Directed by David Hackl.

SPY SCHOOL.
Family/Adventure.
Forrest Landis/AnnaSophia Robb.
Directed by Mark Blutman.
* Thomas (Landis) is a kid who can’t tell the truth, so of course no one believes him when he hears about a plot to kidnap the President’s daughter…So it is up to him to save her himself!

VACANCY 2.
Horror/Suspense.
Agnes Bruckner/Trevor Wright.
Directed by Eric Bross.
* Rooms are still available.

............//DOCUMENTARY//............

IT’S A VINYL WORLD AFTERALL.
Documentary.
* Are you a vinyl guy? I know there are many out there. This film will teach you everything you need to know about cleaning, storing, handling and collecting your amazing vinyl music collection .

MGM: WHEN THE LION ROARS.
Documentary.
Directed by Frank Martin.
Narrated by Patrick Stewart.
* The history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios including amazing archival footage featuring many famous movie stars, producers and directors.

PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE.
Rock-Doc.
Directed by Steven Sebring.
* If you are a fan, you must see this film about the wonderful recording artist, performance artist and poet. If you are not a fan, perhaps watching this film will convert you.

SPUTNIK MANIA.
Documentary.
Directed by David Hoffman.
Narrated by Liev Schreiber
* The inside tale of the launch of Sputnik and how close the world came to nuclear disaster fifty years ago.

............//TELEVISION//............

MI-5: VOLUME 6.
Television/Action.
Peter Firth.
* British tv series about the intelligence organization called MI-5. Interestingly enough, the same show is called SPOOKS in England.

MOONLIGHT: COMPLETE 1ST SEASON.
Television/Drama/Fantasy/Vampire.
* The story of a vampire working as a private investigator who is in love with a non-vampire woman.

............// KIDS//............

BACK AT THE BARNYARD: COWMAN UDDERED AVENGER.

BERENSTAIN BEARS: KINDNESS CARING AND SHARING.

THE GREAT POLAR BEAR ADVENTURE.

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