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August 2nd - 08th Downloads
& DVDs
 

  • Mother’s Day:

    This fine little movie, directed by Garry Marshall (Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley) actually fares better when it’s not attached to the day of the year that it celebrates.  In theatres, it had to struggle with the fact that Mother’s Day is not a happy occasion for every person – families that are estranged, separated by distance, divorce, or death – but as a DVD or on-demand release at a different time of year, you can separate out some of the emotion, and just appreciate the stories that spin out – Jennifer Aniston is a newly-divorced mom challenged by her ex’s new relationship and how it relates to her kids; Kate Hudson and her sister (Sara Chalke) have a surprise for their mother, of a sexual preference and racial choice challenge, and so it goes.  Each story is a delight, and the movie works at many levels.  Easy to recommend for any audience (except children, of course. Rated 14A.

  • Keanu:

    Not Keanu Reeves at all – Keanu is a cat who is at the centre of this story – a kitten really, who shows up at the door, is adopted on the spot, and then finds itself in the company of gangsters in the middle of a caper.  Now, the missing kitten is wanted both by its adoptive owners and the bad guys who found it in the middle of their heist.  Despite the very odd premise, this one did very well at the box office.  Stars include Method Man, Luiz Guzman, Will Forte and Nia Long.  Rated 14A.

  • The Lobster:

    Who is that heavy-set guy at the centre of the action of this sci-fi story?  Looks familiar.  Why, it’s Colin Farrell, who gained 40 pounds for this role as a man in a dystopian near-future society, where people of a certain age are forced to get together in a room for 45 days, and if something magical doesn’t happen in terms of their love live, they are turned into a variety of creatures and released into the forest.  Shot in and around Farrell’s home  of Dublin, Ireland, Rachel Weisz and Jason Clarke also star. A very odd movie.  Rated 14A.

  • The Social Network (2010):

    Jessie Eisenberg is excellent as facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  The story takes us back to Zuckerberg's university days where he and a partner outlined the basics of what would become the most dramatic social networking tool in history - to date anyway.  It's not all sweetness and light - Zuckerberg is a tough young man who knows what he wants and who knows what works and what doesn't, which creates significant turmoil among his partners and co-workers.  Lawsuits fly and so do the insults as facebook takes shape.  Rooney Mara and Justin Timberlake also star.  Rated 14A.

The Internship (2013):

Similar theme to The Social Network, but played completely for laughs.  Owen Wilson is Nick, and Vince Vaughan is Billy, two friends who have worked together as successful salesmen in the field of low-tech watches, which are being replaced, for Millennials, by their digital devices, thereby changing the business landscape.  Their company closes, cutting them loose in a high-tech world, with only their low-tech skills.  Not knowing what they are getting into when they get an opportunity to apprentice at Google, they are square pegs in round holes.  Some very funny moments ... and Google distanced itself from the movie by explaining after its release that they did not endorse it, and that much of what was shown never really happens.  It's pretty funny though!  Rose Byrne and Josh Gad also star.  Rated 14A.