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NEW MOVIES!  AUGUST 24 - AUGUST 30, 2010

ABANDONED (dir: Michael Feifer, PG-13) – This mediocre thriller is only noteworthy as Brittany Murphy’s final film. Forget about those last two final films – this is the final, final one.

^AJAMI (dir: Scandar Copti / Yaron Shani, Not Rated) – Not much Arab-Jew controversy here, just Muslims shooting Muslims in this acclaimed BOYZ IN THE HOOD-style gangland drama set in the Arab quarter of Jaffa, Israel.

THE ASSASSIN NEXT DOOR (dir: Danny Lerner, R) – Olga Kurylenko, former James Bond hottie, gets her very own action movie as the butt kicker of the title in this low budget thriller that was funded by the Russian mafia.
THE BACK-UP PLAN (dir: Alan Poul, PG-13) – Somebody reminded J.Lo that she hadn’t done a crappy romantic comedy in a while, so now we get this.

THE BAD MOTHER'S HANDBOOK (dir: Robin Shepperd, PG-13) – Catherine Tate, of “Am I bovvered?” fame, and Robert Pattinson, from those Mormon vampire movies, star in this British TV adaptation of the bestseller about dark family secrets.

CITY ISLAND (dir: Raymond De Felitta, PG-13) – Andy Garcia is a prison guard who is keeping his acting lessons secret from his family in this comedy-drama about how it’s not good to keep secrets from your family. 
DORIAN GRAY (dir: Oliver Parker, R) – The director who brought us AN IDEAL HUSBAND and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST dusts off another Oscar Wilde favorite and lets Colin Firth have a crack at it.

DREAM BOY (dir: James Bolton, R) – Based on Jim Grimsley’s acclaimed novel, this has been hailed as BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN set in high school. Only without cowboys, just the gay bits.

$5 A DAY (dir: Nigel Cole, PG-13) – After spending 5 years in development hell and 2 years in a studio vault, this conman comedy with Christopher Walken and Sharon Stone shows up at our front door in the hands of the director of SAVING GRACE, CALENDAR GIRLS and that Ashton Kutcher / Amanda Peet movie you forgot about.
FOUR SEASONS LODGE (dir: Andrew Jacobs, Not Rated) – An aging group of Holocaust survivors gather every summer in The Catskills to reminisce, stay connected and, surprisingly, party pretty hard. This documentary covers the action with the help of legendary cinematographer Albert Maysles.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD (dir: Ji-woon Kim, R) – You’ve never seen the Wild West quite like this. Because this is the west of 1930s Manchuria and you’re in the hands of goofy Korean director Kim Jee-woon.

GOSSIP GIRL: SEASON 3 (dir: Stephanie Savage, Not Rated) – Isn’t it about time for this show to suffer the fate of its predecessor, THE O.C., and disappear without anybody noticing?
GROWING OP (dir: Michael Melski, Not Rated) – There’s a marijuana leaf on the cover of this DVD. I don’t even need to describe the movie 'cause you stoners are going to inevitably be drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

LOST: SEASON 6 (dir: J.J. Abrams, Not Rated) – Trust me, don’t even bother. Just pretend the series ended with the nuclear explosion at the end of Season 5.

THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN (dir: Larry Blamire, Not Rated) – The cult of THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA never really caught on at our store, but its sequel, which is an even funnier spoof of cheesy monster movies from the 50s, might win a few converts.
LUCKY DAYS (dir: Angelica Torn / Tony Torn, Not Rated) – Rip Torn’s kids make a movie about an unusual family and let their father play somebody’s father. The late Paul Newman must have supported the film in some way in its early stages, since his name is all over the box.

OFF AND RUNNING (dir: Nicole Opper, Not Rated) – It’s mainstream America’s perfect nightmare in documentary form. Jewish lesbians raising a multi-ethnic family of adopted kids. The focus is on teenaged Avery, who gets curious about her African-American roots.

SKELLIG: THE OWL MAN (dir: Annabel Jankel, PG) – I don’t know what Tim Roth is doing in this HARRY POTTER rip-off but the title brings to mind the legendary Screecher of Bath. Have you heard about it? Six foot tall half-man half-owl that is heard screeching throughout Arrowsic and Bath? It’s for real.
*THE SQUARE (dir: Nash Edgerton, R) – This cynical noir from Down Under made a few noticeable waves here in The States. It’s got no style or memorable characters, but it's got enough clever plot twists to fill a dozen lesser films, so here’s your ticket to Hollywood, Nash Edgerton.

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD (dir: George A. Romero, R) – Romero’s latest zombie opus was panned by critics and audiences alike. But I say it can’t be any worse than DIARY OF THE DEAD.

TEMPLE GRANDIN (dir: Mick Jackson, Not Rated) – Claire Danes plays a real-life autistic chick who invented a less cruel way to kill animals in slaughterhouses in this acclaimed HBO film.

TIDAL WAVE (dir: Je-gyun Yun, R) – Kurt from River Bottom Video and I haven’t watched this awesome disaster movie about a monster wave wiping out South Korea yet. But when we do, we’re going to high-five a lot.

* = GREG's PICK OF THE week!         ^ = Bart's pick of the week!

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