Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 : DVD released on 4/15/2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I is a brooding, slower-paced film than its predecessors, the result of being just one half of the final story. Because the penultimate film is all buildup before the final showdown between the teen wizard and the evil Voldemort (which does not occur until The Deathly Hallows, Part II), Part I is a road-trip movie, a heist film, a lot of exposition, and more weight on its three young leads, who up until now were sufficiently supported by a revolving door of British thesps throughout the series. Now that all the action takes place outside Hogwarts--no more Potions classes, Gryffindor scarves, or Quidditch matches--Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione), and Rupert Grint (Ron) shoulder the film almost entirely on their own. After a near-fatal ambush by Voldemort's Death Eaters, the three embark on a quest to find and destroy the remaining five horcruxes (objects that store pieces of Voldemort's soul). Fortunately, as the story gets more grave--and parents should be warned, there are some scenes too frightening or adult for young children--so does the intensity. David Yates, who directed the Harry Potter films Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince, drags the second half a little, but right along with some of the slower moments are some touching surprises (Harry leading Hermione in a dance, the return of Dobby in a totally non-annoying way). Deathly Hallows, Part I will be the most confusing for those not familiar with the Potter lore, particularly in the shorthand way characters and terminology weave in and out. For the rest of us, though, watching these characters over the last decade and saying farewell to a few faces makes it all bittersweet that the end is near (indeed, an early scene in which Hermione casts a spell that makes her Muggle parents forget her existence, in case she doesn't return, is particularly emotional). Despite its challenges, Deathly Hallows, Part I

succeeds in what it's most meant to do: whet your appetite for the grand conclusion to the Harry Potter series.

• Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
  
• Directors: David Yates
  
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: April 15, 2011
• Run Time: 146 minutes

Special Features ;
-Exclusive sneak peek of an opening scene from the final film!
-Maximum Movie Mode: Join host Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) and several walk-on cast & crew guests to unravel the mysteries of the
Dark Lord’s past and discover the keys to his defeat before it is too late!
- Focus Points:
The Last Days of Privet Drive
Hagrid's Motorbike
Amazing (or) Magical Tents!
Deatheaters attack Cafe
Creating Dobby and Kreacher
Godric's Hollow
The Harry And Nagini Battle
The Frozen Lake
The Return of Griphook
-On the Green with Rupert, Tom, Oliver and James
-The Seven Harry’s
-Dan, Rupert, and Emma’s Running Competition
-Additional Scenes
-WaterTower Music HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1: Behind The Soundtrack

The Tourist : DVD released on 3/22/2011

Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie use their star power to help propel The Tourist to its ultimate, satisfying destination. It just takes a little while to get there. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others) sets a leisurely pace for The Tourist, which lets the film be equal parts mystery, romance, thriller, and comedy. But because of its lush cinematography and location-based shooting, The Tourist is perhaps first and foremost a valentine to the city of Venice. Jolie plays Elise, an international woman of mystery, somehow caught up with a glamorous thief who's double-crossed a gangster, Shaw (Steven Berkoff, splendidly menacing). On a train from Paris to Venice, Elise meets Frank (Depp), a schlumpy math teacher from Wisconsin on holiday. Before the train hits Venice, poor Frank has become entangled in a dangerous web that he can't begin to understand. As the plot unfolds, a group of stone-headed thugs dashes after Frank and Elise, darting through canals, across tile rooftops, and into some of the most beautiful hotel rooms in the world. The cinematography of John Seale and the score by James Newton Howard set an immersive tone. Depp and Jolie do a respectable job with their roles, though perhaps because of the mysteries in the plot, as a couple, Elise and Frank lack a certain oomph. But the supporting actors, including Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, and Rufus Sewell, are uniformly excellent, and the story (based on the French film Anthony Zimmer) wraps up nicely. Yet the true star of The Tourist is enchanting Venice--and anyone dreaming of a romantic getaway will not want to miss this trip.

• Actors: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie
• Directors: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Columbia Pictures
• DVD Release Date: March 22, 2011
• Run Time: 103 minutes

Inside Job : DVD released on 11/8/2011

As he did with the occupation of Iraq in No End in Sight, Charles Ferguson shines a light on the global financial crisis in Inside Job. Accompanied by narration from Matt Damon, Ferguson begins and ends in Iceland, a flourishing country that gave American-style banking a try--and paid the price. Then he looks at the spectacular rise and cataclysmic fall of deregulation in the United States. Unlike Alex Gibney's fiscal films, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Casino Jack, Ferguson builds his narrative around dozens of players, interviewing authors, bank managers, government ministers, and even a psychotherapist, who speaks to a culture that encourages Gordon Gekko-like behavior, but the number of those who declined to comment, like Alan Greenspan, is even larger. Though the director isn't as combative as Michael Moore, he asks tough questions and elicits squirms from several participants, notably former Treasury secretary David McCormick and Columbia dean Glenn Hubbard, George W. Bush's economic adviser. Their reactions are understandable, since the borders between Wall Street, Washington, and the Ivy League dissolved years ago; it's hard to know who to trust when conflicts of interest run rampant. If Ferguson takes Reagan and Bush to task for tax cuts that benefit the wealthy, he criticizes Clinton for encouraging derivatives and Obama for failing to deliver on the promise of reform. And in the category of unlikely heroes: former governor Eliot Spitzer, who fought against fraud as New York's attorney general.