New on DVD: Charlie Bartlett, In Bruges, Definitely Maybe

Charlie Bartlett [watch the trailer]
There was talk that this would be a very controversial film, what with its premise of a precocious teenager playing amateur psychiatrist and giving prescription drugs to various teenagers. Once Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose back around its initial release date, I thought this film would get a lot more attention and discussion, even though it’s a relatively innocuous take on it, and young Charlie Bartlett (the new Mr. Chekov Anton Yelchin) certainly learns his lesson for doing it. But someone had the bright idea to release this film on Oscar weekend, when nobody was really paying attention to new movies, so it was all drowned out by glitzy glamour (I’m not British, but ‘glamor’ is the kind of word that just should be spelled with the English ‘u’) and people wearing other people. Robert Downey Jr. as the stern authority figure might make some heads turn when they remember his past of substance abuse and his general penchant for playing rebels, but the man can do anything, and he’s the soul of the film, and it’s a compellingly tormented one at that.

Watch some Charlie Bartlett clips:
Meeting Susan
Ritalin Freakout
Bathroom Therapy
Passing Notes
The End of VIrginity
Watch an interview with Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr.

Persepolis [watch the trailer]
The stunning and beautiful Academy Award-nominated animated film about a young Iranian girl named Marjane who suffers under the Islamic Revolution, but eventually finds her way to freedom and artistic expression, while never forgetting her homeland.

In Bruges [watch the trailer]
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are hitmen forced to lay low in Bruges, Belgium, after a job goes awry, until their boss (Ralph Fiennes) decides exactly what to do with them. The review is here.

Definitely, Maybe [watch the trailer]
Ryan Reynolds is a political consultant and a father going through a divorce when his daughter (Abigail Breslin) starts to grill him about his love life, leading to a romantic mystery tale about three women he’d loved in the past: Emily the girl-next-door (Elizabeth Banks), April the apolitical confidante (Isla Fisher) and the ambitious and free-spirited Summer (Rachel Weisz).

Ryan Reynolds talks about the film.
Ryan, Elizabeth and Isla talk about the romance in the film.
The cast talks about acting at different time periods throughout the span of the film.
The cast talks about life lessons learned from the film.

The Spiderwick Chronicles [watch a clip]
A family movies from the big city into their uncle’s mansion, and when quirky disturbances start to occur, it’s up to the kids in the family to solve the mysteries of their new home.
Check out a deleted scene from The Spiderwick Chronicles.

10,000 B.C. [watch the trailer]
Roland Emmerich’s ridiculous take on human prehistory.