DVDs arrive in stores
Two compelling titles – a crime thriller (“Inside Man”) and a murder mystery (“Brick”) – are new to DVD outlets on this second weekend of August. The top DVD rental and sales titles are:
Best Renters
1. “Inside Man” (R) Grade: A-; with Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen in director Spike Lee’s excellent bank-heist tale that becomes a meditation on the class system, race relations, crimes of the past, blood money and personal responsibility.
2. “Brick” (R); Grade: B+; with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a neo-noir murder mystery set at a contemporary California high school and involving an intelligent student investigating the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
3. “V For Vendetta” (R); Grade: B; with Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving in the controversial 2020-set tale about a masked revolutionary who plans to blow up a British building in protest of the country’s corrupt, totalitarian government.
4. “The Shaggy Dog” (PG); Grade: B; with Tim Allen and Kristin Davis in a remake of the Walt Disney 1959 slapstick family comedy about a workaholic husband/father who turns into a collie due to an ancient spell.
5. “The Benchwarmers” (PG-13); Grade: C+; with Jon Heder, David Spade and Rob Schneider in a comedy about some failed adult athletes who challenge a Little League team to a game.
6. “Final Destination 3” (R); Grade: B-; with Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman in the third installment of the series about teenagers who learn they can’t cheat death.
7. “Chappelle’s Show: The Lost Episodes – Uncensored” (Unrated); Grade: B+; with the comic performing in some sketches he completed before leaving his show on Comedy Central.
8. “ATL” (PG-13); Grade: B; with Mykelti Williamson in a melodrama about four working-class Atlanta teens involved in hip-hop music and roller skating and worried about where their lives will go after high school.
9. “She’s the Man” (PG-13); Grade: B; with Amanda Bynes in a teen comedy about a girl who disguises herself as her brother to enroll at a prestigious boarding school.
10. “Failure to Launch” (PG-13); Grade: B-; with Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker in a lightweight romantic-comedy hit about a 36-year-old single guy who still lives at home and has no intention of leaving.
11. “Madea’s Family Reunion” (PG); Grade: B; with Tyler Perry again wearing a dress and wig to play his popular outspoken character. This time, the no-nonsense lady faces some problems as she prepares for a family reunion. Lynn Whitfield, Cicely Tyson and Dr. Maya Angelou co-star.
12. “Ultraviolet” (PG-13 and Unrated); Grade: D; with Milla Jovovich in a futuristic action tale about a rogue warrior who belongs to a vampire race marked for extinction by humans.
13. “Eight Below” (PG); Grade: B+; with Paul Walker and Jason Biggs in a fact-based adventure picture about an Antarctica expedition guide who is forced to leave his eight sled-dogs behind at a remote base due to a devastating storm and how they survive the elements.
14. “The Matador” (R); Grade: B; with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear in a darkly humorous, decidedly eccentric tale about an international hit man going through a mid-life crisis and suffering from panic attacks.
15. “The Libertine” (R); Grade: B-; with Johnny Depp going to the dark side in this long-delayed period piece about a 1675 British playboy/poet who devotes himself to pleasures of the flesh.
16. “Annapolis” (PG-13) C+; with James Franco and Tyrese Gibson in a military melodrama about a working-class guy who joins the physically punishing Naval Academy boxing team.
17. “Syriana” (R); Grade: A; with George Clooney (who won an Oscar as best-supporting actor for his performance), Jeffrey Wright, Matt Damon and Amanda Peet in a timely and chilling political thriller about the manipulation of oil prices in the Middle East and the corruption that surrounds it.
18. “16 Blocks” (PG-13); Grade: B-; with Bruce Willis, Mos Def and David Morse in an old-school action thriller about a burned-out cop protecting a marked-for-death witness on the mean streets of New York City.
19. “The Hills Have Eyes” (R and Unrated); Grade: B; with Ted Levine in a grisly remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 cult favorite about a mutant family preying on people who become lost in a remote area. Alexandre Aja, who put plenty of scares in “High Tension,” directed.
20. “Tsotsi” (R); Grade: A-; with Presley Chweneyagae in a South African import about a vicious young thug whose life changes after he carjacks a vehicle containing an infant for whom he assumes responsibility. The picture won an Oscar as best foreign-language film.
Best Sellers
1. “Inside Man” (R); Grade: A-; $29.99, DVD
2. “The Shaggy Dog” (PG); Grade: B; $29.99, DVD
3. “Brick” (R); Grade: B+; $28.99, DVD
4. “V For Vendetta” (R); Grade: B; $28.99, DVD; $34.99, special-edition DVD
5. “Chappelle’s Show: The Lost Episodes – Uncensored” (Unrated); Grade: B+; $24.99, DVD
6. “The Benchwarmers” (PG-13); Grade: C+; $28.99, DVD
7. “Final Destination 3: Two Disc-Thrill Ride Edition” (R); Grade: B-; $29.99, DVD
8. “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (PG-13); Grade: B; $19.99, DVD
9. “She’s the Man” (PG-13); Grade: B; $29.99, DVD
10. “ATL” (PG-13); Grade: B; $28.99, DVD
— partial source Video Business, wire-service and Web reports