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This Week’s DVD Releases: Mystery, Drama and… James Bond!

March 27, 2009

By Diana Srougi, staff writer


MONTREAL (RPRN) 27/03/09- This week, 007 is back and seeking revenge, a French inspector is tracking down a serial killer, and two teenagers try to make it on the streets. This week’s releases will please seekers of every genre.

Quantum of Solace

After having captured Mr. White in “Casino Royale”, agent 007 (again played by Daniel Craig) picks up where he left off in this exciting sequel entitled “Quantum of Solace”. This is the 22nd James Bond film, and the 2nd of a trilogy on Bond’s early days as an agent. This thriller was directed by Marc Forster, Golden Globe nominee for “Finding Neverland” in 2005, and director of the Oscar nominated film “The Kite Runner”. Paul Haggis (writer and director of “Crash”, the winning film for Best Motion Picture at the 2006 Academy Awards) wrote the screenplay alongside Neal Purvis (writer of “Die Another Day”). This sequel is based on a short story by Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond character. After delivering Mr. White to authorities, 007 must stop a nasty world-renowned environmentalist from taking over Bolivia’s resources. “Quantum of Solace” was nominated for two BAFTA Film awards for Best Sound and Best Special Visual Effects. It was also nominated for five Satellite awards, bringing home a prize for Best Original Song by Jack White. Forster’s film screened at the 2008 London Film Festival.

DVD release: March 24th 2009
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rating: 7.0/10

In the Electric Mist

“In the Electric Mist” came out on DVD in Canada this week, although it was released in the States in early March. World-renowned French director Bertrand Tavernier brings us his first English-language film, starring Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones and Golden Globe winner John Goodman. The screenplay, based on James Lee Burke’s novel “In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead”, was written by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski, writers of Sean Penn’s “The Pledge” (2001). This dramatic mystery is about inspector Dave Robicheaux’s search for a serial killer whose victims are very young women. After the discovery of yet another body, Robicheaux meets Elrod Sykes (Peter Sarsgaard), the actor in a film currently in production and financed by a well-known member of the local mafia, who might be linked to the case. “In the Electric Mist” was nominated for the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

DVD release (USA): March 3rd 2009
Distributor: Image Entertainment
Rating: 6.1/10

Gardens of the Night

“Gardens of the Night”, written and directed by Damian Harris (“Bad Company”, “Mercy”), stars two-time Academy Award nominee John Malkovich (recently seen in Coen brothers’ “Burn After Reading and Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling”), young actress Gillian Jacobs (“Choke”) and Tom Arnold (“True Lies”). This drama, based on two years of intensive research on the subjects of child abduction, mental abuse, foster care, and life on the streets, Harris tells the story of Leslie, a young girl who was taken away from her family and held captive by two horrible men. Nine years later, she is sent out to live on the streets with Donnie, her childhood friend and fellow victim (Evan Ross). Together, and with the help of a counselor, they must fight to survive, in spite of the memories of their turbulent past. “Gardens of the Night” was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival and for a Prism Award for Feature Film. It also earned a Critics Awards at the Deauville Film Festival, as well as a Coup de Coeur and a Prix Ciné Femme at the Mons International Festival of Love Films. It screened at many other film events, such as the Melboune International film Festival and the Lyon International Film Festival.

DVD Release: March 24th 2009
Distributor: City Lights Pictures
Rating: 7.0/10

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