Judd Apatow Cult comic actor Steve Carell—long adored for his supporting work on The Daily Show and in movies like Bruce Almighty and Anchorman—leaps into leading man status with The 40 Year-Old Virgin. There's no point describing the plot; it's about how a 40 year-old virgin named Andy (Carell) finally finds true love and gets laid. Along the way, there are very funny scenes involving being coached by his friends, speed dating, being propositioned by his female manager, and getting his chest waxed. Carell finds both humor and humanity in Andy, and the supporting cast includes some standout comic work from Paul Rudd (Clueless, The Shape of Things) and Jane Lynch (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind), as well as an unusually straight performance from Catherine Keener (Lovely & Amazing, Being John Malkovich). And yet... something about the movie misses the mark. It skirts around the topic of male sexual anxiety, mining it for easy jokes, but never really digs into anything that would make the men in the audience actually squirm—and it's a lot less funny as a result. Nonetheless, there are many great bits, and Carell deserves the chance to shine. —Bret Fetzer

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/14/2008 Run time: 215 minutes

Paul Greengrass, Doug Liman Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/27/2009

Joel and Ethan Coen Columbia Pictures Burn After Reading WS on Blu-Ray Disc

David Twohy Bigger isn't always better, but for anyone who enjoyed Pitch Black, a nominal sequel like The Chronicles of Riddick should prove adequately entertaining. Writer-director David Twohy returns with expansive sets, detailed costumes, an army of CGI effects artists, and the star he helped launch—Vin Diesel—bearing his franchise burden quite nicely as he reprises his title role. The Furian renegade Riddick has another bounty on his head, but when he escapes from his mercenary captors, he's plunged into an epic-scale war waged by the Necromongers. A fascist master race led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), they're determined to conquer all enemies in their quest for the Underverse, the appeal of which is largely unexplained (since Twohy is presumably reserving details for subsequent "chronicles"). With tissue-thin plotting, scant character development, and skimpy roles that waste the talents of Thandie Newton (as a Necromonger conspirator) and Judi Dench (as a wispy "Elemental" priestess), Twohy's back in the B-movie territory he started in (with The Arrival), brought to vivid life on a vast digital landscape with the conceptual allure of a lavish graphic novel. But does Riddick have leadership skills on his resumé? To get an answer to that question, sci-fi fans will welcome another sequel.

Paul W.S. Anderson Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 12/19/2008

Neil Marshall, Andrew MacRitchie Loud, violent, and proudly derivative, the post-apocalyptic action-thriller Doomsday is the latest from UK cult director Neil Marshall, who impressed horror fans with his previous efforts, Dog Soldiers and The Descent. Both pictures established Marshall as a director with a knack for reinventing well-worn genre pictures, but here, he seems more interested in stitching together favorite scenes and elements from established horror and science-fiction films. Escape from New York is the main source for Doomsday, though there are plenty of nods to The Road Warrior and its multitude of Italian-made carbon copies, as well as the zombie/plague subgenre; the lovely but impassive Rhona Mitra is the Snake Plissken-esque loner sent by police (represented by Bob Hoskins) to infiltrate Scotland, which has descended into anarchy following a viral outbreak. The disease has surfaced in London (now a walled city), and Mitra is dispatched to find a scientist who may possess a cure. Marshall's vision of Scotland in ruins brings together the punk/modern primitive costume design of George Miller's Mad Max trilogy with some eclectic homegrown elements (knights on horseback defending a gang leader's castle), and while these touches are novel, the picture as a whole should ring overly familiar to any viewer who's spent time in the exploitation trenches during the past 25 years. Younger and less discerning audience members will undoubtedly enjoy the plentiful violence and gore, as well as the unbridled performances of the supporting cast, especially stuntwoman/actress Lee-Ann Liebenberg as the heavily tattooed Viper. —Paul Gaita

Beyond Doomsday on DVD
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Doomsday on Blu-ray
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Stills from Doomsday (Click for larger image)

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/14/2008 Run time: 101 minutes Rating: R

Peter Hyams

John Singleton, Justin Lin, Rob Cohen Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 03/24/2009 Rating: Pg13

Nicholas Stoller Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/30/2008 Run time: 229 minutes

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/26/2008 Rating: Nr

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/26/2008 Rating: Nr

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/16/2008 Run time: 138 minutes Rating: Pg13

Rick Shaine, John Wright, Vincent Tabaillon, Louis Leterrier Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton stars as scientist Bruce Banner a man who has been living in shadows scouring the planet for an antidote to the unbridled force of rage within him: the Hulk. But when the military masterminds who dream of exploiting his powers force him back to civilization he finds himself coming face to face with his most formidable foe: the Abomination - a nightmarish beast of pure aggression whose powers match the Hulk s own!System Requirements:Running Time: 113 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/HEROES Rating: PG-13 UPC: 025195041331 Manufacturer No: 61104971

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 11/25/2008 Run time: 123 minutes Rating: R

Peter Jackson Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/20/2009 Rating: Pg13

Peter Berg Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 11/25/2008 Run time: 111 minutes Rating: R

Judd Apatow Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/30/2008 Run time: 97 minutes Rating: Ur

George A. Romero Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/30/2008 Run time: 97 minutes Rating: Ur

Michael Mann Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/26/2008 Run time: 140 minutes Rating: Ur

Stephen Sommers Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 07/22/2008 Run time: 130 minutes Rating: Pg

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 07/22/2008 Run time: 130 minutes Rating: Pg

Rob Cohen Universal Pictures The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor WS (Blu-Ray)Filled with spectacular action and sharp banter, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR finds the dashing Rick and Evelyn O'Connell (Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello, who took over for Rachel Weisz) called upon for another world-saving adventure. Thefilm opens in 50 B.C., when the ruthless Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) seeks to conquer one last enemy, death, and become an immortal ruler. But when the Emperor betrays an obliging sorceress (Michelle Yeoh), he and his army are cursed to spend an eternity in statuesque limbo. Fast forward to 1946, when Rick and Evelyn are struggling to adapt to their self-imposed retirement. But the fates have other plans, and soon the O'Connells are crossing paths with their somewhat estranged son, Alex (Luke Ford). While enthusiastically carrying on the family's tomb-raiding traditions, Alex has unwittingly brought the Dragon Emperor back to life. With the world in peril, the O'Connells must overcome their differences to prevent the Dragon Emperor from gaining immortality for himself and his army. Along the way they're joined by a mysterious young woman (Isabella Leong), a wily pilot, and a trio of Abominable Snowmen. Jumping from Shanghai to the Himalayas to the Chinese desert, director Rob Cohen (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS) takes audiences on a breathless adventure that continues THE MUMMY's love of quick wits, close calls and big battles. The result is a spirited romp that proves evil is no match against a family united.

David Twohy Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 03/31/2009 Run time: 119 minutes Rating: Pg13

Chuck Russell Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 07/22/2008 Run time: 130 minutes Rating: Pg

Lisa Lassek, Joss Whedon Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 12/30/2008 Run time: 119 minutes Rating: Pg13

Jonathan Mostow Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/26/2008 Run time: 99 minutes Rating: Pg13

Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Sommers

Timur Bekmambetov Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 12/02/2008 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: R