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Winning a Cold War

Charlie Wilson's War is the newest film by Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Closer), recreating the true story of Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks: The Terminal, A League of Their Own) and his struggle to help the country of Afghanistan fight off the Soviet invasion. Helped by his assistant (Amy Adams: Enchanted, Catch Me if You Can), backed by a wealthy socialite (Julia Roberts: Erin Brockovich, Pretty Woman) and assisted by an unconventional CIA agent (a scene stealing Philip Seymour Hoffman: The Big Lebowski, State & Main), Wilson creates a silent war that leads to the first-ever defeat of the Soviet army, in a script penned by The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin.

This week's other political thriller is BBC's State of Play, where the mysterious death of an ambitious politician's assistant begins to reveal a larger conspiracy. Starring Bill Nighy (Hot Fuzz, I Capture the Castle) and Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men, The Girl in the Cafe).

Ghosts and Monsters

Cloverfield was this year's biggest secret when it hit theaters-- the mystery picture that no one knew too much about. With a cast of mostly-unknowns and a Blair Witch-style look, Cloverfield is the handheld camera self-documentary of a group of friends trying to survive a monstrous catastrophe that is destroying Manhattan.

An atmospheric ghost story, the Spanish The Orphanage follows a woman brings her family to her childhood home, a seaside orphanage, only to find herself haunted by shadows of her past.

A remake of the J-Horror film by Takashi Miike (Ichi The Killer, Audition), One Missed Call stars Shannyn Sossamon (Wristcutters: A Love Story, 40 Days and 40 Nights) and Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, Life or Something Like It) who race to discover the secret of a rash of mysterious deaths, as college students receive calls from their future selves in their last, frightening moments of life.

Drama

Philip Seymour Hoffman's (Capote, Punch Drunk Love) other movie this week is The Savages, where he and Laura Linney (The Squid & the Whale, Congo) are the damaged children of an abusive father (Philip Bosco: Hitch, Nobody's Fool). When their father's girlfriend dies, they have to care for him, even though they hadn't spoken to their father in twenty years... and he's become even harder to live with than they remember.

Frank Langella (Dave, House of D) is a writer ten years into finishing he newest novel in Starting Out In the Evening. Once a famous author, he is all but forgotten by the public, but when a graduate student's (Lauren Ambrose: Six Feet Under, Diggers) thesis could reintroduce his writing to the world, he is forced to confront his past regrets. With Lili Taylor (I Shot Andy Warhol, The Haunting).

Romulus, My Father is the story of a family's struggle to raise their son. Eric Bana (Munich, Chopper) and Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity, The Princess and the Warrior) play a couple raising a boy after moving to Australia, despite a family history of mental illness.

At the height of his fame, Rudyard Kipling uses his clout to get his son into the Irish Guards in My Boy Jack. Set in 1914, Kipling must find a balance between his love of the British Empire and the love for his son (Daniel Radcliffe: Harry Potter, December Boys), as the first World War puts both to the test.

...and more

Our new family film this week is a newer version of Jack London's classic Call of the Wild, about a boy in a mining town and the dog that changes his life. Our newest stand-up comedy DVD is by Mike Birbiglia, in a comedy performance of What I Should Have Said Was Nothing.

The new comedy movie on the wall this week is the feature film of the smash Canadian TV hit, Trailer Park Boys: The Movie. Foul-mouthed Ricky, the always-drinking Julian, and cat obsessed Bubbles are once again released from prison, and set themselves up to pull off the Big Dirty-- the final heist that will finance their retirement and leave them kings of Sunnyvale trailer park.

A few documentaries are new this week, including Strange Culture, about Steven Kurtz, an artist whose project involving genetically engineered food led the FBI to raid his house-- waking to find his wife dead of heart failure, Steven dialed 911, only to have the police deem his supplies "suspicious," and have the FBI seize his art supplies, computers, books, and even his wife's body. The Phoenix Lights is a documentary focused on the UFO phenomenon over Phoenix, Arizona, with critical analysis of the documented photographs. The documentary Helvetica investigates the history of typography and global visual culture.

New to Reckless Video's TV New Releases this week include the first three seasons of Gilligan's Island (including the episode where they almost get off the island, but Gilligan messes it up for them all), as well as the second seasons of the animated reality show parody Drawn Together and the high school football drama Friday Night Lights. Also new is the first season of the Adult Swim superhero/supervillian show Frisky Dingo.