arts & entertainment
Blu-ray/DVDs
Marvelous movies
DVD buyers’ picks
Star Trek. PG 13. I’ve always kind of enjoyed
the Star Trek TV series. But I loved the latest
;lm in this longtime franchise. It explores a
new frontier: the surprising back story of the
crew of the USS Enterprise. Captain Kirk has
always had a ;ighty quality about him, but the
young Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is almost
crazy. Famous for his logic, Spock (Zachary
Quinto) struggles with emotions. ;e young
Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) is more hotheaded
than ever. Sulu (John Cho) is a surprising
asset to the crew, and Montgomery “Scotty”
Scott (Simon Pegg) is hilarious. Together the
crew faces a formidable antagonist: Nero (Eric
Bana), an angry Romulan out to destroy the
entire Star;eet.
—Wendi Wamboldt, assistant DVD buyer
An amazing
young cast
portrays the
crew of the
USS Enterprise
in Star Trek.
COUR TES Y OF PARAMOUNT PIC TURES
Monsters vs Aliens. PG. ;is animated ;lm reminds me of the old
sci-; movies from the 1950s, but a
lot more fun. When a meteorite from
outer space hits a young California
woman named Susan Murphy (voiced
by Reese Witherspoon) and turns her
into a giant platinum-haired woman,
she is taken to a secret government
compound where she meets a ragtag
group of monsters, including Dr.
Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), The
Missing Link (Will Arnett) and an
amorphous blob called B.O.B. (Seth
Rogan), under the guidance of General
W.R. Monger (Keifer Sutherland). When
aliens attack, this motley crew of monsters is
called into action to save the world from
imminent destruction.
—Claudia Augello, Costco DVD buyer
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G-Force. PG. A team of trained secret agent
guinea pigs takes on a mission for the U.S.
government: stopping a diabolical billionaire
who plans to take over the world with household appliances. Believe in yourself is the
motto of this sweetly madcap and amusing
3-D family adventure in which talking guinea
pigs turn the world upside down in order to
save it. ;e execution is inventive and the cast
works well.—WW
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. PG. I love
the wild mishaps of Scrat, the saber-toothed
squirrel, as he desperately tries to gather
acorns for the winter. For me, the hilarious
antics of this subplot eclipse the main story:
Manny and Ellie, a woolly mammoth couple,
are expecting a baby, and Manny is anxiously
trying to make everything perfect. Meanwhile,
Diego, a saber-toothed tiger who has be-
friended Manny, wonders if he’s gone too so;.
And Sid, a sloth and longtime friend of
Manny, steals some dinosaur eggs because he
wants to have his own family. When the dinosaurs come looking for their eggs, many other
comical complications ensue.—WW
Angels and Demons. PG- 13. Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is
once again called upon to decipher the clues
to a catastrophic conspiracy in this thriller
directed by Ron Howard and also starring
Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård. If
you’re like me, you’ll enjoy the breathless
pace, set against a fantastic European background, as Langdon must race against time to
solve the murder of a pope and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.—CA
;e Taking of Pelham 123. R. Hijack a New
York City subway train? At ;rst I thought the
premise sounded farfetched, but with actors
such as Denzel Washington, John Turturro
and John Travolta, the movie (a remake of the
1974 classic with Walter Matthau) became a
COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES
scarily plausible scenario, as criminal mastermind Travolta and his armed gang threaten to
execute the train’s passengers unless a large
ransom is paid. It is up to Washington to outwit Travolta and save the hostages. It will keep
you on the edge of your seat.—WW
;e Ugly Truth. R. If you’re a fan of Sex and
the City, this movie will hit all the right spots.
;e battle of the sexes heats up between Abby
Richter (Katherine Heigl), a romantically challenged morning-show producer whose search
for Mr. Perfect has le; her hopelessly single,
and Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), a hardcore TV personality who promises to spill the
ugly truth on what makes men and women
tick. Abby becomes reluctantly embroiled in a
series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic
correspondent to prove his theories on relationships and help her ;nd love.—CA
NOVEMBER 2009 ;e Costco Connection 53
Also look for G.I. Joe: ;e Rise of Cobra, Up
and many other movie titles and selected seasons of TV series, many of which are available
on Blu-ray Disc. C
