The Queen

Starring Helen Mirren in a role that earned her an Academy Award, Gloden Globes, and BAFTA best actress honors. The Queen is a revealing, witty portrait of the British royal family in crisis immediately following the death of Princess Diana in August 1997.

The setting for this fictional account of real events is no less than the private chambers of the Royal Family and the British government in the wake of the sudden death of Princess Diana. In the immediate aftermath of the Princess’s passing, the tightly contained, tradition-bound world of the Queen of England clashes with the slick modernity of the country’s brand new, image-conscious Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

The result is an intimate, yet thematically epic, battle between private and public, responsibility and emotion, custom and action – as a grieving nation waits to see what its leaders will do.

Also stars Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms, Helen McCrory and directed by Oscar nominee Stephen Frears.

Night at the Museum

The comedy Night at the Museum stars Ben Stiller as the good-hearted dreamer Larry Daley who, despite being perpetually down on his luck, thinks he’s destined for something big. But even he could never have imagined how big, when he accepts what appears to be a menial job as a graveyard-shift security guard at a museum of natural history.

During Larry’s watch, extraordinary things begin to occur: Mayans, Roman Gladiators, and cowboys emerge from their diorama to wage epic battles; in his quest for fire, a Neanderthal burns down his own display; Attila the Hun pillages his neighboring exhibits, and a T-Rex reminds everyone why he’s history’s fiercest predator.

Casts include Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs. Shawn Levy is director.

Dreamgirls

The highly-acclaimed and Academy Award nominated movie, Dreamgirls, finally comes to DVD. This musical-drama tells the tale of Effie White, Deena Jones, and Lorrell Robinson – three friends from Chicago – a promising singing trio called The Dreamettes. They travel to New York to compete in a talent show at the Apollo Theatre. Although the girls lose this first bid for fame, their talent attracts an ambitious manager by the name of Curtis Taylor, Jr., who uses unscrupulous tactics to move the girls from backup singers of superstar James “Thunder” Early to superstars of their own.

Curtis reshapes the group to “crossover” from R & B to the lucrative pop music scene. Lead singer Effie gets replaced by the more attractive Deena and is eventually dropped from the trio. The group evolves into a more sophisticated group, The Dreams, with a lighter sound and chic look. They successfully attract a “whiter” audience and The Dreams rise to international stardom. The money, fame, and adulation, however, doesn’t bring them happiness.

With poweful perfomances by Oscar best supporting actress winner Jennifer Hudson, Grammy winner Beyonce Knowles, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, and Golden Globe winner Eddie Murphy. Directed by Bill Condon.
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