New Video Releases for the third week in July

The Raid 2

Following immediately after the events of THE RAID, Rama (Iko Uwais) is forced to reinvent himself as an undercover cop in order to provide protection for his wife and child. Working for the anti-corruption taskforce led by the one person he can trust, Bunawar, he is given a mission to engage himself as an enforcer for a local mob boss, Bangun. Finding a way in through Bangun's son Uco, Rama must hunt for information linking Bangun with police force corruption. All the while, he harbors a dangerous and personal vendetta for revenge and justice that threatens to consume him - and bring both this mission and the organized crime syndicates crashing down.

The Time Machine

The film version succeeds in retaining much of the charm of the short story. The open scene of a dinner amongst friends in a civilized English gentleman's house is very well done and the time travelling special effects were remarkable for the time. Wells wrote the book in 1895 - and by keeping the setting at that date (and not updating to the decade of films release - 1960s) we can enjoy seeing the reaction of the traveller to events that we know very well - such as the First and Second World War - and the nuclear age. Thus helping to ensure that the fantastic events that are to come are quite believable.
The film strays a little in the characterisation of Weena (a member of the Eloi people and the travellor's love interest) - but the carnivorous Morlocks are still quite scary and have even been known to frighten a few of todays kids, who have seen most things at the movies.

Jodorowsky's Dune

In 1975, director Alejandro Jodorowsky began work on his most ambitious project yet. Starring his own 12-year-old son alongside Orson Welles, Mick Jagger, David Carradine and Salvador Dalí, featuring music by Pink Floyd and art by some of the most provocative talents of the era, including H.R. Giger and Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Jodorowsky’s adaptation of the classic sci-fi novel DUNE was poised to change cinema forever. Through interviews with legends and luminaries including H.R. Giger (artist, ALIEN), Gary Kurtz (producer, STAR WARS EPISODES IV ' V) and Nicolas Winding Refn (director, DRIVE), and an intimate and honest conversation with Jodorowsky, director Frank Pavich’s film finally unearths the full saga of ‘The Greatest Movie Never Made’.

Nymphomanic Vol 1 & Vol 2

NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME I is the story of Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac who is discovered badly beaten in an alley by an older bachelor, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård), who takes her into his home. As he tends to her wounds, she recounts the erotic story of her adolescence and young-adulthood (portrayed in flashback by newcomer Stacy Martin). VOLUME I also stars Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Connie Nielsen and Udo Kier. NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME II continues with the story of the self-diagnosed nymphomaniac Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her adulthood, during which her journey of self-discovery leads to darker complications. The film stars Jamie Bell, Willem Dafoe, Mia Goth and Jean-Marc Barr in addition to Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin and Shia LaBeouf.

Bad Words

Jason Bateman makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy, Bad Words. Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition. Contest officials, outraged parents, and overly ambitious 8th graders are no match for Guy, as he ruthlessly crushes their dreams of victory and fame. As a reporter (Kathryn Hahn) attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand), who is completely unfazed by Guy's take-no-prisoners approach to life. Critics rave, Bad Words is "the funniest, smartest, most entertaining comedy in a long time!" (Pete Hammond, Movieline)