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Every week, I search through movie release schedules to find movie rentals that I would have otherwise missed for lack of TV advertising. I'll watch the big name releases along with everyone else, but I know from experience that sometimes the box office failures, critically panned, straight-to-DVD, and independently financed movies that nobody's heard of can offer some real hidden gems. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. This column is dedicated to bringing awareness to those potential treasures. Listed alphabetically, each movie includes a list of notable cast members, a basic plot summary, its DVD and/or cloud release date (based on Netflix - other services may have the movie earlier), and the basic reason why the movie caught my attention. With any luck, one or more of these will catch your attention, too. My four picks of the week are listed at the end of the column.

Here's my watchlist of DVD and cloud releases for the week of
March 19th (click the movie title to see the trailer)

Anna Karenina
Who: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Jude Law, Olivia Williams
What: An adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1877 novel about a married Russian socialite who has an affair with a wealthy count. Jude Law plays Knightley's husband, Macdonald plays her sister, and Macfadyen plays Macdonald's husband.
When: March 19th - DVD and Ultraviolet
Why: I'm no fan of somber Russian costume dramas, but the camera loves Knightley in settings like this. She and director Joe Wright also worked together for Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. The movie won Best Costume Design at the Oscars and was nominated for Score, Cinematography, and Production Design.

Argo
Who: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Bryan Cranston, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Kyle Chandler, Chris Messina, Zeljko Ivanek, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Adrienne Barbeau
What: Based on the true CIA mission (which was kept secret for almost 20 years) to rescue U.S. State Department workers from Tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis, Affleck plays the agent who sets up a cover story of a science fiction movie in order to slip his people out of the country. Arkin plays the director, and Goodman plays award-winning makeup artist John Chambers.
When: March 19th - DVD and Ultraviolet
Why: Argo won the Best Picture Oscar as well as Screenplay and Editing, and although Affleck wasn't even nominated for Director, he won the Directors Guild Award for it. Arkin was nominated for his supporting role, and the cast won as a group at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. It's fun and tense, and really a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story.

Atlas Shrugged: Part II
Who: Samantha Mathis, Jason Beghe, D.B. Sweeney, John McCrane, Ray Wise
What: The second of a trilogy of films adapated from Ayn Rand's philosphical 1957 novel about the collapse of the economy after society's brightest and most productive citizens start disappearing to avoid government taxation and regulation. Mathis replaces the first movie's Taylor Schilling as Dagny Taggart, Beghe replaces Grant Bowler as Hank Reardon, Sweeney is introduced as John Galt.
When: March 19th - DVD and Ultraviolet
Why: Rand's epic novel has been held up by conservatives and libertarians for years as a playbook for what happens when government gets too big, so it may interest viewers to get a glimpse of the philosophy from these movies. Note however that this movie was nominated for Worst Director and Worst Screenplay by the Golden Raspberry Awards. The third part of the trilogy is planned for 2014.

Bachelorette
Who: Kirsten Dunst, Rebel Wilson, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, James Marsden, Horatio Sands
What: A dramedy based on the play by Leslye Headland about the jealousy and general craziness among girlfriends leading up to a wedding.
When: March 19th - DVD and Ultraviolet
Why: This sounds a lot like Bridesmaids (in which Rebel Wilson also appeared in a small role). This movie has mixed reviews, but I thought Wilson's performance in Pitch Perfect was the best of the year, and I'm a big fan of Caplan and Fisher, so I'd gladly see how crazy these girls get.

The Big Picture
Who: Roman Duris, Catherine Deneuve
What: A French film ("L'Homme qui voulait vivre sa vie") about a lawyer in Paris who kills his wife after learning of her affair, and then fakes his own death to take up life as a photographer.
When: March 19th - DVD and Ultraviolet
Why: I added this film based on the presence of Deneuve, who's been a celebrated French actress and model for decades. Duris previously received a César Award nomination for his role in The Beat That My Heart Skipped.

The Factory
Who: John Cusack, Jennifer Carpenter, Dallas Roberts, Sonya Walger, Mae Whitman
What: A serial killer thriller set in Buffalo, New York, with Dallas Roberts as the killer who's also collecting women to produce babies. Cusack and Carpenter play the detectives hunting him down.
When: March 19th - DVD and Ultraviolet
Why: Roberts currently plays the clammy egghead adviser to The Governor in The Walking Dead. I wouldn't expect this to be good, per se, but a sort of fast food movie for a Friday night.

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