New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

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 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:

October 15th (click the movie title to see the trailer)

The Colony
Who: Kevin Zegers, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton, Charlotte Sullivan
What: An action thriller set in a future where Earth exists in a constant winter and humans shelter in underground colonies. Fishburne plays the leader of a colony that receives a distress signal from another colony, so they set out on a rescue mission that turns into a mission of survival.
When: October 15th - DVD and online on demand
Why: A post-apocalyptic action thriller with Fishburne and Paxton sounds good enough. Fishburne starred in the TV series Hannibal last season, Paxton appeared in the movie 2 Guns this summer, and Zegers recently appeared in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

The East
Who: Brit Marling, Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgard, Patricia Clarkson, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, Aldis Hodge, Jason Ritter, Julia Ormond, Billy Magnussen
What: A political thriller. Marling plays a private intelligence investigator who is tasked with infiltrating an anti-corporate activist group called The East (headed by Page), which has announced plans to attack three corporations in the coming days.
When: October 15th - DVD and online on demand
Why: This is quite the cast. Page has had an interesting year, starring in the video game Beyond: Two Souls. I've really liked Marling in Another Earth, Arbitrage, and The Company You Keep. The subject matter, about an activist group set to take down corrupt and damaging corporations is still fairly timely even years after the effect of the Occupy movement, considering the lingering effects of the struggling economy.

Ingenious
Who: Jeremy Renner, Dallas Roberts, Ayelet Zurer
What: A comedy drama about the American Dream. Roberts plays an inventor, and Renner plays his salesman. Together, they have been hawking gimmicky infomercial-style products. But Roberts has come up with an idea that may just hit the jackpot.
When: October 15th - DVD and online on demand
Why: After The Town, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Avengers, and The Bourne Legacy, I'm used to seeing Jeremy Renner as an action hero, so it would be interested in seeing him in more of a comedic role. Fans of The Walking Dead and Unforgettable will be familiar with Roberts, who appeared in both in the last year.

Continued:       1       2