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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 February 12th:

28 Hotel Rooms

Who: Chris Messina, Marin Ireland

What: A romance that begins as a drunken one-night stand but later develops as an adulterous affair and struggles with guilt and frustration and sincere emotion.

When: February 12th on DVD and digital download

Why: I've been enjoying Messina's performance on The Mindy Project, and the subject reminds me a lot of Conversations With Other Women.

Bully

Who: Real students at schools across the United States

What: A documentary that interviews kids about the problem of bullying.

When: February 12th on DVD and digital download

Why: The Producers Guild of America gave this doc the Stanley Kramer Award for movies that "illuminate and raise public awareness of important social issues."

Guest of Cindy Sherman

Who: Cindy Sherman, John Waters, Eric Bogosian, Danny DeVito, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Molly Ringwald, Carol Kane

What: A documentary about photographer Cindy Sherman.

When: February 12th

Why: I don't know who Cindy Sherman is, but I'm always interested in what stars have to say about other creative industry members.

Jedi Junkies

Who: Olivia Munn, Ray Park, Peter Mayhew

What: A documentary about various super dedicated Star Wars fans.

When: February 12th on DVD and digital download

Why: I'm a Star Wars fan. Not enough to dress up and go to conventions - but then this movie would allow me to do that vicariously.

Night of the Templar

Who: Paul Sampson, David Carradine, Udo Kier, Norman Reedus

What: A sci-fi horror thriller about a medieval knight reanimated in modern times to take revenge on his enemies.

When: February 12th on DVD and digital download.

Why: Medieval anything appeals to me, and I like Norman Reedus in The Walking Dead. This would be one of Carradine's last performances before his death in 2009.

Robot & Frank

Who: Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Strong, Ana Gasteyer, Jeremy Sisto

What: A light comedy about a retired burglar whose children gift him a robot when it's apparent he needs some assistance living alone. Langella plays the retiree, who romances a local librarian played by Sarandon, and then gets the idea to get back in business by mis-using the robot.

When: February 12th on DVD and digital download.

Why: I like Langella, and I'm game for any sort of heist film. It looks lightly amusing, and I've heard pretty good buzz about it.

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