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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 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:

September 10th (click the movie title to see the trailer)

The Black Waters of Echo's Pond
Who: Danielle Harris, James Duval, Mircea Monroe, Nick Menell, Electra & Elise Avellan, Richard Tyson, Robert Patrick
What: A horror about some friends who go on vacation to Maine, discover an old game board, and in playing it release demons that possess them and make them start killing each other. Sort of a bloody Jumanji.
When: September 10th - DVD and online on demand
Why: I noticed this title while tracking Robert Patrick, but it seems from the trailer that he just plays a small role of the old cranky owner of the spooky island that intimidates the Scooby Doo gang. Compared to the twist of The Cabin in the Woods and the intensity of Evil Dead, this just looks like another cheap generic horror movie.

Love Is All You Need
Who: Pierce Brosnan, Trine Dyrholm, Sebastian Jessen, Molly Blixt Egelind
What: A Danish romance set in Italy. Dyrholm plays the mother of a soon to be bride (Egelind). A happy situation is otherwise ruined by Dyrholm's character's recent cancer diagnosis and the discovery that her husband is having an affair with a younger woman. Then while traveling to Italy for the wedding she meets the father (Brosnan) of the groom (Jessen) and immediately they're off on the wrong foot. The engaged couple also have problems of their own. But wedding movies have happy endings.
When: September 10th - DVD and online on demand
Why: A wedding movie set on the Mediterranean starring Brosnan makes me think immediately of Mamma Mia! This isn't a musical, but I expect similar tone - light comedy, a little drama, and complications that ultimately get forgotten by the inevitable happy ending. Note that many of the scenes with the Danish actors are subtitled, but I wouldn't call this a foreign language film.

Peeples
Who: Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington, David Alan Grier, S. Epatha Merkerson, Ana Gasteyer
What: A comedy set during a family reunion in the Hamptons. Washington plays the daughter of the family, and Robinson plays her fiancee who shows up with the intention to propose.
When: September 10th - DVD and online on demand
Why: Despite being advertised as "Tyler Perry presents Peeples," he didn't write or direct this one. Still, his presence as a producer leads to a product that I expect is similar to his others: lightly humorous comedy instead of uproarious comedy. I'd give this one a pass but for the presence of Craig Robinson, just to see what he does with the role.

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