Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

African Cats - Samuel L. Jackson (Narration) Deep Gold - Bebe Pham, Jaymee Ong, Michael Gleissner Madea's Big Happy Family - Tyler Perry, Loretta Devine, Bow Wow Water for Elephants - Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz

Movie of the Week

Water for Elephants

The Stars: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz The Plot: A veterinary student (Pattinson) abandons his studies after his parents are killed and joins a traveling circus as their vet. The Buzz: This period piece looks to be a well put together romantic drama. I enjoyed Pattinson's general vibe in the trailer; thankfully a far cry from his brooding ham-bake of the Twilight films. Witherspoon is winsome, I typically love her in her more dramatic pieces -- aside from the laborious Vanity Fair. It'll be interesting to see what kind of on-screen magic this pair can conjure up. Happy to see Christolph Waltz again, loved him in Inglorious Basterds. Looks here like he's playing another rather intense role. This film looks potentially good for sure, but I'm not too terribly excited about it -- it's Movie of the Week due to these three words: absolutely, no, competition.  IMHO.

Interesting post scriptum: Water for Elephants director Francis Lawrence's previous two films were I Am Legend and Constantine.

Every Friday we'll have new reviews of the latest films. TSR's complete Film Review Database

New Blu-ray and DVDs released this week:

Bambi (DVD) - Hardie Albright, Stan Alexander, Bobette Audrey Born to Raise Hell (BD/DVD) - Steven Seagal, Dan Badarau, Darren Shahlavi Goemon (BD/DVD) - Yôsuke Eguchi, Takao Ohsawa, Ryôko Hirosue Gulliver's Travels (BD/DVD) - Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel Ip Man 2 (BD/DVD) - Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung, Simon Yam Kes [The Criterion Collection] (BD/DVD) - David Bradley, Brian Glover, Freddie Fletcher The King's Speech (BD/DVD) - Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter The Last Legion (BD) - Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwarya Rai Lorna Doone (DVD) - Michael MacKenzie, Andrew Ferguson, Sean Bean Mortal Kombat (BD) - Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou, Linden Ashby Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (BD) - Robin Shou, Talisa Soto, James Remar Rabbit Hole (BD/DVD) - Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest Short Circuit 2 (BD) - Fisher Stevens, Michael McKean, Tim Blaney Somewhere (BD/DVD) - Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius Street Kings 2 (BD)/DVD) - Ray Liotta, Linda Boston, Ele Bardha

Blu-ray/DVD of the Week

The King's Speech

The Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter The Plot: The story of King George VI of Britain (Firth) and the speech therapist (Rush) who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of the throne. The Buzz: Winner of the esteemed Best Picture accolade as handed out each year by the Academy, this film was entirely deserving. It was up against some steep competition too -- I loved a lot of the films it beat out, but ultimately I was rooting for The King's Speech to clean up at the Oscars. I was so happy to see that it did.

The King's Speech is still playing in over 1,000 cinemas across the states, and it's a great film to see in the theater, so I'd suggest hitting it in the theater first. I plan on watching it again on DVD though, it's the ultimate buddy drama. Firth & Rush are phenomenal. This film makes you feel good and alive.

Check out our reviews of these movies and more ... TSR's complete Film Review Database