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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 3rd (click the movie title to see the trailer)

Arthur Newman
Who: Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche, Lucas Hedges, Nicole LaLiberte
What: Firth stars in this comedy/drama/romance as a former golf pro named Wallace Avery, who is so disappointed in his own life that he fakes his dead and creates a new life for himself under the name Arthur Newman. Leaving Florida for Indiana, he meets a kindred spirit played by Blunt, and together they start breaking into houses and pretending to live other people's lives. Eventually they will have to commit to an identity and a life.
When: September 3rd - DVD and online on demand
Why: Recently this summer we had the silly-level comedy Identity Thief. The comedy in Arthur Newman seems far more grounded in drama. Plotwise it reminds me of Ashton Kutcher's grifter film Spread (which coincidentally also featured Heche), in that you have two criminals who come together for the fun of the crime, but then when things get intimate, things get complicated. Pairing Firth and Blunt looks like a good opposites-attract approach, where Firth is the kind of guy who uses an alternate identity to fill a hole or hide from something, where Blunt seems the type to take on different identities just for the fun and the thrill of it.

Empire State
Who: Dwayne Johnson, Liam Hemsworth, Michael Angarano, Emma Roberts, Nikki Reed
What: In this crime thriller, Hemsworth stars as a security guard who sees an opportunity to rob his armored truck company. He and a friend manage to grab millions of dollars in cash, but then have to find a way to hide in plain sight. He's put under pressure by an NYPD detective, played by Johnson, who gets closer and closer to nabbing the thieves. Based on the 1982 robbery of the Sentry Armored Car Courier Company.
When: September 3rd - DVD and online on demand
Why: Hemsworth recently costarred with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman in Paranoia, and Johnson has had a big year with Fast & Furious 6 and GI Joe 2, yet here they are in a straight-to-video movie. This looks like it's more Hemsworth's movie, and he seems to be in the same type or role he had in Paranoia (which I don't think he's particularly strong enough to hold as a lead yet). But the movie looks decent, and I'm always up for a heist. The trailer for this movie reminds me of Jason Statham's British heist movie The Bank Job.

The English Teacher
Who: Julianne Moore, Michael Angarano, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins, Nathan Lane, Fiona Shaw
What: In this comedy drama Moore plays a teacher who runs into a former student (Angarano) and decides to produce his play in her school. Working together on the production puts her at odds with school officials as well as the student's father, played by Kinnear.
When: September 3rd - DVD and online on demand
Why: Moore certainly has her history of award attention, but sometimes she does serious roles and sometimes she plays loopy, naive characters. This seems like the latter, which will still appeal to fans of hers who enjoy safe and silly light comedy.

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