Flick Picks 11/25/2014: The Expendables 3, The November Man, The Giver

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: What action superstars can be found in The Expendables 3? It's probably easier to count the ones who AREN'T in The Expendables 3. You don't even have to see the full names to get a taste of what The Expendables films are all about - Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Gibson, Snipes, Lundgren, Banderas and Statham are all on board showing off their big guns. Even Harrison Ford got roped into this one. Anyway, the plot involves arms dealers and wisecracks, and you know you want to see it. A little more low-key but still exciting is the Pierce Brosnan offering The November Man, about an ex-CIA agent who is brought out of retirement for a final job and soon discovers that he can trust no one.

Lois Lowry's popular young adult novel The Giver, about a futuristic perfect world where a young man learns about sorrow and pain, is given a filmic adaptation starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep. Daniel Radcliffe continues to shed his Hogwarts uniform in the comedy What If, in which he plays a one of a pair of friends who must decide whether to test their friendship by becoming romantically involved. The late Robin Williams co-stars with Joel McHale in A Merry Friggin' Christmas, in which the duo plays a father and son who hit the road in order to rescue some forgotten presents. Finally, The Discoverers is a warm, goofy comedy about a history professor (Griffin Dunne) who reconnects with his family on a road trip.

SERIES: Inspector Morse spin-off Inspector Lewis is acquiring its own pedigree, hitting series 7 this week.

SUBTITLED: An Iranian author and former political prisoner attempts to protect his memoirs from being destroyed by authorities in Manuscripts Don't Burn. Set in former Soviet Union republic Georgia following its independence, In Bloom is the story of two teenage girls trying to find peace in chaos. A strong international cast that includes Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich and Isabelle Huppert are along to help Lines of Wellington tell the true story of a decisive victory by Portuguese/English forces over the French in 1810. Finally, Isabelle Huppert is a filmmaker who suffers a stroke and falls for a con man while trying to get her next movie made in Abuse of Weakness.

DOCUMENTARIES: Alive Inside features Bobby McFerrin and Oliver Sacks as it explores the possibility of music having a positive effect on Alzheimer's patients. The gripping Master of the Universe profiles former investment banker Rainer Voss as it explores the psychology behind the 2008 financial crisis.

Find all of our new and upcoming films in Enterprise.

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Thanksgiving Films

Here are some titles that you might want to try on this Thanksgiving, including some that you probably forgot were set on the holiday!

• The Band's farewell concert (which included guests like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young) was filmed on Thanksgiving of 1976 for The Last Waltz.
• A quirky young woman tries to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family in Pieces of April.
• Thanksgiving dinner provides an important scene for the characters in the first of Sam Raimi's Spider-man series.
• Thanksgiving provides various settings for both Rocky and Rocky II, with the sequel's fight falling on the holiday.
• Home For Purim sounds too Jewish? Why not rename the film Home For Thanksgiving? For Your Consideration provides such typical Christopher Guest hilarity.
• Two turkeys try to go back in time to change their fates in the animated Free Birds.
• Revisit Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy and the gang with the classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
• Finally, if you haven't planned your meal yet then pick up Jacques Pepin's Thanksgiving Celebration for some good ideas.