Flick Picks 1/28/14: Rush, Last Vegas, Downton Abbey Season 4

New on DVD at the Library This Week

ENTERTAINMENT: Looking for a movie that will provide you with...a RUSH??? Luckily we've got the perfect movie for you this week! The Ron Howard directed Rush is the adrenaline-filled true story of the 1970s Formula 1 rivalry between an English and an Austrian. It stars Thor himself (Chris Hemsworth) and Olivia Wilde and we've got it on DVD and Blu-ray. Also this week, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline get crazy in Sin City when one of their group finally decides to get married, in Last Vegas. In Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, the crew from the original must deal with their legacy of food/animal hybrids in order to save humanity. We've got it on DVD and Blu-ray.

Bad Grandpa, which features Jackass' Johnny Knoxville as an 86-year old man who travels across the country with his 8-year old grandson, was the surprise hit of the year, raking in over $100 million at the box office. It's gentler than the Jackass world though, as it serves up its comedy by having Knoxville and grandson prank unsuspecting bystanders. Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch portrays WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate, which focuses on the dilemma of whether some secrets are too important to not let loose. Our indie pick this week is Concussion, about a married lesbian housewife who frees her urges when she leaves suburbia and moves to Manhattan.

SERIES: Season 4 of Downton Abbey sees some new characters joining the show while some are no longer with it...but we've already said too much! Check it out to find out more! The fourth and final season of HBO's New Orleans jazz-infused Treme also arrives this week as does season 3 of the Brenda Blethyn detective show Vera.

DOCUMENTARIES: It's Better to Jump brings us the ancient walled Israeli city Akka, which serves as a home for residents of many religions, though economic and social pressures are now forcing many Arabs to leave.

Chicago History on DVD

On Thursday at 7:00 we will have part one of our Chicago's Movers and Shakers series, where Hy Speck will tell you about some of the more colorful characters in Chicago's history. We also have a great many DVDs telling the story of our city, from its early days to its recent past.

• Chicago: City of the Century is a multi-part American Experience documentary that tells the story of Chicago's rise.
• Geoffery Baer has filmed many interesting tours of Chicago, including Chicago by Boat, Chicago's Loop and Chicago's North Shore.
• WTTW offers Remembering Chicago, Remembering Chicago Again and Remembering Chicago & World War II for more looks at our city's past.
• And This is Free is a colorful snapshot of Maxwell Street and its various characters.
• Tom Palazzo: Four More Films shows us various events of the 60s, including the unveiling of the Picasso in Daley Plaza and the end of Riverview Amusement Park.