THE ROAD - Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, ALL THE PRETTY HORSES), this haunting drama stars Viggo Mortenson as a father trekking through a post-apocalyptic America, scavenging for food, fiercely protecting his young son while, at the same time, training him how to kill himself if the need should arise.  Co-stars Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall.

DEAR JOHN - This old-fashioned wartime romance directed by Lasse Hallström (THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, CHOCOLAT) stars Amanda Seyfried as a college student who falls in love with a young soldier on leave (Channing Tatum). They keep in touch writing letters (not emails, actual letters) during what he believes to be his last year of enlistment. Alas, this year happens to be 2001, with 9/11 on its way to put a wedge between them. Adapted from a novel by Nicholas Sparks (THE NOTEBOOK).

TELL TALE - This modern update on Edgar Allen Poe's THE TELL-TALE HEART is directed by Michael Cuesta (L.I.E.). When a mild-mannered man begins undergoing mysterious changes after a heart transplant, he becomes convinced that the donor was murdered, and he sets out to exact revenge on the killers.

ALL MY FRIENDS ARE FUNERAL SINGERS - This charming little indie features the band Califone as just a few of the ghosts who live in a fortune teller's attic, helping her with her clients. When a mysterious light appears in the woods outside, the friendly ghosts realize they are trapped in limbo and they rebel.

TRUE BLOOD SEASON 2 - "Welcome back to Bon Temps, home to mystery, Southern sensuality and dark secrets..."

MYSTERY TEAM - An offbeat comedy about three socially awkward misfits who have never outgrown their childhood fantasies of solving mysteries, a la Scooby Doo. Used to finding lost cats and such, they find themselves in over their heads when a neighborhood girl asks them to find her parents' killer.

BIGGER AND BLACKERER - The latest stand-up special from comedian David Cross (most fondly remembered as Tobias, the aspiring Blue Man in ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT).

OWL AND THE SPARROW - A Vietnamese orphan runs away from her uncle's factory to sell roses on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, and plays cupid to a depressed zookeeper and a flight attendant unhappily in love with someone else. Not a gritty look at life on the streets of former Saigon, but a sweet, feel-good movie, more like a Vietnamese AMELIE.

RAIN FALL - Produced in Japan and based on one of American bestseller Barry Eisler's "John Rain" novels, this political action-thriller tells the story of a Tokyo hit man protecting the daughter of one of his victims from the CIA. Gary Oldman co-stars as a villainous CIA agent.

And just a few highlights from our JUST ADDED section, available for the first time on dvd:

VOYAGER - This 1991 English and German language drama by Volker Schlöndorff (THE TIN DRUM, THE HANDMAID'S TALE) stars Sam Shepard as a rootless engineer working for the United Nations. During one of his many journeys, he has a passionate affair with a woman who reminds him of a lover he abandoned years ago, and it seems that fate has a punishment in store for him...

YESTERDAY GIRL - This 1966 film by German author and filmmaker Alexander Kluge was a landmark work that launched the New German Cinema movement. Kluge's sister stars as Anita G., a young East German woman who looks for a better life in West Germany and goes into a downward spiral.

BY BRAKHAGE VOL. 2 - Experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage had a prolific career that spanned almost fifty years (1954 to 2003), and influenced many future filmmakers, cartoonists, and music video directors. Known for pioneering the art of scratching or painting images directly onto film, he made nearly four hundred films before his death in 2003.

PEP SQUAD - Described as something like a "BLOOD SIMPLE remake by John Hughes," this Troma release chronicles the anarchic days leading up to a Kansas high school's senior prom, with prospective prom queens assassinating each other and kidnapping the lecherous school principal. Classic Troma comedy, in other words.

THE MESSENGER - Woody Harrelson earned an Oscar nomination for his role as the messenger no one wants showing up at their doorstep, in last year's ultimate tearjerker. "When 2009 is over, this is one of the movies we'll remember the year by." (S.F. Chronicle)

INVICTUS - Another Oscar nominee (Morgan Freeman for Lead Actor and Matt Damon for Supporting Actor), this one chronicles Nelson Mandela's first year in office post-apartheid, and his support of the national (mostly white) rugby team in an effort at unity and forgiveness. Directed by Clint Eastwood, no stranger to Oscar nods himself.

THE NEW DAUGHTER - Kevin Costner stars in this thriller that takes the already scary transformation of young girls hitting puberty one step further: what if his sullen teenage daughter really isn't the same person anymore? From Spanish director Luis Berdejo ([REC], QUARANTINE) this also marks the English-language debut of Ivana Baquero (of PAN'S LABYRINTH fame) as the teenager in question.

VALENTINE'S DAY - If you need something unapologetically warm and fuzzy after watching THE MESSENGER, this all-star ensemble picture just might be your movie. Imagine Julia Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Patrick Dempsey, Queen Latifah, Taylor Swift, Shirley MacLaine, and more cameos than you can shake a box of chocolates at, with love ever so palpable in the air...

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN - Inspired by an actual event, this is the latest very French film from director Andre Téchiné (THE WILD REEDS). A rather mysterious girl who spends most of her time roller-skating around, half-heartedly looking for work, casually invents a lie which ends up spiraling out of control in a media blitz.

POLIWOOD - This documentary from Barry Levinson (WAG THE DOG, RAIN MAN) examines the intersecting of politics and celebrity, following Hollywood stars - both liberal and conservative - at the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions. Also discussed: the media cult of Sarah Palin, and how TV news is more about ratings than information.

THE SPY NEXT DOOR - Jackie Chan gets all SPY KIDS-meets-HOME ALONE in this family-friendly slapstick spy story.

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES - Harrison Ford is an unconventional scientist hired by wealthy corporate dude Brendan Fraser to find a cure for his two terminally ill children. When Ford and Fraser form their own bio-tech company, they run up against all manner of red tape and corruption in their pursuit of a life-saving drug.

ISCARIOT - This Euro-thriller from Sweden is a tale of two brothers: one a respected doctor and the other a drug dealing hoodlum. Despite promises to never get involved in his brother's business, the doctor finds himself drawn into intrigue and danger when he attempts to save him from a deal gone sour.

HANDMADE NATION - This inspiring documentary examines the "New Wave" of arts and crafts, "a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the D.I.Y. ethos," and its rebellious contrast to our mass-produced, post-industrial world.

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS - This documentary looks back at some of the most notorious art rebels of the '90s, coming from the subcultures of graffiti, skateboarding, punk rock, and surfing, and asks "Where are they now?" Well, they're designing iconic "HOPE" ads for Obama's Presidential campaign (Shepard Fairey), stylish ad campaigns for Pepsi One (Geoff McFetridge), and totally "rad" shoes for Nike (Aaron Rose), among other things. Also profiled is '90s cinematic darling Harmony Korine (GUMMO, JULIEN DONKEY-BOY), who stubbornly continues to make commercially implosive films (MISTER LONELY).

And here's just one of this week's highlights from our JUST ADDED section, available for the first time on DVD:

OSHIMA'S OUTLAW SIXTIES (Criterion Collection box set)

One of the most provocative directors of the twentieth century, Nagisa Oshima was often called "the Godard of the East" for his inventive visual style, challenging themes, and fascination with society's outsiders. Included in this five-disc set are PLEASURES OF THE FLESH, THREE RESURRECTED DRUNKARDS, VIOLENCE AT NOON, SING A SONG OF SEX, and JAPANESE SUMMER: DOUBLE SUICIDE, all shot between 1965 and 1968 and all brimming with style and anarchy.