Library

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The best way to enjoy this 1997 thriller is to forget the much better film that inspired it (1973's "The Day of the Jackal") and get whatever kicks you can from this heavy-metal remake. It's not bad as hokey thrillers go, but all of the original film's suspenseful finesse has been traded in (not traded up) for bigger, bolder action and nonsensical plotting. It's as if Hollywood had forgotten to create excitement without resorting to overblown action and heavy hardware, but there's ample compensation in the casting of Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. Willis is the elusive assassin known only as the Jackal, whose latest target (he uses a cannon-sized gun that's anything but inconspicuous) may be the first lady of the United States. Gere plays a former IRA terrorist who is recruited by the deputy head of the FBI (Sidney Poitier) to trace the Jackal's maneuvers, and Diane Venora offers some gutsy support as a Russian-born agent who assists Gere on his mission. The movie has fun turning Willis into a master of disguise, and Gere adds much-needed gravity to counter the plot's escalating absurdity, but this is the kind of film that falls apart if you think about it too much. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Some critics see the success of "Jackass: The Movie" as the last nail in the coffin of civilization, and they're probably right. This compilation of pain-inflicting stunts and embarrassing pranks has no artistic merit whatsoever--which doesn't keep it from being freakishly entertaining. Among other things, Johnny Knoxville and his posse get beaten up by a female kick-boxing champion; shoot bottle rockets out of their rectums; run amok in Japan wearing giant panda bear costumes; swim with whale sharks while holding pounds of brine shrimp in their swimsuits; and get done up in realistic old-age makeup so that they can race each other in motorized wheelchairs, among other goofs. It's a weird mixture of machismo and masochism, adolescent recklessness and frat boy homoeroticism, and someday someone will write a doctoral thesis about how "Jackass" relates to our safety-obsessed society. In the meantime, just enjoy. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Jackass Number Two" could be alternately titled "From Bowties to Bunny Ears: What Will Chris Pontius Be Wearing Next?" Like the first " Jackass" movie, Johnny, Bam, Chris, Steve-O, and the rest of the gang are all here. This "sequel" is full of stunts, pranks, and one-liners, and contains more male nudity, more scream-worthy moments, and of course more uncontrollable laughter. The film opens with a rather well-directed cinematic piece: the entire "Jackass" gang running from a stampede of bulls. From there it takes off into the hysterically exhausting world of "Jackass". The bulls are in quite a few stunts, actually, one of which has "leader" Johnny Knoxville using himself as a red flag and getting speared by a charging bull. Ah, good times. Some of the stunts include: "Beehive Limo," "Fart Mask," "Red Rocket," and a fake terrorist plot which boasts the improv line "Where I'm going, I don't need luggage." Bam gets branded, they fish for sharks with Steve-O as bait, Johnny catches anacondas with his bare hands... the list goes on. The gem in this collection of antics has to be the offensive interactions with the innocent people on the street by Johnny Knoxville and director-actor Spike Jonez, while disguised as a very old man and woman. Celebrity guests partaking in stunts include extreme-sports legends Tony Hawk and Mat Hoffman. The movie culminates in a beautifully choreographed, fantastical, and dangerous musical number not to be missed. Throughout the movie, it is apparent that the "Jackass" gang is older and a little more worn, especially when Bam pleads, "Please God, don't let there be a "Jackass 3"." For fans of the TV series and the films, a trilogy may be just what the doctor ordered. The DVD extras (deleted scenes, unrated material, and two pretty funny music videos) are more of the same and worth the watch, though some of it is not for the fainthearted. "--Rachel Moss"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The curiosity of Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown" is Robert Forster's worldly wise bail bondsman Max Cherry, the most alive character in this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch". The Academy Awards saw it the same way, giving Forster the film's only nomination. The film is more "rum" than "punch" and will certainly disappoint those who are looking for Tarantino's trademark style. This movie is a slow, decaffeinated story of six characters glued to a half million dollars brought illegally into the country. The money belongs to Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson), a gunrunner just bright enough to control his universe and do his own dirty work. His just-paroled friend--a loose term with Ordell--Louis (Robert De Niro) is just taking up space and could be interested in the money. However, his loyalties are in question between his old partner and Ordell's doped-up girl (Bridget Fonda). Certainly Fed Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) wants to arrest Ordell with the illegal money. The key is the title character, a late-40s-ish flight attendant (Pam Grier) who can pull her own weight and soon has both sides believing she's working for them. The end result is rarely in doubt, and what is left is two hours of Tarantino's expert dialogue as he moves his characters around town.
Tarantino changed the race of Jackie and Ordell, a move that means little except that it allows Tarantino to heap on black culture and language, something he has a gift and passion for. He said this film is for an older audience although the language and drug use may put them off. The film is not a salute to Grier's blaxploitation films beyond the musical score. Unexpectedly the most fascinating scenes are between Grier and Forster: two neo-stars glowing in the limelight of their first major Hollywood film after decades of work. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: In an all-new digitally restored special edition from Tim Burton, the acclaimed director of Alice In Wonderland, comes the astounding film that captured the hearts of fans and critics all across the world.  Inspired by Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book, Burton, Denise Di Novi and director Henry Selick combine a fascinating mix of live-action, stop-motion animation and computer-generated special effects to create a world beyond your imagination in this new Special Edition DVD.

After the daring rescue of a spider, a young boy named James finds gains possession of some magic crocodile tongues.  When James spills them in the garden, out sprouts an enormous peach!  Climbing inside, he meets an astonishing cast of characters and embarks on a magical odyssey full of thrills and adventure.  Voiced by an all-star cast, including legendary actors Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, Simon Callow and  Jane Leeves, and featuring the celebrated music of Randy Newman, this classic story is delicious entertainment for the whole family!

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Roald Dahl's modern classic for children becomes a delightful combination of live action and stop-motion animation by the team that made "The Nightmare Before Christmas": director Henry Selick and producers Tim Burton ("Batman") and Denise Di Novi. The story concerns young James (played for real and through voice-overs by Paul Terry), who is orphaned and left in the charge of two cruel aunts (Miriam Margolyes, Joanna Lumley). Rescued by a mysterious fellow (Pete Postlethwaite), James ends up inside a giant peach, drifting over the Atlantic Ocean in the company of a gentleman grasshopper (voiced by Simon Callow), a fast-talking centipede (Richard Dreyfuss), an anxious earthworm (David Thewlis), a matronly ladybug (Jane Leeves), and a sexy spider (Susan Sarandon). The collection of actors and their creepy-crawly alter egos are a delight, especially when some of the song-and-dance numbers (tunes are written by Randy Newman) get everyone going. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: Arabic, English, Latin, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Based on Anthony Swofford’s excellent memoir about his experiences as a Marine Sniper in Gulf War I, "Jarhead" is a war movie in which the waiting is a far greater factor upon the characters than the war itself, and the build up to combat is more drama than what combat is depicted. To some viewers hoping for typical movie action, this will seem like a cruel joke. But it’s not. It’s just the story as it was written, and if you liked the book, you will probably like the movie. If you didn’t, then the movie won’t change your mind.
The movie follows the trajectory of Swofford (played with thoughtful intensity by Jake Gyllenhaal) from wayward Marine recruit (he joined because he "got lost on the way to college") to skilled Marine sniper, and on into the desert in preparation for the attack on Iraq. No-nonsense, Marine-for-life Staff Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx), the man who recruited Swofford and his spotter Troy (Peter Sarsgaard) into the sniper team, leads them in training, and in waiting where their lives are dominated by endless tension, pointless exercises in absurdity (like playing football in the scorching heat of the desert in their gas masks so it will look better for the media’s TV cameras), more training, and constant anticipation of the moment to come when they’ll finally get to kill. When the war does come, it moves too fast for Swofford’s sniper team, and the one chance they get at a kill--to do the one thing they’ve trained so hard and waited so long for--eludes them, leaving them to wonder what was the point of all they had endured.
As directed by Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), the movie remains very loyal to the language and vision of the book, but it doesn’t entirely work as the film needs something more than a literal translation to bring out its full potential. Mendes’s stark and, at times, apocalyptic visuals add a lot and strike the right tone: wide shots of inky-black oil raining down on the vast, empty desert from flaming oil wells contrasted with close-ups of crude-soaked faces struggling through the mire vividly bring to life the meaning of the tagline "welcome to the suck." But much of the second half of the movie will probably leave some viewers feeling disappointed in the cinematic experience, while others might appreciate its microcosmic depiction of modern chaos and aimlessness. "Jarhead" is one of those examples where the book is better than the movie, but not for lack of trying. "--Dan Vancini"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: Arguably the most intelligently written film to feature the masterful stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen, "Jason and the Argonauts" is a colorful adventure that takes full advantage of Harryhausen's "Dynarama" process. Inspired by the Greek myth, the story begins when the fearless explorer Jason (Todd Armstrong) returns to the kingdom of Thessaly to make his rightful claim to the throne, but the gods proclaim that he must first find the magical Golden Fleece. Consulting Hera, the queen of gods, Jason recruits the brave Argonauts to crew his ship, and they embark on their eventful journey. Along the way they encounter a variety of mythic creatures, including the 100-foot bronze god Talos, the batlike Harpies, the seven-headed reptilian Hydra, and an army of skeletons wielding sword and shield. This last sequence remains one of the finest that Harryhausen ever created, and it's still as thrilling as anything from the age of digital special effects. Harryhausen was the true auteur of his fantasy films, and his brilliant animation evokes a timeless sense of wonder. "Jason and the Argonauts" is a prime showcase for Harryhausen's talent--a wondrous product of pure imagination and filmmaking ingenuity. The DVD contains an informative interview with Harryhausen by filmmaker John Landis. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Blow mad killer Jason Voorhees to smithereens in the opening sequence of the movie? Sorry, folks, you have to do better than that. Jason's evil spirit finds its way into a series of host bodies, thus continuing the carnage at Crystal Lake, in "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday". Naturally, part 9 is not the final "Friday the 13th" movie (no big deal: part 4, you'll recall, was titled "The Final Chapter"). Jason confronts a long-lost sister at the lake, while the usual assortment of naked teens are dispatched. This one tries to vary the formula a bit but ends up with a story line every bit as nonsensical as those that came before. The final sequence tries to put Jason away for keeps and calls upon the demons of hell for support. The last shot is an outrageous joke, which is perhaps what this franchise deserves. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Nine years after his so-called "Final Friday", hockey-masked slasher Jason Voorhees returns in "Jason X", and fans of the long-running "Friday the 13th" series won't be disappointed. Veteran stuntman Kane Hodder returns to the titular role that made him infamous, and rookie director James Isaac gets off to a fine start by killing off his mentor, director David Cronenberg, in a deliciously ill-fated cameo. Soon Jason is cryogenically suspended along with the comely scientist (Lexa Doig, from TV's "Andromeda") who warned of his invincibility; by the time a sexy spaceship crew revives them in the year 2455, "Earth 2" has replaced the now-uninhabitable Earth, and Jason proceeds to do hack victims with his trusty machete. Eventually he battles a sexy android, gets a cybernetic facelift, and meets his fate back at Crystal Lake, where the whole thing started. With knowing nods to the original, "Jason X" is just fun enough to keep the franchise alive. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: In the vastly overrated 1998 book "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls", author Peter Biskind puts the blame for Hollywood's blockbuster mentality at least partially on Steven Spielberg's box-office success with this adaptation of Peter Benchley's bestselling novel. But you can't blame Spielberg for making a terrific movie, which "Jaws" definitely is. The story of a Long Island town whose summer tourist business is suddenly threatened by great-white-shark attacks on humans bypasses the potboiler trappings of Benchley's book and goes straight for the jugular with beautifully crafted, crowd-pleasing sequences of action and suspense supported by a trio of terrific performances by Roy Scheider (as the local sheriff), Richard Dreyfuss (as a shark specialist), and particularly Robert Shaw (as the old fisherman who offers to hunt the shark down). The sequences on Shaw's boat--as the three of them realize that in fact the shark is hunting "them"--are what entertaining moviemaking is all about. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: THIS TIME... IT'S PERSONAL.

Languages: English

Summary: Ushering in the age of the inferior sequel, "Jaws 2" was essentially a license to print money. Indeed, the film did very well despite blatantly replicating the plot of Steven Spielberg's original, though to lesser effect. Roy Scheider returns as Martin Brody, sheriff of the small island town of Amity. Just as the beachside resort is rebounding from the previous movie's shark attacks, another great white is snacking on divers and water-skiers. Naturally, the town fathers don't want to confront reality and choose to proceed with a lucrative sailing regatta, resulting in a grisly loss of life. Besides the fact that director Jeannot Szwarc takes an impersonal, workaday approach to the film, "Jaws 2" manages to be both stylistically flat and openly cynical about its commercial intentions. Of chief interest here is Scheider's performance, which wisely reflects the emotional fallout from Brody's last trauma in his obsessive behavior here. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: AN ENGINEER AND A MARINE BIOLOGIST FACE A GREAT WHITE MOTHER SHARK AT A FLORIDA SEA PARK. ORIGINALLY 3-D.

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: With sidesplitting dialogue and rampant profanity, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" reunites Kevin Smith's dynamic duo in supreme lowbrow style. It's the fifth comedy in Smith's celebrated New Jersey "trilogy." Here Quick-Stop potheads Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) wreak vengeance on Hollywood, where Miramax is making a "Bluntman & Chronic" feature inspired by J. and S.B., but without their permission. En route from Jersey to La La Land, Jay and his "hetero life mate" encounter sexy jewel thieves (including the delightful Shannon Elizabeth), a precocious orangutan, a dimwit wildlife marshal (Will Ferrell), and a nonstop parade of in-jokes, harmless (yet controversial) gay jokes, and splendid celebrity cameos. While gently biting the Miramax hand that feeds him, and paying affectionate homage to the "Star Wars" saga, Smith sheds all inhibitions to give "Jay and Silent Bob" a stellar sendoff that's nasty, sassy, and undeniably hilarious. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Summary: With sidesplitting dialogue and rampant profanity, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" reunites Kevin Smith's dynamic duo in supreme lowbrow style. It's the fifth comedy in Smith's celebrated New Jersey "trilogy." Here Quick-Stop potheads Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) wreak vengeance on Hollywood, where Miramax is making a "Bluntman & Chronic" feature inspired by J. and S.B., but without their permission. En route from Jersey to La La Land, Jay and his "hetero life mate" encounter sexy jewel thieves (including the delightful Shannon Elizabeth), a precocious orangutan, a dimwit wildlife marshal (Will Ferrell), and a nonstop parade of in-jokes, harmless (yet controversial) gay jokes, and splendid celebrity cameos. While gently biting the Miramax hand that feeds him, and paying affectionate homage to the "Star Wars" saga, Smith sheds all inhibitions to give "Jay and Silent Bob" a stellar sendoff that's nasty, sassy, and undeniably hilarious. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Carl Reiner ("Where's Poppa?") brought comic Steve Martin to the screen in this mostly funny 1979 movie about a relentlessly stupid but innocent man, whom we get to know from childhood (where it never occurred to him that he was white as he was raised by a family of black sharecroppers) to romance (where he doesn't quite know what to do with Bernadette Peters). Martin is game as the moron, and this is the kind of film with funny moments people still talk about. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish

Subtitles: Arabic, Cantonese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: One of the best romantic comedies of the 1990s, this box-office hit cemented writer-director Cameron Crowe's reputation as "the voice of a generation." Crowe could probably do without that label, but he's definitely in sync with the times with this savvy story about a sports agent (Tom Cruise) whose fall from grace motivates his quest for professional recovery, and the slow-dawning realization that he needs the love and respect of the single mom (Renée Zellweger in her breakthrough role) who has supported him through the worst of times. This is one of Cruise's best, most underrated performances, and in an Oscar-winning role, Cuba Gooding Jr. plays the football star who remains Jerry Maguire's only loyal client on a hard road to redemption and personal growth. If that sounds touchy-feely, it is only because Crowe has combined sharp entertainment with a depth of character that is rarely found in mainstream comedy. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai

Sound: Dolby

Summary: One of the best romantic comedies of the 1990s, this box-office hit cemented writer-director Cameron Crowe's reputation as "the voice of a generation." Crowe could probably do without that label, but he's definitely in sync with the times with this savvy story about a sports agent (Tom Cruise) whose fall from grace motivates his quest for professional recovery, and the slow-dawning realization that he needs the love and respect of the single mom (Renée Zellweger in her breakthrough role) who has supported him through the worst of times. This is one of Cruise's best, most underrated performances, and in an Oscar-winning role, Cuba Gooding Jr. plays the football star who remains Jerry Maguire's only loyal client on a hard road to redemption and personal growth. If that sounds touchy-feely, it is only because Crowe has combined sharp entertainment with a depth of character that is rarely found in mainstream comedy. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: "Jersey Girl" stars Ben Affleck as a workaholic music executive who loses his wife (Jennifer Lopez) in childbirth and has to raise his newborn daughter with the help of his crotchety New Jersey dad (George Carlin). The movie unspools as if writer-director Kevin Smith, normally a highly self-aware filmmaker ("Clerks", "Chasing Amy", "Dogma"), set out to put a fresh spin on every cliché he could imagine (parent forced to choose between child and career; parent rushing to attend school performance; etc.)--then forgot to put in the spin. The scenes that aren't lifeless are implausible (Liv Tyler plays the fantasy girl of every awkward boy's dreams). The only real feeling comes from the strong soundtrack. However, Raquel Castro, as the daughter, is an uncanny double for Lopez; when the light plays across Castro's cheekbones just so, you'd swear the casting director simply shrunk Lopez for convenience. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: "The Jetsons" (1962) was the third primetime series from the Hanna-Barbera Studio, after "The Flintstones" (1960) and "Top Cat" (1961). Although the show was cancelled after its first season, it proved a durable Saturday-morning favorite, running for more than 14 years on all three networks.
Like "The Flintstones", "The Jetsons" borrowed heavily from live-action sitcoms, notably "The Donna Reed Show" and "Hazel". The 21st century became a Futurelux vision of a '60s suburb. George Jetson (voiced by George O'Hanlon) pushed buttons for the penny-pinching Mr. Spacely (Mel Blanc). Judy (Janet Waldo) was a typical teenager with a crush on rock & roll singer Jet Screamer. Elroy (Daws Butler) was a bright little boy whose experiments always blew up. Astro (Don Messick) was one of the first anthropomorphic dogs that became a Hanna-Barbera standard. Jane (Penny Singleton, basically reprising her role in the "Blondie" films) kept everyone and everything on course. "The Flintstones" used rocks and animals to approximate everyday appliances; "The Jetsons" had high-tech gadgets that invariably malfunctioned and clobbered George.
Aside from two commentaries by Waldo and a short making-of video with old footage of Hanna and Barbera, the DVD set has little in the way of extras: no bumpers, commercials, etc. "The Jetsons" hardly ranks as great animation, but for anyone who grew up during the '60s and '70s, these discs are the comforting video equivalent of a slice of yellow cake with fudge frosting and a glass of milk. (Rated G: alcohol and tobacco use, minor cartoon violence) "--Charles Solomon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 04/28/2009 Run time: 82 minutes Rating: G

Languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese

Sound: AC-3

Summary: This sequel to 1984's rip-snorting romantic-adventure, "Romancing the Stone", is a moderately entertaining tale that pales by comparison to its predecessor. Romance novelist Kathleen Turner and retired soldier-of-fortune Michael Douglas return as a now-complacent couple. Bored with life on a yacht, they find excitement thrust upon them when she accepts a speaking engagement in the Middle East. Once there, she is abducted and finds herself involved with the "jewel" everyone is chasing. Douglas teams up once more with Danny DeVito to rescue his love. Less charming and more predictable than the original, this suffers for one simple reason: the characters have nowhere to go. In the original story we watched Turner blossom from timid storyteller to lusty adventuress. In this flick she is too much like all the other action adventure babes we've seen before. "--Rochelle O'Gorman"

Summary: Sequel to the blockbuster Romancing the Stone. 1985, Color, 106 minutes

Languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: This sequel to 1984's rip-snorting romantic-adventure, "Romancing the Stone", is a moderately entertaining tale that pales by comparison to its predecessor. Romance novelist Kathleen Turner and retired soldier-of-fortune Michael Douglas return as a now-complacent couple. Bored with life on a yacht, they find excitement thrust upon them when she accepts a speaking engagement in the Middle East. Once there, she is abducted and finds herself involved with the "jewel" everyone is chasing. Douglas teams up once more with Danny DeVito to rescue his love. Less charming and more predictable than the original, this suffers for one simple reason: the characters have nowhere to go. In the original story we watched Turner blossom from timid storyteller to lusty adventuress. In this flick she is too much like all the other action adventure babes we've seen before. "--Rochelle O'Gorman"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Director Oliver Stone added 17 minutes of previously unseen footage for the "director's cut" edition of his hypnotic courtroom epic about the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. That fateful day in Dallas set in motion a sequence of events that would only intensify the mystery behind Kennedy's death, causing New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) to begin an investigation that would gradually become a personal obsession. Bravura filmmaking combined with controversial treatment of historical facts and audacious speculation, this breathtaking revision of history presents a mesmerizing parade of shady figures and conspiracy theories, unfolding like a classic mystery based on history's greatest unsolved crime. A technical triumph boasting Oscar-winning cinematography and editing, Stone's film is guaranteed to grab the viewer's attention with its daring take on the JFK controversy. The stellar supporting cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: "Jimmy Neutron", the feature that launches Nickelodeon's attempt to create a new children's franchise, plays like a cross between "Rugrats" and "Dexter's Laboratory" in outer space. Accompanied by his cyberdog Goddard, "boy genius" James Isaac Neutron (voiced by Debi Derryberry) invents fantastic devices that work only sporadically and with decidedly mixed results. The communications satellite he makes out of his mother's toaster allows for a race of gooey, egg-shaped aliens to kidnap the adults in Jimmy's town with the intent of sacrificing the parents to their chicken-god. Converting amusement park rides into spaceships, Jimmy saves the day, despite a few false starts and misadventures. Several of the characters feel like slightly older versions of "Rugrats": smart-alecky Cindy (Carolyn Lawrence) resembles Angelica; sniffling nerd Carl (Rob Paulsen), Chuckie. The most original member of the cast is Sheen (Jeff Garcia), the maladroit devotee of superhero Ultralord--a very funny spoof of cartoon fandom. The characters look more like plastic toys than human beings. Instead of the thousands of individual hairs on the heads of the realistic figures in "Final Fantasy", Jimmy sports a one-piece hairdo that recalls a soft-serve ice cream cone. The animation is weightless and the acting minimal, but the often quirky story carries the limited visuals and will appeal to elementary school kids. Rated G; suitable for ages 6 and older; cartoon violence, minor gross humor. "--Charles Solomon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Arnold needs to find a Turbo Man action figure, the craze of the season. Only they're sold-out, of course. So the race is on, and Arnold does fierce battle with other shoppers and merchants alike, all for the prize toy with which to purchase his son's affections. His chief rival and nemesis is Sinbad, a mailman who's always going--you guessed it--postal. (Must have looked good on paper.) All of which is unwittingly very sad, on the content level. But the film supposes itself to be amiable enough, on its own shabby terms, even when it climbs out of the screen and starts gnawing at your furniture. If the humor were to get broader it would make HDTV obsolete. The tone can only be termed good-naturedly mean-spirited. Goofy carnival music runs continuously in the background so we never forget that what we're seeing is, er, um, funny. All the action is composed of comic violence, like an unhip Warner Bros. cartoon. Do the filmmakers actually consider this cynical foray to be indicative of the Christmas spirit? Apparently so, because the resolution has Arnold winning quite inadvertently, and offers no clear alternative to the competitive commercialism that drives the film's attempts at humor. In a key scene that's meant to be touching, Arnold and Sinbad sit down for a heart-to-heart in which we learn that receiving much-wanted Christmas presents in our formative years is responsible for our success in adulthood. You get that Turbo Man, you'll be a billionaire; don't get it, you'll be a loser. Such is the formidable challenge of parenthood, to cater to the child's whims while it can still make a difference. This is what's wrong with this country. "--Jim Gay"

Languages: English

Summary: Network television says they want original programs, but they don't always know what to do with them. Case in point: "The Job", the late lamented series that lasted but 19 episodes before being unceremoniously yanked by ABC. So long Mike McNeil; we hardly knew ye. But what we did see of Denis Leary's working class anti-hero made for arrestingly funny television. McNeil, a cop, smokes, drinks, pops pills, and juggles a wife and girlfriend. And it's all beginning to catch up with him. "This stuff is Biblical," notes his partner, an African American whom the squad has nicknamed "Pip" (as in Gladys Knight and the...). "The Job" is not your typical workplace sitcom. There is no laugh track. Based on a real cop whom Leary befriended while researching his role in the remake of "The Thomas Crown Affair", "The Job" has the raw sound, rough language, and gritty look and texture of authenticity. It was shot documentary-style on location in New York. The focus of the series is more personal and less procedural than other cop shows. We get to know intimately this flawed and funny close-knit band of brothers, including straight-arrow Pip (Bill Nunn); Frank (Lenny Clarke), an old school cop and great bear of a man; and Det. Jan Fendrich (Diane Farr), a capable member of this boys' club in the classic Howard Hawks tradition, and who perhaps might have become a love interest for Mike had the series continued.
A series benchmark is "Barbeque," in which an anniversary party hosted by Pip and his commanding wife, Adina, inexorably descends into chaos when McNeil and company disregard Adnia's "no alcohol" edict. Another classic is the episode in which McNeil suspects that Frank is gay. While it does not jibe with Internet episode guides, the episode chronology on this four-disc set builds to a powerful climax, with Mike's girlfriend en route to confront his long-suffering wife (who may herself be having an affair), and Pip considering cheating on Adina with an old flame, all scored to the Ramones' pounding rendition of "Wonderful World." Whether it was ahead of its time, a victim of network neglect and mishandling, or just too dramatically different, "The Job" was too good for prime time. That it led to Leary's new hit series, "Rescue Me", is small comfort. For faithful and frustrated viewers, it's great to have McNeil back on "The Job". "--Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Based on David McCullough's bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries "John Adams" is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at America's founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul Giamatti), second president of the United States, is portrayed as a skilled orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti-English passions earns enemies. But he also gains the esteem of the first national government of the United States, i.e., the Continental Congress, which seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case for America's break from England's monarchy. The first thing one notices about "John Adams"' dramatizations of congress' proceedings, and the fervent pro-independence violence in the streets of Boston and elsewhere, is that America's roots don't look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous things happen in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of independence in a legitimate effort to get on with a revolutionary war under the command of George Washington. But the process isn't easy: not every one of the 13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England, and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century congressional sessions as they do today.
Besides this peek into a less-romanticized version of the past, "John Adams" is also a story of the man himself. Adams' frustration at being forgotten or overlooked at critical junctures of America's early development--sent abroad for years instead of helping to draft the U.S. constitution--is detailed. So is his dismay that the truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth. But above all, "John Adams" is the story of two key ties: Adams' 54-year marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husband's intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult, almost symbiotic relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades. Giamatti, of course, has to carry much of the drama, and if he doesn't always seem quite believable in the series' first half, he becomes increasingly excellent at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter over his place in history. Linney is marvelous, as is Dillane, Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above all Tom Wilkinson as a complex but indispensable Ben Franklin. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Sound: AC-3

Summary: When viewed from a cranky perspective, this by-the-book David vs. Goliath story doesn't offer any surprises, and it's a bit sad to watch director Francis Coppola (who also adapted John Grisham's bestseller) squandering his once-glorious talent on such conventional Hollywood fare. In a more charitable light, however, there's great pleasure to be found in Coppola's intelligent, no-nonsense handling of a plot that's every bit as involving as it is formulaic. Coppola also knows how to bring out the best in a stellar cast, and this is the movie (released in November 1997, just a few weeks before "Good Will Hunting") that signaled Matt Damon's arrival as a major-league star. Damon plays Rudy Baylor, a young rookie lawyer in Memphis (location of many Grisham stories) who takes on a powerful insurance company (led by a sharklike lawyer played by Jon Voight) by representing the family of a boy who was denied potentially life-saving treatment for leukemia. Rudy also comes to the rescue of an abused wife (Claire Danes) and learns the tricks of the legal trade from a seasoned paralegal (Danny DeVito), who sees Rudy as his ticket out of the sleazeball practice run by a shady lawyer (Mickey Rourke). There's no mystery about where this plot is going, but Coppola takes us there in high style with a sharp script, and Damon strikes just the right note of naivete and strategic intelligence. When Goliath inevitably falls, this courtroom David wins fair and square. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: John Legend: Live At the House of Blues is an outstanding full concert performance by 3x Grammy Award-Winning artist John Legend. In this musical journey singer-songwriter and pianist Legend brings his old-school soul sound to the stage. This classic concert was recorded at Hollywood's House of Blues in August 2005 and released on Blu-ray on October 3, 2006. Legend delivers remarkable live renditions of his hits such as "Let's Get Lifted," "Number One," and "Ordinary People", with Kanye West and Snoop Dogg making guest appearances during the show. Prior to delivering his first solo record 2005's critically acclaimed GET LIFTED, John spent a number of years performing in small jazz clubs and hiring out his talents to other artists as a session player. The pedigree shows. Now a full-fledged superstar, John Legend: Live At the House of Blues captures this artist at his passionate best, and is destined to become a timeless "Legend" in and of itself.
Blu-ray Disc Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Get Lifted
3. Alright
4. She Don't Have to Know
5. Number One (featuring Kanye West)
6. Do It Again
7. Live It Up
8. Medley
9. Selfish
10. I Can Change (featuring Snoop Dogg)
11. Used To Love You
12. Again
13. Ordinary People
14. So High
15. Stay With You
16. Refuge

Special Features:
"So High" Music Video
The Making of "So High" Music Video
Alternate Versions of "So High" (exclusive to Blu-ray)
Alternate Versions of "Again" (exclusive to Blu-ray)
Alternate Versions of "Ordinary People" (exclusive to Blu-ray)

Video/Audio:
Mastered in High Definition
PCM (uncompressed) Stereo and PCM 5.1 Surround Sound (48 kHZ/24bit)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (640 kbps)

Languages: English

Summary: It's impossible to walk away from "John Q." without thinking about the film that could have been. The pathetic state of health care in the U.S. and the desperate behavior it engenders is not only worthy but edgy material; no doubt director Nick Cassavetes ("She's So Lovely") and Denzel Washington (as well as Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta, James Woods, and Anne Heche) were drawn to the provocative pitch. The only snag is that "John Q." has about as much edge as an after-school special. Washington plays John Quincy Archibald, a hard-working factory worker whose house stands to be repossessed and whose lovely wife (Kimberly Elise) is at her wits' end. When his extremely cute son collapses while rounding the bases in a Little League game, things go from bad to worse. John Q. takes a downtown Chicago emergency room hostage when he learns that the heart transplant his son needs won't be performed because his health care doesn't cover it. The action-drama that ensues--replete with one-liners, stilted debate, inept snipers, and multiple references to O.J. Simpson's white Bronco--is so littered with clichés that the issues, timely ones, get lost in a crescendo of melodrama. "--Fionn Meade"

Languages: English

Summary: This dispensable 1984 comedy is a mostly humorless parody of '30s gangster movies, the kind of thing that might work reasonably well in a five-minute sketch on "Saturday Night Live" but which nearly beats a viewer to death over the course of a feature. Michael Keaton and Joe Piscopo play rival Mafia bosses, but once the novelty of that is introduced, it's already old. There's plenty of sustained effort from the rest of the cast (Marilu Henner, Danny DeVito, Maureen Stapleton), with Griffin Dunne getting special points. Amy Heckerling ("Fast Times at Ridgemont High") directs as if this were indeed on television. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Mr. Bean meets Mr. Bond in "Johnny English", a spy spoof that skewers the genre with Rowan Atkinson's trademark brand of "veddy"-British slapstick. It's a bit half-baked as a wannabe franchise, but Atkinson's creation of a new screen persona is just promising enough to warrant a sequel, despite critics' complaints that "Austin Powers" had already exhausted the spy-spoof's potential. Poppycock! Atkinson's gift for physical and, in this case, even verbal humor will surely please his devoted fans, even when a rather tepidly comedic screenplay prevents the British funnyman from reaching new heights of absurdity. As bumbling superspy Johnny English, who gains top-level MI-7 clearance after inadvertently causing a colleague's demise, Atkinson breathes life into gags that are too familiar to earn such an amusing revival. With John Malkovich as a smarmy Frenchman determined to overthrow the British monarchy, and Natalie Imbruglia as Johnny's comely comrade-in-arms, this slight but enjoyable comedy gives Atkinson plenty of opportunity to mug it up as only he can. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Summary: Parents seeking kid-friendly, Christian entertainment can be comfortable letting their kids watch "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie", which turns the characters from the biblical story of Jonah into a bunch of talking cucumbers, asparagus, peas, and other vegetables. When God instructs the prophet Jonah to go to the wicked city of Ninevah to spread His word, Jonah balks and tries to flee by ship--only to end up in the belly of a whale. When he finally consents to go to Ninevah, things don't turn out quite the way he expects. The "VeggieTales" team uses computer animation and upbeat musical numbers to express Christian themes, but they do so without being painfully didactic. The animation (and the humor) isn't as sophisticated as that in "Toy Story" or "Shrek", and kids may find some elements of the story confusing, but this may provide an opportunity for parents and kids to discuss values. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: Baby boomers of a certain age, and anyone fond of classic Hanna Barbera cartoons, might find the 40-year-old episodes in "Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season" an exciting blast from the past. Five years before Hanna Barbera made a comedy about amateur youths solving exotic mysteries in "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!", the animation giant captured a more serious spirit from a different era in "Jonny Quest". The series played on primetime television--a very big deal for animation at the time--in 1964, and was infused with energy from sundry pop trends as well as cold war paranoia and a prevailing belief in limitless technology (largely inspired by America's race to the moon). Part intelligence thriller, part science fiction, "Jonny Quest" made a child's adventure out of thwarting international espionage and sabotage with super-computers, state-of-the-art transportation to every corner of the planet, an apparently bottomless budget for building fantastic weapons, martial arts, and more. The fact that schoolboy Jonny, as well as his best friend, Hadji, and canine companion Bandit, were having adventures akin to those of James Bond was terribly exciting.
Young Jonny (voiced by actor Tim Matheson, later a co-star of "Animal House" and "The West Wing") is the motherless son of government scientist Dr. Benton Quest. The latter conducts all manner of research from a remote island, where he lives with Jonny, Hadji, Bandit, and chief assistant Race Bannon, a rugged fellow who tutors Jonny but also provides muscle when the group is on assignment anywhere from the Arctic to Calcutta. The original 26 episodes (on four discs) find the team battling conspirators amidst half-sunken pirate ships in the Sargasso Sea (in the pilot, "Mystery of the Lizard Men," sans Hadji), working undercover to stop a Jahilipur manufacturer of fake gold ("Riddle of the Gold"), and foiling an effort to steal an experimental, "mind-numbing" drug (and passing off a Race look-alike as the real McCoy) in "Double Danger." (The last introduces Race's hottie girlfriend, Jezebel Jade.) The slow, deliberate animation (even more stiff than "Scooby") can get a little wearing, but the uniqueness of "Jonny Quest" as a genuine adventure-drama makes this collection a must. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0

Summary: Centered on a girl band with a knack for ending up in the middle of a mystery, "Josie and the Pussycats" is a 1970 Saturday Hanna-Barbera television cartoon series featuring Josie, a character conceived and drawn by "Archie" Comic legend Dan DeCarlo, his complete 16-episode series features band members Josie, Melody, and Valerie and their entourage Alan, Alexander, Alexandra, and cat Sebastian as they travel the world from one gig to another. Like the "Scooby-Doo" gang, Josie and her friends invariably find themselves involved in some kind of mystery at every stop. Whether it's saving a fleet of ships from a captain set on avenging his great grandfather, investigating alien invaders with an insatiable hunger for diamonds, or stopping a crazed scientist from controlling the world's weather with a nuclear powered weather machine, lead singer Josie, clever Valerie, and ditzy Melody can be counted upon to combine forces with Josie's boyfriend Alan, the cowardly Alexander, the self-absorbed and scheming Alexandra, and the snickering cat Sebastian to investigate and solve the mystery just in time to don their leopard leotards and deliver a great show. "Josie and the Pussycats" features the groovy music of a brief-lived 1970 girl pop band of the same name throughout the chase scenes of each show and has the honor of being the first cartoon series to regularly feature a black character (though it beat "The Harlem Globetrotters" by only half an hour). An interesting 22-minute bonus profile of Dan DeCarlo features extensive interviews with great Marvel cartoonist Stan Lee (Spiderman, Fantastic Four), writer Mark Evanier, cartoonist Scott Shaw, "Archie" chairman and publisher Michael Silberkleit, writer and producer Paul Dini, and a host of others who touch upon everything from this master cartoonist's real-life inspiration for Josie to his influence on future cartoonists and animators, sense of humor, and very distinctive style. (Ages 5 and older) "--Tami Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Summary: When a seismic geologist (Brendan Fraser) discovers his lost brother's notes in a copy of the titular Jules Verne novel, he and his nephew (Josh Hutcherson, "Bridge to Terabithia", "Zathura") head to Iceland. There, joined by a fetching mountain guide (played by Icelandic actress Anita Briem), they get trapped in a cavern and go down, down, down, finally arriving in a primeval underworld full of prehistoric beasts and carnivorous plants. It would be pointless to complain about the empty-headedness of it all; "Journey to the Center of the Earth" aspires to be a kinesthetic experience. It wants to engage your adrenal glands, not your brain or your heart (the dialogue and characters are so generic, the script may have been cut-and-pasted from previous versions of Verne's book). Fraser, with his goofy handsomeness and accessible presence, provides a reasonably human axis around which all the frantic flying and swooping CGI effects revolve. The movie is as hollow as the world it depicts, but as mindless action movies go, you could do a lot worse. (Note: "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was released in theaters in 3-D, full of whizz-bang demonstrations of how far 3-D technology had come--trilobite antennae quivering towards the audience, a T-rex lunging out of the frame, even affable star Brendan Fraser spitting on us--as well as a half-dozen action sequences clearly destined to become video games or theme park rides.) "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: "Judge Dredd" is one of those movies that doesn't have a brain of its own, so it can only rip off a lot of ingredients from other, better movies. It's a mishmash of "Blade Runner", "Total Recall", and "The Road Warrior", with a dash of "Star Wars" tossed in for good measure. As if that weren't enough, it's got Sylvester Stallone, who seems to be the only one in the movie who's in on the game and knows it's all a sci-fi scam. Like "The Fifth Element" a few years later, "Judge Dredd" depicts a futuristic megalopolis packed with crowded vertical overgrowth and rampant commerce, where anarchy reigns supreme. Violent "block wars" are fought by lawless citizens with machine guns, and Judge Dredd (Stallone) is one of the city's heavily armed policemen, given free rein to judge and execute the perpetrators of violence. But Dredd himself is subjected to judgment and swift justice when his own gun is identified in the murder of a prominent TV reporter, forcing him to do whatever he can to clear his name. Diane Lane plays his partner in crime-fighting and romance, and Rob Schneider provides juvenile comic relief as Dredd's streetwise sidekick. Impressive special effects are on vivid display, and the movie's fun for what it's worth. Lower your expectations and you just might enjoy it. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: After the success of "Jurassic Park" in 1993, the floodgates opened for digital special effects, and "Jumanji" is nothing if not a showcase for computer-generated creepiness guaranteed to give young children a nightmare or two. Whether that was the filmmakers' intention is up for debate, since this is a PG-rated adventure revolving around a mysterious board game that unleashes a terrifying jungle world upon its players, including gigantic spiders, huge mosquitoes, a stampede of rhinos, elephants, and every other jungle beast you can imagine. Robin Williams plays a man-child who's been trapped in the world of "Jumanji" for 26 years until he's freed by two kids who've discovered the game and released its parade of dangerous horrors. A chaotic and misguided attempt at family entertainment, the movie does offer a few good laughs, and the effects are frequently impressive, if not entirely convincing to the eye. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Korean

Sound: AC-3

Summary: As preposterous action movies go, "Jumper" is pleasantly unpretentious and breezily entertaining. A young man named David (Hayden Christensen) discovers he has the power to teleport (or "jump") anywhere he can visualize. After using this power to steal and make a comfortable life for himself, he pursues the girl he longed for in school (Rachel Bilson, "The O. C."). But as he does so, another jumper (Jamie Bell, "Billy Elliot") and a pack of fanatical jumper-hunters called paladins (led by a white-haired Samuel L. Jackson) crashes into David's freewheeling life. "Jumper" wastes no time trying to explain how jumping works or delving into the hows and whys of the paladins; this is an alluring fantasy of power directed at a pell-mell pace by Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Go"). There's a brief moment when it feels like the movie will bog down in romance and vague gestures towards character development--happily, that's the moment when Bell appears and the whole movie shifts into overdrive. You might wish that Bell and Christensen had swapped roles; Bell has a far more engaging personality, and Christensen's bland good looks might better suit a more aggressive character. Nonetheless, "Jumper" has oodles of dynamism and nifty visual effects to propel its comic-book storyline forward. A variety of recognizable actors in bit parts (such as Diane Lane and Kristen Stewart, "Panic Room") suggest that the filmmakers are laying the groundwork for sequels. Based on a critically-acclaimed science-fiction novel by Steven Gould. --"Bret Fetzer"

Beyond "Jumper"
More from Steven Gould
The "Jumper" Soundtrack
More from Fox


Stills from "Jumper"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Disney's 1967 animated feature seems even more entertaining now than it did upon first release, with a hall-of-fame vocal performance by Phil Harris as Baloo, the genial bear friend of feral child Mowgli. Based on fiction by Rudyard Kipling, the film goes its own way as Disney animation will, but the strong characters and smart casting (George Sanders as the villainous tiger, Shere Khan) make it one of the studio's stronger feature-length cartoons. Songs include "The Bare Necessities" and "Trust in Me." "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Disney's 1967 animated feature seems even more entertaining now than it did upon first release, with a hall-of-fame vocal performance by Phil Harris as Baloo, the genial bear friend of feral child Mowgli. Based on fiction by Rudyard Kipling, the film goes its own way as Disney animation will, but the strong characters and smart casting (George Sanders as the villainous tiger, Shere Khan) make it one of the studio's stronger feature-length cartoons. Songs include "The Bare Necessities" and "Trust in Me." "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Somewhere between the sharp satire of "Election" and the rich human comedy of "You Can Count On Me" lies "Juno", a sardonic but ultimately compassionate story of a pregnant teenage girl who wants to give her baby up for adoption. Social misfit Juno (Ellen Page, "Hard Candy", "X-Men: The Last Stand") protects herself with a caustic wit, but when she gets pregnant by her friend Paulie (Michael Cera, "Superbad"), Juno finds herself unwilling to terminate the pregnancy. When she chooses a couple who place a classified ad looking to adopt, Juno gets drawn further into their lives than she anticipated. But "Juno" is much more than its plot; the stylized dialogue (by screenwriter Diablo Cody) seems forced at first, but soon creates a richly textured world, greatly aided by superb performances by Page, Cera, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as the prospective parents, and J.K. Simmons ("Spider-Man") and Allison Janney as Juno's father and stepmother. Director Jason Reitman ("Thank You For Smoking") deftly keeps the movie from slipping into easy, shallow sarcasm or foundering in sentimentality. The result is smarter and funnier than you might expect from the subject matter, and warmer and more touching than you might expect from the cocky attitude. Page's performance is deceptively simple; she never asks the audience to love her, yet she effortlessly carries a movie in which she's in almost every scene. That's star power. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Jurassic Park"
Steven Spielberg's 1993 mega-hit rivals "Jaws" as the most intense and frightening film he'd ever made prior to "Schindler's List", but it was also among his weakest stories. Based on Michael Crichton's novel about an island amusement park populated by cloned dinosaurs, the film works best as a thrill ride with none of the interesting human dynamics of Spielberg's "Jaws". That lapse proves unfortunate, but there's no shortage of raw terror as a rampaging "T. rex" and nasty raptors try to make fast food out of the cast. The effects are still astonishing (despite the fact that the computer-generated technology has since been improved upon) and at times primeval, such as the sight of a herd of whatever-they-are scampering through a valley. "--Tom Keogh"
"The Lost World: Jurassic Park"
After the global phenomenon that was "Jurassic Park", it was a given that novelist Michael Crichton would conjure up a sequel and that Steven Spielberg would then commit it to film. Considering the potential profit involved, it was practically a commercial mandate. Perhaps it was inevitable that both efforts were contrived, and well below the talents of Crichton (well, maybe) and certainly Spielberg, who just didn't have the heart for this recycling after the artistic triumph of "Schindler's List". What we're left with, for better and worse, is a redundant blockbuster that still benefits from Spielberg's mastery of high-intensity action sequences and the further development of amazing computer-generated special effects. What's missing is the awe and wonder that made "Jurassic Park" a technical marvel and a dazzling product of scientific imagination. The story's a no-brainer: after the deadly fiasco of the original dinosaur theme park, we're taken (along with returning star Jeff Goldblum) to a second island where genetically engineered dinosaurs still thrive under the watchful eye of Goldblum's biologist girlfriend (Julianne Moore). But a devious capitalist (Arliss Howard) is determined to export dinosaurs to a new park in San Diego, financing a hunt-and-capture expedition that results in another series of fatal disasters. In Spielberg's hands this movie's more exciting than it has a right to be, given the creative paucity of Crichton's novel and David Koepp's adapted screenplay. The special effects are state-of-the-art, and the "T. rex"'s rampage through the streets of San Diego is nothing short of spectacular; but apparently an improvement upon the shortcomings of "Jurassic Park" was too much to hope for. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Surpassing expectations to qualify as an above-average sequel, "Jurassic Park III" is nothing more or less than a satisfying popcorn adventure. A little cheesier than the first two "Jurassic" blockbusters, it's a big B movie with big B-list stars (including Laura Dern, briefly reprising her "Jurassic Park" role), and eight years of advancing computer-generated-image technology give it a sharp edge over its predecessors. While adopting the jungle spirit of "King Kong", the movie refines Michael Crichton's original premise, and its dinosaurs are even more realistic, their behavior more detailed, and their variety--including flying pteranodons and a new villain, the spinosaurus--more dazzling and threatening than ever. These advancements justify the sequel, and its contrived plot is just clever enough to span 90 minutes without wearing out its welcome.
Posing as wealthy tourists, an adventurous couple (William H. Macy, Téa Leoni) convince paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his protégé (Allesandro Nivola) to act as tour guides on a flyover trip to Isla Sorna, the ill-fated "Site B" where all hell broke loose in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". In truth, they're on a search-and-rescue mission to find their missing son (Trevor Morgan), and their plane crash is just the first of several enjoyably suspenseful sequences. Director Joe Johnston ("October Sky") embraces the formulaic plot as a series of atmospheric set pieces, placing new and familiar dinosaurs in misty rainforests, fiery lakes, and mysterious valleys, turning "JP3" into a thrill ride with impressive highlights (including a "T. rex" versus spinosaurus smack-down), adequate doses of wry humor (from the cowriters of "Election"), and an upbeat ending that's corny but appropriate, proving that the symptoms of sequelitis needn't be fatal. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Just Cause" is a film that relies on phony plot twists and steals openly from any other thriller that it can remember. If there was a drinking game requiring players to drink during every cinematic "homage," you'd be tanked after "Just Cause"'s first 45 minutes. Take one case of racial injustice, place it in an exotic, exquisitely photographed location (the Florida Everglades), and bring in an outsider, played by a bankable star, to save the day. Make sure nothing appears as it seems. Add a couple of plot twists, some over-the-top character actors (Ed Harris, shamelessly riffing on Hannibal Lecter), stir, and serve. The big name in this case is Sean Connery, who plays a Harvard law professor summoned to the swamps by an apparently innocent death row inmate (Blair Underwood), who swears he didn't rape and kill that 11-year-old girl. He says he confessed because maverick psycho-cop Tanny Brown (Laurence Fishburne) made him play a solo game of Russian roulette. He says his Serial-killer neighbor on death row (Harris) committed the crime. Connery buys it, the audience buys it, and how could they not? Director Arne Glimcher (who made the lackluster "Mambo Kings") coerces everyone with simplistic plot manipulations. Characters are given no depth, and the actors are pawns moved about like pieces on a Clue gameboard. "--Dave McCoy"

Languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Two 2-part episodes from the 1st season of Justice League. In the first, In Blackest Night, Green Lantern is put on trial for destroying a planet, but the Justice League comes to his aid to uncover the real perpetrator of the crime. In The Enemy Below the Justice League uses their super human strength to help Aquaman save his family and kingdom.

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl ? they have all used their unique powers to fight evil across the galaxy. These 7 super heroes unite to become the Justice League. These 26 adventures feature battles with favorite villains like Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage and sorceress Morgan Le Fey. Acts of justice include saving Aquaman from a coup and clearing Green Lantern's name in a charge of genocide. From the smash hit TV series, these triumphant tales of teamwork will enthrall and inspire!
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:The Enemy Below, Pt.2 Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary with Bruce Timm- Producer, James Tucker- Producer, Glenn Murakami- Producer, Rich Fogel- Producer & Dan Riba- Director
Interviews:- Inside Justice League: A private panel discussion takes place between Bruce Timm and his team of creators about Justice League with some special surprises - The Look of The League: Bruce Timm explains character design of Justice League
Storyboards:Storyboards: The Blueprint For Justice: The creative team of Justice League discuss storyboarding process
Audio Commentary:Legends, Pt.2 Audio Commentary: Audio Commentary with Bruce Timm- Producer, James Tucker- Producer, Glenn Murakami- Producer, Rich Fogel- Producer & Dan Riba- Director
Audio Commentary:The Savage Time, Pt.2 Audio Commentary- Audio Commentary with Bruce Timm- Producer, James Tucker- Producer, Glenn Murakami- Producer, Rich Fogel- Producer & Dan Riba- Director
Other:Justice League: The First Mission: Watch this exciting "Never Seen Before" promo which helped Justice League leap into action

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Better characterization and epic storylines combined with the usual topnotch voice talent make "Justice League"'s second season even better than the first. Some of the more intriguing story lines involve the League forming an unlikely partnership with Darkseid against Brainiac ("Twilight"); an alternate-dimension Justice League establishing a martial state in order to keep the peace ("A Better World"), which raises an interesting moral question that came up later in DC's "Identity Crisis" comic series; the death of Superman ("Hereafter"); and the League teaming up with Doctor Fate, Aquaman, and Solomon Grundy ("The Terror Beyond"). Other villains include the Secret Society and the Joker's Royal Flush Gang; Amazo, the android who can absorb the heroes' powers; Vandal Savage; and Eclipso. Most story lines are given two episodes (except the holiday-themed single episode "Comfort and Joy" and the three-part season finale "Starcrossed") and involve some combination of the seven Justice Leaguers: Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy, continuing his work from "Batman: The Animated Series"), Superman (George Newbern), Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), J'onn J'onzz (Carl Lumbly), Hawkgirl (Maria Canals), Green Lantern (Phil Lamarr), and the Flash (Michael Rosenbaum). One of the themes developed was an emerging relationship between Hawkgirl and another Leaguer, but it threatens to come apart in the monumental "Starcrossed," when her fellow Thanagarians arrive on Earth to protect humanity from a Gordanian invasion and it turns out Hawkgirl has been keeping a secret from her teammates. Producer Bruce Timm, casting director Andrea Romano, and others also worked on the highly regarded "Batman" and "Superman" animated series, and the result is one of the best animated series on television, satisfying for adults and sometimes too intense for kids.
DVD features include commentary by producers Timm and James Tucker, director Butch Lukic or writer Stan Berkowitz, and story editor Dwayne McDuffie on three episodes (why they love Hawkgirl: "If she loves you, she loves you with all her heart. If she hates you, she's gonna hit you with that big honkin' mace."), and featurettes on the voice talent and the second season. The series is shown in the widescreen format it adopted for this season, but it's not anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions, which is unusual for 2006, especially considering "Starcrossed" was released in anamorphic widescreen as a stand-alone DVD in 2004. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: The big guns in the superhero world find that fighting aliens is a whole lot tougher than battling plain old earthly villains, so they join together under the moniker Justice League in this hour-long Cartoon Network offering. When Superman is duped into disarming the planet's warheads, huge buglike creatures land in several of earth's major cities and systematically begin destroying them, impervious to remaining weaponry. The conflict pits Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, and interstellar refugee Martian Manhunter against the evil aliens. They're the same shape-changing beings that desecrated the Manhunter's home planet centuries before, which gives the wise Martian insight into their mad methods. This series marks a departure from the dark, more adult-themed superhero series and a return to the more simple good-versus-evil plot lines, making it both appropriate and palatable for ages 6 and up. "--Kimberly Heinrichs"

Languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Originally broadcast as a three-part episode that concluded the second season of the "Justice League" animated series, "Starcrossed: The Movie" offers not only an exciting adventure for the collected DC Comics superheroes, but a major shakeup within the JL lineup that changed the series' subsequent seasons. Hawkgirl and her relationship with John Stewart/Green Lantern is the focus of the feature, in which the alien heroine is forced to choose between her human love and her responsibility to her home planet when an invasion force is dispatched to Earth, and her Justice League partners--Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and the Flash--must stop it. A solid 68 minutes of animated action for fans of the original comic books and the series, which subsequently changed its title to "Justice League Unlimited" and introduced other DC characters to the JL lineup after these episodes were aired. The Warner Bros. DVD offers several supplemental features, including cast and filmmaker interviews. "--Paul Gaita"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Three new episodes from the most famous superhero library, DC Comics, available for the first time on DVD. 1) "Initiation": A reluctant Green Arrow joins forces with the new Justice League to stop a rampaging nuclear monster in Asia. 2) "Hawk and Dove": Wonder Woman teams up with super-powered two brothers, one warlike, the other a pacifist, to stop Ares' plans to escalate a European civil war into World War III. 3) "Kids' Stuff": Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are transformed into eight year olds in a desperate attempt to save the world from the magics of Mordred.
DVD Features:
Challenges:"Save Gorilla City" menu challenge
Featurette:"Justice League Watchtower Database"
Other:"Toon Topia" bonus episodes: 1) "Superhero Intern" 2) "Keepin' Up With the Joneses"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Movie DVD

Languages: English

Subtitles: Portuguese

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Summary: In the final 13 episodes of "Justice League Unlimited", Grodd recruits Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Bizarro, Giganta, and hordes of other villains to form the Legion of Doom, leading to numerous action-packed episodes of villains fighting the superheroes of the expanded JLU. The core members of the original series--Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Flash, and Green Lantern--are supplemented by such heroes as Green Arrow, Black Canary, Supergirl, Red Tornado, and Mister Terrific. But even waves of super-beings would be a bore if the stories weren't compelling and well-thought-out, and dashed with humor. It's the respect for the viewer's intelligence that elevates "JLU" beyond a kids' series to arguably the best animated-superhero show ever.
During the season, Hawkgirl meets Katar Hol, Hawkman, who claims that he and Hawkgirl are the resurrection of centuries-ago lovers, which throws a wrench into her developing relationship with Green Lantern ("Shadow of the Hawk," "Ancient History"). Flash fights a rogue's gallery of his arch enemies alongside Batman and Orion ("Flash and Substance"), Luthor switches brains with the Flash in "The Great Brain Robbery" (inside joke: Michael Rosenbaum is the voice of Flash, but plays Lex Luthor in the series "Smallville") , and Luthor's and Grodd's struggle for dominance of the Legion of Doom comes to a head in the final two-parter, which leads to an unlikely partnership against the ultimate supervillain. The series also dips into other characters and realms of DC comic-book lore, such as the Legion of Super-Heroes ("Far from Home"), Deadman ("Dead Reckoning"), the Seven Soldiers of Victory ("Patriot Act"), Birds of Prey ("Grudge Match"), and Mike Grell's Warlord ("Chaos at the Earth's Core"). In the bonus features, the series creators discuss "JLU"'s ongoing Cadmus story line, there's a music-only track of the series' final episode, and the creators do a 30-minute on-screen commentary talking about three late-season episodes. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Subtitles: French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: In a parallel Earth ruled by the Crime Syndicate, the Justice League must fight their evil doppelgangers in a battle that would be dead even, except that their malicious counterparts are willing to do the one thing Batman and Superman never would: kill.

Languages: English, Portuguese

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Inspired by the best-selling graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke and produced by the multiple Emmy® award winning animation legend, Bruce Timm, The New Frontier is the epic tale of the founding of the Justice League. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are all here of course, and so are Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Flash - whose incredible origins will be told for the very first time. Strangers at first, these very different heroes must overcome fear and suspicion to forge an alliance against a monster so formidable, even the mighty Superman can not stop it. If they fail, our entire planet will be "cleansed" of humanity.