Library

Languages: English

Summary: Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 10/07/2008 Run time: 110 minutes

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: As a bleak and chilling mood piece, "The Machinist" gets under your skin and stays there. Christian Bale threw himself into the title role with such devotion that he shed an alarming 63 pounds to play Trevor Reznik (talk about "starving artist"!), a factory worker who hasn't slept in a year. He's haunted by some mysterious occurrence that turned him into a paranoid husk, sleepwalking a fine line between harsh reality and nightmare fantasy--a state of mind that leaves him looking disturbingly gaunt and skeletal in appearance. (It's no exaggeration to say that Bale resembles a Holocaust survivor from vintage Nazi-camp liberation newsreels.) In a cinematic territory far removed from his 1998 romantic comedy "Next Stop Wonderland", director Brad Anderson orchestrates a grimy, nocturnal world of washed-out blues and grays, as Trevor struggles to assemble the clues of his psychological conundrum. With a friendly hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and airport waitress (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) as his only stable links to sanity, Trevor reaches critical mass and seems ready to implode just as "The Machinist" reveals its secrets. For those who don't mind a trip to hell with a theremin-laced soundtrack, "The Machinist" seems primed for long-term status as a cult thriller on the edge. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Stills from "Mad Men" (click for larger image)

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Mad Men returns, and guess what?  It’s still one of the best shows on TV.  Season two continues the slow progression to absolute greatness.  The first season left us with a number of cliffhangers, and the beginning of the second season doesn’t cleanly wrap things up.  Instead, we leap forward nearly 2 years and are thrown into an even more tumultuous time where the Norman Rockwell-idealized era is only ideal on the surface (slightly below we find rampant alcoholism, marriage dissolution, casual sexism and racism).  There is resolution, eventually, for all the questions left unanswered, but in true slow-as-molasses-but-still-riveting Mad Men form, we get to wait the entire season for answers.  

A lot has changed in these two years at Sterling-Cooper and it is exciting watching the 60’s progress through the unique lens of Mad Men.  Everything that made Season one incredibly compelling television is back. The terrific acting, pitch-perfect writing, gorgeous art direction and impressive attention to detail are all the unshakeable foundation to a meandering yet precise plotline that keeps the viewer glued to the television.  Special features include extensive commentaries and featurettes that examine 1960’s fashion, the rise of women in the workplace, and defining historical events of the era.—Kira Canny

Languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The penguins steal the show. In the sprightly "Madagascar", a mid-life crisis inspires Marty the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) to escape from his lifelong home, a New York zoo. His equally pampered friends--Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer)--then escape to bring him back. Unfortunately, their attempt at damage control persuades zoo officials that the animals are unhappy, so all four get shipped to an animal preserve in Kenya...only a squad of maniacal penguins change the destination to Antarctica. The quartet end up on an island where, in addition to meeting some hedonistic lemurs, they learn about the food chain--and that Alex is a different link on the chain from the other three. "Madagascar" doesn't achieve the snappy perfection of a Pixar movie, but it tops most other computer-animated efforts; the collision of friendship and predator instincts makes for an unusually gripping conflict. The vocal performances of the central characters is serviceable, but Sacha Baron Cohen ("Da Ali G Show") provides topnotch lunacy as the lemur king, and the penguins--voiced mostly by the animators themselves--are the best thing in the movie. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Summary: The sequel to the animated movie "Madagascar" gives more of everything audiences loved in the first movie: More of the penguins; more of Julian, king of the lemurs; more musical bits of classic rock; and many, many more lions, zebras, hippos, and giraffes. In the first film, a quartet of coddled zoo animals found themselves shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar in a misguided effort to return them to the wild. In"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa", a failed attempt to fly back to New York maroons Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) in an animal preserve on the African continent, accompanied by the four deranged penguins and the lunatic lemur king (deliriously voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat"). By wild coincidence, this is where Alex was born--and where his father is still the alpha lion, and where his malevolent uncle seeks to take over (let's call this an homage to "The Lion King"). The other beasts have their own story arcs, but really it's all an excuse for daffy comic bits. Though the result is disposable, it's also entirely entertaining. The action sequences pop with dizzying spectacle; though some jokes are mainstream fodder, more often they're surprisingly quirky and engagingly oddball. This is the best kind of cotton candy filmmaking--it dissolves into nothing, but it's oh-so-sweet to the taste. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0

Summary: "No one buys gorillas anymore," laments Mr. Peebles in the initial installment ("Big Game") of this Hanna-Barbera animation. The shop owner has looked after Magilla (Allan Melvin, "The Brady Bunch") since he was a baby. Customers take the snappily-dressed simian home, he messes everything up--they bring him back. Looks like Peebles (actor/director Howard Morris, "The Atom Ant Show") is stuck with the big lug. Granted, little Ogee (Jean Vander Pyl, "The Flintstones"), who makes her debut in the seventh episode ("Come Blow Your Dough"), would "love" a pet gorilla, but the redheaded tot is always short of cash.
Magilla first bounded onto the boob tube in 1964. Breaking from the usual pattern, the series premiered in syndication before moving to network TV two year later. Although the gorilla appears in the title cartoon of each episode, the other segments are dedicated to "Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-long" and "Punkin' Puss and Mushmouse". Ricochet (Don Messick, "Scooby-Doo") is "the fastest sheriff in the west," Droop-a-long coyote (Mel Blanc, "Bugs Bunny") is his foot-dragging deputy, and Punkin' (Melvin) and Mushmouse (Morris) are a hillbilly Tom and Jerry, locked in a rambunctious Hatfield and McCoy-type feud.
This "Classic Collection" includes 23 episodes plus eight shorts. Throughout, the gorilla is drafted by the army ("Private Magilla"), cast in a movie ("Groovey Movie"), and abducted by aliens ("Planet Zero"). After moving to ABC, the secondary toons would eventually be replaced by "Breezly and Sneezly" and "Peter Potamus and His Magic Flying Balloon", featuring much of the same voice talent. In both cases, the suspender-sporting primate was the top star of the show. As the theme song, introduced in episode 14 ("Motorcycle Magilla"), would have it, "A gorilla like Magilla is nice at any price!" "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: A handful of people in the San Fernando Valley are having one hell of a day. TV mogul Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is on his deathbed; his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) is popping pills with alarming frequency. Earl's nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is trying desperately to get in touch with Earl's only son, sex guru Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), who's about to have his carefully constructed past blown by a TV reporter (April Grace). Whiz kid Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is being goaded by his selfish dad into breaking the record for the game show "What Do Kids Know?" Meanwhile, Stanley's predecessor, the grown-up quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) has lost his job and is nursing a severe case of unrequited love. And the host of "What Do Kids Know?", the affable Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), like Earl, is dying of cancer, and his attempt to reconcile with his cokehead daughter (Melora Walters) fails miserably. She, meanwhile, is running hot and cold with a cop (John C. Reilly) who would love to date her, if she can sit still for long enough. And over it all, a foreboding sky threatens to pour something more than just rain.
This third feature from Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights") is a maddening, magnificent piece of filmmaking, and it's an ensemble film to rank with the best of Robert Altman--every little piece of the film means something, and it's solidly there for a reason. Deftly juggling a breathtaking ensemble of actors, Anderson crafts a tale of neglectful parents, resentful children, and love-starved souls that's amazing in scope, both thematically and emotionally. Part of the charge of "Magnolia" is seeing exactly how may characters Anderson can juggle, and can he keep all those balls in air (indeed he can, even if it means throwing frogs into the mix). And it's been far too long since we've seen a filmmaker whose love of making movies is so purely joyful, and this electric energy is reflected in the actors, from Cruise's revelatory performance to Reilly's quietly powerful turn as the moral center of the story. While at three hours it's definitely not suited to everyone's taste, "Magnolia" is a compelling, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful mediation on the accidents of chance that make up our lives. Featuring eight wonderful songs by Aimee Mann, including "Save Me." "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A handful of people in the San Fernando Valley are having one hell of a day. TV mogul Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is on his deathbed; his trophy wife (Julianne Moore) is popping pills with alarming frequency. Earl's nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is trying desperately to get in touch with Earl's only son, sex guru Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), who's about to have his carefully constructed past blown by a TV reporter (April Grace). Whiz kid Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is being goaded by his selfish dad into breaking the record for the game show "What Do Kids Know?" Meanwhile, Stanley's predecessor, the grown-up quiz kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) has lost his job and is nursing a severe case of unrequited love. And the host of "What Do Kids Know?", the affable Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), like Earl, is dying of cancer, and his attempt to reconcile with his cokehead daughter (Melora Walters) fails miserably. She, meanwhile, is running hot and cold with a cop (John C. Reilly) who would love to date her, if she can sit still for long enough. And over it all, a foreboding sky threatens to pour something more than just rain.
This third feature from Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights") is a maddening, magnificent piece of filmmaking, and it's an ensemble film to rank with the best of Robert Altman--every little piece of the film means something, and it's solidly there for a reason. Deftly juggling a breathtaking ensemble of actors, Anderson crafts a tale of neglectful parents, resentful children, and love-starved souls that's amazing in scope, both thematically and emotionally. Part of the charge of "Magnolia" is seeing exactly how may characters Anderson can juggle, and can he keep all those balls in air (indeed he can, even if it means throwing frogs into the mix). And it's been far too long since we've seen a filmmaker whose love of making movies is so purely joyful, and this electric energy is reflected in the actors, from Cruise's revelatory performance to Reilly's quietly powerful turn as the moral center of the story. While at three hours it's definitely not suited to everyone's taste, "Magnolia" is a compelling, heartbreaking, ultimately hopeful mediation on the accidents of chance that make up our lives. Featuring eight wonderful songs by Aimee Mann, including "Save Me." "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: This first sequel to "Dirty Harry" was written by a couple of strong voices, writer-directors Michael Cimino ("The Deer Hunter") and John Milius ("Farewell to the King"). But that doesn't mean the film is particularly good. After Don Siegel's ferociously dark style in the first movie, Ted Post's blocky, television-ish direction in "Magnum Force" is a huge letdown. The story doesn't win any prizes, either. Eastwood's San Francisco detective Harry Callahan (apparently having retrieved his badge after throwing it away at the end of "Dirty Harry") takes on a vigilante squad within the city's police force. David Soul is pretty convincing as the major spokesman for these right-wing avengers. Eastwood, on the other hand, had already turned Callahan from fascinating outsider in Siegel's film to purveyor of tough-guy shtick in this one. "--Tom Keogh"

Summary: THIS 7.1 DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO SURROUND MUSIC DISC DELIVERS AN AMAZING ACOUSTIC REALITY EXPERIENCE THROUGH ANY BLU-RAY (PS3) PLAYER WITH AN HDMI 1.3 OR OPTICAL (core only 5.1 and 6.1) OUTPUT CONNECTED OR ASSEMBLED WITH DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO OR DTS (core only 5.1 and 6.1) CAPABLE PLAYBACK SYSTEM THE FULL RANGE 7.1 (6.1;5.1) SURROUND SPEAKER SET-UP IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR FULL PERCEPTION OF ACOUSTIC REALITY AND LOW FREQUENCY CHANNEL (LFE) THAT IS VERY CRITICAL FOR THIS RECORD. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS RECORD WAS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED FOR 5.1 AND PRESENTED FOR 7.1 SURROUND SOUND REPRODUCTION TO PROVIDE YOU WITH UNIQUE ACOUSTIC REALITY EXPERIENCE.
This Disc is Audio Only

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: A baseball comedy and slob comedy rolled into one, this one actually works as entertainment, if not as a piece of cinematic mastery. James Gammon is the has-been manager hired to lead the last-place Cleveland Indians whose owner wants them to lose so she can sell them. But the team of has-beens and never-wases that he assembles (including Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes) develops a sense of pride and turns the team around. There's plenty of rowdy humor about sex, race, and whatever else they can make fun of. Look for Rene Russo (in her first film role) as Berenger's romantic interest; Snipes also had his first showy role as Willie Mays Hayes, the team's base-stealing ace. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Those diehard Cleveland Indians that went from worst to first in the hit original now cope with fame and its perks as the hangdog team tries to hit, hustle and joke its way back to the top. Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Corbin Bernsen star.

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0

Summary: Sometimes referred to as "the Poor Man's "Fantasia"," "Make Mine Music" (1946) was the first of the "package features" Walt Disney released after World War II. Instead of Bach and Beethoven, the artists illustrated segments set to popular music by Benny Goodman, Dinah Shore, and the Andrews Sisters. Originally set to Debussy's "Claire de Lune," "Blue Bayou" remains an atmospheric evocation of the Everglades. "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" is a charming fantasy about a cetacean with an extraordinary voice. "Peter and the Wolf," based on the Prokofiev score, offers brightly colored designs, but the narration by Sterling Holloway seems superfluous. "All the Cats Join In" is an upbeat evocation of the Bobby Sox era, but "Casey at the Bat" and "Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet" feel self-conscious and unfunny.
"Two Silhouettes" combines rotoscoped images of Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo stars Tatiana Riabouchinska and David Lichine with kitsch cupids, sparkles, and hearts. "The Martins and the Coys," a spoof of a hillbilly feud, has been excised in a bow to modern taste. The supplemental material includes "The Band Concert", the first color Mickey Mouse short and one of the character's finest performances, and "Music Land", a quirky Silly Symphony about clashing musical styles. "--Charles Solomon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Just as "Do the Right Thing" was the capstone of Spike Lee's earlier career, "Malcolm X" marked the next milestone in the filmmaker's artistic maturity. It seemed everything Lee had done up to that point was to prepare him for this epic biography of America's fiery civil-rights leader, who is superbly played by Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington, from his early days as a zoot-suited hustler known as "Detroit Red" to his spiritual maturity after his pilgrimage to Mecca, as a Black Muslim by the name of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz. "Do the Right Thing" climaxed with the photographic images of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King engulfed by flames of rage; "Malcolm X" explores the genesis and evolution of that rage over Malcolm's lifetime, and how these two great figures--held up to the public as polar-opposites within the African American human rights movement (King for nonviolent civil disobedience, Malcolm for achieving equality "by any means necessary")--were each essential to the agenda of the other. Lee careens from the hedonistic ebullience of Malcolm's early days to the stark despair of prison, from his life-changing conversion to Islam to his emergence as a dynamic political leader--all with an epic sweep and vitality that illuminates personal details as well as political ideology. Angela Bassett is also terrific as Malcolm's wife, Betty Shabazz. "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Malibu's Most Wanted" stars Jamie Kennedy ("Scream") as a white boy named Brad (or, as he prefers it, B-Rad) from the beach community north of L.A. who thinks he's a hip-hop star on the verge of discovery. His wannabe rap star persona is an embarrassment to his father's political campaign, so his father's handlers hire two actors (Anthony Anderson and Taye Diggs) to pretend to be ghetto gangsters, kidnap B-Rad, and "scare the black out of him." The movie's main source of comedy is that these prissy actors are no more street than B-Rad, so they're posing even more than he is. "Malibu's Most Wanted" isn't the "Scary Movie"-style lampoon you might expect; it's actually a surprisingly earnest character comedy about the cultural behaviors people use to identify themselves. This approach may get in the way of some potential laughs, but it also gives the movie some heart. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Sophomore jinx hit hard in this second film by Kevin Smith, whose debut Clerks transcended the limits of its setting and budget to become something memorably funny. (Smith followed Mallrats with the wonderful "Chasing Amy", so "Mallrats" definitely had the old curse.) A ramshackle comedy set in a mall, the film follows several story lines involving lovers, enemies, friends, goofballs, and Smith's own "silent" character, who also appeared in "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy". A heavy self-consciousness weighs on everything, as if Smith forgot how to make obscenity funny instead of tedious. Still, it's nice to see some of the director's film family on screen, among them Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Buffed-up action star Vin Diesel plays a reckless DEA agent in "A Man Apart", which aspires to merge big-budget action fare with a grittier, "The French Connection"-style procedural drama. When his wife is murdered by a mysterious drug lord called Diablo, Sean Vetter (Diesel) loses his moral bearings and risks the lives of his fellow agents in a quest for revenge. "A Man Apart" tries to give Diesel the opportunity to demonstrate a greater emotional range, but it's a mess; the supposedly tender scenes are generic and flat, while the action scenes are utterly incomprehensible. Much of the time it's unclear who's a cop and who's a thug, so when people get shot--and a lot of people get shot--it just becomes a bland wash of blood and bullets. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Style trumps substance in "Man on Fire", a slick, brooding reunion of "Crimson Tide" star Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott. The ominous, crime-ridden setting is Mexico City, where a dour, alcoholic warrior with a mysterious Black Ops past (Washington) seeks redemption as the devoted bodyguard of a lovable 9-year-old girl (the precociously gifted Dakota Fanning), then responds with predictable fury when she is kidnapped. Prolific screenwriter Brian Helgeland ("Mystic River", "L.A. Confidential") sets a solid emotional foundation for Washington's tormented character, and Scott's stylistic excess compensates for a distended plot that's both repellently violent and viscerally absorbing. Among Scott's more distracting techniques is the use of free-roaming, comic-bookish subtitles... "even when they're unnecessary"! Adapted from a novel by A.J. Quinnell and previously filmed as a 1987 vehicle for Scott Glenn, "Man on Fire" is roughly on par with Scott's similar 1990 film "Revenge", efficiently satisfying Washington's incendiary bloodlust under a heavy blanket of humid, doom-laden atmosphere. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: DTS Surround Sound

Summary: "There is no real you," jokes Lynn Margulies (Courtney Love) to her boyfriend, Andy Kaufman (Jim Carrey), as he grows more contemplative during a battle with cancer. "I forgot," he says, playing along, though the question of Kaufman's reality is always at issue in Milos Forman's underappreciated "Man on the Moon".
The story of Kaufman's quick rise to fame through early appearances on "Saturday Night Live" and the conceptual stunts that made his club and concert appearances an instant legend in the irony-fueled 1970s and early '80s, "Man on the Moon" never makes the mistake of artificially delineating Comic Andy from Private Andy. True, we get to see something of his private interest in meditation and some of the flakier extremes of alternative medicine, but even these interludes suggest the presence of an ultimate con behind apparent miracles of transformation.
Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski ("The People vs. Larry Flynt") allege that transformation was Kaufman's purpose--more than a shtick but less than a destiny. As we see him constantly up the ante on the credibility of his performance personae (the obnoxious nightclub comic Tony Clifton; the insulting, misogynistic professional wrestler), Forman makes it harder and harder to detect Kaufman's sleight of hand. But it's there, always there, always the transcendent Andy watching the havoc he creates and the emotions he stirs.
Carrey is magnificent as Kaufman, re-creating uncannily detailed comedy pieces etched in the memory of anyone who remembers the real Andy. But while Carrey's mimicry of Kaufman is flawless and funny, the actor probes much deeper into an enigmatic character who, in life, was often a moving target even for those closest to him. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: For all of its late-1940s cold war paranoia, pulp fiction dialogue, and frenzied greed, Joel and Ethan Coen's "The Man Who Wasn't There" is their most cool and collected film since "Blood Simple". An unassuming barber with a scheming wife (Frances McDormand) and a serious smoking habit, Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is an onlooker to his own life, a ghostly presence set against a silver-toned film noir backdrop. Only when he decides to alter his fate by blackmailing his wife's lover (James Gandolfini) in order to invest with a traveling salesman (Jon Polito) touting the wave of the future--dry cleaning--do we begin to hear the full extent of Ed's understated, existential lament. As his lawyer (Tony Shalhoub) says in Ed's defense at his eventual trial for murder, "He is modern man." Thornton's deadpan eloquence and cinematographer Roger Deakins's precision lighting offer the perfect counterbalance to the requisite one-liners, plot twists, and false endings that have come to characterize recent Coen brothers films. Almost in spite of the obsessive cultural references (flying saucers, Nabokov's "Lolita", Heisenberg's uncertainty principle), Ed Crane steps neatly from the fray as one of cinema's most memorably disenchanted characters. "--Fionn Meade"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: The British superspy with a license to kill takes on his dark underworld double, a classy assassin who kills with golden bullets at $1 million a hit. Roger Moore, in his second outing as James Bond, meets Christopher Lee's Scaramanga, one of the most magnetic villains in the entire series, in this entertaining but rather wan entry in the 007 sweepstakes. Bond's globetrotting search takes him to Hong Kong, Bangkok, and finally China, where Scaramanga turns his island retreat into a twisted theme park for a deadly game of wits between the gunmen, moderated by Scaramanga's diminutive man Friday Nick Nack ("Fantasy Island"'s Hervé Villechaize). Britt Ekland does her best as the most embarrassingly inept Bond girl in 007 history, a clumsy, dim agent named Mary Goodnight who looks fetching in a bikini, while Maud Adams is Scaramanga's tough but haunted lover and assistant (she returns to the series as the title character in "Octopussy"). Clifton James, the redneck sheriff from "Live and Let Die", makes an embarrassing and ill-advised appearance as a racist tourist who briefly teams up with 007 in what is otherwise the film's highlight, a high-energy chase through the crowded streets of Bangkok that climaxes with a breathtaking midair corkscrew jump. Bond and company are let down by a lazy script, but Moore balances the overplayed humor with a steely performance and Lee's charm and enthusiasm makes Scaramanga a cool, deadly, and thoroughly enchanting adversary. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Making this movie represented a rather risky venture for Mel Gibson--it was his first effort at directing, and the role demanded that he deliberately obscure his sexy matinee-idol looks. Gibson seems to truly relish his Lon Chaney Jr.-esque turn as Justin McLeod, a reclusive former teacher with half his face and body badly scarred, and a dark, secret past. The folks in McLeod's postcard-pretty Maine town have dubbed him "Hamburger Head" and exchange malicious gossip about him. But one boy is needy enough to dare to penetrate the fortress McLeod has built against the outside world. Fatherless Chuck Norstadt (Nick Stahl) is so anxious to escape his dysfunctional family that he pesters McLeod into becoming his mentor. Their relationship for the most part avoids the sort of sticky sentimentality one might expect from Hollywood. Chuck is a real, credible kid, a petulant pain with a chip on his shoulder, and McLeod is no Mr. Chips. It's fun, and quite moving, to watch these two cranky misfits battle their way toward a friendship that will change both their lives. Margaret Whitton ("Major League") gives an unaffected performance as Chuck's narcissistic mother. "I'm just not cut out for this mothering racket," she tells her rudderless children, as she flits from man to man. Gibson's own personal code of honor, we suspect, is very much in evidence in this movie's message: One must take responsibility for what one wants in life. "--Laura Mirsky"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Mannequin" is notionally a romantic comedy in which Andrew McCarthy plays a luckless department-store employee and Kim Cattrall ("Sex and the City") is an Egyptian princess reincarnated as a shop-window dummy, who comes to life when she encounters McCarthy, only to revert to mannequin status when anyone else is watching her. With her encouragement, he becomes emboldened in his career as a window decorator as well as falling in love with the princess. James Spader's oily, stammering executive is just one of the many examples of a film that tries way too hard to be funny, the sort of characterization that would be barely adequate for a TV commercial, let alone a 90-minute movie. Still, for fans of "Sex and the City" who might want to feast upon the spectacle of a younger Kim Cattrall, "Mannequin" might offer a measure of relief. "--David Stubbs"

Languages: English

Summary: Uncovering Michael Moore
In the realm of documentary filmmaking there is no greater icon than Michael Moore, but are his films really the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
At what point does the manipulation of fact become a work of fiction?
See for yourself when the lens is turned on the most controversial director of our time. Discover the film that Michael Moore doesn t want you to see

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "March of the Penguins" instantly qualifies as a wildlife classic, taking its place among other extraordinary films like "Microcosmos" and "Winged Migration". French filmmaker Luc Jacquet and his devoted crew endured a full year of extreme conditions in Antarctica to capture the life cycle of Emperor penguins on film, and their diligence is evident in every striking frame of this 80-minute documentary. Narrated in soothing tones by Morgan Freeman, the film focuses on a colony of hundreds of Emperors as they return, in a single-file march of 70 miles or more, to their frozen breeding ground, far inland from the oceans where they thrive. At times dramatic, suspenseful, mischievous and just plain funny, the film conveys the intensity of the penguins' breeding cycle, and their treacherous task of protecting eggs and hatchlings in temperatures as low as 128 degrees below zero. There is some brief mating-ritual violence and sad moments of loss, but "March of the Penguins" remains family-friendly throughout, and kids especially will enjoy the Antarctic blue-ice vistas and the playful, waddling appeal of the penguins, who can be slapstick clumsy or magnificently graceful, depending on the circumstances. A marvel of wildlife cinematography, this unique film offers a front-row seat to these amazing creatures, balancing just enough scientific information with the entertaining visuals. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: DTS Surround Sound

Summary: The feature film debut of wrestling superstar John Cena, "The Marine" offers an agreeable smorgasbord of slam-bang action for viewers willing to swallow whole their disbelief for the sake of enjoying the plot. Cena, who is one of the most animated performers in the wrestling arena, is saddled with a taciturn role as a former Marine with an authority problem who tangles with dangerous jewel thieves (led by Robert Patrick) after they take his wife (Kelly Carlson of "Nip/Tuck") hostage. Cena handles the physical duties of his role with ease, and former commercial director John Bonito offers him a frantic array of situations in which to display his prowess. On the whole, however, the picture is very light in the logic department, and filled with cardboard characters that quickly wear out their welcome (save Patrick, who tosses villainous one-liners with scene-stealing brio). Extras include a making-of featurette, which includes talking-head interviews with the cast, crew, and WWE head/producer Vince McMahon, as well as a barrage of shorter featurettes on Cena's rise to fame and the film's premiere at Camp Pendleton. "--Paul Gaita"

Languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: When a dog wriggles his adorable rear end into a human's life, the human will never be the same. And both Marley, the dog, and Marley & Me, the movie, manage to endear themselves deeply despite a few wee flaws. Readers of the John Grogan bestseller already know the raffish charm of the incorrigible yellow lab puppy, Marley, adopted by Grogan and his wife because she's "never seen anything more adorable in my life." But Grogan's simple tale of love, in all its forms, shines on the big screen, thanks to deft comic turns by Jennifer Aniston--in top form here--and Owen Wilson. Their chemistry is utterly natural and believable as Marley's owners, as is their interaction with the very naughty but ultimately irresistible Marley. As Marley grows up, the film follows his escapades--flunking out, spectacularly, from puppy training at the hands of a wickedly funny Kathleen Turner. And as Marley grows up, John and Jenny build their life together and weather some tough emotional blows. Like My Dog Skip, which it resembles in its affection for its subject, Marley & Me is a tear-jerker, but in the sweetest, most lovely way--because it, and its four-legged star, have wriggled into our hearts. Good boy. --A.T. Hurley
Stills from Marley and Me (Click for larger image)

 

 

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: It's enlightening to view Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks!" as his twisted satire of the blockbuster film "Independence Day", which was released earlier the same year, although the movies were in production simultaneously. Burton's eye-popping, schlock tribute to 1950s UFO movies actually plays better on video than it did in theaters. The idea of invading aliens ray gunning the big-name movie stars in the cast is a cleverly subversive one, and the bulb-headed, funny-sounding animated Martians are pretty nifty, but it all seemed to be spread thin on the big screen. On video, however, the movie's kooky humor seems a bit more concentrated. The Earth actors (most of whom get zapped or kidnapped for alien science experiments) include Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rod Steiger, Michael J. Fox, Lukas Haas, Jim Brown, Tom Jones, and Pam Grier. "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting "Mary Poppins", and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P.L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider "Mary Poppins" to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career--and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991. "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting "Mary Poppins", and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P.L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider "Mary Poppins" to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career--and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991. "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting "Mary Poppins", and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P.L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider "Mary Poppins" to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career--and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991. "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: In the capable hands of director Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is a seafaring adventure like no other, impeccably authentic, dynamically cast, and thrilling enough to give any classic swashbuckler a run for its money. In adapting two of Patrick O'Brian's enormously popular novels about British naval hero Capt. Jack Aubrey, Weir and cowriter John Collee have changed the timeframe from the British/American war of 1812 to the British/French opposition of 1805, where the "HMS Surprise", under Aubrey's confident command, is patrolling the South Atlantic in pursuit of the "Acheron", a French warship with the strategic advantage of greater size, speed, and artillery. Russell Crowe is outstanding as Aubrey, firm and fiercely loyal, focused on his prey even if it means locking horns with his friend and ship's surgeon, played by Crowe's "A Beautiful Mind" costar Paul Bettany. Employing a seamless combination of carefully matched ocean footage, detailed models, full-scale ships, and CGI enhancements, Weir pays exacting attention to every nautical detail, while maintaining a very human story of honor, warfare, and survival under wretched conditions. Raging storms and hull-shattering battles provide pulse-pounding action, and a visit to the Galapagos Islands lends a note of otherworldly wonder, adding yet another layer of historical perspective to this splendidly epic adventure. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: In the capable hands of director Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is a seafaring adventure like no other, impeccably authentic, dynamically cast, and thrilling enough to give any classic swashbuckler a run for its money. In adapting two of Patrick O'Brian's enormously popular novels about British naval hero Capt. Jack Aubrey, Weir and cowriter John Collee have changed the timeframe from the British/American war of 1812 to the British/French opposition of 1805, where the "HMS Surprise", under Aubrey's confident command, is patrolling the South Atlantic in pursuit of the "Acheron", a French warship with the strategic advantage of greater size, speed, and artillery. Russell Crowe is outstanding as Aubrey, firm and fiercely loyal, focused on his prey even if it means locking horns with his friend and ship's surgeon, played by Crowe's "A Beautiful Mind" costar Paul Bettany. Employing a seamless combination of carefully matched ocean footage, detailed models, full-scale ships, and CGI enhancements, Weir pays exacting attention to every nautical detail, while maintaining a very human story of honor, warfare, and survival under wretched conditions. Raging storms and hull-shattering battles provide pulse-pounding action, and a visit to the Galapagos Islands lends a note of otherworldly wonder, adding yet another layer of historical perspective to this splendidly epic adventure. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Planet Eternia and the Castle of Greyskull are under threat from the evil Skeletor who wants to take over the planet. A group of freedom fighters, led by the heroic He-Man are accidentally transported to Earth by a mysterious Cosmic Key which holds the power to make Skeletor all-powerful. Once on Earth, He-Man joins alliances with two teenagers as they attempt to find the key and return home.

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Marking a welcome return to the breezy style of "Thelma & Louise", Ridley Scott's "Matchstick Men" reminds us that the director of "Gladiator" is equally adept with quirky comedies and offbeat characters. Smoothly adapted from the novel by Eric Garcia and set amidst the sunlit, 1950s-style architecture of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, this gently dramatic comedy centers on Roy (Nicolas Cage), a divorcée whose career as a con artist is complicated by: (1) his ongoing struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, which manifests itself through various quirks and rituals; (2) a wily partner (Sam Rockwell) whose criminal ambitions are greater than Roy suspects; and (3) the arrival of 14-year-old Angela (Alison Lohman), claiming to be the daughter he's never known. Turns out she's got a knack for dad's profession, and that turns "Matchstick Men" into a multilayered comedy with unexpected twists and surprising revelations. To say more would spoil the fun; suffice it to say that Hans Zimmer's playful score and a Sinatra-laced soundtrack are perfect complements to Cage's engaging eccentricities. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]

Comments: A little magic goes a long way.

Summary: See the world from a kid's-eye view with <i>Matilda</i>, a modern fairy tale that mixes hilarious humor with the magical message of love.<bR><BR> <i>Mrs. Doubtfire's</i> Mara Wilson stars as Matilda, a super-smart little girl who's woefully misunderstood by her parents (Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman), her brother, and an evil school principal. But with the help of a brave best friend and a wonderful teacher, Matilda discovers she doesn't have to get mad to get even. Filled with a subversive sense of wit and whimsy, <i>Matilda</i> is a "great comedy with a great message. The adults laugh as much, if not more, than the kids." - Elaine Blythe <i>Film Advisory Board</i>

Languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch

Sound: AC-3

Summary: By following up their debut thriller "Bound" with the 1999 box-office smash "The Matrix", the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal--from what or whom he doesn't know--until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: "You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is--a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend.
Neo thus embarks on an adventure that is both terrifying and enthralling. Pitted against an enemy that transcends human concepts of evil, Morpheus and his team must train Neo to believe that he is the chosen champion of their fight. With mind-boggling, technically innovative special effects and a thought-provoking script that owes a debt of inspiration to the legacy of cyberpunk fiction, this is much more than an out-and-out action yarn; it's a thinking man's journey into the realm of futuristic fantasy, a dreamscape full of eye candy that will satisfy sci-fi, kung fu, action, and adventure fans alike. Although the film is headlined by Reeves and Fishburne--who both turn in fine performances--much of the fun and excitement should be attributed to Moss, who flawlessly mixes vulnerability with immense strength, making other contemporary female heroines look timid by comparison. And if we were going to cast a vote for most dastardly movie villain of 1999, it would have to go to Hugo Weaving, who plays the feckless, semipsychotic Agent Smith with panache and edginess. As the film's box-office profits soared, the Wachowski brothers announced that "The Matrix" is merely the first chapter in a cinematically dazzling franchise--a chapter that is arguably superior to the other sci-fi smash of 1999 (you know... the one starring Jar Jar Binks). "--Jeremy Storey"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Inspired by the 1960s TV series that starred James Garner in the title role, this lightweight Western from 1994 proved to be a surprising box-office hit. Well, maybe not such a big surprise, since it's from the star and director of the "Lethal Weapon" movies, and operates with a similar combination of mainstream plotting and easygoing humor. Mel Gibson stars as card-playing gunslinger Brett Maverick, who meets up with wily gambler Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster) and a marshal named Zane Cooper (James Garner, trading his old role to Gibson) on his way to the World Series of poker in St. Louis. Maverick's trying to raise the $5,000 needed to join the high-stakes contest, but that's easier said than done due to a lot of unscrupulous competition and a twisting plot of tricks and deceptions. It's all played for laughs and action, so the movie never wears out its welcome, despite a running time that could've used a good trimming. It's also fun to see the rapport between Gibson and Garner, as if the present and former Mavericks were a kind of surrogate son and father, bonded by their mutual skill in charming and conning their way through tight spots. Director Richard Donner also pays tribute to old Westerns by casting veterans of the genre in cameo roles (including Bert Remsen, Dub Taylor, and Denver Pyle), and Gibson's "Lethal Weapon" costar Danny Glover pops in for a surprise appearance. None of this really adds up to much since the movie makes no pretense about taking itself seriously, but that's precisely why audiences found it so entertaining. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Any film based on a first-person shooter video game should, as a rule of thumb, be full of epic shootouts on a level equal to Sergio Leone or the Wachowski Brothers, and in that regard, Max Payne is an unqualified success. Mark Wahlberg also lives up to the game's pedigree by brooding mightily as the title hero, a big city detective mourning the murder of his wife and child. Revenge is, of course, Payne's ultimate goal, and with the assistance of slinky Russian hitwoman Mila Kunis, he dishes it out in elaborate set pieces overflowing with gymnastic gun play. Viewers seeking just that and nothing more will get their money's worth from John Moore's film adaptation, and most likely be impressed by its fashionably gloomy art direction and cinematography. Those seeking a bit more than gunpowder and gristle will find Max Payne utterly derivative of a half-dozen better films (Christopher Nolan's Batman films, most notably) and violent to the point of cartoon absurdity. They may find some refuge in appealing supporting turns by Donal Logue and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as diametrically opposed cops and Beau Bridges, who offers his usual roguish charm as Payne's former superior. --Paul Gaita


Beyond Max Payne on DVD
Babylon A.D.
Boondock Saints
Donnie Darko


Stills from Max Payne (Click for larger image)

 
 

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish, English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: In "Me, Myself & Irene", Jim Carrey plays Charlie Baileygates, a cop for the best police force in the world (Rhode Island). In denial about his wife's affair, he's a nice guy who goes around trying to do the right thing but is taken advantage of every step of the way. Instead of confronting people, he takes the abuse, balls it up, and hides it in the pit of his stomach. His psyche can only take so much, though, and soon his alter-ego Hank pops out to do every libidinous thing Charlie would never do. It's a great premise for a Jim Carrey film. Unfortunately, it's not a great Jim Carrey film. Famous for the lowbrow, shock comedies like "Dumb and Dumber", "Kingpin", and "There's Something About Mary", here the Farrelly brothers get lost in a series of lazy gags and an even lazier plot about some evil golf development and the woman, Irene (Renée Zellweger), who needs to be protected because she knows something about it. Some of the jokes hit (there's a bathroom scene that's 10 times funnier than the hair-gel gag in "There's Something About Mary"), but many more miss. There are some great concepts (his three sons are hip-hop geniuses) that don't go anywhere (they swear a lot). It's like the movie itself has a split personality--funny ideas trapped in a less-than-funny film. "--Andy Spletzer"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: RAISED IN THE AFRICAN BUSH COUNTRY BY HER ZOOLOGIST PARENTS, CADY THINKS SHE KNOWS ALL ABOUT 'SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST'. BUT THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE TAKES ON A WHOLE NEW MEANING WHEN THE HOME-SCHOOLED 15-YEAR-OLD ENTERS HIGH SCHOOL & FALLS FOR THE EX-BOYFRIEND OF THE SCHOOL'S MOST POPULAR GIRL.

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Decades before he was winning accolades for his work in "Lost in Translation" and "Rushmore", Bill Murray was making moviegoers snicker with his breakthrough comedy "Meatballs". This film--which was released theatrically in 1979--stars a 29-year-old Murray as a horny camp counselor named Tripper Harrison, who is just barely more mature than the kids he's looking after. Tripper seems like a screw up because he is, but the audience sees soon enough that he has that proverbial heart of gold, which is offset by an acerbic tongue. Looking over one of the unhappy children in his charge, Tripper says, "You must be the short, depressed kid we ordered." Camp North Star isn't the type of destination kids dream about during the school year. As envisioned by director Ivan Reitman (who would again collaborate with Murray in "Ghostbusters"), it's a place where kids do their time until their parents let them return home. But in his own way, Tripper makes it a fun place for the kids to learn about the opposite sex and get a feeing for competition. Unlike "Little Darlings", the coming-of-age camping film starring Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal that was released a year later, there really isn't a strong moral to this film. But there is a sense that thanks to Tripper's unorthodox madness, he makes Camp North Star a place that kids want to return to the following year. While not as self-assured as he would be in a smaller role in 1980's "Caddyshack", Murray is highly likeable here as an overgrown doof.
On the DVD
In the special edition version of this DVD, the extra features include some insight into Murray, who is somewhat elusive about committing to film projects. Reitman reveals that he actually wasn't sure Murray (who wasn't a big name back then) was on board for "Meatballs" until he showed up for filming the first week. Interestingly enough, this comedy originally was supposed to focus its attention on several camp counselors, but Murray was so good in his role that the plot was adjusted to focus primarily on Tripper. Also included is a three-part "making of" featurette that includes insight into casting, the use of real campers because they didn't have enough money to pay for extras, and interviews with some of the cast members. "--Jae-Ha Kim"











Stills from "Meatballs " (click for larger image)









Beyond " Meatballs" at Amazon.com










More Films by Bill Murray






Get Ready for Camp







Comedies about Underdogs

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Meet Joe Black" seemed almost fated to fail when it was released in 1998, but this romantic fantasy--a remake of 1934's "Death Takes a Holiday"--deserves a chance at life after box-office death. Although many moviegoers were turned off by director Martin Brest's overindulgent three-hour running time, those who gear into its deliberate pace will find that "Meet Joe Black" offers ample reward for your attention.
Brad Pitt plays Death with a capital D, enjoying some time on Earth by inhabiting the body of a young man who'd been killed in a shockingly sudden pedestrian-auto impact. Before long, Death has ingratiated himself with a wealthy industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and pursues romance with the man's beautiful daughter (newcomer Claire Forlani), whom he'd briefly encountered while still an earthbound human. Under the assumed identity of "Joe Black," he samples all the pleasures that corporeal life has to offer--power, romance, sex, and such enticing pleasures as peanut butter by the spoonful.
But Death has a job to do, and "Meet Joe Black" addresses the heart-wrenching dilemma that arises when either father or daughter (the plot keeps us guessing) must confront his or her inevitable demise. The film takes its own sweet time to establish this emotional crisis and the love that binds Hopkins's semidysfunctional family so closely together. But if you've stuck with the story this far, you may find yourself surprisingly affected. And if "Meet Joe Black" has really won you over, you'll more than appreciate the care and affection that gives the film a depth and richness that so many critics chose to ignore. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Meet the Parents" found such tremendous success in the chemistry produced by the contrasting personalities of stars Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller that the film's creators went for broke with the same formula again in "Meet the Fockers". This time around, Jack and Dina Byrnes (De Niro and Blythe Danner) climb into Jack's new kevlar-lined RV with daughter Pam (Teri Polo), soon-to-be son-in-law Gaylord (Stiller), and Jack's infant grandson from his other daughter for the trip to Florida to meet Gaylord's parents, Bernie and Roz Focker (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand in a casting coup). The potential in-laws are, of course, the opposite of Jack, a pair of randy, touchy-feely fun-lovers. The rest of the movie is pretty much a sitcom: put Bernie and Roz together with Jack, and watch the in-laws clash as Gaylord squirms. As with the original, there is a sense of joy in watching these actors take on their roles with obvious relish, and the Hoffman-Streisand-Stiller triumvirate is likeable enough to draw you in. But the formula doesn't work as well in "Fockers" mostly because much of the humor is based on two obvious gimmicks: Gaylord Focker's name, and the fact that Streisand's character is a sex therapist. As a result, the movie itself is more contrived and predictable, and a lot less fun than the original. The casting is grand, but one wishes more thought was put into the script."--Dan Vancini"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Randy Newman's opening song, "A Fool in Love," perfectly sets up the movie that follows. The lyrics begin, "Show me a man who is gentle and kind, and I'll show you a loser," before praising the man who takes what he wants. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is the fool in love in "Meet the Parents". Just as he's about to propose to his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo), he learns that her sister's fiancé asked their father, Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), for permission to marry. Now he feels the need to do the same thing. When Greg meets Jack, he is so desperate to be liked that he makes up stories and kisses ass rather than having the courage of his convictions. It doesn't take an elite member of the CIA to see right through Greg, but that's precisely what Jack is. Directed by Jay Roach (the "Austin Powers" movies), "Meet the Parents" is an incredibly well-crafted comedy that stands in nice opposition to, say, the sloppy extremes of the Farrelly brothers. Stiller is great at playing up the uncomfortable comedy of errors, balancing just the right amount of selfishness and self-deprecating humor, while De Niro's Jack is funny as the hard-ass father who just wants a few straight answers from the kid. What makes the Jack character all the funnier is Blythe Danner as his wife, the Gracie to his George Burns, who is the true heart of the movie. Oh, and Owen Wilson turns in yet another terrific comic performance as Pam's ex-fiancé. "--Andy Spletzer"

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Villainy is a way of life, but if a villain doesn't have a hero to battle, can he still expect the same sense of satisfaction from his evil deeds? When Megamind (Will Ferrell) finally defeats his long-time nemesis Metro Man (Brad Pitt), he ecstatically goes about laying ruin to Metro City, reveling in the fact that he can now have anything he wants. Surprisingly, Megamind's glee quickly turns to dissatisfaction as he realizes that the battle was half the fun and everything comes too easy now. Thus begins a plot to turn the nerdy Hal (Jonah Hill) into Tighten, a new hero for Megamind to battle. What Megamind doesn't count on is that Tighten may not turn out to be as good as he's meant to be. Nor does he anticipate falling in love with his old rival's girl Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey). In the end, Megamind finds he must rethink his assumptions about good, bad, and what makes him happy. "Megamind" and "Despicable Me" are remarkably similar movies: both deal with villains who are unfulfilled by their evil ways and who, despite their despicable natures, have some essential goodness deep down inside. Both villains are presented in highly stylized animation and the 3-D effects in each film are skillful and effective without being overdone. Megamind has Minion, who watches over him, while Gru has a whole crew of mindless minions supporting his evil ventures. Finally, both films are solidly entertaining. Because the two films were released within a few months of one another, speculation about who copied who will no doubt run rampant, but the bottom line is that both films are well worth seeing. (Ages 7 and older) "--Tami Horiuchi"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: This is another collection of Disney shorts set to music, but this time the formula works. That's predicated on the inherent strength of the individual pieces and almost all of them come through. Surprisingly, two American folk heroes, Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill, are the stars of this show, with rousty little tunes, humor, and compelling linear story lines (a rarity in most of these shorts). Even the shorts that are weak in one area, thematically or musically, make up for it in another. There's very little of the Disney animators attempting to be 1940s modern, thank goodness, and there's a sterling quality in the depth of the art work. A definite plus to an animation (or Disney) collection. "--Keith Simanton"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Guy Pearce ("L.A. Confidential") and Joe Pantoliano ("The Matrix") shine in this absolute stunner of a movie. "Memento" combines a bold, mind-bending script with compelling action and virtuoso performances. Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, hunting down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The problem is that "the incident" that robbed Leonard of his wife also stole his ability to make new memories. Unable to retain a location, a face, or a new clue on his own, Leonard continues his search with the help of notes, Polaroids, and even homemade tattoos for vital information.
Because of his condition, Leonard essentially lives his life in short, present-tense segments, with no clear idea of what's just happened to him. That's where "Memento" gets really interesting; the story begins at the end, and the movie jumps backward in 10-minute segments. The suspense of the movie lies not in discovering what happens, but in finding out "why" it happened. Amazingly, the movie achieves edge-of-your-seat excitement even as it moves backward in time, and it keeps the mind hopping as cause and effect are pieced together.
Pearce captures Leonard perfectly, conveying both the tragic romance of his quest and his wry humor in dealing with his condition. He is bolstered by several excellent supporting players, and the movie is all but stolen from him by Pantoliano, who delivers an amazing performance as Teddy, the guy who may or may not be on his side. "Memento" has an intriguing structure and even meditations on the nature of perception and meaning of life if you go looking for them, but it also functions just as well as a completely absorbing thriller. It's rare to find a movie this exciting with so much intelligence behind it. "--Ali Davis"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Guy Pearce ("L.A. Confidential") and Joe Pantoliano ("The Matrix") shine in this absolute stunner of a movie. "Memento" combines a bold, mind-bending script with compelling action and virtuoso performances. Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, hunting down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The problem is that "the incident" that robbed Leonard of his wife also stole his ability to make new memories. Unable to retain a location, a face, or a new clue on his own, Leonard continues his search with the help of notes, Polaroids, and even homemade tattoos for vital information.
Because of his condition, Leonard essentially lives his life in short, present-tense segments, with no clear idea of what's just happened to him. That's where "Memento" gets really interesting; the story begins at the end, and the movie jumps backward in 10-minute segments. The suspense of the movie lies not in discovering what happens, but in finding out "why" it happened. Amazingly, the movie achieves edge-of-your-seat excitement even as it moves backward in time, and it keeps the mind hopping as cause and effect are pieced together.
Pearce captures Leonard perfectly, conveying both the tragic romance of his quest and his wry humor in dealing with his condition. He is bolstered by several excellent supporting players, and the movie is all but stolen from him by Pantoliano, who delivers an amazing performance as Teddy, the guy who may or may not be on his side. "Memento" has an intriguing structure and even meditations on the nature of perception and meaning of life if you go looking for them, but it also functions just as well as a completely absorbing thriller. It's rare to find a movie this exciting with so much intelligence behind it. "--Ali Davis"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, English, French, Korean, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: This imaginative summer comedy from director Barry Sonnenfeld ("Get Shorty") is a lot of fun, largely on the strength of Will Smith's engaging performance as the rookie partner of a secret agent (Tommy Lee Jones) assigned to keep tabs on Earth-dwelling extraterrestrials. There's lots of comedy to spare in this bright film, some of the funniest stuff found in the margins of the major action. (A scene with Smith's character being trounced in the distance by a huge alien while Jones questions a witness is a riot.) The inventiveness never lets up, and the cast--including Vincent D'Onofrio doing frighteningly convincing work as an alien occupying a decaying human--hold up their end splendidly. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: This imaginative summer comedy from director Barry Sonnenfeld ("Get Shorty") is a lot of fun, largely on the strength of Will Smith's engaging performance as the rookie partner of a secret agent (Tommy Lee Jones) assigned to keep tabs on Earth-dwelling extraterrestrials. There's lots of comedy to spare in this bright film, some of the funniest stuff found in the margins of the major action. (A scene with Smith's character being trounced in the distance by a huge alien while Jones questions a witness is a riot.) The inventiveness never lets up, and the cast--including Vincent D'Onofrio doing frighteningly convincing work as an alien occupying a decaying human--hold up their end splendidly. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: More remake than sequel, "Men in Black II" safely repeats everything that made "Men in Black" the blockbuster hit of 1997. That's fine if you loved the original's fresh humor, weird aliens, and loopy ingenuity, but as sequels go, it's pure déjà vu. Makeup wizard Rick Baker is the only "MIB" alumnus who's trying anything new, while director Barry Sonnenfeld and costars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones (as alien-fighting agents Jay and Kay, respectively) are on autopilot with an uninspired screenplay. The quest of a multitentacled alien--on Earth in the form of Lara Flynn Boyle--for the light of Zartha requires Jay to deneuralize Kay, whose restored memory contains the key to saving the planet. The tissue-thin premise allows all varieties of special effects--mostly familiar, with some oddly hilarious new stuff tossed in for good measure. Certainly enjoyable as a popcorn distraction, but the "MIB" magic has worn a bit thin. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Men of Honor" presents a great role model for younger viewers, yet it's rated R due to abundant use of the "F" word. With appropriate discretion, parents should allow their preteen and teenaged children to see this rousing if altogether conventional biopic inspired by the life of Carl Brashear. Played with gravity and gumption by Cuba Gooding Jr., Brashear was the first African American to become a master diver in the U.S. Navy, despite the lingering effects of segregation, opposition from Navy brass, and the amputation of his left leg following a tragic on-duty accident. Robert De Niro adds marquee value and salty bluster as Billy Sunday, the drunken, redneck (and fictionalized) Master Chief who watches, with gradual admiration, as Brashear attains his ultimate goal through sheer force of will.
This is all quite uplifting on its surface, but in attempting to hit the requisite highlights of an inspiring biography, director George Tillman Jr. ("Soul Food") reduces Brashear's achievement to a succession of clichés, forcing Gooding and De Niro to battle sentiment with their noteworthy performances. As Sunday's neglected wife, Charlize Theron is completely extraneous; Hal Holbrook's diving-school commander is a ranting caricature; and newcomer Aunjanue Ellis barely registers as Brashear's wife (in part because their obligatory romance is handled with an utter lack of finesse). There's no question that Brashear's efforts are heroic and worthy of recognition, so "Men of Honor" serves its basic purpose. Still, one can't help but wonder if Brashear's story would be even more impressive with a more authentic treatment. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Summary: Hard to define but easy to enjoy, The Men Who Stare at Goats is the preposterous yet more-true-than-not story of a small-town journalist named Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) who, trying to prove himself in Iraq, stumbles upon a man named Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who claims to be a psychic spy for the U.S. Army. With dazzling cinematic efficiency, the movie bounces back and forth between the origins of the New Earth Army--a squad of American Jedi warriors--and Bob and Lyn wandering through war-torn Iraq, pursuing a mission that turns out to have been assigned by a vision. The movie shifts from giddy comedy to melancholy as a portrait of human pettiness, manifested in military paranoia and corporate greed, unfolds. The ending loses a bit of steam, but most of The Men Who Stare at Goats is a delight--unusual yet satisfying, funny and thoughtful in turns. Jeff Bridges plays--of course--the addled yet charismatic founder of the New Earth Army, while Kevin Spacey plays--of course--the weaselly, manipulative psychic spy who turns what was meant to transform the world for the better into a mechanism for propaganda and worse. Adapted from the bestselling nonfiction book of the same title by British journalist Jon Ronson, The Men Who Stare at Goats niftily balances surface lunacy with serious undercurrents, buoyed by excellent performances from all involved. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from The Men Who Stare At Goats (Click for larger image)

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: What kind of guy was the wizard Merlin, anyway? He lives a long time, raises a boy to be a king, props up a Utopian empire with his magic and wisdom, and then watches as it all crumbles under such banal forces as vengeance and betrayal. This four-hour miniseries re-tells the story of Camelot and King Arthur from the perspective of the magic man who sacrifices a great deal to guide mortals toward a better destiny. Sam Neill plays Merlin as an accessible, flesh-and-blood fellow of real passion, powerless to undo the spell of a rival (Rutger Hauer) who has virtually imprisoned Merlin's great love, Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), but gifted enough to counter the treachery of Morgan Le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter) and the wicked Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson). The battle sequences and special effects are striking and original, and it is great fun to see such art-house movie actors as Richardson, Carter, Neill, etc., in fantasy entertainment the whole family can enjoy. (An unrecognizable Martin Short must be singled out, however, for a wonderful, largely dramatic performance as Mab's sidekick, Frik.) Directed by Steve Barron ("The Adventures of Pinocchio"), "Merlin" is a nice bit of glossy revisionism of a beloved legend. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Bearing absolutely no resemblance to the 1980s TV series that helped to propel Michael Mann into big-time filmmaking, "Miami Vice" is the kind of serious, and seriously stylish, crime drama that Mann does better than anyone else. As written by Mann himself, this undercover sting thriller doesn't reach the peak intensity of Mann's 1995 classic "Heat", and it lacks the tight, nail-biting suspense of "Collateral", but that doesn't mean it doesn't occasionally pack a wallop. As Miami detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs (respectively), Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx don't have to do much but mumble their plot-thickening dialogue and look ultra-cool in the casual cop attire, and their partnership is rather lifeless on screen (perhaps owing to the fact that this was a troubled production, with an actual shooting that occurred during filming, and Foxx's refusal to risk his life on dangerous locations in South America). But once Mann shifts into high gear with a plot to foil a powerful drug kingpin (Luis Tosar) and his ruthless middle-man (John Ortiz), Vice pays off with the kind of smart, realistic action that Mann's fans have come to expect. With Chinese superstar Gong Li as Crockett's love interest on the wrong side of the law, "Miami Vice" covers territory that's a little too familiar, and one suspects Mann's screenplay might've been punched up with a polish or two. Still, this is an above-average crime thriller that demands and rewards close attention, with a climactic shoot-out that's pure Mann, worthy of the brooding drama that precedes it. "--Jeff Shannon"

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: To hear the opening beats of Jan Hammer's percussive, propulsive "Miami Vice" theme is to be instantly transported back to 1984. But this groundbreaking series, with its cinematic sensibility, cool clothes, and killer soundtrack is no mere blast from the past. It still rocks. This three-disc set would be worthless if it didn't. Music was an integral part of "Miami Vice"'s hip vibe. The soundtrack propelled the stories and established the mood like no series before it. So the first thing you want to know is: Have the music rights been secured for this DVD release? In the pilot episode, does Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight" still play ominously as vice undercover cops Crockett and Tubbs speed toward a bust? Does Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" serenade Sonny and Gina on his boat in the episode "One-Eyed Jack?" And what would the benchmark episode, "Smuggler's Blues" be without Glenn Frey's instant classic? From the Rolling Stones on a boombox to Elvis Presley singing "Rubberneckin'" on a TV, "Vice"'s cutting-edge soundtrack has been preserved and honed in 5.1 surround sound glory.
"Miami Vice" made stars out of Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, and Edward James Olmos, who won an Emmy as the intense, taciturn Lt. Castillo (watching him bust some martial arts moves in "Golden Triangle" is like Yoda cutting lose in "Attack of the Clones"), but the first season also offers time-capsule glimpses of actors on the cusp of stardom, including a pre-"L.A. Law" Jimmy Smits in the pilot, a pre-"Crime Story" Dennis Farina in "One-Eyed Jack," and a pre-"Moonlighting" Bruce Willis in "No Exit." "Miami Vice" put a neon sheen on cop-show convention. Its fashion sense (pastel suits, no belt, no socks), and the brilliantly employed freeze frames are still arresting. "Miami Vice" was a TV watershed, and this DVD set does it full justice. "--Donald Liebenson"

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: In its second season, "Miami Vice" walks that fine line between hip and cool. Hip fades, but cool is timeless. Then, as now, it doesn't get much cooler than this groundbreaking and trendsetting series' promise of a "life of adventure, exciting folks, and exotic locales," to quote one sardonic character. But the compelling stories, cinematic trappings, and lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry between costars Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas elevate "Miami Vice" from time capsule status. Likewise, the eclectic soundtrack, that would be painfully dated had it been stuck in the '80s, is a mind-blowing shuffle of genres and mainstream, alternative and world artists. "Prodigal Son," the double-length episode that opens the season, features Glenn Frey, U2, the Neville Brothers, Debbie Harry, Brian Ferry, Lou Reed, Traffic, and Phil Collins. Collins himself portrays a con man in one of the season's most entertaining episodes, "Phil the Shill." Not content to just be heard, other musicians who generally eschewed television, appeared on "Miami Vice" this season, adding to the series' considerable cachet. Among them: Kiss frontman Gene Simmons ("Prodigal Son"); Miles Davis ("Junk Love"); Leonard Cohen ("French Twist"); Ted Nugent ("Definitely Miami"); and Frank Zappa ("Payback"). "Miami Vice" instantly established itself as an oasis for character actors, many at the beginning of their careers. The second season offers early glimpses of Nathan Lane ("Buddies"), Harvey Fierstein and a pre-"Seinfeld" Michael Richards as a menacing heavy ("The Fix"), David Strathairn ("Out Where the Buses Don't Run"), Bob Balaban ("Back in the World"), and John Leguizamo ("Sons and Lovers," which also features the unfortunate stunt-casting of Lee Iacocca as a gun-toting parks commissioner).
Most of "Miami Vice"'s buzz-generating episodes were in season 1, but season 2 offers several series benchmarks. Two of Johnson's finest hours are "Back in the World" (which he directed) and "Buddies," two episodes that explore Crockett's Vietnam War experience. Thomas got his chance to shine in "Prodigal Son" and "Sons and Lovers," in which Tubbs becomes a target of the vengeful Ivan Calderon. "Bushido" is an always-welcome showcase for Emmy-winner Edward James Olmos as Castillo, who helps shield an associate's Soviet wife and son from the CIA and KGB. "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" boasts an Emmy-worthy performance by guest star Bruce McGill (D-Day in "Animal House") as an unhinged former vice cop. "Miami Vice" stylishly subverted TV cop drama convention, but despite one too many downbeat endings that freeze on a devastated Crockett, it remains exhilarating to re-visit. There are no extras on this three disc-set, but the episodes are enough to make you want to party like it's 1985. "--Donald Liebenson"

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Follows the adventures of two vice squad detectives of the Miami police department.

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Follows the adventures of two vice squad detectives of the Miami police department.

Subtitles: English

Summary: Based on the 1980's TV action/drama, this update focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The Primetime Emmy® Award-winning series that defined a decade lives on in the must-own Complete Series gift set! Available together for the first time, this action-packed anthology allows you to revisit every powerful episode from the groundbreaking series. Go undercover with James "Sonny" Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), two of the Vice Department's coolest cops, as they take on the bad guys in Miami's steamy underworld. All the original songs are presented in 5.1 surround sound, featuring award-winning musical legends including Phil Collins, U2, Peter Gabriel, The Who, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, The Cure, Public Enemy and more! Each gritty, unforgettable moment of the revolutionary series is here in Miami Vice: The Complete Series.

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: George Clooney's performance drives this tense corporate thriller from "Bourne" trilogy screenwriter James Gilroy, who makes his directorial debut here. Clooney is the eponymous "hero," a burnt-out lawyer who cleans up legal messes created by the clients of a large law firm. When a crisis materializes in the form of the firm's top shark (Tom Wilkinson) suffering an apparent meltdown while defending a shady chemical company from lawsuits, Clayton discovers not only a cover-up to deny payments to farmers injured by the company's products, but a chance to find some purpose in the face of his life's downward. Clooney (who also co-produced the film) brings soul and quiet determination to his beleaguered character, and there's excellent support from Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack (also a co-producer), and Michael O'Keefe; Gilroy's script also does a solid job of stacking the deck against Clayton as he attempts to ferret out the truth behind the cover-up. Unfortunately, the film settles for a pat conclusion that, while emotionally satisfying, feels forced and delivers an overly simplistic message (corporations can be bad; morally questionable work can make one feel dirty). And Tilda Swinton is wasted in a thankless role as the chemical company's nerve-wracked and unsympathetic legal counsel. Still, Clooney fans will appreciate this fine addition to his growing roster of flawed heroes. "-- Paul Gaita"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: Six months after the Japanese destroyed the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Americans discovered the Japanese were planning to seize the Naval base at Midway Island--a perfect staging point for invading Hawaii or the mainland. Outnumbered four to one, the Americans won a surprise victory and shattered the backbone of the Japanese Imperial Navy. This 1976 film feels more like a history lesson than a drama, but World War II buffs will appreciate the attention to historical fact (especially the way in which fate and a few bad decisions turned the tide), as well as the generous use of actual battle footage. The all-star cast includes Robert Mitchum, James Coburn, and Cliff Robertson in cameos and a whole slew of familiar TV faces in supporting roles. Hal Holbrook is fun as an oddball intelligence officer. "--Geof Miller"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: There's "A Mighty Wind" a-blowin', along with the gales of laughter you'll get from Christopher Guest's third exercise in brilliant "mockumentary." After tackling small-town theatricals in "Waiting for Guffman" and obsessive dog-show contestants in "Best in Show", Guest and his reliable stable of repertory players (including Fred Willard, Parker Posey, and Bob Balaban) apply their improvisational genius to a latter-day reunion of fictional '60s-era folk singers, a comedic goldmine that Guest first explored 30 years earlier on "The National Lampoon Radio Hour". Collaborating with costar and cowriter Eugene Levy (who gives the film's funniest performance), Guest is so delicate in his satirical approach that the laughs aren't always obvious, and the subtlety can be as wistful (as in Catherine O'Hara's performance as Levy's auto-harpist partner) as it is hilarious. Some may wish for more blatant comedy, but that would compromise the genuine affection that Guest & Co. have for the music they're spoofing. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: When a famous person, like the nation's first openly gay male city supervisor, inspires an acclaimed book (The Mayor of Castro Street) and Oscar-winning documentary (The Times of Harvey Milk), a biopic can seem superfluous at best. Taking over from Oliver Stone and Bryan Singer, Gus Van Sant, whose previous picture was the more experimental Paranoid Park, directs with such grace, he renders the concern moot. Unlike Randy Shilts' biography, which begins at the beginning, Dustin Lance Black's script starts in 1972, just as Milk (Sean Penn, in a finely-wrought performance) and his boyfriend, Scott (James Franco, equally good), move from New York to San Francisco. Milk opens a camera shop on the Castro that becomes a safe haven for victims of discrimination, convincing him to enter politics. With each race he runs, Harvey's relationship with Scott unravels further. Finally, he wins, and the real battle begins as Milk takes on Proposition 6, which denies equal rights to homosexuals. He does what he can to rally politicians, like George Moscone (Victor Garber) and Dan White (Josh Brolin). While the mayor is willing, the conservative board member has reservations, and after Milk fails to back one of White’s pet projects, the die is cast, leading to the murder of two beloved figures. If Van Sant’s film captures Harvey in all his complexities (he was, for instance, a very funny man), Milk also serves as an enticement to grass-roots activism, showing how one regular guy elevated everyone around him, notably Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the ex-street hustler who created the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial. Released in the wake of Proposition 8, California’s anti-gay marriage amendment, Milk is inspirational in the best way: one person can and did make a difference, but the struggle is far from over. --Kathleen C. Fennessy



Get to Know the Cast From Milk

Sean Penn (Harvey Milk)


Josh Brolin (Dan White)


James Franco (Scott Smith)



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Stills from Milk (Click for larger image)

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: In MILK MONEY, when 12-year-old Frank Wheeler (Carter) and his two buddies save up their milk money and head into the city in search of a woman who will let them see her naked body, they think they’ve died and gone to heaven when V (Griffith) agrees to disrobe for them. Now stuck in the city and out of their element, the boys seek refuge in V who agrees to drive them back to the suburbs and away from the city’s chaos. But, when V’s car breaks down outside of his house, Frank decides that V would make a good step mom, and proceeds to play matchmaker for his dad, Tom (Harris). Thanks to Frank, Tom thinks that V is a math tutor, while V thinks that Frank knows the truth about her occupation. What ensues is a long, hilarious conversation that revolves around this comical misunderstanding.

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 4.0

Summary: Arguably the best film by Joel and Ethan Coen, the 1990 "Miller's Crossing" stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom, a loyal lieutenant of a crime boss named Leo (Albert Finney) who is in a Prohibition-era turf war with his major rival, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito). A man of principle, Tom nevertheless is romantically involved with Leo's lover (Marcia Gay Harden), whose screwy brother (John Turturro) escapes a hit ordered by Caspar only to become Tom's problem. Making matters worse, Tom has outstanding gambling debts he can't pay, which keeps him in regular touch with a punishing enforcer. With all the energy the Coens put into their films, and all their focused appreciation of genre conventions and rules, and all their efforts to turn their movies into ironic appreciations of archetypes in American fiction, they never got their formula so right as with "Miller's Crossing". With its Hammett-like dialogue and Byzantine plot and moral chaos mitigated by one hero's personal code, the film so transcends its self-scrutiny as a retro-crime thriller that it is a deserved classic in its own right. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Clint Eastwood's 25th film as a director, "Million Dollar Baby" stands proudly with "Unforgiven" and "Mystic River" as the masterwork of a great American filmmaker. In an age of bloated spectacle and computer-generated effects extravaganzas, Eastwood turns an elegant screenplay by Paul Haggis (adapted from the book "Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner" by F.X. Toole, a pseudonym for veteran boxing manager Jerry Boyd) into a simple, humanitarian example of classical filmmaking, as deeply felt in its heart-wrenching emotions as it is streamlined in its character-driven storytelling. In the course of developing powerful bonds between "white-trash" Missouri waitress and aspiring boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), her grizzled, reluctant trainer Frankie Dunn (Eastwood), and Frankie's best friend and training-gym partner Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman), 74-year-old Eastwood mines gold from each and every character, resulting in stellar work from his well-chosen cast. Containing deep reserves of love, loss, and the universal desire for something better in hard-scrabble lives, "Million Dollar Baby" emerged, quietly and gracefully, as one of the most acclaimed films of 2004, released just in time to earn an abundance of year-end accolades, all of them well-deserved. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Set in the chillingly possible future of 2054, Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" is arguably the most intelligently provocative sci-fi thriller since "Blade Runner". Like Ridley Scott's "future noir" classic, Spielberg's gritty vision was freely adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick, with its central premise of "Precrime" law enforcement, totally reliant on three isolated human "precogs" capable (due to drug-related mutation) of envisioning murders before they're committed. As Precrime's confident captain, Tom Cruise preempts these killings like a true action hero, only to run for his life when he is himself implicated in one of the precogs' visions. Inspired by the brainstorming of expert futurists, Spielberg packs this paranoid chase with potential conspirators (Max Von Sydow, Colin Farrell), domestic tragedy, and a heartbreaking precog pawn (Samantha Morton), while Cruise's performance gains depth and substance with each passing scene. Making judicious use of astonishing special effects, "Minority Report" brilliantly extrapolates a future that's utterly convincing, and too close for comfort. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Summary: Set in the chillingly possible future of 2054, Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" is arguably the most intelligently provocative sci-fi thriller since "Blade Runner". Like Ridley Scott's "future noir" classic, Spielberg's gritty vision was freely adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick, with its central premise of "Precrime" law enforcement, totally reliant on three isolated human "precogs" capable (due to drug-related mutation) of envisioning murders before they're committed. As Precrime's confident captain, Tom Cruise preempts these killings like a true action hero, only to run for his life when he is himself implicated in one of the precogs' visions. Inspired by the brainstorming of expert futurists, Spielberg packs this paranoid chase with potential conspirators (Max Von Sydow, Colin Farrell), domestic tragedy, and a heartbreaking precog pawn (Samantha Morton), while Cruise's performance gains depth and substance with each passing scene. Making judicious use of astonishing special effects, "Minority Report" brilliantly extrapolates a future that's utterly convincing, and too close for comfort. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The miracle about "Miracle" is that it gets so many details right in telling its 24-year-old story about the historic victory of the U.S. hockey team at the 1980 Olympic Games. It's typical for Hollywood to compromise such period details as hairstyles and fashion when catering to a contemporary audience, but "Miracle" looks and feels right in every detail, capturing the downbeat mood of post-Watergate America while showing how obsessively determined Minnesota hockey coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) managed to assemble a once-in-a-lifetime team and whip them into a victorious frenzy over their Soviet champion opponents. With sharp support from Patricia Clarkson (as Brooks's wife) and Noah Emmerich (as his long-suffering assistant), Russell grounds the film with a well-balanced combination of aloofness, intimidation, and closely guarded strategy. No doubt the real Brooks (who died in a car accident shortly after filming completed) would have approved. Thanks to director Gavin O'Connor ("Tumbleweeds") and the producers of the similarly laudable sports films "Remember the Titans" and "The Rookie", "Miracle" brings plenty of heart--and historical accuracy--to an old, familiar formula. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Every major American filmmaker has a war movie inside them. After the twin triumphs of "When the Levees Broke" and "Inside Man", his biggest box office hit, Spike Lee puts his distinctive stamp on World War II. Though "Miracle at St. Anna" begins and ends in 1983, most of the action takes place in 1944. The segregation of the time leads to the Army's African-American 92nd Infantry Division. In Italy, four of these Buffalo Soldiers, Sergeants Stamps ("Antwone Fisher"'s Derek Luke) and Bishop ("Barbershop"'s Michael Ealy), Corporal Hector ("Jarhead"'s Laz Alonso), and sweet, superstitious Private Train ("The Express"'s Omar Benson Miller), get separated from their unit while fighting the Germans. On the way to higher ground, Train rescues a boy from the rubble. With nine-year-old Angelo (newcomer Matteo Sciabordi) in tow, the soldiers secure shelter in a Tuscan town, where they band together with the villagers, including lovely English speaker Renata ("Artemisia"'s Valentina Cervi), nurse the delusional boy back to health (he has an imaginary playmate named Arturo), and prepare for the next attack. Like "Inside Man", "Miracle" marks one of the few times Lee has drafted an outsider to write the script, in this case bestselling author James McBride, who adapts from his novel. The combination of sensibilities results in a film that alternates, sometimes awkwardly, between cynicism and sentimentality. Tonal irregularities aside, "Miracle at St. Anna" pays overdue tribute to the 15,000 men who fought for freedom in a country that showed them greater respect than their nation of origin. "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Based on the chilling bestseller by Stephen King, "Misery" was brought to the screen by director Rob Reiner as one of the most effective thrillers of the 1990s. From a brilliant adaptation by screenwriter William Goldman, Reiner turned King's cautionary tale of fame and idolatry into a mainstream masterpiece of escalating suspense, translating King's own experience with obsessive fans into a frightening tale of entrapment and psychotic behavior. Kathy Bates deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance as Annie Wilkes, an unbalanced devotee of romance novels written by Paul Sheldon (James Caan), whose books provide Annie with a much-needed escape from her pathetic life and her secret, violent past. After Annie rescues the injured Sheldon from a car accident, she seizes the opportunity to nurse her favorite writer back to health, but her tender loving care soon turns to terrorism as she demands that Sheldon write his latest novel according to her wish-fulfillment fantasies. From this point forward, "Misery" percolates to a boil as equal parts mystery, thriller, and cleverly dark comedy, with the helpless author pitched in deadly warfare against his number one fan. While Bates carefully modulates her role from doting kindness to sympathetic loneliness and finally to horrifying ferocity, Caan is equally superb as the celebrated author who must literally write for his life. It's essentially a two-actor film, but Richard Farnsworth and Lauren Bacall are excellent in supporting roles as they investigate the writer's mysterious disappearance. Frightening, funny, and totally irresistible, "Misery" was such a hit that some of Bates's dialogue entered the popular lexicon (particularly her nagging reference to Caan as "Mister Man"), and its nail-biting thrills remain timelessly intense. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Cate Blanchett blazes through "The Missing", a new Western directed by Ron Howard ("A Beautiful Mind", "Apollo 13"). The camera truly loves the planes of her face; even dusty and bedraggled, she radiates star power--which is good, because "The Missing" needs it. When her daughter is kidnapped by renegade Indians, Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchett) is forced to turn to her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones, "Men in Black", "The Fugitive"), a man who abandoned her as a child to join an Indian tribe. Together, they pursue a malignant "brujo" (or witch), who sells young girls in Mexico. "The Missing" features solid supporting performances from Evan Rachel Wood, Eric Schweig, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, and feisty young Jenna Boyd as Maggie's youngest daughter Dot, who refuses to be left behind. Despite the cast and some gorgeous cinematography, though, "The Missing" never finds its stride. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: This movie in a word, dissapointing. I expected so much more from director John Woo, whose earlier film Face Off was outstanding and action-packed. MI2 though suffers from a deplorable lack of action, at least early on anyways. Although, it's visually stunning at times, there's really nothing here to grab you. I thought this film had very little to do with the Mission Impossible series, and more resembled John Woo's normal action films. The main problem with the film, is that it's main character, Ethan Hawke, played by Tom Cruise, gets involved in a very, long and drawn out relationship with his female co-star. The film spends far too much developing the relationship between the two, and far too little time giving us action. I also don't agree with the other reviewer's opinion that the first Mission Impossible was forgettable. The first film was much truer to the series, and was a very sharp, smartly-acted film. It had action when it was necessary, within the bounds of the story. I'd highly recommend the first film, and only recommend this one, if you need it as a companion piece. This is definitely not a film you'll watch over and over.

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: A flashy, splashy summer-movie blockbuster that's fun and exciting without being mindless? That's the impossible mission accomplished by director Brian De Palma, star-coproducer Tom Cruise, and the crack team of "Mission: Impossible". Based on the '60s TV show and an almost impenetrably complex (but nonetheless thrilling) original story by David Koepp ("Jurassic Park") and Steven Zaillian ("Schindler's List"), with a screenplay by Koepp and Robert Towne ("Chinatown", "Shampoo"), "Mission: Impossible" begins with veteran agent Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) and his expert crew embarking on a mission that goes horribly, horribly wrong. But nothing is what it seems. The nail-biting set piece--always a signature of director De Palma ("Carrie", "The Untouchables")--in which Cruise is lowered from the ceiling to retrieve information from a computer in a high-security vault--is an instant classic. But perhaps even more impressive, at least in retrospect, is a flashback sequence in which two characters attempt to reconstruct a series of events from multiple points of view. It's pretty daring and sophisticated stuff for a big-budget spy movie, but brains were always what put the "Mission: Impossible" team ahead of the competition, anyway, no? "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: At the time of its release, "Mission: Impossible III"'s box office was plagued by the publicity backlash against couch-jumping star Tom Cruise. It's too bad, because this third installment of the spy thriller franchise deserved a better reception than it got. First-time feature director J.J. Abrams (bigwig TV director/producer of "Lost", "Alias", & "Felicity") proves more than able-bodied in creating a "Mission: Impossible" that's leaner and less over-stylized than John Woo's sequel and less confusing than Brian De Palma's original. Plot is still a throwaway here (Cruise's Ethan Hunt rescues his kidnapped former trainee and works to steal a device that... well, we don't really know what it does, but it's something about mass destruction that costs $850 million), but the action sequences, particularly one where Ethan faces down a helicopter on a bridge and gets flung hard against the side of a car, are particularly impressive since Cruise, at 44, is still doing most of his own stunts and shows no hint of the weathered look that's struck his action-star peers. (Though no "Mission: Impossible" stunt will ever be quite as simultaneously nail-biting and funny as the first film's wire-dangling break-in of CIA headquarters.)
"Mission: Impossible III" boasts a pedigreed cast, particularly Oscar® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote") as baddie arms dealer Owen Davian. Hoffman plays Owen all teeth-clenched and cool, especially when threatening to kill Ethan in front of his lovely new wife (Michelle Monaghan) who has no idea of his spy life. But in his first action-film lead role, Hoffman's almost too calm and collected to really make a memorable villain, especially when the rest of the cast--Ving Rhames (the only other cast member to return for all three films), Asian film star Maggie Q, and an underused Jonathan Rhys-Meyers--are a highlight as Ethan's IMF team. "Mission: Impossible" is still fun popcorn spy fare, and if Cruise chooses to end the franchise here, at least he goes out on a high note. "--Ellen A. Kim"

Languages: English

Summary: When Fred Rogers passed away in 2003, I was surprised by the welling up of emotion I felt... I had, of course, watched him on TV when I was little and alwys liked him, although I intuitively knew the show was a bit babyish... Then, when "Sesame Street" came along, I switched my allegiance... I wanted to watch the more "grown-up" show...:-) but I always felt a lingering fondness for Mr. Rogers, and while an increasingly cynical popular culture made fun of his doting sweetness, I never did.



Now, a parent with a child of my own, in search of non-disturbing entertainment that won't insult the intelligence of a little kid, I've come back to Mister Rogers' neighborhood, and it feels like home. Sadly, amazingly, inexplicably, there are only three DVDs of Mister Rogers material to be found(!) and they are all from his later years, when his hair was grey and he tended to drop things a lot... But the sweetness, the sincerity, the earnest desire to make the world a better place still comes through loud and clear. Mister Rogers is a comforting presence, and his Land of Make Believe is still as magical as ever: we were hooked. It's a pity you can't see all the old stuff, too -- I imagine in a few years it will all be available online as downloads, but I'm sad that we will have to miss it, when the time is so right. Oh, well.



Anyway, these DVD editions are nice, although they do have their quirks. "A Day At The Circus" is one of the best because it has two stand-alone episodes, one about visiting the circus and another about making music. The footage of live animals and chats with various circus performers is nice, and as ever Mr. Rogers aims at making life easier for the littlest people: one of the messages he gives them is that it's okay to want to leave the circus if you feel you've "had enough", and that it's okay to say so to your parents.



The other discs are wonderful, too, though a little more problematic in that they tell whole stories, but in a fractured fashion. As longtime viewers will know, Mr. Rogers would continue plotlines from day to day, so that a story might begin on Monday but not be resolved until Friday... So for example, in one storyline two Make Believe characters get in a fight, but the resolution comes several days later. All very well and fine, except that there are only two episodes on each disc, so we see the beginning, and get the set-up, but when the next episode comes up there are references fto all many events that happened in the interim -- the lesson is still learned, but the gap in the narrative is disconcerting, and shows a surprising lack of respect for the audience. Nonetheless, this was a wonderful show, and if these discs are the only material available to households that do not watch "real" TV, they are still certainly worth watching. Hopefully the folks at Anchor Bay (Rogers' company) will open the vaults soon, and more Make Believe magic will be available again.

Languages: English

Summary: Mister Rogers visits a restaurant and is invited to talk with the chef. When Henrietta Pussycat and X the Owl have trouble cooperating, Lady Aberlin helps them work things out and realize that even good friends can get upset with each other once in awhile. LOVE: Mister Rogers hears a lullaby performed on a mandolin at the Neighborhood Music Store. Lady Aberlin sees King Friday and Queen Sara have an argument and learns that people who love each other can also have angry feelings sometimes. Includes an Exclusive Care-Giving Tips Booklet and comes packaged in a reproduction of Mr. Rogers' famous red sweater.

Languages: English

Summary: Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 08/16/2005 Rating: Nr

Languages: English

Summary: What Do You Do With The Mad That You Feel Part I Mister Rogers introduces many different ways of dealing with anger such as singing playing the piano and exercising including his friend Maggie Stewart s favorite swimming. In the Neighborhood of Make- Believe Robert Troll and Mayor Maggie are worried about how upset Lady Elaine is over not being able to draw Grandp re s Tower. In an angry fit Lady Elaine turns the tower upside-down. Can Lady Elaine get over her anger and make things right in the Neighborhood again? What Do You Do With The Mad That You Feel Part II Mister Rogers visits a rehearsal of the international sensation STOMP. He meets the members and sees how they use everyday things like buckets brooms pipes and their hands and feet to make exciting music. In Make-Believe all the neighbors are unhappy over the upside-down tower and Lady Elaine s behavior. Lady Elaine realizing that her anger got out of control rights the tower and finds that apologizing is a good first step towards making amends. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 013131374490 Manufacturer No: DV13744

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Somewhat of an excuse to throw together four hot young actors of the moment in a serious environment, "Mobsters" nonetheless is a decent treatment of the rise of four of the most infamous gangsters of the 20th century. Christian Slater and Patrick Dempsey play Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky, respectively, best friends since they were kids on the mean streets of New York. When Prohibition hits, these young ambitious hoods--along with Bugsy Siegel (Richard Grieco) and Frank Costello (Costas Mandylor) make their move to take over the rackets, even as it jeopardizes their friendship. Featuring cameos by Anthony Quinn, Michael Gambon, and F. Murray Abraham, "Mobsters" is a guilty pleasure if a not too serious one. "--Robert Lane"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Julia Roberts's command of the screen is so effortless, it's easy for moviegoers to take her for granted--but we shouldn't. "Mona Lisa Smile"--about a noncomformist teacher at a private school who encourages students to pursue their individuality--is pretty much an all-girls version of "Dead Poets Society" that mixes '50s fashions with '70s feminist thought. However, its lack of ambition doesn't diminish the talent that's gone into it: The writing and directing are well-honed and skillful; the actors--a talent-studded cast featuring Marcia Gay Harden, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles, and Juliet Stevenson--are uniformly excellent. But without question, "Mona Lisa Smile" rides on Roberts's shoulders and she carries it with ease. She's possibly the only contemporary actor who simply owns a movie the way Bette Davis, Jean Arthur, or Claudette Colbert once did, radiating a engaging mix of intelligence, drive, and emotional warmth that cannot be matched. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Steven Spielberg produced this underwhelming 1986 effort at a slapstick spin on "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House". The pre-Oscar Tom Hanks stars with Shelley Long as a married couple whose efforts to finish construction on their home are sabotaged by costly and sporadically funny accidents. The unfinished domicile becomes a metaphor for their troubled relationship, as evidenced by Long's character's attraction to a madman violinist (Alexander Godunov). Hanks is the only reason at this point to check this film out. Richard Benjamin ("My Favorite Year") directs but with no flair or distinction. "--Tom Keogh".

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Summary: Brendan Fraser plays the best-looking cartoonist you'll ever see in "Monkeybone". Stu (Fraser) has created an animated character named Monkeybone, who sprang from his repressed sexual anxieties. He's just sold his animated series to a cable channel, and is being bombarded with proposals for toys and other marketing extravaganzas, when he and his girlfriend Julie (Bridget Fonda) get into a car wreck and Stu falls into a coma. But comas are much more complicated than you might expect: Stu finds himself in Down Town, where lives a mixture of other people in comas and figments of these people's imaginations. Naturally, Monkeybone himself is there, and he and Stu quickly start fighting like cats and dogs. When Stu realizes that his sister, due to a pact they once made, is preparing to pull the plug on him, Stu makes a deal with Hypnos, the god of sleep, to help him steal a golden ticket from Death himself (or herself, as Death is played by Whoopi Goldberg). Sound complicated? Well, from there it only gets more ornate. "Monkeybone" is a bit of a mess, but it's never boring, and every now and then it roars to amazingly dynamic life. Fraser is excellent, and the strong supporting cast includes Giancarlo Esposito ("Do the Right Thing"), Rose McGowan ("Scream"), Dave Foley ("Brain Candy"), and "Saturday Night Live"'s Chris Kattan as a gymnast with a broken neck who... well, it's a bit complicated to explain. A crazy quilt of a movie, chock-full of delirious ideas and inspired moments. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A dark tale based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, one of America's first female serial killers. Wuornos had a difficult and cruel childhood plagued by abuse and drug use in Michigan. She became a prostitute by the age of thirteen, the same year she became pregnant. She eventually moved to Florida where she began earning a living as a highway prostitute--servicing the desires of semi-truck drivers. The tale focuses on the nine month period between 1989 and 1990, during which Wuornos had a lesbian relationship with a woman named Selby. And during that very same time, she also began murdering her clientele in order to get money without using sex. This turned the tables on a rather common phenomena of female highway prostitutes being the victims of serial killers--instead Wuornos, herself, carried out the deeds of a cold-blooded killer

Languages: English, French, Korean

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

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The spooky shadows and eerie creaking of a rickety old house are brought to life via lush CGI in "Monster House". A young boy named DJ has suspicions about the house across the street and the cranky old man (voiced by Steve Buscemi, "Fargo") who lives there. When the old man has a heart attack and is carried away by an ambulance, DJ thinks the danger is over. Unfortunately, as he, his friend Chowder, and a candy-selling prep-school girl named Jenny discover, the house itself has plans--plans that include eating all the kids who'll be trick-or-treating that Halloween night. "Monster House" begins with some deliciously creepy scenes that will send chills down children's spines (and may be too intense for younger viewers); animated movies rarely make such effective use of what isn't being shown. The animation is vivid and detailed (though CGI still has a ways to go in capturing the full range of human facial expressions). But like most horror movies, the anticipation of horror is much more exciting than the horror itself; as the secrets of "Monster House" are revealed, the movie's thrills unravel. The noisy explosions at the end aren't half as much fun as the slow twitches of a few blades of grass in the movie's elegant beginning. --"Bret Fetzer"
More "Monster House" on Amazon.com
CD Soundtrack

The Art of Monster House

Playstation 2

Stills from "Monster House" (click for larger image)

Languages: English, German

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Count Dracula adjourns to Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman. The uglies are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them power to rule the world. Our heroes - the Monster Squad are the only ones daring to stand in their way.

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Summary: Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack includes loads of bonus features and "B.O.B.'s Big Break" in 3D! Blu-ray includes "Monsters vs. Aliens" in high definition and much more out-of-this-world fun!

When Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a "Monster" named Ginormica. The military jumps into action, and she is captured by General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland) and held in a secret government compound filled with other "monsters" like herself. This ragtag group consists of the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach P.H.D. (Hugh Laurie); the macho half-ape-half-fish The Missing Link (Will Arnett); the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B. (Seth Rogen); and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement time is cut short however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to save the world from imminent destruction.

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The folks at Pixar can do no wrong with "Monsters, Inc.", the studio's fourth feature film, which stretches the computer animation format in terms of both technical complexity and emotional impact. The giant, blue-furred James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (wonderfully voiced by John Goodman) is a scare-monster extraordinaire in the hidden world of Monstropolis, where the scaring of kids is an imperative in order to keep the entire city running. Beyond the competition to be the best at the business, Sullivan and his assistant, the one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), discover what happens when the real world interacts with theirs in the form of a 2-year-old baby girl dubbed "Boo," who accidentally sneaks into the monster world with Sulley one night. Director Pete Doctor and codirectors David Silverman and Lee Unkrich follow the Pixar ("Toy Story") blueprint with an imaginative scenario, fun characters, and ace comic timing. By the last heart-tugging shot, kids may never look at monsters the same, nor artists at what computer animation can do in the hands of magicians. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English

Summary: The folks at Pixar can do no wrong with "Monsters, Inc.", the studio's fourth feature film, which stretches the computer animation format in terms of both technical complexity and emotional impact. The giant, blue-furred James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (wonderfully voiced by John Goodman) is a scare-monster extraordinaire in the hidden world of Monstropolis, where the scaring of kids is an imperative in order to keep the entire city running. Beyond the competition to be the best at the business, Sullivan and his assistant, the one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), discover what happens when the real world interacts with theirs in the form of a 2-year-old baby girl dubbed "Boo," who accidentally sneaks into the monster world with Sulley one night. Director Pete Doctor and codirectors David Silverman and Lee Unkrich follow the Pixar ("Toy Story") blueprint with an imaginative scenario, fun characters, and ace comic timing. By the last heart-tugging shot, kids may never look at monsters the same, nor artists at what computer animation can do in the hands of magicians. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Science fiction can encompass many genres--suspense, horror, action-adventure, romance, even comedy--but director Duncan Jones's "Moon" doesn't fit neatly into any of them. This smart, provocative film has no aliens or cool spaceships, and the effects (mostly consisting of model vehicles lumbering across the lunar surface) aren't all that special; instead, the material is character- and story-driven, centering on an excellent, multilayered performance by Sam Rockwell. The scene is some undetermined point in the future. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an employee of Lunar Industries, the company responsible for mining a fusion energy source called Helium-3, which is vital to Earth's efforts to reverse a serious energy crisis and can only be found on the far side of the Moon. Sam is all by himself, and as he nears the end of his three-year contract, the solitude is starting to get to him ("Three years is a long haul," he says. "Way, way, way too long. I'm talking to myself on a regular basis"); his only contact with his wife and daughter back home comes through the occasional video messages he exchanges with them, while his sole interaction on the Moon is with GERTY 3000, a computer voiced by Kevin Spacey (and an obvious parallel to "2001: A Space Odyssey"'s HAL 9000). Things start to go seriously sideways when Sam crashes his vehicle while out inspecting one of the giant Helium-3 harvesters. He comes to in the base infirmary, seemingly none the worse for the wear; but an unnerving surprise awaits him when he goes back to check out the accident site, and the resulting complications occupy the rest of the movie. Fans of "2001", "Solaris", and other cerebral sci-fi will enjoy figuring out what's going on; others will find it slow-moving and tedious. Either way, "Moon", which was made quickly and on a relatively low budget, is well worth a look. "--Sam Graham"

Languages: English

Summary: This underrated film by director Paul Mazursky stars Richard Dreyfuss as an underemployed actor who is offered a great acting role, though outside of New York. Still, beggars can't be choosers and he accepts--only to discover that the part involves impersonating the dictator of Parador, a troubled Central American country on the verge of revolution. The dictator has died, but his chief adviser (Raul Julia) doesn't want that news to come out; he'd rather continue the charade that the big guy is still in charge. And to his surprise, the actor discovers that he enjoys the acting challenge, until he figures out that Julia is positioning himself to take over as the country's true strongman. Naturally, Dreyfuss also discovers that, aside from enjoying the perks of power (including the late dictator's toothsome mistress, Sonia Braga), he actually has the power to do some good--to Julia's chagrin. Dreyfuss captures the actor's insecurity, while Julia is hilarious as the wild-eyed adviser to whom torture is second nature. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: This was the first James Bond adventure produced after the success of "Star Wars", so it jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon by combining the suave appeal of Agent 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) with enough high-tech hardware and special effects to make Luke Skywalker want to join Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the razzle-dazzle of "The Spy Who Loved Me", this attempt to latch onto a trend proved to be a case of overkill, even though it brought back the steel-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) and scored a major hit at the box office. This time Bond is up against a criminal industrialist named Drax (Michel Lonsdale) who wants to control the world from his orbiting space station. In keeping with his well-groomed style, Bond thwarts this maniacal Neo-Hitler's scheme with the help of a beautiful, sleek-figured scientist (played by Lois Chiles with all the vitality of a department-store mannequin). There's a grand-scale climax involving space shuttles and ray guns, but despite the film's popular success, this is one Bond adventure that never quite gets off the launching pad. It's as if the caretakers of the James Bond franchise had forgotten that it's Bond--and not a barrage of gizmos and gadgets (including a land-worthy Venetian gondola)--that fuels the series' success. Despite Moore's passive performance (which Pauline Kael described as "like an office manager who is turning into dead wood but hanging on to collect his pension"), "Moonraker" had no problem attracting an appreciative audience, and there are even a few renegade Bond-philes who consider it one of their favorites. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: A dazzling and yet frequently maddening bid to bring the movie musical kicking and screaming into the 21st century, Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" bears no relation to the many previous films set in the famous Parisian nightclub. This may appear to be Paris in the 1890s, with can-can dancers, bohemian denizens like Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), and ribaldry at every turn, but it's really Luhrmann's pop-cultural wonderland. Everyone and everything is encouraged to shatter boundaries of time and texture, colliding and careening in a fast-cutting frenzy that thinks nothing of casting Elton John's "Your Song" 80 years before its time. Nothing is original in this kaleidoscopic, absinthe-inspired love tragedy--the words, the music, it's all been heard before. But when filtered through Luhrmann's love for pop songs and timeless showmanship, you're reminded of the cinema's power to renew itself while paying homage to its past.
Luhrmann's overall success with his third "red-curtain" extravaganza (following "Strictly Ballroom" and "William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet") is wildly debatable: the scenario is simple to the point of silliness, and how can you appreciate choreography when it's been diced into hash by attention-deficit editing? Still, there's something genuine brewing between costars Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (as, respectively, a poor writer and his unobtainable object of desire), and their vocal talents are impressive enough to match Luhrmann's orgy of extraordinary sets, costumes, and digital wizardry. The movie's novelty may wear thin, along with its shallow indulgence of a marketable soundtrack, but Luhrmann's inventiveness yields moments that border on ecstasy, when sound and vision point the way to a moribund genre's joyously welcomed revival. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Released amidst rumors of romance between costars Angelina Jolie and soon-to-be-divorced Brad Pitt, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" offers automatic weapons and high explosives as the cure for marital boredom. The premise of this exhausting action-comedy (no relation to the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock comedy starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery) is that the unhappily married Smiths (Pitt and Jolie) will improve their relationship once they discover their mutually-hidden identities as world-class assassins, but things get complicated when their secret-agency bosses order them to rub each other out. There's plenty of amusing banter in the otherwise disposable screenplay by Simon Kinberg ("xXx: State of the Union", "Fantastic Four"), and director Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity") gives Pitt and Jolie a slick, glossy superstar showcase that's innocuous but certainly never boring. It could've been better, but as an action-packed summer confection, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" kills two hours in high style. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Welcome back, Mr. Bean! After a too-long hiatus, it's a breath of fresh air to see you out and about, innocent as ever, unwitting in the havoc you wreak and clueless in the chaos you cause. In "Mr. Bean's Holiday" (the title echoes Jacques Tati's breezy 1953 classic "Mr. Hulot's Holiday"), the resourceful man-child Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wins a church raffle that packs him off to the beaches of the south of France. But getting there is all the funny, as he is detoured by one mishap after another. En route, he comes to the "aid" of a Cannes Film Festival judge's young son, who is separated (no thanks to Bean) from his father at the train station. Bean also stumbles upon a commercial shoot directed by a stereotypical egomaniacal American filmmaker (Willem Dafoe), and crosses paths with an aspiring actress (a charming Emma de Caunes) also on her way to Cannes. "Mr. Bean's Holiday", an upgrade over the 1997 feature "Bean", was a box-office smash around the world, but in the States, not so much. Here, the shock gag has replaced the sight gag, and this G-rated "Holiday" might be considered by more jaded viewers as out of step with contemporary tastes (unlike "Borat", there is not a mean-spirited bone in Bean's gangly, malleable body). But in the classic tradition of the silent-movie clowns, Bean's visual comedy is universal and requires little translation (there are limited subtitles in this film). Younger children will find a kindred spirit in Bean, who exists in some kind of state of grace, whether trying to digest a disgusting seafood dinner or hilariously lip-syncing to an opera in a public square. "--Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Consider Mr. Brooks: A successful businessman, a generous philanthropist, a loving father and devoted husband. Seemingly, he's perfect. But Mr. Brooks has a secret... he is also the notorious Thumbprint Killer and no one has ever suspected it... until now.
The Cast of "Mr. Brooks" Kevin Costner
William Hurt
Demi Moore Dane Cook
Marg Helgenberger
Danielle Panabaker
Beyond "Mr. Brooks" "Mr. Brooks" on Blu-Ray
"Mr. Brooks": Music From The Motion Picture
More from MGM

Stills from "Mr. Brooks"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Following the flop of "Little Nicky", Adam Sandler returned to safe territory in "Mr. Deeds"... and made "Nicky" look inspired by comparison. A loose remake of Frank Capra's 1936 classic "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", this dumbed-down version finds Sandler in the Gary Cooper role, inheriting a vast fortune and a corporate empire, foiling a greedy executive (Peter Gallagher), and winning the heart of an undercover reporter (Winona Ryder) who's been mocking his small-town naiveté in print while falling for his goodhearted sincerity. It's fun enough to satisfy Sandler's loyal fans--and John Turturro's a hoot as Deeds's foot-fetishist butler--but the subtleties of Capra are lost on Sandler, director Steven Brill, and writer Tim Herlihy. While Gary Cooper portrayed a rube who was savvy about big-city cynicism, Sandler's an amiable goofball with a heart of gold and an empty skull. You can admire him, and parts of the movie (including Steve Buscemi's unbilled cameo), but you have to work harder to get there. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Summary: Imagine if one day, out of the blue, your wildest dreams came true! That's exactly what happens to junior executive Larry Burrows (James Belushi -- TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS) when he bumps into a mysterious stranger (Michael Caine -- MISS CONGENIALITY, CIDER HOUSE RULES). Instantly, Larry's ho-hum life becomes his ultimate fantasy -- huge mansion, beautiful wife, cars galore. But before long, his new lifestyle isn't so enchanting. Ultimately, Larry discovers it's going to take a lot more than wishful thinking to get back to where he once belonged! Co-starring Linda Hamilton and comedian Jon Lovitz, MR. DESTINY is a delightful rags-to-riches comedy brimming with totally magical entertainment!