Library

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell swagger through "S.W.A.T.", a guns-and-big-trucks macho extravaganza based on the 1970s TV show of the same name, about the police teams brought in to take care of extremely dangerous situations. Jackson plays a sergeant brought out of retirement to form a new squad, which includes rebellious Farrell ("The Recruit") and tough babe Michelle Rodriguez ("Girlfight", "Blue Crush"). After a lot of training and head-butting with a smarmy police captain, the squad gets assigned to transfer the head of a European crime cartel (Olivier Martinez, "Unfaithful") who's declared on television that he'll give $100 million to anyone who gets him out. Every scumbag in Los Angeles descends to claim the money, turning a routine transfer into a bullet-filled gauntlet. Despite some gaps in logic and a generic flavor, "S.W.A.T." will satisfy most action-movie junkies. Also featuring LL Cool J and Josh Charles. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

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

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell swagger through "S.W.A.T.", a guns-and-big-trucks macho extravaganza based on the 1970s TV show of the same name, about the police teams brought in to take care of extremely dangerous situations. Jackson plays a sergeant brought out of retirement to form a new squad, which includes rebellious Farrell ("The Recruit") and tough babe Michelle Rodriguez ("Girlfight", "Blue Crush"). After a lot of training and head-butting with a smarmy police captain, the squad gets assigned to transfer the head of a European crime cartel (Olivier Martinez, "Unfaithful") who's declared on television that he'll give $100 million to anyone who gets him out. Every scumbag in Los Angeles descends to claim the money, turning a routine transfer into a bullet-filled gauntlet. Despite some gaps in logic and a generic flavor, "S.W.A.T." will satisfy most action-movie junkies. Also featuring LL Cool J and Josh Charles. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: Arabic, English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: It took more than 25 years for another Clive Cussler novel to come to the screen after the financial and critical disaster of "Raise the Titanic". Based on Cussler's oddly landlocked adventure, "Sahara" finds the author's hero, Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey)--a sort of all-American, high seas variation of James Bond--in Africa looking for a Confederate ironclad ship that impossibly might have ended up there. Soon he and his faithful sidekick Al Giordino (Steve Zahn) are lost in another adventure, discovering a deadly contaminate being tracked by a beautiful doctor (Penelope Cruz). The results are checkered: there's no one outstanding sequence, but the action is enjoyably varied, while the thrills are mild yet not bombastic or gratuitous. The cast are all adept in their roles, yet the only one who sparkles is the scene-stealing Zahn, cast against type; McConaughey, who also produced, knows he might be starting a franchise character and plays it safe. He's never as dangerous as Cussler's hero is on the page (except in his introduction), and in fact, the whole movie plays towards comedy, infused by a soundtrack of 70s FM radio monsters. Cussler fanatics may not like this lighter fare, especially with the archeological portion (a Cussler strong point) not fully embraced, but with a very, very likable cast and colorful settings, "Sahara" is a kindler, gentler action film that has all the elements in place for a better, more memorable franchise if anyone cares to attempt it. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Lightly enjoyable but a disappointment in the context of author Leslie Charteris's popular character, the Saint--who has been played by several actors, most notably George Sanders--this 1997 film is more in keeping with the requirements of high-octane contemporary action than it is the requirements of a particular legacy. Val Kilmer plays Simon Templar, the mercenary spy, who is hired to steal a fusion formula but falls in love with the scientist (Elisabeth Shue) who cooked it up. Kilmer's portrayal bears little resemblance to Charteris's rakish hero, and the film itself becomes increasingly improbable and ponderous the longer it goes on. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: The first of two features Walt Disney made at the behest of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, "Saludos Amigos" consists of four cartoons linked by live-action travel footage. The very funny "Lake Titicaca" finds Donald Duck high in the Bolivian Andes, struggling with a recalcitrant llama. "Pedro," the story of a little airplane replacing his father on a mail run across the Andes, is a variation on "The Little Engine That Could." "El Gaucho Goofy" continues the popular "How To" cartoon series that juxtaposes a deadpan narration with increasing physical mayhem. Here, Goofy demonstrates Pampas-style riding and the use of the bola. The jaunty parrot Jose Carioca makes his debut in "Aquarela do Brasil." Although largely eclipsed by the wilder "The Three Caballeros" (1944), "Saludos Amigos" retains its charm. Included in the supplemental material is "South of the Border with Disney", which chronicles the Good Will Tour Walt and a group of his artists made in 1941. The 16mm footage has darkened, but this featurette offers rare glimpses of some of these artists at work, including Frank Thomas, Norm Ferguson, and Mary Blair, whose stylized drawings set the look for much of "Saludos Amigos" and "Caballeros". "--Charles Solomon"

Languages: English

Summary: When egghead Scotty Smalls moves to town just before the summer vacation of 1962, his first priority is to make friends. He heads to the nearby sandlot only to humiliate himself before the local kids, but star player Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez befriends the awkward boy, teaches him the basics of baseball, and welcomes him to the team. It's a summer filled with camaraderie and fun until Smalls hits his first home run. Problem is, Smalls's home run sends his stepfather's "Babe Ruth" autographed baseball into a neighboring yard that's patrolled by a snarling, slobbering monster called "The Beast." Creativity reigns and hilarity ensues when the boys risk everything to retrieve the ball. A final heroic encounter with "The Beast" and his owner yields some very surprising results. Action, humor, and friendship permeate this 101-minute film appropriate for ages 5 and older. Rated PG due to name-calling and some pubescent behavior. "--Tami Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Divorced toy company executive Scott Calvin (Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" and the "Toy Story" movies) is pleased to have his son Charlie for Christmas, though the boy himself isn't happy about it. But when Santa Claus accidentally topples off the roof of the house and falls with a thud in the snow, Scott finds himself taking the merry old elf's place and earning new respect in his son's eyes. When the night ends, the reindeer take them to the north pole, and Scott discovers that by donning the fabled red suit, he's inadvertently agreed to become the next Santa Claus. The next morning he wakes up in his own bed and thinks it's all a dream--only Charlie remembers it with crystal clarity. Scott now has to deal with his suspicious ex-wife (Wendy Crewson, "Air Force One") and her psychiatrist boyfriend (Judge Reinhold, "Beverly Hills Cop"), who both think he's playing tricks with Charlie's mind, and also with his own out-of-control body, which is putting on weight and growing a prodigious beard. "The Santa Clause" probably won't supplant "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34th Street" as anyone's favorite holiday film, but it's an enjoyable, straightforward family film, anchored by the affable charisma of Allen. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Considering how lame this sequel "could" have been, "The Santa Clause 2" makes for a pleasant holiday diversion. It's got the familiar smell of Disney marketeering, and more than a few parents will object to this further embellishment of the St. Nick legend, but Tim Allen's amiable presence provides ample compensation. As a divorced dad who inherited the jolly man's job in "The Santa Clause", Allen now faces another Yuletide challenge. According to the "Missus Clause" in his North Pole contract, he can't continue to be the real Santa until he gets married. As luck and five credited screenwriters would have it, Allen falls for the Scrooge-y principal (Elizabeth Mitchell) of his son's school, while a phony, power-hungry duplicate Santa wreaks havoc on the North Pole's overworked elves. It's all as sweet as spiced eggnog, with that warmed-over feel of a mandated sequel, but the Christmas spirit does prevail with the sound of sleigh bells and Allen's rosy-cheeked ho, ho, ho! "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with "Duel" in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan", his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.
A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.
The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning "Schindler's List", but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. "Saving Private Ryan" touches us deeper than "Schindler" because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and the body of a guy who has blown his own brains out. Not a happy place, obviously, and it gets worse when both men realize that they've been chained and pitted against one another by an unseen but apparently omniscient maniac who's screwing with their psyches as payment for past sins. Director James Wan, who concocted this grimy distraction with screenwriter Whannell, has seen "Seven" and any number of other arty existential-psycho-cat-and-mouse thrillers, so he's provided "Saw" with a little flash, a little blood, and a lot of ways to distract you from the fact that it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Wan and Whannell (who's not the most accomplished actor, either) pile on the plot twists, which after some initially novel ideas become increasingly juvenile. Elwes works hard but looks embarrassed, and the estimable Danny Glover suffers as the obsessed detective on the case. The denouement will probably surprise you, but it won't get you back the previous 98 minutes."--Steve Wiecking"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Adam (Leigh Whannell) wakes up in a dank room across from Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) and the body of a guy who has blown his own brains out. Not a happy place, obviously, and it gets worse when both men realize that they've been chained and pitted against one another by an unseen but apparently omniscient maniac who's screwing with their psyches as payment for past sins. Director James Wan, who concocted this grimy distraction with screenwriter Whannell, has seen "Seven" and any number of other arty existential-psycho-cat-and-mouse thrillers, so he's provided "Saw" with a little flash, a little blood, and a lot of ways to distract you from the fact that it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Wan and Whannell (who's not the most accomplished actor, either) pile on the plot twists, which after some initially novel ideas become increasingly juvenile. Elwes works hard but looks embarrassed, and the estimable Danny Glover suffers as the obsessed detective on the case. The denouement will probably surprise you, but it won't get you back the previous 98 minutes. "--Steve Wiecking"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Saw II" brings back many features of the original "Saw": elaborate sadistic scenarios designed to "test" the victims' will to live; Tobin Bell as the Machiavellian (yet doomed) serial killer Jigsaw; Shawnee Smith as Amanda, a survivor of one of Jigsaw's "games", forced to play again; Dina Meyer ("Starship Troopers"), whose role as a detective is considerably expanded; and the stunningly godawful dialogue of screenwriter Leigh Whannel. The set-up this time is even more preposterous than before, as a rough-and-tumble cop named Eric (Donnie Whalberg, "Band of Brothers") watches, on video monitors, his son trapped in a house filled with nerve gas and a handful of other victims, all of whom are mysteriously connected. Eric has captured Jigsaw, but the implacable killer refuses to reveal where the cop's son is being held... unless Eric will play by Jigsaw's rules. Fans of "Saw" will love "Saw II", as the tortures are more gruesome than before; viewers who found "Saw" either detestable or laughable won't like "Saw II" either, as the characters rarely behave like actual people (even when a moment's explanation would solve a conflict, no one bothers to communicate, even though their lives are on the line). It's a festival of body fluids, agonized grimaces, and shrieks of pain--and if that's your thing, this is your movie. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Saw II" brings back many features of the original "Saw": elaborate sadistic scenarios designed to "test" the victims' will to live; Tobin Bell as the Machiavellian (yet doomed) serial killer Jigsaw; Shawnee Smith as Amanda, a survivor of one of Jigsaw's "games", forced to play again; Dina Meyer ("Starship Troopers"), whose role as a detective is considerably expanded; and the stunningly godawful dialogue of screenwriter Leigh Whannel. The set-up this time is even more preposterous than before, as a rough-and-tumble cop named Eric (Donnie Whalberg, "Band of Brothers") watches, on video monitors, his son trapped in a house filled with nerve gas and a handful of other victims, all of whom are mysteriously connected. Eric has captured Jigsaw, but the implacable killer refuses to reveal where the cop's son is being held... unless Eric will play by Jigsaw's rules. Fans of "Saw" will love "Saw II", as the tortures are more gruesome than before; viewers who found "Saw" either detestable or laughable won't like "Saw II" either, as the characters rarely behave like actual people (even when a moment's explanation would solve a conflict, no one bothers to communicate, even though their lives are on the line). It's a festival of body fluids, agonized grimaces, and shrieks of pain--and if that's your thing, this is your movie. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The first "Saw" picture actually had an idea behind it, to say nothing of the ingenuity of its low-budget production; making a silk purse out of a bloody, maggot-ridden human ear, as it were. With "Saw III", the franchise pretty much settles into gore for gore's sake, as it explores newer and better ways to traumatize the body--and the audience. Events from "Saw II" are sewn up at the beginning of the film, and a detective on the trail of mad killer Jigsaw is quickly trussed up and subjected to one of the villain's sadistic games (this one has escape possible only by means of a key sitting in the bottom of a beaker of acid). Then we catch up with Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) himself, as he awaits death from his debilitating illness; once again he's tended by helper Shawnee Smith. The movie follows parallel plots: Jigsaw blackmails a doctor (Bahar Soomekh) into keeping him alive, and tortures a vengeful soul (Angus Macfayden) into recognizing the futility of revenge. Original "Saw" creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell worked on the script of this one, and it fully buys into the series mythology, referring backwards to previous events and, for all we know, preparing us for future installments. But if future installments are as pointlessly repugnant as this one, there's not much to look forward to. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Even death itself can't bring the savage games of Jigsaw to an end, as "Saw IV" proves; if anything, the fiendishly clever serial killer (once again played by Tobin Bell) is equally capable of dealing out violent death while lying on a morgue slab as he was in life. "Saw IV" also offers a class reunion of characters from the previous three films, each once again up to their necks in Jigsaw's schemes. Chief among them is Sgt. Rigg (Lyriq Bent) from "Saw II", who must place himself in Jigsaw's shoes in order to rescue Detective Matthews (Donnie Walhberg), who was abducted by the killer at the end of "Saw II", and Forensic Hoffman (Costas Mandylor from Saw "III"), from another elaborate murder device. Meanwhile, FBI agents led by Scott Patterson ("Gilmore Girls, Aliens in America") attempt to track Rigg as he carries out Jigsaw's horrific notion of justice from beyond the grave. Casual horror fans may find the endless puzzles and relentless nihilism of the Saw series wearing thin with this fourth entry, but the franchise's key selling points--the Sadean excesses of Jigsaw's macabre creations--remain as bloody and unsettling as ever. "--Paul Gaita"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: How do you keep a horror franchise going when your villain has been unquestionably and irrevocably killed off? That's a conundrum any number of genre series have tackled--to varying degrees of success--and the problem facing the sadistic Saw films in its latest entry, Saw V. The filmmakers' answer--faithful henchmen--is at first blush a savvy idea, as it allows the mayhem of original bad guy Jigsaw to continue unabated, despite the fact that he was dissected on a morgue slab in the previous film. Saw V extends the premise by having disgraced detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor from the previous two films) don the pig mask to unleash horrific tortures on another group of seemingly unconnected strangers. Scott Patterson (Aliens in America) also returns as Hoffman's Javert, a dogged fellow agent who escapes death in the fourth film and an ugly fate in this entry to continue his pursuit. All the elements that have made the Saw series popular with horror fans--the elaborate killing machines, the trompe l'oeil plotting, and the sociopathic judgments handed down by Jigsaw--are intact in Saw V, which is a positive for its most faithful followers, but a negative for just about everyone else. Saw V covers no new ground, expands no part of the mythology of the series and seems perfectly content to present a lifeless retread of Saw III and IV. It also suffers from the absence of Tobin Bell as Jigsaw, who despite his top billing, is glimpsed only in brief flashbacks. Bell, who could be unsettling even in the stillest moments, gave the series a gravity that kept its least plausible moments in check, and Mandylor, though game, simply cannot provide the same. What's left is dreary and relentlessly downbeat, and to make matters worse, ends on an open note that clearly indicates that a sixth film is in the works, no matter how obvious that the diabolical ingenuity of the original Saw has been worn to the bone by its sequels. Only diehard Saw fans need to sign up for this round of Jigsaw's games. -- Paul Gaita


Beyond Saw V on DVD
Saw 1-4 (Amazon.com Exclusive) on DVD
Saw V the Soundtrack

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The "Saw" series gains a commendable hint of social conscience with this sixth entry in the gleefully gruesome franchise. That's not to say that the creators have abandoned the films' main focus--dealing out hideous punishments for wrongdoers, courtesy its antihero, John Kramer/Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), who remains very dead as of this film--but screenwriters Marcus Dunston and Patrick Melton (who have penned every "Saw" pic since "IV") deserve a note of recognition for pointing Jigsaw's moral fury at the insurance industry, which is personified by key victim Peter Outerbridge's oily exec. His decision to deny Kramer an experimental cancer treatment (all told in flashback) lands him and a handful of additional lost souls (all connected, of course) in yet another Rube Goldbergian chamber of horrors overseen by Jigsaw's acolyte, Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor). The improbability of the infernal machines continues to reach hysterical levels here, though the payoffs remain exceptionally gross, especially in the opener, which plays on the Shakespearean "pound of flesh" riff with spectacularly nauseating results. Aside from the insurance angle, there's little to differentiate "Saw VI" from its predecessors, and precious less to convince the nonfaithful that the series isn't spinning its wheels by this point--and based on the film's tepid opening-weekend box office, audiences may agree--but for "Saw" die-hards, there's much bloody business on hand here, and best of all, the promise of another sequel. "--Paul Gaita"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: This sprawling epic of bloodshed and excess, Brian De Palma's update of the classic 1932 crime drama by Howard Hawks, sparked controversy over its outrageous violence when released in 1983. "Scarface" is a wretched, fascinating car wreck of a movie, starring Al Pacino as a Cuban refugee who rises to the top of Miami's cocaine-driven underworld, only to fall hard into his own deadly trap of addiction and inevitable assassination. Scripted by Oliver Stone and running nearly three hours, it's the kind of film that can simultaneously disgust and amaze you (critic Pauline Kael wrote "this may be the only action picture that turns into an allegory of impotence"), with vivid supporting roles for Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Robert Loggia. Universal's special edition digital video disc includes a documentary about the making of the film that features numerous interviews and several deleted scenes. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: This sprawling epic of bloodshed and excess, Brian De Palma's update of the classic 1932 crime drama by Howard Hawks, sparked controversy over its outrageous violence when released in 1983. "Scarface" is a wretched, fascinating car wreck of a movie, starring Al Pacino as a Cuban refugee who rises to the top of Miami's cocaine-driven underworld, only to fall hard into his own deadly trap of addiction and inevitable assassination. Scripted by Oliver Stone and running nearly three hours, it's the kind of film that can simultaneously disgust and amaze you (critic Pauline Kael wrote "this may be the only action picture that turns into an allegory of impotence"), with vivid supporting roles for Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Robert Loggia. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: If you've seen "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer", then you know the entire plot of "Scary Movie". That's okay, though, because this is a parody, and it helps to know the story in order to be able to get the jokes. No, the biggest surprise here is not the story as much as the amount of full-frontal male nudity. Really, in addition to all the dick jokes (and the ass jokes and fart jokes), there's a couple of shots of the male member, one of which is erect and used as a weapon. "Scary Movie" somehow ended up with an R rating, which in a sense is groundbreaking; perhaps our ratings board is loosening up after all.
But is it funny? That's the most important question, and the answer to that is yes. In the vein of "Airplane!", with a dash of the Farrelly brothers, "Scary Movie" keeps throwing jokes at you one after another. The law of averages says some of them have to hit, and enough of them do to keep the movie entertaining. Unlike the makers of "Airplane!", however, the Wayans brothers aren't making this movie out of a love of the genre, and unlike the Farrelly brothers, they don't make fun of retarded people with any sort of respect, so the humor throughout feels a lot uglier. Still, there are enough funny scenes in "Scary Movie" to make the viewing experience worthwhile. Special credit must go to Lochlyn Munro as Greg, the over-the-top jock, who steals the movie up until the time he's gotta die."--Andy Spletzer"

Languages: English

Summary: The Wayans Brothers return with another horror-flick parody, this one taking shots at "The Exorcist", "Hannibal", and "House on Haunted Hill", along with non-horror fare like "Charlie's Angels". In addition to gags (and I do mean "gag") about innumerable bodily functions, there are slyer jabs at Thomas Jefferson and "Raging Bull". As in "Scary Movie", the strongest humor comes from making fun of the inane behavior of characters in horror movies. Assisting Shawn and Marlon Wayans are Anna Faris, Kathleen Robertson (in the Carmen Electra role, providing the T&A), and David Cross, as well as Tori Spelling, Chris Elliott, James Woods (as an exorcist with bowel trouble), Andy Richter, and poor Tim Curry, who probably never thought his career would come to this. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: This freewheeling parody tosses horror movies, Eminem, "The Matrix", and much more into a cinematic blender. "Scary Movie 3" centers around Cindy (Anna Faris, "Lost in Translation"), a bubble-headed young newscaster who believes that a deadly videotape has some mysterious connection to the aliens who've been making crop circles in the cornfield of a local farmer (Charlie Sheen, "Young Guns"), whose brother (Simon Rex) hopes to win a local rap contest. Along for the ride are Queen Latifah, George Carlin, Anthony Anderson, Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Jeremy Piven, Camryn Manheim, Ja Rule, dozens of rap stars, and Leslie Nielsen as the President of the U.S. No need to have seen the first two "Scary Movie" flicks--though a few of the characters recur, the movie leapfrogs from gag to goofy gag, plundering "The Ring", "Signs", and "The Others" as needed. Silly and slapdash, but with a decent dose of laughs. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Some comedy is like a scalpel; the "Scary Movie" series is a hand grenade, spewing bodily fluids and big-breasted women in all directions as they lampoon the latest horror. In "Scary Movie 4"'s case, the main targets are "War of the Worlds, The Village, The Grudge, Saw", and Tom Cruise jumping all over Oprah's couch (the scariest of the lot). Along the way, potshots get taken at non-horror fare like "Brokeback Mountain" and "Million Dollar Baby", as well as obvious targets like Michael Jackson and George W. Bush, among others. Anna Faris ("Lost in Translation") and Regina Hall ("The Honeymooners") return as the central characters wandering through a crazy quilt of horror scenarios, joined by Craig Bierko ("Cinderella Man") doing a dead-on parody of Cruise at his most manic. Cameos include everyone from Charlie Sheen to Shaquille O'Neal to Carmen Electra. Some of it's funny, some of it's not, but there's a generally buoyant zaniness that comes from director David Zucker, one of the creators of "Airplane!", which started the whole firehose-of-jokes aesthetic. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Hoo-ah! After seven Oscar nominations for his outstanding work in films such as "The Godfather", "Serpico", and "Dog Day Afternoon", it's ironic that Al Pacino finally won the Oscar for his grandstanding lead performance in this 1992 crowd pleaser. As the blind, blunt, and ultimately benevolent retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, Pacino is both hammy and compelling, simultaneously subtle and grandly over-the-top when defending his new assistant and prep school student Charlie (Chris O'Donnell) at a disciplinary hearing. While the subplot involving Charlie's prep-school crisis plays like a sequel to "Dead Poets Society", Pacino's adventurous escapades in New York City provide comic relief, rich character development, and a memorable supporting role for Gabrielle Anwar as the young woman who accepts the colonel's invitation to dance the tango. "Scent of a Woman" is a remake of the 1972 Italian film "Profumo di donna". In addition to Pacino's award, the picture garnered Oscar nominations for director Martin Brest and for screenwriter Bo Goldman. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Steven Spielberg had a banner year in 1993. He scored one of his biggest commercial hits that summer with the mega-hit "Jurassic Park", but it was the artistic and critical triumph of "Schindler's List" that Spielberg called "the most satisfying experience of my career." Adapted from the best-selling book by Thomas Keneally and filmed in Poland with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, Spielberg's masterpiece ranks among the greatest films ever made about the Holocaust during World War II. It's a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center--Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps.
By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. "Schindler's List" gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatizing the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds.
As a drinker and womanizer who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: DTS Surround Sound

Summary: Turbo-charged comic Jack Black shakes "School of Rock" to its foundations, wailing with born-again metalhead passion as Dewey Finn, a guitarist who gets kicked out of a band because he grandstands too much--or, to put it another way, enjoys himself. Through an intercepted phone call, Finn gets a job as a substitute teacher for a fifth grade class at a private grade school. Neither students nor teacher quite know what to do with each other until Finn discovers that some of his young charges can play instruments; at once he starts turning them into a blistering rock & roll troupe that can crush his former band at an upcoming competition. "School of Rock" is silly and formulaic, but director Richard Linklater ("Dazed and Confused"), writer Mike White ("The Good Girl"), and especially Black and co-star Joan Cusack invest the formulas with such glee that the movie is irresistibly fun. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: This new collection from the Schoolhouse Rock franchise includes 14 songs from the classic TV series focusing on the election process. Among them are 'I'm Just A Bill', 'Shout Heard Round The World', 'I'm Going To Take Your Vote To College' and more...including the brand new song 'Presidential Minute'. Also contains an interactive election tracking kit with stickers that lets kids follow the election process. Limited Edition!

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: It's a good bet that any American kid growing up in the '70s or '80s learned some elementary lesson from the seminal musical series "Schoolhouse Rock!". Airing from 1973 to 1984 (and often revived), the ABC Saturday morning shorts effortlessly introduced kids to grammar, science, multiplication, money, and American history--three minutes at a time. In one smart, comprehensive 2-disc set, all 46 songs and plenty of extras are collected. The four creators developed the series slowly, a welcome diversion from their advertising agency jobs, and ended up taking home four Emmys over the years. The background material includes 10 audio commentaries and a making-of feature for the new song, "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College." The DVD subtitle option is a great bonus for those who need to know every word from such favorites as "Three Is a Magic Number," "Interjections," "I'm Just a Bill," and "Conjunction Junction." (Ages 3 and older) "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: Chuck Jones and other great studio animators sneered at the cheap look and lazy craftsmanship of Hanna Barbera's television cartoons in the 1960s, but there's no question HB's original, 35-year-old "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" is enduringly beloved. "The Complete First and Second Seasons" includes all 25 stories first broadcast from September '69 to October '71, a growth period in which canine hero Scooby's voice (by Don Messick, who also voiced "The Jetsons"'s pup, Astro) was gradually refined from murky garble to Scoob's more familiar, "Rrroowwrr"-inflected, human-like speech. This set also represents the pre-frills "Scooby-Doo": no guest appearances by Don Knotts or Batman, no Scrappy-Doo--just adventure and occasional bubblegum pop tunes by Danny Janssen and sundry co-writers (e.g., "Pretty Mary Sunlite" in the episode "Don't Fool with a Phantom").
Watching all the shows back-to-back reveals evolving complexity in the scripts. Over time, "Scooby-Doo"'s creators added multiple bad guys in cahoots with major villains, and developed sub-plots, backstories, and even appealing allies and friends of Mystery, Inc., a traveling band of young debunkers of supernatural phenomena. Riding around in their psychedelic Mystery Van, preppie leader Fred and his friends--haughty Daphne, brainy Velma, quasi-hippie Shaggy, and Shaggy's best pal, Scooby, an excitable Great Dane--chase down and are chased by alleged ghouls who generally turn out to be venal humans running various scams.
Included here is "Scooby-Doo"'s premiere, "What a Night for a Knight," in which the gang looks into the disappearance of a noted archaeologist and end up in a "haunted" museum. The fun "Go Away Ghost Ship" finds our heroes helping a shipping company daunted by the apparent ghost of pirate Red Beard, while the silly classic "A Tiki Scare Is No Fair" concerns a Hawaiian vacation for Mystery, Inc. disrupted by a witch doctor. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0

Summary: Originally released as "The Scooby-Doo Show", the 16 episodes included on this " Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The Complete Third Season " compilation were produced for the 1978 "Scooby's All-Stars" television series. They do not include the characters Scooby-Dum or Scooby-Dee, or any "Dynomutt" programming. The classic Mystery Inc. gang represented here consists of the original five characters: the preppy, take-charge Fred; somewhat ditsy Daphne; intellectual Velma; and the ever-hungry, nervous, and bumbling Shaggy and Scooby. As the gang travels around the globe to places like China, Scotland, England, and the United States, they invariably stumble into one mystery after another. Ghosts and monsters abound, but the persistence of Fred and Daphne combined with Velma's intellect and Shaggy's and Scooby's uncanny tendency to stumble across vital clues ensures a tidy, down-to-earth solution to even the most other-worldly mysteries. Of course, it's the wit and slapstick humor that make these episodes true classics. A 25-minute, 2006 "Hanna-Barbera: From H to B" featurette follows the program and explores the careers of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera with some very brief original footage of both men and a host of interviews with Hanna-Barbera animators, writers, and voice talent that serve to highlight the two men's individual strengths, tremendous work ethic, and collaborative spirit. (Ages 5 and older) "--Tami Horiuchi"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: "I would've gotten away with it if weren't for you meddling kids!" Equal parts remake and spoof, this tongue-in-cheek live-action resurrection finds the old Saturday-morning-cartoon gang reunited to investigate the zombie teens of a haunted amusement park. Frantic action and big-screen special effects stand in for logic, but for a while it makes for a spirited send-up. Freddie Prinze Jr., under a blond hairdo and an ascot, turns Fred into a preening pretty boy, and Sarah Michelle Gellar plays with her own "Buffy" image as eternal damsel-in-distress Daphne (in magenta mini-dress and maxi-boots, no less), but this show belongs to gangly Matthew Lillard, who is the adenoidal beatnik Shaggy. His loyal-to-the-end friendship with the computer-animated Scooby-Doo is the most convincing relationship in the whole two-dimensional goof. Some of the supernatural nasties may be scary for young kids and the humor careens from winking self-awareness to Scooby doo-doo gags, but otherwise this is as harmless as a Saturday-morning chapter and as substantial as a Scooby snack. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The animated pooch detective returns in "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed", which packs a wealth of ghostly villains from the Saturday morning cartoon into one movie. When Mystery Inc. opens a museum exhibit of costumes of their old foes, a new masked foe appears and steals everything--and before you know it, all the costumes come to life, chasing Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr., "Head Over Heels"), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar, TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), Velma (Linda Cardellini, "Freaks and Geeks"), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard, "SLC Punk"), and the computer-animated Scooby Doo all over Coolsville. It's no better or worse than the first "Scooby Doo" movie. Watching live-action scenes that you've previously seen in two dimensions is vaguely uncanny; it's like deja vu turned inside out. Also featuring the weirdly unsynchronized lips of Alicia Silverstone ("Clueless"), Seth Green ("Austin Powers"), and Peter Boyle ("Young Frankenstein"). "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0

Summary: "Scooby-Doo, Where are You!" was a pivotal television program created by Hanna-Barbera in 1969 that changed children's programming by juxtaposing a group of everyday kids and their goofy dog with truly frightening monsters and elaborate mysteries. After its initial success on CBS, "Scooby-Doo" moved to ABC and, in 1976, was paired with the new show "Dynomutt"--a show that built upon "Scooby-Doo's" success by extending a similar formula to the world of superheroes. In this complete "Scooby-Doo Dynomutt" series, 16 pairs of episodes follow the Scooby-Doo gang and Dynomutt and Blue Falcon as they solve crimes that involve everything from modern day burglars and skyscraper construction crews to a cave man seeking a college education and newly awakened Aztec ghosts. In the "Scooby-Doo" cartoons, a nervous Scooby-Doo and Shaggy inevitably manage to stumble upon crucial clues, the accident-prone Daphne always seems to endanger the entire group with her missteps, and the brainy Velma seems destined to solve every mystery with her infallible intellect. Scooby-Doo's cousin Scooby-Dum is introduced in this series in "The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul" and even Shaggy's uncle, the magician Zarko, makes an appearance in "Scared a Lot in Camelot." Harrowing chases and an overwhelming preoccupation with food and Scooby Snacks are, of course, a given. "Dynomutt" features the ever-malfunctioning mechanical Dog Wonder Dynomutt--a sidekick who, despite being endowed with an amazing array of technical gadgets, consistently impedes the Batman-like superhero Blue Falcon's efforts to save Big City from a ceaseless progression of criminals. Somehow the odd pair always manages to solve the crime and capture the bad guys, keeping Big City safe until the next villain's crime spree. Bonus features include the "Eerie Mystery of Scooby-Doo and Dynomutt's History" that details the creation of both "Scooby-Doo and Dynomutt" and features interviews with television executive Fred Silverman, "Scooby-Doo" creative producer Iwao Takamoto, "Dynomutt" head writer Joe Ruby, and many others vital to the creation of the two cartoons. "In Their Own Words" features reminiscences by voice talents like Casey Kasem (Shaggy), Don Messick (Scooby-Doo), Gary Owens (Blue Falcon) and Frank Welker (Freddy and Dynomutt); and "The Scooby-Doo Dynomutt Files" offers a collection of original still sketches from the Hanna-Barbera Vault. (Ages 5 and older) "--Tami Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Summary: Holy jinkies, Batman, just when it seemed superheroes couldn't get any groovier, you collide with the Mystery Machine gang. Such a pairing might normally yield one wacky crime-fighting power struggle, but in these two capers egos take a back seat to classic you-check-this-out, we'll-check-that "Scooby-Doo" splintering. First, bat-plagued pranksters Penguin and the Joker kidnap a hopelessly tongue-tied professor in a scheme to swindle a high-tech flying suit. Then the conniving criminals return as bit players in a counterfeiting ring run out of a way-wacky funhouse. Soar along in the Batmobile or make like a banana and split with Shaggy and Scoob at these crime scenes--either way, it's a secret-passageway and scary-mask-packed combo even more compelling than the cookies-and-batmilk Scooby snack the pesky kids tuck into during a break in the action. "--Tammy La Gorce"

Languages: English

Summary: There's nothing original in "The Scorpion King", but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalizing on his brief cameo in "The Mummy Returns", Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell ("The Mask") wraps it all in a slick, professional package. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: When Randy the video geek rattles off the rules of surviving a horror movie in Wes Craven's "Scream", he speaks for a generation of filmgoers who are all too aware of slasher movie clichés. Playfully scripted by Kevin Williamson with a self-aware wink and more than a few nods to its grandfathers (from "Psycho" to "Halloween" to the "Friday the 13th" dynasty), "Scream" skewers teen horror conventions with loving reverence while re-creating them in a modern, movie-savvy context. And so goes the series, which continues the satirical spoofing by tackling (what else?) sequels while sustaining its own self-contained mythology. Catty reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) turns grisly murders into lurid bestsellers, a cult of killer wannabes continues to hunt spunky psycho-survivor Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) for their 15 minutes of fame, and a cheesy movie series ("Stab") develops within the movie series.
"Scream" remains the high point of the series--a fresh take on a genre long since collapsed into routine, but "Scream 2" spoofs itself with witty humor ("Why would anyone want to do that? Sequels suck!" opines college film student Randy), and delights with more elaborate set pieces and all-new rules for surviving a horror movie sequel. The endangered veterans of the original film reunite one last time for "Scream 3", which plays out on the movie set of "Stab 3". (It's a trilogy within a trilogy!) With Williamson gone, replacement screenwriter Ehran Kruger tries to mine the formula one more time. It's a little tired by now, and pale imitations ("Urban Legend", "I Know What You Did Last Summer") have further drained the zeitgeist, but the film bubbles with bright humor, and director Craven is stylistically at the top of his game. As a trilogy, it remains both the most consistently entertaining and self-aware horror series ever made. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Movie DVD

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Proving that truth is often greater than fiction, the handsome production of Seabiscuit offers a healthy alternative to Hollywood's staple diet of mayhem. With superior production values at his disposal, writer-director Gary Ross (Pleasantville) is a bit too reverent toward Laura Hillenbrand's captivating bestseller, unnecessarily using archival material--and David McCullough's familiar PBS-styled narration--to pay Ken Burns-like tribute to Hillenbrand's acclaimed history of Seabiscuit, the knobby-kneed thoroughbred who "came from behind" in the late 1930s to win the hearts of Depression-weary Americans. That caveat aside, Ross's adaptation retains much of the horse-and-human heroism that Hillenbrand so effectively conveyed; this is a classically styled "legend" movie like The Natural, which was also heightened by a lushly sentimental Randy Newman score. Led by Tobey Maguire as Seabiscuit's hard-luck jockey, the film's first-rate cast is uniformly excellent, including William H. Macy as a wacky trackside announcer who fills this earnest film with a much-needed spirit of fun. --Jeff Shannon

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: If you can get past its thick layer of syrup and molasses, "Secondhand Lions" reveals itself as a thoroughly decent family film that anyone can enjoy. It gets a little sappy sometimes, but there's something to be said for a movie in which Michael Caine and Robert Duvall play eccentric old brothers who take the easy approach to fishing: instead of a peaceful rod and reel, they use 12-gauge shotguns. When 14-year-old Walter (Haley Joel Osment, teetering on puberty) spends an eventful summer with his great-uncles on their vast Texas farmland (he's been dumped there by his delinquent mom, played by Kyra Sedgwick), he soon discovers they've lived lives full of adventure, excitement, passion, and mystery. Either that or they're old-time bank robbers with a long criminal record, and writer-director Tim McCanlies (who invested similar warmth into "The Iron Giant") does a nice job of concealing the truth until the very end. Full of enriching lessons and homespun humor, "Secondhand Lions" has more substance than most family films. If you enjoyed "Holes", you'll probably enjoy this movie, too. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Derivative fluff from 1987, made tolerable by its bawdy exuberance and an appealing performance by Michael J. Fox, who was still enjoying TV stardom and the career momentum he earned by traveling "Back to the Future". Here he plays a Kansas farm boy who dreams of scoring big in New York City, but reality turns out to be brutal to his ambition. When his uncle (Richard Jordan) gives him a mail-room job in the high-rise headquarters of a major corporation, Fox occupies an empty office and poses as a young executive, winning the attention of a lovely young colleague (Helen Slater) and having an affair with his boss's wife (Margaret Whitton). Sporadically amusing as a yuppie comedy and rather off-putting as a wannabe sex farce, the movie's still recommendable for its lively cast and a breezy style that almost succeeds in updating the conventions of vintage screwball comedy. Whitton is a standout performer here, so you may wonder why her comedic talent has been underrated, apart from a good role in the first two "Major League" movies. This may be little more than a big-screen sitcom, but it's not without its charms. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: In his book, Robert C. O'Brien called his brave widow mouse "Mrs. Frisby," but Disney escapee animator Don Bluth must have thought kids would laugh the wrong way at that. They renamed her "Mrs. Brisby" for "NIMH". That acronym stands for the National Institute of Mental Health, and the rats that live near Mrs. Brisby came from NIMH--they have strange ways. But they're the only ones who can save her house and her children, so Brisby seeks them out with the help of a humorous crow (Dom DeLuise). The magic gets laid on a little thick but this is Don Bluth's most successful attempt to achieve a complete, sincere, animated film. It's often forgotten, but it's a true surprise and a rare treat in the vast wasteland of insubstantial children's fare. "--Keith Simanton"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Johnny Depp gets high off another acting challenge in this tricky adaptation of a Stephen King yarn. Although the mood is too sinister to allow for the mischief of his "Pirates of the Caribbean" turn, Depp still manages to embroider his role here with plenty of quirky business. He plays a writer, depressed and nearly divorced, who's stuck in an isolated cabin (shades of "The Shining") when a stranger (John Turturro) arrives, accusing him of plagiarism. Writer-director David Koepp ("Stir of Echoes") does his best to make the rickety material compelling--he gets the maximum out of the cabin set, for instance--but the problems inherent in the King story eventually win out. The climactic scenes are particularly unpleasant, especially in contrast to the cleverness of Depp's performance. A Philip Glass score adds class, but this one ultimately feels like a disappointment. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: This kinky love story features a standout performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal, an offbeat young actress in her first starring role. Gyllenhaal plays Lee, a nervous girl who compulsively cuts herself, who gets a job as a secretary for Edward, an imperious lawyer (James Spader, an old hand at tales of perverse affection). Edward's reprimands for typos and spelling errors begin with mild humiliation, but as Lee responds to his orders--which are driven as much by his own anxieties and fears as any sense of order--the punishments escalate to spankings, shackles, and more. "Secretary" walks a fine line. It finds sly humor in these sadomasochistic doings without turning them into a gag, and it takes Lee and Edward's mutual desires seriously without getting self-righteous or pompous. Certainly not a movie for everyone, but some people may be unexpectedly stirred up by this smart and steamy tale of repressed passion. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Summary: Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 09/20/2005 Run time: 88 minutes

Languages: English, French

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

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Movie DVD

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Clint Eastwood may be a little too old (plus he kind of already did his own version of this movie in 1993's "In the Line of Fire"), but Harrison Ford could have been "The Sentinel"'s lead and lent the same kind of top-flight Hollywood superstar craft that Michael Douglas brings as a superstar secret service agent fighting a frame-up in a panicky countdown to peril. That the marquee name could have belonged to anyone with the same chops as Douglas is no slam to him, Ford, Eastwood, or anyone else of their ilk. "The Sentinel" is a crackling good thriller because everyone involved is working at the top of their game. Pete Garrison (Douglas) is on the presidential protection detail when another agent is murdered. A creepy informer tells Garrison about an elaborate assassination conspiracy that's related and well underway. Garrison also happens to be having an affair with the First Lady (Kim Basinger), the stress of which causes him to flunk a lie detector test when word of the plot to kill the president becomes more than just paranoia. Garrison is soon on the run, being hunted by his protege David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland, whose "24" experience gives his performance an extra edge). But Garrison is the best, using all his secret service wiles (and there are plenty, the details of which give added tension and authenticity to the taut script) to evade his former comrades as the clock ticks. You can often see the plot thickening a mile away, and as much as the movie wants to keep us guessing, the real bad guy is an easy mark for the audience. But the energy and kinetic skill which propel the action are always spot on and enough to keep us from caring about the giveaways. Co-star Eva Longoria is miles away from her "Desperate Housewives" role and miles away from any real import of character in the movie. But the rest of the cast and the whooshing forward momentum of style and anxiety are plenty to keep "The Sentinel" in full-tilt suspense mode from beginning to end."--Ted Fry"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Serenity" offers perfect proof that "Firefly" deserved a better fate than premature TV cancellation. Joss Whedon's acclaimed sci-fi Western hybrid series was ideally suited (in Browncoats, of course) for a big-screen conversion, and this action-packed adventure allows Whedon to fill in the "Firefly" backstory, especially the history and mystery of the spaceship Serenity's volatile and traumatized stowaway, River Tam (Summer Glau). Her lethal skills as a programmed "weapon" makes her a coveted prize for the power-hungry planetary Alliance, represented here by an Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who'll stop at nothing to retrieve River from Serenity's protective crew. We still get all the quip-filled dialogue and ass-kicking action that we've come to expect from the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", but Whedon goes a talented step further here, blessing his established ensemble cast with a more fully-developed dynamic of endearing relationships. "Serenity"'s cast is led with well-balanced depth and humor by Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds, whose maverick spirit is matched by his devotion to crewmates Wash (Alan Tudyk), Zoe (Gina Torres), fun-loving fighter Jayne (Adam Baldwin), engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), doctor Simon (Sean Maher), and Mal's former flame Inara (Morena Baccarin), who plays a pivotal role in Whedon's briskly-paced plot. As many critics agreed, "Serenity" offered all the fun and breezy excitement that was missing from George Lucas's latter-day "Star Wars" epics, and Whedon leaves an opening for a continuing franchise that never feels cheap or commercially opportunistic. With the mega-corporate mysteries of Blue Sun yet to be explored, it's a safe bet we haven't seen the last of the good ship Serenity. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Eight years before he scored a phenomenal hit with "Scream", horror master Wes Craven made a worthy effort to "legitimize" horror with this chilling supernatural thriller, based on the best-selling book by Wade Davis. More ambitious than most horror films, this one allowed Craven to generate compelling plausibility with the fact-based story of a Harvard researcher (Bill Pullman) who travels to Haiti to procure a secret voodoo powder that places people into a state of simulated death. His investigation into the hidden world of black magic grows increasingly dangerous until he's caught in a living nightmare--a potentially deadly predicament that inspired the film's advertising tag line: "Don't bury me... I'm not dead!" Craven pays particular attention to authentic details of Haitian society and the role voodoo plays in Haitian culture, and the film gains additional atmosphere from location shooting in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Craven would, of course, continue to thrive by making more "conventional" horror films including "Scream", but this remains a fascinating departure for one of the genre's most celebrated directors. "- -Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: Tony Manero (John Travolta) in "Saturday Night Fever" and Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) in "Boogie Nights" have one major thing in common: They both have posters of Al Pacino as Serpico on their bedroom walls. As the real-life NYPD detective whose integrity cost him virtually everything (and almost cost him his life), Pacino became one of the icons of gritty, realistic 1970s filmmaking. Released in 1973, between the first two "Godfather" movies, this is the true story of Frank Serpico, a long-haired, idealistic, iconoclastic cop who reluctantly goes undercover to investigate dirty colleagues who are on the take. This is one of the definitive Pacino performances, along with his role as Michael Corleone in the "Godfather" saga, and Sonny the bungling bank robber in "Dog Day Afternoon" (which reunited him with his Serpico director, Sidney Lumet)--and Pacino was nominated for a best actor Oscar for all of them (although he wouldn't actually win until 1992's "Scent of a Woman"). "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English

Summary: I am so delighted to see this movie finally in DVD. Feel very proud as I played the role Xiao Foo 24 years ago. Few interesting things I would like to share with people who love this movie:

- Xiao Foo didn't understand a single word of English when acting. I am local Chinese and do not start a second language until age of 9. All script was recited by memories.

- We filmed the movie in 3 cities: Beijing(the Great Wall, animal sculpture), Guilin(the Glass Chessboard, headless buffalo),Suzhou(the story teller). These are still the most beautiful tourist highlights of China.

- We had harsh time when filming the Great Wall, cause it was always packed with tourists. We eventually filmed it at 4:00am in the morning.

- China has changed a lot since then. We no longer dressed like the crowd in the movie. Major cities are well developed.

- Xiao Foo never acted in any movies after that. She grew up in Beijing, attended universities in Canada, now working for a top US investment bank in Hong Kong.

- Xiao Foo lost contact with Big Bird, Barkley and the Crew right after the movie. But to her, this movie is always the most precious memory.

Languages: English

Summary: Were some of your first friends named Grover, Mr. Hooper, and Bob? Do you remember the Ladybug Picnic? How about Pinball Number Count? Sesame Street Old School is a time capsule of the early days of the ground-breaking series you grew up on. Take a trip back in time with Bert, Ernie, Big Bird and Snuffleupagus. Sing along with classics like "C is for Cookie," "I Love Trash," and "Rubber Duckie." For the first time on DVD, the music, memories, and mayhem from Sesame Street's first five seasons can be enjoyed again and again!

Languages: English, Spanish

Summary: Can you dig it? Sesame Street: Old School Volume 2 picks up right where Volume 1 left off, including all the grooviest Sesame Street memories from 1974 to 1979! You’ll see cats like Don Music and Roosevelt Franklin, Guy Smiley and Fat Blue. Break out your boogie shoes for far out classics like "What’s the Name of That Song?" and "Telephone Rock!" Rediscover the Sesame Street of the 1970s -- the place where you learned about letters, numbers, and loveable furry monsters. Catch you on the flip side!

Languages: English

Summary: With over 5 hours of iconic moments, favorite songs, celebrity segments and exclusive never-before-seen backstage footage, this commemorative DVD Collection is a must own for every Sesame Street fan!

Languages: English, French, Portuguese

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: "Follow That Bird" is as much a journey through time as it is a romp past the Sesame Street stop sign. Curiously, the cast members--live ones like Gordon and Maria, not just the Muppets--have the timeless look to them. Only the cameos (by Sandra Bernhard, John Candy, and others) plus a few ill-conceived hairdos clue us in that this feature film was made in 1985. Otherwise, it's all sophisticated Sesame humor and bighearted fun here as Oscar, the Count, and crew set off to rescue Big Bird, who's on the lam from a family of adoptive dodos. Only one conceivable complaint: The latter crop of "Street" viewers may miss Elmo, who hadn't been created when "Bird" first flew into theaters. "--Tammy La Gorce"

Languages: English

Summary: "Follow That Bird" is as much a journey through time as it is a romp past the Sesame Street stop sign. Curiously, the cast members--live ones like Gordon and Maria, not just the Muppets--have the timeless look to them. Only the cameos (by Sandra Bernhard, John Candy, and others) plus a few ill-conceived hairdos clue us in that this feature film was made in 1985. Otherwise, it's all sophisticated Sesame humor and bighearted fun here as Oscar, the Count, and crew set off to rescue Big Bird, who's on the lam from a family of adoptive dodos. Only one conceivable complaint: The latter crop of "Street" viewers may miss Elmo, who hadn't been created when "Bird" first flew into theaters. "--Tammy La Gorce"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Stills from Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy (Click for larger image)



   

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal-maniac picture since "The Silence of the Lambs", "Seven" is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or molding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey are also featured, but it is director Fincher and the ominous, overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere of doom that he creates that are the real stars of the film. It's a terrific date movie--for vampires. "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal maniac picture since "The Silence of the Lambs", "Seven" is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or molding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey are also featured, but it is director Fincher and the ominous, overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere of doom that he creates that are the real stars of the film. It's a terrific date movie--for vampires. "--Jim Emerson"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The mysteriously titled Seven Pounds stars Will Smith as Ben Thomas, who flashes his badge as an IRS agent to gain entrance into the lives of seven strangers in need. To each, he offers something that will reverse their troubles, seeking to atone for a haunting past mistake. But when Ben starts falling in love with a young woman with heart trouble (Rosario Dawson), his carefully laid plans threaten to collapse. To reveal more of the story would diminish it. Smith is an engaging, charismatic presence, but the impact of Seven Pounds comes from Dawson--she has the kind of emotional transparency that shimmers off the screen. Which is crucial, because Seven Pounds requires considerable suspension of disbelief; some scenes push and pull at plausibility, and you may question a few plot turns after the movie is over. But as the story unfolds, the performances can carry you over these bumps. If you surrender to its gently circling rhythms and its luminous images (including the glowing undulations of a poisonous jellyfish), Seven Pounds will pack an emotional wallop, heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Also featuring Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan), Michael Ealy (Sleeper Cell), and Woody Harrelson. --Bret Fetzer


Stills from Seven Pounds (click for larger image)

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Now you can achieve multiple viewings of the best "Sex" on TV. Winner of Golden Globes for Best TV Series and Best Actress, "Sex and the City" is based on Candace Bushnell's provocative bestselling book. Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw, a self-described "sexual anthropologist," who writes "Sex and the City," a newspaper column that chronicles the state of sexual affairs of Manhattanites in this "age of un-innocence." Her "posse," including nice girl Charlotte (Kristin Davis), hard-edged Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and party girl Samantha (Kim Cattrall)--not to mention her own tumultuous love life--gives Carrie plenty of column fodder. Over the course of the first season's 12 episodes, the most prominent dramatic arc concerns Carrie, who goes from turning the tables on "toxic bachelors" by having "sex like a man" to wanting to join the ranks of "the monogamists" with the elusive Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Meanwhile, Miranda, Cynthia, and Samantha have their own dating woes, few of which can be described on a family Web site. "Seinfeld" has nothing on "Sex and the City" when it comes to shallow, self-absorbed characters or coining catch phrases. Episode 2, for example, introduces the term "modelizer": a guy who is obsessed with and will only date models. Some may accuse this series of male bashing. But women, after years of enduring shows with "men behaving badly," will relish the equal time. Some may blanch at the ladies' graphic language and ribald humor, or dismiss some of the situations as unrealistic (Carrie doesn't bat an eye when she discovers that an artist friend surreptitiously videotapes his sexual conquests). Still others will view "Sex and the City" as documentary. Regardless of your view, this groundbreaking series will have you longing for more. "--Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A smart and savvy (albeit highly stylized) look at the single lives of four thirtysomething Manhattan women, "Sex and the City: The Complete Second Season" builds on the foundation of its first season with plot arcs that are both hilarious and heartfelt, taking the show from breakout hit to true pop-culture phenomenon. Relationship epiphanies coexist happily alongside farcical plots and zingy one-liners, resulting in emotionally satisfying episodes that feature the sharp kind of character-defining dialogue that seems to have disappeared from the rest of TV long ago. When last we left the NYC gals, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) had just broken up with a commitment-phobic Mr. Big (Chris Noth), but fans of Noth's seductive-yet-distant rake didn't have to wait long until he was back in the picture, as he and Carrie tried to make another go of it. Their relationship evolution, from reunion to second breakup, provides the core of the second season. The fittingly titled and keenly observed episode "Evolution" found Carrie trying to leave a few feminine belongings at Mr. Big's apartment with little success, charting the challenges and limits of intimacy. And the season's finale, "Ex and the City," was a melancholy goodbye for Carrie and Big that took its cue from "The Way We Were". It wasn't all angst, though: among other adventures, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) puzzles over whether one of her beaus was "gay-straight" or "straight-gay"; Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) tries to date a guy who insists on having sex only in places where they might get caught; and Samantha (the exquisite Kim Cattrall) copes with dates who range from, um, not big enough to "far" too big--with numerous stops in between. Through it all, the four actresses cohered into a solid ensemble that played on their complex relationships among themselves as well as with men; in two short years, Parker and company became one of the best TV casts in over a decade. And to top it all off, the second season offers 18 episodes, six more than the first. Sometimes size really can make a difference! "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English

Summary: The third season was the charm for one of HBO's gold standard series, which earned its first Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series to go along with its Golden Globes for Best Comedy Series and Best Actress (Sarah Jessica Parker). The writing is as sharp as ever, with more trendy product placement than a Bret Easton Ellis novel and ribald banter that's a cross between the Algonquin Round Table and the Friars Club. One of this season's two principal story arcs concerned hapless-in-love Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and her pursuit of a husband; enter (if only...) Kyle McLachlan as the unfortunately impotent Trey. Meanwhile, sex columnist Carrie has a brief but memorable fling with a politician who’s golden, but not in the way she anticipated. She then sabotages her too-good-to-be-true relationship with furniture designer Aidan (John Corbett) by having an affair with Mr. Big (Chris Noth), who himself has gotten married.
"Do we need drama to make a relationship work?" Carrie muses at one point. "Sex and the City" needs drama to make it work, and Parker and Cynthia Nixon (as career woman Miranda), this ensemble's better half, give the show its pulsating heart as they wrestle with commitment and, in the episode "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," sadder-but-wiser breakups. On the lighter side, the sexual dalliances of "rude and politically incorrect" Samantha (Kim Cattrall) provide great fodder for comedy. Like "I Love Lucy", the series benefited from a brief change of scenery with a three-episode jaunt to Los Angeles, where Carrie and company encountered, among others, Matthew McConaughey, Vince Vaughn, Hugh Hefner, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. At its best, to quote one character, "Sex and the City" is "sharp, edgy, brutal at times, always a little juicy." It may be "very New York," but the sex and relationship issues it tackles are universal. For its devoted fans, the release of this 18-episode, three-disc set is, to quote Gellar's clueless Hollywood junior development exec, "chick flick big." "--Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The fourth season of "Sex and the City" is just as smart and sexy as ever, mixing caustic adult wit and sharply observed situation comedy on the mean streets of Manhattan, though this time the quartet of singleton city girls must endure even tougher combat in the unending war of love, sex, and shopping. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) finally seems to have found her ideal life partner when she is reunited with handsome craftsman Aidan (John Corbett). But can their relationship survive trial by cohabitation? Meanwhile Charlotte (Kristin Davis) seems to have both her dream Park Avenue apartment and a solution to her marital problems with Trey (Kyle MacLachlan). But when the subject of babies comes up, everything starts to unravel for her, too. It's not just Charlotte who has baby issues either: after what seems like an eternity of enforced sexual abstinence Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is horrified to discover she's pregnant. And as for the sultry Samantha (Kim Cattrall), she's on a quest for monogamy, first with an exotic lesbian artist, then with a philandering businessman, with whom to her utter dismay she just might have fallen in love. "--Mark Walker"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: It was a short but sweet fifth season for "Sex and the City", as HBO's resident comediennes found themselves affected by forces beyond their control--the pregnancies of both Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie) and Cynthia Nixon (Miranda). A truncated shooting schedule to accommodate the actresses forced this season to be reduced to a mere eight episodes, and indeed, you can tell both actresses are expecting. (Carrie's wardrobe became more outlandish and more concealing than usual.) Still, the actresses and creators forged ahead, creating a handful of episodes that if short in content were long on emotion and laughs. Whereas the fourth season found all four grappling with various relationships, the fifth season focused on the perils of being single, with a new intensity lacking in the previous sexcapades. Carrie and Miranda wrestled with their solitary lifestyles, albeit with new attachments--Miranda had new baby Brady and single motherhood, while Carrie found herself in the world of publishing as the author of a real-life book of her columns. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) wondered if she'd ever find another man, while Samantha (Kim Cattrall) finally got rid of the one that had been vexing her far too much, hotelier Richard (James Remar). If the season as a whole felt less than the sum of its parts, those parts were some of the best comedy in the show's history, from Samantha's anointment as the "Michiko Kakutani of vibrators" to Carrie's stressful, one-degree-from-fiasco book launch party. (And fear not, Chris Noth's Mr. Big does pop up now and again.) The season's climactic episode, "I Love a Charade," found all four at the straight wedding of a seemingly gay pal (Nathan Lane) and contemplating their future with a wry, bemused tone. It was one of the series' best episodes ever, equally touching and funny, and grounded the show in an emotional maturity that announced that after all their wild travails, these women had truly grown up. "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: After a long wait--like the entire fifth season--Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is dating again. The sixth season of the popular HBO show starts with Carrie and her sparkly new potential, Berger (Ron Livingston), trying to leave past relationships and hit it off. The results are mixed (up to Berger's memorable exit), but the good news is Carrie is at it again, and a new love interest can be found in the member of a wedding party, an old high school flame (David Duchovny), or an über-famous painter (Mikhail Baryshnikov). As Carrie plays the field, her friends seem to be settling down, relatively speaking. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) decides that her affair with TiVo cannot compete when Mr. Perfect (Blair Underwood, at his most charming) moves into her building. Charlotte's (Kristin Davis) feelings for her "opposites attract" boyfriend (Evan Handler, perhaps fans' most-loved boyfriend) deepen, but they still have a few things to iron out. Most surprising is Samantha's (Kim Cattrall) hot relationship with waiter-actor-stud Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) taking on something resembling love, despite Samantha's best intentions.
Before the sixth season started in the summer of 2003, a bombshell hit: it was announced that this would be the finale. Fans, just getting over the truncated fifth season (due to half the cast getting pregnant), were beside themselves. But it would be a long season, and these 12 episodes plant the seeds for the final 8 airing the following winter. These dozen episodes illustrate the maturity of the show: there's not a bad one in the bunch, with things like old flames Mr. Big (Chris Noth), and Steve (David Eigenberg) popping in with deeper resiliency. And the show is still flat-out funny. Berger is the most intrinsically humorous of Carrie's beaus (his introduction to Prada is a classic), Jarrod's earnest streak on Samantha gets her flabbergasted in the giddiest ways, and Charlotte's attempt to convert to Judaism is right in character. The touchstone episode is "A Woman's Right to Shoes," in which Carrie loses her prized and expensive Manolo Blahniks at a party. The comedy blends serious points of how we perceive singles, couples, and parents (and the gifts we lavish on the latter two). Carrie's method of celebrating her singlehood is just another gem in this treasure of a series. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: With these eight episodes, HBO's grand sitcom concluded, leaving untold numbers of women--and many men--feeling deprived. The six-year series certainly did not outlast its welcome; the final season is some of the best TV had to offer in 2004. In many ways, the eight episodes served as a single finale, with all four characters approaching a kind of destiny and happiness, the theme of this last half-season (which aired weeks after the first half). Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) continues her romance with Russian artist (Mikhail Baryshnikov), a flippantly arrogant man who's been around the block, but able to supply Carrie's needed desire for magic. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) has settled down with Steve (David Eigenberg), but there is more that will change with her, including her address. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) continues to make baby plans now that the husband slot is filled quite nicely (Evan Handler). Samantha (Kim Cattrall) brings a good sense of drama to the show with a breast-cancer scare.
Going down the final stretch--and Samantha's cancer--gives the series a more serious tone, but there's always a jab to tickle the funny bone: Miranda's awkwardness with happiness, Charlotte's latest passion, Carrie typing someplace new, and Samantha getting into Paris Hilton territory. Like any series winding down, there is a wedding, a baby, old faces popping up, and some star-ladened new ones (like creative consultant Julia Sweeney as a nun). In the final two-part episode, "An American in Paris," Carrie faces her romantic destiny, but also solidifies herself as a fashion icon, an Audrey Hepburn for 21st-century television. In the penultimate episode, she asks her friends an emotional question: "What if I never met you?" Certainly fans can ask of themselves the same question and reminisce how much better TV became since they first tuned in these four women of the City.
For the last of the DVD sets, the folks behind "SATC" give their fans a few more DVD extras. As we find out in the near-hourlong 2004 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Seminar (with executive producer Michael Patrick King, Sarah Jessica Parker, and the writing team), the alternate endings seen here were false leads to throw off the press. Thank goodness--what fan would want one of these endings? More enjoyable is the 11 minutes of deleted scenes from the run of the show. King's expert touches on the commentary are fun to listen to, if a lovefest. And speaking of love, the two farewell tributes are filled with reminiscences and favorite clips, all done with a beautiful fondness for this series. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The army is known for churning out lean mean fighting machines intent on protecting our great nation. Martin is the inexplicable the incorrigible the invicible sgt. Ernie bilko leader of a ragtag group of the sorriest soldiers ever to enlist in the armed forces. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 03/18/2003 Starring: Steve Martin Eric Edwards Run time: 93 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Jonathan Lynn

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Samuel L. Jackson makes a gleefully updated John Shaft in John Singleton's homage to ("not" remake of) the early '70s action classic, picking up where Richard Roundtree's legendary Shaft left off. The Manhattan-set film is highlighted by excellent performances, dynamic action scenes, and witty one-liners (Jackson's Shaft: "It's my duty to please the booty"--although the line's deceptive: there's a surprising lack of sex in the film). Unfortunately, it's offset by a surprisingly uninspired, predictable, one-dimensional story, penned by Singleton, Richard Price, and Shane Salerno. The story, in which Shaft investigates the murder of a young African American, is without suspense, since from the start the audience knows that rich white boy Walter Wade (Christian Bale) did the deed, and that Shaft is going to kick his ass, big time. That said, charismatic performances--from Jackson (who, in keeping with the times, is more volatile and fiery than his predecessor), Toni Collette (as a frightened witness), the villainous Bale, and the utterly amazing Jeffrey Wright ("Basquiat")--make the film enticing and watchable. Look for a cameo by the original "Shaft"'s director, the legendary Gordon Parks, and fans of the original should note that a still stunningly handsome Roundtree briefly appears as Jackson's uncle. "--N.F. Mendoza"

Languages: English

Subtitles: French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Summary: In this sequel to "The Shaggy Dog", Wilby Daniels (Dean Jones) has grown up and married Suzanne Pleshette, and has a young son. When the family comes home to find the house cleaned out by "movers"--who Daniels knows are protected by the corrupt District Attorney John Slade (Keenan Wynn)--he decides to run against Slade in the next election. Meanwhile, hoodlums connected to the same crime syndicate get hold of the mystical ring that turns poor Daniels (via mid-'70s special effects) into Elwood, the dog owned by the local ice-cream vendor (Tim Conway). Lots of chase scenes, a little roller derby action, and some cherry pie throwing complicate both Daniels's bid for office and his quest to remain a human being. Kids will enjoy the last half of this 91-minute movie the most as Daniels spends most of the time in his dog persona and because his son becomes part of the plot to undo the bad guys. This G-rated feature is safe for all ages, but kids probably won't sit through it until age 4 or 5. "--Kimberly Heinrichs"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Tim Allen barks, growls, and slobbers his way through the latest remake of the classic Disney suburban fable "The Shaggy Dog". A mystical long-lived dog is kidnapped from Tibet by a nefarious corporation; when it escapes, it bites aspiring District Attorney Dave Douglas (Allen, "The Santa Clause", "Toy Story"), who finds himself regressing into a dog in the courtroom. There's more to the plot--something to do with creating a youth serum from the dog's blood--but let's face it, that's not what anyone's going to see the movie for, and the "bad dad remembers how to love his family" theme is equally perfunctory. This is all about Allen running around like a dog and a cute sheepdog running around trying to do human things, and the movie does a competent job of playing with that scenario. Allen throws himself into doggieness with amusing abandon. Also featuring Kristin Davis ("Sex and the City"), Spencer Breslin ("The Cat in the Hat"), Jane Curtin ("3rd Rock from the Sun"), Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon"), and Robert Downey Jr. ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", "Wonder Boys"), who seems to be enjoying himself as a nefarious scientist at the nefarious corporation. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: One of the most winning and intelligent romantic comedies of the '90s, "Shakespeare in Love" is filled with such good will, sunny romance, snappy one-liners, and devilish cleverness that it's absolutely irresistible. At the 1999 Academy Awards, this dark-horse costume comedy sneaked off with seven Oscars, besting the highly favored "Saving Private Ryan" for Best Picture. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, at its outset the film tracks young Will Shakespeare's overwrought battle with writer's block and the efforts of theater owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush, in rare form) to stage Will's latest comedy, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter". Most of the jokes in the first one-third of the film are along these lines: Will's anachronistic therapist session, a mug inscribed "A Souvenir from Stratford-Upon-Avon," Henslowe's battles to pay off his debts, and the backstage high jinks of pre-production. However, once Will sets his eyes on the beautiful Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), joking takes a backseat to ravishing romance. Well, almost--turns out Viola wants to break into the world of male-only theater, and disguises herself as a young man to wangle herself an audition. She wins the part of Romeo and, after much misunderstanding, the playwright's heart. Soon enough, Will's pirate comedy becomes a beautiful, tragic romance, and Ethel is shoved aside for a woman named Juliet. Will and Viola's romance, however, is equal parts comedy and tragedy--he's married, and she's betrothed to the slimy Lord Wessex (Colin Firth), and it doesn't take an English major to figure out that it's not all's well that ends well.
Like Shakespeare's work itself, the film is instantly accessible to everyone, from the raucous groundlings looking for low comedy to the aesthetes hankering for some intellectual bite behind their entertainment. The way that Oscar-winning screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard enfold their story within the parameters of "Romeo and Juliet" (and even "Twelfth Night") is nothing short of brilliant--it would take a Shakespearean scholar to dissect the innumerable parallels, oft-quoted lines, plot developments, and thematic borrowings. And most amazingly, Norman and Stoppard haven't forgotten to entertain their audience in addition to riding a Shakespearean roller coaster. Director John Madden ("Mrs. Brown") reigns in his huge ensemble with a rollicking energy that keeps the film's momentum going at top speed for its entire two hours. Along the way there are small gems to be found: Ben Affleck's riotous egotistical actor, Imelda Staunton's nimble nurse, and of course Judi Dench's eight-minute, Oscar-winning turn as a "truly" regal Queen Elizabeth. However, the key element of "Shakespeare in Love"'s success rests on the milky-white shoulders of its two stars. Fiennes, inexplicably overlooked at Oscar time, is a dashing Will as we might expect him at the early stage of his career, bundled full of comedy and tragedy but unsure of how to harness his talent. And as for Best Actress winner Paltrow... well, "nothing" she'd done before could have prepared viewers for how amazing she is here. Breathtakingly beautiful, fiercely intelligent, strong-willed, and lovestruck--it's a performance worthy of Shakespeare in more ways than one. By the film's end, you'll be thoroughly won over--and brushing up your Shakespeare with newfound ardor. "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Better than your average sequel, "Shanghai Knights" almost defies the law of diminishing returns. Lacking the freshness of "Shanghai Noon", it compensates with a looser, disposable plot that plays to the strengths of costars Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson. It's 1887, and odd-couple heroes Chon Wang (Chan) and Roy O'Bannon (Wilson) are in London to retrieve the Imperial Seal of China, stolen by an English lord (Aidan Gillen) who killed Wang's father in his quest for the British throne. Wang's lithe and lovely sister (Fann Wong) joins the battle with high-kicking force, appealing to Roy's roguish charm and surfer-dude anachronisms. While Chan continues his transition to safer stunts and good-natured homage to Buster Keaton, Gene Kelly, and other Hollywood legends, Wilson indulges the party vibe to good effect, maintaining the anything-goes approach that allows silly encounters with Jack the Ripper, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and a Dickensian urchin named Charlie Chaplin. (Chaplin wasn't born until 1889, but if the filmmakers didn't care, why should you?) "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Story? What story? All a movie like "Shanghai Noon" needs is the amazing stunt set pieces featuring kung fu superstar Jackie Chan and the drolly caffeinated ramblings of Owen Wilson (and to be sure, that's all it gets). It's a buddy comedy about Roy O'Bannon (Wilson), a minor, borderline incompetent desperado, and Chon Wang (Chan)--Roy thinks he hears (and scoffs at) the name "John Wayne"--a member of the Chinese Imperial Guard searching for a kidnapped princess (Lucy Liu). They become reluctant partners in the Old West (Roy, who considers Chon his sidekick, is hurt to discover that the bounty on Wang's head is more than his own), brawling, drinking, bathing, and bonding and in general having mildly amusing adventures together, while eluding a posse and other random enemies.
There's not a lot of focus to the plot or much motivation for characters to turn up where and when they do--just what was achieved by the much-discussed trek to Carson City, anyway? But Chan's inventively staged battle sequences (particularly an early one in which he uses flexible, resilient trees to best some Crow Indians) are predictable highlights. You'll wish there were more to some of them, but as with his many of other films, you'll want them on video to watch in slow-motion to see how he pulls them off. And in a potentially star- making role, Wilson's loquacious, hyper-self-conscious meanderings--he's funny even when his lines aren't--make him seem less like a character than a very amusing deconstruction of one. Chan and Wilson are entertaining together, even though they're both off in their own little worlds. Think of it as "Butch Cassidy and the Shanghai Kid", and you won't be too far off. "--David Kronke"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: When a shark accidentally clobbers himself, a small fish named Oscar (voiced by Will Smith, "I, Robot") just happens to be around, prompting everyone to believe that he killed the shark himself. This lie soon makes Oscar a celebrity, worshipped by the general mass of fish, wooed by a glittering golddigger (Angelina Jolie, "Girl, Interrupted"), missed by his best friend (Renee Zellweger, "Cold Mountain")--and hunted by the godfather of great whites (Robert De Niro, "Goodfellas"). Can a vegetarian shark named Lenny (Jack Black, "School of Rock") get Oscar out of this mess? The formulaic story of "Shark Tale" never reaches the giddy heights of Pixar's output ("Finding Nemo", "Monsters Inc.", "Toy Story") or the freewheeling comedy of "Shrek", but it's capably told and impeccably animated--the sheer technical skill is stunning. Kids won't get the mobster jokes or the other pop-culture references, but they'll enjoy it nonetheless. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Shattered Glass" is the best film about journalism since "All the President's Men". If that seems like lofty praise, consider this: In telling the true story of fallen journalist and pathological liar Stephen Glass, writer-director Billy Ray had to thoroughly and believably demonstrate how Glass--played in a pitch-perfect performance by Hayden Christensen--could single-handedly betray the trust of vigilant editors, writers, fact-checkers, and copyeditors while he falsified numerous highly praised articles as a hot, seemingly gifted reporter for "The New Republic" magazine in the late 1990s. Making an assured directorial debut, Ray brilliantly explores the delicate office politics that allowed for Glass's ongoing deception, which was diligently exposed by a reporter (Steve Zahn) from Forbes Online Tool, thus toppling Glass's tower of lies and setting a noble precedent for online journalism. From Glass's ingratiating psychopathology to the anguish of TNR's then-unpopular editor (Peter Sarsgaard) as he discovers the extent of Glass's wrongdoing, "Shattered Glass" is a riveting, perfectly cast study of ambition gone sour, countered by the nobility of respectable journalists in the wake of a worst-case scenario. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

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

Sound: AC-3

Summary: When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who's sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there's reason to believe the banker's crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that "The Shawshank Redemption" builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker--a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

Summary: A spin-off of HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE the 1980s cartoon series SHE-RA: PRINCESS OF POWER fashioned a girl-power version of its parent show's hallmark brand of action-fantasy. Vibrantly animated and creatively told the series followed the mythical adventures of He-Man's twin sister Princess Adora as she transformed into her super-heroine alter-ego She-Ra to defeat the villainous Evil Horde and bring peace to the kingdom of Etheria. This collection presents the first 32 episodes of the series' first season.DVD Features:Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)Commentary by: Writers Larry DiTillo and J. Michael Straczynski editor Rick Gehr and storyboard artist Michael Swanigan ("The Sea Hawk" "King Miro's Journey")Dolby Digital 2.0Episodes 1-32 from the 1985-86 season on five discsThe Stories of She-Ra Part I: Documentary features with interviews on episodes 1-32Full-length animated storyboard with interactive comparison for "Into Etheria"Loo-Kee's fun facts & triviaInteractive "Where's Loo-Kee?" gameEaster eggsDVD-ROM features: Scripts of five episodes Princess of Power series Bible The Secret of the Sword comic book coloring bookExclusive She-Ra collectible 4x6" art cards50 detailed profiles of various characters creatures and artifactsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 787364721498

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

Summary: Studio: Bci Eclipse Comp Llc Release Date: 04/03/2007

Languages: English

Summary: On the war torn planet of Etheria, She-Ra and her magical allies in the Great Rebellion face their final struggles against the tyrannical Hordak and his Evil Horde. New warriors from the kingdom of Bright Moon appear to help stop the spread of oppressive villains making their debut in the Fright Zone. And in the battle against the malevolent forces of Horde Prime, where would She-Ra be without the occasional help from her brother, He-Man and his Eternian allies? All twenty-eight of Season Two's magical episodes bring an astonishing ending to this classic fan-favorite animated series. As She-Ra comes ever closer to freeing Etheria from Hordak's rule, witness birth and death, magic and mayhem, fantasy and fun... these are the final adventures of She-Ra! For the honor of love!

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: DTS-HD High Res Audio

Summary: Guy Ritchie ("Snatch", "RocknRolla") attempts to reinvent one of the world's most iconic literary figures as an action hero in this brawny, visually arresting period adventure. Robert Downey Jr. is an intriguing choice for the Great Detective, and if he occasionally murmurs his lines a pitch or two out of hearing range, his trademark bristling energy and off-kilter humor do much to sell Ritchie's notion of Holmes. Jude Law is equally well-equipped as a more active Dr. Watson--he's closer to Robert Duvall's vigorous portrayal in "The Seven Per-Cent Solution" than to Nigel Bruce--and together, they make for an engaging team. Too bad the plot they're thrust into is such a mess--a bustling and disorganized flurry of martial arts, black magic, and overwhelming set pieces centered around Mark Strong's Crowley-esque cult leader (no Professor Moriarty, he), who returns from the grave to exact revenge. Downey and Law's amped-up Holmes and Watson are built for the challenge of riding this roller coaster with the audience; however, Rachel McAdams as Holmes's love interest, Irene Adler (here a markedly different character than the one in Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia"), and Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan, the future Mrs. Watson, are cast to the wind in the wake of Ritchie's hurricane pace. One can imagine this not sitting well with ardent Sherlockians; all others may find this "Sherlock Holmes" marvelous if calorie-free popcorn entertainment, with the CGI rendering of Victorian-era London particularly appealing eye candy. "--Paul Gaita"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Wes Craven's horror pictures always have a few wild ideas knocking around inside them, and this 1989 slashfest is no exception. The electrocution of a mass murderer turns into a kind of cosmic jump-start: evil Horace Pinker is reborn as an elusive electronic phantom, capable of leaping from one body to another. (This trick is also used to good effect in "The Hidden" and "Fallen".) Pinker's a stinker, and Craven was clearly trying to set up another franchise villain in the vein of his "Nightmare on Elm Street" champ, Freddy Krueger--perhaps a bit too baldly. However, amidst the mayhem, the film's real subject is the poisonous presence of mass media, as Pinker (played by "The X-Files"' Mitch Pileggi) insinuates himself as a free-floating spirit run amok in television itself. In its own pulp way, "Shocker" gets at the heart of media-culture inanity quicker than a ten-week college class on the subject, and although Craven occasionally lapses into generic bloodletting, he always snaps right back with some crazy angle on the TV nation. The hero is played by a young Peter Berg, the "Chicago Hope" star who would go on to direct his own shocker, "Very Bad Things". "Shocker" failed to catch on with audiences (somewhere there's a warehouse full of unsold Horace Pinker action figures), but it's definitely worth a look for horror fans. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English

Summary: Every action movie has a moment so over the top you have to laugh; "Shoot 'Em Up" consists of nothing but these moments. A carrot-eating, lone wolf kind of guy named Smith (Clive Owen, "Children of Men", "Inside Man") steps in to protect a pregnant woman from a gunman--and finds himself, with the aid of a lactating prostitute (Monica Belluci, "The Matrix Revisited"), defending the newborn child from a sleazy contract killer Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti, "American Splendor", "Sideways") and his army of thugs. That's pretty much the plot, but story is beside the point. Writer/director Michael Davis ("Monster Man") has a keen sense of what matters in an action movie. The rapid-fire editing is scrupulously coherent; you always grasp what happened in every shoot-out, even if it flagrantly violates the laws of physics or basic plausibility. Explaining how Smith survives a four-story fall--even if that explanation is beyond ridiculous--demonstrates both a sense of wit and a winking respect for the audience's imagination. As a result, "Shoot 'Em Up" is ten times more entertaining than the likes of "Transformers" or "Rush Hour 3", movies so self-satisfied with special effects or movie stars that they forgot to be fun. ("Shoot 'Em Up"'s only weakness is a sliver of misogyny, the one action movie cliche that it's not clever enough to transcend.) "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: A movie that would not have been out of place in the run of paranoid-political thrillers of the 1970s, "Shooter" works an entertaining variation on the assassination picture. Mark Wahlberg, carrying over good mojo from "The Departed", slides neatly into the character of Bob Lee Swagger, master marksman. Swagger has retreated from his duty as an off-the-books hired gun for the military, having become disillusioned with his government (switching on his TV at his remote mountain cabin, he mutters, "Let's see what kind of lies they're trying to sell us today."). Ah, but the government needs Swagger to scope out the location of a rumored attempt on the life of the president, so a shadowy government operative (Danny Glover) begs Swagger to use his sniper's skills to out-fox the assassin. From there--well, spoilers are not fair, since the movie has a few legitimate shocks and a very nice wrong-man scenario about to unfold.
A novel by the Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Stephen Hunter gives the movie a logical spine, even if the premise itself is the stuff of conspiracy theorists. Wahlberg gets support from Michael Pena, as a skeptical FBI agent; Kate Mara, as a trustworthy widow; and Ned Beatty, trailing along memories of "Network", as a supremely cynical Senator. Along with the well-executed action sequences (the previously unreliable director Antoine Fuqua gets it in gear here), the movie includes a few potshots at the Bush administration. No, that doesn't put "Shooter" at the level of "The Parallax View" or "All the President's Men", but it provides some tang along with the flying bullets. "--Robert Horton"

Beyond "Shooter"
More Sniper / Hit Man Movies on DVD
More DVDs with Mark Wahlberg
The Novel Stills from "Shooter" (click for larger image)

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: John Badham's family-oriented adventure comedy, though obviously hatched in the wake of "E.T." and "Star Wars", manages to create its own identity through a sweet tone and an affectionate sense of fun. Military robot Number 5, a well-armed killing machine, is zapped by lightning during a test and emerges with a consciousness, curiosity, a wacky sense of humor, and a new peace-loving philosophy. Ally Sheedy (who debuted in Badham's hit "WarGames") is the animal lover whose home is sanctuary for a zoo-full of strays and who adopts the adolescent robot. Steve Guttenberg is the goofy but reclusive robotics designer who goes off in search of his creation to save him from the gun-happy army. The mix of gentle slapstick and innocent romance makes for a harmless family comedy. It veers toward the terminally cute, what with 5's hyperactive antics and E.T.-ish voice, and the mangled grammar of Guttenberg's East Indian sidekick (Fisher Stevens) threatens to become offensive, but Badham's breezy direction keeps the film on track. Sheedy and Guttenberg deliver spirited and engaging performances, but most importantly the robot emerges as a real person. Give credit to designer Syd Mead, an army of puppeteers and robotics operators, and the cartoony voice of Tim Blaney: Number 5 is alive. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

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

Sound: Dolby

Summary: ROBOT JOHNNY FIVE COMES TO THE CITY AND GETS MANIPULATED BY CRIMINALS WHO WANT HIM FOR THEIR OWN PURPOSES.

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: DTS Surround Sound

Summary: Can a buddy-cop parody still qualify as a good buddy-cop movie? "Showtime" struggles to prove it's possible, and with a few solid laughs it "almost" succeeds. No movie starring Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro could be a total turkey, and their pairing--as (respectively) a brash patrol cop/wannabe actor and a seasoned detective with zero tolerance for showmanship--yields a few choice moments of slick, professional comedy. Still, most of "Showtime" represents a missed opportunity, squandering Rene Russo's talent as a TV producer who casts Murphy and De Niro in a buddy-cop reality show that turns them into overnight celebrities. In an effort to repeat the modest success of "Shanghai Noon", director Tom Dey capitalizes on the casual chemistry of his leads (especially Murphy, who outshines his costars) until parody succumbs to routine action involving big guns and bad guys. With a sharper sense of satire, this passable entertainment could have been a comedy juggernaut. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: William Steig's delightfully fractured fairy tale is the right stuff for this computer-animated adaptation full of verve and wit. Our title character (voiced by Mike Myers) is an agreeable enough ogre who wants to live his days in peace. When the diminutive Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) evicts local fairy-tale creatures (including the now-famous Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and the Gingerbread Man), they settle in the ogre's swamp and Shrek wants answers from Farquaad. A quest of sorts starts for Shrek and his new pal, a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy), where battles have to be won and a princess (Cameron Diaz) must be rescued from a dragon lair in a thrilling action sequence. The story is stronger than most animated fare, but it's the humor that makes "Shrek" a winner. The PG rating is stretched when Murphy and Myers hit their strides. The mild potty humor is fun enough for 10-year-olds but will never embarrass their parents. "Shrek" is never as warm and inspired as the "Toy Story" films, but the realistic computer animation and a rollicking soundtrack keep the entertainment in fine form. Produced by DreamWorks, the film also takes several delicious stabs at its crosstown rival, Disney. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The lovably ugly green ogre returns with his green bride and furry, hooved friend in "Shrek 2". The newlywed Shrek and Princess Fiona are invited to Fiona's former kingdom, Far Far Away, to have the marriage blessed by Fiona's parents--which Shrek thinks is a bad, bad idea, and he's proved right: The parents are horrified by their daughter's transformation into an ogress, a fairy godmother wants her son Prince Charming to win Fiona, and a feline assassin is hired to get Shrek out of the way. The computer animation is more detailed than ever, but it's the acting that make the comedy work--in addition to the return of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, "Shrek 2" features the flexible voices of Julie Andrews ("Mary Poppins"), John Cleese ("Monty Python's Flying Circus"), Antonio Banderas ("Desperado"), and Jennifer Saunders ("Absolutely Fabulous") as the gleefully wicked fairy godmother. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The lovably ugly green ogre returns with his green bride and furry, hooved friend in "Shrek 2". The newlywed Shrek and Princess Fiona are invited to Fiona's former kingdom, Far Far Away, to have the marriage blessed by Fiona's parents--which Shrek thinks is a bad, bad idea, and he's proved right: The parents are horrified by their daughter's transformation into an ogress, a fairy godmother wants her son Prince Charming to win Fiona, and a feline assassin is hired to get Shrek out of the way. The computer animation is more detailed than ever, but it's the acting that make the comedy work--in addition to the return of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, "Shrek 2" features the flexible voices of Julie Andrews ("Mary Poppins"), John Cleese ("Monty Python's Flying Circus"), Antonio Banderas ("Desperado"), and Jennifer Saunders ("Absolutely Fabulous") as the gleefully wicked fairy godmother. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Shrek Forever After" delivers laughs, life lessons, and a striking picture of the realities of parenthood in this surprisingly good, fourth "Shrek" film. Like the original film, this fractured fairytale works because of the humor--it pokes fun at the whole fairytale genre on a multitude of intellectual levels while simultaneously offering visual humor that's appealing to all ages. After a frantic flip through a tongue-in-cheek fairytale book of the first three "Shrek" films, the scene opens on a beaming Shrek and Fiona as they awaken to a chorus of their noisy children standing at the foot of the bed, and it follows them through a typically hectic day of feeding, diapering, and caring for their children until they collapse into a satisfied heap at the end of the day. One of the funniest bits in the film, at least for adults, is how this scene repeats, faster and faster and in smaller and smaller excerpts, until Shrek's look of bliss slowly turns into a pained, midlife-crisis expression that screams "Help me, I'm trapped in this domestic purgatory and there's no escape in sight." As in any good fairytale, the protagonist's chance for escape comes in the form of a deal with the devil, in this case Rumpelstiltskin. Following in the footsteps of the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life", Shrek is granted the opportunity to spend a day in an alternate reality in which he is the independent, terrifying ogre he once was. Of course, the deal carries some very serious, unintended consequences, and Shrek's day of freedom may just cost him Fiona, the children, and even his very existence. Mike Meyers and Cameron Diaz are once again stellar as the voices of Shrek and Fiona; Antonio Banderas is still all swagger despite Puss-in-Boots' now-portly figure and thoroughly domesticated ways; Eddie Murphy remains just as hilarious as in the first film as Donkey, who in this story doesn't recognize Shrek and can't fathom the possibility of a donkey and an ogre becoming friends; and Walt Dohrn is an extremely effective newcomer as the voice of Rumpelstiltskin. Other key players are the Pied Piper, with his new, tricked-out flute; a mob of broom-riding, jack-o'-lantern-throwing witches; an overgrown white goose; and a whole resistance movement of ogres under the command of a most unexpected leader. The battles are fierce and the lesson powerful: learn to appreciate what you've got. While 3-D digital is always nice, most viewers will completely forget that the film is in 3-D after the initial scene, and it will view just as well in the traditional format. (Rated PG, but appropriate for most ages 6 and older) "--Tami Horiuchi"

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: When Shrek married Fiona the last thing he had in mind was becoming the next King of Far Far Away. But when Shrek’s father-in-law, King Harold, suddenly croaks, that is exactly what he faces. Recruiting Donkey and Puss In Boots for a new quest, Shrek sets out to bring back the rightful heir to the throne. Meanwhile back in the kingdom, Fiona's jilted Prince Charming storms the city with an army of fairy tale villains to seize the throne. Fiona and a band of princesses must stop him to ensure there will be a kingdom left to rule!

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Martin Scorsese puts Leonardo DiCaprio through the wringer again in "Shutter Island", a gothic adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel. Leo's character, a Federal Marshal named Teddy Daniels, is first seen vomiting and jittery aboard a ferry; he and his new partner (Mark Ruffalo) are being taken across the water to investigate an escape from a prison for the criminally insane, located on a forbidding rock called Shutter Island. From the first, Scorsese treats the place as though it were Skull Island in "King Kong", worthy of ominous music cues and portentous camera angles. This might not be an easy assignment for the sweaty, anxious Daniels, who is haunted by his memories of German concentration camps and the loss of his wife (Michelle Williams, appearing in ghostly hallucinations). The audience will likely feel just as unnerved as Daniels, given the destabilizing nature of Robert Richardson's swooping cinematography and Thelma Schoonmaker's crazy-making editing scheme (it feels as though fractions of seconds have been removed from the timing of simple conversations, giving the movie a strung-out edginess--it's like watching Ray Liotta's cocaine meltdown sequence from "GoodFellas" for 138 minutes). Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow are staff psychiatrists, suspiciously eager to talk about lobotomies, and Ted Levine and Patricia Clarkson appear for small but potent turns. Scorsese appears to be "doing a genre picture" here, borrowing happily from influences such as Val Lewton and Samuel Fuller, and the film has a resultingly put-on atmosphere: a great deal of old-dark-house Sturm und Drang whipped up in service of a gimmicky little premise. The fade-out achieves some measure of real eeriness, and the whole shebang is certainly a kicky night out at the movies--if you can shake the sense that a talented filmmaker is working a couple of rungs beneath his level. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English, French, Russian, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: "SiCKO" is more like a controlled howl of protest than a documentary. Toning down the rhetoric of past efforts--no CEOs, congressmen, or celebrities were accosted in the making of this film--Michael Moore's latest provocation is just as heartfelt, if not more heartbreaking. As he clarifies from the outset, his subject isn't the 45 million Americans without insurance, but those whose coverage has failed to meet their needs. He starts by speaking with patients who've been denied life-saving procedures, like chemotherapy, for the most spurious of reasons. Then he travels to Canada, England, and France to see if socialized medicine is as inefficient as U.S. politicians like to claim--especially those who receive funding from pharmaceutical companies. Moore finds quality care available to all, regardless as to income. He concludes with a stunt that made headlines when he assembles a group of 9/11 rescue workers suffering from a variety of afflictions. When Moore is informed that detainees at Guantánamo Bay--technically American soil--qualify for universal coverage, he and his companions travel to Cuba to get in on that action. It's a typically grandstanding move on Moore's part. And it proves remarkably effective when these altruistic individuals, who've either been denied treatment or forced to pay outrageous costs for their medication, experience a dramatically different system. Nine years in the making, "SiCKO" makes a persuasive case that it's time for America to catch up with the rest of the world. "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A high-profile action/exploitation thriller set in the present, "The Siege" is really a fantasy that extrapolates from major terrorist attacks. Denzel Washington is FBI special agent Hubbard, "Hub" to his friends, whose anti-terrorist task force must track down the terrorist cells responsible for a spate of bombings in New York. His partner is an FBI agent of Arabian extraction (played convincingly by Tony Shalhoub), proving not all Arabs are bad guys--a point the film should be lauded for making again and again. Thrown into the mix is a CIA spy (played almost kittenish at times by Annette Bening), whose ties to the terrorists appear to be at the center of the conflicts. When the bombings escalate out of control, the President institutes martial law, sending in General Devereaux (played with impenetrable countenance by Bruce Willis) with tanks and troops to ferret out the terrorists. Echoes of Japanese-Americans in internment camps ring out as Arabs, including the son of the Arab-American FBI agent, are herded into a stadium. Periodic audio-montages of "man in the street" sentiments anchor the material in the present and show how serious and relevant the material is. But finally what we have is a taut and entertaining popcorn movie, giving itself the humanistic nod when it can. "--Jim Gay"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: This B movie with noble aspirations is the work of a gifted filmmaker whose storytelling falls short of his considerable stylistic flair. While addressing crises of faith in the framework of an alien-invasion thriller, M. Night Shyamalan (in his follow-up to "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable") favors atmospheric tension over explanatory plotting. He injects subtle humor into expertly spooky scenes, but the story suffers from too many lapses in logic. The film's faults are greatly compensated by the performance of Mel Gibson as a widower whose own crisis of faith coincides with the appearance of mysterious crop circles in his Pennsylvania cornfield... and hundreds of UFOs around the globe. With his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) and two young children (Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin), the lapsed minister perceives this phenomenal occurrence as a series of signs and portents, while Shyamalan pursues a spookfest with "War of the Worlds" overtones. It's effective to a point, but vaguely hollow at its core. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Based on Thomas Harris's novel, this terrifying film by Jonathan Demme really only contains a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision ("Melvin and Howard", "Something Wild"), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman ("Caged Heat"), and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere, and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Based on Thomas Harris's novel, this terrifying film by Jonathan Demme really only contains a couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy, the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, virtually entombed in a subterranean prison for the criminally insane. At the behest of the FBI, agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) approaches Lecter, requesting his insights into the identity and methods of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In exchange, Lecter demands the right to penetrate Starling's most painful memories, creating a bizarre but palpable intimacy that liberates them both under separate but equally horrific circumstances. Demme, a filmmaker with a uniquely populist vision ("Melvin and Howard", "Something Wild"), also spent his early years making pulp for Roger Corman ("Caged Heat"), and he hasn't forgotten the significance of tone, atmosphere, and the unsettling nature of a crudely effective close-up. Much of the film, in fact, consists of actors staring straight into the camera (usually from Clarice's point of view), making every bridge between one set of eyes to another seem terribly dangerous. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A lot of movies can be described as "dripping with atmosphere," but in the case of "Silent Hill" it's literally true. Faithfully adapted from the Konami video games by French director Christophe Gans and "Pulp Fiction" cowriter Roger Avary (both self-confessed video game addicts), this dark and grisly horror-fest is nothing if not a triumph of cinematography and production design, consisting of a minimal and mostly incoherent plot propped up by a mysterious maze of sets that literally seep, drip, and ooze with the atmospheric evil of past misdeeds. Welcome to the abandoned and perpetually foggy ghost town of Silent Hill, where grey ash falls like snow, a devastating coal-mine fire still burns in a hellish underground, and demons of various shapes and sizes make your worst nightmares seem like a walk in the park. It's here that distressed mother Rose (played by "Pitch Black" heroine Radha Mitchell) has taken her daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) in hopes of discovering the source of Sharon's sleepwalking nightmares. What they find instead is a burned-out legacy of unspeakable evil, as Silent Hill's dark secrets are revealed. As opposing denizens of Silent Hill's meta-morphing underworld, Canadian actresses Alice Krige and Deborah Kara Unger seem to be the only ones who recognize this morbid mess as campy comedy; Gans (who established his visual flair with "The Brotherhood of the Wolf") and Avary take it far too seriously, and the entire movie is utterly devoid of any emotional hooks or plot logic that would make us care about anything that happens. In crafting a loyal big-screen rendition of "Silent Hill" and its Playstation sequels, they've forgotten that movies play by a different and more demanding set of rules. As a result, they've made an impressive-looking but ultimately hollow horror film that only "Silent Hill" game-players can truly appreciate. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0

Summary: Despite the presence of hack director Arthur Hiller, this hybrid comedy-thriller works most of the time as pleasant faux Hitchcock. Gene Wilder is a book editor who is relaxing by taking a cross-country train ride. Then he gets caught up in a murder--and becomes a suspect. It's up to him to prove his own innocence. As noted, the script, by Colin Higgins, owes a big debt to Alfred Hitchcock; but the mystery isn't all that mysterious and the comedy isn't all that hilarious--at least not until Richard Pryor shows up, which is at least halfway through the film. Things definitely pick up from there. Jill Clayburgh, as the love interest, is merely along for the train ride. Wilder and Pryor eventually teamed up for several other films, but they were never as funny together as they are in this one. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: What do you do when you've discovered a new superstar... and she doesn't really exist? That's the delightful premise of "Simone", another smart, provocative what-if scenario from writer-director Andrew Niccol ("Gattaca"), whose script for "The Truman Show" offered a similarly skewed example of manipulated perceptions. Combining equal parts screwball comedy, Hollywood satire, and technological extrapolation, "Simone" grapples with the inevitable use of digital "synthespians," existing only as malleable computer code, and "performing" to the whims of the programmer. In this case it's a has-been movie director (Al Pacino, in a terrific comedic role) who inherits the Sim-One technology, secretly using the instantly popular Simone (played by unbilled actress Rachel Roberts with digital enhancements) to replace the "supermodel with a SAG card" (Winona Ryder) who walked off his latest ill-fated picture. Filled with clever ideas and a splendid supporting cast, "Simone" is occasionally uneven and illogical, but consistently brilliant... and be sure to watch beyond the closing credits! "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, "2001", Harry Potter, "A Nightmare on Elm Street", and "Tron" should consider themselves wildly flattered as they get the inimitable "Simpsons" skewering in this shockingly funny collection of four mostly classic "Treehouse of Horror" episodes. Best is "V," in which no TV and no beer make Homer go crazy in "The Shinning" ("You mean 'The Shining,'" Bart corrects. "Shh, you want to get sued?" Homer reprimands him). "VI" contains the ambitious, computer-animated "Homer3." "VII" features aliens Kang and Hados's finest quarter half-hour as they assume the identities of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. "XII" boasts the star power of Pierce Brosnan as the voice of a mechanized house that falls in love with Marge and lures Homer to his apparent death with "unexplained bacon." For Halloween and beyond, this crypt-kicking collection is all screamingly funny treats. "--Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: America's first family of dysfunction, the Simpsons, appear in all their depraved glory in this wonderful DVD compilation of their show's premiere season. Fans accustomed to the slick appearance of the later episodes will be delighted by the rougher nature of these earlier episodes, when the characters weren't as well defined (Homer isn't quite as dumb as he is in later seasons) and the animation was still evolving. This only adds to the charm of these 13 episodes, which begin with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," the December 1989 Christmas special in which a down-and-out Simpson family adopt Santa's Little Helper. Throughout the season, familiar faces are introduced, as we catch first glimpses of Smithers, Mr. Burns, the Flanderses, and Patty and Selma. Highlights of the season include "The Crepes of Wrath," in which Bart is sent to France as an exchange student ("Don't mess up France the way you messed up your room"); "Bart the Genius," in which Bart ends up in a school for the gifted; and "Krusty Gets Busted," in which Bart's lifelong animosity with Sideshow Bob begins. "--Jenny Brown"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "A Simpson on a T-shirt. I never thought I'd see the day." So remarks Marge Simpson in "Dancin' Homer," just one of 22 mostly classic episodes that comprise this series' brilliant second season. "The Simpsons" by that time was already a pop culture phenomenon, but instead of suffering a sophomore slump, this iconoclastic animated series was just hitting its stride. Series milestones include: first Oscar®-winning guest voice (an unbilled Dustin Hoffman in "Lisa's Substitute"), first Beatle guest voice (Ringo in "Brush with Greatness"), first "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween episode, first flashback episode ("The Way We Was," in which Homer meets Marge), and the first episode to make me cry (Bart's last frolic with obedience school washout Santa's Little Helper in "Bart's Dog Gets an F"). It's in this season the "The Simpsons" really finds its voice. The writing is sharper, and the upending of sitcom convention more subversive. "Perhaps there is no moral to this story," observes Lisa at the end of "Blood Feud." "Exactly," agrees Homer. "Just a bunch of stuff that happens."
In the first season, Bart was the series' breakout star, but in the second, "The Simpsons" established itself as a true ensemble series. Each character came into their own with career-best episodes. Marge, the family's long-suffering voice of reason, crusades against cartoon violence in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge." Lisa, the heart and tortured soul of the series, develops an ill-fated crush on her new teacher in "Lisa's Substitute." Bart desperately tries to raise the money to buy Radioactive Man No. 1 in "Three Men and a Comic Book." Homer's stock rises when he grows hair in "Simpson and Delilah." Joining the "Simpsons" roster of scene-stealing supporting characters are Dr. Hibbert ("Bart the Daredevil"), shyster lawyer Lionel Hutz (voiced by the late, great Phil Hartman in "Bart Gets Hit by a Car"), the Ahnold-esque action hero McBain ("The Way We Was"), slobbering aliens Kang and Kodos ("Treehouse of Horror"), and "nutty professor" Frink ("Old Money"). This essential, extras-laden DVD set is illustrative of why "The Simpsons" is, in the parlance of Comic Book Guy, funniest show ever. "--Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Broadcast in 1991, the third season of "The Simpsons" contains a host of candidates for "Best "Simpsons" Episode Ever." Homer is in such good form throughout that a reasonable case can be made that he has superseded the importance of his Greek namesake in the annals of culture and civilization. The opener, "Stark Raving Dad," for instance, features a guest appearance by an uncredited Michael Jackson, who plays an obese white inmate whom Homer meets while confined to a mental institution. Other standout episodes include "Like Father, Like Clown," in which Krusty reveals he is estranged from his Rabbi father; this is "The Simpsons" at the height of its powers, mature, ironic, erudite, and touching while bristling with slapstick and Bart-inspired cheek. "Flaming Moe's" features Aerosmith and sees Homer invent a cocktail that desperate, sleazy bartender Moe steals from him. "Radio Bart" is another demonstration of the series' knack for cultural references, parodying the Billy Wilder movie "Ace in the Hole". Finally, there's "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes," in which Danny DeVito reprises his role as Homer's brother, regaining the fortune Homer lost him by inventing a Baby Translator. Immensely enjoyable at any level, this third year demonstrates conclusively that "The Simpsons" is quite simply, and by a large margin, the greatest television show ever. "--David Stubbs"