Library

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Steven Spielberg's 1982 hit about a stranded alien and his loving relationship with a fatherless boy (Henry Thomas) struck a chord with audiences everywhere, and it furthered Spielberg's reputation as a director of equally strong commercial sensibilities and classical leanings. Henry Thomas gives a strong, emotional performance as E.T.'s young friend, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore make a solid impression as his siblings, and Dee Wallace is lively as the kids' mother. The special effects almost look a bit quaint now with all the computer advancements that have occurred since, but they also have more heart behind them than a lot of what we see today. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The "cell phone thriller" is becoming a genre unto itself, and "Eagle Eye" should be considered a key example of the form. Frankly preposterous but compulsively watchable, this movie puts Shia LaBeouf in a mess of trouble instigated by a mysterious telephone voice. If he doesn't follow orders, dire things will happen--although when he does follow orders, the consequences are pretty dire, anyway. Also being blackmailed is a single mom (Michelle Monaghan) receiving similar phone calls. Why are they being jerked around by the purring female voice, and why is the road leading to Washington, D.C.? Actually, you won't have time to contemplate these questions, because director D.J. Caruso (who guided LaBeouf in "Disturbia") keeps the action going at the customary breakneck pace. This is a wise move, because the real questions you'd likely be asking have to do with the plausibility of events on a minute-by-minute basis (most notably: how could Mysterious Phone Voice possibly know that the two pigeons would survive the hoops she makes them fly through, each one more death-defying than the last?). The actors tumble through this mayhem like scattering bowling pins, including Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson as government agents. Nobody has time to make much of an impression, and LaBeouf has much less room for puppydog charm than he did in "Disturbia". Even that would be all right within the movie's berserk parameters, but the really irritating thing is the way the tacked-on final scenes reverse what would have been a heroic climax. No guts, no glory. "--Robert Horton"




Stills from "Eagle Eye" (Click for larger image)

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: DTS 5.1

Summary: To demonstrate the stunning beauty and overwhelming power of the Earth, Dr. Iain Stewart climbs into the crater of an active volcano in Ethiopia, jets into the stratosphere, climbs the frozen crests of the Alps, races the tide at the Amazon basin, dives into underwater caverns in Mexico, and generally enjoys himself to no end. His infectious enthusiasm is hardly necessary, though; "Earth: The Biography" (formerly "The Power of the Planet") is five episodes of phenomenal images and fascinating information about how our planet formed and the potent yet delicate balance of life. Stewart, the program's host, seems destined to become the Carl Sagan of geology; his cheerful Scottish accent (he sounds like he walked out of "Trainspotting") is just waiting for a catchphrase like "billions and billions" to make him a household name. "Earth: The Biography" juxtaposes things gigantic (tectonic plates) and teeny-tiny (plankton) while gracefully explaining the crucial role each plays in making the world habitable for life as we know it. There's even surprising humor, like demonstrating the ocean's currents through the movement of 29,000 plastic ducks that were swept overboard in a storm, or how the first thing jet pilot Joe Kittinger does, after successfully parachuting from the highest point in the stratosphere anyone has ever jumped (including 15 minutes of free fall), is light up a cigarette. Add in some CGI models of prehistoric beasts and volcanic activity, and you've got a completely addictive examination of the Earth in all its majesty. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Summary: Brought to you by the same crew that wrote and directed the classic "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", this Easter staple will look and feel familiar to any eyes that watched the 1970s around holiday time. Writer Romeo Muller's done a wonderful job capturing simple lo-fi dialogue and action around the lovable early-spring bunny, weaving enough drama into the script to make the show comprehensible for kids and enjoyable for (most) adults. The production team makes their animation-verité visuals jerky enough that it feels still like their "Santa" juggernaut (created seven years earlier than this 1977 production). And narrator Fred Astaire returns to give the shell of the story its pleasant feel, not at all too threatening but neither too mushy or idiotic. Of course the production dynamics and sound are subpar in comparison with current techniques, but this isn't a film to watch with an eye for how with-the-times it could or should be. "--Andrew Bartlett"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: David Cronenberg's signature obsessions flower in "Eastern Promises", a stunning look at violence, responsibility, and skin. Near Christmastime in London, a baby is born to a teenage junkie--an event that leads a midwife (Naomi Watts) into the world of the Russian mob. Central to this world is an ambitious enforcer (Viggo Mortensen) who's lately buddied up with the reckless son (Vincent Cassel) of a mob boss (Armin Mueller-Stahl, doing his benign-sinister thing). Screenwriter Steve Knight also wrote "Dirty Pretty Things", and in some ways this is a companion piece to that film, though utterly different in style. The plot is classical to the point of being familiar, but Cronenberg doesn't allow anything to become sentimental; he and his peerless cinematographer Peter Suschitzky take a cool, controlled approach to this story. Because of that, when the movie erupts in its (relatively brief) violence, it's genuinely shocking. Cronenberg really puts the viewer through it, as though to shame the easy purveyors of pulp violence--nobody will cheer when the blood runs in this film. Still, "Eastern Promises" has a furtive humor, nicely conveyed in Viggo Mortensen's highly original performance. Covered in tattoos, his body a scroll depicting his personal history of violence, Mortensen conveys a subtle blend of resolve and lost-ness. He's a true, haunting mystery man. "--Robert Horton"
Stills from "Eastern Promises" (click for larger image). Photos by Peter Mountain.



Vincent Cassel (left) and Viggo Mortensen (right) star in David Cronenberg's "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.

Armin Mueller-Stahl (center) stars in David Cronenberg's "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.
Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right) star in David Cronenberg’s "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.
Viggo Mortensen (left) and Naomi Watts (right) star in David Cronenberg’s "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.
Naomi Watts stars in David Cronenberg's new thriller "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.
Armin Mueller-Stahl (left) and Naomi Watt (right) star in David Cronenberg's "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.
Mina E. Mina (left), Vincent Cassel (center) and Viggo Mortensen (right) star in David Cronenberg's "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.
Vincent Cassel stars in David Cronenberg’s "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.
Viggo Mortensen stars in David Cronenberg’s "EASTERN PROMISES", a Focus Features release.

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Edward D. Wood Jr. was an actor writer-director-producer, occasionally in drag, who combined meager bursts of talent with an undying optimism to create some of the most bizarrely memorable "B" movies to ever come out of Tinseltown. Though Wood died in obscurity as an alcoholic in 1978, his films have been considered cult classics for years. He is consistently voted the worst director who ever lived. You would think this an odd subject, but director Tim Burton harnesses the undying hopefulness that made Wood such a character. Shot in black and white, just like Wood's creations, this stylized, witty production captures the poetic absurdity of Wood's films and his unconventional life. Burton's recreation of Wood's wonderfully awful "Plan 9 from Outer Space" looks much better than the original low-budget quickie. Burton tackled an extremely strange subject matter for a biopic, but Wood is presented as naive almost to the point of delusion, so the story works. The pace sags in the middle, as the weirdness starts to wear thin, but Depp proves himself an adroit actor, even while wearing angora and a blonde wig. Wood's unconventional repertoire company is faithfully reproduced, including an Academy Award-winning Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. Landau is pathetic, droll, and charismatic as the elderly junkie who made his last screen appearances in Wood's films. "--Rochelle O'Gorman"

Languages: English

Summary: Writer David Mamet created two engrossing and memorable characters, played by Alec Baldwin as the urbane fashion photographer and Anthony Hopkins as a reserved and intellectual billionaire. They find themselves teamed up against a giant Kodiak bear, and their own inner demons, when lost together in the Alaskan wilderness. There is a lot going on in this picture, as the subject matter includes male rivalry, the isolationism of extreme wealth, and, most conspicuously, the survival of the fittest. Mamet's script, which sounds a little too arch in spots, is well served by New Zealand director Lee Tamahori, who knows how to capture beauty and brutality in one frame. Although the themes are enormous in scope, they are well balanced. One rarely overpowers the other, nor does the achingly beautiful scenery overshadow the acting. Even if you do not like the intellectualism of the dialogue, there are some great scenes with the bear. "--Rochelle O'Gorman"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The good news is that "Edge of Darkness" (no relation to the fine 1943 war picture of that name) brings back Mel Gibson in front of the camera for the first time in nearly a decade. Although he's grown creased and leathery and his thatch has thinned, the movie star who was Mad Max still has the charisma and gravitas to center a dodgy suspense tale and propel it to the finish line. Gibson plays veteran Boston police detective Tom Craven, who welcomes home daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) for a rare visit, then sees her shot down at his front door. Because the gunman shouted "Craven!" and because a cop makes enemies, Tom assumes Emma took a bullet meant for him, which adds considerably to his grief and pain. But as he looks into the life of a daughter he loved yet scarcely knew, he discovers she'd been preparing to turn whistleblower on her employer, a corporation doing unsavory clandestine things for the government. Craven starts having oblique chats with a philosophical Brit named Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), who keeps turning up unexpectedly--in Craven's backyard at night, say--always giving the distinct impression that he could just as well kill a fellow instead of schmoozing. Their strange rapport, like Craven's tendency to mutter ironical asides as if in ongoing conversation with the departed Emma, is more intriguing than the conspiracy involving corporate skullduggery and a rogue assassination bureau. The bar for that sort of thing was set in post-Watergate days by Alan J. Pakula's "The Parallax View", and we're nowhere near its cinematic elegance or pervasive paranoia. "Edge of Darkness", based on a British miniseries from 1985, was directed by Martin Campbell, who also handled the six-hour original (and more recently the successful James Bond reboot "Casino Royale"). Campbell does decent-enough work--the occasional bursts of "shocking action" do shock even as we know they're coming--but rarely exceeds generic requirements. For killing comparison among contemporary suspense films, catch Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer", in which every frame unsettlingly conveys a world where disquiet is the natural order of things. "--Richard T. Jameson"

Languages: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: William H. Macy, a longtime collaborator of David Mamet, takes on one of Mamet's biggest, ugliest creations in the title role of "Edmond". Edmond drops out of his ordinary life after a chance encounter with a fortune-teller, and cruises through a New York inferno that leads to murder. It also leads to a great deal of the clipped, counter-punching dialogue that Mamet is famous for, although at times the film plays like a monologue interrupted by peripheral blips on Edmond's skewed radar. Mamet's subject is the frenzied reaction of the modern male to the narrowing of his domain, a crisis that drives Edmond to the familiar touchstones of bar, peep show, and whorehouse, none of which provide the solace he thinks they should. The 2005 film is based on Mamet's 1982 play, and somehow the picture might have had more pop if it had been filmed closer to that time, when panicked masculinity was a fresher subject. And the text is a kind of dark, horrific fable that probably worked better in the stylized realm of the stage than on film. Stuart Gordon directs with a blunt forward motion that foregrounds the most unsavory aspects of the material (fans of his "Re-Animator" should note the presence of Jeffrey Combs as a snotty hotel clerk). Except for Macy, cast members come and go in the episodic flow, some of them (Joe Mantegna and Rebecca Pidgeon) identified with Mamet's work. Julia Stiles plays the unfortunate waitress who falls into Edmond's path, and Bai Ling, Denise Richards, and Mena Suvari are women of the night who want to charge Edmond too much money. But it's Macy's show, and he mercilessly gets inside Edmond's bad self: a monster of entitlement and self-delusion, given to epiphanies that lead nowhere except his own ego. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The third entry of 1998-99's cinematic TV trilogy kind of got lost in the shuffle following "The Truman Show", an art film masquerading as a blockbuster, and "Pleasantville", a heartfelt feel-good movie masquerading as a special-effects extravaganza. "EDtv" is nothing more than it appears: a scruffy comedy about fame and its discontents. Matthew McConaughey stars as Ed, a white-trash rube who gets his own dawn-to-midnight TV series in which every aspect of his life, no matter how sordid or dull or embarrassing, becomes mass entertainment (it inverts "Truman" by having the protagonist invite the pervasive cameras). Predictably, fame makes him miserable and, unsurprisingly, he finds a way out of his predicament. Albert Brooks covered this same territory in the funnier "Real Life", and it's probably not the best idea for a load of comfy celebs to preach to us about how difficult fame is. But the film is cannily cast, including a number of performers who themselves have fallen victim to stupid media tricks (McConaughey, Ellen DeGeneres as the network executive, Elizabeth Hurley as a vamp hitching her star to Ed's, and Woody Harrelson as Ed's even dumber brother). Structurally, the movie is a mess. It looks as if the filmmakers had the choice between making a fully realized, two-and-a-half-hour-long movie that no one would sit through or one that clocks in under two hours but has a lot of plot holes; they opted for the latter (Hurley's character disappears, practically without comment). Still, there are enough laughs to keep things moving, and as a shaggy dog tale it's decent fun. "--David Kronke"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "Edward Scissorhands" achieves the nearly impossible feat of capturing the delicate flavor of a fable or fairy tale in a live-action movie. The story follows a young man named Edward (Johnny Depp), who was created by an inventor (Vincent Price, in one of his last roles) who died before he could give the poor creature a pair of human hands. Edward lives alone in a ruined Gothic castle that just happens to be perched above a pastel-colored suburb inhabited by breadwinning husbands and frustrated housewives straight out of the 1950s. One day, Peg (Dianne Wiest), the local Avon lady, comes calling. Finding Edward alone, she kindly invites him to come home with her, where she hopes to help him with his pasty complexion and those nasty nicks he's given himself with his razor-sharp fingers. Soon Edward's skill with topiary sculpture and hair design make him popular in the neighborhood--but the mood turns just as swiftly against the outsider when he starts to feel his own desires, particularly for Peg's daughter Kim (Winona Ryder). Most of director Tim Burton's movies (such as "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", "Beetlejuice", "Batman") are visual spectacles with elements of fantasy, but "Edward Scissorhands" is more tender and personal than the others. Edward's wild black hair is much like Burton's, suggesting that the character represents the director's own feelings of estrangement and co-option. Johnny Depp, making his first successful leap from TV to film, captures Edward's childlike vulnerability even while his physical posture evokes horror icons like the vampire in "Nosferatu" and the sleepwalker in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". Classic horror films, at their heart, feel a deep sympathy for the monsters they portray; simply and affectingly, "Edward Scissorhands" lays that heart bare. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, Arabic

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Clint Eastwood held the dual role of director and star of this 1975 spy thriller, which makes up for sluggish pacing with a breathtaking climax on a treacherous peak in the Swiss Alps. The plot kicks into gear when Eastwood, playing a retired assassin, is recruited back into a secret organization to avenge the murder of an old friend. He's then blackmailed into making a second "hit"; this time his target is one of three men who will be attempting to conquer the Eiger, a dangerous peak in Switzerland. Himself an accomplished climber, Eastwood's character joins the expedition with George Kennedy as leader of the ground crew. Shifting loyalties, apparent betrayals, and paranoid suspicion factor into the suspenseful climax on the sheer face of the mountain. This memorable sequence--for which Eastwood performed his own mountain-climbing stunts--is effectively intense, built on a standard plot of double-cross and intrigue that was intended to combine Eastwood's screen persona with the global adventure of the James Bond films. For the most part it works--it's not one of Eastwood's better films, but it's got some first-class thrills (and a sly performance by Jack Cassidy) to grab and hold your interest. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Despite a likable cast of humans, it's the canine stars who steal the show in "Eight Below", a terrific live-action adventure in the time-honored Disney tradition. Based on a true story that was previously filmed (much differently) as the 1983 Japanese hit "Antarctica", this above-average family film takes place in 1993 and focuses on a dog-sled guide at an Antarctic research station (Paul Walker) who is forced by a severe storm to abandon eight beloved sled dogs for the duration of a harsh Antarctic winter. Left to fend for themselves, the rugged and resourceful dogs encounter danger at every turn, surviving for nearly six months while Walker and his closest colleagues (engagingly played by Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, and "American Pie"'s Jason Biggs) join forces to mount a daring rescue mission. Having endured similarly extreme conditions on his 1993 film "Alive", director Frank Marshall brings an abundance of natural splendor (and minimum use of digital wizardry) to spectacularly arctic locations in Norway, Greenland and Canada, and Walker (star of "The Fast and the Furious") lends an amiable sincerity to his compassionate role. For most viewers, however, it's the remarkable dogs (six Siberian huskies and two malamutes) who make "Eight Below" so thoroughly entertaining. It's not quite an instant family classic, but it comes pretty doggone close. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Adam Sandler fans will find the animated movie "8 Crazy Nights" to be another flowering of Sandler's absurdist goofiness. People who find Sandler completely annoying will be triply annoyed by "8 Crazy Nights", because Sandler does the voices for three different characters: Davey Stone, a boozing, belching, self-loathing loser who hates the holidays; Whitey, a tiny old man who tries to rehabilitate Davey; and Eleanor, Whitey's neurotic twin sister, who seems not to have left her house in years. Fans will find the slapdash musical numbers and scatological humor hilarious; foes will find them tiresome and banal. But even Sandler's advocates won't care about the by-the-numbers plot of holiday redemption; you see, Davey's parents died on the first night of Hanukkah, and he just needs to cry about it. Sandler's best when he's walking that line between stupid and smart-ass. When he gets sentimental, it's trouble. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Summary: Eliot Asinof's detailed book "Eight Men Out" illustrates how the system of American sports collapsed in 1919, the year the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. Filmmaker John Sayles worked on his script years before the 1988 film (or before he had the rights to make the film) as a labor of love. Sayles's adaptation proves one can make a historically accurate film in the day and age of artistic license. And what a story. Although many know about the "Black Sox," made famous--again--in the 1989 hit film "Field of Dreams", the details of the saga are far less known. The center of "Dreams", Shoeless Joe Jackson (portrayed correctly by D.B. Sweeney as illiterate and left-handed in "Eight"), is not the core of this film; it's ace pitcher Eddie Cicotte (Sayles favorite David Strathairn), who took the money, and third baseman Buck Weaver (John Cusack), who did not. The film fits nicely into Sayles's ("Lone Star") strong suit: the ensemble drama. We are introduced to bickering owners, famous crooks, high-minded judges, lowlife gangsters, investigative reporters (played by Studs Terkel and Sayles himself), and, most of all, players who are at the breaking point when it comes to low salaries and degrading rewards. While some may feel the film is not as visceral as it should be, there is a great amount of verisimilitude when watching finely tuned athletes telling their bodies to play poorly--heartbreak on the nation's diamond. Beautifully detailed (like Sayles's previous labor-drama, "Matewan"), "Eight Men Out" gives us powerful lessons in which everyone lost: players, gamblers, and especially the fans who love the game. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, Japanese, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: While 2003's "Daredevil" was a conventional superhero movie, the 2005 spinoff, "Elektra", is more of a "wuxia"-styled martial arts/fantasy flick. Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has returned to her life as a hired assassin, but she balks at an assignment to kill a single father (Goran Visnjic, "ER") and his teenage daughter (Kirsten Prout). That makes her the target of the Hand, an organization of murderous ninjas, scheming corporate types, and a band of stylish supervillains seeking to eliminate Elektra and tip the balance of power in the ongoing battle of good vs. evil.

As the star of "Alias", Garner has proven that she can kick butt with the best of them, and some of the visual effects are impressive, but the action sequences tend to be anticlimactic, and there's not much to the story. Fans will notice numerous references to Frank Miller's comic books, but there's very little resemblance to Miller's cold-blooded killer (Elektra with an agent? Elektra referring to herself as a "soccer mom"?).

Is "Elektra" better than "Daredevil"? Not really, even with the distinct advantage of having all Garner and no Ben Affleck. That could be the spinoff's greatest disappointment: after "Spider-Man 2" raised the bar for comic-book movies, "Elektra" lowered it back to "Daredevil"'s level. Directed by Rob Bowman (the "X-Files" movie), and featuring Terence Stamp as the mysterious mentor Stick, Will Yun Lee ("Die Another Day") as the chief villain, and NFL-player-turned-mixed-martial-arts-champion Bob Sapp as the immovable Stone. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English, Japanese, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: While 2003's "Daredevil" was a conventional superhero movie, the 2005 spinoff, "Elektra", is more of a "wuxia"-styled martial arts/fantasy flick. Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has returned to her life as a hired assassin, but she balks at an assignment to kill a single father (Goran Visnjic, "ER") and his teenage daughter (Kirsten Prout). That makes her the target of the Hand, an organization of murderous ninjas, scheming corporate types, and a band of stylish supervillains seeking to eliminate Elektra and tip the balance of power in the ongoing battle of good vs. evil.

As the star of "Alias", Garner has proven that she can kick butt with the best of them, and some of the visual effects are impressive, but the action sequences tend to be anticlimactic, and there's not much to the story. Fans will notice numerous references to Frank Miller's comic books, but there's very little resemblance to Miller's cold-blooded killer (Elektra with an agent? Elektra referring to herself as a "soccer mom"?).

Is "Elektra" better than "Daredevil"? Not really, even with the distinct advantage of having all Garner and no Ben Affleck. That could be the spinoff's greatest disappointment: after "Spider-Man 2" raised the bar for comic-book movies, "Elektra" lowered it back to "Daredevil"'s level. Directed by Rob Bowman (the "X-Files" movie), and featuring Terence Stamp as the mysterious mentor Stick, Will Yun Lee ("Die Another Day") as the chief villain, and NFL-player-turned-mixed-martial-arts-champion Bob Sapp as the immovable Stone. "--David Horiuchi"

Summary:

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Fairy tales and contemporary satire collide in "Ella Enchanted", based upon the enormously popular young adult novel by Gail Carson Levine. Ella (Anne Hathaway, "The Princess Diaries") received an unfortunate fairy gift in her cradle: No matter what anyone tells her to do, she's compelled to obey. Despite this, Ella grows up to be a headstrong young woman who refuses to swoon at the sight of a charming young prince (Hugh Dancy). To get her gift removed, Ella braves a forest packed with ogres, elves, and giants to find her fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox, "Kill Bill, Vol. 1"). Much like "Shrek", "Ella Enchanted" is sprinkled with comic modern references; for some, this will make the whimsy too cute, while others will appreciate the snarky jabs. Also featuring Cary Elwes ("The Princess Bride"), Minnie Driver, Joanna Lumley, Eric Idle, and many others. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Originally developed as an epic called "Kingdom of the Sun", "The Emperor's New Groove" lost scale and most of Sting's song score (some of which can be heard on the soundtrack) on its way to the screen. The end result is the lightest Disney film in many a moon, a joyous romp akin to "Aladdin" in its quotient of laughs for kids and adults. The original story centers on the spoiled teenage emperor Kuzco (David Spade), who enjoys getting the best of his Aztecan subjects. When he fires Yzma (Eartha Kitt), his evil sorceress, she seeks revenge and turns Kuzco into a llama with the help of her hunk of the month, a lunk named Kronk (Patrick Warburton). Alone in the jungle, the talking llama is befriended by Pacha (John Goodman), who has just been told to vacate his pastoral home by the human Kuzco. What's an ego to do? That's pretty much the story and the characters--simple, direct, fun--a Disney film on a diet. For any fan of the acidic humor of Spade, this is essential viewing. As narrator of his tale, Kuzco uses a sarcastic tone to keep the story jumping with plenty of fun asides (he even "stops" the film at one point to make sure you know the story is about "him"). Even better is character actor Warburton (Elaine's stuck-up boyfriend on "Seinfeld"), who steals every scene as the dim-witted, but oh-so-likable Kronk. There's even a delicious Tom Jones number that starts the film off with a bang. "--Doug Thomas"

Languages: English, French

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

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Roundly dismissed as one of Steven Spielberg's least successful efforts, this very underrated film poignantly follows the World War II adventures of young Jim (a brilliant Christian Bale), caught in the throes of the fall of China. What if you once had everything and lost it all in an afternoon? What if you were only 12? Bale's transformation, from pampered British ruling-class child to an imprisoned, desperate, nearly feral boy, is nothing short of stunning. Also stunning are exceptional sets, cinematography, and music (the last courtesy of John Williams) that enhance author J.G. Ballard's and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's depiction of another, less familiar casualty of war.
In a time when competitors were releasing "comedic," derivative coming-of-age films, "Empire of the Sun" stands out as an epic in the classic David Lean sense--despite confusion or perceived competition with the equally excellent "The Last Emperor" (also released in 1987, and also a coming-of-age in a similar setting). It is also a remarkable testament to, yes, the human spirit. And despite its disappointing box-office returns, "Empire of the Sun" helped to further establish Spielberg as more than a commercial director and set the standard, tone, and look for future efforts "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan". "--N.F. Mendoza"

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Brendan Fraser made his film debut in this 1992 comedy that never quite discovers its audience constituency. On the one hand, it features Pauly Shore, which would seem to define the picture's tone and identity accordingly. On the other hand, the film's other leading man is Sean Astin, the earnest star of "Rudy", suggesting that "Encino Man" will have a lot of heart despite its silly premise. But none of that turns out to be true. Fraser plays an unfrozen caveman discovered by a pair of California high school outcasts (Shore and Astin). As the grunting newcomer becomes popular with the other kids, Shore and Astin try to bask in his reflected glow. Fraser, beginning a long movie career playing cartoonish goofballs, works entirely on instinct and earns his laughs. Shore, however, relies on his familiar verbal shtick, and Astin makes a great overgrown puppy pining after a lost girlfriend. Directed by Les Mayfield, who came to this project from his acclaimed documentary, "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse". "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: After a two-year hiatus that included recovery from heart surgery, Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to the big screen in November 1999 with "End of Days", a Thanksgiving turkey if ever there was one. Overcooked and bloated with stuffing, this ludicrous thriller attached itself to the end-of-the-millennium furor that kicked in a year too early. A prologue begins in 1979 with panic in the Vatican when a comet signals the birth of a child who will, 20 years later, become the chosen bride of Satan, destined to conceive the devil's spawn between 11 p.m. and midnight on December 31, 1999. It's hard to decide who has the more thankless role--Robin Tunney as Satan's would-be bride, or Schwarzenegger as Jericho Cane, the burned-out alcoholic bodyguard assigned to protect the girl from Satan, billed as "The Man" and played with cheesy menace (and an inconsistent variety of metaphysical manifestations) by Gabriel Byrne.
With kitschy character names like Jericho and Chicago (Arnie's partner, played by Kevin Pollack) and lapses in logic that any 5-year-old could spot, "End of Days" is a loud, aggravating movie that would be entertaining if it were intended as comedy. But Schwarzenegger and director Peter Hyams approach the story as an earnest tale of redemption and tested faith, delivering a ridiculous climax full of special effects and devoid of dramatic impact. You're left instead to savor the verbal and physical sparring between Satan and Jericho, resulting in the most thorough pummeling Schwarzenegger's ever endured onscreen. Of course he eventually gets his payback, just in time for New Year's Eve. Perhaps he was touched by an angel. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) is a lawyer with a wife and family whose happily normal life is turned upside down after a chance meeting with a college buddy (Jason Lee) at a lingerie shop. Unbeknownst to the lawyer, he's just been burdened with a videotape of a congressman's assassination. Hot on the tail of this tape is a ruthless group of National Security Agents commanded by a belligerently ambitious fed named Reynolds (Jon Voight). Using surveillance from satellites, bugs, and other sophisticated snooping devices, the NSA infiltrates every facet of Dean's existence, tracing each physical and digital footprint he leaves. Driven by acute paranoia, Dean enlists the help of a clandestine former NSA operative named Brill (Gene Hackman), and "Enemy of the State" kicks into high-intensity hyperdrive.
Teaming up once again with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "Top Gun" director Tony Scott demonstrates his glossy style with clever cinematography and breakneck pacing. Will Smith proves that there's more to his success than a brash sense of humor, giving a versatile performance that plausibly illustrates a man cracking under the strain of paranoid turmoil. Hackman steals the show by essentially reprising his role from "The Conversation"--just imagine his memorable character Harry Caul some 20 years later. Most of all, the film's depiction of high-tech surveillance is highly convincing and dramatically compelling, making this a cautionary tale with more substance than you'd normally expect from a Scott-Bruckheimer action extravaganza. "--Jeremy Storey"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) is a lawyer with a wife and family whose happily normal life is turned upside down after a chance meeting with a college buddy (Jason Lee) at a lingerie shop. Unbeknownst to the lawyer, he's just been burdened with a videotape of a congressman's assassination. Hot on the tail of this tape is a ruthless group of National Security Agents commanded by a belligerently ambitious fed named Reynolds (Jon Voight). Using surveillance from satellites, bugs, and other sophisticated snooping devices, the NSA infiltrates every facet of Dean's existence, tracing each physical and digital footprint he leaves. Driven by acute paranoia, Dean enlists the help of a clandestine former NSA operative named Brill (Gene Hackman), and "Enemy of the State" kicks into high-intensity hyperdrive.
Teaming up once again with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "Top Gun" director Tony Scott demonstrates his glossy style with clever cinematography and breakneck pacing. Will Smith proves that there's more to his success than a brash sense of humor, giving a versatile performance that plausibly illustrates a man cracking under the strain of paranoid turmoil. Hackman steals the show by essentially reprising his role from "The Conversation"--just imagine his memorable character Harry Caul some 20 years later. Most of all, the film's depiction of high-tech surveillance is highly convincing and dramatically compelling, making this a cautionary tale with more substance than you'd normally expect from a Scott-Bruckheimer action extravaganza. "--Jeremy Storey"

Languages: English, French

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

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Trapped by his image in 1976, Clint Eastwood resurrected his Dirty Harry character for a third go-round (out of a total of five) in this potboiler story in which the San Francisco detective takes on a group of revolutionary kids. Tyne Daly costars as a female cop who partners with the reluctant Harry Callahan, and she does very well by a role created merely to underscore and articulate the hero's various virtues. It's a dull package all around, but inside the wrapping are good performances by the two leads. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The last film completed by Bruce Lee before his untimely death, "Enter the Dragon" was his entrée into Hollywood. The American-Hong Kong coproduction, shot in Asia by American director Robert Clouse, stars Lee as a British agent sent to infiltrate the criminal empire of bloodthirsty Asian crime lord Han (Shih Kien) through his annual international martial arts tournament. Lee spends his days taking on tournament combatants and nights breaking into the heavily guarded underground fortress, kicking the living tar out of anyone who stands in his way. The mix of kung fu fighting (choreographed by Lee himself) and James Bond intrigue (the plot has more than a passing resemblance to "Dr. No") is pulpy by any standard, but the generous budget and talented cast of world-class martial artists puts this film in a category well above Lee's primitive Hong Kong productions. Unfortunately he's off the screen for large chunks of time as American maverick competitors (and champion martial artists) John Saxon and Jim Kelly take center stage, but once the fighting starts Lee takes over. The tournament setting provides an ample display of martial arts mastery of many styles and climaxes with a huge free-for-all, but the highlight is Lee's brutal one-on-one with the claw-fisted Han in the dynamic hall-of-mirrors battle. Lee narrows his eyes and tenses into a wiry force of sinew, speed, and ruthless determination. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Summary: "Entourage" is everything viewers have come to expect from an HBO series: smart, hilarious, and highly addictive, especially when taken in full-season, DVD form. As implied in the title, the show follows Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), a rising Hollywood star with bedroom eyes and an over-active libido, along with his three childhood companions-turned-hangers-on. Kevin Dillon plays Johnny Drama, Vincent's less-attractive, B-list actor of a brother (he is Matt Dillon's less-attractive, B-list actor of a brother in real life). Jerry Ferrara plays Turtle, the weasel, and Kevin Connolly appears as Eric, the Everyman hero who hopes to parlay his friendship with Vincent (plus two years of community college) into a career in talent management. Along the way Eric contends with the predictable self-doubt, romantic indecision, etc. The cast is rounded out by Jeremy Piven (Doug Hughley from "Singles") as a foul-mouthed agent reminiscent of Jay Mohr's short-lived Peter Dragon character. Finally, it's produced by Marky Mark himself--and you've got to believe that guy knows something about the star-entourage relationship. If possible, watch with a friend so you'll have someone to quote lines back to later. "--Leah Weathersby"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The most clever thing producers did with the second season of "Entourage", HBO's hip and hilariously accurate depiction of Hollywood, was to take the boys out of Hollywood. Sending star-on-the-rise Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his boys from Queens (hence the title of the show) into places like Sundance and ComiCon created a whole new treasure trove of inside jokes, and for that we thank them. The usual clutter of celeb cameos abound (Hugh Hefner, Pauly Shore, Ralph Macchio,), but one main story arc takes up the entire season: Vincent's casting in "Aquaman", the big-budget movie he didn't want to star in, and then had to vie against Leonardo DiCaprio to get. Mandy Moore turns up as the only girl who ever broke Vince's heart (on the set of "A Walk to Remember", allegedly) and now re-enters his life as his Aquagirl, while James Cameron makes a few appearances as director of the superhero project. In the meantime, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) goes from moocher to music manager, Eric (Kevin Connolly) gets courted to be a big-time agent, and Johnny "Drama" (Kevin Dillon, ever the punchline) ponders calf implants and gets fired from a Movie of the Week with Brooke Shields. The biggest turn of events, however, happens to Vince's slick agent Ari Gold (an Emmy-worthy Jeremy Piven), who pulls a Jerry Maguire by the end of the season. Ari's ability to switch sides on a dime -- that is, to choke up at his daughter's bat mitzvah, then manipulate the family moment into a publicity stunt to lure his client away from a rival, continues to make Piven the firecracker of the bunch. Grenier is slightly less vacuous than last season, but still has the least interesting personality (which could be the point of the show--that it takes a village to make any Joe Actor into a movie star) .
Unfortunately the DVD features no commentary and just one extra: Executive Producer Mark Wahlberg, on whom the show is based, interviews the cast and producers. The banter is interesting enough, but Wahlberg makes such a dull interviewer it's certain we won't see a talk-show host career in Vince's future. "--Ellen A. Kim"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The third season of HBO's inside-showbiz comedy kicks off with a familiar anxiety for Tinseltown's best: your film's opening-weekend box office. In the case of Vince (Adrian Grenier) and company, it's "Aquaman", Vince's big break that took up most of last season and elevated the group to even bigger perks and tchotchkes. Luckily, the numbers are good (creator Doug Ellin reveals in the commentary that the episode was inspired by his friend who was with Tobey Maguire when he first heard "Spider-Man's" opening numbers) and Vince uses the leverage to chase his dream project, a biopic of Pablo Escobar called "Medellin". But first he has to schmooze the film's eccentric producer who's strangely attached to his Shrek doll (Bruno Kirby, in his last role before his death in 2006) and juggle scheduling conflicts with the "Aquaman" sequel, which leads to an ego war with Warner studio chief Allen Grey (Paul Ben-Victor). Meanwhile, Turtle's (Jerry Ferrara) management of upstart rapper Saigon takes some sharp turns; Eric (Kevin Connolly) finds his relationship with Sloan (Emmanuelle Chiriqui) on shaky ground; and Johnny "Drama" Chase (Kevin Dillon) gets to audition for a television pilot directed by Ed Burns (playing himself). But the overarching storyline for season 3 involves Vince's agent Ari Gold (Emmy winner Jeremy Piven), who was canned last season by his agency. Taking his flamboyant, hilarious assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee) with him, Ari goes about setting up his own firm, but not before drawing fire from the mafia of other agents and threatening his relationship with star client Vince. The only weak storyline involves an old childhood pal (Domenick Lombardozzi), fresh out of prison, trying to nudge his way into Vince's gang. But otherwise the show's inside look at the baptism of the newly famous continues to tickle the funny bone.

As usual, "Entourage" sprinkles in cameos, including "Crash" director Paul Haggis hilariously playing himself as a wound-up neurotic ("If I let contracts run my life, I'd still be doing "The Facts of Life" rather than hanging with my boys," he says as he points to his Oscars). James Woods filches "Aquaman" premiere tickets for his friends, and Seth Green gets in a rumble with Eric in the episode "Vegas Baby Vegas." Extras are still scant: just three commentaries and a featurette on their Vegas-location episode. "--Ellen A. Kim"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: HBO's decision to release "Entourage's" third season in two parts makes watching the already brief season on DVD feel even more abrupt; compared to part one's 12 episodes, part two is just eight--and just as the plot feels like it's finally moving, it's over. Also over, at least as part two opens, is the working relationship between movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). Playing much like a real breakup, the two circle each other in various spots in Hollywood--avoiding, making small talk, attempting the just-friends hangout. But deep down, the two know they're meant for each other, and when Ari dangles the rights to Vincent's dream project--the Pablo Escobar biopic "Medellín"--Vincent is only too happy to meet, against the wishes of his new agent (Carla Gugino). The pursuit of the "Medellín" project is the focus of part two, from trying to close the deal on Yom Kippur (not the easiest when the studio execs are observing the holy day), to mulling an indecent proposal from a prince and his wife in exchange for financing the flick. Meanwhile, Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon, who finally scored an Emmy nomination for this season) enjoys success on an Edward Burns-produced network drama called "Five Towns". Turtle and Eric don't get as much storyline in this installment, and while there's plenty of Piven scenery to chew there's not enough of his scene-stealing assistant, Lloyd (Rex Lee). Bonus features remain minimal: commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette. Perhaps that's the running theme of part two: There's just not enough. --"Ellen A. Kim"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Summary: The fourth season of "Entourage" follows Vincent Chase's quest for legitimacy (and Oscar) through his dream project, the Pablo Escobar biopic "Medellin", whose development deal was the focus of season three. As expected, the production is riddled with troubles: Vincent (Adrian Grenier) and Eric (Kevin Connolly) clash over the ability of the film's director, Billy Walsh (Rhys Coiro), to handle the grand scale of a film. Eric even flies in Oscar-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (playing himself) to the shoot in Colombia at Billy's request in order to rescue the script, only to send him home when Billy comes up with the ending himself. ("I've never had anyone pay me not to work before," says Gaghan in a hilarious cameo. "It was nice.") But as the pet project puts strains on their friendship, Eric finally takes a step off of Vince's coattails to become a manager in his own right; his first step is snagging actress Anna Faris (as herself) as a client (in true Hollywood form, after she hits him with her car). As buzz on "Medellin" ebbs and flows, Eric and Vince's agent, Ari Gold (Emmy winner Jeremy Piven) wheel and deal to lock in distribution and spin the behind-the-scenes drama to their advantage. Key to the negotiations is a swaggering, hotheaded studio magnate named Harvey "Weinhald"--the caricature is obvious--who threatens the life of any agent who double-crosses him. And that's right where our boys land, but is it a gamble that will pay off? The fourth season, as always, is rife with celebrity cameos (Dennis Hopper, the late Sydney Pollack, Kanye West), but the "Medellin" plot pushes out any chance for other "Entourage" cast members to get a storyline (Johnny Drama gets a condo! Buys a hat!), which ultimately becomes a detriment considering that "Medellin", as the big finale at Cannes attests, may not have been worth all the hype. Bonus features include commentary by the cast and creators, a panel discussion, and the "Medellin" trailer, which with its slo-mo, self-important music and bad makeup, is a gem. --"Ellen A. Kim"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: "Entourage"'s fifth season leaves our movie star in a pickle: his big Oscar shot, "Medellin", is a dismal failure, and Vincent (Adrian Grenier) has burrowed away to Mexico to drown his sorrows in booze and women. How does a once-promising actor get his confidence, legitimacy, and bankability back? That's the key premise this time around, and like some of its previous seasons, is always more interesting when Vince is struggling than when he's on top. Once his crew--manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), big brother Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), agent Ari (Jeremy Piven), and driver Turtle (Jerry Ferrara)--convince Vince to get back in the game, he finds many once-welcoming doors closed. He eagerly takes a meeting with "Shawshank Redemption" director Frank Darabont (playing himself), only to feel insulted when he finds it's for a TV pilot. (His subsequent options? Appearing at a Sweet Sixteen party and doing a Benji movie.) Once a promising script about firefighters (called "Smokejumpers") piques Vince's interest, ensuing episodes become a complex chess game of job-hopping, backdoor-dealing, and back-scratching, which is always "Entourage"'s strength. As Vince watches his star fade, Grenier gets a chance to let his sunny optimism crack, even sitting in Ari's office and begging to be told he's a good actor.
The celebrity guest stars are plentiful and more integral this season. Jason Patric--playing himself--lampoons his difficult on-set reputation brilliantly as Vince's co-star in "Smokejumpers". (The onetime "Speed 2" star brags about being offered the lead in "Aquaman 2", but turned it down: "Sequels, water: they're not for me.") Stellan Skarsgard ("Good Will Hunting") plays a famous German director who clashes with Vince; Jamie-Lynn Sigler ("The Sopranos") cameos as a new love interest for Turtle; Leighton Meester ("Gossip Girl") reprises her Season One role as an aspiring singer, and Eric Roberts plays himself (who happens to deal 'shrooms on the side) in a wacky episode involving the guys' drug-fueled night of reflection at Joshua Tree. Even Mark Wahlberg, the show's producer and inspiration, plays himself in a golf scene with former agent Ari (priceless line: "What about when you told me you liked "The Truth About Charlie"?"). The only unwelcome cameo is in "Seth Green Day," in which the actor turns up for no other reason than to re-surface his war with Eric and annoy everyone to death. Extras include cast commentaries and a behind-the-scenes featurette. --"Ellen A. Kim"
Stills from Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season (click for larger image)

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: For Vince, Eric, Drama and Turtle, life in Hollywood’s fast lanecan be an intoxicating roller-coaster of a ride. After hitting some speed bumps the last couple of years, Vince’s career is in high gear after his role in a new Martin Scorsese film. But now that Vince is back on top, is it finally time for the entourage to step out of his shadow?
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
BEHIND THE SCENES
Featurette

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: Sean Connery plays a master thief thought to be long retired, while Katherine Zeta-Jones is his foil, a hotshot insurance investigator assigned to his case. They both have a little something to hold over each other's heads, until it turns out that Zeta-Jones is a professional art thief herself and is playing on both sides of the fence. At first they eye each other with mutual distrust until they team up for a job, which goes off without a hitch. Inevitably their prickly relationship begins to thaw somewhat, and the two become attracted to each other as they plan out the massive Y2K bank scam that is the movie's climax (complete with sequel-ready ending). "Entrapment" plays somewhat like a '70s caper movie revamped for the gadget-happy high-tech '90s. The plot takes a few too many labored twists and turns, and the chemistry between the two leads is nearly nonexistent, though both carry on gamely in their parts. On the other hand, there is some genuine suspense in many scenes as they go about their business, dripping with whiz-bang burglary devices. Zeta-Jones, of course, is drop-dead gorgeous, and Connery is as reliable as always in his role. The fairly flat editing and direction tends to drag the film down somewhat, but fans of caper movies, high-tech thrillers, and the two leads should find plenty to like in this film. "--Jerry Renshaw"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: "Envy" is a funny movie, but it's more funny "peculiar" than funny "ha-ha", so enjoyment is purely a matter of personal taste. When Nick (Jack Black) invents an aerosol spray that makes dog-poop disappear (think of the boon to society!), he reaps a fortune overnight and sends his friend, co-worker and neighbor Tim (Ben Stiller) into a tailspin of simmering envy, since he had no faith in Nick's get-rich-quick scheme and declined his offer of 50-50 partnership. What makes this potentially raucous plot peculiar is that it sets up the situation and proceeds to ignore its most comedic implications, opting instead for a sub-plot involving bows, arrows, a dead horse, and an eccentric vagrant (Christopher Walken, offering reliable comic relief) who coaches Tim on the joys of neighborly blackmail. All the while, "Envy" suffers a comedic identity crisis, giving Black and Stiller a few good laughs (along with their on-screen wives, played by Rachel Weisz and "Saturday Night Live"'s Amy Poehler) while director Barry Levinson struggles to reach a quirky balance of morality play and blue-collar farce. He never quite gets there. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A broad science fiction thriller in a classic vein, "Equilibrium" takes a respectable stab at a "Fahrenheit 451"-like cautionary fable. The story finds Earth's post-World War III humankind in a state of severe emotional repression: If no one feels anything, no one will be inspired by dark passions to attack their neighbors. Writer-director Kurt Wimmer's monochromatic, "Metropolis"-influenced cityscape provides an excellent backdrop to the heavy-handed mission of John Preston (Christian Bale), a top cop who busts "sense offenders" and crushes sentimental, sensual, and artistic relics from a bygone era. Predictably, Preston becomes intrigued by his victims and that which they die to cherish; he stops taking his mandatory, mood-flattening drug and is even aroused by a doomed prisoner (Emily Watson). Wimmer's wrongheaded martial arts/dueling guns motif is sheer silliness (a battle over a puppy doesn't help), but "Equilibrium" should be seen for Bale's moving performance as a man shocked back to human feeling. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Summary: Inspired by creator Michael Crichton's experiences as a medical student in a hospital emergency room, "ER" quickly became one of the most compelling shows of the 1990s, each episode a whirlwind of intense and involving drama, gritty realism, and offbeat humor. Heading the staff at the inner-city Chicago hospital is Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), a doctor so good at providing care to the downtrodden, helpless, or just plain quirky patients that his career blossoms even as his personal life crumbles. Greene is the soul of the cast, but the heart is Julianna Margulies's nurse Carol Hathaway. Her character was intended only for the pilot episode, but she ended up capturing viewers with her palpable empathy for patients and her troublesome romance with womanizing pediatrician Doug Ross (George Clooney). The rest of the central cast consisted of compassionate Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), Peter Benton (Eriq Lasalle), whose prodigious talent nearly matches his ambition, and his fresh-faced student, John Carter (Noah Wyle). Other key characters included ER heads Morgenstern and Swift (William H. Macy and Michael Ironside, respectively), overachieving student Deb (Ming Na), who returned later in the show's run, attending physician Angela Hicks (CCH Pounder), and physical therapist Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Rueben).
The remarkably strong first season showed off its sharp ensemble cast through a variety of compelling story lines both personal (Carter's conflicts with Benton, Lewis's struggles with her no-account sister, Chloe, played by Kathleen Wilhoite) and professional (a holiday blizzard and especially the harrowing tale of a pregnancy gone bad, "Love's Labor Lost," which won five Emmy Awards). When Carter is pondering whether his future includes the ER, Green jokes, "It's not bad: Stress, late nights, hard work, no pay--it's hard to beat." It's hard to imagine people choosing to work under those conditions, but they do, and in the process these very "human" people perform superhuman feats as they face life and death as part of their daily jobs.
DVD features are fairly generous for a TV series box. There are two commentary tracks on the pilot episode, including one by Crichton, and crew commentaries on "Sleepless in Chicago" and "Love's Labor Lost." A new 39-minute documentary discusses the show's genesis, casting, and the "Chicago hospital drama smackdown" with "Chicago Hope" through interviews with Crichton, executive producer Steven Spielberg, other crew members, and the principal cast members other than Eriq LaSalle. Also included are a very watchable featurette on the show's realism (ever wonder why Ross is always looking down?) and another on post-production, a list of characters (including patients by episode, but why no actor credits?), three minor deleted scenes, outtakes, and a glossary of frequently used medical terms. Particularly notable is that the episodes are shown in anamorphic widescreen. "ER" was one of the first network shows broadcast in widescreen, but that was years after these episodes, which are shown in widescreen for the first time. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "ER" kicked off its second season of high-intensity drama and wry humor by introducing a character who would turn out to be a long-term member of--and a major irritation for--the inner-city Chicago hospital staff. After Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) is promoted to attending physician, the door is open for a new chief resident, and in walks Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes), who wastes no time ruffling everyone's feathers with her strict managerial style and subtle putdowns. One of her prime targets, Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), struggles to balance her personal and professional life when she has to take care of her abandoned infant niece. The Lewis character grows the most during the season, along with second-year student John Carter (Noah Wylie), whose natural compassion gives way to professional ambition following the model of his teacher, ambitious and self-absorbed Peter Benton (Eriq LaSalle). Benton angles for a position with a renowned cardiovascular surgeon (Ron Rifkin) and has to deal with the fallout from a relationship with physician's assistant Jeannie Boulet (Gloria Reubens), yet he also starts to show some glimmers of humanity.
Greene has his own problems trying to manage a long-distance marriage, while nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) bounces back from her aborted first-season marriage attempt to start a new relationship with paramedic Shep (Ron Eldard, who also became Margulies's real-life partner). She buys her first house and enjoys an entire season out of the companionship of Doug Ross (George Clooney), who as always runs into problems with his cowboy style and philandering ways. But just when he's finally driven himself out of the ER, he has to go play hero when he finds a boy pinned in a storm drain in an episode that was nominated for six Emmys and remains one of the, excuse the pun, high-water marks of the series. That and such episodes as "The Healers," which deals with the aftermath of Shep's daring fire rescue, prove that when "ER" was at its best, it was as good as anything on television.
Guest appearances include Lucy Liu as the mother of an AIDS-stricken boy, Red Buttons as an elderly husband, Joanna Gleason as an infomercial producer, and Jake Lloyd ("Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace") as the son of a prostitute. DVD bonus features are a little lighter than on the first-season set, consisting of a commentary track (by co-executive producer Mimi Leder, editor Randy Jon Morgan, and Laura Innes) on the season's first episode and "The Healers," a nine-minute spotlight on "Hell and High Water," an 11-minute piece on the series' multiple directors, 14 minutes of outtakes, and a gag reel. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Summary: The third season of "ER" had some of the series' most compelling and wrenching story lines. John Carter (Noah Wylie) is now an intern, but his surgical dreams continue to be thwarted by Dr. Benton (Eriq La Salle), a frustration shared by fellow student Dennis Gant (Omar Epps). Benton also torments former lover Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben), who has tested positive for HIV. Because he has tested negative, he's free to badger her about the risks involved in her treating patients while moving on to his next potential conquest, a sexy waitress named Carla (Lisa Nicole Carson). Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) continues to be one of the series' focal points, struggling to survive the bureaucracy of management and still feel like a doctor. And now single, he goes on bad dates as does Dr. Lewis (Sherry Stringfield), both ignoring the obvious until a seemingly casual vacation invitation sets a number of uncomfortable wheels turning.
The other focal point is nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies), for whom things go from bad to worse. She has serious money problems, her career choice doesn't look so good anymore, and when a patient dies, she finds herself suspended. That sets the stage for one of the series' most memorable episodes, which takes place almost completely outside the hospital. Hathaway goes to the corner grocery store, where she meets guest star Ewan McGregor, and things take off from there. She also wisely keeps her distance from former lover Dr. Ross (George Clooney), who may have really done it when he brings into the ER a one-night stand suffering from a seizure and has to admit he doesn't even know her name.
County General survives a closure scare, but instead has to absorb some new additions, including chief of staff Donald Anspaugh (John Aylward), intern Maggie Doyle (Jorjan Fox), and the best pediatric surgeon in Chicago, Abby Keaton (Glenne Headley), who attracts the attention of Benton and Carter for professional and/or personal reasons. But those additions are countered by two emotional goodbyes, and other gritty story lines, including a troubled teen (Kirsten Dunst) and an assault on a doctor, helped make "ER"'s third season often tough to take, but unforgettable.
Special features consist of commentary tracks on two episodes; a 15-minute spotlight on the episode "Fear of Flying" with new interviews with Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wylie, and Glenne Headley; bloopers and outtakes; and a featurette on the ER's nurses with interviews of Yvette Freeman, Abraham Benrubi, Ellen Crawford, and others, but not Julianna Margulies. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Summary: In its fourth season, "ER" had its strongest cast yet. Sherry Stringfield was missed, but British surgeon Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) makes her debut, and Noah Wylie (John Carter) and Maria Bello (Anna Del Amico) made significant strides forward. Carter finds that his move from surgery to the ER has knocked him back to intern status, but he proves himself under fire when the ER is hit by a toxic spill. He also has plenty to worry about with his addicted cousin, Chase (Jonathan Scarfe), but he's helped by his developing relationship with Del Amico. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) is fighting legal and emotional battles following the previous season's incident, and strikes up a relationship with addled desk clerk Cynthia Hooper (Mariska Hargitay). Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) finds her promotion to chief of emergency medicine rockier than expected when she changes her mind on a deal with a cost-cutting firm, which is complicated when she's been seeing the representative (Clancy Brown). She also runs into trouble when she tries to terminate Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben), who ends up staying at the ER and befriending the cancer-stricken son (Trevor Morgan) of Dr. Anspaugh (John Aylward). Peter Benton (Eriq LaSalle) struggles as a new father, develops a rivalry with Corday as he angles toward a spot on the team of arrogant hotshot Rocket Romano (Paul McCrane), and has a career-threatening disagreement with chief of staff Dr. Morgenstern (William H. Macy). Ross (George Clooney) tries a secret romance with on-again-off-again partner Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies), whose frustration with patient care leads her to open a women and children's clinic. The season kicks off with the famous live episode, "Ambush," in which a documentary film is being shot at the hospital, and in a continuing storyline, a serial rapist who preys on elderly women forces Carter to make a critical decision. Guest stars include John Cullum as Anthony Edwards' father, Harold Perrineau as the father of a boy with inverted organs, Dan Hedaya as a lawyer who wants to be a doctor, and Mickey Rooney as an optical patient. Bonus features consist of deleted scenes for a number of episodes, the wrap parties that followed the live show on each coast, and a 20-minute feature on the making of that episode, including some new interviews with the crew. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: "ER"'s fifth season was marked by the departure of one of the series' core characters and the entry of a new one. It opens with third-year medical student Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) being introduced to the layout and members of the ER (we learn Maria Bello's character, Anna Del Amico, has left), which also serves as a shorthand way of introducing new viewers to the series. She makes a strong impression immediately and reminds John Carter (Noah Wyle) of himself, but before long the two find themselves at odds. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) has to start over as an intern in order to stay at County General and in the U.S., and gradually ends her relationship with Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), who learns that his son is deaf. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) tries for the position of full-time chief resident, but is beaten out by an East Coast hotshot, Amanda Lee (Mare Winningham), who turns out to have an interest in Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards). Greene starts to ride along with the paramedics, and Doug Ross (George Clooney) has settled down (finally) with nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies). He's still on probation from the risky detox procedure he used in the fourth season, but he seems to be on his best behavior until a mother (Valerie Mahaffey) brings in her ALD-stricken son. Ross breaks protocol again but this time threatens to bring down the whole ER with him in the season's high point, the climactic two-parter "Storm." Other cast members and guest stars include Penny Johnson ("24") as a nurse practitioner who joins Hathaway's clinic, Djimon Honsou as a Nigerian custodian with a secret, Marlee Matlin as Benton's sign language teacher, and TV Tae-Bo instructor Billy Blanks as a Tae-Bo instructor who teaches Lucy how to deliver a good swift kick. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: ER's sixth season was one of transition, bidding farewell to an original character and welcoming several new ones. After watching Doug Ross (George Clooney) leave in the previous season, Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) is left on her own, pregnant with twins. When Robert "Rocket" Romano (Paul McCrane) makes a bid to run the whole hospital, Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) and Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) make plans to take a stand against him. Weaver, however, double-crosses Greene and winds up getting to run the ER. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle) is locked up in a battle over his deaf son, Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reubens) hopes to adopt an HIV-positive child, and John Carter (Noah Wyle) heats things up with his ex-cousin-in-law (Rebecca De Mornay). When Hathaway goes into labor on Thanksgiving, she's cared for by a perky OB nurse named Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney). But Lockhart is also a third-year medical student, and she later turns up in the ER as part of her rotation. One of her first encounters is with new attending Luka Kovacs (Goran Visnjic), of whom she says, "Well, we never had doctors like that in OB... Is he single?" And on her memorable first day, she gets vomited on and bitten; she plays espionage on a scheming mother, and she misdiagnoses a patient. Former medical student Deb Chen, now known as Jing-Mei (Ming-Na), returns as a resident, Alan Alda arrives as new attending Gabe Lawrence, and "Dr. Dave" Malucci (Erik Palladino), Dr. Cleo Finch (Michael Michele), and desk clerk Frank (Troy Evans) also join the cast.
As usual, tensions ran high. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) crosses the line by coercing a confession out of a suspected rapist (Lawrence Monoson), which would haunt her all season. Then during one chaotic shift, it seems almost trivial that Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) and Carter give a painful spinal tap to a patient named Paul Sobricki (David Krumholtz) whom they later find is schizophrenic. But at the end of the shift, while the staff is celebrating Valentine's Day, events unfold into the most harrowing scene in the history of the series, and one of the most gut-wrenching in the history of television drama. Guest stars include Broadway actor John Cullum as Green's father, Judy Parfitt as Corday's mother, Martha Plimpton as a pregnant waitress, "The X-Files"' Mitch Pileggi as a man with Huntington's disease, and Shia LeBeouf and Dakota Fanning as young patients with multiple sclerosis and leukemia, respectively. As with most "ER" DVDs, the sixth season has numerous deleted scenes, including one of Lucy's first encounter with Sobricki. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Summary: A busload of fume-sickened school kids...a gunman whose shooting spree claimed 19 victims...a guy in an opossum outfit who bit a man dressed as a kangaroo. They and so many others all converge at ER. The gurneys keep rolling in a superlative Season 7 that includes Abby's reunion with her mother, a turbulent woman who suffers from bipolar disorder. Also making the rounds in the 22 episodes: Carter returns from detox, Abby goes back to square one in med training, Benton struggles to emerge from Romano's doghouse, Kovac confronts a mugger, Weaver reveals her sexual orientation and Chen refuses to reveal the father of her child. Meanwhile, Greene and Corday marry...and live under the shadow of Greene's health crisis. Excitement, drama, suspense - the doctors are on call.
DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: While it owes much of its appeal and appearance to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Eragon" can stand on its own as an enjoyable fantasy for younger viewers. Faithfully adapted from the bestselling novel by teenage author Christopher Paolini, this boy-and-his-dragon tale offers clean, fast-paced family entertainment without compromising the darker qualities of Paolini's novel (the first in what is known as the "Inheritance" trilogy). The plot centers on 17-year-old peasant farmboy Eragon (played by appealing newcomer Ed Speleers) who discovers a mysterious blue object that turns out to be an egg that eventually hatches to reveal Saphira, a blue-scaled dragon that quickly grows to full-size. According to prophecy, Eragon is destined to be a dragon-rider like those who once protected a benevolent kingdom, thus reviving an ancient conflict against the army of King Galbatorix (John Malkovich), a former dragon rider who turned to evil, now in alliance with a! dark-magic "Shade" sorcerer named Durza (Robert Carlyle). While the movie serves up familiar fantasy elements and offers little if anything new to fans of the genre (or anyone who's read the books of Anne McCaffrey and Ursula K. Le Guin), it's visually impressive (especially the dragon scenes, with Rachel Weisz providing the telepathic "voice" of Saphira) and full of timeless wisdom, much of it delivered by Eragon's heroic mentor Brom (Jeremy Irons), himself a former dragon rider with memories of past battles and hope for Eragon's future. Add a fair warrior-maiden named Arya (Sienna Guillory) and you've got all the ingredients for a worthwhile (if not particularly original) fantasy that points directly to a sequel. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is up to individual viewers to decide. --"Jeff Shannon"
"Eragon" Extras Christopher Paolini talks to us about his book and film inspirations and makes recommendations for fans of "Eragon", click here to view the complete list.
Build and customize your very own dragon with "Volksdragon".


Beyond "Eragon"
Eragon (Inheritance Trilogy, Book 1)
The "Eragon" Community on Amazon
"Eragon" Collectibles Stills from "Eragon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Much will be made of Julia Roberts's wardrobe in "Erin Brockovich"--a brash parade of daring hemlines and Wonderbra confidence. Roberts is unabashedly sexy in the title role of this fact-based comedy-drama, but she and director Steven Soderbergh are far too intelligent to rely solely on high heels and cleavage. Susannah Grant's brassy screenplay fuels this winning combination of star, director, and material, firing on all pistons with maximum efficiency. With Ed Lachman, his noted cinematographer from "The Limey", Soderbergh tackles this A-list project with the fervor of an independent, combining a no-frills look with kinetic panache and the same brisk editorial style he used in the justly celebrated "Out of Sight".
Broke and desperate, the twice-divorced single mom Erin bosses her way into a clerical job with attorney Ed Masry (Albert Finney), who's indebted to Erin after failing to win her traffic-injury case. Erin is soon focused on suspicious connections between a mighty power company, its abuse of toxic chromium, and the poisoned water supply of Hinkley, California, where locals have suffered a legacy of death and disease. Matching the dramatic potency of "Norma Rae" and "Silkwood", "Erin Brockovich" filters cold facts through warm humanity, especially in Erin's rapport with dying victims and her relationship with George (superbly played by Aaron Eckhart), a Harley-riding neighbor who offers more devotion than Erin's ever known. Surely some of these details have been embellished for dramatic effect, but the factual basis of "Erin Brockovich" adds a boost of satisfaction, proving that greed, neglect, and corporate arrogance are no match against a passionate crusader. (Trivia note: The real Erin Brockovich appears briefly as a diner waitress.) "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Summary: Ernest P. Worrell, America's lanky, lovable know-it-all (played to perfection by comedian "Hey, Vern! KnoWhutImean?" Jim Varney), stars as the hero of this frenetic, side-splitting comedy. The handyman at Kamp Kikakee, Ernest achieves his greatest ambition and becomes a camp counselor to a gang of juvenile delinquents from the Midstate Boys Detention Center! Not only must Mr. Advice-for-every-possible-occasion wrangle the wayward youths, but he has to save the camp from the ruthless clutches of a giant mining company too. Comic pandemonium ensues in the laugh riot of the summer season ... or any ol' time!

Languages: English

Summary: High-flying reindeer! Mischievous elves! Warp-speed sleigh rides! Get set for a magical dose of holiday cheer, zany season's greetings, and spell-binding special effects in this fast-paced, heartwarming comedy hit! When Santa Claus decides to retire and pass on his magic bag of Christmas surprises to a new St. Nick, he enlists the aid of a hilarious assortment of characters, including that lovable know-it-all Ernest P. Worrell (Emmy Award-winning comedian Jim Varney)! Along the way, Santa and Ernest help a cynical teen experience the season's spirit like never before. And that's where the fun -- and magic -- begin! ERNEST SAVES CHRISTMAS ... one delightful, surprising tale you'll never forget!

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: One of Clint Eastwood's two most important filmmaking mentors was Don Siegel (the other was Sergio Leone), who directed Eastwood in "Dirty Harry", "Coogan's Bluff", "Two Mules for Sister Sara", and this enigmatic, 1979 drama based on a true story about an escape from the island prison of Alcatraz. Eastwood plays a new convict who enters into a kind of mind game with the chilly warden (Patrick McGoohan) and organizes a break leading into the treacherous waters off San Francisco. As jailbird movies go, this isn't just a grotty, unpleasant experience but a character-driven work with some haunting twists. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: In the future, crime is out of control and New York City is a maximum security prison. Grabbing a bargaining chip right out of the air, convicts bring down the President's plane in bad old Gotham. Gruff Snake Plissken, a one-eyed warrior new to prison life, is coerced into bringing the President, and his cargo, out of this land of undesirables. Kurt Russell put his Disney days behind him as the nicest bad guy in the picture. All comic-book sensibilities and macho posturing, this is one of writer-director John Carpenter's better brainless escapes. There are snappy one-liners and explosive action scenes. However, the film lacks tension and some believability even within the realm of SF fantasy. Even when it fails to gel, though, it always manages to amuse, thanks in great part to a varied and unusual supporting cast (watch for Ernest Borgnine as a cabdriver). Followed in 1996 by Carpenter's overdone and campy "Escape from L.A." "--Rochelle O'Gorman"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Summary: "Eurotrip" views the Old World as a goofy parade of soccer hooligans, horny camera saleswomen, and pawing lechers reeking of cologne. After being dumped by his girlfriend, Scotty (Scott Mechlowicz) discovers that the German e-mail correspondent he thought was a guy is actually a hot girl--so naturally he jets off to Europe to find her, joined by his friends Cooper (Jacob Pitts), Jamie (Travis Wester), and Jenny (Michelle Trachtenburg, trying to leap into sexier roles after her adolescent characters in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Harriet the Spy"). Just as naturally, a cavalcade of national stereotypes, wacky mishaps, and mild homophobia follows, but it's all tossed off with reasonable good cheer (and the fight with the robot mime "is" pretty funny). Featuring cameos by Matt Damon ("The Bourne Identity"), Jeffrey Tambor ("Arrested Development"), Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville"), Lucy Lawless ("Xena: Warrior Princess"), and Vinnie Jones ("Snatch"). "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Summary: Take away the Fairy Godmother, and what have you got left from the Cinderella fable? The story of a girl for whom a bad stroke of luck is no match for her internal strength and purity of heart. Drew Barrymore plays Cinderella's alleged inspiration, Danielle, in this romantic drama that purports to tell the "facts" behind the Grimm brothers' story. One of three daughters of a man (Jeroen Krabbé) who dies and leaves her fate in the hands of a conniving stepmother (Anjelica Huston), Danielle is cast into the lowly role of a servant. Meanwhile, her sisters are evaluated as possible mates for a French prince (Dougray Scott), but he's far more intrigued with Danielle's intelligence and beauty--not to mention her way with a sword and fist. Directed by Andy Tennant (who directed Barrymore in TV's "The Amy Fisher Story"), "Ever After" has that rare ability to win the heart and mind of a viewer simply by being committed to its own innocence, particularly where Barrymore's luminous performance is concerned. A contemporary take on an old, virtually forgotten Hollywood convention--the costume adventure with middling artistic ambition but real audience appeal--"Ever After" is a surprisingly delightful film. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

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

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Clint Eastwood's 1978 comedy introduces Filo Beddoe, a truck driver and mechanic whose daily life is an absurd grind. He's constantly coming up short on money, love, and anything else to help him get through the day, while also saddled with a loony mother (deliciously played by Ruth Gordon), a best friend (Geoffrey Lewis) who's not too swift on the uptake, and an orangutan named Clyde who fights almost as well as Clint. While moonlighting as a bare-knuckle fighter, Clint finally meets the girl of his dreams (Sondra Locke), a snooty country singer who rebuffs him even as he pursues her, trailed by bikers and brawlers. It's Eastwood's magnetism and charm that make this more than a mere string of comic sketches, and things move along quickly enough to be entertaining, if a little thin. Clyde is a natural scene-stealer, but it's Ruth Gordon's crazy, cranky old coot who steals the movie. "--Robert Lane"

Languages: English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Latin

Subtitles: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: A thrilling horror film about a lawyer who takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 09/25/2007 Starring: Laura Linney Shohreh Aghdashloo Run time: 121 minutes Rating: Ur

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English

Summary: Here it is. The scream of the crop. The fear is here. And so is the hope. Because at their center are intrepid souls who dare to look evil in the eye and vanquish it. From The Exorcist (presented in its Original Theatrical Version and the 2000 Version You've Never Seen) to the shocks and surprise of Exorcist II: The Heretic and The Exorcist III to the two versions (by two different directors) of Dominion/The Beginning, this DVD set comprises the scariest and most fascinating collection of movies in modern horror.

Languages: English

Summary: A brutal serial killer is targeting cops, and detective Jake Malloy is on the warpath. But now the killer is making it personal, and this dedicated agent is twisted in an emotional nightmare. Time is running out, and so are the options as Malloy engages in an extreme game of cat-and-mouse with a killer who won’t be stopped. Sylvester Stallone leads an all-star cast, including Tom Berenger (Training Day), Charles Dutton (A Time to Kill), Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints), Robert Patrick ("The X-Files"), Jeffrey Wright (Shaft) and Kris Kristofferson (Blade II).