Library

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The Maximum Force of the Future.

Summary: "The Road Warrior" is already a classic, sans condescending genre distinctions like "sci-fi" or "action." But the story of Mel Gibson's stately antihero begins in "Mad Max", George Miller's low-budget debut in which Max is a "Bronze" (cop) in an unspecified postapocalyptic future with a buddy-partner and family. But unlike most films set in the devastated future, "Mad Max" is especially notable because it is poised between our industrialized world and total regression to medieval conditions. The scale tips towards disintegration when the Glory Riders burn into town on their bikes like an overamped cadre of Brando's "Wild Ones". Representing the active chaos that will eventually overwhelm the dying vestiges of civil society, they take everything dear to Max, who will exact due revenge. His flight into the same wilds that created the villains artfully sets up the morally ambiguous character of the subsequent films. "--Alan E. Rapp"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Ton On The Run

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

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: DTS

Comments: Move It, Move It

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

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Welcome to disorganized crime

Summary: Progressing beyond their indie hit "Swingers", Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughan return with "Made", playing (respectively) Bobby and Ricky, long-time pals in Los Angeles. Failing as amateur boxers, they're recruited by their mob-connected boss (Peter Falk) to make what should be an easy delivery to an East Coast kingpin named Ruiz (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs). By the time they reach New York, Bobby's no-nonsense approach has been bulldozed by Ricky's hopelessly false bravado, which he's blithely absorbed from too many mobster movies. While Ricky invites disaster with reckless ambition, Bobby just wants a happier, legitimate future for his stripper girlfriend (Famke Janssen) and her neglected young daughter.
"Made" is an urban comedy that's sharper than its popular predecessor if not quite as appealing. Favreau and Vaughn make a hilarious odd couple of the underworld, and Vaughan's bullish performance--even as it grows redundant and deliberately irritating--is a raucous blend of stupidity and baseless braggadocio. Even more surprising is Combs, playing a thinly veiled variant of himself and providing some of the film's funniest, most authentic confrontations. As Favreau mines danger, humor, and pathos from carefully modulated scenes, the movie gains unexpected depth that sustains it through lulls of inspiration. And while Sam Rockwell, Bud Cort, and others pop in to spin gold in walk-on roles, "Made" continues to work its subtle charms, even with a tacked-on happy ending that arguably doesn't belong. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: Sometimes your life comes into focus one frame at a time.

Summary: "The Majestic" is an old-fashioned throwback replete with a 1950s B-script and halcyon values like patriotism, true love, and clean fun. Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is a Hollywood scriptwriter with a sexy gal, a screenplay under his belt, and his big break on the horizon. But when his name is mistakenly given to the House Un-American Activities Committee, Appleton's dreams of success in the biz quickly unravel. An ensuing car accident leaves him without a memory but a great opportunity--as a small town's Luke Trimble, war hero and all-around swell guy, with whom he happens to bear an uncanny physical resemblance. Of course, there's a beautiful woman (Sandra Sinclair) who waited for his return from the war, an endearing old dad (Martin Landau), and the magical Majestic movie house to renovate and reopen. As Appleton's memory eventually catches up to him, however, "The Majestic" veers off toward "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" territory, complete with a monologue on the First Amendment. Unfortunately, despite the film's earnest striving to be Capra-esque and Carrey's undeniable star quality, the charm is more reminiscent of Ronald Reagan than Jimmy Stewart. "--Fionn Meade"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: When these three oddballs try to play hardball, the result is totally screwball.

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

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The dream team is back!

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

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby

Comments: They're Just Nine Players Short of a Dream Team

Summary: Major League: Back to the Minors
On this team they don't just throw screwballs, they put them in uniform! Scott Bakula plays a minor-league manager on the spot to turn a squad of sad sacks into title contenders in another hit sequel featuring Corbin Bernsen, Dennis Haysbert and the inimitable Bob Uecker.

Languages: English, Dolby Digital 5.1; English, DTS 5.1; English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: One guy walks the walk. The other talks and talks.

Summary: Special Agent Derrick Vann is a man out to get the man who killed his partner but a case of mistaken identity leads him to Andy Fidler, a salesman with too many questions and a knack of getting in Vanns way.

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Could this man be our next president?

Summary: A comedy with serious intentions, "Man of the Year" attempts to challenge the audience's notions of what is and isn't real when it comes to politics. Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) is a popular political talk show host. As a lark, he runs for president and wins. The thing is, he's not any more unqualified than the other candidates, so his victory doesn't seem quite so outrageous. But when it turns out that the computer ballot firm responsible for tallying all the votes may have had a glitch--and that a recount would negate his win--mayhem ensues and the film segues from comedy, to drama, and back to comedy (sort of) again. Directed by Barry Levinson ("Diner", "Wag the Dog"), the film doesn't take advantage of Williams' natural humor or charm. He at times appears to be chomping at the bit to unleash a comedic tirade or two, only to be held back by stiff lines. Williams only truly appears to be enjoying himself when trading lines with Laura Linney, who portrays the hapless do-gooder at the ballot firm who's being set up to appear unreliable. With some fine performances by a supporting cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Lewis Black, and the inimitable Christopher Walken, "Man of the Year" occasionally hints at greatness. But at best, it's a lukewarm comedy with a diluted message. "--Jae-Ha Kim"

Languages: English

Sound: DTS

Comments: In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way

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

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

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

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Nice planet. We'll take it!

Summary: It is a normal day for everyone, until the President of the United States (Nicholson). They are able to get in contact with the Martians, and arrange for a meeting behind them and us humans. But not everything goes to plan, and the Martians have other plans for Earth. Are they just misunderstood beings? or do they really want to destroy all of humanity.

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: The story of a man becoming a father...and a boy becoming a son.

Summary: The skeptical, melancholy eyes of John Cusack anchor "Martian Child", a sweet but not cloying story of a widowed man who adopts a misfit kid who believes he's from another planet. David Gordon (Cusack) is a successful science-fiction author--which is perhaps what leads a children's counselor (Sophie Okonedo, "Dirty Pretty Things") to pair him with a would-be extra-terrestrial named Dennis (Bobby Coleman). Reluctantly at first, David tries to communicate with Dennis by fostering his belief--but as they grow attached to each other, the administrators of the organization that put them together sees this playing along as a failure to be a proper parent and threatens to take Dennis away. The first two-thirds or so of "Martian Child" are marvelous; though the scenario could be saccharine, the script and performances are full of details and complexities that make it feel genuine and affecting. The last third, unfortunately, seems to be the result of studio meddling, for the themes and emotions become awkwardly overstated. But what will stay with you are the moments of refreshing honesty and tender trust from the earlier part of the movie; the ending, clumsy and tone-deaf though it is, doesn't wipe away the delicate earlier interplay of David and Dennis. Also featuring Oliver Platt ("Funny Bones"), Amanda Peet ("Igby Goes Down"), and Anjelica Huston ("Prizzi's Honor"). "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The Courage To Do The Impossible Lies In The Hearts of Men.

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

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: A hitman and a salesman walk into a bar...

Summary: Pierce Brosnan gives one of his finest performances in "The Matador", a low-key buddy comedy with an agreeably sinister twist. Light-years from his former James Bond image, Brosnan is unshaven, unnerved and unpredictable as freelance assassin Julian Noble, who encounters desperate businessman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) in the bar of a modern Mexico City hotel. Danny is intrigued when Julian reveals that he's a "facilitator of fatalities," and his wife "Bean" (Hope Davis) is equally fascinated when Julian shows up unexpectedly, six months later, at Danny's home in Denver. Having lost his touch as a reliable hit-man, Julian needs Danny's help with "one last job," but the logistics of Julian's lethal profession (involving an employer played by Philip Baker Hall) are secondary to writer-director Richard Shepard's offbeat, slightly uneven character study, which gives Kinnear and Brosnan a memorable opportunity to riff on their established screen personas. In making Julian a likable yet tormented drifter who's made a habit of "running from any emotion," Brosnan creates an edgy yet sympathetic character as mysterious as he is fun to be around; if you're going to befriend a hired killer, you could do far worse than a guy like Julian. As Brosnan plays him, he's worthy of a sequel, but "The Matador" is the kind of entertainingly quirky movie that's a hard act to follow. "--Jeff Shannon"
Product Description
This hip and hilarious dark comedy finds boorish, on-the-job hit man Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) in a Mexico City cantina where he meets mild-mannered Denver businessman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), both of whom are at a crossroads in their lives and careers. Over too many margaritas, they form a strange friendship built on the dark and drunken honesty shared among strangers who believe they will never see each other in the light of day. However, months later, back in Denver, the doorbell rings at the Wright residence, and Danny and his wife Bean (Hope Davis) find Julian on their doorstep, a desperate, broken man. What else can they do, but to take him in?

Languages: English

Summary: The definitive ten-disc DVD set, The Ultimate Matrix Collection features all three films in the trilogy together for the first time ever with a newly remastered picture and sound for The Matrix. Also included is the companion piece The Matrix Revisited and the best-selling The Animatrix, plus five entirely new DVDs packed solid with brand-new supplemental materials that encompass every aspect of the Matrix universe, including two new audio commentaries on each film, Enter the Matrix video game footage, 106 deep-delving featurettes/ documentaries and much more!
DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:Filmed for Enter the Matrix video game
Audio Commentary:The Philosophers: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber; The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
DVD ROM Features
Documentary
Easter Eggs
Featurette
Introduction:by the Wachowski Brothers
Music Video
Photo gallery
Storyboards
TV Spot
Theatrical Trailer

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The greatest gambler in the West has finally met his match.

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

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

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


Stills from Max Payne (Click for larger image)

 
 

Languages: English

Comments: Who Made Who?

Summary: Its a classic horror flick in my mind, i saw it years ago, when i was into the horror scene and it actually carried onto the years where im not so much into it anymore...so i definately give it a 4 star rating.

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Mono

Comments: Clean. Fast. Professional.

Summary: Charles Bronson delivers [in this] action-drenched (Variety) gangster thriller that delves into the dangerous minds of the underworld's most elite killers. Visually alive (Cue) and totally engrossing (The Hollywood Reporter), The Mechanic is a

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: The Bigger the Hit, The Harder They Fall

Summary: With "Meet the Spartans", the creators of "Date Movie" lampoon penguins, Paris Hilton, "American Idol", Britney Spears, "Dancing with the Stars", "Stomp the Yard", Brangelina, Lindsay Lohan, product placement, Sylvester Stallone, "Transformers", and pretty much every other obvious target that's emerged since they made their last flick, "Epic Movie". The main subject of mockery is "300", the visual-effects laden Greek warrior movie, the relentless homoeroticism of which is not-so-subtly pointed out with a mixture of scatology, phallic humor, painted-on six-pack abs, disco songs, blows to the groin, and spitting--lots and lots and lots of spitting. There's nothing remotely clever about "Meet the Spartans", and even fans of pop-culture cuisinarts like "Scary Movie" may feel the genre is losing its oomph, but if you're looking for a shotgun blast of lowbrow gags, this is it. Along for the ride are Sean Maguire ("The Class"), Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules"), Ken Davitian ("Borat"), Diedrich Bader ("Napoleon Dynamite"), and Carmen Electra, without whom no movie of this kind would be complete. The only person who emerges with any credibility is comedienne Nicole Parker ("Mad TV"), who does a pretty spot-on impression of Ellen DeGeneres. --"Bret Fetzer"

Beyond "Meet the Spartans"
More Parodies & Spoofs
"Meet the Spartans" Apparel
More from Fox


Stills from "Meet the Spartans"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Some memories are best forgotten

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

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Cantonese, English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: Protecting the earth from the scum of the universe

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

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Same Planet. New Scum.

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

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: love with the safety off

Summary: Part road movie, part romantic comedy, part thriller, and a whole lotta fun, "The Mexican" could get by on star power alone, but it offers Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, "and" a clever plot full of delightful surprises. It's a thoroughly enjoyable shaggy-dog story in which the downtrodden Jerry Welbach (Pitt) copes with a dual dilemma: his girlfriend Samantha (Roberts) has just dumped him to pursue solo ambitions in Las Vegas, and a manipulative mobster has ordered Jerry to Mexico to retrieve a coveted antique pistol (the "Mexican" of the title) that carries a legacy of legend, death, and danger. Jerry soon has his hands full with bandits, bloodshed, and a grizzly hound dog that vanishes and reappears with amusing regularity. En route to Vegas, Samantha's taken hostage by a burly assassin (James Gandolfini) who's attached to the gun-fetching scheme and is, in more ways than one, not who he seems to be.
Like a good magic act, J.H. Wyman's original screenplay distracts you from its gaps of logic, using unexpected revelations to fuel its strategic vitality. It also provides a wealth of character development, and director Gore Verbinski ("Mouse Hunt") gives his stellar cast equal time to shine. It hardly matters that Pitt and Roberts spend most of the film apart; their time together is worth waiting for, and the machinations that separate them play out like a cross between vintage Peckinpah and "Romancing the Stone". And why is the accursed "pistola" so valuable? That's just another surprise, setting the stage for the arrival of yet another big-name star, whose motivations are pure in a film full of double-crosses and darkly shaded humor. With a giddy plot like this, star power is just icing on the cake. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: No Rules

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

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: For seven elite profilers, finding a serial killer is a process of elimination. Their own.

Summary: Creepy, tense, and enigmatic, Renny Harlin's "Mindhunters" is a grisly cross between Agatha Christie's whodunit classic "And Then There Were None" and Jonathan Demme's horrifying "The Silence of the Lambs". An interesting ensemble cast, including Christian Slater ("Windtalkers"), Jonny Lee Miller ("Melinda and Melinda"), L.L. Cool J (Harlin's "Deep Blue Sea"), and Kathryn Morris (television's "Cold Case") portray promising FBI profilers-in-training. Val Kilmer plays their ambiguous instructor putting the candidates through their paces and leaving them for a weekend on a spooky island, where those who survive a terrifying exercise--penetrating the mind of a serial killer via elaborate clues--will go to the head of the class. The rules change, however, when the students themselves turn out to be victims, bumped off one after another, the survivors half-mad with suspicion and paranoia that the murderer is one of their own. The film's concept is sound even if the execution (so to speak) gets out of hand with problems of logic. Among other things, none of these characters could possibly find time to pull off some of the psychopath's more complicated killing rituals. Quibbles aside, however, "Mindhunters" is particularly watchable if one is in the mood for a movie that plays mind games. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Comments: What would you do if you were accused of a murder, you had not committed... yet?

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

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: AC-3

Comments: How far would you go, how much would you sacrifice to get back what you have lost?

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

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Expect the Impossible

Summary: Movie based on the television series finds Jim Phelps and his team charged with stopping a traitor from stealing and selling classified material. Everything was going well until the man they are following and all of the team are inexplicably killed except for Ethan Hunt. Ethan then calls the Director and goes to meet him when he discovers that the whole mission was to ferret a mole that they have been suspicious of for some time. The Director shows evidence that hints that Ethan's the one they have been looking for but Ethan knows that he is not, so he escapes. Ethan then arranges to meet the buyer and whom he warns against using the material he has and when they meet he offers to get what he paid for in exchange for telling whom the mole is. Ethan, along with Phelps' wife Claire recruits two disavowed agents to help him which won't be easy.

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: Expect the impossible again

Summary: Visually stunning, and a likely must for John Woo aficionados, the second "Mission: Impossible" outing from megastar Tom Cruise suffers from an inconsistent tone and tired plot devices--not only recycled from other films, but repeated throughout the film. Despite remarkable cinematography and awe-inspiring, trademark Woo photography, the movie offers a tepid story from legendary screenwriter-director Robert Towne ("Chinatown", "Without Limits") and a host of other writers, most uncredited.
It is, regrettably, as forgettable as the first big-budget, big box-office "MI" in 1996, and it's clear (as Towne confirms) that the plot was developed around Woo- and Cruise-written action sequences. The film combines equal elements of romance and action, and is best when it features the stunning allure of Thandie Newton as Nyah, a master thief recruited by the sinewy charms of Ethan Hunt (a fit Cruise). Deeply in love after a passionate night, the couple must then combat MI nemesis (and Nyah's former lover) Sean Ambrose ("Ever After"'s Dougray Scott). Ambrose holds hostage a virus and its cure, and offers them to the highest bidder.
Woo's famed mythic filmmaking is far from subtle, with heroic Hunt frequently slow-motion walking through fire, smoke, or other similar devices, replete with a white dove among pigeons to signal his presence. The emphasis on romance is an attempt to develop character and a more human side to superspy Hunt, but still the dreary story proves a distraction from the exciting action sequences. John Polson (as an MI team member) is an Aussie talent to keep an eye on. "--N.F. Mendoza"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital

Summary: the stakes have never been higher. The action has never been hotter. This is 'Mission: Impossible' ... like you've never seen it before! Tom Cruise stars as Ethen Hunt in this pulse-pounding thrill ride directed by J.J. Abrams ('Lost','Alias'). Lured back into action by his agency superiors (Laurence Fishburne and Billy Crudup), Ethan faces his deadliest adversary yet - a sadistic weapons dealer named Owen Davian (Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman). With the support of his IMF team (Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q), Ethan leaps into spectacular adventure frm Rome to Shanghai as he races to rescue a captured agent (Keri Russell) and stop Davian from eliminating his next target: Ethan's wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan). Bursting with breathtaking excitement and thrilling plot twists, "this movie delivers!" - Leonard Maltin, 'Entertainment Tonight'

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: DTS

Comments: Fear Changes Everything

Summary: Writer-director Frank Darabont, who showcased the softer side of Stephen King in his film adaptations of "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile", turns to darker material for "The Mist", his latest King adaptation about a group of ordinary townspeople trapped in a supermarket by a mysterious fogbank. Thomas Jane is top-billed as a Maine illustrator who attempts to calm the frightened shoppers, but his job is cut out for him from the get-go, first by the discovery of malevolent creatures lurking in the mist, and then by the mad mutterings of Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden), a local eccentric who calls for Old Testament-style sacrifices to appease the supernatural forces. Darabont delivers monster movie thrills and understated social commentary with equal skill, and he's well supported by his cast (which includes Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, William Sadler and Jeffrey DeMunn) and the vivid special effects by KNB EFX, which effectively mix CGI with models and stop-motion animation (the terrific monsters were designed by legendary comic book artist Bernie Wrightson). And for those curious about how the novella's downbeat ending has translated to film, suffice it to say that Darabont's conclusion is at once different and more unsettling than King's. "--Paul Gaita"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: She met the perfect man. Then she met his mother.

Summary: Mothers-in-law. They can be a woman's best friend, or her most lethal enemy.

I always remember the tale of a young man whose mom spent his wedding loudly shouting that they would be divorced in six months, set up a fund for their divorce, and so on. And I imagine that woman was a bit like Jane Fonda's deliciously catty character in the limp "Monster-in-Law."

To some degree, "Monster-in-Law" isn't a romantic comedy movie. It's an overlong sitcom episode.

Charlie (Jennifer Lopez) is a temp/dog-walker whose dreams are about to come true -- she's engaged to Kevin (Michael Vartan), a sweet and hunky doctor. There's only one small problem: Viola (Jane Fonda), Kevin's strong-willed mumsie, doesn't think that Charlie is right for her perfect son.

So Viola does the only thing she can think of -- she starts pranking Charlie, hoping to drive the unworthy future-in-law away. Poisoned food, ripped dresses, wedding disasters and slap fighting all ensue, but soon Charlie gets sick of it and begins to fight back. Who will win, the desperate fiancee or the force-of-nature mom?

Yeah, it's not much of a plot. I kept waiting for the laugh track to kick in, and a preview for next week's episode.

In fact, the plotlessness is what really hurts "Monster-in-Law." Once Charlie and Viola are introduced, the entire film descends into a series of pranks that are dropped in favor of warm'n'fuzzy. Slapstick ones too -- if Robert Luketic had taken the P.G. Wodehouse route of elaborate pranking, it might have worked. But watching Fonda and Lopez going bonkers at each other isn't very funny.

It doesn't help that the screenplay is as limp as the plotting. Poor Vartan is forced to spout endless romance-novel cheez; "What are you doing the rest of your life?", gag me. And alas, innocent moviegoers are forced to endure yet more tributes to Lopez's much-hyped posterior, which probably has a stylist and trailer all its own.

Jennifer Lopez is the kiss of death to romantic comedies -- there's nothing very funny about her face, her body, or her way of delivering lines. And to be honest, Vartan doesn't fit in this movie any better. The "Alias" star looks rather confused, as if he isn't sure how he ended up in this particular film. Not to mention a bit overwhelmed by the catfighting.

The saving graces? Fonda has wild, hilarious manic energy that overcomes the thinness of her role, and makes her quite fun to watch. And Wanda Sykes, as her P.A., gets the best lines of the whole movie. When the two of them are on the screen together, they're pure hilarity. In fact, forget Lopez -- make the movie about Wanda and Jane, and you've got a hit.

Cheesy dialogue and no plot sink "Monster-in-Law," a comedy that leaves you wondering why Fonda chose to return after fifteen years to.... this.

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Monsters, Inc. : We Scare Because We Care

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

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

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

Languages: English, French, Russian, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Disaster has a passport

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

Languages: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: There's something about

Summary: Kevin Costner as a warped serial killer, a pillar of the community whose dark side is embodied by an on-screen William Hurt? You have to admit, it sounds intriguing, right? "Mr. Brooks" is the vehicle for this unsavory story, and it turns out to be a lot less kicky than it sounds. Mr. Brooks is a Portland, Oregon tycoon and philanthropist whose "addiction" to murder is suddenly re-surfacing--with plenty of help from his sneering alter ego, who generally sits in the back of the car, goading Mr. Brooks on. (The other characters can't see William Hurt in all this, of course.) The unbelievably convoluted plot has Mr. Brooks confronted by a blackmailer (comedian Dane Cook) who has a surprising twist on things, and trailed by a cop (Demi Moore) who comes equipped with her own set of professional and marital woes. As if that weren't enough, when Brooks's daughter (Danielle Panabaker) comes home, it becomes clear that some traits run in the family.
The scenes with Costner and Hurt are the best stuff in the film, even if director Bruce Evans can't figure out how to play fair visualizing their presence to others. But the script, which among other whoppers make Demi Moore's character a millionaire, is just too unbelievable to stomach. If William Hurt's character provided a running commentary for this movie, there wouldn't be anything left after he got through mocking it. "--Robert Horton"
The Cast of "Mr. Brooks" Kevin Costner
William Hurt
Demi Moore Dane Cook
Marg Helgenberger
Danielle Panabaker
Beyond "Mr. Brooks" "Mr. Brooks" on Blu-Ray
"Mr. Brooks": Music From The Motion Picture
More from MGM


Stills from "Mr. Brooks"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: You have to believe it to see it.

Summary: Equal parts whimsical and bittersweet, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is a family-friendly movie that will charm youngsters. Dustin Hoffman stars in the titular role of an eccentric 243-year-old owner of a magical toy store. He doesn't appear to be sick, but he has lived a long and happy life and is content to leave his emporium to his employee Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman). A former child prodigy who has grown up unsure of herself, she barely knows who she is, much less what she wants to become. Molly is both frightened that her beloved boss is leaving and that she will be left in charge of a store she doesn't know how to run. "Are you dying?" she asks him. Magorium points out, "Light bulbs die, my dear. I am departing." His take on death is both comforting and matter of fact, things younger viewers may find soothing when dealing with mortality. Though the film has drawn comparisons to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", this G-rated venture is less dark, curious and interesting than the former. Still, it offers dazzling visuals and a premise that who you are isn't equivalent with who you think you are. Adult moviegoers may find the premise cloying and repetitive. But seen from a child's eye, "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" is indeed a magical place for a short visit. --"Jae-Ha Kim"


Beyond "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"
"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" Books
"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" Toys and Games
More Kids & Family titles from Fox

Stills from "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Letting Go Of Your Past Is Hard... Especially When It's Dating Your Mom.

Summary: Rhetorical question: What’s the only thing that can keep a potentially bad movie’s head above water? Good actors, or course. Sure, the "Dodgeball"-esque scenes of Billy Bob Thornton viciously pegging second-graders with a basketball are chuckle-inducing (It appeals to the "America’s Funniest Home Videos" lover in all of us), but the movie didn’t quite live up to the promising plot. John Farley (Seann William Scott) plays a bestselling self-help author who was once a portly underachiever often bullied and terrorized by his militant (and potentially lawsuit-causing) gym teacher, Mr. Woodcock (Thornton). When he’s invited to receive his Nebraska hometown’s most coveted award, the corn cob key, he decides to pay his mother (Susan Sarandon) a visit. With horror, he discovers that she’s planning on getting married to the sinister Mr. Woodcock. And, of course, the rest of the movie shows John’s unraveling as he tries with all his might (and "corny" predictability) to stop that from happening. The movie provides some good laughs, but it’s definitely on the B-list for the likes of these hilarious starring actors. --"Jordan Thompson"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Summary: This huge 1993 hit for Robin Williams and director Chris Columbus ("Home Alone"), based on a novel called "Alias Madame Doubtfire" by Anne Fine, stars Williams as a loving but flaky father estranged from his frustrated wife (Sally Field). Devastated by a court order limiting his time with the children, Williams's character disguises himself as a warm, old British nanny who becomes the kids' best friend. As with Dustin Hoffman's performance in "Tootsie", Williams's drag act--buried under layers of latex and padding--is the show, and everything and everyone else on screen serves his sometimes frantic role. Since that's the case, it's fortunate that Williams is Williams, and his performance is terribly funny at times and exceptionally believable in those scenes where his character misses his children. Playing Williams's brother, a professional makeup artist, Harvey Fierstein has a good support role in a bright sequence where he tries a number of feminine looks on Williams before settling on Mrs. Doubtfire's visage. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: The blitz-bombing of London in World War II provides the serious backdrop for the uplifting entertainment of "Mrs. Henderson Presents", a delightful British comedy anchored by the flawless performances of Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. After losing a son in World War I, and becoming a widow in 1937, the wealthy and respectable Mrs. Henderson (Dench) decides that the best way to support soldiers going off to battle is to give them a wartime send-off they'll never forget. Thus, she buys and renovates the Windmill Theater in London's Soho district, hires Mr. Vivian Van Damm (Hoskins) as the impresario of an all-day musical variety show called "Revudeville," and secures permission from the censorious Lord Cromer (Christopher Guest) to include naked women in the stage show - on the condition that the ladies remain still onstage to qualify as "art," like nude portraits in a gallery, with the "foliage" of their "midlands" discreetly obscured. "Revudeville" is an instant hit, British propriety remains tastefully intact, and as The Windmill's fortunes rise, fall, and rise again, "Mrs. Henderson Presents" develops an emotional depth and good-natured nobility that's perfectly matched to the comedy of tweaking British manners. Working from an eloquently witty, fact-based screenplay by Martin Sherman, director Stephen Frears ("High Fidelity") brings out the best in a well-chosen cast, and Andrew Dunn's cinematography (enhanced by judicious use of digital effects to show the London blitz in progress) casts a warm, inviting glow over this winning tale of show-biz tenacity in the best and worst of times. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The Mummy (1999)
Deep in the Egyptian desert, a handful of people searching for a long-lost treasure have just unearthed a 3,000 year old legacy of terror. Combining the thrills of a rousing adventure with the suspense of Universal s legendary 1932 horror classic, The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser, is a true nonstop action epic, filled with dazzling visual effects, top-notch talent and superb storytelling.
Running Time: 125 Min
RATING: PG-13

The Mummy Returns
The year s biggest action-adventure is coming home with a vengeance! Brendan Fraser and an all-star cast reunite with Stephen Sommers for explosive, non-stop thrills in the ultimate rollercoaster movie ride! (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

An ancient legacy of terror is unleashed when the accursed mummy, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), is resurrected along with a force even more powerful: The Scorpion King (The Rock). Now, as the fate of all mankind hangs in the balance, Rick O Connell (Fraser) and his wife Evie (Rachel Weisz) embark on a daring, desperate race to save their son and the world from unspeakable evil. Supercharged with pulse-pounding action and spectacular special effects that ll blow you away, The Mummy Returns is the best adventure movie of the year! (MTV Radio)
Running Time: 130 Min
RATING: PG-13

The Scorpion King
Adventure rules! As the spectacular Mummy series explodes into a new realm of breathtaking, non-stop action in The Scorpion King! Unleashing WWE superstar The Rock as the most feared warrior of the ancient world, The Scorpion King plunges you into a sweeping tale filled with stunning fight sequences, awe-inspiring battles and pulse-pounding thrills. It s the ultimate special effects-powered epic and the must-see-and-see again adventure of the year!
Running Time: 92 Min
RATING: PG-13


System Requirements:
Running Time 347 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Languages: English, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Adventure Is Reborn

Summary: Proving that bigger is rarely better, "The Mummy Returns" serves up so much action and so many computer-generated effects that it quickly grows exhausting. In his zeal to establish a lucrative franchise, writer-director Stephen Sommers dispenses with such trivial matters as character development and plot logic, and charges headlong into an almost random buffet of minimum story and maximum mayhem, beginning with a prologue establishing the ominous fate of the Scorpion King (played by World Wrestling Federation star the Rock, in a cameo teaser for his later starring role in--you guessed it--"The Scorpion King"). Dormant for 5,000 years, under control of the Egyptian god Anubis, the Scorpion King will rise again in 1933, which is where we find "The Mummy"'s returning heroes Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, now married and scouring Egyptian ruins with their 8-year-old son, Alex (Freddie Boath).
John Hannah (as Weisz's brother) and Oded Fehr (as mystical warrior Ardeth Bay) also return from "The Mummy", and trouble begins when Alex dons the Scorpion King's ancient bracelet, coveted by the evil mummy Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), who's been revived by... oh, but does any of this matter? With a plot so disposable that it's impossible to care about anything that happens, "The Mummy Returns" is best enjoyed as an intermittently amusing and physically impressive monument of Hollywood machinery, with gorgeous sets that scream for a better showcase, and digital trickery that tops its predecessor in ambition, if not in payoff. By the time our heroes encounter a hoard of ravenous pygmy mummies, you'll probably enjoy this movie in spite of itself. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Justice will be served

Summary: While reinventing Leopold and Loeb for a new and troubled millennium, "Murder by Numbers" probes the disturbing psychology of two teenaged murderers and the cleverness of their crime. Like Hitchcock's "Rope" and other films inspired by the Leopold and Loeb case of the 1920s, the film intensifies as it explores the repressed (and subtly homosexual) tensions between high-school outcasts Richard (Ryan Gosling) and Justin (Michael Pitt), who randomly kill a woman to enact an amoral philosophy--and to tease a savvy homicide detective (Sandra Bullock) with misleading clues. While clashing with the by-the-book procedure of her partner (Ben Chaplin), Bullock gives one of her best performances in a role that comes with its own set of psychological hurdles. It's comfortable territory for "Reversal of Fortune" director Barbet Schroeder, who draws fine work from his cast while proving that there's no such thing as a perfect crime. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Okay, so this movie won't ever be an Oscar contender, BUT, it is a really good movie none the less! Both of us like this movie and wanted it in our collection because it leaves you with a smile. For those times you simply want to stick something in the DVD player then sit back to be entertained (without having to WORK to "get it") Music and Lyrics is ideal. The shipping was very fast, the movie was well packaged and arrived in A+ condition! You couldn't ask for more.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: As you've never seen it before.

Summary: Adapted from the Dumas classic "The Three Musketeers" and set in 17th-century France, "The Musketeer" focuses on young D'Artagnan (Justin Chambers), who revives the musketeers in a campaign against Cardinal Richelieu (Stephen Rea) and his vile henchman Febre (Tim Roth), who killed D'Artagnan's parents 14 years earlier. The heroes must rescue the abducted queen (Catherine Deneuve) and her comely confidante Francesca (Mena Suvari), with the obvious highlight being D'Artagnan and Febre's inevitable showdown, which trades "All for one, and one for all" for ludicrous swordplay on teetering ladders. The film gets a trendy boost from Hong Kong action choreographer Xin Xin Xiong ("Time and Tide", "Double Team"), but the results are decidedly mixed. While director Peter Hyams achieves convincing period atmosphere (lighting by torch and candles, etc.), he's burdened by a lifeless script and a bland leading man. "The Musketeer" is lightly entertaining, but another viewing of "Rob Roy" will provide greater satisfaction. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Greek

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Love is here to stay... so is her family.

Summary: It's not surprising that "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" grew more popular over the course of its theatrical release (whereas most blockbusters open big and then drop precipitously)--not only does it have believable situations and engaging characters, but these characters (particularly our romantic heroine, Toula, played by writer and performer Nia Vardalos) look like actual human beings instead of plastic movie stars. The result is the very accessible tale of Greek-American Toula (whose family sees her as over the hill at 30), who falls for a WASPy guy named Ian (John Corbett) and then has to endure the outrage, doubt, and ultimate acceptance of her deeply ethnically centered family. The actors invest their wildly stereotypical portrayals with sincerity and compassion, giving the movie an honest warmth instead of Hollywood schmaltz. But "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" ultimately succeeds because of Vardalos; her intelligent, down-to-earth presence and charm carry the film. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: This summer expect the unexpected

Summary: Ever wonder if there was a class system in the world of superheroes? After all the big names like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc., who were the supporting players? The folks assigned to the less-than-stellar gigs of saving only a small part of the world? According to this intermittently successful send-up of comic book heroism, there are indeed masked heroes who struggle and toil for their moment in the super sun. Based on the Dark Horse comic book series, "Mystery Men" follows the travails of three B-list avengers--Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), the Shoveler (William H. Macy), and the Blue Raja (Hank Azaria)--as they fight to make themselves known to the citizens of Champion City, quite difficult to do when the flashy Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear, never better) takes all the cool gigs "and" has product endorsements up the ying-yang. According to them, it's all a matter of timing--never mind that Mr. Furious never rises above a snit, or that the Blue Raja wears green. Their big break comes when Captain Amazing is abducted by the evil Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush), and it's up to this motley crew to save Champion City.
Blessed with a wondrously gifted comic cast and full of droll details, "Mystery Men" struggles in fits and spurts towards its climax. Transcendently witty in parts, it's also woefully sophomoric in others. Literally, this is the kind of movie in which someone gets off a brilliant line and then sits on a fork. Still, when this movie is rolling, it's gleefully on target, thanks primarily to the mordantly cocky Stiller and Janeane Garofalo as a latecomer to the superhero gang; her secret weapon is a bowling ball in which her dead father's head is encased. The comic chemistry between these two is fierce, and when you add the dryly funny Macy and the endearing Azaria (who finally gets a chance to let loose with his comic gifts), it's a hilarious joyride. Too bad that the gas tank is only half-full; this stunning cast deserves a first-rate vehicle. With Tom Waits as a weapons expert, Claire Forlani as the requisite babe, and Paul Reubens as the Spleen, the world's most flatulent superhero. "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: We bury our sins, we wash them clean.

Summary: Superior acting, writing, and direction are on impressive display in the critically acclaimed "Mystic River", Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted by "L.A. Confidential" Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this chilling mystery revolves around three boyhood friends in working-class Boston--played as adults by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Kevin Bacon--drawn together by a crime from the past and a murder (of the Penn character's 19-year-old daughter) in the present. These dual tragedies arouse a vicious cycle of suspicion, guilt, and repressed anxieties, primed to explode with devastating and unpredictable results. Eastwood is perfectly in tune with this brooding material, giving his flawless cast (including Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurence Fishburne) ample opportunity to plumb the depths of a resonant human tragedy, leading to an ambiguous ending that qualifies "Mystic River" for contemporary classic status. "--Jeff Shannon"