Library

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Seek The Truth

Summary: Critics and controversy aside, "The Da Vinci Code" is a verifiable blockbuster. Combine the film's huge worldwide box-office take with over 100 million copies of Dan Brown's book sold, and "The Da Vinci Code" has clearly made the leap from pop-culture hit to a certifiable franchise. The leap for any story making the move from book to big screen, however, is always more perilous. In the case of "The Da Vinci Code", the plot is concocted of such a preposterous formula of elements that you wouldn't envy screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the man tasked with making this story filmable. The script follows Dan Brown's book as closely as possible while incorporating a few needed changes, including a better ending. And if you're like most of the world, by now you've read the book and know how it goes: while lecturing in Paris, noted Harvard Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to the Louvre by French police to help decipher a bizarre series of clues left at the scene of the murder of the chief curator. Enter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), gifted cryptologist. Neveu and Langdon team up to solve the mystery, and from there the story is propelled across Europe, ballooning into a modern-day mini-quest for the Holy Grail, where secret societies are discovered, codes are broken, and murderous albino monks are thwarted… oh, and alternative theories about the life of Christ and the beginnings of Christianity are presented too, of course. It's not the typical formula for a stock Hollywood thriller. In fact, taken solely as a mystery, the movie almost works--despite some gaping holes--mostly just because it keeps moving. Brown's greatest trick was to have the entire story take place in one day, so the action is forced to keep moving, despite some necessary pauses for exposition. As a screen couple, Hanks and Tautou are just fine together but not exactly memorable; meanwhile Sir Ian McKellen's scenery-chewing as pivotal character Sir Leigh Teabing is just what the film needed to keep it from taking itself too seriously. The whole thing is like a good roller-coaster ride: try not to think too much about it--just sit back and enjoy the trip. "--Daniel Vancini"


Visit The Da Vinci Code Store On The DVD
The DVD extras on a film as popular as "The Da Vinci Code" should be plentiful, and this version doesn't skimp. With over 90 minutes of special features, including ten behind-the-scenes featurettes, there's a lot here to explore beyond the film itself. The question is, is there anything new here that we haven't heard before, in all the hype, pseudo-documentaries, and controversy surrounding the movie, to make it worthwhile? For most viewers, the answer will be "yes." Essentially, if you like the movie, if you enjoyed the book, you will get a lot out of them.
Just as the movie is intended to make the book come to life, the DVD extras should make the film come to life by pointing the audience into the world of the filmmakers, connecting the dots between print and film, and for the most part they do just that. The extras here range from the typical look behind-the-scenes to more in-depth features on the supporting characters, the locations, and the "Mona Lisa" herself. "First Day on the Set with Ron Howard" features the director gushing about the opportunity to film in the Louvre and work with Tom Hanks again (the two worked together before on "Splash" and "Apollo 13"). It's a short piece that doesn't reveal much beyond making an attempt to share Howard's excitement (with the "Gee, I really loved working with him/her on this project" that you hear in every such featurette), but viewers might enjoy seeing how the stage was set up in the famous museum, down to the spike tape on the floor showing actors where to hit their marks. "The Filmmaking Experience, Parts 1 and 2" further explores the creative and technical aspects of the filmmaking process. "A Conversation with Dan Brown" starts out feeling like a puff-piece (the man who wrote this book got started at age 5 with a story called "The Giraffe, The Pig, and the Pants on Fire". "It was a thriller," he says.) and unfortunately it doesn't go very deep into much of anything of interest. But on the other hand, this isn't "60 Minutes" here; it's intended to give viewers a better sense of the man behind the franchise, which it does. Much of the footage from this interview is sprinkled throughout some of the other featurettes. Meanwhile, the character behind the franchise, Robert Langdon, is examined in his own featurette, as is Sophie Neveu. The cool thing here is getting under the skin of the actors to see how they approached the characters, knowing that most of the movie-going public already has formed their own ideas about the characters from the book.
The most interesting extras are the featurettes that focus on the history behind the mystery. Or is it the mystery behind the history? Either way, the first one on the "Mona Lisa", and the second featurette on the many codes and symbols that are hidden throughout the movie balance out the remainder of the extras nicely by demonstrating the sense of intrigue, mystery, and game-playing adventure that made "The Da Vinci Code" so popular in the first place. "--Daniel Vancini"
Beyond "The Da Vinci Code"

The Films of Tom Hanks
The Films of Ron Howard
The Da Vinci DVDs: Decoding "The Da Vinci Code"
More About The Artist
Stills from "The Da Vinci Code" (click for larger image)

Summary: This is one of those movies in my VHS collection that I manage to watch once every year or so...just to escape the realities of the real world. I don't rank this as a great movie in the same way that you'd rank an Academy Award winner, but it's just a fun movie to watch as long as you can suspend belief for a while. I have to think that the actors/actress had fun making it, as the main characters seem to tread the fine line between "camp" and "classic". If you want something that won't make you think too hard and will reward you with a little escapism in a post-apocalyptic sort of way, then this is one for your library.



I don't understand why it still hasn't been released on DVD, but when it is, I'll be one of the first to buy it for my collection. The 1970s LIVE on and into the 21st Century!!!

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: A Guardian Devil.

Summary: Ok. Thats what the DareDevil film is. It was darker than Spider-Man yes, but not as good. THIS Director's Cut, however, makes the film good. Before you judge DareDevil, see both cuts: the theatrical and this Director's "should-have-been-theatrical-but-isn't" For starters, THIS film is rated... R. The fight scenes are more intense, the film is MUCH darker, (a-la Frank Miller) and there's a few swears. So, THIS is the film to see. Watch both for the sake of seeing the difference.

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: From the mercy of fate lies Darkness!

Summary: There's something in this house...Something ancient and dark that remains still, hidden and silent. It can only wait, having been concealed in the shadows for years. In fact, its milieu is darkness. Only in it can it show itself and move. It even takes its name: DARKNESS. It's lived here since someone tried to call it, more than forty years ago. Because this house hides a secret, a terrible past, an inconceivably evil act. Seven children, faceless people, a circle that must be completed. And blood, lots of blood... But something went wrong. One of the children got away. The circle wasn't completed. That's why what lives here isn't finished. It's just waiting...It tries to carry out what it couldn't before, making plans in the shadows, to become complete, to be, to exist. A new family has just moved into the house. A small child. An unstable father capable of losing his temper at any time. A perfect target. The right place at the right time. The pieces only have to be put in place. And then wait. Maybe the family's daughter will be able to discover the truth; the dark secret of the past, the sinister conspiracy, the truth about what threatens them. Why is the father getting worse? What is her little brother afraid of? Why doesn't her mother listen to her? And why do the lights keep going out? It could be that nothing happens by chance, that everything has been worked out from the start. A devilish plan, precise and exact like a time-bomb. Her father's illness, the house, the circles, the children. Perhaps she can foresee darkness' master stroke of play and the inevitable destiny that is closing in on her family. But maybe it's too late....

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Everyone wants a happy ending.

Summary: Sophomoric is too weak a word by at least half to describe the utter silliness "Date Movie" revels in at every turn. But that's exactly the point of this effort in lowbrow slapstick that proudly proclaims it was created by two of the six writers of the "Scary Movie" franchise. Adhering to the same spoof formula of those movie romps, "Date Movie" lampoons countless other current movie characters and plot themes, plus a few that might be a little old for the core audience of youngsters to remember. "Date Movie" isn't quite as successful in keeping the gags at the same pace they came in the "Scary Movie"s, but it will certainly satisfy those with a taste for tasteless humor. The wisp of a story involves fat girl Julia Jones, played by Alyson Hannigan, who quickly becomes as thin and pretty as she was in the "American Pie" movies and on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". You'll lose count how many movie references writer/directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer throw in her path as she searches for true love in a world gone mad. "Hitch", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", "Meet the Fockers", "King Kong", "Lord of the Rings", "When Harry Met Sally", "Pretty Woman", "Bridget Jones' Diary", and "Kill Bill", are just a few of the movies that get unkindly homage. There's also plenty of flatulence, mild sexual ribaldry, and the kind of bad taste humor that will utterly delight the pubescent and teenage audience this movie was made for. "--Ted Fry"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: When the undead rise, civilization will fall.

Summary: Are you ready to get down with the sickness? Movie logic dictates that you shouldn't remake a classic, but Zack Snyder's "Dawn of the Dead" defies that logic and comes up a winner. You could argue that George A. Romero's 1978 original was sacred ground for horror buffs, but it was a "low-budget" classic, and Snyder's action-packed upgrade benefits from the same manic pacing that energized Romero's continuing zombie saga. Romero's indictment of mega-mall commercialism is lost (it's arguably outmoded anyway), so Snyder and screenwriter James Gunn compensate with the same setting--in this case, a Milwaukee shopping mall under siege by cannibalistic zombies in the wake of a devastating viral outbreak--a well-chosen cast (led by Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer), some outrageously morbid humor, and a no-frills plot that keeps tension high and blood splattering by the bucketful. Horror buffs will catch plenty of tributes to Romero's film (including cameos by three of its cast members, including gore-makeup wizard Tom Savini), and shocking images are abundant enough to qualify this "Dawn" as an excellent zombie-flick double-feature with "28 Days Later", its de facto British counterpart. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: This year, a sweater won't do.

Summary: Supreme silliness doesn't stop "The Day After Tomorrow" from being lots of fun for connoisseurs of epic-scale disaster flicks. After the blockbuster profits of "Independence Day" and "Godzilla", you can't blame director Roland Emmerich for using global warming as a politically correct excuse for destroying most of the northern hemisphere. Like most of Emmerich's films, this one emphasizes special effects over such lesser priorities as well-drawn characters and plausible plotting, and his dialogue (cowritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff) is so laughably trite that it could be entirely eliminated without harming the movie. It's the spectacle that's important here, not the lame, recycled plot about father and son (Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal) who endure an end-of-the-world scenario caused by the effects of global warming. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the awesome visions of tornado-ravaged Los Angeles, blizzards in New Delhi, Japan pummeled by grapefruit-sized hailstones, and Manhattan flooded by swelling oceans and then frozen by the onset of a modern ice age. It's all wildly impressive, and Emmerich obviously doesn't care if the science is flimsy, so why should you? "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: 12.12.08 is the Day the Earth Stood Still

Summary: Impressive special effects are the key selling point for this big-budget remake of Robert Wise's classic 1951 science fiction parable about an alien visitor who delivers a chilling ultimatum to the leaders of the world. Keanu Reeves, who seemed ideal at first blush but ultimately turns into another case of miscasting, steps in for Michael Rennie as intergalactic watchdog Klaatu, who with his robot Gort (now super-sized), promises global destruction unless the powers that be unless drastic measures are undertaken regarding the Earth's environmental issues (or so one assumes). Jennifer Connelly is largely wasted in the Patricia Neal role of scientist/single mom assigned to study Klaatu, who offers a somewhat chilly father figure to her son (a grating Jaden Smith). Connelly isn't the only fine actor in the cast left standing idle while director Scott Derrickson's effects team constructs eye-popping scenes of wholesale mayhem; Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, John Cleese and Rob Knepper are all adrift in the aimless script by David Scarpa, which never even fully explains why Klaatu is so bent on blowing us to smithereens. That lack of focus, as well as the B-movie quality of the dialogue (say what you will about the effects in the Wise version, but the film was polished from top to bottom), all help to cement what science fiction fans have been muttering about the film since its inception; the original film needed no high-tech updating --Paul Gaita

Stills from The Day the Earth Stood Still (Click for larger image)

 
 

Languages: English, Japanese

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Gary Oldman (Batman Begins Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is Lynch a strangely charming hit man in this explosively funny dark comedy in the tradition of Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. With an all-star cast including Terence Stamp (Superman II Star Wars I: Episode I - The Phantom Menace) Elena Anaya(Van Helsing Sex and Lucia) Robert Carlyle (28 Weeks Later The Full Monty) and Billy Zane (Titanic The Kiss) Dead Fish is a chaotic tale of criminals looking for love money and revenge that will have you falling out of your chair laughing! System Requirements:LENGTH: 90 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/CRIME Rating: R UPC: 014381489026 Manufacturer No: CAP4890DVD

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Kiefer Sutherland stars in `Dead Heat' a crime drama in which the star of hit TV series `24' can show more tender side of the character than he is often associated with. He plays Pally, 35-year-old Boston cop who is forced to retire because of the heart problem, and his acting is very good. Overall, however, there is not much that I can recommend in `Dead Heat' except some nice touch in showing the characters. The film tries to include as many things as possible, but few of them really materialize.



The story looks rather like a familiar one. Because of his early retirement, Pally starts to drink, and even thinks of committing suicide. His relationship with his estranged wife Charlotte (Rhada Mitchell) is not going well and he is not happy to know that she is now going out with someone else.



But Charlotte is also nice and caring, so she persuades Pally's brother Ray (Anthony LaPaglia) to visit him. Ray, who is accused of not being a law-abiding citizen by his too earnest brother, has a good plan to make money easily, and offers it to Pally. It is about buying a racehorse cheap, he says, and it is an easy job because he happens to know that the horse, which has not win any races recently, is actually misdiagnosed, only suffering from a polyp a small operation can remove.



When everything is going well, things get suddenly complicated because of a gambling-addicted jockey Tony (Lothaire Bluteau). From here, the story snowballs into blackmail, caper and even murder, but the film's overall tone is always light, not taking itself very seriously.



Unfortunately, for all their effective acting from Sutherland, LaPaglia, Mitchell, and Bluteau, the weak and unsure direction totally fails to give momentum to the otherwise unremarkable film. It is not funny when it tries to make us funny, and it is not romantic when it tries to be romantic. Feeble direction simply misses several good opportunities to make good use of the jockey's sullen little daughter Sam (Kay Panabaker, her feature debut), who could have been a little surprise (or gem) in this unconvincing plot.



It is true that Kiefer Sutherland shows in `Dead Heat' another side of acting talent, which is less eccentric and intense than most of the roles he had played, or he would play. That is good news, and the only good news here.

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Get ready for a killer ride.

Summary: Mayhem rules in Death Race, a head-over-heels remake of the Roger Corman cult classic Death Race 2000, in which cars become lethal weapons. The strength of this new version is its total single-mindedness about vehicular homicide; it has the virtue of no cluttering subplots or simpering sentimentality. And banish all memory of the original's wild satirical comedy: Death Race is as grim as a dinner tray to the face (a reference that will be explained in a key sequence). In a slightly futuristic maximum-security prison, cons take part in brutal races around the island prison, their violent deaths watched live by millions of viewers. Jason Statham, possibly cast because of his driving dexterity in the Transporter movies, plays a man wrongly imprisoned for murder. Joan Allen provides her brittle cool as the warden, who recruits Statham to assume the masked persona of a legendary driver called Frankenstein. Tyrese Gibson is Frankie's main rival, Natalie Martinez provides the fetching eye candy, but the acting honors go to Ian McShane, as the philosophical prison mechanic. One misses the cross-country race from the original film, as the setting here is claustrophobic and the cars are largely colorless and indistinguishable from each other. Director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) continues to display the sensibility of a video-game addict, which will either be a recommendation or a turn-off, depending on your own tastes. At least it doesn't have the hypocritical moral blathering of something like the somewhat similar Condemned--who knew you could be so grateful for simple, straight-forward head-bashing? --Robert Horton


Stills from Death Race (Click for larger image)

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Protect What's Yours

Summary: James Wan ("Saw") brings the ultra-violence to this gritty story of a suburban father (Kevin Bacon) who discovers the consequences of revenge after his son is murdered. The perpetrators of this senseless killing are a multi-ethnic (and highly visible) gang of drug dealers and cutthroats led by the psychotic Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund); when the case is thrown out on a technicality, Bacon takes a page from Charles Bronson's book (no surprise, as this is based on author Brian Garfield's 1975 follow-up to "Death Wish") and pursues a vigilante course to avenge his boy. Things do not go according to Bacon's plan, which cues a series of frantic and well-executed action set pieces, most notably a parking structure chase that unfolds in a nearly unbroken take. "Death Sentence" breaks no new ground in the action-thriller department, and its characters and dialogue are nearly indistinguishable from any violent crime movie of the last few decades (in its weakest moments, it resembles grindhouse fare like "The Exterminator"); however, Bacon is excellent (as always) as the mild-mannered architect who discovers his inner killer the hard way, and Wan's knack for screen mayhem and unsettling atmosphere are well used here. The DVD includes both the theatrical version and an unrated cut (which offers 10 additional minutes), as well as two making-of featurettes that originally aired on the Fox Movie Channel, and several webisodes that focus on director Wan, his cast, and the film's elaborate stunts and fight scenes. -- "Paul Gaita"

Beyond "Death Sentence"
More Revenge Movies
More from Kevin Bacon
More from Fox


Stills from "Death Sentence"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Heaven and Earth are about to collide.

Summary: A great big rock hits the earth, and lots of people die. That's pretty much all there is to it, and most of that was in the trailer. Can a major Hollywood movie really squeak by with such a slender excuse for a premise? The old disaster-movie king, cheese-meister Irwin Allen ("The Poseidon Adventure", "Earthquake"), would have made a kitsch classic out of this, with Charlton Heston, rather than a resigned and mumbly Robert Duvall, as the veteran astronaut who risks several lives trying to blow up the comet that's "headed right this way"! As stiffly directed by Mimi Leder, this thick slice of ham errs on the side of solemnity. It may the be most earnest end-of-the-world picture since Stanley Kramer's atomic-doom drama "On the Beach". There are a couple of classic melodramatic flourishes: an estranged father and daughter who share a tearful reconciliation as a Godzilla-sized tidal wave looms on the horizon; and an astronaut, communicating on video with his loved ones back on Earth, who follows whispered instructions from a buddy lurking just off camera--so that his little boy won't realize that he's been struck blind. With Morgan Freeman as the president of the United States. "--David Chute"

Sound: Dolby Digital

Comments: Three relationships. Three disasters. One last chance.

Summary: Romantic comedies often focus on the chemistry between adults, but rarely do they focus on the chemistry between an adult and a child. Such chemistry shines in "Definitely, Maybe," which sees Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin playing one of the most charming father/daughter duos of recent memory. They just work well, and this is despite the fact that they're not given much screen time together. I say this because most of the film takes place before her character was born, recalling the events that led to the Reynolds character meeting her mother. This idea is heartwarming, if a little contrived; then again, I don't think a romantic comedy could even exist without being contrived, seeing as they never represent reality. After suffering through the dreadful "27 Dresses," films like "Definitely, Maybe" prove that such films can still be entertaining.



It all begins when soon-to-be-divorced Will Hayes (Reynolds) picks up his daughter, Maya (Breslin) from her school, which is swarming with parents outraged over the day's display of sex education. Maya challenges Will with a series of embarrassing questions, and on their return home, she wants him to tell her the story of how he and her mother met. He initially refuses, mostly because his is a very complicated story; he had not one but three serious girlfriends, and all of them had important parts to play. Will eventually decides to tell Maya the story, but only on the condition that he's allowed to change the names of the girlfriends. Maya actually likes this, because it will give her the chance to guess which woman became her mother.



Thus begins the story proper, which begins in Wisconsin in 1992. Will is a college student who dreams of becoming a politician, and he wants to follow this dream by moving to New York and joining Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. This doesn't mesh with the plans of his college sweetheart, whose name has been changed to Emily (Elizabeth Banks). Emily says she's worried that New York will change Will into something he's not; Will seems to understand that she's really scared of him succeeding and being too good for her, and because of that, he promises that their love will remain. Things obviously take a complicated turn when he arrives in New York, which for him is not only a blizzard of political activity, but also a hotbed of social development.



Here enters a woman named April (Isla Fisher), who doesn't consider herself a Democrat, a Republican, or even an Independent--political affiliations mean nothing to her because it means choosing a side, and choosing a side is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. There's an immediate connection between her and Will, although neither one is ready to admit that it will lead to something more than friendship. This is especially true since Will is ready to propose to Emily, who's finally found time to visit New York. I won't say whether or not he goes through with it, nor will I reveal what Emily says to him; what I will say is that one of Emily's old college friends enters the picture and complicates things further.



This friend is Summer Hartley (Rachel Weisz), a willful young woman aspiring to be journalist. She's introduced to Will through Emily's diary, which she wanted Summer to have as a gift (it describes some pretty naughty stuff, which is probably why Will reads it without permission). Despite the fact that she's sleeping with her thesis director--a pompous writer named Hampton Roth (Kevin Kline)--she quickly charms her way into Will's life, and he seems more than happy let her. At least, he does at first; his co-ownership of a political advertising agency is jeopardized when her published article paints a damning picture of the man he's endorsing as Governor. He quickly begins to rethink his situation, forcing him to wonder if the right woman is out there or if she even exists. Of course, we know right from the start that she does, so it's only a matter of Maya figuring everything out: Is her mother April, Emily, or Summer?



The final third of "Definitely, Maybe" is the weakest part, relying too heavily on the routine material romantic comedies are notorious for. This isn't to say that the film derails; it stays right on track all throughout, and it doesn't lose itself to an overabundance of sappy dialogue or implausible twists of fate. It's not free of them, of course, but at least they're used sparingly and at levels that are tolerable. And there's no denying that the main characters are engaging, especially Maya, who's more open to lines of communication than her father initially is. Watching them, I never once questioned or even analyzed their love for each other--I was immediately taken by it, and I continued to believe it even after the film ended.



These characters alone make this film worthwhile, so much so that we can forgive many of the more formulaic aspects; let's be vague and say that the final sequence is overwhelmingly predictable, a cliché taken from a deep pool of romantic comedy clichés. But I didn't mind this time because the story could actually support such a sequence; this is essentially a father/daughter story, and as such, it's appropriate--maybe even necessary--that the daughter would want the father to find the happiness he's been longing for (which obviously has nothing to do with political aspirations). Despite being flawed and generally harmless, "Definitely, Maybe" is still one of the better romantic comedies. I smiled more often, I laughed longer, and I was touched at a deeper level.

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: This is the weekend they didn't play golf.

Summary: One of the key films of the 1970s, John Boorman's "Deliverance" is a nightmarish adaptation of poet-novelist James Dickey's book about various kinds of survival in modern America. The story concerns four Atlanta businessmen of various male stripe: Jon Voight's character is a reflective, civilized fellow, Burt Reynolds plays a strapping hunter-gatherer in urban clothes, Ned Beatty is a sweaty, weak-willed boy-man, and Ronny Cox essays a spirited, neighborly type. Together they decide to answer the ancient call of men testing themselves against the elements and set out on a treacherous ride on the rapids of an Appalachian river. What they don't understand until it is too late is that they have ventured into Dickey's variation on the American underbelly, a wild, lawless, dangerous (and dangerously inbred) place isolated from the gloss of the late 20th century. In short order, the four men dig deep into their own suppressed primitiveness, defending themselves against armed cretins, facing the shock of real death on their carefully planned, death-defying adventure, and then squarely facing the suspicions of authority over their concealed actions. Boorman, a master teller of stories about individuals on peculiarly mythical journeys, does a terrifying and beautiful job of revealing the complexity of private and collective character--the way one can never be the same after glimpsing the sharp-clawed survivor in one's soul. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: G.I. Joke

Summary: Down on his luck after losing his job and his girlfriend on the same day, Larry decides to join his neighbor, Bill (Bill Engvall), and his combat-happy buddy, Everett (DJ Qualls), for a relaxing weekend of drinking and target practice. But when the three hapless guys are mistaken for Army Reservists by the hard-nosed Sergeant Kilgore (Keith David), they're loaded onto an army plane headed for Fallujah, Iraq - and mistakenly ejected in a Humvee somewhere over Mexico. Convinced they're actually in the Middle East, the clueless wannabe soldiers save a rural village from a siege of bandits and become local heroes. But when Carlos Santana (Danny Trejo), a ruthless, karaoke-loving warlord, strikes back, Larry, Bill and Everett have to lay down their beers and take up their arms - and prove they just might be real soldiers after all...

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The future isn't big enough for the both of them. The 21st century's most dangerous cop. The 21st century's most ruthless criminal.

Summary: Years before the fast-food chain hired a talking chihuahua as its official spokeshound, Taco Bell got some high-profile product placement in this dopey thriller set in the year 2032, when the sprawling megacity of "San Angeles" has banned violence and profanity, and where virtually all the restaurants are Taco Bells. (So much for democracy!) Sylvester Stallone plays an ex-cop who's been thawed out after 36 years of imprisonment for manslaughter, and Wesley Snipes plays his nemesis who also emerges from deep-freeze and proceeds to wreak havoc. It's not nearly as funny as the similarly plotted "Austin Powers,"; but this special-effects-laden comedy-thriller does have a few highlights, including the pre-stardom Sandra Bullock as the cop-trainee who teaches Stallone proper behavior (and sexual etiquette) in the future's conservative society. Co-starring is Rob Schneider as a frantic sidekick who matches Stallone's one-liners with idiotic wit. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Lies. Betrayal. Sacrifice. How far will you take it?

Summary: Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with "The Departed", hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since "Casino". Since this crackling crime thriller is essentially a Scorsese-stamped remake of the acclaimed 2002 Hong Kong thriller "Infernal Affairs", the film was intensely scrutinized by devoted critics and cinephiles, and while Scorsese's intense filmmaking and all-star cast deserve ample acclaim, "The Departed" is also worthy of serious re-assessment, especially with regard to what some attentive viewers described as sloppy craftsmanship (!), notably in terms of mismatched shots and jagged continuity. But no matter where you fall on the Scorsese appreciation scale, there's no denying that "The Departed" is a signature piece of work from one of America's finest directors, designed for maximum impact with a breathtaking series of twists, turns, and violent surprises. It's an intricate cat-and-mouse game, but this time the cat and mouse are both moles: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop on the rise, planted in the Boston police force by criminal kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hot-tempered police cadet who's been artificially disgraced and then planted into Costello's crime operation as a seemingly trustworthy soldier. As the multilayered plot unfolds (courtesy of a scorching adaptation by "Kingdom of Heaven" screenwriter William Monahan), Costigan and Sullivan conduct a volatile search for each other (they're essentially looking for "themselves") while simultaneously wooing the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) assigned to treat their crime-driven anxieties.
Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but "The Departed" is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. "The Departed" also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), "The Departed" may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Go Deep!

Summary: When cracks in the Earth's crust large enough to swallow a city block appear, a team of scientists must go deep into the Earth to find a way to stop the destruction

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Hell On Heels.

Summary: This clever, funny big-screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's best-seller takes some of the snarky bite out of the chick lit book, but smoothes out the characters' boxy edges to make a more satisfying movie. There's no doubt "The Devil Wears Prada" belongs to Meryl Streep, who turns in an Oscar-worthy (seriously!) strut as the monster editor-in-chief of "Runway", an elite fashion magazine full of size-0, impossibly well-dressed plebes. This makes new second-assistant Andrea (Anne Hathaway), who's smart but an unacceptable size 6, stick out like a sore thumb. Streep has a ball sending her new slave on any whimsical errand, whether it's finding the seventh (unpublished) Harry Potter book or knowing what type she means when she wants "skirts." Though Andrea thumbs her nose at the shallow world of fashion (she's only doing the job to open doors to a position at "The New Yorker" someday), she finds herself dually disgusted yet seduced by the perks of the fast life. The film sends a basic message: Make work your priority, and you'll be rich and powerful... and lonely. Any other actress would have turned Miranda into a scenery-chewing Cruella, but Streep's underplayed, brilliant comic timing make her a fascinating, unapologetic character. Adding frills to the movie's fun are Stanley Tucci as Streep's second-in-command, Emily Blunt ("My Summer of Love") as the overworked first assistant, Simon Baker as a sexy writer, and breathtaking couture designs any reader of "Vogue" would salivate over. -- "Ellen A. Kim"

Beyond "The Devil Wears Prada"
"The Devil Wears Prada": A Novel
"The Devil Wears Prada" Soundtrack
Prada Handbags Stills from "The Devil Wears Prada" (click for larger image)

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: The newest attorney at the world's most powerful law firm has never lost a case. But he's about to lose his soul.

Summary: Kevin Lomax (Reeves), an ambitious, talented young district attorney, joins a powerful New York law firm headed by the mysterious and charismatic John Milton (Pacino). as Lomax faces the intense seduction of success and money, he is increasingly tempted.

Languages: English, German, Italian

Sound: 70 mm 6-Track

Comments: It will blow you through the back wall of the theater!

Summary: This seminal 1988 thriller made Bruce Willis a star and established a new template for action stories: "Terrorists take over a (blank), and a lone hero, unknown to the villains, is trapped with them." In "Die Hard", those bad guys, led by the velvet-voiced Alan Rickman, assume control of a Los Angeles high-rise with Willis's visiting New York cop inside. The attraction of the film has as much to do with the sight of a barefoot mortal running around the guts of a modern office tower as it has to do with the plentiful fight sequences and the bond the hero establishes with an LA beat cop. Bonnie Bedelia plays Willis's wife, Hart Bochner is good as a brash hostage who tries negotiating his way to freedom, Alexander Godunov makes for a believable killer with lethal feet, and William Atherton is slimy as a busybody reporter. Exceptionally well directed by John McTiernan. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Die Harder.

Summary: Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, "Die Hard 2" (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and "Law and Order" actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English, German

Sound: SDDS

Comments: Think fast. Look alive. Die hard.

Summary: The second sequel to the mold-making action film "Die Hard" brings Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) to New York City to face a better villain than in "Die Hard 2". Played by Jeremy Irons, he's the brother of the Germanic terrorist-thief Alan Rickman played in the original film. But this bad guy has his sights set higher: on the Federal Reserve's cache of gold. As a distraction, he sets McClane running fool's errands all over New York--and eventually, McClane attracts an unintentional partner, a Harlem dry cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) with a chip on his shoulder. Some great action sequences, though they can't obscure the rather large plot holes in the film's final 45 minutes. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Yippee Ki Yay Mo - John 6:27

Summary:
Twelve years after "Die Hard with a Vengeance", the third and previous film in the "Die Hard" franchise, "Live Free or Die Hard" finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any "Die Hard" fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, "Deadwood", and Maggie Q, "Mission: Impossible 3") that seems to be operating under the government's noses.
"Live Free or Die Hard" uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of "Die Hard with a Vengeance" along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the "Underworld" franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rating--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --"David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: After being fired from UPN's primetime line-up, this animated series based on Scott Adams's nationally syndicated comic strip has received a well-deserved promotion to DVD. Dilbert, the bespectacled potato-shaped engineer with the upwardly mobile tie, is the poster boy for the corporately disenfranchised. Though Adams's cynical, cubicle eye-view of corporate culture was somewhat co-opted by "The Drew Carey Show", animation gives the series a surreal flourish not possible in a live-action series. In the first episode, for example, we can see the devastation wreaked by an "all-natural" anthrax lozenge, and an interoffice riot sparked by budget cuts. Co-executive producer Larry Charles, whose resume includes "Seinfeld" and "Mad About You", wisely preserved Adams's Kafka-esque comic vision. Dilbert may "just want to make the world a better place," but that is difficult in a workplace where the Pointy-Haired Boss insists his employees first come up with a name for an as-yet-undeveloped product, employees literally give their souls to the company, and an evil cat reigns as an evil director of human resources loathe to help employees. As the old saying goes, it's funny because it's true. The voice cast are excellent hires, with Daniel Stern as Dilbert, Larry Miller as the clueless Boss, Kathy Griffin as sardonic co-worker Alice, and Chris Elliot as Dogbert. You don't have to have a refrigerator, cubicle wall, or computer festooned with yellowed "Dilbert" strips to appreciate the series. It will strike a beleaguered chord in fans of "Office Space" and "The Office", or anyone toiling for a company that loves misery. "--Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Jewess goes to Catskills for shiksa adventure!

Summary: The summer of 1963 innocent 17-year-old Baby (Grey) vacations with her parents at a Catskill's resort. One evening she is drawn to the staff quarters by stirring music. There she meets Johnny the hotel dance instructor who is as experienced as Baby is naive. Baby soon becomes Johnny's pupil in dance and love.Special Features: DISC ONE: Commentary with Writer/ Co-Producer Eleanor Bergstein Trivia Track Newly Remastered Audio DISC TWO: DIRTY DANCING with Patrick Swayze Tribute to Jerry Orbach Deleted Scenes Alternate Scenes Extended Scenes Outtakes Original Screen Tests Multi Angle Dance Sequences The Classic Story on Stage Interactive Photo Gallery Jennifer Grey Interview Eleanor Bergstein Interview Kenny Ortega Interview Emile Ardolino Tribute "Hungry Eyes" Music Video "She's Like The Wind" Music Video "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" Music Video TrailersSystem Requirements:Running Time: 105 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 012236212775 Manufacturer No: 21277

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Mothers. Daughters. The never-ending story of good vs. evil.

Summary: Grab your tissues and send the guys away, because "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is the most pedigreed chick flick since "Steel Magnolias". You can tell by the title and the novelish names of the Louisiana ladies from Rebecca Wells's precious bestseller. First there's Sidda (Sandra Bullock), a successful playwright still wrestling with her manipulative mother, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), after a traumatic upbringing. Then there's longtime friends Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan), Necie (Shirley Knight), and Caro (scene-stealer Maggie Smith), from Vivi's secret club of "Ya-Ya Priestesses," together since childhood and determined to heal the rift between Sidda and her mom. Through an ambitious flashback structure (including Ashley Judd as the younger Vivi), screenwriter and first-time director Callie Khouri (who wrote "Thelma & Louise") establishes a rich context for this mother-daughter reunion. There's plenty of humor to temper the drama, which inspires Bullock's best work in years. Definitely worth a look for the curious, but only fans of Wells's fiction will feel any twinge of loyalty. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Grab Life by the Balls (Australia & Europe)

Summary: How's this for impressive trivia: "Dodgeball" faced off against "The Terminal" in opening-weekend competition, and 29-year-old writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber aced Steven Spielberg by a score of $30 to $18.7 in box-office millions. That's no mean feat for a newcomer, but Thurber's lowbrow script and rapid-fire direction--along with a sublime cast of screen comedians--proved to be just what moviegoers were ravenous for: a consistently hilarious, patently formulaic romp in which the underdog owner of Average Joe's Gym (Vince Vaughn) faces foreclosure unless he can raise $50,000 in 30 days. The solution: A dodgeball tournament offering $50K to the winners, in which Vaughn and his nerdy clientele team up against the preening, abhorrently narcissistic owner (Ben Stiller) of Globo Gym, who's threatening a buy-out. That's it for story; any 5-year-old could follow it with brainpower to spare. But Thurber, Vaughn, Stiller, and their well-cast costars (including Stiller's off-screen wife, Christine Taylor) keep the big laughs coming for 96 nonsensical minutes. With spot-on cameos by champion bicyclist Lance Armstrong, David Hasselhoff, Hank Azaria, Chuck Norris, and William Shatner, and a crudely amusing coda for those who watch past the credits, "Dodgeball" is no masterpiece, but you can bet Spielberg was unexpectedly humbled by its popular appeal. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: Sometimes, an accident can be an unhappy woman's best friend

Summary: Dark secrets, family torments, and two murders swirl around the stoic, hardened figure of Dolores Claiborne (Kathy Bates), a housekeeper accused of murdering her employer of 22 years. Then there was that timely accident that took Dolores's husband (David Strathairn) during the solar eclipse of 1975. Yet with all the somber suffering that follows Dolores like a miasma of pain, none of it compares with the heartache of a relationship she has with her grown daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Although this flick is rife with horror, it is not of the supernatural kind, but rather of the torment only real people can impose on one another. The script is full of colorful language, and director Taylor Hackford successfully weaves several plot threads and psychological dilemmas throughout this engrossing tale without diminishing any of them. He not only culls intense performances from his cast, but he also brings to life the landscape around them. When the film's best-kept secret is finally given up, it occurs under the surreal backdrop of a solar eclipse that is a truly sensational bit of cinematography. "--Rochelle O'Gorman"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: He will do anything to protect his family.

Summary: Susan Morrison is getting married to wealthy industrialist Rick Barnes. Danny, her teenage son with ex-husband Frank, isn't happy about this; he stows away in Rick's car one night, planning to go to Frank's house. But while there, he witnesses Rick murdering mysterious stranger Ray Coleman. Problem is, Rick's managed to dispose of most of the evidence, and he's considered a pillar of the community, while Danny has a history of lying. Frank believes him, though, and does some investigating of his own, as Rick's shady past slowly catches up to him and his new family.

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: The story of the man who thought he was the greatest lover in the world... and the people who tried to cure him of it!

Summary: You might not get a thrill from the sight of Faye Dunaway and Marlon Brando throwing popcorn into each other's mouths, but that didn't stop this movie from gaining a new lease on life thanks to cable television and home video. It's a quirky romantic comedy about a mental patient (Johnny Depp) who claims to be Don Juan, the world's greatest lover, and he gets quite a few women to believe it's true. Brando plays the psychiatrist who tries to analyze his patient's apparent delusion, and Dunaway plays Brando's wife, who wants to inject some Don Juan-ish romance into their marital routine. Walking a fine line between precious comedy, wistful drama, and delicate fantasy, the movie gets a big dose of charm from its esteemed cast, with Depp delivering dialogue that would have sounded ludicrous from a lesser actor. This may not be a great movie, but it is guaranteed to put you in an amorous mood. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: No one gets out alive.

Summary: Grab your BFG and get ready to kick some Martian-demon butt in "Doom", another entry in the increasingly crowded videogame-to-movie genre. The Rock plays Sarge, the commander of a squad of Marines sent to investigate a disturbance at a scientific research facility on Mars. Among the squad is John Grimm (Karl Urban, who played Eomer in "The Lord of the Rings"), who turns out to have had a previous relationship with Samantha (Rosamund Pike, "Die Another Day"), the scientist who's accompanying the Marines in order to retrieve some vital data from the facility. Based on id Software's legendary first-person shooter, "Doom" tries its best to look like a game, with dark, angled corridors, ferocious creatures appearing out of nowhere, and a variety of lethal weapons that will, like the aforementioned BFG, warm the cockles of a gamer's heart. There's also one memorable sequence that actually turns the movie into a first-person shooter; the good news is that in the context of the whole film, it's not quite as goofy as it might have been. And that's not a bad frame of reference for the film in general. Considering the game-to-movie field includes such duds as "Wing Commander", if you go into "Doom" with low expectations, you'll probably find it a surprisingly respectable horror/sci-fi thriller in the "Resident Evil" vein (including its somewhat obligatory subplot of corporate wrongdoing). Also in its favor is that it's unabashedly R-rated, for the extreme gore that is a trademark of the game. After all, the purpose of the movie is to pack scares and thrills into a setting that gamers will quickly recognize. In that sense, it qualifies as a success. "--David Horiuchi"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Comments: The End Is Nigh.

Summary: Loud, violent, and proudly derivative, the post-apocalyptic action-thriller "Doomsday" is the latest from UK cult director Neil Marshall, who impressed horror fans with his previous efforts, "Dog Soldiers" and "The Descent". Both pictures established Marshall as a director with a knack for reinventing well-worn genre pictures, but here, he seems more interested in stitching together favorite scenes and elements from established horror and science-fiction films. "Escape from New York" is the main source for "Doomsday", though there are plenty of nods to "The Road Warrior" and its multitude of Italian-made carbon copies, as well as the zombie/plague subgenre; the lovely but impassive Rhona Mitra is the Snake Plissken-esque loner sent by police (represented by Bob Hoskins) to infiltrate Scotland, which has descended into anarchy following a viral outbreak. The disease has surfaced in London (now a walled city), and Mitra is dispatched to find a scientist who may possess a cure. Marshall's vision of Scotland in ruins brings together the punk/modern primitive costume design of George Miller's "Mad Max" trilogy with some eclectic homegrown elements (knights on horseback defending a gang leader's castle), and while these touches are novel, the picture as a whole should ring overly familiar to any viewer who's spent time in the exploitation trenches during the past 25 years. Younger and less discerning audience members will undoubtedly enjoy the plentiful violence and gore, as well as the unbridled performances of the supporting cast, especially stuntwoman/actress Lee-Ann Liebenberg as the heavily tattooed Viper. --"Paul Gaita"


Beyond "Doomsday" on DVD
More from Universal Studios
"Doomsday" on Blu-ray
More from Director Neil Marshall


Stills from "Doomsday" (Click for larger image)

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: The most dangerous secrets are the ones we're afraid to tell ourselves.

Summary: Jeff Bridges demonstrates once again that he is one of the finest actors in film. Ted Cole (Bridges, "Seabiscuit", "The Big Lebowski"), a successful writer/illustrator of children's books, invites a young student named Eddie (Jon Foster) to be his assistant for a summer. Eddie doesn't realize he's being drawn into the middle of a dissolving marriage until Ted's wife Marion (Kim Basinger, "L. A. Confidential") invites him into an affair--which Ted both condones and resents. Slowly, Eddie comes to understand the secrets that are tearing the marriage apart. Bridges never shows off; everything he does seems simple, natural, almost unavoidable, but it's also utterly watchable. Whether you like the movie will depend on whether you like John Irving ("The Door in the Floor" is based on part of his novel "A Widow for One Year"), but Bridges's performance is undeniable. Also featuring Mimi Rogers ("The Rapture"). "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Murder isn't always a crime.

Summary: Young Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) is happy as a clam, and why not? She's got a loving, successful husband (Bruce Greenwood), an adorable son, and an island home to die for. One morning, after a romantic sailing expedition with her husband, Libby finds herself covered in blood. Her husband's missing, the boat resembles a murder scene, and there's a knife on the deck. One might stop right there and call for help; Libby, however, takes matters--or, more specifically, the knife--into her own hands, and the moment she does, there's the Coast Guard. Faster than you can say frame-up, Libby's been charged with murder and jailed, with her young son stripped from her custody. It's all cut-and-dried, except for one thing: Libby's husband isn't dead, and she's about to track him down. And thanks to the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy rule, she can't be charged twice for his murder.
"Double Jeopardy" has a singularly seductive revenge premise and, in Judd, one of the most seductive leading ladies to grace the silver screen in recent years. So then why does this thriller feel like it came from the bottom of the Lifetime television movie barrel? Instead of taking a gritty, hard-boiled approach, the film plays up all of Libby's mushy emotions--tellingly, the director here is Bruce Beresford, whose best film, "Driving Miss Daisy", is as far from thriller territory as you can get. No matter how stoically or deviously Judd plays her, Libby comes across as a soccer mom with a slight taste for blood. Only in a few scenes, specifically when she tracks her wily husband to his new identity in New Orleans, does Judd get to strut her stuff, stealing an evening gown and crashing his charity auction. Most of the time, though, this thriller offers only a smattering of suspense. Well, at least like Libby, the filmmakers can't be condemned twice for the same crime. With Tommy Lee Jones duplicating his "Fugitive" role, as Libby's conscientious parole officer. "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: A rusty sub. A rebel commander. A renegade crew. When destiny called, they should have hung up.

Summary: Kelsey Grammer stars as the captain of a rust-bucket submarine who is fighting for his career by proving his skills in a contest against far more sophisticated ships. Rob Schneider provides comic support as an uptight ensign, and Lauren Holly plays an officer who has to fight her own will-they-accept-me-because-I'm-a-woman anxieties. The film didn't do well at the box office, but it is actually pretty funny, Grammer is enjoyable, and the above-the-water/below-the-water action sequences are as good as any in most submarine films. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Comments: He doesn't just talk to the animals!

Summary: There's something intrinsically funny about tactlessly truth-telling talking animals. And there are plenty of those--and laughs to go with them--in this 1998 reimagining of Hugh Lofting's children's story. Murphy plays the doctor in question, a modern-day San Francisco physician who discovers that he can understand what animals have to say. Director Betty Thomas makes the most of an amazing voice cast for the animals, led by Norm McDonald and including everyone from Garry Shandling to Julie Kavner to Albert Brooks. The story itself is pretty slim--will the conscientious doctor sign his soul away to a greedy HMO?--but Murphy makes the most of it, often providing priceless reactions to animal voices only he can hear. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Dolittle Is Back

Summary: It's only a marginal improvement, but "Dr. Dolittle 2" defies the odds by rising above its popular 1998 predecessor (and once again, let's not confuse these movies with the earlier Rex Harrison musical). Eddie Murphy cakewalks through his title role with the confident professionalism of a comedian who knows when to share the spotlight--especially when he's being upstaged by a bunch of animals who steal all the punch lines. And once again the movie's aimed at a preteen audience, so many of those punch lines involve flatulence, bodily functions, and frequent use of the word "butt".
The difference this time: Dr. Dolittle has settled into his talk-to-the-animals routine; his 16-year-old daughter (Raven-Symone) is getting to be a feisty handful (it turns out she's coping with a hereditary gift); and his lawyer wife (Kristen Wilson) is representing him in a trial against corporate villains who want to clear-cut a local forest. Naturally, the local critter mafia (their Don is a beaver... fugeddaboutit!) want Dolittle to fight for their cause, and this involves the successful mating of an endangered bear and a domesticated circus bear who's forgotten all the bear necessities of life in the wild. The bears are voiced by Lisa Kudrow and Steve Zahn, and they almost steal the show, but the whole menagerie (with digitally animated "talking") is equally amusing. Adults might wish that the filmmakers had tried harder to make a truly memorable sequel, but this is a movie for kids, and they're going to love it without quibbling. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Like Father, Like Daughter!

Summary: Maya Dolittle (Kyla Pratt, "One on One") takes center stage in this tweener-oriented sequel to the fur-friendly entertainments. While Eddie Murphy and much of the original gang have moved on, his on-screen daughter talks to the animals and works at a veterinarian clinic--just like dear old dad--when not attending school. Naturally, the animals talk back, like the family pooch and a mischievous monkey--who tends to materialize at the most inopportune times--from the first installments. So some things haven't changed. On the other hand, the 17-year-old's primary concerns are popularity, putting together the perfect look, and bagging a boyfriend. It won't be easy. The other kids think she's a freak because of that animal thing, and the chatty creatures keep getting her in trouble with her parents. Her mom, Lisa (Kristen Wilson, who returns to the fold), sends Maya to a dude ranch to straighten her out, but the animals won't leave the "weirdo" alone. (The ranch is run by John Amos of "Good Times" fame.) Eventually she finds a way to put her Dolittle skill to good use and returns home a heroine. Fast-paced, if forgettable, this straight-to-DVD movie is manufactured to appeal more to the "That's So Raven" and "Lizzy McGuire" set than to fans of the original duo (let alone the British musical with Rex Harrison). "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Maya Dolittle (Kyla Pratt) and her loyal dog pal Lucky are back in a heartwarming adventure of presidential proportions! Maya s dream of going to vet school is put on hold when she gets a call from the president of the United States. It seems the First Dog is out of control and the president needs Maya s help. Now it s up to Maya and Lucky to stop a canine catastrophe from becoming a major national crisis!System Requirements:Running Time: 90 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/COMEDY OF ERRORS Rating: PG UPC: 024543503293 Manufacturer No: 2250329

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The comedy that won a Pulitzer Prize

Summary: Winner of the Academy Award for best picture of 1989, this gracefully moving drama, adapted from the hit play by Alfred Uhry, chronicles the 25-year friendship between a stubborn, aging Southern widow (Jessica Tandy) and her loyal chauffeur (Morgan Freeman). At first, the self-sufficient Miss Daisy is reluctant to accept the services of a chauffeur, but Hoke is quiet, wise, and tolerant, and as the years pass the unlikely friends develop a deep mutual respect and admiration. Tandy deservedly won the Oscar for her sassy and sensitive performance, and Freeman earned an Oscar nomination for bringing quiet depth and integrity to his memorable role. Ironically, director Bruce Beresford ("Tender Mercies") was not nominated, but the film won Oscars for makeup and for Uhry's screenplay, in addition to a supporting actor nomination for Dan Aykroyd as Daisy's supportive son. Delicate, funny, and bittersweet, "Driving Miss Daisy" was a surprise hit when released, and marked the crowning achievement of Tandy's great career. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Friends STICK Together.

Summary: The cult PBS comedy "The Red Green Show" stretches into a feature film with "Duct Tape Forever", still very much about a batch of underachieving Canadian men and their high church of low expectations, the Possum Lodge. The longtime TV series, starring Steve Smith as flannel-shirted handyman Red Green, makes a comic virtue of Canuck self-parody and universal male ineptness.
"Whenever a man does a dumb thing," says Red, "it's better if he doesn't have an audience." Well, a lot of eyes are on Red, his geeky nephew Harold (Patrick McKenna), and the other boys after a rich man (Richard Fitzpatrick) drives his car into a Possum Lodge sinkhole and sues for damages. The solution: Build a giant, duct tape goose and enter it in a Minnesota contest for cash prizes. Of course. Co-creator Smith re-tools the show's self-deprecating essence and run-on joke about male incompetence into a winning movie. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English, French, Japanese

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

Comments: After a night they can't remember, comes a day they'll never forget.

Summary: Sometimes, stupidity is its own reward. "Dude, Where's My Car?" is one of the most ridiculous movies ever made--so ridiculous, and so thoroughly cheerful about being ridiculous, that it's thoroughly entertaining. Jesse and Chester (Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott) wake up one morning with absolutely no memory of the night before, but they're confident they must have had a good time. An irate phone call from their girlfriends quickly makes it clear that they may have had too much of a good time, and will be branded as sucky boyfriends unless they set things right. The boys set out to get the anniversary gifts they have for the girls in Jesse's car... only Jesse's car seems to be missing. Which of course leads our heroes on a quest, during which they encounter a pot-smoking dog, khaki-wearing cultists, hot chicks from outer space, a cameo by Fabio, and a herd of wild ostriches. "Dude, Where's My Car?" lacks the depth of character you might find in, say, a "Bill & Ted" movie, but the dialogue has an amazing spareness to it that gives it a kind of metaphysical splendor--if absurdist playwright Samuel Beckett had written ludicrous babe & stoner movies, he would have written "Dude, Where's My Car?" Also featuring a cameo by Andy Dick and more babes in bikinis than you can count. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Meet the Dukes. One family having so much fun there oughta be a law.

Summary: The teaming of Johnny Knoxville ("Jackass: The Movie") and Seann William Scott ("Dude, Where's My Car?") as well as the presence of the '70s-flavored car chases that were a specialty of the TV series guarantees that "The Dukes of Hazzard" will be even more lowbrow than the CBS TV series (1979-85) that inspired it. However, this brain-damaging comedy is more "rehash" than "remake," as good ol' Georgiaboys Luke Duke (Knoxville) and his cousin Bo (Scott) are frequently upstaged bythe General Lee, the Confederate-flagged '69 Charger that they drive, jump, race, and fly in as they smuggle moonshine for their Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson). Meanwhile, cousin Daisy Duke (Jessica Simpson) is reliably available to model her short-shorts (aka "Daisy Dukes") and awesome figure (and let's face it, Simpson's talents pretty much begin and end right there), while corrupt honcho Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds, who should know better) recruits a local NASCAR star to advance his wily scheme of converting Hazzard County into a strip mine. Director Jay Chandrasekhar ("Super Troopers") manages to mine some good-natured humor from the movie's oval-track detour and a few colorful supporting players (notably Kevin Hefferman as the Duke's pal Sheev). Otherwise, consider yourself warned: "The Dukes of Hazzard" is shameless Hollywood product at its most forgettable, trafficking in shameless white, rural Southern stereotypes. If you can make itto the end, there's a blooper reel to reward your endurance. "--Jeff Shannon"
DVD features
Yes, the unrated edition of "The Dukes of Hazzard" has nudity... but no, it's not of Jessica Simpson, but topless sorority girls. There are also two sets--"PG-13" and "unrated"--of deleted scenes and bloopers. The four minutes of unrated deleted scenes (supplementing the 25 minutes of "PG-13" deleted scenes) include more sorority girls and a menage à trois for Johnny Knoxville . The five minutes of unrated bloopers (the same amount as the "PG-13" bloopers) feature a few more girls but mostly bad language. Featurettes discuss the Daisy Duke short shorts (and show how you can make your own), car stunts, and the making of the movie (narrated by a cast member of the original TV series). "--David Horiuchi"