Warchild

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French

Comments: A love story between a man, a country, the people he led and the woman he loved.

Summary: Considering that Sylvester Stallone's first film of any real distinction was "Rocky", an Academy Award winner for best picture and an instant classic, it's a safe bet that he had free rein when it came to his next project. In "F.I.S.T." (released in 1978), he chose a vehicle that matched him with a big-time director (Norman Jewison of "In the Heat of the Night" and "The Thomas Crown Affair" renown), a screenwriter on the verge of stardom (Joe Eszterhas, whose future would include "Flashdance" and "Basic Instinct"), and veteran actors like Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle, and Tony Lo Bianco. Yet while "F.I.S.T." is filmmaking on a grand scale, it also has the underlying themes that made the Rocky Balboa saga such a hit, particularly the plight of the common man as he struggles to maintain his dignity in the face of daunting odds. Stallone portrays Johnny Kovak, a blue-collar worker in late 1930s Cleveland who joins the nascent Federation of Inter-State Truckers (the Teamsters, basically) and rises up through the ranks until, a couple of decades later, he becomes the union's head honcho. Along the way, his ambitions lead to an alliance with organized crime, and while Kovak is an essentially decent fellow, the compromises he's made eventually catch up to him in the form of an investigation by a grandstanding, blowhard U.S. Senator (Steiger) and big trouble with an oily mob boss (Lo Bianco). All of that takes quite a while to play out; at 145 minutes, the movie is too long, especially considering that Jewison and Eszterhas (Stallone co-wrote the script) take an approach that's no more nuanced and subtle than, well, a flying fist. It also seems somewhat dated; viewing it now, in an era when CGI and other effects wizardry would have greatly enhanced some of the bigger scenes (a truckers rally in Washington, confrontations between union members and strike-breaking thugs), one is reminded more of a '70s TV movie that the epic the filmmakers clearly intended to create. The DVD includes no extras. "--Sam Graham"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AAC

Summary: Elia Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd" charts the rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes (Andy Griffith) from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Patricia Neal plays Marcia Jeffries, the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.

Sound: MP3

Comments: Obey Fu Manchu Or Every Living Thing Will Die!

Summary: Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.

Comments: When Andy met Edie, life imitated art.

Summary: A beautiful, wealthy young party girl drops out of Radcliffe in 1965 and heads to New York to become Holly Golightly. When she meets a hungry young artist named Andy Warhol, he promises to make her the star she always wanted to be. And like a super nova she explodes on the New York scene only to find herself slowly lose grip on reality...

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Six students are about to find out their teachers really are from another planet.

Summary: This hip and edgy thriller from the director of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN and the writer of SCREAM and SCREAM 2 sizzles with a hot young cast including Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy), Josh Hartnett (PEARL HARBOR), and R&B superstar Usher Raymond! When some very creepy things start happening around school, the kids at Herrington High make a chilling discovery that confirms their worst suspicions: their teachers really are from another planet! As mind-controlling parasites rapidly begin spreading from the faculty to the students' bodies, it's ultimately up to the few who are left -- an unlikely collection of loners, leaders, nerds, and jocks -- to save the world from alien domination! Also starring Robert Patrick (TERMINATOR 2), Famke Janssen (X-MEN), and Jon Stewart (TV's THE DAILY SHOW) in a great cast -- don't miss the unstoppable excitement of this unpredictably smart and scary hit!

Summary: In the countryside of Thailand, a gang of outlaws makes the region unsafe. Among them is the handsome gun hero Dum, who became unwillingly involved in the bandit life. Handsome Dum made a promise to his upper-crust lover Rumpoey: despite the class difference, they will get married. When the moment of reunion arrives, Dum gets involved in a fire fight and cannot possibly reach Rumpoey in time. She is desperate: her father has married her off to a policeman. The taciturn Dum, called the 'Black Tiger' by his co-conspirators, has however not forgotten Rumpoey. He does everything in his power to reach her, but fate gets in the way: his gang leader suspects him of treachery and his blood brother turns into his greatest enemy. Will the two lovers ever meet up? This urgent question propels the melodrama forward, supported by exciting music, spectacular shootouts and heroic duels.

Languages: English

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

Comments: Aflame with the excitement and emotions of tomorrow!

Summary: The classic science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury was a curious choice for one of the leading directors of the French New Wave, François Truffaut. But from the opening credits onward (spoken, not written on screen), Truffaut takes Bradbury's fascinating premise and makes it his own. The futuristic society depicted in "Fahrenheit 451" is a culture without books. Firemen still race around in red trucks and wear helmets, but their job is to start fires: they ferret out forbidden stashes of books, douse them with gasoline, and make public bonfires. Oskar Werner, the star of Truffaut's "Jules and Jim", plays a fireman named Montag, whose exposure to "David Copperfield" wakens an instinct toward reading and individual thought. (That's why books are banned--they give people too many ideas.) In an intriguing casting flourish, Julie Christie plays two roles: Montag's bored, drugged-up wife and the woman who helps kindle the spark of rebellion. The great Bernard Herrmann wrote the hard-driving music; Nicolas Roeg provided the cinematography. "Fahrenheit 451" received a cool critical reception and has never quite been accepted by Truffaut fans or sci-fi buffs. Its deliberately listless manner has always been a problem, although that is part of its point; the lack of reading has made people dry and empty. If the movie is a bit stiff (Truffaut did not speak English well and never tried another project in English), it nevertheless is full of intriguing touches, and the ending is lyrical and haunting. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: Korean

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: After losing both her parents, Failan (Cecilia Cheung) emmigrates to Korea to seek her only remaining relatives. Once she reaches Korea, she finds out that her relatives have moved to Canada well over a year ago. Desperate to stay and make a living in Korea, Failan is forced to have an arranged marriage through a match-making agency. Kang Jae (Choi Min Shik) is an old and outdated gangster who has no respect from his peers. Short on money, Kang Jae decides to take on the arranged marriage. Having nothing more than a picture of Kang Jae, Failan spends her days dreaming and wishing that Kang Jae would come to visit her. Failan often writes to Kang Jae in sorrow about how much she misses and thinks about him, but never has the nerve to give the letters to Kang Jae. Things take a turn when Kang Jae is asked by his boss to take the fall for a murder in exchange for some money. The only hope in his worthless life is the wife he never met.

Sound: MP3

Summary: A metropolitan city is in the grip of fear when rolling blackouts bring out a serial killer dubbed The Picasso Killer. One night, in the middle of a blackout, seven strangers become trapped in an office building as the killer hunts for Christie Wallace, the woman that can identify him.

Languages: Japanese, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Subtitles: English

Comments: Kamata koshin-kyoku

Summary:

Languages: English

Sound: MP3

Comments: The Most Magnificent Re-Creation . . . Of An Ancient Empire . . . Launches A New Epoch In Motion Pictures . . .

Summary: Action-packed look at the beginnings of the fall of the Roman Empire. Here is the glory, the greed and grandeur that was Rome. Here is the story of personal lust for power, and the shattering effects of that power's loss. Here is the tale of the plight of a people living on the brink of a political abyss.

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

Comments: The adventures of an ordinary man at war with the everyday world.

Summary: This film, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut, and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck in traffic one day near downtown L.A. and proceeds to just walk away from his car--and then lose it emotionally. Everyone he encounters rubs him the wrong way--and a fine lot of stereotypes they are, from threatening ghetto punks to rude convenience store owners to a creepy white supremacist--and he reacts violently in every case. As he walks across L.A. (now there's a concept), cutting a bloody swath, he's being tracked by a cop on the verge of retirement (Robert Duvall). He also spends time on the phone with his frightened ex-wife (Barbara Hershey). Though Douglas and Duvall give stellar performances, they can't disguise the fact that, as usual, this is another film from director Joel Schumacher that is about surface and sensation, rather than actual substance. "--Marshall Fine"

Languages: English

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary:
What better way to launch "Family Guy"'s sixth season and commemorate "Star Wars"' 30th anniversary than with this double-length Very Special Episode, a full-scale, awesomely animated spoof that recasts George Lucas' saga with "Family Guy"'s galaxy of characters: Chris (Seth Green) is Luke; Lois (Alex Borstein) is Princess Leia; Peter (Seth McFarlane) is Han Solo, but not, as expected, Jabba the Hut; Brian (Seth, again) is Chewbacca; Quagmire (and again, Seth) is C3PO; Cleveland is R2D2; Herbert, the creepy senior pedophile, is Obi-Wan (both voiced by Mike Henry); and, of course, Stewie (Seth, already) is Darth Vader ("My diapers have gone over to the dark side"). Poor Meg is reduced to a cameo as the hideous reptilian creature that haunts the garbage compactor. "Blue Harvest" is reverently faithful to "A New Hope", while engaging in typical "Family Guy" pop-culture references (everything from those old Grey Poupon commercials to "Doctor Who", "Airplane", "Dirty Dancing", and "Deal or No Deal") and bizarre digressions (the iconic opening crawl detours into an appreciation of a "way naked" Angelina Jolie in "Gia"). Along for the wild ride are Judd Nelson, who contributes a voice cameo as John Bender for a "Breakfast Club" gag, Rush Limbaugh railing against futuristic affirmative action on Tatooine talk radio, and Beverly D'Angelo and Chevy Chase as the vacationing Griswolds observing the rebellion from their orbiting station wagon. A "Star Wars" spoof in 2007 isn't exactly uncharted territory. As Chris Griffin notes in this episode's final moments, "Robot Chicken" brilliantly did it months earlier (and let us not forget Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs" from 1987; or, on second thought...). But the Force is strong with "Family Guy", and who could resist the opportunity to hear the Muzak playing in a Death Star elevator? --"Donald Liebenson"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

Comments: Jerry is seven times nuttier in seven gems of character portrayal!

Summary: In THE FAMILY JEWELS, a little rich girl is suddenly orphaned and it is discovered that she has inherited $30 million, but sh emust choose one of her "unusual" uncles (all played by Lewis). One is a gangster who kidnaps her, but there is a happy ending.

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Meito bijomaru

Summary: Kiyone Sakurai, an apprentice swordmaker makes a sword for his guardian, Kozaemon Onoda. Onoda breaks the sword while defending his lord which eventually leads to his death at the hands of Naito, when Naito demands to marry his daughter Sasae. Sasae vows to avenge her father's death and pleads for Kiyone Sakurai to make a special sword for her. So Kiyone and his fellow swordmaker Kiyotsugu go to the master swordsmith Kiyohide Yamatomori to learn their craft and forge the sword.

Sound: MP3

Comments: Ren she shu

Summary:

Languages: English, DTS 5.1; English, Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Commentary by Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Ioan Gruffud, Unknown

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Comments: 4 times the action. 4 times the adventure. 4 times the fantastic.

Summary: When an experimental space voyage goes awry, four people are changed by cosmic rays. Reed Richards, inventor and leader of the group gains the ability to stretch his body, and takes the name, Mr. Fantastic. His girlfriend, Sue Storm, gains the ability to turn invisible and create force fields, calling herself the Invisible Woman. Her younger brother Johnny Storm gains the ability to control fire, including covering his own body with flame, becoming the Human Torch. Pilot Ben Grimm is turned into a super-strong rock creature calling himself Thing. Together, they use their unique powers to explore the strange aspects of the world, and to foil the evil plans of Doctor Doom.

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Summary: "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is another entertaining romp for the Marvel-superhero franchise. Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), is treading on thin ice when his fiancée, Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), thinks he's more interested in a series of cosmic phenomena occurring around the earth than in the preparations for their upcoming wedding. Sorry, ladies, but Reed is right. The disturbances are caused by a surge of cosmic power from a mysterious being called the Silver Surfer (an all-CGI creation, modeled by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne), who not only zooms around the skies on his board, but also has enough power to fight the FF, sometimes by turning their own power against them, not only mixing up Sue and Reed, but also Johnny Storm, the Human Torch (Chris Evans), and Ben Grimm, the Thing (Michael Chiklis). But that's not the worst of it. The Surfer is only an opening act, a herald looking for planets that his master, Galactus, can consume for his sustenance.
With its initial installment, "Fantastic Four" established itself as the superhero franchise that didn't take itself too seriously, and that continues here. There are numerous moments of laugh-out-loud humor, and the most angst they suffer is whether Sue and Reed will ever be able to live a normal family life. (That, and whether they'll ever really get married, of course.) If "Fantastic Four" were a normal superhero franchise, the ending would be a knock-down drag-out war with Galactus, featuring the FF in a colossal battle for the planet Earth and the lives of everyone on it. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" just doesn't do that, and we don't quite get the payoff we expected. Effects are dazzling, but the Surfer looks too metallic, more like a skyriding T-1000 robot. "--David Horiuchi"
On the DVD Are you getting tired of big movies initially coming out on substandard DVDs only to be released in better versions later? No such worries with the Power Cosmic Edition of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", which delivers the goods. The double-sided disc 1 has both widescreen and full-screen editions of the movie, with two commentary tracks. On the first, director Tim Story talks about FF inside jokes and what had to be cut out of the movie. The second combines producer Avi Arad (has anyone recorded more superhero DVD commentaries?), screenwriter Don Payne, and editors Peter S. Elliot and William Hoy (only the last two sound like they were actually in the room at the same time) covering some of the same ground: comic-book references, special effects, etc. On disc 2 are five extended/deleted scenes (almost 10 minutes total) with commentary by Story, including a longer title sequence and some comic relief. "Family Bonds" is a 46-minute "fly on the wall" documentary that follows the crew as they scout locations, test early special effects, and then work with the cast. There's a multi-angle look at the Fantasticar and five featurettes (some of which are more substantial than you'd expect for that term). Topics include the development of the Fantasticar (10 minutes), the Surfer effects (15 minutes), the history of the Surfer in comic books (39 minutes, with interviews of Stan Lee, Jim Starlin, and Ron Marz, and Lee describes himself as his own biggest fan!), the Thing suit (11 minutes), and the music score (four minutes). "--David Horiuchi"

"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" Extras View exclusive clips (including interviews with "Fantastic Four" Creator Stan Lee and Screenwriter Don Payne), download AIM icons and wallpapers and browse the extensive photo gallery at our "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" minisite. Beyond "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"
"Fantastic Four" Toys & Games
"Fantastic Four" Paperback Series
"Fantastic Four" Comics & Graphic Novels
"Fantastic Four" Video Games
"Fantastic Four" Posters, Stickers and More
"Fantastic Four" Apparel

More of the "Four" on DVD
"Fantastic Four" Extended Cut
"The Fantastic Four" Animated Series
"Fantastic Four" on Blu-Ray


Stills from "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0

Comments: The screen's most fantastic voyage

Summary: "2001: A Space Odyssey" took the world on a mind-bending trip to outer space, but "Fantastic Voyage" is the original psychedelic inner-space adventure. When a brilliant scientist falls into a coma with an inoperable blood clot in the brain, a surgical team embarks on a top-secret journey to the center of the mind in a high-tech military submarine shrunk to microbial dimensions. Stephen Boyd stars as a colorless commander sent to keep an eye on things (though his eyes stay mostly on shapely medical assistant Raquel Welch), while Donald Pleasance is suitably twitchy as the claustrophobic medical consultant. The science is shaky at best, but the imaginative spectacle is marvelous: scuba-diving surgeons battle white blood cells, tap the lungs to replenish the oxygen supply, and shoot the aorta like daredevil surfers. The film took home a well-deserved Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Director Richard Fleischer, who turned Disney's 1954 "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" into one of the most riveting submarine adventures of all time, creates a picture so taut with cold-war tensions and cloak-and-dagger secrecy that niggling scientific contradictions (such as, how do miniaturized humans breathe full-sized air molecules?) seem moot. --"Sean Axmaker"

Summary: As inspector Juve seems to be unable to put Fantômas behind bars the Press comes up with the idea Juve must be Fantômas himself! Juve is soon jailed as an attempt to ease the stress on his case. But Fantômas is free and having his old archrival convicted is certainly an evil dream he wants to come true.

Sound: Dolby

Comments: James Stewart

Summary: In 1896, Jeff Webster sees the start of the Klondike gold rush as a golden opportunity to make a fortune in beef...and woe betide anyone standing in his way! He drives a cattle herd from Wyoming to Seattle, by ship to Skagway, and (after a delay caused by larcenous town boss Gannon) through the mountains to Dawson. There, he and his partner Ben Tatum get into the gold business themselves. Two lovely women fall for misanthropic Jeff, but he believes in every-man-for-himself, turning his back on growing lawlessness...until it finally strikes home.