DVD Tuesday: John Cleese, Deja Vu & More! - Xoanon @ 13:37 PST
.45: A story of how obsession, addiction and abuse leads a young woman (Jovovich) to execute an elaborate plan of revenge.


10 Items or Less: An actor (Freeman) prepping for an upcoming role meets a quirky grocery clerk (Vega), and the pair hit the road to show one another their respective worlds.


Al Franken - God Spoke: The makers of "The War Room" turn their cameras on yet another burgeoning political career. 'Al Franken: God Spoke' is a cinema verité pursuit of Al Franken, shot over the course of two years, which follows the former Saturday Night Live comedian turned best-selling author and political satirist, from his highly publicized feud with Bill O'Reilly over Franken's blockbuster "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" to his relentless campaign against George Bush and the Right Wing in the 2004 election, and beyond. From his USO tour in Iraq, to the studios of liberal radio network Air America and onto the campaign trail, filmmakers Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus are granted entré to one of the most effective political satirists of our time. Franken fearlessly confronts pundits and politicians, blurring the boundaries between political satire and impassioned citizenry. Featuring a host of beltway insiders including Ann Coulter, Michael Moore, Al Gore, Robert Kennedy Jr., Sean Hannity, William Safire, Karen Hughes and Henry Kissinger, the film is an often hilarious look behind the front lines of the media wars during the most contentious election in recent history. But ultimately, 'Al Franken: God Spoke' is a personal drama of transformation as Franken moves from his seat in the sidelines to become a contender in the political ring.


Anna Karenina: Stefan and Dolly Oblonsky have had a little spat and Stefan has asked his sister, Anna Karenina, to come down to Moscow to help mend the rift. Anna's companion on the train from St. Petersburg is Countess Vronsky who is met at the Moscow station by her son. Col. Vronsky looks very dashing in his uniform and it's love at first sight when he looks at Anna and their eyes meet. Back in St. Petersburg they keep running into each other at parties. Since she has a husband and small son, they must be very discreet if they are going to see each other alone.


Biography: Mafia Legends: Includes - Bugsy Siegel / Lucky Luciano / Al Capone Scarface


Biography: Ted Bundy: This episode of the long running series Biography tells the life story of infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. The director utilizes interviews with criminologists, psychiatrists, and people who knew Bundy in order to explain how and why he killed over two-dozen women. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide


The Bride Came C.O.D.: Oil heiress Joan is going to elope with bandleader Allen whom she's known four days. Out-of-money pilot Steve is going to fly them to Nevada but makes a deal with her father to deliver her home unmarried. He flies off with her, an apparent kidnaping, but is forced down in the desert. The bandleader arrives with a preacher, but their marriage (in California, not Nevada) is not valid. Pilot Steve will marry her because her father is a millionaire.


Captains of the Clouds: James Cagney made his first Technicolor appearance in the morale-boosting aviation flick Captains of the Clouds. Cagney plays Brian MacLean, a hotshot Canadian bush pilot who delights in stealing jobs-and women-away from his competitors. Brian is forced to shape up in a hurry when he's assigned to train other pilots for the Royal Canadian Air Force. At the ending of the training period, he is given his first real RCAF assignment: The seemingly unimportant task of shepherding American bomber planes across the Atlantic to England. With startling suddenness, Brian comes to realize the true importance of his job when he is forced into a deadly confrontation with a fleet of Nazi raider planes. Real-life Canadian WW1 flying ace Billy Bishop plays a small but pivotal role in Captains of the Clouds, while the leading-lady duties were handled by Warner Bros. stock actress Brenda Marshall (aka Mrs. William Holden). Cinematographer Sol Polito earned an Oscar nomination for his vivid color photography, though aerial photographers Elmer Dyer, Charles Marshall and Winston Hoch were certainly just as deserving.


Columbo: Mystery Movie Collection 1989: This latest boxed set of excellent DVD releases of the classic Columbo TV detective series represent the first of the later produced feature-lenghth episodes that were aired. Universal, which owns Columbo, has called this set "Columbo: Mystery Movie Collection 1989." Included are all of the episodes that fans consider comprise Season Eight, along with the first episode of Season Nine, which ultimately had six episodes. Those episodes apparently are going to be released in the next boxed set of these later movies. In addition to the episodes in 1990, the franchise churned out 13 more terrific episodes between 1991 and 2003 featuring the rumpled (and ultimately attractively graying) Peter Falk in the title role, which has truly and deservedly become an iconic TV character. Hopefully, the entire Columbo catalog will be released on DVD. This boxed set includes a cornucopia of great stories and stellar acting, a trademark of the series. The last episode included is my favorite episode of the entire series.


David Bowie: Spiders from Mars Interviews: This DVD contains interview material and archival footage presented all on one DVD! It begins with the rarest, most amazing UK Bournemouth footage featuring Bowie putting on his make-up and costumes from the Ziggy period. Also featured is a Russell Harty interview from the UK, Bowie's press conference after leaving RCA and signing to EMI, and some very rare footage of David Jones in '64 when he explains the "Society for the prevention of cruelty to long haired men". Also included are Bowie interviews with Jonathan Ross, Parkinson, Valerie Singleton, and a full 40-min press conference.


Deja Vu: In his most effective thriller since Enemy of the State, Tony Scott makes time travel seem plausible. It helps that his New Orleans hero, ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington in his third go-round with the director), spends more time in the present than the past. In order to catch a terrorist, FBI Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) invites Carlin to join forces. They have the technology to see the past. He has the expertise to interpret the data. Unfortunately, the bomb has already gone off and hundreds of ferry passengers have died. Then there's the body of a beautiful woman, Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton, Idlewild), that turns up in the vicinity of the blast. Evidence indicates she was killed beforehand. Since the FBI enables him to observe Claire prior to her murder, Carlin gets to know what she was like and finds himself falling in love. He becomes convinced that the only way to solve the case--and prove her innocence--is to travel to the past. But as Pryzwarra's colleague, Denny (Adam Goldberg), argues, "You cannot go back in time. It's physically impossible." Or so he says. Déjà Vu is constructed around a clever script and executed by a top-notch cast, notably Washington, Patton, and an eerie Jim Caviezel (miles away from Passion of the Christ). In shedding the excesses of recent years--the sadism of Man on Fire and weirdness of Tarantino favorite Domino--Scott re-affirms his rep as one of the action movie's finest practitioners.


The Documentaries of Louis Malle - Eclipse Series 2: Over the course of a nearly forty-year career, Louis Malle forged a reputation as one of the world’s most versatile cinematic storytellers, with such widely acclaimed, and wide-ranging, masterpieces as Elevator to the Gallows, My Dinner with Andre, and Au revoir les enfants. At the same time, however, with less fanfare, Malle was creating a parallel, even more personal body of work as a documentary filmmaker. With the discerning eye of a true artist and the investigatory skills of a great journalist, Malle takes us from his French homeland to India to the United States, in some of the most engaging and fascinating nonfiction films ever made. Six Disc Set Includes: Vive Le Tour Humain, Trop Humain Place de la Republique An energetic evocation of the Tour de France, a meditative investigation of the inner workings of a French automotive plant, and an entertaining snapshot of the comings and goings on one street corner in Paris - Louis Malle's three French-set documentaries reveal, in an eclectic array of ways, the director's eternal facination with and respect for, the everyday lives of everyday people. Phantom India Malle called his gorgeous and groundbreaking Phantom India the most personal film of his career. And this extraordinary journey to India, originally shown as a miniseries on European television, is infused with his sense of discovery, as well as occasional outrage, intrigue, and joy. Calcutta When he was cutting Phantom India, Malle found that the footage shot in Calcutta was so diverse, intense, and unforgettable that it deserved its own film. The result, released theatrically, is at times shocking - a chaotic portrait of a city engulfed in social and political turmoil, edging ever closer to oblivion. God's Country In 1979, Louis Malle traveled into the heart of Minnesota to capture the everyday lives of the men and women in a prosperous farming community. Six years later, during Ronald Reagan's second term, he returned to find drastic economic decline. Free of stereotypes about America's "heartland," God's Country, commissioned for American public television, is a stunning work of emotional and political clarity....And the Pursuit of Happiness In 1986, Malle, himself a transplant in the United States, set out to investigate the ever widening range of immigrant experience in America. Interviewing a variety of newcomers (from teachers to astronauts to doctors) in middle-and working-class communities from coast to coast, Malle paints a generous, humane portrait of their individual struggles in an increasingly polyglot nation.


Dr. Danger with Dr. Bob Arnot: Season 1: There is a fine line between adventure and danger, and Dr. Danger is on a mission to find that line and even cross it. Dr. Bob Arnot, longtime network news correspondent, adventurer, thrill-seeker, humanitarian and the ultimate world traveler, shares his passion for the allure of exotic locations, hair-raising adventure and the intoxication of danger. This unique DVD contains an eye-opening account of the dishotomy that is Africa, to experience speed, guns, politic, natural beauty, luzury, historic sites and intimate visits with families.


The Drew Carey Show - The Complete First Season: Drew is an assistant director of personnel in a Cleveland department store and he has been stuck there for ten years. Other than fighting with co-worker Mimi, his hobbies include drinking beer and not being able to get dates. To make a few extra bucks he has a micro-brewery going in his garage with his buddies.


Ed Edd N Eddy: Complete Second Season: The boys are back in their scam-tastic second season, and this time Ed, Edd and Eddy have hatched more schemes than you can shake a jar of quarters at. As they continue on their endless journey for jawbreakers, they'll exercise their overactive imaginations - and the patience of all the other neighborhood kids.


Essential Classics - American Musicals: This three-disc set, part of Warner's Essential Classics series, collects three truly classic films--The Music Man, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers--in one inexpensive package. The drawback is you don't get the second disc of either Meet Me in St. Louis or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, so if you're a featurette junky or if you simply have to see the reshot version of Seven Brides, you'll want to stick with the individual releases. But this set does include the commentary tracks and any other material that was on the first disc of those two-disc sets (The Music Man still has everything that was on the one-disc release), and best of all, they have the great remastered pictures of the previous releases. So if you just want the movies looking better than ever with some bonus features thrown in for good measure, the price per movie makes this set an attractive bargain.


Essential Classics - Dramas: This four-disc set, part of Warner's Essential Classics series, collects three truly classic films--The Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, and Ben-Hur--in one inexpensive package. The drawback is you don't get the bonus discs of the movies--one in the case of Citizen Kane, and two each for The Maltese Falcon and Ben-Hur (which still needs two discs just for the movie)--so if you're a documentary junky or if you simply have to see the earlier versions of The Maltese Falcon, you'll want to stick with the individual releases. But this set does include the commentary tracks, shorts, photo galleries, and other material that was on the movie discs of those sets, and best of all, they have the great remastered pictures of the previous releases. So if you just want the movies looking better than ever with some bonus features thrown in for good measure, the price per movie makes this set an attractive bargain.


Essential Classics - Family Films: This three-disc set, part of Warner's Essential Classics series, collects three films--The Wizard of Oz, The Goonies, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory--in one inexpensive package. (Apparently, 1985's The Goonies and 1971's Willy Wonka are considered modern classics.) The drawback is you don't get the bonus discs of The Wizard of Oz (either one bonus disc or two, depending on which version you're interested in)--so if you really want the documentaries or the silent films, you'll want to stick with the individual releases. But this set does include the commentary tracks, cast profiles, and any other material that was on the movie discs of the Oz sets, or anything that was on the previous Goonies or Wonka releases. Best of all, The Wizard of Oz has the great remastered picture of the two previous releases. So if you just want the movies looking better than ever with some bonus features thrown in for good measure, the price per movie makes this set an attractive bargain.


Essential Classics - Musicals: Includes - My Fair Lady / Singin' in the Rain / Gigi


Essential Classics - Romances: This four-disc set, part of Warner's Essential Classics series, collects three truly classic films--Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, and Doctor Zhivago--in one inexpensive package. The drawback is you don't get the bonus second discs of the movies--or, in the case of the deluxe version of Gone with the Wind, the third and fourth discs (the movie of Zhivago is still on a two-sided "flipper" disc)--so if you're a documentary junky or if you simply have to see the Casablanca TV show, you'll want to stick with the individual releases. But this set does include the commentary tracks and any other material that was on the movie discs of those sets, and best of all, they have the great remastered pictures of the previous releases. So if you just want the movies looking better than ever with some bonus features thrown in for good measure, the price per movie makes this set an attractive bargain.


Fabulous Sixties: The Fabulous 60s takes a kaleidoscopic look back at this most turbulent of decades, ten tumultuous years that began in hope with mans exploration of space and the youngest elected President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.


The Fighting 69th: You'd have to be the world's biggest grouch to dislike a movie like The Fighting 69th. For starters it's got James Cagney as a smart-aleck from Brooklyn--can't go wrong there, can you?--and then you've got Pat O'Brien second-billed in a sentimentally iconic role as Father Duffy, the beloved and much-decorated real-life chaplain of the legendary Irish-American army regiment of World War I. The time is 1918, on the battlefields of France, but this is a 1940 Warner Brothers production, so you can bet there's plenty of blarney, bravery, and roughneck action as the Fighting 69th prepares to engage German forces in WWI's final offensive, the Battle of the Argonne. Up to that point, Jimmy Plunkett (Cagney) has proven less than worthy of fighting in the fearsome 69th. He's a Brooklyn punk with plenty of false bravado, but when bullets are flying and grenades are falling, he's nothin' but a yellow-bellied crybaby, making the kind of mistakes that get people killed--in this case, many of his closest comrades. He's eventually forced to find his courage, and does so with honor to spare. In classic Warner Bros. fashion, the wartime sentiment is ladled on so heavily that cynics may gag or burst out laughing, but the supporting cast is fantastic (especially Alan Hale Sr. and George Brent as quintessential Fightin' Irish heroes), and William Keighley directs with such energetic enthusiasm toward the material that you can't help but be swept up in the action. It's flag-waving fun, and Cagney's a constant pleasure, even as he's quivering in his boots. Available separately or as part of the James Cagney Signature Collection, The Fighting 69th has been given the red-carpet treatment by Warner Bros., with a bevy of "Warner Night at the Movies" DVD bonus features from 1940, including a vintage newsreel, short subjects, two cartoons (including "The Fighting 69½th"), movie trailers and an audio-only radio adaptation of The Fighting 69th starring Pat O'Brien, Robert Preston and Ralph Bellamy. With all this stuff on one DVD, what's not to like?


Fixed Bayonets: The story of a platoon during the Korean War. One by one Corporal Denno's superiors are killed until it comes to the point where he must try to take command responsiblity.


Flipper - The Original Series, Season 1: They call him Flipper, Flipper, King of the Sea! Now for the first time, he's on DVD! Plunge into an undersea world of fun and excitement with Flipper and his pals Bud and Sandy Ricks, and their dad Porter, the chief ranger at Florida's Coral Key Park. Bring home this aquatic adventure, and relive a classic splash from the past with this family favorite!


Forgotten Noir 4: Man From Cairo & Mask of Dragon: "The Man from Cairo", a Michaeldavid production for distribution by Lippert, with Ray Enright the only credited director on the film print, finds Mike Canelli (George Raft), the man from Cairo, nosing around Algiers with mystery surrounding the people he meets and the things he does and has done to him, all deriving from the war-time theft of $100,000,000 in gold which lies somewhere in the adjacent desert. People representing many nationalities and reasons are also seeking the gold. It boils down to a battle between Canelli and the original looter aboard a speeding train. - Lt. Dan Oliver (Richard Emory), an American soldier in Korea, agrees to deliver a jade dragon statuette to a curio shop in Los Angeles. Soon after his arrival, he is murdered. Phil Ramsey (Richard Travis) and Ginny O'Donnell (Sheila Ryan) trace the murder to the shop of Professor Kim Ho (Jack Reitzen). Ramsey receives a package mailed to him by Oliver from Honolulu that contains the jade dragon, and takes it to the curio shop to force a showdown with Kim Ho. He is attacked by Ho's hoods and is about to be killed when Ginny arrives with Police Lt. McLaughton (Lyle Talbot) and the police.


Forgotten Noir 6: I'll Get You & Fingerprints Don't Lie: When nuclear scientists are kidnapped and smuggled behind the Iron Curtain, an FBI man and a British agent are assigned to catch the kidnappers. - The killing of Mayor Palmer (Forrest Taylor) is being placed on Paul Moody (Richard Emory) by fingerprint expert Jim Stover (Richard Travis) as Moody's prints were found on the murder weapon. When reporter Brad Evans (Rory Mallison) places doubt in Stover's mind that the fingerprints were Moodys, he decides to investigate further with the help of the mayor's daughter Carolyn (Sheila Ryan).


Forgotten Noir Collector's Set 2: Includes - Man From Cairo / Mask of the Dragon / FBI Girl / Tough Assignment / I'll Get You / Fingerprints Don't Lie


The Great Escape: The Great Escape image of Steve McQueen (as "The Cooler King") astride his motorcycle has entered silver-screen iconography, alongside Brando on his bike from The Wild One. Based on a true story about a group of POWs who mount a daring breakout from a supposedly inescapable Nazi prison camp, this rousing and suspenseful WWII epic features an all-star cast, including James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, and David McCallum. The DVD also includes a 24-minute documentary about the making of the film.


I Deal in Danger: A U.S. double agent blows up an underground Nazi lab. From the "Blue Light" TV series.


I Married Joan, Vol. 1: I Married Joan starred Joan Davis, America's Queen of Comedy, and Jim Backus, the voice of Mr. Magoo and the popular character Thurston Howell III from the Gilligan's Island TV series. The show centered on Joan, a scatterbrained housewife, and her husband the staid and settled domestic court judge. Episodes include: Honeymoon, Home Movies, New House, Neighbors, Alienation, Sister Pat


Ironside - The Complete First Season: "He's not a man in a wheelchair. He's Ironside in a wheelchair." Yes, and while TV cop shows come and go, there was only one Ironside, which makes its first appearance on DVD with this eight-disc boxed set, containing 28 episodes from the show's first season (1967-68), along with the pilot that preceded it in '66. The series is like others of its ilk and time, in ways both good (snappy dialogue and very cool, jazz-inflected music, including a theme song by Quincy Jones and scoring by the great composer-arranger Oliver Nelson) and mediocre (slow pacing, and a thoroughly square take on the mid-'60s counterculture). But what sets this one apart is the presence of Raymond Burr in the title role. Just a year removed from Perry Mason, Burr is outstanding as a former San Francisco chief of detectives who returns to the force as a consultant following the shooting that leaves him wheelchair-bound (illuminated in the 90-minute "world premiere"). His Robert Ironside is gruff, acerbic, free of self-pity (told by a doctor that he'll never walk again, he replies, "Is that all?"), and always ready with a sarcastic quip ("Are you brother and sister, or do you just cross-pollinate?" he says to two self-described "flower people"). He's also a policeman who's not shy about bending a rule or two as he relentlessly pursues the bad guys. And while his team (Don Galloway and Barbara Anderson as young cops and Don Mitchell as the African American delinquent who becomes his driver and caretaker) often chafes under his, um, iron hand, he's also a sympathetic mentor skilled in the art of tough love. Story-wise, Ironside is pretty typical: murder, robbery, car theft, and a smattering of more contemporary issues like drugs and the Cold War. While there are occasional chase scenes and gunfights (most of them less than gripping), the focus is on a facts-first, conclusions-later approach to crime solving; "the chief" relies on the dry, meticulous gathering of evidence and factual minutiae and an almost Sherlock Holmesian attention to logic and detail to win the day. The result: Ironside may be crippled, but he's not lame. The DVD transfers are crisp and clean, but the boxed set contains no bonus material.


Ironside - Season 1, Vol. 1 (Pilot Episode & First Five Episodes): Ironside is confined to a wheel chair (an attempted assassination left him paralyzed). With his former assistants Brown and Whitfield (later Belding) and former delinquent (and later lawyer) Mark, he combats crime for the San Francisco police from his mobile office (a van) while leaving a pot of chili cooking back at headquarters.


Jackie Robinson-Breaking Barriers: A loving tribute to the first African-American Major Leaguer, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of his debut game. Includes archival clips, interviews with family members, personal photos, and newsreels.


James Cagney: Signature Collection: Includes - The Bride Came C.O.D. / Captains of the Clouds / The Fighting 69th / Torrid Zone / The West Point Story


Jane Eyre: Small, plain and poor, Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. Denied love all her life, Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent, vibrant, energetic Mr. Rochester, a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile, the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.


The Jean Renoir Collection: A collection of seven films directed by renowned French Filmmaker Jean Renoir. Titles included: LA GRANDE ILLUSION, LE CAPORAL EPINGLE, LA MERSEILLAISE, LA BETE HUMAINE, LE TESTAMANT DU DOCTEUR CORDELIER, DEJEUNER SUR HERBE and ELENA ET LES HOMMES.


The Jetsons: The Complete First Season Disc 1: "Meet George Jetson ... Jane, his wife ... daughter Judy ... his boy Elroy ..." The catchy tune of The Jetsons ideally captures the lighthearted essence of the show, a futuristic counterpoint to The Flintstones that reflected the space-age optimism of the times. The Jetsons were the very first family, animated or not, to have a big-screen home entertainment system decades before it became a reality. They also had flying cars, floating cities and androids, all commonplace scenery of today's most popular sci-fi blockbusters. Now this beloved series teletransports onto DVD, all 24 hilarious Season-One episodes - plus Soaring Extras, both newly-made and vintage rarities drawn from the Hanna-Barbera vaults.


John Cleese Comedy Collection: From Monty Python through Fawlty Towers, John Cleese’s creativity, innovation and hilarity altered the world of sketch comedy and sitcoms forever. These three comic gems in The John Cleese Collection are essential viewing for connoisseurs of British Comedy. Starring John Cleese with Python members Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, and Fawlty Towers’ own Connie Booth. The set includes: How To Irritate People, The Strange Case of the End of Civilization and Romance with a Double Bass. How To Irritate People: And now for something completely rare. This 1968 television special is essential for connoisseurs of British humor and, of course, Monty Python completists. A pre-Python John Cleese teams up with Michael Palin and Graham Chapman (with invaluable assistance from co-Fawlty Towers creator Connie Booth and Tim Brooke-Taylor) for sketches that serve as a master class in demonstrating insincerity, inefficiency, and all-around rude behavior "to help people become more neurotic." The tricky bit, Cleese teaches, "is to never push the unsuspecting victim too far. With skill and tact, we can keep tensions bottled up for weeks, months, eventually you may induce a nervous breakdown, or better still, actual damage to the brain cells." Cleese and company portray very irritating parents, moviegoers, waiters, and partygoers. Of special interest to Python fans will be an auto mechanic sketch that anticipates the classic "Dead Parrot" sketch, as well as the job interview sketch that later found its way into the Python repertoire. Strange Case of the End of Civilization: John Cleese is hilarious as the descendant of Sherlock Holmes in this modern detective drama of international power politics and intrigue. Unlike his illustrious grandfather however, this Sherlock Holmes only succeeds in bungling every job he organizes. Also stars Arthur Lowe as the "bionic" grandson of Dr. Watson, Stratford Johns as the Commissioner of Police, and Connie Booth as Mrs. Hudson. Romance with a Double Bass: John Cleese and Connie Booth star in this delightful tale of comic romance based on the short story by Anton Chekhov. On a hot summer's day a musician (Cleese) decides to skinny dip in the royal lake, not knowing that the princess (Booth) has done the same. A passing thief steals both their clothes, and their attempt to return to the castle proves to be a hilarious adventure.


Kidnapped - The Complete Series: With its silver-screen-worthy cast and an intriguing premise, this thrilling drama surprisingly lasted for less than a season on air. But fans of KIDNAPPED can catch each of the series' 13 episodes here, including the show's finale. When their teenage son is kidnapped and his bodyguard (Mykelti Williamson) is left for dead, the Cains (Timothy Hutton and Dana Delaney) go beyond the law to rescue their son. They call upon Knapp (Jeremy Sisto), an expert in kidnapping and helping the victims' families. Two FBI agents join the desperate search as everyone tries to save the Cains' son. KIDNAPPED also stars Delroy Lindo, Linus Roach, and Carmen Ejogo.


Les Miserables: Jean Valjean, a Frenchman of good character, has nevertheless been convicted for the minor crime of stealing bread. A minor infraction leads to his pursuit by the relentless policeman Javert, a pursuit that consumes both men's lives for many years.


The Lost Tomb of Jesus: The feature-length widescreen Director’s Cut of the Discovery Channel special – executive produced by James Cameron. In 1980, a bulldozer accidentally uncovered a first-century tomb in Jerusalem. Of the ten ossuaries (stone coffins) found inside, six bore inscriptions: Jesus son of Joseph, Maria, Mariamene (the name by which Mary Magdalene was known), Joseph, Matthew, and Judah son of Jesus. Dismissed by archaeologists as coincidence, the ossuaries were warehoused and forgotten. Twenty-five years later, filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and his team took a fresh look at this astounding cluster of New Testament names. Granted unparalleled access, they went in search of the ossuaries…and the lost tomb. What they found may well be the most controversial archaeological discovery of all time.


Man in the Middle: Based on Howard Fast's novel The Winston Affair, this WW II-era crime drama is set in India and chronicles the attempts of an American military attorney to defend a lieutenant who shot a British officer in cold blood. Many witnesses were present and the question the lawyer must answer is whether the defendant is sane enough to stand trial. His investigation leads him to believe that his client is not. Unfortunately, his general is anxious to resolve the case to quell mounting tensions between British and American troops. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide


Modern Marvels - James Bond Gadgets: Modern Marvels: James Bond Gadgets documents how special effects crews create some of the most famous weapons given to the fictional super spy James Bond over the course of the characters many films. Scientific experts comment on the feasibility of these items being created in the real world.


Moral Orel, Vol. 1 - The Unholy Edition: In Moral Orel, a 15-minute stop-motion, animated series created by Dino Stamatopoulos, Orel, an 11-year-old boy who loves church, just wants to do God's work. His unbridled enthusiasm for piousness and his misinterpretations of religious morals, however, often lead to disastrous results - including self-mutilation and crack addiction. But no matter how much trouble he gets into, his reverence and faith keep him cheery to the bitter end. The DVD contains 15 uncensored episodes from the first and second seasons, along with all-new uncensored bonus materials!


My Little Margie, Vol. 1: One of the earliest television sitcoms, MY LITTLE MARGIE explores the relationship between zany father (Charles Farrell) and his precocious daughter (Gale Storm). One of the first shows to enter into syndication. This collection includes 12 episodes: MARGIE'S PHANTOM LOVER, THE MISSING LINK, HILLBILLY MARGIE, VERN'S MOTHER-IN-LAW, THE TRAPPED FREDDY, BURIED TREASURE, TO HEALTH WITH YOGA,A HORSE FOR VERN, VERN'S NEW GIRLFRIEND, DELINQUENT MARGIE, WHAT'S COOKING, and MEET MR. MURPHY.


Naked You Die: Theres nobody there to save you from this nightmare! From the minds of Italian horror kings Mario Bava (Twitch the Death Nerve) and Antonio Margheriti (Cannibal Apocalypse) comes this macabre tale of murder at an all girls school.


New York Yankees 1977 World Series Collector's Edition: It was one of the first signs of the modern era of baseball when New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner took advantage of new free-agency rules to restock his team. One of his acquisitions, outfielder Reggie Jackson, proved himself worthy of his self-label as "the straw that stirs the drink" by powering a record five home runs in the 1977 World Series, breaking a 15-year Yankee championship drought and branding him "Mr. October." The 1977 New York Yankees Collector's Edition set has all six games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, plus the clinching fifth game of the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals (featuring a late Yankee comeback and a brawl between third basemen Graig Nettles and George Brett). Also included are new interviews with a number of the players, including Reggie Jackson, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry, Lou Piniella, Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers, Roy White, Dusty Baker, and Burt Hooton, and some footage of the memorable mid-season squabble between Jackson and manager Billy Martin, plus SleeveStats that print the box score, inning-by-inning summaries, and trivia on each DVD Thinpak case. As a time capsule, it's interesting to watch the players in action--not only future Hall of Famer Jackson (remember how in his three-homer effort in the clinching game, he actually started the Yankees comeback with a base on balls?), pre-Cy Young winner Guidry, and future managers Randolph, Piniella, and Baker. It's also instructive to watch a different era of the game, one that saw Yankees closer Sparky Lyle pitch 3-2/3 innnings for the game 1 win, and umpires who would watch pitches bounce in the dirt without batting an eye, rather than obsessively replacing anything with a hint of a scuff. And even though their team lost, longtime Dodger fans will enjoy watching the squad that boasted four 30-homer hitters, future Hall of Famer Don Sutton, and the record-setting infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey.


Night at the Museum: Ben Stiller leads an all-star cast including Robin Williams and Dick Van Dyke in this hilarious blockbuster hit. When good-hearted dreamer Larry Daley (Stiller) is hired as night watchman at the Museum of Natural History, he soon discovers that an ancient curse brings all the exhibits to life after the sun sets. Suddenly, Larry finds himself face-to-face with a frisky T. rex skeleton, tiny armies of Romans and cowboys and a mischievous monkey who taunts him to the breaking point. But with the help of President Teddy Roosevelt (Williams), Larry may just figure out a way to control the chaos and become a hero in his son's eyes. Boasting jaw-dropping special effects and laugh-out-loud moments, Night at the Museum is your ticket to nonstop fun!


The Odd Couple - The First Season: Two divorced New Yorkers---a slob and a fussbudget---try to live together "without driving each other crazy" in this classic sitcom based on Neil Simon's hit play and movie. Both Jack Klugman and Tony Randall won Emmys in the leads, the latter in the final year of a five-season run. "Now if I only had a job," Randall said at the Emmy gala. The show inspired two remakes, one an animated series portraying the main characters as a cat and a dog, and a 1982-83 version with a mostly black cast.


One Day at a Time - The Complete First Season: This sitcom follows recently divorced mother (Ann Romano) and her two teenage daughters (Barbara and Julie) as they start a new life together in Indianapolis, They are befriended by the building superintendent (Dwayne Schneider), who treats them like family. Together, these four main characters face life's challenges together.


Over the Rainbow: Everyone deserves a chance to follow his or her dreams. Hyeok-Ju (Ji Hyeon-Woo, Golden Apple) is a rebel who can t help but start trouble and the only thing that stands between him and a life of crime is his desires to one day make it as a singer. While pursing his goal, he meets Hee-Su (Kim Ok Bin, Hello God), a charming and beautiful runaway who longs to become a dancer. The two become friends and work together to make their passion for music and dance a reality. But when Hee-Su meets Lex (Hwan-Hee), an arrogant and promising young entertainer, she believes her dreams may have come true. Over the Rainbow is the story of three young people s journey into the crazy world of stardom. With nothing to lose, but everything to gain...will they be able to survive the cutthroat world of entertainment?


Parenthood: Ron Howard's 1989 hit, written by fellow family men Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (Splash, A League of Their Own), is an original comedy about contemporary life and the eternal responsibilities of raising children. Steve Martin has never been better than as a dedicated husband and father trying (and inevitably failing, as do most of us) to balance the demands of his kids and his job. The actor, like his character, throws himself into the part quite touchingly, never more so than in a scene where a hired clown fails to show up at a children's party and Martin's character unabashedly provides the entertainment. Good as Martin is, this is actually an ensemble piece with numerous actors playing members of the same family, with cross-generational joys and disappointments in the air--and parents in conflict, children in love, and so on. Jason Robards is very good as a patriarch who finally accepts the reality that the son he adores (Tom Hulce) is a major screwup.


Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers: For those who already know the short films of the Brothers Quay, Phantom Museums is a welcome, thorough investigation of a lifelong dedication to stop-motion animation and dream sequence narratives. For those just discovering this identical twin team of Stephen and Timothy Quay, Phantom Museums is the place to start. This two-disc set includes roughly twenty of their projects, chronologically spanning thirty years. Inspired by the old-fashioned look of early animated features such as The Adventures of Prince Achmed, as well as Jan Svankmajer and Jiri Barta's films, The Brothers Quay built their reputation on combining the quaintness and delicacy of early animation with present day macabre. As miniaturists, they painstakingly hand assembled decadent sets, such as an ancient library, a shrunken head vault at the natural history museum, and spiral staircases. Homemade dolls with missing eyes, pins, needles, and screws, protractors, and other tiny metallic things, make characters and their environs grotesquely techno, framed by carnivalesque camerawork in which the viewer experiences scenes from every possible angle. Highly anatomical, they sometimes use steaks and livers to represent doll innards. Watching these films now, one appreciates their Goth quality, especially because of the romantic, classical musical accompaniment. Their influence on the music video industry is also apparent. Each film has a unique story and production design, so that although the overall Quay aesthetic is clear, variation avoids redundancy. Phantom Museums also includes director commentary, alternate versions, and a wonderful filmed interview with the pair, in which they discuss their father forcing them to choose between either becoming gym teachers or artists. Lucky for us.


Planet Earth: Complete Collection: As of its release in early 2007, Planet Earth is quite simply the greatest nature/wildlife series ever produced. Following the similarly monumental achievement of The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this astonishing 11-part BBC series is brilliantly narrated by Sir David Attenborough and sensibly organized so that each 50-minute episode covers a specific geographical region and/or wildlife habitat (mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, seasonal forests, etc.) until the entire planet has been magnificently represented by the most astonishing sights and sounds you'll ever experience from the comforts of home. The premiere episode, "From Pole to Pole," serves as a primer for things to come, placing the entire series in proper context and giving a general overview of what to expect from each individual episode. Without being overtly political, the series maintains a consistent and subtle emphasis on the urgent need for ongoing conservation, best illustrated by the plight of polar bears whose very behavior is changing (to accommodate life-threatening changes in their fast-melting habitat) in the wake of global warming--a phenomenon that this series appropriately presents as scientific fact. With this harsh reality as subtext, the series proceeds to accentuate the positive, delivering a seemingly endless variety of natural wonders, from the spectacular mating displays of New Guinea's various birds of paradise to a rare encounter with Siberia's nearly-extinct Amur Leopards, of which only 30 remain in the wild. That's just a hint of the marvels on display. Accompanied by majestic orchestral scores by George Fenton, every episode is packed with images so beautiful or so forcefully impressive (and so perfectly photographed by the BBC's tenacious high-definition camera crews) that you'll be rendered speechless by the splendor of it all. You'll see a seal struggling to out-maneuver a Great White Shark; swimming macaques in the Ganges delta; massive flocks of snow geese numbering in the hundreds of thousands; an awesome night-vision sequence of lions attacking an elephant; the Colugo (or "flying lemur"--not really a lemur!) of the Philippines; a hunting alliance of fish and snakes on Indonesia's magnificent coral reef; the bioluminescent "vampire squid" of the deep oceans... these are just a few of countless highlights, masterfully filmed from every conceivable angle, with frequent use of super-slow-motion and amazing motion-controlled time-lapse cinematography, and narrated by Attenborough with his trademark combination of observational wit and informative authority. The result is a hugely entertaining series that doesn't flinch from the predatory realities of nature (death is a constant presence, without being off-putting), and each episode ends with 10-minute "Planet Earth Diaries" (exclusive to this DVD set) that cover a specific aspect of production, like "Diving with Pirahnas" or "Into the Abyss" (the latter showing the rigors of filming the planet's most spectacular caves, including the last filming ever officially permitted in the "Chandelier Ballroom," a crystal-encrusted cavern found over a mile deep in New Mexico's treacherous Lechuguilla, the deepest cave in the continental United States.) With so many of Earth's natural wonders on display, it's only fitting that the final DVD in this five-disc set is devoted to Planet Earth: The Future, a separate three-part series in which a global array of experts is assembled to discuss issues of conservation, protection of delicate ecosystems, and the socio-economic benefits of understanding nature as a commodity that returns trillions of dollars in value at no cost to Earth's human population. At a time when the multiple threats of global warming should be obvious to all, let's give Sir David the last word, from the closing of Planet Earth's final episode: "We can now destroy or we can cherish--the choice is ours."


Play Dirty: The Dirty Dozen meet the Stiff Upper Lip. A British Petroleum executive (Michael Caine) is assigned to work with the British Army in North Africa handling port duties for incoming fuels. This gives him the official rank of Captain in the British Army. The Colonel (Nigel Green) in charge of the Dirty Dozen is told he must have a British officer accompany his men on a dangerous mission 400 miles behind the German lines and is saddled with the Petroleum executive, who tries to argue his way out by saying that his contract states he is to only work port duties. That argument is lost on the Brigade Commander (Harry Andrews) who simply points out that the executive is wearing a British uniform. The real leader of the Dirty Dozen (Nigel Davenport), a released prisoner himself, doesn't need or want the British officer, who's supposed to be in charge, but he's promised an extra 2,000 British Pounds if he gets him back alive. Disguised as Italians, their trek across Rommel's Africa includes meeting and battling many kinds of enemies and the plot twists at the end will keep your interest.


Purple Heart: This is the story of the crew of a downed bomber, captured after a run over Tokyo, early in the war. Relates the hardships the men endure while in captivity, and their final humiliation: being tried and convicted as war criminals.


The Queen: Helen Mirren reigns supreme in The Queen, a witty and ingenious look at a moment that rocked the house of Windsor: the week that followed the sudden death of Princess Diana in 1997. Diana's death came at just the same time that Prime Minister Tony Blair (played by the bright Michael Sheen) was settling into his new government--and trying to figure out the delicate relationship between 10 Downing Street and Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren). A large portion of the British population was trying to figure out the Windsors that week, as Elizabeth remained stiff-upper-lip and largely mum about the death of the beloved princess. In Peter Morgan's skillful script, we watch as Blair grows increasingly impatient with the Royals, who are sequestered in their Scottish estate while the public demands some show of grief. Prince Philip (James Cromwell, in good form) clumsily decides to take Diana's sons hunting, while a sympathetically-treated Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) displays some frustration with his mother's eerie calm. None of this conveys how funny the film is, or how deftly it flows from one scene to the next. Director Stephen Frears (Dirty Pretty Things) deserves great credit for that, and for the performances, and for the movie's marvelous sense of well-roundedness; you could see this movie and groan at the cluelessness of the Royals and their outmoded existence, or you might just sympathize with showing reserve in a world that values gross public displays of emotion. But either way, you'll marvel at Mirren, who makes the Queen far more alert and human than one might ever have imagined.


NCIS Naval Criminal Investigative Service - The Complete Seasons 1-3: Leading the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) team that operates outside of the military chain of command is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, a highly skilled investigator and interrogator who is smart, tough and willing to bend the rules to get the job done. Working under Gibbs is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, a former homicide detective who joined NCIS just a few years ago but who has instincts that come only from working on the streets. Joining them are Agent Caitlin Todd, a tough former Secret Service agent who's gone head-to-head with Gibbs in the past, and forensics specialist Abby Sciuto, a gifted scientist whose dark wit matches her goth-style hair and clothes. Assisting the team is medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, who knows it all because he's seen it all. From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents travel the globe to investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties.


Shameless: Complete First Season: Created by 'Paul Abbott' (Clocking Off, Linda Green, State of Play), Shameless tells the story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humour - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona (Anne-Marie Duff'), the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbours.


Starbucking: Follow the bizarre story of Winter, a man who has dedicated his life to visiting every Starbucks in the world. Why would someone choose such a seemingly pointless and impossible mission in life and spend the last 10 years trying to accomplish it?


Tonight We Raid Calais: British Intellengence dispatches Commando Geoffrey Carter (John Sutton) on a one-man raid to destroy a munitions plant that manufactures bombs in Nazi-occupied France. He enlists the aid of a patriotic farmer, M. Bonnard (Lee J. Cobb), that lives near the plant, over the objections of his daughter Odette Bonnard (Annabella), who believes that the British were responsible for the fall of France. Her attitude softens toward Carter, who is living with the family as posing as a son, but Odette cannot bring herself to aid in Carter's plan because of her fear of reprisals against her family. She turns informer and the Nazis capture Carter.


The Trouble With Men & Women: Still reeling from his recent break-up with the women who left him to experience life in America, a serious-minded British man finds that true love may be closer than he ever expected in first-time writer/director Tony Fisher's intimate romantic drama. Abandoned by his former girlfriend and desperate to grasp the intricacies of the fairer sex, Matt (Joseph McFadden) falls subject to the lager-soaked advice of his philosophizing mates before embarking on a string of failed love connections. Just when it seems that all hope for romance may be forever lost, the revelation that the relationship between his best friends Vinnie (Matthew Delamere) and Susie (Kate Ashfield) is on the rocks leads the lovelorn London twenty-something wondering if his future isn't sitting right there before him.


Tsunami - The Aftermath: A tale of personal loss, survival and hope, TSUNAMI, THE AFTERMATH follows a group of fictional characters whose lives are irrevocably transformed by the cataclysmic natural disaster. Among those whose stories are followed are: a young couple searching for their child; a Thai survivor who loses his family and tries to prevent developers from seizing the land his village is built on; an Englishwoman whose husband and son are missing; an ambitious reporter; a relief worker; an overwhelmed British official whose faith in the system is torn apart; and a leading Thai meteorologist, whose earlier report detailing the inevitability of a tsunami hitting the affected area was ignored.


Von Richtofen & Brown: World War I: an allied squadron and a German squadron face off daily in the skies. Manfred von Richtofen, the Red Baron, leads one, and, although one of his decisions cost the life of his predecessor, he expects his men to honor codes of conduct. The allied squad has similar class divisions: its colonel, an aristocrat, laments that men he considers peasants are now fliers, including a cynical and ruthless Canadian, Roy Brown, the squad's ace. As the tactics of both sides break more rules and become more destructive, the Baron must decide if he is a soldier first or part of the ruling class. He and Brown have two aerial battles, trivial in the larger scheme yet tragic.


Wall Street Warriors: Season 1: Wall Street Warriors follows the daily lives of ten successful individuals who deal in millions in the marketplace. As the series unfolds, some lives intersect in surprising ways, as financial big shots are whisked by limo from the frenzied American Stock Exchange trading floor to exclusive dinners, to posh midtown offices, to homes and families, down to fast paced Wall Street, or off to the polo grounds of the Hamptons. Take a step into a world rarely seen from the outside, in a heart pounding series that follows the most brilliant, driven and competitive power brokers of the financial world when millions are at stake every minute. Greed and arrogance run rampant on Wall Street, making it home to some of the most stressful jobs on earth. There is only one bottom line on Wall Street: how much money you make.


Wayne's World / Wayne's World 2: Wayne is still living at home. He has a world class collection of name tags from jobs he's tried, but he does have his own public access TV show. A local station decides to hire him and his sidekick, Garth, to do their show professionally and Wayne & Garth find that it is no longer the same. Wayne falls for a bass guitarist and uses his and Garth's Video contacts to help her career along, knowing that Ben Oliver, the sleazy advertising guy who is ruining their show will probably take her away from him if they fail. - Wayne is back, this time trying to organize a rock festival with help from friend Garth and the spirit of Jim Morrison (Doors). Meanwhile, his girlfriend's manager is busy trying to woo her away from Wayne and move her to LA. Life gets interesting when Wayne must rush from the concert to try and stop the wedding. Aerosmith are featured at the concert.


The West Point Story: Academy Award winner James Cagney puts on his dancing shoes again for The West Point Story, a spirited comedy packed with star-power and tunes by vetran songwriters Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.


WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete First Season: Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson tries to run a failing Cincinnati radio station owned by his "tough as nails" mother. His own incompetence is overshadowed by the strange employees that work at the station. From wild Disc Jockeys: Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap to the geeky news director, Les Nessman and obnoxious advertising sales manager, Herb Tarlek. With the help of saner employees such as Bailey Quarters; the rather shy journalism major; Jennifer Marlowe, the beautiful receptionist who is the very opposite of a stereotypical "Dumb Blonde" and Andy Travis; the studly program director, Carlson tries gimmick after crazy gimmick to bring money into the station and make it a success.


Wonder Woman: The Complete First Season Disc 1: With the strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Athena, the speed of Mercury and the beauty of Aphrodite, she's Wonder Woman. Beautiful Amazon princess Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) travels to 1940s America disguised as Diana Prince, assistant to handsome but trouble-prone Major Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner). Using her golden belt, which imbues her with astonishing strength, her bullet-deflecting bracelets, a golden lasso that dispels dishonesty and an invisible supersonic plane, Wonder Woman combats evil. Based on Charles Moulton's comic book character known to millions of fans throughout the world, this exciting series brings the strong and sexy goddess to life--Wonder Woman.


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (HD DVD): A man awakes disheveled; impulsively, he skips work, heading instead to the shore. On this chilly February day, a woman in orange, hair dyed blue, chats him up: she's Clementine, he's Joel, shy and sad; by day's end, he likes her. The next night she takes him to the frozen Charles River. After, as he drops her off, she asks to sleep at his place, and she runs up to get her toothbrush. Strange things occur: their meeting was not entirely chance, they have a history neither remembers. Our seeing how the lacunae came to be and their discovery of the memory loss take the rest of the film.


Failure to Launch (HD DVD): At 35, Tripp has an interesting job, a hip car, a passion for sailing, and a great house - trouble is, he lives with his parents. They want him out, so they hire Paula, an "interventionist," who has a formula in these cases: chance encounter, get him to ask her out, involve him in a trauma, meet his friends and get their nod, delay sex, have him teach her something, then launch him. It's worked up to now, but this gets complicated when Tripp thinks she's getting too serious and one of his pals is attracted to Paula's deadpan, semi-alcoholic roommate, who's plagued by a mockingbird. Too many secrets may scrub the launch, and what if Paula really likes him? Who can intervene then?


Nutty Professor (HD DVD): Sherman Klump is an incredibly fat and good-hearted man. He is a college professor on the verge of a breakthrough in DNA restructuring when he meets an admirer of his, named Carla, who is a teacher new to Klump's college. He is enamored of her, but is frustrated by his tremendous bulk. He then decides to test a formula on which he's been working on himself. He is then transformed into the lecherous swinger, Buddy Love, and romantic complications ensue.


Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series (HD DVD):


Deja Vu (Blu-ray): In his most effective thriller since Enemy of the State, Tony Scott makes time travel seem plausible. It helps that his New Orleans hero, ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington in his third go-round with the director), spends more time in the present than the past. In order to catch a terrorist, FBI Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) invites Carlin to join forces. They have the technology to see the past. He has the expertise to interpret the data. Unfortunately, the bomb has already gone off and hundreds of ferry passengers have died. Then there's the body of a beautiful woman, Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton, Idlewild), that turns up in the vicinity of the blast. Evidence indicates she was killed beforehand. Since the FBI enables him to observe Claire prior to her murder, Carlin gets to know what she was like and finds himself falling in love. He becomes convinced that the only way to solve the case--and prove her innocence--is to travel to the past. But as Pryzwarra's colleague, Denny (Adam Goldberg), argues, "You cannot go back in time. It's physically impossible." Or so he says. Déjà Vu is constructed around a clever script and executed by a top-notch cast, notably Washington, Patton, and an eerie Jim Caviezel (miles away from Passion of the Christ). In shedding the excesses of recent years--the sadism of Man on Fire and weirdness of Tarantino favorite Domino--Scott re-affirms his rep as one of the action movie's finest practitioners.


Failure to Launch (Blu-ray):


Night at the Museum (Blu-ray): Ben Stiller leads an all-star cast including Robin Williams and Dick Van Dyke in this hilarious blockbuster hit. When good-hearted dreamer Larry Daley (Stiller) is hired as night watchman at the Museum of Natural History, he soon discovers that an ancient curse brings all the exhibits to life after the sun sets. Suddenly, Larry finds himself face-to-face with a frisky T. rex skeleton, tiny armies of Romans and cowboys and a mischievous monkey who taunts him to the breaking point. But with the help of President Teddy Roosevelt (Williams), Larry may just figure out a way to control the chaos and become a hero in his son's eyes. Boasting jaw-dropping special effects and laugh-out-loud moments, Night at the Museum is your ticket to nonstop fun!


Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series (Blu-ray): As of its release in early 2007, Planet Earth is quite simply the greatest nature/wildlife series ever produced. Following the similarly monumental achievement of The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this astonishing 11-part BBC series is brilliantly narrated by Sir David Attenborough and sensibly organized so that each 50-minute episode covers a specific geographical region and/or wildlife habitat (mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, seasonal forests, etc.) until the entire planet has been magnificently represented by the most astonishing sights and sounds you'll ever experience from the comforts of home. The premiere episode, "From Pole to Pole," serves as a primer for things to come, placing the entire series in proper context and giving a general overview of what to expect from each individual episode. Without being overtly political, the series maintains a consistent and subtle emphasis on the urgent need for ongoing conservation, best illustrated by the plight of polar bears whose very behavior is changing (to accommodate life-threatening changes in their fast-melting habitat) in the wake of global warming--a phenomenon that this series appropriately presents as scientific fact. With this harsh reality as subtext, the series proceeds to accentuate the positive, delivering a seemingly endless variety of natural wonders, from the spectacular mating displays of New Guinea's various birds of paradise to a rare encounter with Siberia's nearly-extinct Amur Leopards, of which only 30 remain in the wild. That's just a hint of the marvels on display. Accompanied by majestic orchestral scores by George Fenton, every episode is packed with images so beautiful or so forcefully impressive (and so perfectly photographed by the BBC's tenacious high-definition camera crews) that you'll be rendered speechless by the splendor of it all. You'll see a seal struggling to out-maneuver a Great White Shark; swimming macaques in the Ganges delta; massive flocks of snow geese numbering in the hundreds of thousands; an awesome night-vision sequence of lions attacking an elephant; the Colugo (or "flying lemur"--not really a lemur!) of the Philippines; a hunting alliance of fish and snakes on Indonesia's magnificent coral reef; the bioluminescent "vampire squid" of the deep oceans... these are just a few of countless highlights, masterfully filmed from every conceivable angle, with frequent use of super-slow-motion and amazing motion-controlled time-lapse cinematography, and narrated by Attenborough with his trademark combination of observational wit and informative authority. The result is a hugely entertaining series that doesn't flinch from the predatory realities of nature (death is a constant presence, without being off-putting), and each episode ends with 10-minute "Planet Earth Diaries" (exclusive to this DVD set) that cover a specific aspect of production, like "Diving with Pirahnas" or "Into the Abyss" (the latter showing the rigors of filming the planet's most spectacular caves, including the last filming ever officially permitted in the "Chandelier Ballroom," a crystal-encrusted cavern found over a mile deep in New Mexico's treacherous Lechuguilla, the deepest cave in the continental United States.) With so many of Earth's natural wonders on display, it's only fitting that the final DVD in this five-disc set is devoted to Planet Earth: The Future, a separate three-part series in which a global array of experts is assembled to discuss issues of conservation, protection of delicate ecosystems, and the socio-economic benefits of understanding nature as a commodity that returns trillions of dollars in value at no cost to Earth's human population. At a time when the multiple threats of global warming should be obvious to all, let's give Sir David the last word, from the closing of Planet Earth's final episode: "We can now destroy or we can cherish--the choice is ours."


The Queen (Blu-ray): Helen Mirren reigns supreme in The Queen, a witty and ingenious look at a moment that rocked the house of Windsor: the week that followed the sudden death of Princess Diana in 1997. Diana's death came at just the same time that Prime Minister Tony Blair (played by the bright Michael Sheen) was settling into his new government--and trying to figure out the delicate relationship between 10 Downing Street and Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren). A large portion of the British population was trying to figure out the Windsors that week, as Elizabeth remained stiff-upper-lip and largely mum about the death of the beloved princess. In Peter Morgan's skillful script, we watch as Blair grows increasingly impatient with the Royals, who are sequestered in their Scottish estate while the public demands some show of grief. Prince Philip (James Cromwell, in good form) clumsily decides to take Diana's sons hunting, while a sympathetically-treated Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) displays some frustration with his mother's eerie calm. None of this conveys how funny the film is, or how deftly it flows from one scene to the next. Director Stephen Frears (Dirty Pretty Things) deserves great credit for that, and for the performances, and for the movie's marvelous sense of well-roundedness; you could see this movie and groan at the cluelessness of the Royals and their outmoded existence, or you might just sympathize with showing reserve in a world that values gross public displays of emotion. But either way, you'll marvel at Mirren, who makes the Queen far more alert and human than one might ever have imagined.


Secret Window (Blu-ray): Mort Rainey (Depp), a writer just coming off of a troublesome divorce with his ex-wife, Amy (Bello), finds himself stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger (Turturro) who claims Mort stole his best story idea (changing just the ending)... (Hutton plays Bello's new boyfriend; Dutton plays a private investigator hired to make Turturro's character leave Mort alone.)


Ultimate Avengers Collection (Blu-ray): ULTIMATE AVENGERS 1 - A world in crisis. Age-old enemies on the verge of attack. A mighty team is recruited, and Earth's ultimate hero is sought to lead them- Captain America. Unfortunately, he's been frozen in ice for over sixty years. Inspired by Marvel's best-selling books, "The Ultimates," this is the extraordinary story of six very independent heroes who, like it or not, must fight as one to save the world. Little did they know that their biggest threat would emerge from within their very own ranks- The Incredible Hulk! ULTIMATE AVENGERS 2 - To save humanity, the Earth's mightiest heroes must reunite for a rematch of heroic proportions. Mysterious Wakanda. It lies in the darkest heart of Africa, unknown to most of the world. An isolated land hidden behind closed borders, fiercely protected by its young king - the BLACK PANTHER. A king who holds the fate of the entire earth in his hands. Because brutal alien invaders are coming, soon to fill every sky and control every land, seeking what is buried beneath ancient Wakanda. That leaves the Black Panther with a single option, one that goes against the sacred decrees of his people - to ask for help from outsiders. And so he turns to The Avengers - Captain America. Iron Man. Thor. Giant Man. Wasp. And the Incredible Hulk. These mightiest of heroes have battled the aliens before, and barely survived. They thought it was over. They were wrong.