Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Bicentennial Man

  • Bicentennial Man follows the life and times of Andrew (Robin Williams), a robot programmed to perform menial tasks, but who displays uncharacteristically human emotions, curiosity and creativity. Andrew soon discovers what it truly means to be a human being with the help of Little Miss (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) and his understanding owner (Sam Neill). Andrew is no ordinary robot! System Requireme
From the acclaimed director of MRS. DOUBTFIRE, Academy Award(R)-winner Robin Williams (1997, Best Actor, GOOD WILL HUNTING) stars in a delightfully heartwarming comedy about one extraordinary android who just wants to be an ordinary guy! It doesn't take long for the Martin family to realize Andrew (Williams), who was purchased as a mere "household appliance," is no run-of-the-mill robot! Funny, incredibly lifelike, and possessing an astounding level of creativity, this special machine soon takes on a l! ife of his own -- and eventually begins a centuries-long quest to achieve true humanity! A crowd-pleasing comedy hit -- everyone is sure to love this touchingly entertaining movie treat!Bicentennial Man was stung at the 1999 box office, due no doubt in part to poor timing during a backlash against Robin Williams and his treacly performances in two other, then-recent releases, Jakob the Liar and Patch Adams. But this near-approximation of a science fiction epic, based on works by Isaac Asimov and directed, with uncharacteristic seriousness of purpose, by Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire), is much better than one would have known from the knee-jerk negativity and box-office indifference.

Williams plays Andrew, a robot programmed for domestic chores and sold to an upper-middle-class family, the Martins, in the year 2005. The family patriarch (Sam Neill) recognizes and encourages Andrew's uncommon characteristics, particularly his artis! tic streak, sensitivity to beauty, humor, and independence of! spirit. In so doing, he sets Williams's tin man on a two-century journey to become more human than most human beings.

As adapted by screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, the movie's scale is novelistic, though Columbus isn't the man to embrace with Spielbergian confidence its sweeping possibilities. Instead, the Home Alone director shakes off his familiar tendencies to pander and matures, finally, as a captivating storyteller. But what really makes this film matter is its undercurrent of deep yearning, the passion of Andrew as a convert to the human race and his willingness to sacrifice all to give and take love. Williams rises to an atypical challenge here as a futuristic Everyman, relying, perhaps for the first time, on his considerable iconic value to make the point that becoming human means becoming more like Robin Williams. Nothing wrong with that. --Tom Keogh

Fargo (Special Edition)

  • 2003 - MGM - Fargo - Rare Special Edition
  • Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
  • Rated R - Director: Joel Coen - DVD
  • Special Features - Widescreen / Standard Versions
  • Collectible
Nominated* for seven Oscars(r) and winner of two, this darkly amusing thriller combines a first-rate cast, "a dazzling mix of mirth and malice" (Rolling Stone) and a bizarre kidnapping plot that unravels the Midwest like never before. Starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi, Fargo is a brilliant tour de force from the creators of Raising Arizonaand O Brother, Where Art Thou? *1996: Best Picture, Director, Actress (McDormand, won), Supporting Actor (Macy), Original Screenplay (won), Cinematography, EditingLeave it to the wildly inventive Coen brothers (Joel directs, Ethan produces, they both write) to concoct a fiendishly clever kidnap caper that's simu! ltaneously a comedy of errors, a Midwestern satire, a taut suspense thriller, and a violent tale of criminal misfortune. It all begins when a hapless car salesman (played to perfection by William H. Macy) ineptly orchestrates the kidnapping of his own wife. The plan goes horribly awry in the hands of bumbling bad guys Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare (one of them being described by a local girl as "kinda funny lookin'" and "not circumcised"), and the pregnant sheriff of Brainerd, Minnesota, (played exquisitely by Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning role) is suddenly faced with a case of multiple murders. Her investigation is laced with offbeat observations about life in the rural hinterland of Minnesota and North Dakota, and Fargo embraces its local yokels with affectionate humor. At times shocking and hilarious, Fargo is utterly unique and distinctly American, bearing the unmistakable stamp of its inspired creators. --Jeff Shannon

Forever Faithless

  • FAITHLESS FOREVER FAITHLESS - GREATEST HITS
2009 two CD compilation from the British Dance duo. Contains hits, album tracks a few rarities and plenty of great Faithless moments guaranteed to keep you up all night. 30 tracks including 'God Is A DJ', 'We Come 1', 'One Step Too Far' (featuring Dido) and many more. Camden.2010 release from the iconic British Electronic act. The Dance sees Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo reach the bar that their back-cat sets so high, and Maxi reckons it's 'chock-a-block with dance tunes which we hope will be the soundtrack to many Saturday nights for a while to come.' Faithless family member Dido lends her shimmering tones to 'Feeling Good'. Also getting in the vocal booth for tracks on the album are Dougy Mandagi (The Temper Trap), Itch (The King Blues) and classical singer Mia Maestro. First single 'Not Going Home' is a stadium-like club symphony, a seven m! inute sonic call-to-arms. Faithless' influence from being at the top of the pile for a decade and a half is easy to spot these days: think Calvin Harris' recent #1 or the countless tracks with a House groove, riff and rapper, Faithless' signature sound adopted by many, bettered by none. PIAS. 2010.FAITHLESS - DVD Movie* Unavailable in the US! Repromotion. Forever Faithless features the greatest hits of Faithless's 10-million-records-selling career, with tracks taken from all four previously released albums 'Reverence', 'Sunday 8pm', 'Outrospective' and 'No Roots'. Tracks include 'God Is a DJ', 'Insomnia' and the massive 'We Come 1'. Faithless are, Sister Bliss (biggest female DJ in the world and multi-instrumentalist), Maxi Jazz (leading UK rapper and Buddhist) and Rollo (producer and svengali).16 tracks including a new track, 'Fatty Boo'. BMG.

Behind the Sun

  • CLAPTON ERIC BEHIND THE SUN
Golden Globe Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, BEHIND THE SUN is a critically acclaimed story about love, loyalty, and the choice a son must make between honoring his family and following his heart. In the brutal Brazilian badlands of 1910, two families are locked in a bloody, generations-old feud. In one family, the oldest remaining son, distressed by the prospect of death and encouraged by his younger brother -- begins to question the cycle of violence. Then a beautiful young woman crosses his path and opens his eyes to life outside his culture's rigid code of honor. Stunningly photographed and exquisitely told, this outstanding motion picture masterpiece will transport you to a vastly different place and time ... a place somewhere "behind the sun"!Behind the Sun is a rapturous Western, a big film about a big, unwanted destiny visited upon a ! vulnerable, young hero. Adapted from the novel Broken April by Albanian writer Ismail Kadare (the story has been transferred from Europe to Brazil's rugged, northeastern badlands in 1910), Behind the Sun concerns two families and their long-running land war, which has robbed many a young man of his hope, love and, ultimately, life. Sent by his aggrieved father to avenge the slaying of an older brother, Tonho (Rodrigo Santoro), in torment, carries out his bloody, ancestral obligation and then proposes a truce between the families. Director Walter Salles (Central Station) aims to make a magnificently crafted, lush, and exotic epic told in broad strokes for art house aficionados, and he succeeds almost to a self-conscious fault. Still, there is nothing like a stirring, archetypal tragedy about the endless repercussions of violence and the sacrifice of innocence to a dubious cause. --Tom KeoghDVD-Behind The Sun by Open Doors FilmsDigitally remaster! ed Japanese reissue of his top 40 1985 album for Duck/ Reprise! in a mi niaturized LP sleeve limited to the initial pressing only. 11 tracks, including the top 30 hit 'Forever Man' and the single 'See What Love Can Do'. Gatefold sleeve. 1999 release.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Hoodwinked (Widescreen Edition)

  • A new spin on an old fable. In this film, Red, Granny, The Big Bad Wolf and the Woodman, all face Detective Flippers as he attempts to determine the 'real' events of the Little Red Riding Hood story. Original songs and witty humor fill this fun and adventurous film. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN Rating: PG Age: 796019791090 UPC: 796019791090 Manufacture
Meet Doogal, an adorable candy-loving mutt on a mission to save the world. In this delightful 3D computer-animated adventure, Doogal must prevent the evil sorcerer Zeebad (Jon Stewart) from freezing the earth forever. Joining Doogal (Daniel Tay) on his quest are pals Dylan (Jimmy Fallon), a guitar-playing rabbit, Ermintrude (Whoopi Goldberg), an opera-singing cow, and Brian (William H. Macy), a bashful snail. Hopping on a magic train (Chevy Chase), they travel over ice-capped mountains, navigate fiery pits of lava, and sail across va! st oceans on the journey of a lifetime. Along the way, they learn that the most powerful weapon of all is their friendship â€" which even Zeebad’s magic cannot destroy.

Features include:

•MPAA Rating: G
•Format: DVD
So you think you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Don’t be too sure. . . . One of your favorite fairy tales is turned upside-down and inside-out in what the L.A. Times called "high-energy, imaginative entertainment." With irreverent storytelling, spunk and wit, Hoodwinked delivers a comedy caper for the young, the young at heart and everyone in between. When the police arrive at Granny’s cottage in the woods to answer a domestic disturbance call, it looks like just another open-and-shut case. But Red, Granny, the Big Bad Wolf and the Woodsman are not your usual suspects, as they have their own dark secrets, wily deceptions and conflicting accounts of the crime. Together, they must put aside their differe! nces and find their own original twist on Happily Ever After i! n this " raucous, genre-busting, animated gem (Entertainment Weekly, The Must List)."Hoodwinked fuses the classic fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood with the crisscrossing storylines of film noir--pretty ambitious stuff for a computer-animated cartoon. The police cordon off Grandma's cottage and an amphibious version of William Powell named Nicky Flippers (voiced by David Ogden Stiers, M*A*S*H) begins interrogating the suspects: A Little Red in bell-bottoms (Anne Hathaway, Ella Enchanted), a Wolf turned investigative journalist (Patrick Warburton, The Woman Chaser), a snow-boarding Granny (Glenn Close, 101 Dalmatians), and a dimwitted would-be Woodsman (Jim Belushi, Curly Sue), each of whom have very different reasons for ending up in that cottage living room. The visual style of Hoodwinked mixes a clunky, video-game look with an homage to the stop-motion puppetry of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and other Ranki! n-Bass holiday specials. While sometimes awkward, there are also moments of surreal beauty, such as when a depressed Red wanders through a field of blue and red flowers--and moments of lunatic comedy, such as the Schnitzel song, which is irresistibly bizarre. The Shrek-style pop-culture references grow annoying, but the left-field goofiness of a yodeling goat points toward a far more distinct and delightful comic world. Also featuring the voices of Anthony Anderson (Kangaroo Jack), rapper Xzibit, and an especially witty turn by Andy Dick (NewsRadio) as a deceptively cute bunny rabbit. --Bret Fetzer

My Boy Jack

  • Its 1915 and World War I has been declared. Aged only 17, Kiplings son, like most of his generation, is swept up in the enthusiasm to fight the Germans, a mood stoked vigorously by his father. Jack is cripplingly short sighted and the army has rejected him twice, rendering him too myopic even for an army suffering thousands of casualties a week and desperate for recruits. Yet Rudyard is undeterred
They share the same birth month, so the orphanage calls them December Boys. But these teens â€" Maps, Spit, Spark and Misty â€" have much more in common. With no hopes of ever joining a family, they form their own familial bonds. Then the unexpected news comes that a young couple may adopt one of them, and the long-time pals suddenly share something else: a rivalry to be the chosen one.Oscar® nominee Laura Linney (Kinsey) stars as Laura Marshall, an overzealous, evangelical Christian do-goode! r who fills her home with down-and-out boarders, including a senile, cross-dressing murderous mute. Desperate to expand his horizons, Laura’s shy teenage son Ben (Rupert Grint, of Harry Potter fame) lands a job tending to self-proclaimed "Dame" Evie Walton (Oscar® nominee Julie Walters, Billy Elliot), an over-the-hill actress with the mouth of a drunken sailer and an insatiable lust for life. The battle for Ben’s soul begins as Evie shanghais Ben away from his repressive roots and takes him on an adventure that transforms him from boy to man. A winning entry at the 2006 Moscow International Film Festival, Driving Lessons is an experience Stephen Farber of Movieline calls "a delightful coming-of-age story."More down-to-earth than Auntie Mame, Driving Lessons imparts the same simple, but enduring messageâ€"be yourself. In the directorial debut from screenwriter Jeremy Brock (Mrs. Brown), 17-year-old Ben (Harry Potter's Rupert Gri! nt, sluggish yet sympathetic) lives with his vicar father, Rob! ert (Nic holas Farrell), and pious mother, Laura (Laura Linney doing a passable, but inconsistent British accent), in a tree-shaded London suburb. Soft-spoken Ben writes poems and looks forward to passing his driver's test. When his mother encourages him to get a job, he becomes an assistant to retired actress Evie Walton (Billy Elliot's Julie Walters, hunched up to look elderly). He finds her overbearing at first. Still, Evie is preferable to Laura, who may do volunteer work with her husband's parishioners, including bizarre boarder Mr. Fincham (Jim Norton), but also cheats on him with Reverend Peter (Oliver Milburn) and engages her resentful son in the subterfuge. Then Evie tricks Ben into driving her to Edinburgh for a poetry reading, where he learns to assert himself and she learns to put the dramatics on holdâ€"at least for a few minutes. Ben also loses his virginity to a woman he just met, sending a secondary message some parents might not appreciate (the film's sprinkli! ngs of profanity earned it a PG-13). Driving Lessons itself seems stranded between coming-of-age story and character study. Ironically, Farrell gives the most convincing performance as Ben's bird-loving father. Engaging if uneven, this parable about hypocrisy and self-expression might have been more interesting if presented from his perspective. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Driving Lessons (click for larger image)

Beyond Driving Lessons at Amazon.com




More Films about Coming of Age

The Films of Julie Walters

Learn to Drive

Its 1915 and World War I has been declared. Aged only 17, Kiplings son, like most of his generation, is swept up in the enthusiasm to fight the Germans, a mood stoked vigorously by his father. Jack is cripplingly short sighted and the ! army has rejected him twice, rendering him too myopic even for an army suffering thousands of casualties a week and desperate for recruits. Yet Rudyard is undeterred, determined that his son should go to the front, like countless other sons, and fight for the values that he, Kipling, espouses so publicly. Using his fame and influence, Kipling persuades Lord Roberts, on his death bed, to get Jack a commission in the Irish guards. This intervention is barely tolerated by Carrie and daughter Elise (Carey Mulligan), as they disagree that Jack is fit to fight and fear for his safety on the front line. Jack is instantly popular with his troop he is a great leader and trains tirelessly to overcome the disability that is his eyesight. Six months later Jack sails to France as a lieutenant. Jack went missing in action during the Battle of Loos and his mother and father carried out an increasingly desperate search for him, spanning many years and many miles.

DVD Features:
! Deleted Scenes
Interviews

As affecting! as it i s thought-provoking, ITV's My Boy Jack illustrates the dangers of unbridled patriotism. To grow up the child of a famous author is burden enough, but when the boy must embody the beliefs of the man, the consequences can be devastating. In the case of John "Jack" Kipling (Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe in his most mature role to date), 17-year-old son of Rudyard Kipling (Four Weddings and a Funeral's David Haig), his father's passion for King and Country leads to a preventable tragedy. Based on Haig's play, the proceedings begin in 1914, prior to the outbreak of World War II. Jack attempts to join the army and the navy, but both reject him due to severe shortsightedness, so Kipling Sr. pulls strings to place him with the Irish Guards. Jack's sister, Elsie (Bleak House's Carey Mulligan), and American-born mother, Caroline (a brunette Kim Cattrall), would rather he serve the war effort at home. Through hard work and determination, Jack scales the ra! nks from private to lieutenant, but goes missing in France, and many months pass before the family solves the mystery of his disappearance. In the end, My Boy Jack, which aired in England on Remembrance Day, concerns itself more with paying tribute than apportioning blame, and Haig skillfully portrays Kipling's guilt in putting his son in harm’s way and pride in a brave soldier who "played his part properly." Special features include interviews and deleted scenes. Parental advisory suggested due to situation-appropriate language and teen smoking. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Monday, January 16, 2012

Diamond Select Toys Marvel Select Incredible Hulk Action Figure

  • The Incredible Hulk is one of Marvel Comics' most recognized characters, thanks to appearances in comics, movies and animation
  • Stands 10" tall
  • Features 14 articulation points
  • Stands atop a rubble base showing effects of the Hulk's damage
  • Sculpted by Gabriel Marquez
Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton stars as scientist Bruce Banner, a man who has been living in shadows, scouring the planet for an antidote to the unbridled force of rage within him: the Hulk. But when the military masterminds who dream of exploiting his powers force him back to civilization, he finds himself coming face to face with his most formidable foe: the Abomination -â€" a nightmarish beast of pure aggression whose powers match the Hulk’s own!A more accessible and less heavy-handed movie than Ang Lee's 2003 HulkLouis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk is a purely popcorn! love affair with Marvel's raging, green superhero, as well as the old television series starring Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the beast within him. Edward Norton takes up where Eric Bana left off in Lee's version, playing Bruce (that's the character's original name) Banner, a haunted scientist always on the move. Trying to eliminate the effects of a military experiment that turns him into the Hulk whenever his emotions get the better of him, Banner is hiding out in Brazil at the film's beginning. Working in a bottling plant and communicating via email with an unidentified professor who thinks he can help, Banner goes postal when General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and a small army turn up to grab him. Intent on developing whatever causes Banner's metamorphoses into a weapon, Ross brings along a quietly deranged soldier named Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who wants Ross to turn him into a supersoldier who can take on the Hulk. The adventure spreads to the U! .S., where Banner hooks up with his old lover (and Ross' daugh! ter), Be tty (Liv Tyler), and where the Hulk takes on several armed assaults, including one in a pretty unusual location: a college campus. The film's action is impressive, though the computer-generated creature is disappointingly cartoonish, and a second monster turning up late in the movie looks even cheesier. Norton is largely wasted in the film--he's essentially a bridge between sequences where he disappears and the Hulk rampages around. As good an actor as he is, Norton doesn't have the charisma here to carry those scenes in which one waits impatiently for the real show to begin. --Tom Keogh


Beyond The Incredible Hulk on DVD


More from Edward Norton
!
More Superhero Movies

The Incredible Hulk on TV



Stills from The Incredible Hulk (Click for larger image)











Click to learn more about the BD-Live Experience


The larger-than-life Marvel Super Hero the Hulk explodes onto the big screen! After a freak lab accident unleashes a genetically enhanced, impossibly strong creature, a terrified world must marshal its forces to stop a being with abilities beyond imagination.When the Hulk gets angry, his movie gets good, so you wish he'd get angry more often. Accepting this challenge after the triumphant Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, director Ang Lee has created an ambitious film, based on the Marvel comic created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, that succeeds as a cautionary tale about mad science and traumatized children coping with legaci! es of pain. That's the Hulk's problem: After accidental exposu! re to ga mma radiation, scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) turns into the huge, green, and indestructible Hulk when provoked, and repressed childhood memories fuel his fury. Hobbled by the obligatory "origin story" (to acquaint neophytes with the character's Jekyll-and-Hyde-ish fate), there's room for little else in a sluggish film that struggles to reconcile Lee's stylistic flair (evident in his visual interpretation of comic-book technique) with the razzle-dazzle of a megabudget franchise. What's good is good (Jennifer Connelly essentially echoes her role from A Beautiful Mind, and Nick Nolte is righteously tormented as Banner's father), but the movie's schizoid intentions remain largely unclear. --Jeff ShannonA Diamond Select Release! From the pages of The Incredible Hulk comes this Marvel Select action figure featuring the jade giant himself! This massive 8" behemoth includes fourteen points of articulation and a deluxe rubble base showcasing the aftereffects of a H! ulk-attack! Sculpted by Gabriel Marquez, each rampaging Hulk figure brings a world-shaking mainstay of the Marvel Universe to stores just in time for the big screen sequel! Blister card packaging.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Voyage of La Amistad: A Quest for Freedom

  • On the morning of June 28, 1839, the schooner La Amistad set sail from Havana, Cuba, with a cargo that included 53 Africans who had been abducted from Sierra Leone and sold into slavery in violation of international law. Unaware of their fate and fearing they would be killed, the Africans revolted, sparing only two crew members to guide the ship eastward to their home. After a two-month voyage on
An epic journey of one mans fight for his life and his freedom. This story of courage and determination is presented by a director whose vision goes to the heart of the story and the soul of its characters. Once again steven spielberg has created a film event that will never be forgotten. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/13/2007 Starring: Morgan Freeman Djimon Hounsou Run time: 155 minutes Rating: R Director: Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg's most simplistic, sanitized history les! son, Amistad, explores the symbolic 1840s trials of 53 West Africans following their bloody rebellion aboard a slave ship. For most of Schindler's List (and, later, Saving Private Ryan) Spielberg restrains himself from the sweeping narrative and technical flourishes that make him one of our most entertaining and manipulative directors. Here, he doesn't even bother trying, succumbing to his driving need to entertain with beautiful images and contrived emotion. He cheapens his grandiose motives and simplifies slavery, treating it as cut- and-dry genre piece. Characters are easy Hollywood stereotypes--"villains" like the Spanish sailors or zealous abolitionists are drawn one-dimensionally and sneered upon. And Spielberg can't suppress his gifted eye, undercutting normally ugly sequences, such as the terrifying slave passage, which is shot as a gorgeous, well-lit composition. At its core, Amistad is a traditional courtroom drama, centered by ! a tired, clichéd narrative: a struggling, idealistic young l! awyer (M atthew McConaughey) fighting the crooked political system and saving helpless victims. Worse yet, Spielberg actually takes the underlying premise of his childhood fantasy, E.T. and repackages it for slavery. Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), the leader of the West African rebellion, is presented much like the adorable alien: lost, lacking a common language, and trying to find his way home. McConaughey is a grown-up Elliot who tries communicating complicated ideas such as geography by drawing pictures in the sand or language by having Cinque mimic his facial expressions. Such stuff was effective for a sci-fi fantasy about the communication barriers between a boy and a lost alien; here, it seems like a naive view of real, complex history. --Dave McCoyOn the morning of June 28, 1839, the schooner La Amistad set sail from Havana, Cuba, with a cargo that included 53 Africans who had been abducted from Sierra Leone and sold into slavery in violation of international l! aw. Unaware of their fate and fearing they would be killed, the Africans revolted, sparing only two crew members to guide the ship eastward to their home. After a two-month voyage on a zigzag course, La Amistad was finally captured at Long Island, New York, where the Africans were jailed and charged with piracy and murder.

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