Director: Roy Rowland
Starring: Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried, Tommy Rettig, John Heasley, Robert Heasley, Noel Cravat, George Chakiris
Genre: Animated
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios   Release date: 1953   Rated: G
Language (Country): (USA)
Summary: Bart: I don't think the piano is my instrument. Dr. Terwilliker: What other instruments are there, pray tell? Scratchy violins, screechy piccolos, nauseating trumpets, et cetera, et cetera? The only live-action Dr. Seuss movie for nearly a half-century, this delightful musical comedy is a treat--something for kids who thought they have seen everything. Young Bart (Tommy Rettig of TV's Lassie) detests his piano lessons with the fanatical Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried). As with Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Bart falls into a dream world in which the piano teacher--renamed Dr. T--is ruler and children are hunted down to have piano lessons. Worse yet, Dr. T has magical control over Bart's mom (Mary Healy). The Oscar-nominated songs are uneven but the art direction is superb, creating a truly magical world (and the world's longest piano). Dr. Seuss's love for language stays intact. Many kids of the 1950s might remember Bart's five-fingered beanie, which was a top seller. Great fun for the 5-10 age range, and adults too. --Doug Thomas

Director: Nathan Juran
Starring: Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher, Alec Mango, Danny Green, Harold Kasket, Alfred Brown, Nana DeHerrera, Nino Falanga, Luis Guedes, Virgilio Teixeira
Genre: Action & Adventure
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios   Release date: 1958   Rated: G
Language (Country): English, Spanish, Portuguese (USA)
Summary: When the evil magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) shrinks Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) to roughly half the size of a Barbie doll, only one thing can restore her: the egg of a Roc. The Roc, of course, is a gigantic bird that lives on the remote island of Colossa. Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) hires a crew of mutiny-minded convicts and sets sail, Sokurah in tow, but runs afoul of a fire-breathing dragon, a very ticked off Cyclops, and an equally crabby two-headed mutant Roc. This swashbuckling adventure was the first installment of the Sinbad films, and decades later it still has the power to hold viewers spellbound. Thatcher is terrific as the sinister, shaven-headed Sokurah, mugging perfectly for the camera, and Mathews is suitably dashing as Sinbad. As in all Sinbad films, though, the real stars are the Dynamation creations of Ray Harryhausen. The art of cinematic special effects has taken quantum leaps since 1958, which makes it so amazing that his work still looks as fine as it does. Harryhausen creates a world of fantasy where dragons and grotesque one-eyed humanoids battle to the death, one where it's very easy for adults to suspend their disbelief and watch the action with the wonder of a child. Seventh Voyage not only set the stage for further Sinbad adventures, but was a landmark film in the fantasy genre, opening doors for sword-and-sandal Hercules epics and countless other excursions. Few films, though, have the artistry that Ray Harryhausen's effects display in this movie. For great escapist fare for kids and adults alike, look no further than the first Sinbad film. --Jerry Renshaw

Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo, Rossella Falk, Barbara Steele, Madeleine LeBeau, Eddra Gale, Guido Alberti, Mario Conocchia, Bruno Agostini, Cesarino Miceli Picardi, Jean Rougeul, Mario Pisu, Yvonne Casadei
Genre: Drama
Studio: Criterion Collection   Release date: 1963   Rated: NR
Language (Country): Italian (Italy)
Summary: Federico Fellini's 1963 semi-autobiographical story about a worshipped filmmaker who has lost his inspiration is still a mesmerizing mystery tour that has been quoted (Woody Allen's Stardust Memories, Paul Mazursky's Alex in Wonderland) but never duplicated. Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a director trying to relax a bit in the wake of his latest hit. Besieged by people eager to work with him, however, he also struggles to find his next idea for a film. The combined pressures draw him within himself, where his recollections of significant events in his life and the many lovers he has left behind begin to haunt him. The marriage of Fellini's hyperreal imagery, dreamy sidebars, and the gravity of Guido's increasing guilt and self-awareness make this as much a deeply moving, soulful film as it is an electrifying spectacle. Mastroianni is wonderful in the lead, his woozy sensitivity to Guido's freefall both touching and charming--all the more so as the character becomes increasingly divorced from the celebrity hype that ultimately outpaces him. --Tom Keogh

Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Joseph Melito, Bruce Willis, Jon Seda, Michael Chance, Vernon Campbell, H. Michael Walls, Bob Adrian, Simon Jones, Carol Florence, Bill Raymond, Ernest Abuba, Irma St. Paule, Madeleine Stowe, Joey Perillo, Bruce Kirkpatrick
Genre: Drama
Studio: Umvd   Release date: 1995   Rated: R
Language (Country): German, (USA)
Summary: This is the one of the very few that I will watch over and over again even though it is just so unfulfilling, does not live up to its promises, but produces such outstanding goods in the process, that the disappointment can be alleviated in knowing that not everything can be perfect... but some things do come close.



12 Monkeys is probably Terry Gilliam's most mainstream film to date and certainly his easiest to watch, but that does not make it any the less twisty, arty, heady or off-the-beaten track, 12 Monkeys is absolutely all of that, and more power to it for being just that, with an A list cast of Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, the question we are all left asking in the end is... why does Troy or Armageddon get all the best special effects? Not that 12 Monkeys lacks anything in terms of production values, or that we hate CGI in every movie we see, the stunning set pieces are jaw dropping, it never really does give us a kicker of an ending or the kind of budget finale that all its window dressing emanates, and even the more heady window dressing ending does not really stimulate the brain cells beyond saying - wow, amazing art, 12 Monkeys is that, but cloaked somewhat in a premise about the end of the world, the future, time travel, corporations, viruses, the Army of the 12 Monkeys, that is all very much worth seeing, but investing your time in answers turns out to be a big kettle of fish in the final few minutes. Not that it is a bad ending... just not what this kind of film really deserved, not that we mind things ending or a high or a low, but at least answering the questions poised would have added better closure to a great science-fiction masterpiece.

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Alex Palmer, Bindu De Stoppani, Jukka Hiltunen, David Schneider, Cillian Murphy, Toby Sedgwick, Naomie Harris, Noah Huntley, Christopher Dunne, Emma Hitching, Alexander Delamere, Kim McGarrity, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Justin Hackney
Genre: Horror
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video   Release date: 2003   Rated: R
Language (Country): English, Spanish, French, (UK)
Summary: The director/producer team that created Trainspotting turn their dynamic cinematic imaginations to the classic science fiction scenario of the last people on Earth. Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma to find London deserted--until he runs into a mob of crazed plague victims. He gradually finds other still-human survivors (including Naomie Harris), with whom he heads off across the abandoned countryside to find the source of a radio broadcast that promises salvation. 28 Days Later is basically an updated version of The Omega Man and other post-apocalyptic visions; but while the movie may lack originality, it makes up for it in vivid details and creepy paranoid atmosphere. 28 Days Later's portrait of how people behave in extreme circumstances--written by novelist Alex Garland (The Beach)--will haunt you afterward. Also featuring Brendan Gleeson (The General, Gangs of New York) and Christopher Eccleston (Shallow Grave, The Others). --Bret Fetzer

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier, Wylie Watson, Gus McNaughton, Jerry Verno, Peggy Simpson
Genre: Mystery & Suspense
Studio: Laserlight Video   Release date: 1935   Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): English (UK)
Summary: Hitchcock's first great romantic thriller is a prime example of the MacGuffin principle in action. Robert Donat is Richard Hannay, an affable Canadian tourist in London who becomes embroiled in a deadly conspiracy when a mysterious spy winds up murdered in Hannay's rented flat--and both the police and a secret organization wind up hot on his trail. With only a seemingly meaningless phrase ("the 39 steps"), a small Scottish town circled on a map, and a criminal mastermind identified by a missing finger as clues, quick-witted Hannay eludes police and spies alike as he works his way across the countryside to reveal the mystery and clear his name. At one point he finds himself making his escape manacled to blonde beauty Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), whose initial antagonism is smoothed by Hannay's charm and the sheer rush of her thrilling chase. It's classic Hitchcock all the way, a seemingly effortless balance of romance and adventure set against a picturesque landscape populated by eccentrics and social-register smoothies, none of whom is what he or she appears to be. Hitchcock would play similar games of innocents plunged into deadly conspiracies, most delightfully in North by Northwest, but in this breezy 1935 classic, Hitch proves that, as in any quest, the object of the search isn't nearly as satisfying as the journey. --Sean Axmaker

Director:
Starring: Fred Astaire, Yul Brynner, Greta Garbo, Charlton Heston, Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Ann Miller, Ginger Rogers, Shirley Temple, Raquel Welch
Genre: Documentary
Studio:   Release date: 2000   Rated:
Language (Country): (USA)
Summary: Short films have their own succinct pleasures, but they're almost impossible to see outside of occasional festival screenings. So it's delightful that all of the short animated and live-action films nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 have been packaged together for home viewing. The two American animated shorts are, perhaps unsurprisingly, comic--a Pixar snippet featuring characters from Monsters, Inc. and a clever sci-fi shaggy-dog story ("The ChubbChubbs!," that year's animated winner). The foreign entries, in contrast, range from the philosophical (a German entry views human history from the perspective of a rock) to the surreal (from Japan, the story of a miser with a cherry tree growing out of his scalp). The live-action shorts are just as varied; "This Charming Man" (the winning entry, from Denmark) follows a Danish man pursuing love after a bureaucratic mix-up leads him to disguise himself as a Pakistani immigrant. "I'll Wait for the Next One," from France, packs heartbreak into four swift minutes; Belgium's "Gridlock" gives betrayal a dark comic twist; and the Australian short "Dog" offers a potent glimpse of brutality and consequences in South Africa. A substantial selection, each short a dense and satisfying nugget of film

Director: Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi
Starring: Rod Taylor, Betty Lou Gerson, Cate Bauer, Lisa Daniels, Ben Wright, Frederick Worlock, Lisa Davis, Martha Wentworth, J. Pat O'Malley, Tudor Owen, Tom Conway, George Pelling, Thurl Ravenscroft, David Frankham, Ramsay Hill
Genre: Animated
Studio: Disney Studios   Release date: 1961   Rated: G
Language (Country): English, French, Spanish (USA)
Summary: It's hard to know who thought it would be a good idea to make a live-action version of Disney's animated classic. The one bright notion anyone had was casting Glenn Close as Disney Über-villainess Cruella de Vil; her flashing eyes and angular features are a perfect match and do credit to what is one of the most indelible animated characters Disney has ever created. The story remains essentially the same, focusing on Cruella's plot to kidnap the puppies of a young married couple (Jeff Daniels and Jolie Richardson) and make them into a coat. But the dreaded John Hughes, who wrote this script, fills it with sadistic slapstick and far too few genuine laughs. The human actors work hard, but to little avail; thankfully, there's a passel of puppies to regularly steal scenes when the going gets dreary--although there are only so many laughs to be had from inappropriate dog puddles. --Marshall Fine

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret Tyzack, Robert Beatty, Sean Sullivan, Douglas Rain, Frank Miller, Bill Weston, Ed Bishop, Glenn Beck, Alan Gifford, Ann Gillis
Genre: Science Fiction
Studio: Warner Studios   Release date: 1968   Rated: G
Language (Country): English, French (UK)
Summary: When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

Director: Charles Barton
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lénore Aubert, Jane Randolph, Frank Ferguson, Charles Bradstreet
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Universal Studios   Release date: 1948   Rated: NR
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: Universal Pictures made a great deal of money from its monster movies in the 1930s. In the early '40s, the burlesque team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello kept the studio's coffers full. When the two franchises were combined in 1948, the result was another windfall--despite the apparent oil-and-water mix of subject matter. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was the first of these summit meetings, although the title is a misnomer. Actually, Bud and Lou bump into most of the Universal heavy-hitters, including Count Dracula (played by Béla Lugosi himself), the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.), and the Frankenstein monster (veteran monster Glenn Strange). There's even a token appearance by the Invisible Man, whose disembodied voice is recognizable as that of Vincent Price. Sure enough, the film is funny, especially since it gives the portly Costello multiple opportunities to do his wide-eyed, quivering scaredy-cat routine. Audiences ate it up, and in future installments Bud and Lou would run into Boris Karloff, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, and the Mummy. But the first was the best. --Robert Horton

Director: Andrew Davis
Starring: Steven Seagal, Pam Grier, Henry Silva, Ron Dean, Daniel Faraldo, Sharon Stone, Miguel Nino, Nicholas Kusenko, Joe Greco, Chelcie Ross, Gregory Alan Williams, Jack Wallace, Metta Davis, Joseph F. Kosala, Ronnie Barron
Genre: Action & Adventure
Studio: Warner Studios   Release date: 1988   Rated: R
Language (Country): English, Spanish (USA)
Summary: Steven Seagal plays a Chicago cop who takes on CIA types in this action thriller from Andrew Davis (The Fugitive). Davis brings muscle to the project, including some strong set pieces that make Seagal (who also co-wrote and co-produced the film) look awfully good. Costars Pam Grier and Sharon Stone give a big assist in that department, too, yet nothing can really mitigate such ridiculous moments as Seagal's getting profound with a villain in his raspy monotone: "You think you're above the law. But you're not." The DVD release includes full-screen and widescreen presentations, production notes, trailers, optional Spanish soundtrack and optional French and Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh

Director:
Starring: Harrison Ford
Genre: Action & Adventure
Studio: Paramount Home Video   Release date: 2003   Rated: PG
Language (Country): ()
Summary: As with Star Wars, the George Lucas-produced Indiana Jones trilogy was not just a plaything for kids but an act of nostalgic affection toward a lost phenomenon: the cliffhanging movie serials of the past. Episodic in structure and with fate hanging in the balance about every 10 minutes, the Jones features tapped into Lucas's extremely profitable Star Wars formula of modernizing the look and feel of an old, but popular, story model. Steven Spielberg directed all three films, which are set in the late 1930s and early '40s: the comic book-like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the spooky, Gunga Din-inspired Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the cautious but entertaining Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Fans and critics disagree over the order of preference, some even finding the middle movie nearly repugnant in its violence. (Pro-Temple of Doom people, on the other hand, believe that film to be the most disarmingly creative and emotionally effective of the trio.) One thing's for sure: Harrison Ford's swaggering, two-fisted, self-effacing performance worked like a charm, and the art of cracking bullwhips was probably never quite the iconic activity it soon became after Raiders. Supporting players and costars were very much a part of the series, too--Karen Allen, Sean Connery (as Indy's dad), Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Denholm Elliot, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies among them. Years have passed since the last film (another is supposedly in the works), but emerging film buffs can have the same fun their predecessors did picking out numerous references to Hollywood classics and B-movies of the past. --Tom Keogh

Director: William Keighley, Michael Curtiz
Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Alan Hale, Melville Cooper, Ian Hunter, Una O'Connor, Herbert Mundin, Montagu Love, Leonard Willey, Robert Noble, Kenneth Hunter
Genre: Action & Adventure
Studio: Warner Home Video   Release date: 1938   Rated: PG
Language (Country): English, Spanish, French, (USA)
Summary: Dashing Errol Flynn is the definitive Robin Hood in the most gloriously swashbuckling version of the legendary story. Warner Brothers reunited Michael Curtiz, their top-action director, with the winning team of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) and perennial villain Basil Rathbone as the aristocratic Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and pulled out all stops for the production. It became their costliest film to date, a grandly handsome, glowing Technicolor adventure set to a stirring, Oscar-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliché coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Stocky Alan Hale Sr. plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks's silent version), Eugene Palette the portly Friar Tuck, and Melville Cooper the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin Hood, and his easygoing manner is a marvelous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls. --Sean Axmaker

Director: Mike Mills
Starring: Air
Genre: Concert
Studio: Astralwerks   Release date: 1999   Rated: NR
Language (Country): Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo ()
Summary: The documentary on this DVD may not be the greatest, but it is worth picking up this DVD for the videos. Three of them are among the greatest ever made. KELLY WATCH THE STARS which contrasts a ping pong game with the members of Air playing Atari, is an absolutely hypnotic song / video. You can watch it over and over again. ALL I NEED, a sort of documentary of a couple of skaters in love has some of the most beautiful photography in any video. It is a perfect use of video and music. SEXY BOY, a partially animated clip of a monkey in outer space, is absolutely stunning as well. Those three videos alone are worth picking up the DVD for. Again, the documentary is interesting, but is only something you will watch once. The videos however can be watched over and over again.

Director: Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker
Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, Lorna Patterson, Stephen Stucker, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Otto, Jim Abrahams, Frank Ashmore, Jonathan Banks, Craig Berenson, Barbara Billingsley
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Paramount Home Video   Release date: 1980   Rated: PG
Language (Country): English, German, (USA)
Summary: The quintessential movie spoof that spawned an entire genre of parody films, the original Airplane! still holds up as one of the brightest comedic gems of the '80s, not to mention of cinema itself (it ranked in the top 5 of Entertainment Weekly's list of the 100 funniest movies ever made). The humor may be low and obvious at times, but the jokes keep coming at a rapid-fire clip and its targets--primarily the lesser lights of '70s cinema, from disco films to star-studded disaster epics--are more than worthy for send-up. If you've seen even one of the overblown Airport movies then you know the plot: the crew of a filled-to-capacity jetliner is wiped out and it's up to a plucky stewardess and a shell-shocked fighter pilot to land the plane. Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty are the heroes who have a history that includes a meet-cute à la Saturday Night Fever, a surf scene right out of From Here to Eternity, a Peace Corps trip to Africa to teach the natives the benefits of Tupperware and basketball, a war-ravaged recovery room with a G.I. who thinks he's Ethel Merman (a hilarious cameo)--and those are just the flashbacks! The jokes gleefully skirt the boundaries of bad taste (pilot Peter Graves to a juvenile cockpit visitor: "Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"), with the high (low?) point being Hagerty's intimate involvement with the blow-up automatic pilot doll, but they'll have you rolling on the floor. The film launched the careers of collaborators Jim Abrahams (Big Business), David Zucker (Ruthless People), and Jerry Zucker (Ghost), as well as revitalized such B-movie actors as Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack, and Leslie Nielsen, who built a second career on films like this. A vital part of any video collection. --Mark Englehart

Director: Ron Clements, John Musker
Starring: Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglas Seale, Bruce Adler, Brad Kane, Lea Salonga, Charles Adler, Jack Angel, Corey Burton, Philip L. Clarke, Jim Cummings
Genre: Animated
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment   Release date: 1992   Rated: G
Language (Country): (USA)
Summary: Disney's 1992 animated feature is a triumph of wit and skill. The high-tech artwork and graphics look great, the characters are strong, the familiar story is nicely augmented with an interesting villain (Jafar, voiced by Jonathan Freeman), and there's an incredible hook atop the whole thing: Robin Williams's frantically hilarious vocal performance as Aladdin's genie. Even if one isn't particularly moved by the love story between the title character (Scott Weinger) and his girlfriend Jasmine (Linda Larkin), you can easily get lost in Williams's improvisational energy and the equally entertaining performances of Freeman and Gilbert Gottfried (as Jafar's parrot). --Tom Keogh

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Bolaji Badejo, Helen Horton
Genre: Science Fiction
Studio: Fox Home Entertainme   Release date: 1979   Rated: R
Language (Country): English, French, Musical Score, Production Sound (UK)
Summary: A landmark of science fiction and horror, Alien arrived in 1979 between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back as a stylishly malevolent alternative to George Lucas's space fantasy. Partially inspired by 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space, this instant classic set a tone of its own, offering richly detailed sets, ominous atmosphere, relentless suspense, and a flawless ensemble cast as the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, who fall prey to a vicious creature (designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger) that had gestated inside one of the ill-fated crew members. In a star-making role, Sigourney Weaver excels as sole survivor Ripley, becoming the screen's most popular heroine in a lucrative movie franchise. To measure the film's success, one need only recall the many images that have been burned into our collective psyche, including the "facehugger," the "chestburster," and Ripley's climactic encounter with the full-grown monster. Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is one of the cinema's most unforgettable nightmares. --Jeff Shannon

Director: Alan J. Pakula
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Meredith Baxter, Ned Beatty, Stephen Collins, Penny Fuller, John McMartin, Robert Walden, Frank Wills, F. Murray Abraham
Genre: Drama
Studio: Warner Studios   Release date: 1976   Rated: R
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: It helps to have one of history's greatest scoops as your factual inspiration, but journalism thrillers just don't get any better than "All the President's Men". Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford are perfectly matched as (respectively) "Washington Post" reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation into the Watergate scandal set the stage for President Richard Nixon's eventual resignation. Their bestselling exposé was brilliantly adapted by screenwriter William Goldman, and director Alan Pakula crafted the film into one of the most intelligent and involving of the 1970s paranoid thrillers. Featuring Jason Robards in his Oscar-winning role as "Washington Post" editor Ben Bradlee, "All the President's Men" is the film against which all other journalism movies must be measured. "--Jeff Shannon"

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff, Valérie Boisgel
Genre: Drama
Studio: Criterion Collection   Release date: 1965   Rated: NR
Language (Country): French (France)
Summary: As the French New Wave was reaching its maturity and filmgoing had evolved as a favorite pastime of intellectuals and urban sophisticates, along came Jean-Luc Godard to shake up every convention and send highfalutin critics scrambling to their typewriters. 1965's Alphaville is a perfect example of Godard's willingness to disrupt expectation, combine genres, and comment on movies while making sociopolitical statements that inspired doctoral theses and left a majority of viewers mystified. Part science fiction and part hard-boiled detective yarn, Alphaville presents a futuristic scenario using the most modern and impersonal architecture that Godard could find in mid-'60s Paris. A haggard private eye (Eddie Constantine) is sent to an ultramodern city run by a master computer, where his mission is to locate and rescue a scientist who is trapped there. As the story unfolds on Godard's strictly low-budget terms, the movie tackles a variety of topics such as the dehumanizing effect of technology, willful suppression of personality, saturation of commercial products, and, of course, the constant recollection of previous films through Godard's carefully chosen images. For most people Alphaville, like many of the director's films, will prove utterly baffling. For those inclined to dig deeper into Godard's artistic intentions, the words of critic Andrew Sarris (quoted from an essay that accompanies the Criterion Collection DVD) will ring true: "To understand and appreciate Alphaville is to understand Godard, and vice versa." --Jeff Shannon

Director: Milos Forman
Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Christine Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones, Charles Kay, Kenneth McMillan, Kenny Baker, Lisabeth Bartlett, Barbara Bryne, Martin Cavina, Roderick Cook, Milan Demjanenko
Genre: Drama
Studio: Warner Home Video   Release date: 1984   Rated: R
Language (Country): English, French, Musical Score (USA)
Summary: The satirical sensibilities of writer Peter Shaffer and director Milos Forman (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest) were ideally matched in this Oscar-winning movie adaptation of Shaffer's hit play about the rivalry between two composers in the court of Austrian Emperor Joseph II--official royal composer Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), and the younger but superior prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce). The conceit is absolutely delicious: Salieri secretly loathes Mozart's crude and bratty personality, but is astounded by the beauty of his music. That's the heart of Salieri's torment--although he's in a unique position to recognize and cultivate both Mozart's talent and career, he's also consumed with envy and insecurity in the face of such genius. That such magnificent music should come from such a vulgar little creature strikes Salieri as one of God's cruelest jokes, and it drives him insane. Amadeus creates peculiar and delightful contrasts between the impeccably re-created details of its lavish period setting and the jarring (but humorously refreshing and unstuffy) modern tone of its dialogue and performances--all of which serve to remind us that these were people before they became enshrined in historical and artistic legend. Jeffrey Jones, best-known as Ferris Bueller's principal, is particularly wonderful as the bumbling emperor (with the voice of a modern midlevel businessman). The film's eight Oscars include statuettes for Best Director Forman, Best Actor Abraham (Hulce was also nominated), Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. --Jim Emerson

Director: N/A
Starring: N/A
Genre: Educational
Studio: Global Marketing Par   Release date:   Rated: G
Language (Country): ()
Summary: Turn your TV into the ultimate Fireplace video! Ambient Fire is a DVD that contains 6 video fire modes including Traditional Fireplace , Rustic Logs, Campfire, Widescreen Fireplace & Hearth, Saucy Flames and Candles. Let these romantic and warm images add ambience to your home. Best of all… there's no cleanup! Just pop Ambient Fire in your DVD player, then kick back and relax. Perfect for adding a fireplace or candles to holiday gatherings and entertaining year round.

Director: N/A
Starring: N/A
Genre: Educational
Studio: Global Marketing Par   Release date:   Rated: G
Language (Country): ()
Summary: Ambient Water provides the perfect mood for any room in the house. Capture the ambience of waves at the ocean or an evening sunset on the beach.

You can even turn your TV into one of eight different fresh and saltwater aquariums or an underwater ocean expedition filled with lobsters, sharks, eagle rays, and more.

This DVD includes multiple video and audio modes which you can mix and match in any combination you would like. Features include widescreen and fullscreen modes, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround, looping and shuffling options.

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Serge Merlin, Jamel Debbouze, Clotilde Mollet, Claire Maurier, Isabelle Nanty, Dominique Pinon, Artus de Penguern, Yolande Moreau, Urbain Cancelier, Maurice Bénichou, Michel Robin
Genre: Drama
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment   Release date: 2001   Rated: R
Language (Country): German, French, French (France)
Summary: Perhaps the most charming movie of all time, Amélie is certainly one of the top 10. The title character (the bashful and impish Audrey Tautou) is a single waitress who decides to help other lonely people fix their lives. Her widowed father yearns to travel but won't, so to inspire the old man she sends his garden gnome on a tour of the world; with whispered gossip, she brings together two cranky regulars at her café; she reverses the doorknobs and reprograms the speed dial of a grocer who's mean to his assistant. Gradually she realizes her own life needs fixing, and a chance meeting leads to her most elaborate stratagem of all. This is a deeply wonderful movie, an illuminating mix of magic and pragmatism. Fans of the director's previous films (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) will not be disappointed; newcomers will be delighted. --Bret Fetzer

Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney, Chris Cooper, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards, Barry Del Sherman, Ara Celi, John Cho, Fort Atkinson, Sue Casey
Genre: Drama
Studio: Universal Studios   Release date: 1999   Rated: R
Language (Country): English, (USA)
Summary: From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerizing confidence and acuity epitomized by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism--like Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis, Burnham tells us his story from beyond the grave. It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders. A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbor (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence. Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylized pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he's also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the color of roses--and of blood. --Sam Sutherland

Director: Tony Kaye
Starring: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien, Ethan Suplee, Fairuza Balk, Avery Brooks, Elliott Gould, Stacy Keach, William Russ, Guy Torry, Joseph Cortese, Jason Bose Smith, Antonio David Lyons, Alex Sol
Genre: Drama
Studio: New Line Home Entertainment   Release date: 1998   Rated: R
Language (Country): English, (USA)
Summary: Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to Edward Norton is that his Oscar-nominated performance in American History X nearly convinces you that there is a shred of logic in the tenets of white supremacy. If that statement doesn't horrify you, it should; Norton is so fully immersed in his role as a neo-Nazi skinhead that his character's eloquent defense of racism is disturbingly persuasive--at least on the surface. Looking lean and mean with a swastika tattoo and a mind full of hate, Derek Vinyard (Norton) has inherited racism from his father, and that learning has been intensified through his service to Cameron (Stacy Keach), a grown-up thug playing tyrant and teacher to a growing band of disenfranchised teens from Venice Beach, California, all hungry for an ideology that fuels their brooding alienation. The film's basic message--that hate is learned and can be unlearned--is expressed through Derek's kid brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), whose sibling hero-worship increases after Derek is imprisoned (or, in Danny's mind, martyred) for the killing of two black men. Lacking Derek's gift of rebel rhetoric, Danny is easily swayed into the violent, hateful lifestyle that Derek disowns during his thoughtful time in prison. Once released, Derek struggles to save his brother from a violent fate, and American History X partially suffers from a mix of intense emotions, awkward sentiment, and predictably inevitable plotting. And yet British director Tony Kaye (who would later protest against Norton's creative intervention during post-production) manages to juggle these qualities--and a compelling clash of visual styles--to considerable effect. No matter how strained their collaboration may have been, both Kaye and Norton can be proud to have created a film that addresses the issue of racism with dramatically forceful impact. --Jeff Shannon

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, Nina Foch
Genre: Musical
Studio: Warner Studios   Release date: 1951   Rated: NR
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: A GI (Gene Kelly) stays in Paris after the war to become an artist, and has to choose between the patronage of a rich American woman (Nina Foch) and a French gamine (Leslie Caron) engaged to an older man. The plot is mostly an excuse for director Vincente Minnelli to pool his own extraordinary talent with those of choreographer-dancer-actor Kelly and the artists behind the screenplay, art direction, cinematography, and score, creating a rapturous musical not quite like anything else in cinema. The final section of the film comprises a 17-minute dance sequence that took a month to film and is breathtaking. Songs include "'S Wonderful," "I Got Rhythm," and "Love Is Here to Stay." --Tom Keogh

Director: Chris Smith (II)
Starring: Mark Borchardt, Tom Schimmels, Monica Borchardt, Alex Borchardt, Chris Borchardt, Ken Keen, Mike Schank, Matt Weisman, Bill Borchardt, Cliff Borchardt, Tom Beach, Joan Petrie, Robert Richard Jorge, Dean Allen, Tom Dallace
Genre: Drama
Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios   Release date: 1999   Rated: R
Language (Country): (USA)
Summary: Struggling filmmaker Mark Borchardt is the subject of "American Movie", and he may also be the most determined man you'll ever meet. The straggly haired, fast-talking, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, native lists his greatest influences as "Dawn of the Dead", "Night of the Living Dead", and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". He began making horror movies as a gangly adolescent, and is now set on finishing "Coven" (which he pronounces like "woven"), the "35-minute direct market thriller" he has worked on for two years. In the process, he steadfastly battles immense debt, the threat of losing his kids, and birds chirping gleefully through scenes set in the dead of winter. His mother would rather do her shopping than be an extra, his brother contends he's best suited for factory work, and his father just wants him to "watch the language."
Standing by him through it all is Mark's childhood buddy, Mike Schank, who is the strongest weapon against drug use a task force could ever hope for, and Uncle Bill, begrudging financier of "Coven", who appears to be wasting away before our very eyes. In less perceptive hands these two could easily become caricatures--the burnt-out stoner and the crotchety old coot--but through director Chris Smith's lens we see why Mark loves them, why they love Mark, and why each of these stories is uniquely compelling.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, the film has been compared to "Spinal Tap" and "Waiting for Guffman"--two unquestionably hilarious mock-documentaries--and, indeed, "American Movie" has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. But in the spoofs, we feel encouraged to point and giggle at the poor slobs trying to get a piece of the action. Smith, however, offers us a funny and overwhelmingly affectionate portrait; you may sit down expecting to laugh at Mark's pie-in-the-sky hopes, but you soon find yourself bursting with admiration. "The American dream stays with me each and every day," Mark says, and by the end, we want nothing more than for it to come true. (The DVD version includes the complete short film "Coven.") "--Brangien Davis"

Director: Adam Simon
Starring: John Carpenter, Carol J. Clover, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, Tom Gunning, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, Adam Lowenstein, George A. Romero, Tom Savini
Genre: Horror
Studio: New Video Group   Release date: 2000   Rated: NR
Language (Country): (USA)
Summary: The explosion of gruesome horror cinema in the wake of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead is explored in this serious documentary, which has a welcome respect for an easily derided genre. A few academics make piquant observations (no film critics, although Robin Wood pioneered this line of thinking years ago), but mostly we hear from the filmmakers themselves: Romero, John Carpenter (on Halloween), Wes Craven (Last House on the Left), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and David Cronenberg (Shivers). The directors focus on those films, not their entire careers, which limits the scope of the movie. Juxtapositioning newsreel horrors with movie scenes introduces provocative ideas about where horror comes from, but also feels a little facile. Unexpected bonus: the enthusiasm of John Landis, in describing the out-of-kilter experience of watching these affronts to good taste, and suggesting why they thrill as well as scare us. --Robert Horton

Director: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman
Starring: Chris Ambrose, Joey Krajcar, Josh Hutcherson, Cameron Carter, Daniel Tay, Mary Faktor, Paul Giamatti, Harvey Pekar, Shari Springer Berman, Larry John Meyers, Vivienne Benesch, Barbara Brown, Earl Billings, Danny Hoch, James Urbaniak
Genre: Comedy
Studio: HBO Video   Release date: 2003   Rated: R
Language (Country): English, (USA)
Summary: Based on the life and work of underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar- a prickly poet of the mundane who knows that all the strategizing in the world can't save a guy from picking the wrong supermarket checkout line.

Director: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine, Lila Kaye, Joe Belcher, David Schofield, Brian Glover, Rik Mayall, Sean Baker, Paddy Ryan, Anne-Marie Davies, Frank Oz, Don McKillop, Paul Kember
Genre: Horror
Studio: Universal Studios   Release date: 1981   Rated: R
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: Remember back in the early 1980s when special-effects makeup artists were tripping over themselves to create the next big effect? The Howling boasted a fantastic werewolf transformation scene courtesy of makeup wizard Rob Bottin. Then along came Bottin's mentor, Rick Baker, with his own spectacular effects in this popular horror comedy directed by John Landis. An American Werewolf in London is more of a makeup showcase than a truly satisfying movie, but the film is effectively moody when David Naughton discovers that a wolf attack has turned him into a bloodthirsty lycanthrope. Jenny Agutter plays his love interest (watch out, he bites!), and who can forget Griffin Dunne as Naughton's best friend, an undead corpse who progressively rots away as the plot unfolds? All things considered, it's easy to see why An American Werewolf in London became a modern horror favorite. --Jeff Shannon