New on DVD This Week and Next Week
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M*A*S*H
Surgical hijinks unfold as ace Army cutters subvert the Korean War, drive lieutenants over the edge, chase after wary nurses, and have fun with syringes during an epic football game--all the while remembering that they're living in the backdrop of a seemingly senseless war zone. (1 hr. 56 min.)
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
SpongeBob SquarePants is an optimistic, free-spirited sponge that was born in a rectangular shape, much like a kitchen sponge. Living at the bottom of the sea in a pineapple in the community of Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab diner, where his friends include a Squidward the squid and Patrick the starfish. (1 hr. 39 min.)
Platoon
Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) is a young, naive American who, upon his arrival in Vietnam, quickly discovers that he must do battle not only with the Viet Cong, but also with the gnawing fear, physical exhaustion and intense anger growing within him. While his two commanding officers (Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe) draw a fine line between the war they wage against the enemy and the one they fight with each other, the conflict, chaos and hatred permeate Taylor, suffocating his realities and numbing his feelings to man's highest value... life (2 hrs.)
Night of the Living Dead
The dead come back to life and eat the living. Several people barricade themselves inside a rural house in an attempt to survive the night. Outside are hordes of relentless, shambling zombies who can only be killed by a blow to the head. (1 hr. 36 min.)
Battle of Britain
A powerful and colorful portrayal of an understaffed, technically inferior royal air-crew who valiantly holds off the superior forces of the German Luftwaffe. This pivotal battle of World War II could have led to the Germans winning the war. The incredible cast includes Michael Caine, Robert Shaw, Curt Jurgens, and Laurence Olivier. Based on the actual events. (2 hrs. 12 min.)
Madagascar
This movie focuses on four residents and "stars" of the Central Park Zoo in New York City who are also best friends: a lion (Stiller), a zebra (Rock), a giraffe (Schwimmer) and a pregnant hippo (Smith). When one of them goes missing, the other three break out of the zoo looking for him, and eventually all four are captured and put in boxes to ship them back to the continent their species are originally from: Africa. An accident at sea, however, strands them on the shore of Madagascar. Having had humans take care of them their entire life, the four know nothing of surviving in the wild, or that one of them, the lion, is genetically predisposed to eat his three best friends. Exploring their surroundings, the four friends soon meet the Malagasy locals (a type of lemur given to having loud "rave-like" dance parties) and their carnivorous enemies, the fousas. As the two sides try to use these four new, strange (and large) friends to their benefit, our heroes are also confronted with the reality of their predestined roles in nature. (1 hr. 26 min.)
Transformers
The Earth is caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between two races of robots, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, which are able to change into a variety of objects, including cars, trucks, planes and other technological creations. (2 hrs. 20 min.)
Flashdance
In Adrian Lyne's FLASHDANCE, a young woman, Alex (Jennifer Beals), strives to achieve success as a classical dancer, but economic forces require her to work as a welder by day and an exotic dancer by night. Standing in her way is an abundance of profound social obstacles, not the least of which is her boss at the welding factory, Nick (Michael Nouri), who is also her boyfriend. Alex strives to be accepted into a prestigious ballet academy, and she is furious when she realizes that her boyfriend might be pulling strings for her behind the scenes. Along the road to self-discovery and independence, Alex also struggles to accept love, come to terms with her own stubbornness, and find the inner strength to turn her lofty dreams into reality.
Edited for maximum rhythmic impact, FLASHDANCE is full of glistening bodies and metallic surfaces, powered by Giorgio Moroder's throbbing music and one hit song after another: Michael Sembello's "Maniac," Karen Karmen's "Manhunt," and, notably, Irene Cara's Oscar-winning theme song, "Flashdance...What a Feeling." FLASHDANCE marks the first coproduction between Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who geared the film toward the MTV generation. (1 hr. 38 min.)
Ocean's Eleven
A group of former Air Force pilots plan an elaborate heist of five Las Vegas casinos on New Year's Eve. (2 hrs. 7 min.)
Big Daddy
Thirty-two-year-old Sonny Koufax is a law school graduate steadfastly avoiding the increasing pressures of adult responsibilities. In a misguided attempt to impress his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend and prove he is ready for responsibility, Sonny accepts custody of five-year-old Julian under the pretense of being his biological father. Before long, Sonny-plunged into the unknown territory of sleep deprivation, irritating children's songs and bedwetting-is embracing his role as a temporary dad taking an unconventional approach to child rearing... (1 hr. 35 min.)
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
A small Italian village, led by an oft-drunk mayor, tries to hide a million bottles of wine from the Nazis in this picturesque adaptation of Robert Crichton's comic novel. Stanley Kramer (IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD) directs an impressive cast led by screen legend Anthony Quinn (LA STRADA) and Italian beauty Anna Magnani (OPEN CITY). (2 hrs. 20 min.)
Shrek
Set in a strange, colorful land populated by fairy tale characters, SHREK is a hilarious comedy that will win over audiences of children and adults alike. Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is a fearsome green ogre living in isolation in his own cozy little swamp. He is not receptive to visitors, and fends off the occasional party of torch-wielding villagers with ease. But when the power-hungry Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) turns Shrek's swamp into a relocation camp for dozens of banished fairy-tale characters (including some pesky dwarves, wolves, and fairies) Shrek's quiet, introverted life is ruined. Joined by the talkative Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Shrek makes his way to Farquaad's realm of Duloc, where the Lord makes Shrek an offer: He will rid Shrek's land of the unwanted visitors if Shrek will go on a simple quest to free Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from her remote, dragon-guarded castle and convince her to marry Farquaad. On their quest, Shrek and Donkey run into a number of bizarre situations, and Shrek finds himself realizing that he isn't quite the fearsome monster he has always made himself out to be. Reinventing the traditional fairy tale adventure, SHREK features gorgeous computer animation, a unique sense of humor, and compelling characters--especially Eddie Murphy's lovable Donkey. (1 hr. 29 min.)
The Great Debaters
Inspired by a true story, "The Great Debaters" chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson, a brilliant but volatile debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small African American college in the deep south into a historically elite debate team. A controversial figure, Professor Tolson challenged the social mores of the time and was under constant fire for his unconventional and ferocious teaching methods as well as his radical political views. (2 hrs. 7 min.)
Shrek 2
Picking up exactly where the first movie left off, this movie takes us to the kingdom of Far, Far Away as Shrek and Fiona return to her homeland to tell her parents (Cleese, Andrews) the good news. Not everyone is happy to find her married to an ogre, with the most irate in this group being Prince Charming (Everett), who was supposed to be the one who lifted Fiona's curse. We're also introduced to the mysterious Fairy Godmother (Saunders), and a bar called the Poison Apple, where the villains of the fairy tale world hang out, including the great ogre-slayer, Puss-in-Boots (Banderas). (1 hr. 32 min.)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones finds himself on a new adventure, trekking across Asia with a gold-digging woman and a young child to rescue a village's missing children and find a magic stone. But, along the way he must contend with an evil cult. (1 hr. 58 min.)
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Treasure hunter Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) embarks on a new adventure in director Jon Turtletaub's sequel to NATIONAL TREASURE. Ben and his father, Patrick (Jon Voight), take great pride in their ancestors and their family's devotion to the United States. When Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) produces a page from the diary of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth allegedly linking Ben's great-great grandfather to the plot, Ben and Patrick set out on a path to clear their family's name. Ben also believes that the diary page contains hints to the whereabouts of a treasure map leading to an ancient city made of gold, and soon the hunt is on. Tech expert Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and Ben's now ex-girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) join the Gates in their quest, which takes them from Washington, DC, to Paris, London and the Black Hills of South Dakota.
It's true that the storyline and the actions of Gates and his team--which include breaking into the Queen's study at Buckingham Palace, sneaking into the Oval Office, and kidnapping the President of the United States--are completely unbelievable. But with a storyline built on true, interesting trivia and great locations, this film is an amusing, family-friendly romp. Cage has some great moments as Gates-- loyal, patriotic, fair to a fault, and very funny as he goads on Buckingham Palace security. Harris plays Wilkinson with just the right air of mystery and menace: is he after fortune, or does he just want to leave his own mark in history? Helen Mirren fits the bill as Ben's mother and Patrick's estranged ex-wife, Emily, a scholar and historian in her own right. (2 hrs. 3 min.)
The Way West
Kirk Douglas leads a wagon train of stars to a better life in the untamed Wild West. (2 hrs. 2 min.)
Mr. Deeds
In this homage to the 1936 Frank Capra classic MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, Adam Sandler plays Mr. Deeds, a young man from the small town of Mandrake Falls, NH who inherits controlling interest in a massive media corporation from his deceased uncle. He then starts injecting his small town values into its various businesses. (1 hr. 36 min.)
Shrek the Third
Shrek tackles the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. (1 hr. 33 min.)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
This feature version of the irreverent TV series about a man on a spaceship who's forced to watch bad movies with his robot pals skewers the would-be 1950s classic THIS ISLAND EARTH. While admiring the film's content (or lack thereof), the earthling and his robot-puppet pals make various funny comments throughout. (1 hr. 13 min.)
Hair
In what is widely considered to be even better than the Broadway stage musical, this film version of HAIR, directed by Milos Forman, gives a boost to what was, on the stage, a nonexistent plotline, and highlights the already fabulous score with this epic musical. Filmed on location in and around New York City, the main plotline follows Claude (John Savage) a farm boy turned draftee from Oklahoma on his way to Vietnam. In New York, he is adopted by a group of flower children, led by Berger (Treat Williams) and including Jeannie (Annie Golden), who take him on a series of counter-cultural adventures that introduce Claude to hallucinogens and to a flaky but loveable debutante named Sheila (Beverly D'Angelo). Along with this experience come an introduction to issues of race, gender, politics, and war. The performances--both the acting and the singing--are extraordinary, and choreographer Twyla Tharp stages some of the most inventive and exquisite dance sequences ever seen, including a "horse ballet" by mounted police in Central Park, and an LSD trip-fantasy sequence. The sheer visual energy in HAIR--and the energy of its stars--propels this unique and nostalgic film forward every minute, and gives new insight into the Vietnam War era. (2 hrs. 1 min.)
50 First Dates
Henry Roth (Sandler), a veterinarian at an aquarium in Hawaii, falls in love with a girl, Lucy (Barrymore), with short-term memory loss, but he has to keep getting her to fall in love with him every time they meet in order for them to have a relationship, since she never remembers the last time she met him. (1 hr. 31 min.)
A Bridge Too Far
Attenborough's ambitious, all-star adaptation (by William Goldman) of Cornelius Ryan's book, gives an account of the Battle of Arnhem. In 1944, the Allied powers attempt to expedite the end of the war with a costly operation to capture six bridges connecting Holland to Germany ended in Allied defeat. A multitude of notables star in Attenborough's epic. (2 hrs. 55 min.)
Anguish
This surprising early film from Spanish director Luna (JAMON, JAMON), pays homage to surrealist filmmaker Bunuel with an inventive, multi-layered mind-bender that truly offers more than meets the eye. A movie audience is absorbed in a horror flick where the psycho's favorite pastime is carving out his victim's eyeballs. (1 hr. 29 min.)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Archeologist and university proffesor Indiana Jones must retrieve the mythic Lost Ark of the Covenant before the it gets into the hands of Adolf Hitler who plans on useing its power to guarantee his global conquest. (1 hr. 55 min.)
Next
Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret which is a gift and a curse which torments him: he can see a few minutes into the future. Sick of the examinations he underwent as a child and the interest of the government and medical establishment in his power, he lies low under an assumed name in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm. (1 hr. 36 min.)
Spanglish
Cultures collide as Flor (Paz Vega), a beautiful Mexican woman, and her twelve-year-old daughter move in with an affluent Los Angeles family (Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni and Cloris Leachman). Of all the horrors Flor imagined about this new culture, she never fathomed the peril of being truly embraced by an upscale American family. Written and directed by James L. Brooks. (2 hrs. 11 min.)
High Society
Porter adds the tunes and Sinatra adds the ring-a-ding to this swinging musical remake of The Philadelphia Story. A prim socialite (Kelly in her last role before becoming Her Serene Highness) finds herself in a the middle of a comic mess when her ex-husband (Crosby) and an amorous reporter (Sinatra) come to cover the preparations for her upcoming wedding. Adding to the tension is her skirt-chasing father, who's also returned home for the ceremony. The resulting confusion--and several potent drinks--melt the ice princess's frosty exterior. It isn't long before she sees through her society-climbing fiancee, and warms up again to her crooning jazz musician ex-husband. Rare chance to see rivals Crosby and Sinatra together. Includes such hit numbers as "True Love," "You're Sensational," and "Did You Evah." Academy Award Nominations: 3, including Best Motion Picture Story. (1 hr. 47 min.)
Click
A workaholic architect, who has been overlooking his family in favor of his career, comes across a universal remote that allows him to perform TiVo-like functions on his life, such as pausing events or fast-forwarding over them. When the remote begins creating its own memory and choosing what to fast-forward over, the man sees how much of his personal life has passed him by and realizes the importance of spending more time with his family. (1 hr. 38 min.)
None But the Brave
A battle of wits and weapons ensues and unlikely alliances are forged when a crashed planeload of U.S. Marines and a Japanese army platoon are all stranded on a tiny South Pacific island during World War II. (1 hr. 45 min.)
Short Circuit
When a laser-armed Department of Defense robot named Number 5 gets zapped by a lightning bolt, he "malfunctions" and starts spouting peace slogans and developing a human-like consciousness. Naturally, the newly pacifist machine wants out of the military and escapes. As a frantic search for the creature begins, Number 5 settles down in his new home, with a gentle young woman named Stephanie (Ally Sheedy), who has every intention of holding on to her find, teaching Number 5 about popular culture and other mysteries of life. Thoroughly convinced that the robot is alive, she develops a strong bond with the creature. In order to prevent his capture by the military--who view Number 5 as an armed-and-dangerous weapon--the pair must convince his inventor, a reclusive scientist named Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), that he is truly alive and more than just a metal machine. The highly innovative robot created for director John Badham's film brings to mind other lovable science fiction icons such as E.T. and R2D2 from STAR WARS. (1 hr. 38 min.)
Fear of A Black Hat
This mockumentary chronicles the rise, break-up and subsequent reunion of N.W.H., aka Niggaz With Hats, a fictitious hardcore rap group. (1 hr. 23 min.)
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
Director George A. Romero returns to the subject matter that made him famous with this postmodern take on the zombie genre. DIARY OF THE DEAD begins in innocuous fashion as a group of film students head out into the woods to make a low-budget horror film. This film-within-a-film is directed by Jason Creed (Joshua Close), who draws on a group of friends, and his college professor, to get the job done. But the filming comes to an abrupt halt when news comes in that the dead are springing back to life, devouring people, and taking over the world. Film obsessive Creed doesn't put his camera down for long, and he's soon heading out on the road with his friends in a quest to document the real-life carnage as it unfolds. The film is shot entirely from the point of view of Creed and his camera-wielding friends, and in a neat nod to contemporary technology, Romero's feature is full of references to websites such as MySpace and YouTube.
This interesting sidestep from Romero's long-running zombie saga is a 21st century take on the initial zombie outburst that occurred in the director's 1968 classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Romero unleashes much of his trademark gore and violence as the film progresses, and there are some increasingly witty and inventive ways in which characters become zombiefied. The cast of young unknowns fit snugly into their roles, particularly Michelle Morgan, whose character is in charge of piecing together Creed's film in the editing room. But what really sets DIARY OF THE DEAD apart from its horror-movie contemporaries is the hefty dose of social satire that Romero works into the film, making this a welcome return to the director's trademark style following the more straightforward gore-fest of 2005's LAND OF THE DEAD. (1 hr. 35 min.)
Story of the Year - Our Time Is Now (Two Years In the Life Of...)
Punk rock band Story of the Year is followed during a two-year stretch in support of its IN THE WAKE OF DETERMINATION album on this presentation. The group are captured on camera as they undertake some relentless touring in support of the record, and the documentary also offers some candid footage of the band members as they write and record some new material.
New York, New York
Martin Scorsese's NEW YORK, NEW YORK is a sparkling, nostalgic look at the big-band era of the 1940s, as well as the MGM musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. The story concerns Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro), an aspiring saxophonist who meets and is at first rejected by singer Francine Evans (Liza Minelli). When they continue to bump into each other, a friendship blossoms, followed by romance, and then marriage. All the while, both musicians struggle to succeed at their craft, which begins to put an unbearable strain on their relationship. Eventually, this weight becomes too heavy to handle, leading the couple into a traumatic separation. Scorsese's obvious love for this era of music--as well as cinema--is overflowing throughout the picture, from the set pieces to the costumes to the musical numbers. Most striking is the brutally realistic depiction of a disintegrating marriage, filmed in a series of long, tense takes. De Niro and Minelli jump headlong into their characters, which results in a film that is a challenging viewing experience but emotionally rewarding to the dedicated viewer. As usual, Scorsese's meticulous visual presentation is flawless, as is the film's soundtrack, which recaptures the big-band era with reverence and passion. (2 hrs. 35 min.)
The Master
A kung fu master is injured in an attack by three cruel fighters. The injured man is taken care of by an orphan, to whom he teaches his fighting style. The boy then vows revenge on three who injured his teacher.
Navajo Joe
In NAVAJO JOE, a sole survivor of a bloody massacre vows revenge on his attackers. Burt Reynolds stars in this Spaghetti Western from director Sergio Corbucci (DJANGO). (1 hr. 30 min.)
Flushed Away
A pampered British rat accidentally gets flushed from his posh penthouse flat into the slimy London sewers. (1 hr. 24 min.)
The Land Before Time: Through the Eyes of a Spiketail
This collection includes over 90 minutes of adventure and fun featuring those whacky dinosaurs--Littlefoot, Spike, and the rest of the gang--as they get into trouble, sing some songs, and of course learn a new lesson or two. The Great Valley never gets lonely as long as these lovable guys are around to play, and children love to join in on the magic.
Four For Texas
When con men Zack Thomas (Frank Sinatra) and Joe Jarrett (Dean Martin) team up to open a gambling den, they quickly realize that business in the wild West isn't so easy. Both miscreant banker Harvey Burden (Victor Buono) and loose-cannon gunman Matson (Charles Bronson) are out to stifle Zack and Joe's moneymaking schemes. Luckily, the grifters still find plenty of time to romance a couple of voluptuous frontier babes (Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress).
Rat Packers Sinatra and Martin fuel this comedic Western with their genuine, inimitable chemistry, and the pleasingly skewed supporting cast--including the staggering beauties Ekberg and Andress, the Three Stooges, and Yaphet Kotto in an uncredited cameo that marked his film debut--follows their roisterous lead. Director Robert Aldrich, fresh off the critical and popular success of his caustic psycho-thriller WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, uses a much lighter touch in 4 FOR TEXAS to create an enjoyable, star-studded ride through the old West. (2 hrs. 4 min.)
The Tom Selleck Western Collection
Anyone who's seen 1990's QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER knows Tom Selleck's talent for the Western genre. Equally at home riding a horse on the open trail as he was cruising the palm-lined streets of Hawaii in MAGNUM P.I., Selleck makes an unfaltering and likeable hero in this cowboy collection. What's more, authors Louis L'Amour, Elmore Leonard, and Jack Shaefer provide the superb source material for these adventures in the American frontier: CROSSFIRE TRAIL, co-starring Virginia Madsen and Mark Harmon; LAST STAND AT SABER RIVER, co-starring Haley Joel Osment and David Carradine; and MONTE WALSH, co-starring Isabella Rossellini. Please see individual titles for complete synopsis information.
Sinatra
This highly acclaimed mini-series chronicles the celebrated performer's meteoric rise to fame, from his boyhood in Hoboken, New Jersey to his triumphant performance at Madison Square Garden in 1974. A true-to-life biography with memorable Sinatra songs.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones finds himself on a new adventure, trekking across Asia with a gold-digging woman and a young child to rescue a village's missing children and find a magic stone. But, along the way he must contend with an evil cult. (1 hr. 58 min.)
Hamburger Hill
It was Vietnam, 1969, Hill 937, 10 days, 70 percent casualties. Those are the facts. This is the story: dodge the gunfire, get caught behind enemy lines, go into battle beside the brave young men who fought and died, and feel their desperation and futility. (1 hr. 34 min.)
A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry's play, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, has enjoyed a charmed life since hitting Broadway in 1959. The original Broadway cast took the play to the big screen in 1961, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Sidney Poitier, and now the 2004 adaptation, featuring Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, makes the same transition. The plot follows a 1950s African American family who are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a $10,000 insurance check. Walter Lee (Combs) wants to spend the money to buy a liquor store, while his mother, Lena (Phylicia Rashad), wants to purchase a house. Walter's pregnant wife, Ruth (Audra McDonald), sides with Lena, while also considering getting an abortion. Trouble strikes when Walter fritters most of the money away on his bad investment and Lena stirs up racial conflict by putting a down payment on a house in a white neighborhood. This adaptation, directed by Kenny Leon, embodies much of the controversy and fine performances that made the original production so memorable.
The Night They Raided Minsky's
A raucous and convoluted comic masterpiece packed with all the irreverent spirit of the late-1960s, William Friedkin's THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S is a hilarious social critique of the perrenial American clash between cosmopolitan arts and puritanical roots. When young Rachel Schpitendavel (Britt Ekland) abandons her rural Amish home for a life as a dancer in New York, she finds herself at Minsky's burlesque, a family operation changing hands from the conservative and skeptical father, Louis Minsky (Joseph Wiseman), to the liberal and daring young son, Billy Minsky (Elliot Gould). Plagued by a dour moral crusader threatening to have the city shut the place down for obscenity, Minsky and company concoct a plan to humiliate the police by advertising a striptease but then switching the program to Rachel's Amish biblical dance at the last moment. Things don't go according to plan when Rachel's furious Amish father, her lovesick gangster boyfriend, and her fellow actors' backstage fight for her love all clash in a climactic catastrophe that results in the surprising accidental invention of the striptease. (1 hr. 40 min.)
