Jumat, 11 November 2011

Fred Claus

  • This is a story you?ve never heard before, a hilarious and heartwarming comedy about Fred Claus, Santa?s brother ? and complete opposite. After growing up in saintly Nick?s shadow, Fred becomes a grouch who?s lost his belief in Christmas. Then, one magical December, Fred flies north (first via reindeer) to find brother Nick is in trouble: a scheming efficiency expert is out to shut down Christmas
When their only daughter Blair leaves the family nest, Luther and Nora Krank (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) decide to book an island cruise to beat the yuletide blues and just skip the holidays. But their decision to boycott tradition has the whole neighborhood in an uproar, and when Blair callson Christmas Eve to announce a surprise visit with her new fiancée, the Kranks have just twelve hours to perform a miracle and pull themselves and their neighbors together to throw the best celebration ev! er.A hilarious family comedy! Subtitled in English, French, Chinese, Thai. Wide and full screen.Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito are hilarious as two neighbors trying to put the "win" in "winter" in one of the year's funniest comedies! Determined to unseat Steve Finch's (Broderick) reign as the town's holiday season king, Buddy Hall (DeVito) plasters his house with so many decorative lights that it'll be visible from space! When their wives (Kristin Davis and Kristin Chenoweth) bond, and their kids follow suit, the two men only escalate their rivalry ­ and their decorating. It's anybody's guess whether the holidays will wind up jolly or jostled in this wild and woolly laugh-fest that the whole family will love!Good neighbors can be hard to come by and when the flighty Buddy Hall (Danny Devito) moves in across the street from the conservative Dr. Steve Finch (Matthew Broderick), it quickly becomes apparent that the two men are complete opposites. While Finch methodical! ly plans out every minute of the coming Christmas season for h! is famil y, Buddy craves freshness and excitement and is seized by an impulsive desire to decorate his house so brightly that it can be seen from space. While the men's wives Kelly (Kristin Davis) and Tia (Kristin Chenoweth) and their children revel in one another's differences and form solid friendships, a rivalry of personalities and Christmas spirit ensues between the two men that will wind up testing the patience and love of every member of both families. This is fun, comical holiday entertainment for the entire family ages 9 and older. --Tami Horiuchi

Beyond Deck the Halls


The Holidays on DVD

M! atthew Broderick Films

Danny DeVito Films



Stills from Deck the Halls

Slapstick humor gets a full-body workout in Christm! as with the Kranks. Critics were unanimous in their derision, and John Grisham must have gnashed his teeth over what studio-boss-turned-director Joe Roth did to his bestselling novel Skipping Christmas, to which this broad-stroked comedy bears little or no resemblance. The title characters are played by Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, who decide to skip Christmas because their daughter's in Peru with the Peace Corps. Thus begins a rabid program of enforced conformity when their neighbors (led by Dan Aykroyd) coerce the Kranks into changing their holiday attitude--a change that comes easily when the daughter announces she'll be home for Christmas after all. Imagine if a suburban lynch mob said "Have a Merry Christmas or we'll kill you," and you'll get some idea of what spending Christmas with the Kranks is really like. And if you laughed at the frozen cat, you're probably on Santa's "naughty" list. --Jeff ShannonWhen their only daughter Blair leaves the famil! y nest Luther and Nora Krank (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) decide to book an island cruise to beat the yuletide blues and just skip the holidays. But their decision to boycott tradition has the whole neighborhood in an uproar and when Blair calls on Christmas Eve to announce a surprise visit with her new fianc e the Kranks have just twelve hours to perform a miracle and pull themselves and their neighbors together to throw the best celebration ever! With fast-paced energy and support from Dan Aykroyd Cheech Marin Jake Busey and M. Emmet Walsh this hilarious adaptation of John Grisham's best-selling novel "Skipping Christmas" has become "an instant family classic!" (Gorman Woodfin CBN)System Requirements: Running Time 99 MinFormat: UMD Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 043396125452 Manufacturer No: 12545

Features include:

•MPAA Rating: PG
•Format: DVD
•Runtime: 116 minutes
Vince Vaughn is enormously enjoyable as the titular Fr! ed Claus, disgruntled older brother of the better-known St! . Nichol as himself, i.e., the North Pole’s very own Santa (Paul Giamatti). A garrulous hustler running from the emotional fallout of the ultimate sibling rivalry, poor Fred keeps trying to find happiness through one failed scheme after another, pushing away the people who care about him most. When brother Santa puts the squeeze on him to help out in the toy factory atop the world, Fred turns the place into one big, raucous party. Unfortunately, he’s unaware that Santa and Mrs. Claus (Miranda Richardson) are under tight scrutiny from an oversight committee (represented by a calculating Kevin Spacey) and could be shut down. The film, directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers), gleams and twinkles the way a holiday movie should, and has plenty of fun material for youngsters, including a wacky chase scene in which Fred goes on the run from a half-dozen, angry Salvation Army Santas. But Fred Claus is also supposed to appeal to hip adults with a taste for ironic farce, ! and on that score the movie feels like a succession of Saturday Night Live skits more than an organic whole. Still, Vaughn holds everything together with a smart, insightful performance that looks deep into his character’s torment--with more than a few laughs. --Tom Keogh

Gossip: Ten Pathways to Eliminate It from Your Life and Transform Your Soul

10 Things I Hate About You

  • 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (DVD MOVIE)
Opposites attract with irresistible force in this fresh, funny, feel-good comedy about two mismatched teens who scheme to make their ex's jealous. Melissa Joan Hart (TV's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch") is "picture perfect" (CBS-TV, Fort Worth) as a peppy preppy who performs the ultimate makeover on her scruffy next-door neighbor (Adrian Grenier) - and discovers this former "frog" was a prince all along! With a screenplay by Rob Thomas (Dawson's Creek), a cast featuring today's hottest young stars, plus the smash hit songs "Crazy" (Britney Spears), and "I Want It That Way" (Backstreet Boys), "Drive Me Crazy" is "worth celebrating!" (Detroit Free Press)This conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky c! ritique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomf! ortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a cur! iously p rovocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerStudio: Tcfhe Release Date: 12/09/2008This conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, b! ut Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerAn irresistible cast of Hollywood's young faces star in this fun, sexy comedy hit about the power of attraction and the pressures of popularity! Stung when his bombshell girlfriend abruptly dumps him for a TV celebrity, big man on campus Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr., SCOOBY-DOO, BOYS AN! D GIRLS, DOWN TO YOU) wagers with a classmate he can quickly t! urn any girl -- even the school's biggest geek, Laney Boggs (Rachel Leigh Cook, TEXAS RANGERS, JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS) -- into the prom queen! He wasn't, however, betting on falling in love! After an amazing makeover, Laney is transformed from nobody to knockout ... but when she learns of Zack's deception, it could ruin any chance he had with his newfound dream girl! With a hip, modern soundtrack and a hilarious story that audiences loved, this great comedy is all that ... and more!This charming update of Pygmalion (by way of the John Hughes oeuvre, most notably Pretty in Pink) rode the crest of the late-'90s wave of immensely popular teen films (Varsity Blues, etc.), thanks primarily to the immense charisma of its two leads, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. When school star Zach (Prinze)--who's a jock, smart, and popular--gets dumped by vacuous Taylor (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) after spring break, he's left dateless for the all-important prom. With a! little goading from his less-than-sensitive best friend (hunky Paul Walker), he bets that he can make any girl into prom queen a mere eight weeks before the dance. The object of their wager: misfit Laney (Cook), a gawky art student too busy with her paintings and taking care of her brother and dad to worry about school politics. However, after a couple looks from Zach, and a few dates that reveal him to be a hunk of substance, Laney's armor begins to melt--and her stock at school soars. Soon enough, she's the lone candidate for prom queen against the bitchy and relentless Taylor.

What elevates She's All That above the realm of standard teen fare is its mixture of good-natured fairy-tale romance and surprisingly clear-eyed view of high school social strata. The lines of class are demarcated as clearly as if in a Jane Austen novel, but the satire is equally deflating and affectionate. Sure, high school could be bad sometimes, but it was lots of fun too; this is a! movie good-natured enough to take time out for an extended hi! p-hop da nce number at the prom. Director Robert Iscove (who also helmed the Brandy-starring TV adaptation of Cinderella) has also assembled a great young cast, including a scene-stealing Anna Paquin as Zach's no-nonsense sister, Kieran Culkin as Laney's geeky brother, and a stupidly goofy Matthew Lillard as a Real World cast member whose arrival shakes things up a little too much. And amidst all the comedy and prom drama, you'd be hard-pressed to find two teen stars as talented, attractive, and appealing as Prinze and Cook. Prinze is an approachable and sensitive jock, though it's Cook who's the true star, investing Laney with confidence, humor, and heart. Like Zach, you'll be hard-pressed not to fall in love with her. By the story's end, both Cook and the film will have charmed the socks off of you. --Mark EnglehartThis conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns he! r grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily comm! enting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle u! ncomfort ably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerWHATEVER IT TAKES - DVD MovieWhatever It Takes initially seems little more than another comedy with impossibly attractive teenagers trying to get into each other's pants. Ryan (Shane West) is a bit of a geek with eyes for the school sex bomb, Ashley (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), which induces cringing in his neighbor and best friend, Maggie (Marla Sokoloff), a cute intellectual girl. But popular jock Chris (James Franco) has his eye on Maggie, and he offers to help Ryan win Ashley if Ryan will help Chris woo Maggie. So begins a two-headed variation on Cyrano de Bergerac; Ryan composes soulful e-mails for Chris, and Chris advises Ryan to treat Ashley like dirt, which seems to be the only way to get her attention.

At! first, neither finds it easy to change their ways; Chris comes on too strong, and Ryan is too nervous to be a jerk. But as they start to succeed, Ryan begins to see Maggie in a new light and wonders if he's pursuing the right girl. Which could all be very standard and shallow, but as the story unfolds the movie examines staying true to yourself and finding self-worth in surprisingly trenchant and unpreachy ways. Which is not to say that Whatever It Takes is high-minded--everyone's excessively good-looking and prone to wearing tight or revealing clothing, and there's a subplot about a kid who aspires to achieve school immortality through a topnotch prank. But the movie offers more than you might expect, which sets it apart from many of the recent swarm of teen flicks. --Bret Fetzer10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU - DVD MovieIt's, like, Shakespeare, man! This good-natured and likeable update of The Taming of the Shrew takes the basics of Shakespeare's farce ab! out a surly wench and the man who tries to win her and transfe! rs it to modern-day Padua High School. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is a sullen, forbidding riot grrrl who has a blistering word for everyone; her sunny younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is poised for high school stardom. The problem: overprotective and paranoid Papa Stratford (a dryly funny Larry Miller) won't let Bianca date until boy-hating Kat does, which is to say never. When Bianca's pining suitor Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets wind of this, he hires the mysterious, brooding Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to loosen Kat up. Of course, what starts out as a paying gig turns to true love as Patrick discovers that underneath her brittle exterior, Kat is a regular babe. The script, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is sitcom-funny with peppy one-liners and lots of smart teenspeak; however, its cleverness and imagination doesn't really extend beyond its characters' Renaissance names and occasional snippets of real Shakespearean dialogue. What makes the movie energeti! c and winning is the formula that helped make She's All That such a big hit: two high-wattage stars who look great and can really act. Ledger is a hunk of promise with a quick grin and charming Aussie accent, and Stiles mines Kat's bitterness and anger to depths usually unknown in teen films; her recitation of her English class sonnet (from which the film takes its title) is funny, heartbreaking, and hopelessly romantic. The imperious Allison Janney (Primary Colors) nearly steals the film as a no-nonsense guidance counselor secretly writing a trashy romance novel. --Mark Englehart

Household Tales by Brothers Grimm

PaperMate Pink Pearl Premium Medium Rubber Eraser, 3-Count (70502PP)

Friday Night Lights: The Fourth Season

  • Condition: New
  • Format: DVD
  • AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/04/2011For four years, the residents and students of Dillon, Texas, have faced difficult choices on and off the field with courage, passion and perseverance. Now the time has come to find closure for problems of the past while pursuing new possibilities that will lead many beyond Dillon city limits. But, will everyone be up to the challenge?Saying goodbye to Dillon, Texas, won't be easy for those who've been with Friday Night Lights from the start--especially those who read the book or saw the movie. Over five years on NBC, students graduated, the high school changed (from West to East Dillon), and Eric and Tami Taylor (Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton) and Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) remained constants, sometimes making mistakes, but a! lways trying to do right by their kids--biological and otherwise. And few shows offered more believable relationships, from Coach and Tami to Luke (Matt Lauria) and Becky (Madison Burge), who rekindle their romance in the final season.

If the fourth year marked the end of an era, the fifth revolves around new beginnings: Tami returns to her role as guidance counselor (after a controversial reign as principal), Buddy takes his wayward son under his wing, Julie (Aimee Teegarden) has a rough start at college, Billy (Derek Phillips) becomes assistant football coach, Becky moves in with him and his wife, and quarterback Vince (Michael B. Jordan), who continues to see Jess (Jurnee Smollett), tangles with his recently paroled father, Ornette (Cress Williams). Naturally, there are a few new arrivals, but they don't make the same impact as returning Dillon veterans Landry (Jesse Plemons), Jason (Scott Porter), Matt (Zach Gilford), Tyra (Adrianne Palicki), and Billy's younger brot! her, Tim (Taylor Kitsch), whose adjustment to life after priso! n parall els Ornette's experience.

This 13-episode arc traces the road to the state championships and marks the end of one of television's most emotionally involving shows, always operating on the principle that everyone can change, and that there's still room on network TV for semi-improvised, documentary-style filmmaking. Deleted scenes, commentary tracks, and a featurette offer a comprehensive look back at a stellar series, truly one of the medium's very best. --Kathleen C. FennessyOne of the greatest TV dramas of all time continues with 13 gripping fourth season episodes of the critically acclaimed series Friday Night Lights. Small-town life in Dillon has changed irrevocably with the dramatic split of the school district. Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) finds himself fighting for the respect of the East Dillon Lions, while his wife, Tami (Connie Britton), faces her own battles as principal of the Dillon High Panthers. Across town, it’s a season for change as gradu! ating students face life after high school, and new students deal with hostile rivalries. From executive producers Brian Grazer, Peter Berg and Jason Katims comes the show that critics rave “may have the greatest emotional range of any series ever on television” (Neal Gabler, Los Angeles Times).

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Two-Disc Edition (Feature + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray - 2009]

  • Blu-ray + Digital Copy
  • Original US Version, Region 1
Based on Hasbro’s immensely popular action figures, G.I. Joe is the ultimate elite fighting force, engaged in an extraordinary action-adventure matchup of good versus evil! In G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the G.I. Joe team, armed with the coolest hi-tech gadgets and weapons, travels the world from the Egyptian desert to the polar ice caps in a high stakes pursuit of Cobra, an evil international organization threatening to use a technology that could bring the world to its knees.The Rise of Cobra is not your grandfather's G.I. Joe. It's more like C.G.I. Joe with explosive special-effects action sequences that provide the film with a surplus of "Boom Boom Pow" (to quote the Black Eyed Peas song that drives the end credits). This blast from the summer past is very much like the metal-munching nano-mite missil! es a (literally) mad Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt cashing in some of his indie cred) and McCullen, a Scottish weapons dealer (Christopher Eccleston), threaten to unleash upon the world. It never stops. Ever. The original G.I. Joe action figure was an all-American hero. These Joes are--all together now--"the best of the best," an elite multi-national squad. Two soldiers, Duke (a buff Channing Tatum), an "on the ground, in the fight" kind of guy, and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), his wisecracking best friend, are rescued by the Joes after they are ambushed while transporting the missiles. These are no ordinary Joes. Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) is a silent ninja, Stella (Rachel Nichols) a bodacious brainiac, Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) the imposing weapons specialist, and Breaker (Said Taghamaoui) the techie. They are led by gruff Gen. Hawk (Dennis Quaid), who barks out lines like, "When all else fails, we don't," with polish. Duke and Ripcord are recruited to join the classifi! ed unit after Duke discovers that Ana (Sienna Miller), his for! mer fian cée, is in cahoots with McCullen and now sports the sinister moniker the Baroness, not to mention killer cleavage-enhancing latex outfits. This being the first in a budding franchise, there is much backstory to cover. Flashbacks date back to 1641! But the order of the day is underground military command centers, underwater evil lairs, gleaming high-tech weaponry, breakneck chases, and cool gadgets, such as a speed-accelerating hydraulic suit. It's enough to make you want to dust off your original Hasbro action figures or, the studio no doubt hopes, buy the new ones. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Click for larger image)















Based on Hasbro’s immensely popular action figures, G.I. Joe is the ultimate elite fighting force, engaged in an extraordinary action-adventure matchup of good versus evil! In G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the G.I. Joe team, armed with the coolest hi-tech gadgets and weapons, travels the world from the Egyptian desert to the polar ice caps in a high stakes pursuit of Cobra, an evil international organization threatening to use a technology that could bring the world to its knees.The Rise of Cobra is not your grandfather's G.I. Joe. It's more like C.G.I. Joe with explosive special-effects action sequences that provide the film with a surplus of "Boom Boom Pow" (to quote the Black Eyed Peas song that drives the end credits). This blast from the summer past is very much like the metal-munching nano-mite missiles a (literally) mad Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt cashing in some of hi! s indie cred) and McCullen, a Scottish weapons dealer (Christopher Eccleston), threaten to unleash upon the world. It never stops. Ever. The original G.I. Joe action figure was an all-American hero. These Joes are--all together now--"the best of the best," an elite multi-national squad. Two soldiers, Duke (a buff Channing Tatum), an "on the ground, in the fight" kind of guy, and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), his wisecracking best friend, are rescued by the Joes after they are ambushed while transporting the missiles. These are no ordinary Joes. Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) is a silent ninja, Stella (Rachel Nichols) a bodacious brainiac, Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) the imposing weapons specialist, and Breaker (Said Taghamaoui) the techie. They are led by gruff Gen. Hawk (Dennis Quaid), who barks out lines like, "When all else fails, we don't," with polish. Duke and Ripcord are recruited to join the classified unit after Duke discovers that Ana (Sienna Miller), his former fianc! ée, is in cahoots with McCullen and now sports the sinister m! oniker t he Baroness, not to mention killer cleavage-enhancing latex outfits. This being the first in a budding franchise, there is much backstory to cover. Flashbacks date back to 1641! But the order of the day is underground military command centers, underwater evil lairs, gleaming high-tech weaponry, breakneck chases, and cool gadgets, such as a speed-accelerating hydraulic suit. It's enough to make you want to dust off your original Hasbro action figures or, the studio no doubt hopes, buy the new ones. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Click for larger image)


< /p>Based on Hasbro’s immensely popular action figures, G.I. Joe is the ultimate elite fighting force, engaged in an extraordinary action-adventure matchup of good versus evil! In G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the G.I. Joe team, armed with the coolest hi-tech gadgets and weapons, travels the world from the Egyptian desert to the polar ice caps in a high stakes pursuit of Cobra, an evil international organization threatening to use a technology that could bring the world to its knees.The Rise of Cobra is not your grandfather's G.I. Joe. It's more like C.G.I. Joe with explosive special-effects action sequences that provide the film with a surplus of "Boom Boom Pow" (to quote the Black Eyed Peas song that drives the end credits). This blast from the summer past is very much like the metal-munching nano-mite missiles a (literally) mad Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt cashing in some of his indie cred) and McCullen, a Scottish weapons dealer (Christopher Eccl! eston), threaten to unleash upon the world. It never stops. Ever. The original G.I. Joe action figure was an all-American hero. These Joes are--all together now--"the best of the best," an elite multi-national squad. Two soldiers, Duke (a buff Channing Tatum), an "on the ground, in the fight" kind of guy, and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), his wisecracking best friend, are rescued by the Joes after they are ambushed while transporting the missiles. These are no ordinary Joes. Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) is a silent ninja, Stella (Rachel Nichols) a bodacious brainiac, Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) the imposing weapons specialist, and Breaker (Said Taghamaoui) the techie. They are led by gruff Gen. Hawk (Dennis Quaid), who barks out lines like, "When all else fails, we don't," with polish. Duke and Ripcord are recruited to join the classified unit after Duke discovers that Ana (Sienna Miller), his former fiancée, is in cahoots with McCullen and now sports the sinister moniker th! e Baroness, not to mention killer cleavage-enhancing latex out! fits. Th is being the first in a budding franchise, there is much backstory to cover. Flashbacks date back to 1641! But the order of the day is underground military command centers, underwater evil lairs, gleaming high-tech weaponry, breakneck chases, and cool gadgets, such as a speed-accelerating hydraulic suit. It's enough to make you want to dust off your original Hasbro action figures or, the studio no doubt hopes, buy the new ones. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Click for larger image)




















G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra 3 3/4" Action Figure Cobra Viper ! (Command o Desert Ambush)

Dolls

  • Legendary director & actor Takeshi Kitano (Brother, The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi) departs from his usual stylish gangster thrillers to present a masterpiece that is both artistic and moving. Bound by a long red cord, a young couple wanders in search of something they have tragically forgotten. An aging yakuza boss mysteriously returns to the park where he once met his long-past girlfriend. A disf
A mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett) and a young Japanese Warrior Yoshi (Gackt) both arrive in a town that has been terrorized by outrageous and virulent criminals. Each is obsessed with his seperate mission, and guided by the wisdom of The Bartender (Woody Harrelson) at the Horseless Horseman Saloon, the two eventually join forces to bring down the corrupt and contemptuous reign of Nicola (Ron Perlman), the awesomely evil woodcutter and his lady Alexandra (Demi Moore), a femme fatale with a secre! t past.Studio: Anderson Merchandisers L Release Date: 11/01/2011 Run time: 124 minutes Rating: RYou think your childhood was rough? Check out the opening 20 minutes of Conan the Barbarian, a bone-cracking coming-of-age prologue that fully explains the "Barbarian" part of the name. The film gets off to a ripping start, including li'l Conan's lethal dispatching of a crowd of restless natives (it's not every lad that returns from camp with the decapitated heads of his enemies dangling from his shoulders) and a great deal of hoo-hah about the forging of swords. As the character grows into manhood, played by Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), the cascade of brutality continues: boiling oil, nose trauma, death by metal fingernails--you name it, the movie has it. The "origin story" plot is a workable way into the world of pulp writer Robert E. Howard's hero: Conan seeks vengeance for the death of his father (Ron Perlman) and pursues power-hungry Khalar Zym (Stephen La! ng, enjoying the fruits of Avatar), who in turn seeks t! he final piece of a many-tailed magic mask, which will give him untold power. Rose McGowan is all spooky as Khalar's daughter (she's got the fingernails) and Rachel Nichols is an innocent slated to be sacrificed by the evildoers. Director Marcus Nispel rolls out the tech hardware for this relentless action picture, pumping up every sound with a digital whammy that might make your head feel it has been split in two by Conan's mighty sword (that is, if you didn't already feel that from the chaotic cutting--since the movie was originally released in uninspired 3-D, this visual unpleasantness was enhanced in theaters). The movie's not a complete bust, but it is a fairly punishing experience. As for Momoa, he's got the pectorals, and generally comes across as a likable sort. Of course, Conan isn't supposed to be a likable sort, so his casting will likely trigger an unexpected response in viewers familiar with the 1982 version of the character. You will miss Arnold Schwarzenegger. --Ro! bert HortonA naïve young man assumes a dead man's identity in order to join a underworld game of Russian Roulette. The stakes are high, but the payout is more than he can resist. His only collateral is his life and however long his luck can hold. Are his odds any better than any other player in this most deadly game?In a young Republic of China, where greedy warlords fuel a period of war and strife, Hou Jie (Andy Lau) arrogantly shows no mercy to his enemies seeking refuge with the benign and compassionate Shaolin monks. After unscrupulously killing a wounded enemy, Hou Jie pays a terrible price for his actions and is forced to seek refuge in the same Shaolin Monastery he blatantly disrespected. Hou Jie s traitorous second-in-command Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) continues where the once-warlord left off, betraying his country and his own people. Hou Jie must adapt to Shaolin principles to stop the monster he created.

Bonus Features
English Dub
Deleted Scenes
US Tr! ailers
International TrailersBased loosely on the 1982 mart! ial arts epic Shaolin Temple, which helped to mint Jet Li as a star, this Hong Kong blockbuster from Benny Chan stars Andy Lau as a battle-weary warlord who finds refuge and then solace among the monks of a Shaolin temple. Set during the tumult of early Republican China, the story unfolds as Lau's warlord usurps his rivals, but at the cost of his daughter's life and his wife's loyalty. His spirit crushed, he decides to atone for his violent past by joining a Shaolin order (which counts Jackie Chan, in a glorified cameo, as its cook). Lau's path to enlightenment is cast into doubt when he discovers that his former second-in-command (Nicholas Tse, in an enjoyably overripe performance) has enslaved the local population and forced them to unearth relics in order to pay for greater weapons. Things naturally come to a head between Lau and Tse, but the film is less concerned with sprawling martial arts battles than the emotional conflicts between and within its major players. Honor,! familial loyalty, remorse, and pursuit of spiritual wholeness are cornerstones of Hong Kong action films, but the depth of the performances and screenplay (by Alan Yuen) lends rich nuances to the subjects, often at the expense of adding an extra fight scene to the picture. That's perhaps a good thing, as martial arts choreographer Corey Yuen's usual pyrotechnics are hobbled somewhat by his leads, who are fine actors but only modest fighters, leaving the firepower to wushu champion Wu Jing as a Shaolin elder. Chan's formidable talents are used to underscore his comic contributions to the film, and as such, are only mildly entertaining. That's also how most martial arts fans will view Shaolin, though those who value theme as well as action may find it a frequently thoughtful diversion. The Blu-ray collector's edition features a gallery of deleted scenes (mostly extended versions of scenes in the theatrical cut) and trailers, as well as a pair of by-the-books featurett! es on the film's production. Slightly more interesting are a h! andful o f interviews with the principals, which touch on the picture's historical basis and the '82 Li film, among other subjects. --Paul GaitaYou think your childhood was rough? Check out the opening 20 minutes of Conan the Barbarian, a bone-cracking coming-of-age prologue that fully explains the "Barbarian" part of the name. The film gets off to a ripping start, including li'l Conan's lethal dispatching of a crowd of restless natives (it's not every lad that returns from camp with the decapitated heads of his enemies dangling from his shoulders) and a great deal of hoo-hah about the forging of swords. As the character grows into manhood, played by Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), the cascade of brutality continues: boiling oil, nose trauma, death by metal fingernails--you name it, the movie has it. The "origin story" plot is a workable way into the world of pulp writer Robert E. Howard's hero: Conan seeks vengeance for the death of his father (Ron Perlman) and p! ursues power-hungry Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang, enjoying the fruits of Avatar), who in turn seeks the final piece of a many-tailed magic mask, which will give him untold power. Rose McGowan is all spooky as Khalar's daughter (she's got the fingernails) and Rachel Nichols is an innocent slated to be sacrificed by the evildoers. Director Marcus Nispel rolls out the tech hardware for this relentless action picture, pumping up every sound with a digital whammy that might make your head feel it has been split in two by Conan's mighty sword (that is, if you didn't already feel that from the chaotic cutting--since the movie was originally released in uninspired 3-D, this visual unpleasantness was enhanced in theaters). The movie's not a complete bust, but it is a fairly punishing experience. As for Momoa, he's got the pectorals, and generally comes across as a likable sort. Of course, Conan isn't supposed to be a likable sort, so his casting will likely trigger an unexpected ! response in viewers familiar with the 1982 version of the char! acter. Y ou will miss Arnold Schwarzenegger. --Robert HortonAs theyre held for ransom a husband and wifes predicament grows more dire amid the discovery of betrayal and deception. Studio: Millennium Media Services Release Date: 11/01/2011 Starring: Nicolas Cage Cam Gigandet Run time: 85 minutes Rating: R Director: Joel SchumacherKyle and Sarah Miller (Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman) are minding their own business, enjoying the fruits of his lavish success as a diamond salesman. Well, maybe not "enjoying"--there are hints this marriage isn't exactly fulfilling either spouse. Out of the blue, a gang of jewel thieves arrive to take the couple hostage, find the loot, and threaten their teenage daughter (Liana Liberato) in the bargain. And with that setup, Trespass is off and running for 90 minutes of pretty-near nonstop crazy-time, as the thieves begin to unravel and motor-mouth Kyle tries to talk them out of whatever latest strategy they attempt. When you learn that ! the film is directed by Joel (Batman & Robin) Schumacher, you may assume that the tone will be lurid, and it is. But darned if Schumacher doesn't manage to make a guilty-pleasure sort of experience out of the hothouse dialogue and rampant overplaying; if this movie had been produced on a low budget with unknown actors, it would probably be hailed as a B-movie sleeper. Cage overdoes the nerd factor, but Kidman manages to find some eerie moments (and cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak sure knows how to photograph her). Adding value is the chief hostage-taker, Ben Mendelsohn, whose sinister performance in Animal Planet marked him as a villain to watch; here, he memorably tries to keep it together as he juggles his fragile brother (Cam Gigandet), a trigger-happy henchman (Dash Mihok), and a strung-out girlfriend (Jordana Spiro). For the record, the absurd plot turns are almost impossible to defend, but the movie hurtles along so insanely you may not have time to c! are. --Robert HortonInspired by the everlasting emotion! s expres sed in Japanese Bunraku doll theatre, Dolls weaves three stories delicately intertwined by the beauty of sadness. Bound by a long red cord, a young couple wanders in search of something they have tragically forgotten. An aging yakuza mysteriously returns to the park where he used to meet his long-past girlfriend. A disfigured pop star confronts the phenomenal devotion of her biggest fanDolls is a film of extraordinary beauty and tenderness from a filmmaker chiefly associated with grave mayhem and deadpan humor. That is to say, this is not one more Takeshi Kitano movie focused on stoical cops or gangsters. The title refers most directly, but not exclusively, to the theatrical tradition of Bunraku, enacted by half-life-size dolls and their visible but shrouded onstage manipulators. Such a performance--a drama of doomed lovers--occupies the first five minutes of the film, striking a keynote that resonates as flesh-and-blood characters take up the action.

The film-! proper is dominated by the all-but-wordless odyssey of a susceptible yuppie and the jilted fiancée driven mad by his desertion to marry the boss's daughter. Bound by a blood-red cord, they move hypnotically through a landscape variously urban and natural, stylized only by the breathtaking purity of light, angle, color, and formal movement imposed by Kitano's compositional eye and rigorous, fragmentary editing. Along the way we also pick up the story of an elderly gangster, haunted by memories of the lover he deserted three decades earlier and generations of "brothers" for whose deaths he was, in the accepted order of things, responsible. Another strand is added to the imagistic weave via a doll-like pop singer and a groupie blinded by devotion to her.

This is a film in which character, morality, metaphysics, and destiny are all expressed through visual rhyme and startling adjustments of perspective. It sounds abstract--and it is--but it's also heartbreaking and thrilli! ng to behold. Kitano isn't in it, but as an artist he's all ov! er it. H is finest film, and for all its exoticism, his most accessible. --Richard T. Jameson

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