Warchild

Sound: Dolby

Comments: A new level of fear.

Summary: Angela is a borderline workaholic. It's Christmas Eve and she winds up working late. Her calls to her family indicate that she's worked late and missed what plans they had made before in the past. As Angela finally calls it a night and makes it down to the second level of the parking garage where her car is parked, she finds out that it won't start. Angela stumbles upon a security guard, Tom, and he's the only remaining person besides her in the building. Tom seems like a nice guy who's just trying to help, but he doesn't want to be alone this Christmas. Not again. Tom's true intentions are revealed after the lights in the parking garage go out and he gets his hands on Angela.

Tom is extremely well-mannered and polite for a psychopathic killer. I mean, unless you say his name too many times or mess with his dog, Rocky. He's pretty much had his eye on Angela for a long time as he knows the names of her family members and knows what Bob, a fellow co-worker, did to her in the elevator during the office Christmas party. Bob doesn't get out of it unscathed though. I don't think anyone will look at office chairs the same again after this film. Tom is basically sick of being alone and will do anything he can to keep Angela there with him.

The best part of the film has to be the fact that Angela isn't some helpless woman that doesn't do anything but cry after she's kidnapped. She actually makes some pretty legit decisions in the midst of the pandemonium happening around her. She even manages to hold her own against a dog, which can't be said for many other horror movies out there. She still breaks down, but it's really only after she makes a smart move, fails, and the reality of the situation sinks in.

P2 is definitely worth watching. The film is a bit slow paced though. It's the type of film that builds and the payoff is rather satisfying. It's a relief to see a horror film with a female lead who isn't stupid, makes some logical decisions, and actually fights back against the psycopath stalking her. The definitive scene of this movie is the scene with the car and an office chair. It's the scene everyone will be talking about after viewing this film and for a good reason. So be sure to check this out if you're sick of the same, run of the mill horror flicks with women who do nothing but run away, scream, are stupid, have sex, or a combination of all four.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Gene Hackman is a career officer assigned a routine mission well beneath him: deliver a prisoner (Tommy Lee Jones) from Europe to the United States. However, the simple assignment becomes a daring cat-and-mouse game played as the last flames of the Cold War are flickering. This is the first of three films that teamed Jones with director Andrew Davis. In 1989 Jones was a wild card: an actor respected but only popping up in grade B fare. After Davis's "Under Siege" and "The Fugitive", Jones was America's favorite gruff character actor, with an Oscar on his mantel. With a weaker script, Davis still creates the same kind of magic here. Hackman is superb as the officer, an action role similar to others that the nearly 60-year-old unexpectedly excelled at ("Bat 21", "Narrow Margin") during this period. Tight, tense, and with no letup in the third act, "The Package" is a good gem for a Saturday night flick. "--Doug Thomas"

Comments: The Life of Painter Jang Seung-up

With A Millionaire's First Love, The Hidden Blade

Summary: Chihwaseon

Languages: Chinese

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: An action-thriller centered on a vampire-like woman who eats the skins and hearts of her lovers.

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: Based on the hit Broadway musical, featuring the choreography of Bob Fosse.

Summary: Employees of the Sleeptite Pajama Factory are looking for a whopping seven-and-a-half cent an hour increase and they won't take no for an answer. Babe Williams is their feisty employee representative but she may have found her match in shop superintendent Sid Sorokin. When the two get together they wind up discussing a whole lot more than job actions!

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Hell comes home

Summary: A gold mining camp in the California foothills is besieged by a neighboring landowner intent on stealing their claims. A preacher rides into camp and uses all of his powers of persuasion to convince the landowner to give up his attacks on the miners.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: She can shoot a gun almost as fast as BOB can run !

Summary: Someone is selling guns to the Indians and in order to find the culprit Calamity Jane and a secret agent go undercover posing as man and wife. When the agent is killed Jane recruits a new husband -- none other than innocent dupe "Painless" Peter Potter, a totally inept dentist and confirmed coward who's main goal is to leave the barbaric west far behind. When their wagon train is attacked by the Indians it's Jane's sharpshooting that saves the day, but she gives the credit to Potter making him an instant hero to the townspeople and instant target to both the Indians and the gunrunners.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Among the earliest writers to set his sights on the director's chair, Preston Sturges brought a frank, unsentimental view of the war between the sexes to his mid-'40s features that exemplify his style, as demonstrated in this prescient 1942 gem. Architect Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) and his wife, Gerry (Claudette Colbert), further refine the archetypal Sturges couple--the male embodying strength, idealism, and a certain naivete, the female ultimately stronger, smarter, and (as revealed early on in an astonishing speech by Colbert) clearer-eyed and more pragmatic about the subtext of sex. This giddy shaggy-dog story follows the couple's split, and Gerry's subsequent flight to Palm Beach. This head-snapping frolic is paced by double-entendres and lampooning looks at the very rich, with standout performances by the predatory Princess Centimillia (the delicious Mary Astor), who's more than ready to comfort Tom, and the wealthy, dim-witted John D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee, staking out a new career, post-crooner, as comic foil), Gerry's new suitor. Even the predictable reunion of the star-crossed lovers is achieved with an antic surrealism. Sturges's strength in building strong character ensembles is matched by his affection for coupling screwball dialogue with physical slapstick, seldom to better effect than in the drunken target practice of the Ale and Quail Club, who make Colbert's train ride to Florida a different kind of shoot-'em-up. "--Sam Sutherland"

Comments: What happens when make-believe believes it's real?
Laberinto del fauno, El

Summary: In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

Languages: Japanese

Subtitles: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: Koko dai panikku

Summary: The suicide of a high school student and its ensuing fallout. When one of his classmates becomes frustrated with the math teacher's lack of sensitivity the student steals a rifle aerates the teacher's chest and then holds his class captive

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: In the dark corner of the city, they found light

Summary: This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless girl who finds in her relationship with Bobby the stability she craves. She becomes addicted too, and life goes downhill for them both as their addiction deepens, eventually leading to a series of betrayals. But, in spite of it all, the relationship between Bobby and Helen endures.

Comments: Where Science Fiction Ends And Fact Begins!!

Summary: While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin (Ray Milland) and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be first casualties. Not one to give up, he holds up a store for supplies and hides the family in a cave.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: The greatest adventure of escape ever filmed!

Summary: Based on the true story of Henri Charriere, also known as Papillon, which is French for 'butterfly' (the character even sports a large tattoo of a butterfly). A petty criminal, Papillon is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in a French penal colony in 'Guiane' (French Guiana, South America). Papillon is determined to escape but attempt after attempt meets with difficulty, resulting in eventual recapture. He continues his attempts to escape despite incarcerations in solitary confinement as punishment.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: What Happens When You Sleep?

Summary: After a young, middle class couple moves into a suburban 'starter' tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: The Finley "Murder" Tapes.

Summary: Prepare to see the actual footage of the supernatural events leading to the 2008 "murder" of Samantha Finley. Released against the wishes of the authorities, this DVD proves that nothing human caused Samantha's death and therefore the suicide of his mother and the arrest and suicide of his brother.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: From Xvid
With Touch

Summary: With its stunning camerawork and striking compositions, Carl Th. Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc" convinced the world that movies could be art. Renée Falconetti gives one of the greatest performances ever recorded on film, as the young maiden who died for God and France. Long thought to have been lost to fire, the original version was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981-in a Norwegian mental institution. Criterion is proud to present this milestone of silent cinema in a new special edition featuring composer Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light, an original opera/oratorio inspired by the film.

Languages: English

Comments: Best of enemies. Deadliest of friends.

Summary: "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid" may be the most beautiful and ambitious film that Sam Peckinpah ever made. The time is 1881. Powerful interests want New Mexico tamed for their brand of progress, and Sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn) is commissioned to rid the territory of his old gunfighting comrades. He serves fair notice to William Bonney--Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson)--and his Fort Sumter cronies, but it's not in their nature, or his, to go quietly. Peckinpah's theme, more than ever, is the closing of the frontier and the nature of the loss that that entails. But this time his vision takes him beyond genre convention, beyond history and legend, to the bleeding heart of myth--and surely of himself.
This is one strange and original movie. In 1973 most American reviewers responded by panning it and deriding its director, whom they saw as having betrayed the promise of "Ride the High Country", been swept up in his own cult of violence, and become incoherent as a storyteller. Coherence wasn't helped by MGM's cutting at least a quarter-of-an-hour out of the finished film and removing a bitter, retrospective prelude. Subsequent releases have restored a lot of material, and now there's more widespread appreciation of the depth and power of Peckinpah's achievement.
The cast, teeming with fine character actors, is extraordinary, making the gallery of frontier denizens vivid and resonant. Coburn's Garrett, a man who comes to loathe himself for his mission yet cannot abandon it, is the high-water mark of the actor's career. L.Q. Jones, Luke Askew, Harry Dean Stanton, Jack Elam, and Richard Bright create indelible moments, and Slim Pickens becomes the center of an unforgettably moving scene. The presence of Kristofferson (just starting out as an actor) and Bob Dylan (whose enigmatic role is nearly wordless) nudges us toward recognizing Old West outlawry as an early form of rock stardom--flesh-and-blood gods for a primitive society to feed on. "--Richard T. Jameson"

Comments: Two Worlds, One War. The Ultimate Battle Begins.

Summary:

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Never has the screen thrust so deeply into the guts of war!

Summary: The futility and irony of the war in the trenches in WWI is shown as a unit commander in the French army must deal with the mutiny of his men and a glory-seeking general after part of his force falls back under fire in an impossible attack.

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Summary: When a star comedian dies, his comedy team, decides to train a nobody to fill the shoes of the Star in a big TV show (a Patsy). But the man they choose, bellboy Stanley Belt, cant do anything right. The big TV show is getting closer, and Stanley gets worse all the time.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: "Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination. Faults which would, eventually, lead to his being relieved as Occupation Commander of Germany.

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: The Most Talked About Picture!

Summary: This was one of the first films to deal with the effects of Nazi Germany's concentration camps on their survivors. Sol Nazerman, operator of a pawn shop, and a concentration camp survivor faces a horrid internal conflict. Being engulfed in a New York ghetto Environment, Sol suffers flashbacks. The flashbacks juxtapose concentration camp treatment with ghetto neighborhood treatment. Although, the flashbacks suffer several historical inaccuracies, the point is well made. His internal conflicts between submitting to the same injustices he and his family suffered or resisting the injustice a peak at the end of the film

Languages: English

Sound: MP3

Comments: If you can't smoke it, drink it, spend it or love it... forget it.

Summary: A cynical look at the life of a not so nice country-western singer, Maury Dann - played by Rip Torn in one of his most memorable performances. He ruthlessly manipulates every one around him to suit his selfish needs...he even gets his limo driver to take the blame for the death of a fan which he stabbed.

Comments: with Galaxy Quest, Invasion Of The Saucer Men, Nails, Shanty Tramp

Summary: Two aliens arrive on Earth trying to kill each other. This is not easy, since they seem to be able to regenerate lost body parts and survive bullet wounds. Both of them happen to meet a young pathologist Dori Caisson, and each alien tells her that he is a peacemaker (an intergalactic cop) and that the other one is a bad guy. Whom can she trust ?

Languages: Chinese

Subtitles: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: Kujaku ô

Summary: Despite reasonably pitiful special effects, this was still quite an entertaining martial arts movie. Quite a good amount of fighting, acceptable acting and an unremarkable plot, this was an acceptable way to pass the time.If you like Yuen Biao or Hong Kong martial arts movies, you will probably get enough entertainment out of this without being blown away. The first time I saw this I think I must have been pretty tired as I fell asleep.
The second time it seemsd a lot better...!!I think it deserves a 6 out of 10 which is pretty good going.

Languages: Chinese

Summary: Qun long xi feng

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: Subversive humor and childlike wonder based on both Reubens' original stage show, "The Pee-wee Herman Show," and the Emmy-winning Saturday morning TV show, "Pee-wee's Playhouse."

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: You will believe a man can ride a bike.

Summary: The cartoonish and childish character Pee Wee Herman goes on a big adventure for the first time ever when his beloved shiny new bicycle is stolen by his nemesis Francis Buxton, a fellow man-child and neighborhood rich "kid." And he sets off on an obsessive cross-country journey, determined to recover it. Pee-wee's awkward and childish attempts to be cool and mature.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: "Do you know what the most FRIGHTENING thing in the world is ...?"

Summary: Michael Powell lays bare the cinema's dark voyeuristic underside in this disturbing 1960 psychodrama thriller. Handsome young Carl Boehm is Mark Lewis, a shy, socially clumsy young man shaped by the psychic scars of an emotionally abusive parent, in this case a psychologist father (Michael Powell in a perverse cameo) who subjected his son to nightmarish experiments in fear and recorded every interaction with a movie camera. Now Mark continues his father's work, sadistically killing young women with a phallic-like blade attached to his movie camera and filming their final, terrified moments for his definitive documentary on fear. Set in contemporary London, which Powell evokes in a lush, colorful seediness, this film presents Mark as much victim as villain and implicates the audience in his scopophilic activities as we become the spectators to his snuff film screenings. Comparisons to Hitchcock's "Psycho", released the same year, are inevitable. Powell's film was reviled upon release, and it practically destroyed his career, ironic in light of the acclaim and success that greeted "Psycho", but Powell's picture hit a little too close to home with its urban setting, full color photography, documentary techniques, and especially its uneasy connections between sex, violence, and the cinema. We can thank Martin Scorsese for sponsoring its 1979 rerelease, which presented the complete, uncut version to appreciative American audiences for the first time. This powerfully perverse film was years ahead of its time and remains one of the most disturbing and psychologically complex horror films ever made. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: Chinese

Subtitles: English

Comments: Do ma daan

Summary: The movie is set in chaotic 1920's China, when warlords fought each other for power while Sun Yat-Sen's underground movement tried to establish a democratic republic. The movie tells the story of three young women and two young men who are thrown together. One young woman grabs a box of jewels during the looting when one warlord takes Peking. A deserting soldier joins her, but the jewels end up at the Peking Opera. Here we meet the daughter of the head of the troupe, who dreams of being an actress. But even female roles are played by men in the opera. Soon, the daughter of the currently ruling warlord and a male agent of the democratic underground are involved.

Languages: English

Comments: Some Girls are to DIE for

Summary: Hello World,

I seen twisted sisters and chambermaid which star alot of the same cast, same director etc and are really great as well. Then I searched this gem out. Unbelieveable story and cast which reminds me of works by David Lynch and Peter Jackson. This film jumps around but always centers on the ever amazingly beautiful Fiona Horsey who is one hell of an actress I cant wait to see more from her. Really entertaining film, funny, gorey, sexy, suspenseful it has all the elements of a cult classic. Buy it rent it just check it out and I garantee you will not be dissapointed.

Languages: English

Summary:

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: FIRST 'The Land That Time Forgot'. THEN 'At The Earth's Core'. NOW a fantastic incredible world of savage mystery...

Summary: If you like big fake dinosaurs--and who doesn't?--this is the movie for you. Patrick Wayne stars as the intrepid Major Ben McBride, searching the Arctic for his lost friend. Sarah Douglas is at his side as Charly, the spunky lady photographer with a dainty puckish streak. As luck would have it, they come across a tropical zone that is home to big fake dinosaurs, surly Neanderthals, and nubile cavewomen with truly astonishing cleavage. Ah, but if only it were that simple. An evil rival tribe has been exterminating the gentle cave people and must be stopped. Whatever else you may want to say about producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and John Dark, they simply do not skimp on explosions. "The People That Time Forgot" has a detonation-filled corker of an ending that leaves the cast absolutely showered with dirt clods. Highly entertaining. "--Ali Davis"

Comments: In every neighborhood there is one house that adults whisper about and children cross the street to avoid.

Summary: The People Under the Stairs is the story of a young boy (Fool) from the ghetto and takes place on his 13th birthday. In an attempted burglary (along with two others) of the home of his family's evil landlords, he becomes trapped inside their large suburban house and discovers the secret of the "children" that the insane brother and sister have been "rearing" under the stairs.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: You may not like what he does, but are you prepared to give up his right to do it?

Summary: Larry Flynt is the hedonistically obnoxious, but indomitable, publisher of Hustler magazine. The film recounts his struggle to make an honest living publishing his girlie magazine and how it changes into a battle to protect the freedom of speech for all people.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: After winning consecutive best director Oscars (for "A Letter to Three Wives" and "All About Eve"), Joseph Mankiewicz turned his attention to this extremely curious social comedy. Cary Grant plays a famous, idealistic gynecologist whose mysterious past is questioned by a vindictive colleague (Hume Cronyn). Meanwhile, the doctor falls for a pregnant patient (Jeanne Crain), whose unmarried status is daring for a movie of 1951 vintage. The title is an all-too-apt description of Mankiewicz's chatty style, but it also carries sinister echoes of the McCarthy era--specifically, an attempted right-wing purge of the Director's Guild, I which Mankiewicz was the main target. This subtext lends interest beyond the movie's rather tame romance. The Grant character, named Doctor Praetorius (no relation to the "Bride of Frankenstein" wacko, one hopes), conducts a college orchestra and is prone to "twilight sadness"--it's an offbeat role for the actor, and one he clearly relishes. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary:

Comments: Yume nara samete

Summary:

Languages: Chinese

Comments: Jie da huan xi

Summary:

Languages: English

Comments: Humans And Vampires Have Lived In Harmony.... Until Now. . .

Summary: An ambitious and well-produced film from New Zealand, this film is set in an alternate history where vampires and humans peacefully co-exist. Vampires are used to save humans from disease and humans volunteer their blood to sustain vampires.

The vampires also hold a role like that of priests.

Oddly too, all are male.

All is well until one is born who wishes to feed directly from humans in the more 'traditional' vampiric-film way

Saffron Burrows plays a cop sent to track this way-ward vampire down, along with the help of a vampire played by Dougray Scott. It's kept a state secret that there's a rogue vampire - the public can't know that there's an imbalance in their society

Although I thought great attention was paid to production values I was not impressed by the plot.

The rogue vampire seeks to spread disease which turns people into zombies akin to Dawn of the Dead - where they go on a rampage. This for me was too strange!

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: After escaping from a Huntsville prison, convict Butch Haynes and his partner Terry Pugh kidnap a young boy, Philip Perry, and flee across Texas. As they travel together, Butch and Philip discover common bonds and suffer the abuses of the outside "Perfect World." In pursuit is Texas Ranger "Red" Garnett and criminologist Sally Gerber.

Languages: English

Comments: Sex! Death! Freedom!

Summary: Russ Meyer would be proud! Salacious porn princess and ex-gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey heads a cast of scantily-clad, buxom vixens whose tops are popping amidst a devious serial killer wreaking havoc by splattering buckets of gore. Perpetually horny James (Sean Andrews) is spending the summer with his bible-preaching, whore-loving father when gruesome deaths, objectifying sculptures and a sexy lesbian nurse disrupt his visit. This instant cult classic salutes sexploitation comedies with female flesh, a bloody hex, and above all, sex!

Languages: English

Summary: Adapted from a hit Broadway play by Robert Sherwood and starring original cast members Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, this 1936 suspense drama is set in an aging desert roadhouse café, where a young woman (Bette Davis) dreams of escaping a dead-end existence spent with her father and a lunkheaded, would-be suitor. Along comes a penniless poet (Howard), a wanderer who has made a mess of his life and crossed the hot sands as a symbolic act of meaningful futility. Davis's waitress is instantly enchanted, and in short order they begin talking about heading out to the world together. Then a twist: the world comes to them--in the form of escaped convicts, led by the monosyllabic Duke Mantee (Bogart), who secretly agrees to the poet's request that the fugitive gangster kill him. Directed by Archie Mayo ("The Great American Broadcast"), much of the film, perhaps inevitably, looks set-bound. Most of the action occurs in the café, and the script's tension sadly dissipates a bit as villains and hostages stay glued to their seats. The film's enduring appeal has everything to do with the leading performances: the fascinating alchemy of Howard's ethereal air, Davis's sexy urgency, and Bogart's bemused menace. If the story feels a trifle dated and perhaps a bit smug, the actors make it compelling nonetheless. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!

Summary: Jody is the kind of guy that every 1970s teen looked up to. He's in his early 20s, has a cool car, splendid '70s hair, leather jacket, plays guitar and (naturally) snags all the girls. His little brother, Mike, in particular, admires him and emulates him at every turn. Things start to go astray, however, when the two brothers and their friend Reggie attend a funeral for a friend. Mike notices a tall man working at the funeral home; in the course of his snooping, he sees the tall man put a loaded coffin into the back of a hearse as easily as if it was a shoebox. Jody doesn't believe his little brother's stories, though, until he brings home the tall man's severed finger, still wriggling in what appears to be French's mustard. From there, the film picks up a terrific momentum that doesn't let up until the sequel-ripe twist ending.
"Phantasm" was one of the first horror movies to break the unspoken rule that victims were supposed to scream, fall down, and cower until they were killed. Instead, Mike and Jody are resourceful and smart, aggressively pursuing the evil inside the funeral home with a shotgun and Colt pistol. Furthermore, the script has a great deal of character development, especially in the relationship between the two brothers. The film even has a surprisingly glossy look, despite its low-budget origins, and little outright gore (except for the infamous steel spheres that drill into victims' heads). This drive-in favorite was a big success at the time of its release, and spawned three sequels. Little wonder; it includes an inventive story, likable characters, a runaway pace, and, of course, evil dwarves cloaked in Army blankets. The end result is one of the better horror films of the late 1970s. Hot-rod fans take note: Jody drives a Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda, the pinnacle of 1960s muscle cars, rounding out his status as a Cool Guy. "--Jerry Renshaw"

Languages: English

Sound: DTS

Comments: The Ghost Who Walks. The Man Who Cannot Die.

Summary: The 21st successor to the role of Bengalla's resident superhero must travel to New York to prevent a rich madman from obtaining three magic skulls that would give him the secret to ultimate power.

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Flicker Alley, in partnership with the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation is proud to present, Phantom, which marked a major turning point in the influential career and the groundbreaking style of cinema poet F.W. Murnau. In this beautifully reconstructed and restored edition from an amazingly detailed, original 1922 negative, Alfred Abel (Metropolis, Dr. Mabuse) plays Lorenz Lubota, a man obsessed with his own desires to achieve fame and wealth, who must confront the barriers of class keeping him from a woman (Lya de Putti)with whom he has had a fateful encounter.
Featuring a magnificent new orchestral score by Robert Israel, this powerfully expressive and surprisingly insightful film is a triumph of German Weimar cinema and a wonderful collaboration of many of its most skilled artisans and recognizable performers. Through dazzling visuals and memorable characters, Phantom paints a portrait of the corrupting influence of money, the conformity of societal norms, and the redemptive power of family.

Languages: English

Sound: MP3

Comments: 12 SPINE-SHIVERING ACTION THUNDERBOLTS! Sinister scientists...foreign spies...federal agents...and a pretty girl...crashing through amazing adventures!

Summary: "The Phantom Creeps" was Universal's 44th sound-era serial (between "The Oregon Trail" and "The Green Hornet")and was re-issued to theatres in 1949 by Commonwealth Pictures Corporation, a distribution set-up handling primarily Universal re-issues. Commonwealth had no hand at all in the production of this serial (as incorrectly shown on site) as they were a distribution company only. Some sources mistakenly identify them as the serial producer because all of the 1949 re-issue prints (and the 16mm prints sold to television circa 1952) show "Commonwealth Pictures Corp. Presents" above the title.There is a whole lot of difference between "presenting" and "producing", a fact that some sources appear to not know or don't care. The serial is of interest to some collectors as it re-unites Bela Lugosi and Edwin Stanley from 1931's "Dracula", and the crater-discovery of the meteorite fragment by Zorka (Bela Lugosi)in the serial is stock footage from Universal's 1936 "The Invisible Ray." The stock footage of an explosion and avalanche used in Chapter 11 comes from Universal's 1934 serial, "The Vanishing Shadow." Plot finds eccentric scientist Dr. Alex Zorka (Bela Lugosi)carrying on various experiments in his secret laboratory with the aid of his assistant Monk (Jack C. Smith). Zorka has invented many strange weapons of warfare, including a devisualizer belt which renders him invisible; a terrifying, eight-foot tall robot (played by stuntman Edwin "Bud" Wolfe and not circus giant Bud Wolff), and he also has a deadly meteorite fragment (which he found in a 1936 movie with Boris Karloff)from which he extracts an element which can induce suspended animation in an entire army. Foreign spies, operating under the guise of a foreign language school (great cover), are trying to buy or (mostly) steal the meteorite element, while his former partner, Dr. Fred Mallory (Edwin Stanley), miffed that Zorka will not turn his inventions over to the U. S. Government, blows the whistle on him to Captain Bob West (Robert Kent) of the Military Intelligence Department. Tired of answering the door and saying no to the spies and the government, Zorka moves his lab and when his beloved wife (Dora Clement) is killed, Zorka, puttering around for his own amusement up to this point, gets hacked off as only Lugosi can, swears eternal vengeance against society, and decides to use his inventions to make himself world dictator. And would have if not for his assistant Monk, an escaped convict virtually enslaved by Zorka, who is cowardly, treacherous and totally incompetent, and whose accidental or deliberate interference with Zorka's efforts repeatedly frustrates his master's grand schemes.

Languages: English

Comments: A Nation 20,000 Feet Underground

Summary: Gene Autry battles evil underground scientists and robots seeking Radium.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Freezing horror! Hideous atomic mutant strikes from the depths!

Summary: An unusual radioactive rock on the sea bottom mutates the ocean life into a horrible monster. When charred, radioactive bodies begin to drift ashore a scientist and government agent investigate the phenomenon, and it's connection to a local marine biology professor.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: His secret power menaced the world!

Summary: An alien being lands in Santa Monica. Killing two people who attacked him due to the menacing appearance of his spacesuit, the creature takes it off while being pursued by government authorities, revealing himself to be invisible.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The greatest horror film of modern cinema!

Summary: At the Opera of Paris, a mysterious phantom threatens a famous lyric singer, Carlotta and thus forces her to give up her role (Marguerite in Faust) for unknown Christine Daae. Christine meets this phantom (a masked man) in the catacombs, where he lives. What's his goal ? What's his secret ?

Languages: English

Sound: DTS

Comments: The music made him do it!

Summary: Rock Opera version of Phantom Of The Opera with elements of Faust. Record producer Swan steals both the music and the girl (Phoenix) from composer Leach. Disfigured Leach plans revenge on Swan and his rock palace, The Paradise, and becomes The Phantom. Leach signs _contract_ with Swan to complete rock opera based on the life of Faust for Phoenix. Double crossed by Swan who hires _heavy metal_ singer Beef, Leach exacts his vengeance.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: Captives of a power far, far out!

Summary: The mysterious appearance of an unknown planet brings miniature people, giant monsters, beautiful women and undaunted heroes to the screen. The self-contained planet "Rheton" has the ability to move in and out of galaxies to escape their enemies. Earth sends an astronaut team to investigate, which discovers miniature people. One astronaut survives to help them fight off monsters and Solorite attacks.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Jennifer Has A Few Million Close Friends. She's Going To Need Them _All_.

Summary: Italian horror maestro Dario Argento made his name by turning homicide into modern art with a cinematic flourish, but with "Phenomena" he takes his stylish mayhem in new directions. The film opens with the dreamy grace of a fairy tale: a young girl wandering the green meadows of Switzerland and discovering a gingerbread house, wherein lives a monster more modern than mythic, a psychopathic maniac who plunges the picture into a lush nightmare. Jennifer (Jennifer Connelly in her first starring role), a gifted young girl at a Swiss school, has a psychic link to the insect world and develops a connection with the killer through midnight sleepwalks. With the help of a lonely, wheelchair-bound entomologist (genre stalwart Donald Pleasence, who inflects his sonorous tenor with a gentle Scottish burr) she turns telekinetic detective, which only draws her closer to the killer's lair. The densely plotted story becomes muddled at times (this is the busiest film in Argento's oeuvre) but the lyrical cinematography and gorgeous nocturnal imagery--dreamy sleepwalks, nightmarish murders, hideous horrors that emerge in the dark of night--take on a poetic elegance not seen in his previous work, providing the tale with a kind of dream logic. This is a slasher film reborn as an exquisitely grim fantasy: Jennifer in Argentoland. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: French

Subtitles: English

Summary: Robert Bresson drew inspiration from Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" for this examination of an arrogant young pickpocket who deems himself above the laws and conditions of ordinary men. Michel (Martin LaSalle), a rather bland-looking young man with a perpetually blank face, haunts the subways, city streets, and racetracks to ply his trade. He plays a game of wits with a fatherly police inspector and walls his heart off from the affections of a quiet young woman, Jeanne (Marika Green), who looks after his dying mother. Bresson's direction of his "models" (as he calls his nonprofessional performers) strips them of affectation and motivation, making them blank slates defined by the accumulation of precisely drilled actions and words. "Pickpocket" is no thriller, though Bresson offers impressive, meticulously detailed scenes of daring and intimate robberies (one sequence on a subway feels like an homage to Sam Fuller's "Pickup on South Street"). Rather, it is a powerful, profound search for meaning and spiritual enlightenment by a man who believes in nothing but himself, and many critics consider it Bresson's masterpiece. Paul Schrader, whose book "Transcendental Cinema" offers a detailed analysis of Bresson's work, has quoted the famous, emotionally restrained yet spiritually moving conclusion in two of his own films: "American Gigolo" and "Light Sleeper". "--Sean Axmaker"

Sound: AAC

Comments: Murder was her mistake - marrying her was his!

Summary: Low-budget, tabloid-lurid story with high camp value of older man falling for much younger beauty who's busy figuring out how she can kill him now that they're married. Nasty verbal encounters and above all, Beverly Michaels, spike up this flick.

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: How the law took a chance on a B-girl... and won!

Summary: On a crowded subway, Skip McCoy picks the purse of Candy. Among his take, although he does not know it at the time, is a piece of top-secret microfilm that was being passed by Candy's consort, a Communist agent. Candy discovers the whereabouts of the film through Moe Williams, a police informer. She attempts to seduce McCoy to recover the film. She fails to get back the film and falls in love with him. The desperate agent exterminates Moe and savagely beats Candy. McCoy, now goaded into action, confronts the agent in a particularly brutal fight in a subway.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: A tale you'll never forget

Summary: When the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood begin a honey harvest, young Piglet is excluded and told that he is too small to help. Feeling inferior, Piglet disappears and his pals Eeyore, Rabbit, Tigger, Roo and Winnie the Pooh must use Piglet's scrapbook as a map to find him. In the process they discover that this very small animal has been a big hero in a lot of ways.

Languages: English

Comments: With a cast picked for entertainment!

Summary: The first major movie produced by the then-brand-new studio 20th Century Fox, the black and white 1936 musical "Pigskin Parade" is a story about the power of self-confidence. Stars of the day Stuart Erwin, Jack Haley, and Patsy Kelly are joined by then-newcomers to the screen Judy Garland (on loan from MGM studio), Betty Grable, and Anthony (Tony) Martin for an ensemble cast with incredible talent for singing, dancing, and acting. The story begins with a small, mediocre Texas State University football team being mistakenly invited to play against Yale University in a charity ball. The Texas team doesn't have a chance of winning against the mighty Yale team, so everyone thinks, but a new coach (Jack Haley) and his wife (Patsy Kelly) come to town and, thanks to some inspired instruction, their players begin to develop a new self-confidence that, combined with an unlikely new recruit (Stuart Erwin), makes them true football contenders. Much more than just a sports movie, "Pigskin Parade" is a true musical production complete with elaborate dance numbers like "You're Slightly Terrific" danced by Dixie Dunbar and a host of great songs including "Down With Everything" and "We'd Rather Be In College" performed by the Yacht Club Boys and the powerful "It's Love I'm After" performed by a young Judy Garland. Bonus features include a "Making of the Team" featurette which looks at the talented cast, a "Remembering Judy" segment featuring Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, and a "Meet the Coach" featurette that explores producer Darryl Zanuck's career and his instrumental role in the merge between 20th Century Studios and the Fox Film Corporation. Also included are still galleries and a brief restoration comparison. "--Tami Horiuchi"

Sound: AAC

Comments: Footloose bachelor...beautiful career girl...and the world's most fascinating pastime!

Summary: A womanizing music composer repeatedly antagonizes the other half of his party line when she complains of his constant telephone use. Mutual hatred ensues, though the two had never previously met. Later, he manipulates her into falling in love with him by adopting the persona of a Southern Gentleman and playing this personality off of his own in a series of occasionally tag-team "three way" party line conversations. She later discovers his deception and is outraged. The film ends (hilariously) with him breaking down her front door and dragging her screaming out of bed through downtown New York, past a police officer, and finally up the stairs to his apartment where everything is made all right again by his condescension to marry her. A delightfully charming piece of Americana.

Languages: Japanese

Subtitles: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Based on Taiyo Matsumoto's highly successful manga of the same name. Ever since the day Peco (Yôsuke Kubozuka) rescued Smile (Arata) from a gang of bullies and introduced him to the game of table tennis, the pair have been inseparable friends. Now Peco is a peculiar teenager who wants no less than to be the best player in the world, but lacks the self-discipline to carry his plan through - while the withdrawn, slightly arrogant Smile probably has more natural talent than anyone, but just plays'to kill time' rather than to win, and his reluctance to see other players (especially Peco) humiliated makes him hold back in his own game, much to the annoyance of Ota, his coach (Naoto Takenaka). After Peco is sorely beaten in a tournament and quits the game, Smile continues his rise to the top, preparing the way for the return of his hero Peco, whom he is destined to meet in one last match.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: It takes a real man to bring in a lady in a pink Cadillac.

Summary: Clint Eastwood plays a bounty hunter who helps out the wife (Bernadette Peters) of a bail-jumper after her child is kidnapped by neo-Nazi types. A long, entirely forgettable comedy with an uneven tone, this is purely for diehard fans of Eastwood's erratic work before "Unforgiven" bumped him up to the A list. Better Eastwood choices from around the same time as this film (1989) include "Tightrope", "The Dead Pool", and "White Hunter, Black Heart". Little known at the time, Jim Carrey has a small part in this throwaway Eastwood film (directed by Eastwood's sometime-collaborator, Buddy Van Horn). "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: An exercise in poor taste.

Summary: This is the movie that made John Waters famous, and quite possibly the film that made bad taste cool. Yes, Virginia, a large transvestite actually eats dog feces as a kind of dizzying denouement to this frequently illogical and intentionally disgusting movie, but by the time that happens, you're already numb ... and you've possibly laughed to the point of losing bladder control.
The plot revolves around two vile families laying claim to the title "The Filthiest People Alive." You've got pregnant women in pits, you've got grown men getting sexual satisfaction from chickens, you've got people licking furniture to perform trailer-park voodoo, and you've got classic lines like: "Oh my God! The couch ... it ... it rejected you!"
Waters, who went on to direct genuine pop-culture classics such as "Hairspray" and "Serial Mom", made this celluloid sideshow with one aim--to make a name for himself. It worked. He does have a genuine eye for filmmaking (when the trailer burns down, you feel the white heat of Divine's pain and anger). On the other hand, you won't notice any disclaimers about stunt doubles and animals not being mistreated. There weren't, and they were. Welcome to the filthiest film in the world. "--Grant Balfour"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: This Summer 3D Shows Its Teeth

Summary: After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area's new razor-toothed residents.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: At the End of the World, the Adventure Begins

Summary: Just when he's needed most, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), that witty and wily charmer of a pirate, is trapped on a sea of sand in Davy Jones' Locker. In an increasingly shaky alliance, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) begin a desperate quest to find and rescue him. Captain Jack's the last of the nine Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court who must come together united in one last stand to preserve the freedom-loving pirates' way of life. From exotic Singapore, to World's End and beyond, from Shipwreck Island, to a titanic battle, this adventure's filled with over-the-edge action, irreverent humor and seafaring myth and magic. Everything has led to this twisting, turning, wild swashbuckling ride in this final chapter of the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy

Summary: Once again we're plunged into the world of sword fights and "savvy" pirates. Captain Jack sparrow(Depp) is reminded he owes a debt to Davy Jones(Nighy), Who captains the flying Dutch man ,a ghostly ship, with a crew from hell. Facing the "locker" Jack must find the heart of Davy Jones but to save himself he must get the help of quick-witted will tuner(bloom) and Elizabeth swan(knightly). If that's not complicated enough will and Elizabeth are sentenced to hang, unless will can get lord cutler Beckett jack's compass, Will is forced to join another crazy adventure with Jack.

Summary: Pistola per Ringo, Una

Sound: Dolby

Comments: with The Queen, Japanese Hell, Silver, Suspended Animation

Summary:

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The Greatest Terror Tale Ever Told!

Summary: "The Fall of the House of Usher"'s success in 1960 spurred American International Pictures to quickly launch another production based on an Edgar Allan Poe story. While producer-director Roger Corman had hoped to next adapt "The Masque of the Red Death" (which wasn't produced until 1964), "Pit and the Pendulum" (the onscreen title) became the second in AIP's long-running Poe series. Set in post-Inquisition Spain, the film stars John Kerr as a young Englishman who travels to the seaside castle of his brother-in-law (Vincent Price) to uncover the circumstances behind the death of his sister (a dubbed Barbara Steele). Price is tormented by memories of his mother's premature burial by his inquisitor father (also Price) and fears that this sadistic legacy has contributed to Steele's demise. Furthermore, he believes that Steele was also buried alive--a belief compounded by the mysterious destruction of her room, and the sound of her harpsichord playing in the night...
Structured almost identically to "Usher", Richard Matheson's script fleshes out the brief original text with a fast-paced and twist-filled plot that never loses sight of the psychological themes of Poe's work. It also provides Price with the richest of his many AIP/Poe roles, a sympathetic, deeply emotional man who is unhinged by the sins of his father. Corman's direction is equally driven and fluid, and features some impressive quasi-psychedelic visuals in the tense climax. Also noteworthy is art director's Daniel Haller's impressive design of the title set piece. MGM's widescreen DVD features commentary by Corman, which focuses primarily on the film's technical aspects. Also included is the original trailer and a prologue (shot by "Norma Rae" producer Tamara Asseyev) featuring costar Luana Anders, which was added to fill out the film's 1968 television broadcast. "--Paul Gaita"

Languages: English

Sound: DTS

Comments: Fight Evil With Evil

Summary: Owing a major debt to "Alien" and its cinematic spawn, "Pitch Black" is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with "The Arrival", director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.
A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and "Pitch Black" settles into familiar sci-fi territory.
What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of B-movie schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of "The Blair Witch Project", Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and "Pitch Black" gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in "High Art") and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from "Saving Private Ryan") being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Summary: Disney*Pixar invite you to discover these masterpieces of storytelling from the creative minds that brought you Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and many more. With revolutionary animation, unforgettable music and characters you love, these dazzling short films have changed the face of animation and entertainment and are sure to delight people of all ages for years to come. Experience them now - for the first time together in an amazing collection including never-before-seen footage.

Languages: English

Summary: Produced by master of horror Clive Barker ("Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Candyman"), The Plague is an intense horror film starring James Van Der Beek and Dee Wallace Stone. All hell breaks loose when the children of the world, who had mysteriously fallen into a coma, awaken ten years later possessing otherworldly powers to wage an unholy battle against all adults.

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Young workers are dying because of a mysterious epidemic in a little village in Cornwall. Doctor Thompson is helpless and asks professor James Forbes for help. The professor and his daughter Sylvia travel to Thomson. Terrible things happen soon, beyond imagination or reality. Dead people are seen near an old, unused mine. Late people seem to live suddenly. Professor Forbes presumes that black magic is involved and someone has extraordinary power. He doesn't know how close he is: the dead become alive because of a magic voodoo-ritual, and so they must serve their master as mindless zombies...

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: Unspeakable Horrors From Outer Space Paralyze The Living And Resurrect The Dead!

Summary: "Can your heart stand the shocking facts about Graverobbers from Outer Space?" That's the question on the lips of the narrator of this tale about flying saucers, zombies and cardboard tombstones. A pair of aliens, angered by the "stupid minds" of planet Earth, set up shop in a California cemetery. Their plan: to animate an army of the dead to march on the capitals of the world. (The fact that they have only managed to resurrect three zombies to date has not discouraged them.) An intrepid airline pilot living near the cemetery must rescue his wife from this low-budget terror. "Can you prove it *didn't* happen?"

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: Trapped On A Lost World of Prehistoric Monsters

Summary: A space ship gets lost and is forced to make an emergency landing on an unknown planet. The planet looks much like earth, only with no trace of civilization. Soon the crew discovers that there are dinosaurs on the planet, and blood-thirsty buggers at that. The crew hopes to be found and rescued, but they have to struggle to survive until then.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Somewhere in the universe there must be something better than man. In a matter of time, an astronaut will wing through the centuries and find the answer. He may find the most terrifying one of all on the planet where apes are the rulers and man the beast.

Summary: Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall star in this legendary science fiction masterpiece. Astronaut Taylor (Heston) crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist (McDowall).

Languages: Italian

Subtitles: English

Sound: AAC

Comments: This was the day the universe trembled before the demon forces of the killer planet!
Terrore nello spazio

Summary:

Sound: Dolby

Comments: ATOMIC WAR comes from outer space!

Summary: Buck Rogers (1939) re-edited from serial to feature format and re-released for theatrical distribution in 1953; an American soldier suspended in time wakes up to find himself in the futuristic world of the year 2500. Once settled he realizes that an evil villain, along with his gang of outlaws, has been trying his best to gain total control the the universe and everything in it. Buck Rogers has other plans for these thoughtless henchmen and will do anything he in his power to stop them in their tracks.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: (Horror) A fun zombie film that busts at the seams with gross special effects, amazing action, and deliciously over-the-top moments, as gun-legged Cherry Darling and one man wrecking crew El Wray try to save the world from a horde of flesh-eating zo

Summary: In "Plastic Tree," directed by Eo Il-seon, Kim In-kwon and Cho Eun-sook, a couple is besieged with the problem of sexual dysfunction. They one day invite in an unexpected roommate (Kim Jung-hyun) and soon find themselves caught in a maddening love triangle that ends in tragedy.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Comments: The scream you hear may be your own!
From Xvid
With Assault On Precinct 13

Summary: Clint Eastwood (making his very assured directorial debut) is a poetry-spouting stud-muffin DJ stalked by a maniacally amorous fan after a misguided one-night stand in this enjoyably schlocky, undeniably effective film about good intentions gone murderously wacky. Although many of the "very" '70s trappings presented here may ultimately be too dated to be taken seriously (including a very self-indulgent jazz number and a hilariously gooey seduction number between Eastwood and Donna Mills), the core premise of infatuation taken out of bounds remains uncomfortably plausible--and was influential enough to be appropriated by one of the biggest hits of the '80s. (Here's a hint--it starred Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and a very unfortunate bunny rabbit). A well-staged and occasionally very frightening thriller worth watching for Jessica Walter's peerlessly unhinged performance alone. Frequent Eastwood collaborator Don Siegel (director of "Dirty Harry", "Coogan's Bluff", and "The Beguiled", to name but a few) has a nice cameo as Murphy, the mustachioed, chess-playing bartender. "--Andrew Wright"

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Nothing Is As Simple As Black And White.

Summary: Fantastical writer Gary Ross ("Big", "Dave") makes an auspicious directorial debut with this inspired and oddly touching comedy about two '90s kids (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) thrust into the black-and-white TV world of "Pleasantville", a "Leave It to Beaver"-style sitcom complete with picket fences, corner malt shop, and warm chocolate chip cookies. When a somewhat unusual remote control (provided by repairman Don Knotts) transports them from the jaded real world to G-rated TV land, Maguire and Witherspoon are forced to play along as Bud and Mary Sue, the obedient children of George and Betty Parker (William H. Macy and Joan Allen). Maguire, an obsessive "Pleasantville" devotee, understands the need for not toppling the natural balance of things; Witherspoon, on the other hand, starts shaking the town up, most notably when she takes basketball stud Skip (Paul Walker) up to Lover's Lane for some modern-day fun and games. Soon enough, Pleasantville's teens are discovering sex along with--gasp!--rock & roll, free thinking, and soul-changing Technicolor. Filled with delightful and shrewd details about sitcom life (no toilets, no double beds, only two streets in the town), "Pleasantville" is a joy to watch, not only for its comedy but for the groundbreaking visual effects and astonishing production design as the town gradually transforms from crisp black and white to glorious color. Ross does tip his hand a bit about halfway through the film, obscuring the movie's basic message of the unpredictability of life with overloaded and obvious symbolism, as the black-and-white denizens of the town gang up on the "coloreds" and impose rules of conduct to keep their strait-laced town laced up. Still, the characterizations from the phenomenal cast--especially repressed housewife Allen and soda-shop owner Jeff Daniels, doing some of their best work ever--will keep you emotionally invested in the film's outcome, and waiting to see Pleasantville in all its final Technicolor glory. "--Mark Englehart"

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Summary: Drama critic Larry McKay, his wife Kay, and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kay settles into suburban life, Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York. Kay soon begins to question Larry's fidelity when he mentions a flirtatious encounter with Broadway star Deborah Vaughn.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: Detective Jerry Black has made a promise he can't break, to catch a killer he can't find.

Summary: Jack Nicholson is detective Jerry Black, a respected and well-liked veteran of the Reno police force retiring to a life of angling with more than a little apprehension. Thus he jumps into a murder case, the slaying of a little girl, a mere six hours from retirement and makes a promise to the grieving mother to catch the killer. As his partner (an effectively abrasive Aaron Eckhart) squeezes a confession out of the severely mentally handicapped suspect (a thoroughly unsettling performance by Benicio Del Toro), Jerry is convinced that they've got the wrong man.
As in Sean Penn's previous work, this is an actors' piece. Nicholson plays Jerry with restlessness under his easy-going, smiling calm; his patient fisherman's heart leaps at every nibble while he casts for a murder suspect. And Del Toro, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave, and Mickey Rourke make striking impressions in their single-scene appearances. Penn is less concerned with the mystery than the emotional turmoil and Jerry's state of mind, interrupting moments of calm with jagged cuts and discomforting images (including some especially disturbing crime scene photos). Jerry's instincts and methods are sound and his sensitivity is real--he takes in a battered single mom (Robin Wright Penn) and her little girl, and develops a rewarding family life--but his passion for justice turns to unhealthy, destructive obsession. That's ultimately what we're left with at the conclusion of this often off-putting but ultimately fascinating film. The truth will not always set you free. "--Sean Axmaker"

Languages: English

Sound: AAC

Summary: Boozy, brassy Apple Annie, a beggar with a basket of apples, is as much as part of downtown New York as old Broadway itself. Bootlegger Dave the Dude is a sucker for her apples --- he thinks they bring him luck. But Dave and girlfriend Queenie Martin need a lot more than luck when it turns out that Annie is in a jam and only they can help: Annie's daughter Louise, who has lived all her life in a Spanish convent, is coming to America with a Count and his son. The count wants to marry Louise, who thinks her mother is part of New York society. It's up to Dave and Queenie and their Runyonesque cronies to turn Annie into a lady and convince the Count and his son that they are hobnobbing with New York's elite.

Languages: English

Comments: There are two kinds of people in his up-tight world: his victims and his women. And sometimes you can't tell them apart.

From Xvid With Shoot The Piano Player

Summary: Walker (Lee Marvin) strides through Los Angeles with the steel-eyed stare of a stone-cold killer, or perhaps a ghost. Betrayed by his wife and best friend, who gun him down point-blank and leave him for dead after a successful heist, Walker blasts his way up the criminal food chain in a quest for revenge. Did he survive the shooting or return from the grave, or is it all a dying dream? The question is left in the air in John Boorman's modern film noir, a brutal revenge thriller based on Richard Stark's novel "The Hunter" (remade by Brian Helgeland as "Payback"), set in the impersonal concrete and steel canyons of Los Angeles and eerily empty cells of Alcatraz. Walker kills without remorse, guided by shadowy "informant" Keenan Wynn, whose own agenda is carefully concealed, and assisted by Angie Dickinson, as he desperately searches for someone, anyone, who can just give him his money. But if Walker is an extreme incarnation of the revenge-driven noir antihero, the modern syndicate has been transformed into a world of paper jungles and corporate businessmen, an alienating concept to the two-fisted, gun-wielding gangster. Boorman creates a hard, austere look for the film and fragments the story with flashes of painful memory, grafting the New Wave onto old genres with confidence and style. Haunting and brutal, "Point Blank" remains one of the most distinctive crime thrillers ever made. "--Sean Axmaker"