DVD

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Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children

I remember the first entry in this series from a few years ago. It stands alone, encompassing a story that did not depend on foreknowledge of the game upon which it was based. It included some aspect of mysticism, suggesting that our planet has consciousness, the Gaia Earth Spirit. But the basis of the plot was firmly in the science fiction realm. The film was the first attempt to create photo-realistic CGI character, and for that it was moderately successful.

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Hollow Man II

Michael Griffin (Christian Slater), a high-skilled solider, ingests an experimental serum and becomes an invisible secret assassin for the U.S. government. However, the serum begins to drive Griffin mad, which may lead to his slow, painful death. Maggie Dalton (Laura Regan), a brilliant research biologist, is the only one who can keep him alive. But when the government uses Dalton as bait to trap Griffin, she turns to a Seattle homicide detective, Frank Turner (Peter Facinelli).

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Crimson Tide Unrated Extended Edition

Early in the Cold War, nuclear paranoia provoked several motion pictures. Failsafe portrays the chilling consequences of an electrical malfunction that triggers an attack on the Soviet Union. On the Beach is a depressing depiction of the doom of humanity after a nuclear war. Seven Days in May warns of a conspiracy by top military leaders to overthrow the President of the United States because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union.

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The Producers

I wrote in my review of Phantom of the Opera, “I must confess to a rather strenuous dislike of musicals and opera. I acknowledge the artful moments, the difficult skills that must be mastered, and the lavish productions dripping with eye candy. But I've always had a problem with a drama or a comedy in which the plot suddenly stops dead in its tracks when a feeling or thought that could be expressed with a few effective lines of dialog are, instead, expressed with an interminable...

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Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection : Volume 9

Mystery Science Theater 3000 first aired as a local program on KTMA-TV in Minneapols-St. Paul from November, 1988 to May, 1989. From November, 1989 to December, 1996, it was shown on Comedy Central, before moving to the Sci-Fi Channel, where new episodes began running in February, 1997. Its series finale aired on August 8, 1999. For the last few years, Rhino has been releasing multiple DVD sets of the show, which fans are gobbling up like Halloween candy. And the MST3K DVD gravy train rolls...

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One Last Thing . . .

An organization that grants wishes to dying patients sets up a national television event for terminally ill sixteen year old, Dylan (Michael Angarano). It’s assumed that Dylan wants to meet his favorite football star, Jason O’Malley (Johnny Messner) who is waiting behind him. When Dylan is on the air, he and sheepishly walks up to the microphone and throws a curve ball; he makes the bold wish to “spend a weekend, alone, with Nikki Sinclair” (Sunny Mabrey). Nikki is a...

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The Family Stone

What do you do when the family of the person you love rejects you? That’s the dilemma that faces Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker) when her love, Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) takes her home for Christmas to meet his parents and siblings. It doesn’t help that she takes refuge behind a hyper Class-A personality to hide her insecurities. So eager to please and so uptight . . . she may have set herself up to fail, but the Stones certainly share responsibility.

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Patton: Cinema Classics Collection


"Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." - General George S. Patton Jr.He was brash. He was brilliant. Many consider him the greatest military commander in U.S. history. General George S. Patton Jr., whose campaigns through North Africa, Sicily, and France were integral to the Allied victory in World War II, was no ordinary military man. He was a romantic warrior stuck in...

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Kingdom of Heaven: 4-Disc Director’s Cut

As a film connossieur, I’ll be first to admit that sometimes it’s difficult to be receptive to filmmakers when they deliver turkey after turkey after turkey. I’m one of the multitudes of nerd fan-boys who continues to find nuance and intelligence within the exuberant framework of Blade Runner, and it’s almost heretical to assign Alien any less than a ‘classic’ nomenclature. But I have an earnest opinion that Ridley Scott has, of late, forgotten how to make a...

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Boston Legal: Season One

My aunt – we call her “The Platypus” – has Boston Legal all summed up. When she saw that the first season of this popular legal drama had come across my desk, she was recovering from a particularly nasty trip to the dentist and needed something calming to put on her TV while she recovered. A few days later, I asked her what she thought of Boston Legal – her convalescent TV series of choice – and her reply was: “It’s a bizarre show and I’m not...

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: The Ultimate Collector’s Edition

One of the real pleasures of the DVD format is that it exposes you to a variety of films you’ve always wanted to see, but were just never able to catch up with. While I usually pride myself on having an extensive knowledge of 60's and 70's films, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was one of the few remaining classics from that era that I had never seen before sitting down to do this review. So, I was quite excited to finally see it, and even more excited that I had no idea what to expect...

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The Mel Brooks Collection

Mel Brooks is not just a writer, producer and director. He’s a brand. When you think of Mel Brooks, you only think of one thing: comedy. That’s what he does. That’s all he does. It’s true that his production company, BrooksFilm, gave us The Elephant Man and The Fly, but that’s different. When you grab the new Mel Brooks DVD Collection, or show any interest in grabbing new The Mel Brooks DVD Collection, you’re interested in only one thing: Borscht belt, broad as...

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Rumor Has It


Films about eccentric families and the search for love or emotional maturity abound, as my recent review of The Family Stone can attest. The foundation of such films is invariably the unconventional behavior of family members, exaggerations or caricatures of the oddities found in all families. But layer a clever (but unlikely) premise on top and things get a bit more interesting. For example, what if the heroine of the show suddenly discovers that The Graduate was a story based...

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Mommie Dearest: Hollywood Royalty Edition

The queen of shoulder pads, Joan Crawford, gets her comeuppance in this, the most notorious of all Hollywood tell-all biopics. Never mind that adopted daughter Christina Crawford offered no real facts to support her claims of child abuse; in one fell swoop, little Christina succeeded in changing the world's perception of Mommie Dearest from Hollywood royalty to Hollywood shrew, an obsessive-compulsive alcoholic ravaged by insecurity and hell-bent on destruction. By disinheriting Christina, Joan...

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Top Selling Pre-Orders at web! Shopping

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