DVD

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Superman Returns - BD

When the Christopher Reeve series of Superman films died a quiet death after the ill-conceived third and fourth outings, the character would vanish from the big screen for nearly two decades. Several directors and writers tried to resurrect Superman onscreen; among them were Kevin Smith, who wrote a screenplay based on the graphic novel that portrayed the superhero’s death and resurrection, and Tim Burton, who might have brought his unique dark style to the character. And who...

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Lady in the Water - HD DVD


I must admit upfront that I enjoy M. Night Shyamalan, even if in each succeeding film, his characteristic twists and turns have become more and more predictable. As a viewer, I can’t be sure if I’ve become so familiar with his plot devices that they tend to become obvious sooner; as I mentioned in my review of The Village, the general premise became clear during the second act. I suspect that devising consistently unpredictable plot elements gets harder with each...

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Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Unrated) - DVD Versus Blu-ray Disc

I can pin down the month when the NASCAR crowd made their assault on pop culture. It was the moment Soundscan was introduced to more accurately count the number of CDs being purchased by American consumers. In the old days, Billboard and other music publications would rely on the reporting of record stores to determine where an album placed on the sales charts. When Soundscan was introduced in November 1991, it insured that every record scanned at the time of purchase was counted. No more...

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Ocean Odyssey

And now for something completely different. Do you enjoy Nova on PBS? Did you enjoy the Walking With Dinosaurs series? Yes? Then read on. The makers of the Walking With Dinosaurs series have directed their attention to another impressive creature, one that is not extinct (no thanks to mankind), the Sperm Whale. This two-part miniseries educates and entertains as it recreates the eighty-year life of a bull Sperm Whale from a very young juvenile to a dominant...

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Forbidden Planet

When Forbidden Planet greeted audiences in 1956, moviegoers familiar with a steady diet of B-grade science-fiction cinema were hardly prepared for this imaginative, exquisitely produced film which set new standards for the science-fiction genre. Forbidden Planet extended beyond mere entertainment and expressed a foundation of provocative ideas that both reflected and influenced the thinking of the day. Similar to its contemporary The Day The Earth Stood Still and more recently Blade Runner...

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Broken Bridges

The death of a loved one brings fading country music star Bo Price (Toby Keith) back to his hometown where he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart (Kelly Preston) and meets his 16-year-old daughter for the first time. While Bo gained the reputation as “no-show Bo,” can he mend the bridges that were broken when he left his home and loved ones for fame and fortune?Director Steven Goldmann has won acclaim for his innovative music videos of Faith Hill (“Kiss”), Alan...

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Bugsy - Extended Cut

Reds and Bugsy represent the two dominant, or most publicly visible, sides of Warren Beatty. Playing the main character in both films, he picked biographical subjects that play into who he is, or who we’ve come to think he is. In Reds, for which he won a Best Director Oscar, Beatty plays famous journalist John Reed, an American leftist of such conviction, he traveled to Russia to cover the Revolution and had dreams of bringing that kind of uprising to America. Beatty is, of course, one of...

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Flightplan - BD

Kyle (Jodie Foster) is coming apart. Her husband, David, just died; he recently fell off the rooftop of their Berlin apartment building. She’s on anti-anxiety medication and is barely able to function. The only thing that may be holding her together is the loving support she gives her young daughter, Julia (Marlene Lawston), who is just old enough to understand that she will never see her father again. Kyle has arranged to take her husband back to the States for...

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he Andy Griffith Show: The Complete Final (Eighth) Season

The Andy Griffith Show debuted on television in 1960 and became an American Icon almost instantly. While at first glace it may appear Pleasantville-esque, both the show’s depth and entertainment value reach far beyond more typically saccharine sitcoms within the same basic genre (such as Leave It To Beaver). Yes, Andy Griffith’s world is a fabricated small-town called Mayberry. Yes, in many ways the storylines capitalize on Norman-Rockwell-like nostalgia with “the good ole...

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Dinosaur - BD

In 1999, the BBC broadcast the first in a group of miniseries intended to portray life on Earth long before modern man. It was Walking With Dinosaurs. Special Effects house FrameStore produced a virtual prehistoric world presented as a nature documentary. We visit the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous, ranging from 220 million to 65 million years ago. In each we are introduced to the creatures of the day. We observe their efforts to survive, how they live...

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The Taylor/Burton Film Collection

More notorious for their off-screen relationship squabbles (and double marriage) than their onscreen chemistry, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor nevertheless could make cinematic sparks fly when their filmmaking collaborators were up to the challenge of bottling the couple’s interpersonal lightning. Yet capturing their volatility was far more hit-and-miss than one might expect, and this is exemplified perfectly in The Taylor/Burton Collection, a four-film set of the lovers&rsquo...

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A Scanner Darkly

I was intrigued when I discovered that A Scanner Darkly was to be released, another film based on the mind-bending work of Philip K. Dick (previous films included Minority Report, Total Recall, Blade Runner). But what I found impressed me as less Philip K. Dick and more as Hunter S. Thompson. It was an indication of my ignorance. The supplements would put me straight.This is a tale rooted in the science fiction concepts of what might be possible in the not too distant future...

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Stealth - BD

This is a highly derivative film that has an interesting concept gone wrong. It’s the tale of an elite trio of Navy pilots and their highly advanced warplanes fighting the good fight against worldwide terrorism. But a more lethal challenge comes from within when a new wingman is assigned to the squadron. It’s an unmanned warplane called the EDI and it’s even more capable than the trio’s hypersonic fighter-bombers. The unmanned EDI is controlled by...

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Sky High - BD

This is a schizophrenic little film. It’s a parody of the superhero genre mixed with the well-worn plot device of teenage angst, coming to terms with maturing and dealing with cruel peers. The film has its heart in the right place, but I’m having trouble understanding the intended audience. The back of the keepcase quotes The New York Times as it draws a comparison between this film and both Harry Potter and The Incredibles. Very apt. This film is very...

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Hulk - HD DVD

With Stan Lee’s X-Men (2000) and Spider-Man (2002) having enjoyed great successes at the box office, Universal selected Lee’s character of The Hulk as the next big franchise. The very talented Ang Lee was placed in the director’s chair and a formidable budget reported to be in the vicinity of $137 million was established. Alas, the film didn’t quite earn back its production costs at the American box office and worldwide the film earned a tad over $245 million...