DVD

[Hamidjan]

mashallah be in RedWine. har posti ke mizani, 40 kiloo toosh matlab minevise khodavand be angoshtane shoma ghodrat bedahad janam

[Rasputin]

Saw II

I wouldn't go as far as to call Saw 2 a cerebral experience, but there's just something devilishly appealing about horror material that works in your brain and not just in your gut. Throughout both of these rusty little Saw movies, I'm posed with the question of "What would you do if you had to saw your own foot off / dig through a corpse's innards for a key / remand another person to death so that I might survive?" Saw 2 is the horror equivalent of that "Book of Questions" that we all bought and then broke out at parties. Much of the movie is also your standard slasher stew mixed with some half-decent police procedural stuff -- but when Saw 2 gets rolling with those gruesome, gritty puzzles, I think it's the coolest thing this side of Clive Barker's nasty ol' horror stories.

This sequel doesn't slavishly follow up with the precise ending of Part 1, but it comes close enough to keep the loyal fans entertained. Suffice to say that sick ol' Jigsaw is up to his nasty tricks again: The prologue delivers a sequence in which one unfortunate guy gets his head squashed inside of a nail-coated, metallic venus-fly-trap mask thingamajig. In this sequence some see pointlessly ugly desperation and gore for gore's sake. I see a kinetic, exciting, and enjoyably intense inner struggle that ends with a crimson thwack.



In come the police, and this time they have very little trouble apprehending the creatively kooky killer. Detectives Mason (Donnie Wahlberg) and Kerry (Dina Meyer) are on the case; he's got a short temper and an estranged son, while she's got a lot of exposition to unload and a pretty face. So over the course of one extended interrogation, Jigsaw reveals that not only does he have eight people trapped inside a house filled with poison gas and horrible deathtraps, but also that we can all watch this sinful spectacle via live video!

Imagine Mason's amplified concern when he realizes that his teenage son is in among the poisoned captives.

And back and forth we go. For a little while we stick with Mason and Jigsaw as they throw dialogue at each other, most of which has to do with threats of violence or ruminations on the nature of human mortality. Some of this material gets a bit redundant as the running time wears on, but Saw 2 moves at such a brisk clip that you'll just begin to notice the strain as the Act III insanity starts to kick in.

[Rasputin]

Top Romance Sellers on DVD

1. The Sound of Music
2. Underworld
3. The Notebook
4. Office Space
5. Persuasion
6. Groundhog Day
7. The Bridges of Madison County
8. Guys and Dolls
9. Moonstruck
10. Pure Country

[Rasputin]

Due out on February 14, 2006

Big Bad John (1990)


Club Paradise (1986)


Collision Course (1989)


Deal of the Century (1983)


Emmanuel's Gift (2005)


For Richer, for Poorer (1992)


Framed (1990)


The Frisco Kid (1979)


Fronterz (2004)


Grey's Anatomy: Season One (2-Disc Set) (2005)


House of 9 (2005)


La Bete Humaine (Criterion Collection) (1938


Metropolitan (Criterion Collection) (1990)


Nine Lives (2005)


Odd Jobs (1985)


The Pretender: The Complete Third Season (4-DVD Set) (1998


Proof (2005)


Quick Change (1990)


R-Point (2004)


Rain (2001)


Raise the Red Lantern (1991)


Reel Paradise (2005)


Running Mates (1992)


The Russian Specialist (2005)


Saw II (Full Frame) (2005)


Saw II (Widescreen) (2005)


The Thing About My Folks (2005)


Up the Academy (1980)


Zathura (Special Edition) (2005)


Zombie Honeymoon (2004)

[Rasputin]

Domino: Platinum Series

This is the exaggerated and highly compelling story of a rather remarkable young woman named Domino Harvey. Daughter of screen actor Lawrence Harvey and his English supermodel wife Paulene Stone, she was born into privilege. The film toys a bit with the psychological influences that ultimately drove her life choices, or at the very least, the onscreen Domino’s choices. Her father died when she was only six.



Domino (Keira Knightley) becomes part of a team with Ed Moseby (Mickey Rourke) and Choco (Edgar Ramirez). They work for bail bondsman Claremont Williams (Delroy Lindo). Williams’ granddaughter with Lateesha Rodriguez (Mo'Nique) is in desperate need of an expensive operation to save her life, provoking a scheme that uses the team as pawns in a very dangerous game.

[Rasputin]

Popular DVDs

1. Doom
2. Saw II
3. Waiting... - Unrated & Raw
4. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Anniversary Edition
5. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
6. Elizabethtown
7. National Lampoon's Adam and Eve
8. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (Volume One)
9. The Girl Next Door
10. Eros

[Rasputin]

Top Selling DVDs

1. Underworld
2. Brokedown Palace
3. Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica - The Complete Seasons 2 & 3
4. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn
5. Dumb & Dumber
6. Friday
7. Snatch
8. Never Been Kissed
9. Sweet Home Alabama
10. Gia

[Rasputin]

Dune Extended Edition

Dune, the first in Frank Herbert’s epic series, was written over forty years ago. It introduces the reader to mankind's distant future set over eight thousand years hence. Technology and mysticism have reached great heights, but man has evolved little. Machiavellian power struggles still dominate civilization. Political intrigue, deadly plots, and corruption simply have expanded to interstellar proportions. In 2000, director John Harrison wrote a teleplay in the form of a miniseries...

[Rasputin]

DVD Reviews
Serenity



I am not familiar with Firefly, the series upon which this feature film is based, but that may be a good thing. Having no preconceptions, I was able to watch this film unbiased, and I was pleasantly surprised. It exceeded my expectations. My only disadvantage was that certain terms and back-stories were unfamiliar; I was left with the distinct impression that I could have benefited from knowledge of the television episodes. Regardless, series creator and director Joss Whedon seems to have done his best to create a work that stands alone.

We immediately learn that Earth had become uninhabitable due to nuclear war. Fortunately, mankind had advanced sufficiently for interstellar travel and terraforming inhospitable planets. But when the survivors inhabit the planets and satellites of a distant solar system, the governing body found itself at war with a rebellious element that is somewhat reluctant to be controlled; perhaps they are disillusioned by Earth’s destruction. The powerful government - the Alliance - had defeated the rebels, but resistance and rebelliousness remain.

[Rasputin]

Schindler's List

Schindler's List is a movie that is, quite frankly, unreviewable. Like the recent The Passion of the Christ, it exists outside of the sphere of common entertainment; it is not a documentary, nor even a historical document. It is simply a statement, a declaration of faith and belief that tackles a subject so central to our understanding of humanity that it is above reproach. Evaluations of the artistic merits of Schindler's List are easy - we can praise the quality of its production, the beauty of its photography, the caliber of its cast and the narrative gifts of its director, Steven Spielberg. But assessing its morals, its message, and the passion of its convictions is trickier. What a minefield: to criticize Schindler's List as anything but a searing portrait of humanity and hope is to throw rocks at the Easter Bunny.



So rest assured that I have no intention of desecrating a revered cinematic institution. Schindler's List is indeed about as perfect a technical achievement as is possible in film. It is gorgeously shot, impeccably acted and wonderfully scored - not a single frame is wasted. That it would be elevated to the status of Best Picture of the Year by over 100 major critics and awards organizations upon its release was a foregone conclusion, and its multiple Academy Awards were guaranteed. It is impossible to watch this movie and not be moved, amazed and simply overwhelmed by its quality. And given the current state of modern cinema, that any film could actually be called noble only makes the accomplishment of Schindler's List even greater.

[Rasputin]

The Legend of Zorro

It’s been seven years since director Martin Campbell brought The Mask of Zorro to the big screen, cleverly handing down the legacy of Zorro from Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) to a street punk named Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas). Don Diego transforms Alejandro into a gentleman and noble vigilantly; ultimately, Alejandro will marry Don Diego’s lovely but feisty daughter, Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

[Rasputin]

The Ice Harvest

started watching the DVD of The Ice Harvest, the new film from director Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day) at around 10:30 a.m. When it was over, it didn’t really hit me one way or the other, good or bad. In such cases, I’ll wait a few hours, then reconsider it. It is now 8 p.m. as I write this, ten hours after seeing it, and I’ve decided that the movie had absolutely no effect on me. The ingredients are there.

[Rasputin]

NYPD Blue: Season Three

I remember hearing much brouhaha about NYPD Blue and David Caruso’s involvement with it; I was shocked to learn that the notoriously diva-like Caruso had decided to leave the show just as it reached the apex of its potential for TV success. Dennis Franz would eventually become the poster boy for the series; after years on the air, it earnestly became his show. But back in 1994, it seemed like career suicide for Caruso to leave, and that’s pretty much the way it turned out.

[Rasputin]

Poltergeist: The Legacy - The Complete First Season

From the producers of The Outer Limits comes the supernatural, ghostly series of Poltergeist: The Legacy made for Showtime. The included pamphlet explains its eccentric premise best. The Legacy is an ancient, secret order devoted to stemming the tide of a growing malevolent presence in the world. Hidden behind a public front of dealing in antiques, the Luna Foundation, headquartered on San Francisco’s Angel Island, is home to a five-person team of warriors who battle evil.Poltergeist.

[Rasputin]

Raise the Red Lantern

Raise the Red Lantern

Chinese director Zhang Yimou, who graduated fifth in his class at the Beijing Film Academy in 1982, is member of the so-called the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers. They were the ones who came of age after the Cultural Revolution and they were the ones who wound up honing their skills on the international stage.But their films, some of which earned international acclaim while simultaneously banned in their home country, tried to reconcile old.