Sunday, July 31, 2011

Jesse Stone: Sea Change

Jesse Stone
Jesse Stone: Sea Change
Tom Selleck (Actor) | Format: DVD
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 863% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 63 (was 607 yesterday)
4.7 out of 5 stars(77)

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Review & Description

Jesse Stone: Sea Change is the fourth in the series of films starring Selleck as Jesse Stone, the former Los Angeles homicide detective who has been fired from the LAPD, left his wife and comes to Paradise, Massachusetts, to start life over again as the New England town’s police chief. Co-starring William Devane (TV’s Knot’s Landing), Kathy Baker (Edward Scissorhands) and Sean Young (Blade Runner), this installment finds Chief Stone (Selleck) bored with what he perceives as his mundane life, struggling to keep his drinking and his obsession with beautiful women under control. Stone’s restlessness gets the best of him and he re-opens a 12-year-old cold file involving the murder of a bank teller. The inquiry reveals fresh clues and Stone soon finds himself busier than ever as the unsolved case leads to another centered around an alleged rape aboard a yacht during the town’s annual Race Week. Tom Selleck's reliably appealing performance in the title role carries Jesse Stone: Sea Change, the fourth in the series of films based on Robert B. Parker's novels. His Jesse Stone is one gloomy dude; fired from his job as a detective with the LAPD, unhappily divorced from his wife (with whom he still talks daily on the telephone), and now police chief in a picturesque but sleepy New England burg ironically called Paradise, Stone has relieved his boredom and general disaffection by taking to the bottle. But things are about to change. First one of the local girls accuses a visiting yachtsman, in town for Racing Week, of rape, an allegation that may or may not be true (in a scenario straight out of Jaws, when the presence of a shark threatened to ruin a holiday weekend, the tourism-obsessed Paradise town council wants to sweep this one under the rug as swiftly as possible). Then there's a robbery-murder case dating back a dozen years or more, which Stone at first takes on simply so he'll have something to do but later becomes a good deal more complicated. Sea Change is a great-looking film, with a lovely setting, gorgeous cinematography, and a golden retriever that can be relied on for adorable reaction shots. But it's also a TV movie of the week, which in this instance means that it's almost entirely predictable, with professional but less-than-convincing performances by actors dealing with a script in which the characters simply don't talk like real people (Kathy Baker and Kohl Sudduth as fellow cops are among the few exceptions). As for Jesse Stone, well, this is Tom Selleck we're talking about, and drunk or not, he is still thoroughly likable, not to mention a major chick magnet. That alone will be enough to entertain viewers looking for some easy escapism. --Sam Graham Read more


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The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray]

The Bridge
The Bridge on the River Kwai [Blu-ray]
William Holden (Actor) | Format: Blu-ray
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 81,334% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 29 (was 23,616 yesterday)
4.7 out of 5 stars(210)

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Review & Description

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 06/07/2011 Run time: 161 minutes Rating: PgDirector David Lean's masterful 1957 realization of Pierre Boulle's novel remains a benchmark for war films, and a deeply absorbing movie by any standard--like most of Lean's canon, The Bridge on the River Kwai achieves a richness in theme, narrative, and characterization that transcends genre.

The story centers on a Japanese prison camp isolated deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia, where the remorseless Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) has been charged with building a vitally important railway bridge. His clash of wills with a British prisoner, the charismatic Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), escalates into a duel of honor, Nicholson defying his captor's demands to win concessions for his troops. How the two officers reach a compromise, and Nicholson becomes obsessed with building that bridge, provides the story's thematic spine; the parallel movement of a team of commandos dispatched to stop the project, led by a British major (Jack Hawkins) and guided by an American escapee (William Holden), supplies the story's suspense and forward momentum.

Shot on location in Sri Lanka, Kwai moves with a careful, even deliberate pace that survivors of latter-day, high-concept blockbusters might find lulling--Lean doesn't pander to attention deficit disorders with an explosion every 15 minutes. Instead, he guides us toward the intersection of the two plots, accruing remarkable character details through extraordinary performances. Hayakawa's cruel camp commander is gradually revealed as a victim of his own sense of honor, Holden's callow opportunist proves heroic without softening his nihilistic edge, and Guinness (who won a Best Actor Oscar, one of the production's seven wins) disappears as only he can into Nicholson's brittle, duty-driven, delusional psychosis. His final glimpse of self-knowledge remains an astonishing moment--story, character, and image coalescing with explosive impact.

Like Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai has been beautifully restored and released in a highly recommended widescreen version that preserves its original aspect ratio. --Sam Sutherland

Stills from The Bridge on the River Kwai (click for larger image)







Beyond The Bridge on the River Kwai


The David Lean Collection

WWII 60th Anniversary Collection

The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai (History Channel)

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Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons
Don Messick (Actor), Casey Kasem (Actor), Joseph Barbera (Director), William Hanna (Director) | Format: DVD
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 294% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 309 (was 1,218 yesterday)
4.7 out of 5 stars(189)

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The whodunit format was a daring new frontier for an animated series, but the members of the Mystery Inc. team have grown to become authentic popular-culture icons. To solve their newest mystery - finding the most awesome Scooby-Doo DVD ever, with 25 vintage episodes and snackin? good extras on 4 discs - you need only follow this simple clue: you?re holding it!Chuck Jones and other great studio animators sneered at the cheap look and lazy craftsmanship of Hanna Barbera's television cartoons in the 1960s, but there's no question HB's original, 35-year-old Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is enduringly beloved. The Complete First and Second Seasons includes all 25 stories first broadcast from September '69 to October '71, a growth period in which canine hero Scooby's voice (by Don Messick, who also voiced The Jetsons's pup, Astro) was gradually refined from murky garble to Scoob's more familiar, "Rrroowwrr"-inflected, human-like speech. This set also represents the pre-frills Scooby-Doo: no guest appearances by Don Knotts or Batman, no Scrappy-Doo--just adventure and occasional bubblegum pop tunes by Danny Janssen and sundry co-writers (e.g., "Pretty Mary Sunlite" in the episode "Don't Fool with a Phantom").

Watching all the shows back-to-back reveals evolving complexity in the scripts. Over time, Scooby-Doo's creators added multiple bad guys in cahoots with major villains, and developed sub-plots, backstories, and even appealing allies and friends of Mystery, Inc., a traveling band of young debunkers of supernatural phenomena. Riding around in their psychedelic Mystery Van, preppie leader Fred and his friends--haughty Daphne, brainy Velma, quasi-hippie Shaggy, and Shaggy's best pal, Scooby, an excitable Great Dane--chase down and are chased by alleged ghouls who generally turn out to be venal humans running various scams.

Included here is Scooby-Doo's premiere, "What a Night for a Knight," in which the gang looks into the disappearance of a noted archaeologist and end up in a "haunted" museum. The fun "Go Away Ghost Ship" finds our heroes helping a shipping company daunted by the apparent ghost of pirate Red Beard, while the silly classic "A Tiki Scare Is No Fair" concerns a Hawaiian vacation for Mystery, Inc. disrupted by a witch doctor. --Tom Keogh Read more


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Rio [Blu-ray 3D]

Rio Bluray
Rio [Blu-ray 3D]
Jesse Eisenberg (Actor), Anne Hathaway (Actor) | Format: Blu-ray
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 204% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 279 (was 850 yesterday)
4.4 out of 5 stars(30)
Release Date: August 30, 2011

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Review & Description

This comedy-adventure centers on Blu, a flightless macaw who acts more human than bird. When Blu, the last of his kind, discovers there’s another – and that she’s a she – he embarks on an adventure to magical Rio. There, he meets Jewel and a menagerie of vivid characters who help Blu fulfill his dream and learn to fly. A classic tale of self-discovery, romance, and adventure, Rio is the story of Blu, a flightless macaw who was taken from the forests of Rio de Janeiro as a young bird and raised by a kind girl in a small Minnesota town. When an ornithologist comes to town and informs Blu's now-grown owner Linda that Blu is the last male of his species, Blu and Linda return to Rio so that Blu can mate with a feisty female named Jewel. Thus begins an adventure in which Blu encounters everything from the complexities of courtship and love, to thugs involved in an exotic animal theft ring, strange new friendships--including one with an overly friendly slobbering bulldog--and a crazy ride through a Carnaval parade. Blu and Linda both mature as a result of their journey in Rio, and love ensures that life will never be quite the same for either ever again. The animation in Rio is quite impressive, the characters are endearing, the Brazilian music is very appealing, and the star-studded voice cast includes Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Will i Am, Wanda Sykes, Jane Lynch, George Lopez, and Jamie Foxx. While the story doesn't really offer anything new--instead playing much like a rehashing of some of the major plot points from movies like Madagascar, Finding Nemo, and Babe--that doesn't mean the film isn't perfectly entertaining for both kids and adults. (Ages 6 and older) --Tami Horiuchi Read more


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Swamp People: Season 1

Swamp People
Swamp People: Season 1
Albert " (Actor), Butch" (Actor), The History Channel (Director) | Format: DVD
4.9 out of 5 stars(8)

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Season one of SWAMP PEOPLE takes you on a journey to the bayous and swamplands of America's southern heartland to witness a group of people that live on the fringes of society. They are the swamp people, and their distinct culture has its roots in the early days of America's expansion westward. The descendants of moonshiners, immigrant railroad workers and early settlers, the swamp people have inherited a legacy of self-reliance and anti-establishment values that make them true American originals, hidden from the view of the mainstream. HISTORY follows these swampers through a time of year that is crucial to their survival: alligator hunting season. At its core, this is a uniquely American story of a proud and skillful people fighting to maintain an ancient way of life in a rapidly modernizing world, despite the many perils and trials that stand in their way.

BONUS FEATURES: Additional Footage

DISC 1: Big Head Bites It / Houdini's Last Escape / Troy's Gamble / Cannibal Gator

DISC 2: Forces of Nature / Family Feuds / Swamp Wars / Gator Voodoo

DISC 3: Final Countdown / The Last Battle / Bonus Read more


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Jesse Stone: No Remorse

Jesse Stone
Jesse Stone: No Remorse
Tom Selleck (Actor), Kathy Baker (Actor) | Format: DVD
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 126% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 207 (was 469 yesterday)
4.4 out of 5 stars(100)

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Tom Selleck reprises his role as Jesse Stone, the anguished and relentless former police Chief in the small town of Paradise, Massachusetts. While in self-imposed seclusion following his suspension from the Paradise Police Force, a mysterious series of related murders in nearby Boston draws Stone back into the fold. Before long, he’s following a crooked path that leads to none other than the city’s most notorious crime boss Gino Fish (William Sadler).

Based upon characters created in best-selling author Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone books. Co-starring William Devane and Kathy Baker, Jesse Stone: No Remorse is a trip to Paradise that you will not want to miss! No Remorse, the sixth entry in the made-for-TV series of Jesse Stone mysteries featuring Robert B. Parker's small-town police chief, is another satisfying blend of detective thrills and character drama, anchored by coproducer-cowriter Tom Selleck's typically fine turn as Stone. Picking up shortly after the events of the previous Stone film, Thin Ice, the action finds Stone struggling with suspension from the force and his alcohol issues; intervention from old friend Commander Healy (Stephen McHattie) gets him back on his feet and on the trail of a serial killer preying on young men. Stone and his deputies (Kathy Baker and Kohl Sudduth) uncover a trail that leads them to Boston mob boss Gino Fish (William Sadler), whose secret past may uncover the guilty party. Meanwhile, Stone has to deal with a rash of convenience store robberies that have turned deadly, as well as his ex-wife and relationship issues with his new dog, Reggie. Though the tone is a bit darker than previous Stone features, and the resolution of the convenience store subplot somewhat rushed, the performances, led by Selleck and abetted by an all-pro supporting cast (which includes William Devane as Stone's shrink and Saul Rubinek as the hapless Hasty Hathaway), are engaging, and the direction by Robert Harmon top-notch. Sadly, No Remorse was the last Jesse Stone film to see production during Parker's lifetime, but under Selleck's stewardship, fans can rest assured that Jesse Stone will continue in good hands. The widescreen DVD offers no extras. --Paul Gaita Read more


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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Watchmen (Director's Cut + BD-Live) [Blu-ray]

Watchmen Directors
Watchmen (Director's Cut + BD-Live) [Blu-ray]
Billy Crudup (Actor), Matthew Goode (Actor), Zack Snyder (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 135% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 287 (was 677 yesterday)
3.6 out of 5 stars(591)

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WATCHMEN - Blu-Ray MovieEverybody's favorite graphic novel comes to the screen (after years of rumors and false starts), less a roaring work of adaptation than a respectful and faithful take on a radical original. Watchmen is set in the mid-1980s, a time of increased nuclear tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, as Richard Nixon is enjoying his fifth term as president and the world's superheroes have been forcibly retired. (As you can probably tell, the mix of authentic history and alternate reality is heady.) Things begin with a bang: the mysterious high-rise murder of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a masked hero with a checkered past, puts the rest of the retired superhero community on alert. The credits sequence, a series of tableaux that wittily catches us up on crime-fighting backstory, actually turns out to be the high point of the movie. Thereafter we meet the other caped and hooded avengers: the furious Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the inexplicably naked Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup, amidst much blue-skinned, genital-swinging digital work), Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode). The corkscrewing storytelling, which worked well in the comic book, gives the movie the strange sense of never quite getting in gear, even as some of the episodes are arresting. Director Zack Snyder (300) doesn't try to approximate the electric impact of the original (written by Alan Moore--who declined to be credited on the movie--and illustrated by Dave Gibbons) but retains careful fidelity to his source material. That doesn't feel right, even with the generally enjoyable roll-out of anecdotes. Even less forgivable is the blah acting, excepting Jeffrey Dean Morgan (lusty) and Patrick Wilson (mellow). Watchmen certainly fills the eyes, although less so the ears: the song choices are regrettable, especially during an embarrassing mid-air coupling between Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II as they unite their--ah--Roman numerals. In the end it feels as though a huge work of transcription has been successfully completed, which isn't the same as making a full-blooded movie experience. --Robert Horton

Also on the Blu-ray disc
The extended director's cut restores 24 minutes of connective tissue to the 162-minute film, most significantly the last scene of Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl. Other elements help restore and fill in details that had been in the graphic novel. Fans of the film will be glad for the extra footage but there's nothing momentous that will change anyone's basic like or dislike of the film.

By far the most interesting Blu-ray feature (in addition to the great picture and DTS-HD Master Audio sound) is the Maximum Movie Mode, which incorporates several features into the viewing experience. Director Zack Snyder periodically appears on screen in front of two large monitors, one continuing to play the movie and the other displaying special-effects shots or scenes from the graphic novel. Snyder talks about how he shot the film and points out details in a variety of scenes: the opening with the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan's lab, the Nite Owl ship, Mars, Antarctica, and the ending (and why it was changed for the movie). This feature is much more interesting than an audio commentary or a standard picture-in-picture commentary so it'd be nice if it had been done for more scenes. Also appearing in Maximum Movie Mode is a timeline contrasting events in the Watchmen world with the "real world," occasional picture-in-picture comments by cast and crew, still galleries, and a series of 11 "focus points" that allow you to exit the film to watch these three-minute featurettes (sets, costumes, the Minutemen, etc.). Worthy of mention is how easy the Maximum Movie Mode material is to find: Snyder's footage and the focus points are very visible (even in fast-forward), and you can also access the focus points directly from the main menu.

The second disc has three documentaries. The first, "The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics," 29 min.), looks at the original graphic novel and its themes, and interviews artist Dave Gibbons, DC Comics executives Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz, and cast and crew, illustrating its points with scenes from the movie, panels from the graphic novel, and parts of the motion comic. The next two are only on the Blu-ray disc but are less interesting and of varying relevance to the movie. "Real Superheroes, Real Vigilantes" (26 min.) examines real-life vigilantes including the Guardian Angels and New York subway gunman Bernard Goetz and compares them to Rorschach. "Mechanics: Technologies of a Future World" (17 min.) spotlights a physicist who served as a consultant on the movie. He talks about his experiences then discusses whether elements from the movie, such as Dr. Manhattan, the Owl Ship, and Rorschach's mask could really work. There's also My Chemical Romance's "Desolation Row" music video , and BD-Live offers even more making-of material. A third disc with a Digital Copy of the film (compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media; download code expires July 21, 2010) was included with early shipments of the Blu-ray disc but is no longer available. --David Horiuchi Read more


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Dance Fitness for Beginners with MaDonna Grimes: African Beat - Latin Heat

Dance Fitness for Beginners with MaDonna Grimes
Dance Fitness for Beginners with MaDonna Grimes: African Beat - Latin Heat
MaDonna Grimes (Actor) | Format: DVD
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 89% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 266 (was 504 yesterday)
3.3 out of 5 stars(105)

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Award-winning choreographer, MaDonna Grimes, is renowned for her innovative dance moves. She founded the MaDonna Grimes Fitness and Dance Theatre Company, has released a CD, and is the author of Work It Out. She has a master’s degree in dance performance and choreography, and has appeared in many fitness and fashion magazines.

Elevate your heart rate in this high-energy workout that moves and grooves. African Beat – Latin Heat is like having a dance party in your living room! MaDonna Grimes makes sure you never stop moving in this exciting Dance Fitness for Beginners program.

Challenge your muscles and your spirit when you turn up the heat with this full-body, cardio workout. MaDonna keeps you burning calories as you dance, move your arms, and swing your hips to a mix of Latin and African rhythms. Designed for women and men, this program combines Latin dance steps with hip, urban moves. MaDonna breaks down the routines, than creates a dynamic workout that will leave you sweating for more!

Program Features:

- Dance moves you can take to the clubs
- Fun routines challenge every muscle
- Tones entire body
- Shed unwanted pounds and burn fat

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The Smurfs Season 2, Vol. 1: True Blue Friends

The Smurfs Season 2, Vol. 1
The Smurfs Season 2, Vol. 1: True Blue Friends
Ral Aldana (Actor), Francisco Colmenero (Actor) | Format: DVD
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 99% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 355 (was 707 yesterday)
3.4 out of 5 stars(18)

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The Smurfs are a group of over 100 bluish, three-apple tall creatures who live in the mushroom homes of Smurf Village. They are led by 543-year-old Papa Smurf (who doesn't look a day over 530). Their lives would be perfect were it not for the villainous Gargamel, a wizard who spends his days trying to capture them to eat, turn into gold, or for other evil reason. Gargamel's cat Azrael adds to the menace, always looking for a smurfalicious snack.. Its Season Two, Vol. 1 of Smurf Adventures, the Emmy-winning animated series [Outstanding Childrens Entertainment Series 1982-83] that delighted Saturday morning cartoon fans for nearly a decade.Beloved in Europe for almost 20 years before they became a toy and marketing hit on American shores, Belgian cartoonist Peyo's industrious and charming Smurfs were a natural choice for Saturday morning TV. Though simplistic by today's animation standards, the quarter-century-plus since their U.S. TV debut has not diminished the key ingredient to the Smurfs' enduring appeal: their unflappably upbeat demeanor, which helps Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and the rest of the clan overcome the schemes of their chief rival, the evil wizard Gargamel. True Blue Friends contains five episodes from the second season: "S-Shivering S-Smurfs," "Turncoat Smurf," "The Smurf Who Couldn't Say No," "The Haunted Castle," and "The Black Hellebore." --Paul Gaita Read more


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Now and Then

Now and
Now and Then
Christina Ricci (Actor), Rosie O'Donnell (Actor) | Format: DVD
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 160% Sales Rank in Movies & TV: 335 (was 873 yesterday)
4.6 out of 5 stars(152)

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NOW AND THEN - DVD MovieThis obligatory girls' version of Stand by Me begins with actors Melanie Griffith, Rita Wilson, Demi Moore, and Rosie O'Donnell doing a lousy job of playing adult versions of the film's youthful protagonists. The idea is that this quartet of characters is having a reunion, which serves as a preface to the main story about school chums who make a pact to stay close and supportive through thick and thin. The trouble is that Griffith, Moore, Wilson, and O'Donnell look like they've rehearsed their scenes for no more than a few minutes, and after boring us silly there's little reason to get excited about anything else. Still, it's nice to have a supporting cast that includes Janeane Garofalo and Bonnie Hunt, while among the girls are three young actresses who have been burning up the road in recent years: Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex), Thora Birch (A Clear and Present Danger), and Gaby Hoffmann (Strike). --Tom Keogh Read more


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