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Languages: English, Spanish

Summary: This Jack Black vehicle seems, on the surface, like a perfect fit for the actor: an opportunity to showcase Black's unique style with the extreme facial gestures and exuberant physicality that have become his forte. Black plays Ignacio, a lowly cook in a monastery in central Mexico who feeds orphans by day, and wrestles in the town square at night. Ignacio teams up with Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez), a street urchin who tormented him, to form a tag-team duo that goes up against the strangest wrestlers Mexico has to offer. Besides doing it for money to feed the orphans, Ignacio is also fighting to win the forbidden affections of Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera) with predictable difficulty. While the movie has likeable characters and the plot is enjoyable enough, it can’t overcome its plodding pace and formulaic structure enough to keep the movie interesting throughout. Jack Black is a very strong comedic actor, and the wrestling scenes offer plenty of chances for slapstick, physical comedy, but watching him run around in red briefs and blue tights amounts to half the laughs in the movie, and there’s just not enough here for him to really work with. When he plays a more well-formed character, as in "School of Rock" and "High Fidelity", his strengths really show. But in "Nacho Libre" he’s saddled with a caricature. Weighed down by too much low-brow humor and a script that goes nowhere, "Nacho Libre" just can’t make full enough use of Black’s talents to overcome the obstacles. "--Daniel Vancini"

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Like a Hardy Boys mystery on steroids, "National Treasure" offers popcorn thrills and enough boyish charm to overcome its rampant silliness. Although it was roundly criticized as a poor man's rip-off of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Da Vinci Code", it's entertaining on its own ludicrous terms, and Nicolas Cage proves once again that one actor's infectious enthusiasm can compensate for a multitude of movie sins. The contrived plot involves Cage's present-day quest for the ancient treasure of the Knights Templar, kept secret through the ages by Freemasons past and present. Finding the treasure requires the theft of the Declaration of Independence (there are crucial treasure clues on the back, of course!), so you can add "caper comedy" to this Jerry Bruckheimer production's multi-genre appeal. Nobody will ever accuse director Jon Turtletaub of artistic ambition, but you've got to admit he serves up an enjoyable dose of PG-rated entertainment, full of musty clues, skeletons, deep tunnels, and harmless adventure in the old-school tradition. It's a load of hokum, but it's "fun" hokum, and that makes all the difference. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Presque car la magie qui entourait le premier n'y est plus aussi présente, il faut dire que les énigmes sont là, la chasse aux trésors aussi et tout le tralalala mais justement c'est une réplique conforme du premier opus dans la façon de faire, on a que changé les lieux et les énigmes... rien de plus si ce n'est que c'est beaucoup plus simple et facile que dans le premier et que l'on se laisse donc par le fait même beaucoup moins emporté dans l'histoire aussi...



Pourquoi un homme qui semble être le parfait égoïste même se sacrifierait juste pour avoir peut-être son nom dans l'histoire surtout quand il n'est pas sûr du tout que les survivants le feront... c'est non seulement bien mince mais aussi plutôt naïf à mon goût !



Cela reste toutefois un bon film, il mérite d'être vue mais on n'apporte rien de nouveau dans le genre et c'est un peu décevant quand le premier nous avait vraiment emballé d'être juste diverti par le second...

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Oliver Stone would like to have the last word on America's media culture of voyeurism and violence, but whatever he's trying to say in this grisly, unconventional movie comes across terribly garbled. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis play traveling serial killers who become television celebrities when a Geraldo-like personality (Robert Downey Jr.) turns their madness into the biggest story in the country. Stone extensively rewrote an original script by Quentin Tarantino, and he employs a mosaic of different film stocks, video, and pop pastiches to create a sense of blurred lines between visual phenomena. (The background on Lewis's character's life as an abused child, for instance, is presented as a sitcom starring Rodney Dangerfield.) But the result of these experiments is a pompous, even amateurish effort at grasping the reins of a real-life national debate. One almost wants to tell Stone to sit down and raise his hand next time if he thinks he has something to say. The controversial director would like "Natural Born Killers" to be nothing less than a monumental achievement, but it's one of the emptier entries in his filmography. "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: English

Summary: This soothing program combines beautiful natural photography computer-generated imagery and a relaxing soundtrack.Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: MISCELLANEOUS/SPECIAL INTEREST Rating: NR UPC: 881991307084 Manufacturer No: RBFBD30708

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The weirdness of actor Nicolas Cage and the weirdness of science-fiction author Philip K. Dick seem like a natural fit. The premise, taken from a short story by Dick, is a good one: A mediocre Las Vegas magician named Chris Johnson (Cage) can see into the future--but only about two minutes at the most. Just enough to pull off his act and to make some money at the gambling tables, so long as he's discreet. Unfortunately, he hasn't been discreet enough; a government agent (Julianne Moore) has sussed out his precognitive talent and wants to use him to track down terrorists. But all Johnson cares about is a beautiful young woman (Jessica Biel, "The Illusionist") that he can see in his future--much further in his future than he's ever seen before. "Next" has flashes that point to a much, much better movie than it turned out to be. A sequence in which Johnson, clairvoyantly explores all the different permutations of how he might approach his mystery woman is both funny and thought-provoking, and when Johnson avoids pursuers by knowing just the right moment to turn a corner or duck his head, it's smart and suspenseful. Unfortunately, the terrorist part of the plot is utterly perfunctory and precognition is reduced to an action movie gimmick. Somewhere in there is the kernel of a romantic comedy about precognition that's just waiting to be made. Cage gives a solid if unsurprising performance, Moore is basically earning a paycheck, but Biel is unexpectedly good (and her part is considerably better-written than your usual romantic interest); her performance suggests a better future than anyone might have predicted. "--Bret Fetzer"

Beyond "Next"
More Nick Cage on DVD
The Author that Inspired the Movie
The Soundtrack Stills from "Next" (click for larger image)

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: An irresistible concept meets computer-generated wonders in Night at the Museum, inspired by a 1993 children's book by Milan Trenc. Ben Stiller stars as Larry Daley, an underachieving inventor waiting for his ship to come in while getting evicted from one apartment after another for lack of funds. Larry's son needs some stability, so the well-meaning ne'er-do-well takes a job as night watchman at New York City's Museum of Natural History. What the soon-to-retire guards (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs) don't tell him is that an ancient pharaoh's tablet in the museum causes everything on display to come to life at night. Thus, Larry meets representations of Teddy Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, fire-worshipping cavemen, and Roman Empire soldiers, and learns to cope with an excitable T-Rex and man-eating, ancient animals. The film might have left things at that, but an added story element gives Night at the Museum some extra urgency and excitement, especially for kids: Larry becomes responsible for keeping this nightly miracle going and preventing anything in the museum from dying due to exposure to sunrise. Computer effects, as well as wildly imaginative costumes and makeup, help make the film appeal to the 8-year-old in everyone. Director Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther) works with a hugely talented cast, including Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Carla Gugino, and Steve Coogan. --"Tom Keogh"
"Night at the Museum" Extras
Ben Stiller on Director Shawn Levy

Ricky Gervais on the size of his trailer and eating cheese.


Beyond "Night at the Museum"
See What DVDs Meant Special Effects to Amazon DVD Editors As Kids
More Adventure Films for Kids & Family
"The Night at the Museum" Paperback Book


Stills from "Night at the Museum"

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Comments: There Are No Clean Getaways

Summary: The Coen brothers make their finest thriller since "Fargo" with a restrained adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel. Not that there aren't moments of intense violence, but "No Country for Old Men" is their quietest, most existential film yet. In this modern-day Western, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Vietnam vet who could use a break. One morning while hunting antelope, he spies several trucks surrounded by dead bodies (both human and canine). In examining the site, he finds a case filled with $2 million. Moss takes it with him, tells his wife (Kelly Macdonald) he's going away for awhile, and hits the road until he can determine his next move. On the way from El Paso to Mexico, he discovers he's being followed by ex-special ops agent Chigurh (an eerily calm Javier Bardem). Chigurh's weapon of choice is a cattle gun, and he uses it on everyone who gets in his way--or loses a coin toss (as far as he's concerned, bad luck is grounds for death). Just as Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a World War II vet, is on Moss's trail, Chigurh's former colleague, Wells (Woody Harrelson), is on his. For most of the movie, Moss remains one step ahead of his nemesis. Both men are clever and resourceful--except Moss has a conscience, Chigurh does not (he is, as McCarthy puts it, "a prophet of destruction"). At times, the film plays like an old horror movie, with Chigurh as its lumbering Frankenstein monster. Like the taciturn terminator, "No Country for Old Men" doesn't move quickly, but the tension never dissipates. This minimalist masterwork represents Joel and Ethan Coen and their entire cast, particularly Brolin and Jones, at the peak of their powers. "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"