Library

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Michael Douglas won an Oscar for perfectly embodying the Reagan-era credo that "greed is good." As a Donald Trump-like Wall Street raider aptly named Gordon Gecko (for his reptilian ability to attack corporate targets and swallow them whole), Douglas found a role tailor-made to his skill in portraying heartless men who've sacrificed humanity to power. He's a slick, seductive role model for the young ambitious Wall Street broker played by Charlie Sheen, who falls into Gecko's sphere of influence and instantly succumbs to the allure of risky deals and generous payoffs. With such perks as a high-rise apartment and women who love men for their money, Charlie's like a worm on Gecko's hook, blind to the corporate maneuvering that puts him at odds with his own father (played by Sheen's offscreen father, Martin). With his usual lack of subtlety, writer-director Oliver Stone drew from the brokering experience of his own father to tell this Faustian tale for the "me" decade, but the movie's sledgehammer style is undeniably effective. A cautionary warning that Stone delivers on highly entertaining terms, "Wall Street" grabs your attention while questioning the corrupted values of a system that worships profit at the cost of one's soul. "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English, Japanese

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Pitting Hong Kong legend Jet Li against UK tough guy Jason Statham seems like a surefire way to generate on-screen heat, and action fans will get a good deal of just that from the action-heavy "War". Unfortunately, they also have to slog through a clichéd-riddled story about world-weary FBI agent Statham, who's gunning for Li, the master assassin that killed his partner years before, and who's currently neck-deep in a turf war between yakuza and triad gangs. Philip G. Atwell's style-over-substance direction doesn't help matters either, though he does have a way with shootouts and other combative set pieces. As for Li and Statham, their scenes together are surprisingly limited; there's also a twist in the film's final third that begs for serious suspension of disbelief. In short, those that found the duo's last movie team-up (2001's "The One") lacking won't find much here to supplant that memory. The DVD includes three commentary tracks: one by Atwell, one by screenwriters Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory J. Bradley (it's the liveliest of the lot) and an audio trivia track that delves deep into the film's production, which is also covered in detail by nine separate featurettes. A gag reel and deleted/extended scenes round out the supplemental features. " -- Paul Gaita"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: They outnumber the cops three to one.

Summary: Walter Hill's controversial 1979 drama was blamed for causing gang violence at theaters, but now it looks as highly stylized and pulpy as Hill ("Last Man Standing") intended. The plot finds a New York gang having to cross the territory of rivals in order to get to their own 'hood. A sort of urban Western with a comic-book pace, artificial colors, fable-like tone, and broad acting, the film isn't intended to steep us in gritty realities so much as spin a decadent fantasy out of them. Still, this is a tough film with an almost futuristic element to its characterizations of gang activity, and it is more absorbing than Hill's more elaborate youth opera of punk wars, "Streets of Fire". "--Tom Keogh"

Languages: Cantonese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Anybody hungering for a good old-fashioned Western needs to check out "Warriors of Heaven and Earth", which--although it's set in 7th-century China--has all the valor and spectacle of a John Ford picture. It also has a goofy supernatural streak, for the chopsocky crowd. The opening 10 minutes or so offer an alarmingly convoluted plot, but it swiftly settles down. What's going on is that a long-exiled Japanese hit man (Kiichi Nakai), hired to kill a renegade Chinese warrior (Jiang Wen), temporarily teams up with his quarry in order to escort a camel caravan along the Spice Road. Of course, they are menaced by a brutal warlord, and beautiful Zhao Wei ("So Close") is mixed in there too. Director He Ping ("Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker") captures some magnificent vistas in the Gobi Desert, but more importantly he sketches the codes or honor and behavior essential to any such tale. "--Robert Horton"

Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Thai

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Based on a novel by Dick King-Smith, author of "The Sheep Pig" (from which "Babe" was adapted), the touching and often spectacular "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" ingeniously presumes to explain the truth behind "Nessie," i.e., the Loch Ness Monster. The story, told in present day to a couple of American tourists by a kindly gentleman (Brian Cox) in a pub, begins with a lonely boy, Angus (Alex Etel), pining for his father, who is serving in the Royal Navy during World War II. Angus, along with his sister (Priyanka Xi) and mother (Emily Watson), live on an estate that has been billeted by soldiers in the Scottish Highlands, near Loch Ness. The troop’s commander (David Morissey) has an eye for mom, suspicions about a mysterious handyman, Lewis (Ben Chaplin), who is also a war hero, and an absurd contention that the Highlands are the real frontline in the war against Germany.

Into this intriguing drama comes a completely different element, a fantastical creature of Celtic mythology that befriends Angus and is, in fact, the sea-beast who will eventually be known as the Loch Ness Monster. Trying to hide the dinosaur-like fellow, nicknamed Crusoe, Angus enlists Lewis to transfer it to the lake, where boy and serpent have extraordinary adventures together until human stupidity threatens Crusoe’s existence. A true family film, there is a lot for adults to like about the grownup story in "The Water Horse". Meanwhile, the wistful relationship between Angus and Crusoe--each of whom helps the other move past obstacles toward their individual destinies--will leave children feeling both happy and melancholy in the best possible sense. Directed by Jay Russell ("My Dog Skip"), "The Water Horse" is the best of a mini-genre of films about or inspired by old Nessie. "--Tom Keogh"

Beyond "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep"
Two-Disc Special Edition
Paperback Novel
CD Soundtrack
Stills from "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" (click for larger image)

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: In "We Own the Night", Joaquin Phoenix, whose eyes burn with sullen anger even when he's looking at the woman he loves, plays Bobby Green, a nightclub manager in the 1980s who gets caught between his blood family he tried to leave behind--a long line of police officers--and his chosen family of friends and business partners, who turn out to be drug dealers. His father (Robert Duvall) and brother (Mark Wahlberg) want Bobby to help their investigation, but Bobby resists--until the conflict takes a brutal turn. Writer/director James Gray wears his influences on his sleeve; he's clearly seen every movie that Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola ever made and aspires to follow in their footsteps. The familiarity of the movie's territory dilutes its impact, but the plot of "We Own the Night" remains unpredictable, the performances have a clean vitality, and Gray's moody visual style brings some life to the genre. Phoenix ("Walk the Line") dives into his role, sifting through layers of guilt and familial resentment; Wahlberg and Duvall play parts they've essentially played a dozen times, but do so with commitment and integrity. Also featuring Eva Mendes (Ghost Rider) as Bobby's devoted girlfriend, who questions just how much she'll have to give up for him. "--Bret Fetzer"

Beyond "We Own the Night"
On DVD
Original Soundtrack
Stills from "We Own the Night" (click for larger image)

Languages: English

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Since the dawn of mankind, we have stared up at the lights in the sky and wondered... Now join the heroic men and women who have dared the impossible on some of the greatest adventures ever undertaken - the quest to reach out beyond Earth and into the great unknown of space! To celebrate 50 years of incredible achievements, the Discovery Channel has partnered with NASA to reveal the epic struggles, tragedies and triumphs in a bold chapter of human history. Along with the candid interviews of the people who made it happen, hundreds of hours of never-before-seen film footage from the NASA archives - including sequences on board the actual spacecraft in flight - have been carefully restored, edited and compiled for this landmark collection.

*Original NASA footage digitally remastered in high-definition featuring exclusive;''never before seen''; footage
*4 hours of bonus footage not seen in TV broadcast.

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Comments: Some Sacrifices Must Be Made

Summary: Nicolas Cage stars in "The Wicker Man" as a traumatized police officer investigating a lost girl on a mysterious, mist-shrouded island of imperious women and dimwitted men. Summoned by his ex-fiancee (Kate Beahan, Flightplan, who seems to have borrowed her lips from Angelina Jolie), Edward Malus (Cage, "Adaptation".) blusters his way into a closed religious community by flashing his out-of-state badge around and insulting everyone he meets. To describe "The Wicker Man" any further would deprive viewers of enjoying the staggering ineptness of this absurd remake of the fairly creepy 1973 original. Despite a talented cast (including Ellen Burstyn, "Requiem for a Dream", Molly Parker, "Deadwood", and Leelee Sobieski, "Joy Ride"), the performances are uniformly awful, with Cage leading the pack; his overwrought cries of "How'd it get burned?!?" will provoke barks of laughter. Arbitrary wierdness abounds--ranging from animal masks to a body-stocking of bees--in a flailing effort to distract the audience from the narrative running madly off the rails. Maybe writer/director Neil LaBute ("In the Company of Men, The Shape of Things") aspired to create a fever dream of male fears about women, but the result is a deformed hybrid of "Invasion of the Bee Girls" and "The Village". A future camp classic. "--Bret Fetzer"

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A coming-of-age story starring a bunch of fiftysomething stars rather than teenage actors, "Wild Hogs" is a well-intentioned comedy starring John Travolta (Woody), Tim Allen (Doug), Martin Lawrence (Bobby), and William H. Macy (Dudley) as a group of Midwesterners facing their own versions of mid-life crises. They decide to escape their frazzled personal lives and rejuvenate themselves by taking a road trip on their slick hogs. But their journey is less "Easy Rider" than it is "Three Amigos" (plus one). As individual actors, each lead is a formidable star. But throw them all together into one crammed screenplay full of scatological humor and uncomfortable homosexual gags and it doesn't quite work. The actors spend so much time trying to outdo each other on screen that they aren't believable as friends, much less comrades. Walt Becker ("National Lampoon"'s Van Wilder) offers minimal direction on a film that could've used some reining in, especially during scenes between Macy and Marisa Tomei (as a diner owner who inexplicably falls for him). There are promises of some interesting vignettes when Ray Liotta shows up as Jack, the leader of a real motorcycle gang. When Jack threatens to break Dudley's legs, Dudley counters, "I'm a computer programmer! I don't need my legs." Without missing a beat, Jack says, "Fine, we'll break his hands." It's not that the lines are so funny, but they way Liotta delivers them that adds some life to this flailing comedy. Unfortunately, his scenes with the rest of the cast are all too few. "--Jae-Ha Kim"
Stills from "Wild Hogs" (click for larger image)

Languages: English, Spanish, French

Subtitles: Spanish, French

Sound: Dolby

Summary: Having earned Hollywood's respect with blockbusters like "Face/Off" and "Mission: Impossible 2", Hong Kong action master John Woo lends his signature style to serious World War II action in "Windtalkers". Recognizing the long-forgotten contribution of Navajo "code talkers," whose use of an unbreakable Navajo-language radio code was instrumental in defeating the Japanese, the film serves as an admirable tribute to those Native American heroes. Unfortunately, it falls short of importance with its standard-issue story about a battle-scarred sergeant (Nicolas Cage) assigned to protect a code-talker (Adam Beach, from "Smoke Signals"), with unspoken orders to kill him if Japanese capture is imminent. This allows for an involving drama of hard-won friendship, but cardboard supporting characters suffer in the shadow of nonstop action that's as repetitious as it is technically impressive. "Windtalkers" is best appreciated as a more substantial vehicle for Woo's trademark ballet of bullets. "--Jeff Shannon"