Monday, August 21, 2006

DVD Tuesday: House S2, Invasion, Poseidon & More! - Xoanon @ 10:23 PST
Apartment: Max is on his way to Tokyo. He lives in Paris and likes to flirt but has decided to get married. By chance, he seems to have seen Lisa, his greatest love, in a cafe. Max forgets everything, his trip to Tokyo and his fiance. Obsessed with meeting Lisa he finds out where she lives and hides in the apartment. However, a different girl, called Alice, finds Max in the flat. Alice looks quite similar to Lisa, and they have sex. To complicate matters further, Alice is also the girlfriend of Max's buddy Lucien and Lisa is followed by an older man.

Arthur's Missing Pal: The animated star of the educational series (based on the books by Marc Brown) makes his feature film debut in this direct-to-DVD CGI-animated adventure. Details: Color, 68 mins, Lionsgate, widescreen. Supplements: Storyboard sequences; "Puppy Paw Pursuit" game; "Follow That Truck" game; Trailers. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1) and Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Optional subtitles.

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure: After "The Poseidon Adventure", in which the ship got flipped over by a tidal wave, the ship drifts bottom-up in the sea. While the passengers are still on board waiting to be rescued, two rivaling salvage parties enter the ship on search for money, gold and a small amount of plutonium.

The Bill Cosby Show - Season One: The Bill Cosby Show: Season One, Cosby's Emmy-nominated first situation comedy (featuring 26 fully restored uncut episodes from the 1969-70 season), is a fresh mix of intelligent character studies and real-life situations, seamlessly infused with his trademark sense of humor and positive outlook. Chet Kincaid (Cosby) is a gym teacher at an urban high school in Los Angeles, an all-around good guy and an inspiration to his friends, family and students. Chet's good heart gets him into tons of predicaments, such as losing a one-on-one basketball game to a student he considered too short to make the team, his accidental involvement in a domestic dispute when he answers a pay phone and going on a date in a borrowed garbage truck.

Bit of Fry & Laurie: Season Two: (1987-1989) The comedy team of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, whose chemistry sparked in Black Adder and Jeeves and Wooster, went solo (or, rather, duo) for the original BBC skit comedy series. Their urbane, erudite wit, surreal skits, and meta-comedy approach recalls "Monty Python" at times, but with a chemistry and kookiness all their own. Details: Color, 212 mins, BBC/Warner, Academy Ratio, 1.33:1. Supplements: 7 episodes, including the original 1987 Christmas Special. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Optional English subtitles.

Blackstar:Complete Series: Astronaut John Blackstar's shuttle passes through a black hole and crashes on the planet Sagar. He is rescued by the gentle Trobbits, who live under the tyranny of the Overlord, possessor of one half of an all-powerful sword. Armed with the other half, Blackstar aids the resistance with his dragon, Warlock; the shape-shifter Klone; and the sorceress, Mara.

Blue Thunder: Complete Series: Lt. Frank Chaney of the LAPD is a maverick cop with unorthodox methods who is assigned to the Blue Thunder Team, which uses a very advanced gadget-filled helicopter in its fight against crime. "Blue Thunder" is capable of great speed and maneuverability, can run silently in "whisper mode", and is armed with the most powerful weapons in development. His partner is a fresh-faced rookie with the improbable name of Wonderlove, and ground support is supplied by ex-athletes Ski and Bubba, who drive a sophisticated van.

Bone Collector (HD DVD): He takes his victims’ lives and leaves behind mysterious pieces of a bizarre puzzle. And the only person who may be able to make sense of the serial killer’s deranged plan is Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington), a onetime top homicide investigator. But after a tragic accident changes his life forever, Rhyme can only watch as other cops bungle the case...until he teams up with a young rookie, Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie), who bravely searches out the clues that could help them solve the case. But as the killer senses the cops closing in, Rhyme realizes that he and his partner are on the trail of a vicious, sadistic murderer who will stop at nothing on his deadly mission. And at any moment, Rhyme and Amelia could become his next targets — and their first case could become their last.

Caddyshack (HD DVD): The greenskeeper is about to start World War III against a gopher. The judge plays to win but his nubile niece has her mind set on scoring her own way. The playboy shoots perfect golf by pretending he is the ball. And the country-club loudmouth just doubled a $20,000 bet on a 10-foot putt. Insanity? No. Caddyshack. Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight and Bill Murray tee off for a side-splitting round of fairway foolishness that does for golf what Animal House did for college fraternities and Police Academy did for law enforcement. Chase's laid-back delivery has kept audiences of Saturday Night Live and movie hits National Lampoon's Vacation, Fletch and Spies Like Us in the aisles for years. Sharing his wisdom with a caddy or his bed with debutante Lacey Underall, he never misses a shot. Rodney Dangerfield is well, Rodney Dangerfield. Even when he's off camera, he's on. And fans that have made Easy Money and Back to School box-office hits like him just fine. Knight-possessor of the best slow burn since Laurel and Hardy fusses, fumes and finesses his way through his role as Bushwood Country Club's one-man Legion of Decency. Murray's hole-in-the-head assistant greenskeeper is straight out of Looney Tunes. Murray, who brought the house down in Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters, is funny even when he talks to himself. In Caddyshack, the term "golf nut" takes on a deranged double meaning and the laughs are par for the course!

Conviction: The Complete Series: In the cutthroat New York judicial system, if you’re intelligent, ambitious and new, there’s only one way to get things done – with Conviction. Get ready for all 13 gripping episodes of The Complete Series from award-winning creator Dick Wolf (Law & Order). When five young assistant district attorneys enter the world of public justice, they struggle to make sense of their challenging caseloads and equally provocative personal lives. Under the leadership of bureau chief Alex Cabot (Stephanie March, Law & Order: SVU), these rookie prosecutors are about to get a crash course in love, life and the law. Also starring Eric Balfour, J. August Richards, Anson Mount, Jordan Bridges, Julianne Nicholson and Milena Govich.

Criterion Coll: Kicking & Screaming: After college graduation, Grover's girlfriend Jane tells him she's moving to Prague to study writing. Grover declines to accompany her, deciding instead to move in with several friends, all of whom can't quite work up the inertia to escape their university's pull. Nobody wants to make any big decisions that would radically alter his life, yet none of them wants to end up like Chet, the professional student who tends bar and is in his tenth year of university studies.

Dances With Wolves: Lt. John Dunbar is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not alone, but meets a wolf he dubs "Two-socks" and a curious Indian tribe. Dunbar quickly makes friends with the tribe, and discovers a white woman who was raised by the Indians. He gradually earns the respect of these native people, and sheds his white-man's ways.

Demonic: Tom Savini (Land of the Dead) leads a terrifying trip into the darkness of desire…when five teens become stranded in a forest roamed by beautiful and deadly creatures who seduce unsuspecting victims to their deaths.

Devil's Rejects (Blu-ray): Sequel to 'House of 1000 Corpses' is set some months later with the Texas State Police making a full-scale attack against the murderous Firefly family residence for the 1,000+ murders and disappearances of the past several years. But three of the family members escape, including Otis, Baby Firefly and Baby's father Captain Spaulding. The evil trio go on a road trip, leaving dozens of mangled bodies in their wake. Evading a massive Texas Rangers dragnet as well as a group of equally murderous bounty hunters led by Ken Dwyer (the brother of a policeman Mamma Firefly killed in 'House of...') who's obsessed with finding the deadly killers, the surviving Firefly clan gather at a run-down amusement park owned by Captain Spaulding's half-brother, Charlie Altamont, whom offers them shelter and a new base of operations for their killing spree as Sheriff Dwyer, the Texas Rangers, the FBI and others slowly close in.

Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, Vol. 3: Cesar Milan's show isn't just about troubled dogs and their owners. It's a fully realized serial documentary-- and a hugely engaging one-- on urban America. Milan grew up on a farm in Mexico, so he understands a great deal about the behavior of domesticated animals (and even wild ones), but he specializes in a common household pet that needs special attention because the owners invariably anthropomorphize their pet-- and even more than that, they treat the dog as a family member, all but forgetting that Poochie is a pack animal with altogether different emotional wiring than humans have. He reconnects people with nature.

Double Indemnity: Smooth talking insurance salesman Walter Neff meets attractive Phyllis Dietrichson when he calls to renew her husband's automobile policy. The couple are immediately drawn to each other and an affair begins. They cook up a scheme to murder Mr. Dietrichson for life insurance money with a double indemnity clause. Unfortunately, all does not go to plan...

Galaxina: Crew of interstellar police ship is sent to recover a mysterious crystal, the blue star. Sub Plots: The ships female android and a crew member fall in love. Alien is spoofed as as the captain gives birth to an alien who grows up on the ship thinking the captain is its mother.

Good Night & Good Luck (HD DVD): "Good Night, And, Good Luck." takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom - defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental.

Grumpy Old Men/Grumpier Old Men: They're Grumpy Old Men [Side A]. And since they're played by famed screen odd couple Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, they're also Funny Old Men. The wit hits the fan as the two play Minnesota ice-fishing pals whose crusty friendship grows hilariously icier as they vie for an attractive widow (Ann-Margret). Also in the cast are Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Ossie Davis and an outrageously randy Burgess Meredith. The two leads grab their fishing rods to reel in another comic whopper in the sequel Grumpier Old Men [Side B]. Most of the original cast returns, and Sophia Loren plays the vivacious newcomer who wants to turn the beloved bait shop into a chichi ristorante. Of course, in this part of the Land of 1000 Lakes, that means war! Enjoy. And, yes, this is the movie with the "man-sized manicotti" outtakes!

H6: H6 tells the story of Antonio Frau, a serial killer set free after serving 25 years in jail for the violent murder of his girlfriend. After inheriting and old motel from a relative he never knew, he sees this as a signal and takes to his holy task of relieving the grief of those who have lost the will to live. He takes his victims to room Number 6 in the motel where he `purifies' them, while, at the same time, continues his everyday life next to his wife. A mistake leads to his arrest, and his plan to become rich and famous takes relevance.

House: Season Two: An antisocial maverick doctor who specializes in infectious diseases does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way.

Hunger: In 1890, Pontus, the starving writer, wanders the streets of Christiania, in search of love and a chance to get his work published. All he meets is defeat and suffering while his sense of reality is withering. One moment his is delighted and the next he curses everybody. All the time he manages to maintain human dignity and pride.

Invasion: The Complete First Season: In the aftermath of a hurricane, a Florida Park Ranger and his family deal with strange occurrences, including luminescent creatures in the water and people that somehow seem to have changed after surviving the night of the disaster out in the open.

John Entwist;e - An Ox'a Tale: Documentary on the life and career of the legendary bassist for The Who, featuring footage of Entwhistle on and off stage. Peter Frampton narrates. Details: Color, 78 mins, Image, Widescreen anamorphic, 1.78:1. Supplements: Woodstock Concert '99 footage; The John Entwhistle Band: Live in Detroit; Home Movies; Chris Entwhistle on "The Last Time I Saw Dad". Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Optional subtitles.

Just My Luck: Screen divette Lindsay Lohan plays the luckiest girl in Manhattan whose good fortune takes a nose-dive when she meets a disaster-prone (but quite handsome) guy (Chris Pine) at a party and swaps karma with a kiss. Faizon Love, Missie Pyle, and McFly co-star in the young adult/teen and tweener romantic comedy, directed by Daniel Petrie. Features both widescreen and fullscreen editions on flipper disc. Details: Color, 103 mins, 20th Century Fox, Widescreen anamorphic, Academy Ratio, 1.85:1. Supplements: Deleted and extended scenes; "Look of Luck" featurette; Behind the scenes featurette on the band McFly. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.1 Surround) and Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.1 Surround). Optional Spanish and English subtitles.

Maid: Alone for the first time and away from her family in rural Philippines, Rosa Dimaano arrives in the cosmopolitan city state of Singapore to work as a maid. Her employers Mr and Mrs Teo runs a Chinese Teochew dialect opera troupe takes well to their new domestic help. So do their mentally disabled son, Ah Soon. In Chinese superstition, the seventh month of the lunar calendar is regarded as the month when the gates of hell open for forsaken spirits to walk the earth for 30 days. Unknown to Rosa, she arrives on the eve and her hell is about to begin.

Poseidon: Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas go all alpha male to lead a group of survivors in a capsized luxury liner up through the bowels of the ship in Wolfgang Petersen's update of the all-star seventies disaster classic, based on the Paul Gallico novel. Russell is a former big city mayor and a former fireman hero and Lucas plays a jaded Navy SEAL turned pro gambler, to the testosterone runs high. Their ragtag squad includes single mom Jacinda Barrett (and her child), heartbroken gay millionaire Richard Dreyfuss, Russell's daughter Emmy Rossum and her fiancé Mike Vogel, and hangers-on Kevin Dillon, M'a Maestro, Freddy Rodr'guez. Andre Braugher tries to hold it together back in below-sea-level ballroom as the ship's doomed captain (come on, do you really think anyone who decides to stay put will survive?). Yet despite the soap-opera set-up, there's very little story, just a lot of death-defying escapes and a handful of victims lost along the way. Available in separate widescreen and full screen editions, plus a 2-disc special edition with exclusive bonus supplements and a lenticular slipsleeve. Details: Color, 98 mins, Warner, Widescreen anamorphic, 2.35:1. Supplements: "Poseidon: A Ship on a Soundstage" documentary on the complexities of making a modern adventure movie; "A Shipmate's Diary" - a film school intern's experiences on the set; "Poseidon: Upside Down" featurette on the set design; Rogue Waves documentary, originally made for The History Channel; Theatrical trailer. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1) and French (Dolby Digital 5.1). Optional Spanish, French and English subtitles.

Redwall: Season Three: Matthias, a young novice is marking ten years after he was adopted by an abbey named Redwall after his home and family were destroyed by the vicious Rat warlord, Cluny the Scourge. While he has grown to value and respect the peaceful philosophies of the order, he dreams of becoming a great warrior like the order's greatest member, Martin the Warrior. That dream becomes most relevent when the abbey is besieged by Cluny himself. The abbey is determined to resist in what becomes a war of arms, will and wits. Now, Matthias must protect his home with everything he can contribute, while he discovers that a tapestry depicting the history of Martin, is really a prophesy and clues about himself...

Renegade: Seasons 2 & 3: After crooked cop Lieutenant "Dutch" Dixon kills his girlfriend and frames him for murder, Reno Raines escapes from jail and goes on the run. Teaming up with Bobby Sixkiller and Cheyenne Phillips, Reno works as a bounty hunter while searching for the only man who can clear his name.

Robinsons: Complete Series One: Martin Freeman (of the original BBC The Office) stars as the morose youngest grown son of miserable parents and brother of uptight control freak siblings in the BBC sitcom created by Justin Sbresni and Mark Russell. He may be a divorced adult man who loses his job and every girl he meets and is considered a loser by his brother, but compared to the rest of the insufferable South London family, he's not too badly off. Hugh Bonneville, Anna Massey, Amanda Root, Abigail Cruttenden, and Richard Johnson co-star. All 6 episodes of the first series. Details: Color, 180 mins, BBC/Warner, Widescreen anamorphic, 1.78:1. Supplements: Six episodes; Commentary by writer-producer-directors Justin Sbresni and Mark Bussell and others on each episode; Outtakes; Behind the scenes. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Optional English subtitles.

Sea of Fear: Two couples on a sailboat vacation have their worst fears come true. One by one each of the seven passengers aboard a sailboat cruise begin to disappear. A murderer is among them, or is it one of them? Or could it be the mysterious boat that is following them. There are rumors of modern pirates in these waters. Soon everyone will discover the truth – or they will die trying.

Searchers (HD DVD): Working together for the 12th time, John Wayne and director John Ford forged The Searchers into an indelible image of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it. Wayne plays ex-Confederate soldier Ethan Edwards, a believer more in bullets than in words. He's seeking his niece, captured by Comanches who massacred his family. He won't surrender to hunger, thirst, the elements or loneliness. And in his obsessive, five-year quest, Ethan encounters something he didn't expect to find: his own humanity.

Silent Hill: Radha Mitchell is a mother on the edge of desperation. Her adopted daughter's ailment border on supernatural possession and in a last-ditch effort to find some explanation she returns to the girl's birthplace and discovers a spooky ghost town where a religious cult kidnaps her daughter. Christophe Gans directs the spooky and, at times, incomprehensible film adapted from the video game by screenwriter Roger Avary without worrying a whit about making sense of it. He follows his own tonal logic to create a genuinely creepy film of a living purgatory in shades of ash and smoke, where demented puritans continue to burn witches at the stake (and their definition is, to say the least, broad) and grotesque creatures emerge from the fires to hunt stray members of the pitiless flock. Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, and Alice Krige co-star. Features separate widescreen and fullscreen editions, as well as a Blue-Ray release. Details: Color, 125 mins, Sony Pictures, Widescreen anamorphic, 2.35:1. Supplements: "Path of Darkness": Six Silent Hill Production Diaries: ; Part One: Origins of Silent Hill; Part Two: Casting the film; Part Three: Building Silent Hill (the town); Part Four: Stars and Stunts; Part Five: Creature Choreography; Part Six: Constructing the Creepy Creatures from the film. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1). Optional English subtitles.

Silent Hill (Blu-ray): Radha Mitchell is a mother on the edge of desperation. Her adopted daughter's ailment border on supernatural possession and in a last-ditch effort to find some explanation she returns to the girl's birthplace and discovers a spooky ghost town where a religious cult kidnaps her daughter. Christophe Gans directs the spooky and, at times, incomprehensible film adapted from the video game by screenwriter Roger Avary without worrying a whit about making sense of it. He follows his own tonal logic to create a genuinely creepy film of a living purgatory in shades of ash and smoke, where demented puritans continue to burn witches at the stake (and their definition is, to say the least, broad) and grotesque creatures emerge from the fires to hunt stray members of the pitiless flock. Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, and Alice Krige co-star. Features separate widescreen and fullscreen editions, as well as a Blue-Ray release. Details: Color, 125 mins, Sony Pictures, Widescreen anamorphic, 2.35:1. Supplements: "Path of Darkness": Six Silent Hill Production Diaries: ; Part One: Origins of Silent Hill; Part Two: Casting the film; Part Three: Building Silent Hill (the town); Part Four: Stars and Stunts; Part Five: Creature Choreography; Part Six: Constructing the Creepy Creatures from the film. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1). Optional English subtitles.

Sketches of Frank Gehry: Sydney Pollack directs the portrait of his friend, the architect Frank Gehry, in the first documentary from the veteran Hollywood director. Pollack confesses at the outset that he knows nothing about architecture, but he does know about being an artist working in a commercial medium. The result is a marvelous introduction to the sculptural art and artist, full of a curiosity of the creative process and an appreciation for the angles, curves and textures of Gehry's finished buildings, including the famous Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. Details: Color, 84 mins, Sony Pictures, Widescreen anamorphic, 1.78:1. Supplements: Q&A with director Sydney Pollack; Trailers. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1). Optional French subtitles.

Spy Game (HD DVD): When a top-secret, unauthorized mission goes awry, CIA agent Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) is captured — and sentenced to die, with just 24 hours to get him out alive, Bishop’s boss, Nathan Muir (Robert Redford), must battle enemies abroad and the system inside the CIA to save his friend. Now the clock is ticking and the race is on…as the deadliest game of all explodes into the spectacular, adrenaline-fueled thriller that ABC Radio says "sizzles with suspense!"

State of the Union: Kay Thordyke loves Grant Matthews and helps him become Republican nominee for President. The party machine begins to worry as Grant begins to speak for himself. At an important dinner his wife Mary condemns corrupt politicians and Grant learns to speak out even more boldly..

Stir of Echoes: Tom's a regular guy, a utilities lineman, married, with a young son, his wife is pregnant; he hangs out with long-time pals in a Chicago neighborhood. At a party, his sister-in-law hypnotizes him, and he goes into a deep trance. Before waking him, she suggests that he keep his mind open. That night he sees flashes of violence and the ghost of a young woman. His young son, too, is "a receiver," but while the boy is calm and coherent in his conversations with spirits, Tom is confused and agitated. Over time, the young woman's story comes to the surface, and Tom begins a hunt for her body that puts him and his usually understanding wife, Maggie, in grave danger.

This Island Earth: Dr. Meacham is chosen along with others by the inhabitants of the planet Metaluna to do research that will help save their dying planet. However, an evil scheme is uncovered by the suspecting Dr. Meacham when he discovers the Metalunan's plan to take over Earth. Dr. Meacham then escapes an exploding Metalunan built Earth lab along with Dr. Adams only to be kidnapped while flying away in a small plane. A flying saucer wisks both the scientists off to Metaluna where they are held accountable for blowing up the Metalunan Earth lab during their escape. They later escape there with the help of Exeter the friendly Metalunan. Metaluna then self destructs and the Doctors make it safely back to Earth, which is saved from Metalunan invasion.

Threshold - The Complete Series: A team of experts are assembled when the U.S. Navy discovers an extra-terrestrial craft has landed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Transformers: the Movie: Essentially a movie involving the battle between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, two warring factions of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron, the plot also involves the giant planet named Unicron, who's ready to consume anything that stands in its way. The only thing that can stop Unicron is the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, which is possessed by the Autobots and which the Decepticons, through Unicron's orders, plan to take away from them.

Tromeo & Juliet-10th Anniversary Edition: A modern, punk adaptation of Shakespeare's classic. Told irreverently, this film attempts to impact the viewer in the same way theatre-goers were effected in Shakespeare's time. Bawdy, Violent, Humorous, and Romantic.

Uninvited Guest: (Spain) An architect (Andoni Gracia) living alone in a house he designed who begins to question his grasp on reality when a mysterious visitor (Agustin Villaronga) vanishes in his house and strange events begin to manifest. Guillem Morales directs the Spanish horror film. Details: Color, 109 mins, HBO, Widescreen anamorphic, 1.78:1. Audio: Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Optional English subtitles.

Veronica Mars - The Complete Second Season: After her best friend is murdered and her father is removed as the town sheriff, Veronica Mars, dedicates her life to cracking the toughest mysteries in the affluent town of Neptune.

The Wicker Man: Sgt. Howie travels to Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. He discovers that the locals are weird and unhelpful, and becomes determined to get to the bottom of the disappearance.

Wizard: (1989) Fred Savage runs away from home with his emotionally disturbed younger brother (Luke Edwards) and discovers the kid has a talent: he's a video game whiz. Tomboy Jenny Lewis convinces them to head for the video game championships in California. Beau Bridges and Christian Slater co-star. Details: Color, 100 mins, Universal, Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1. Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo). Optional English subtitles.