DVDpedia : Library : Title : T

Theatrical: 2005

Studio:

Genre: Mystery & Suspense

Duration: 124

Summary: A group of pirates led by Sin (Dong-Kun Jang, "Brotherhood") attack a US cargo ship carrying nuclear matter and steal it after brutally killing the sailors. Gang Se-Jong (Jung-Jae Lee), tough agent in suit sent from the South Korean government chases Sin in Thailand, Russia and Korea, and finds that Sin's hatred toward South Korea originates in the tragic events that happened to his family while trying to escape from North Korea to South.



"Taepung" (or "Typhoon") is an action-packed film with political backdrop like another South Korean film "Swiri" (1999), but here the story's scale becomes bigger. You get what you would see in Jerry Bruckheimer-produced big-budget films - shoot-outs, explosions and special effects - and they are often more violent than Hollywood's counterparts. These actions are all competently done, but somehow fail to excite us because of their rushed pace. You need a moment to set up the situation of each action or you have to build up the tension before something happens, but things go too fast here.



It is regrettable because the back story of Sin's family is more intriguing and immediate than the main story about Sin's vendetta and Gang-Se-Jong's attempt to stop that during the "crash of the typhoons" showdown. Sin's character is very real as tragic anti-hero, which deserves better treatment than overblown and melodramatic actions.

Theatrical: 2001

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 109

Summary: A tailor living in Panama reluctantly becomes a spy for a British agent.

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: AV Channel

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 85

Summary:

Theatrical: 2006

Studio: New Line Home Video

Genre: Drama

Duration: 118

Summary: The sensuous thrill of ballroom dancing collides with the hip-hop world of self-expression in "Take the Lead". Antonio Banderas ("Desperado", "The Mask of Zorro") stars as Pierre Dulaine, a dance teacher who--perhaps to fill a void in his own life--decides to teach the foxtrot and the tango to a group of inner-city high school students who've been put in detention. The kids sullenly resist this intruder with his silly box-steps, but gradually succumb to the allure of passion channeled into physical grace. It's a lot of hooey, of course--the stories about the individual kids are shallow melodrama--but a movie like this isn't so much about plot as about dancing, and the dancing bewitches. The main problem of "Take the Lead" is that there isn't enough dancing; at least half of the personal struggle of the students could be jettisoned and happily be replaced by fifteen minutes of a sleek and sexy rhumba. Still, Banderas has a warm, ingratiating presence and can spout platitudes about dance with conviction; Alfre Woodard ("Crooklyn", "Desperate Housewives") has her usual charismatic authority as the school's hard-nosed principal; and the dance competition at the movie's end gives the movie the lift it's wanted for the previous hour and a half. "--Bret Fetzer"

Theatrical: 2008

Studio: Europa Corp.

Genre: Action

Duration: 94

Summary: Superior action thriller, with an 80's style linear plot but with 90's sensibilties. Really enjoyed this - the action was gritty and on the

whole grounded in reality - and Liam Neeson was more than convincing at the Bourne style hand to hand combat, and firearm handling, as well as playing an essentially hard man role with a strong sense of dignity and morality.

The Paris locations, and Albanian gangs made for an interesting change as well!

Yes, it's predictable but refreshingly free of the usual malaise of trying to be clever & twisty and then dissapearing where the sun don't shine.

It's violent, but perhaps not to the extent of say, Death Sentence, and Liam Neeson does seem to beat/torture/shoot everything that moves!

There are some grim scenes involving the young girls being trafficked that only serve to increase your desire for Neeson to punch even harder or shoot an assailant 5 times rather than 2!

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Bandai Visual Company

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 108

Summary: Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.

Theatrical: 1999

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Drama

Duration: 139

Summary: Ripley is sent to Europe to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, but when the errand fails, Ripley kills the playboy and assumes his life.

Theatrical: 1992

Studio: Bulls

Genre: Anime

Duration: 69

Summary:

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]

Genre: Anime / Sci-Fi

Summary: As "Texhnolyze" was created by many of the artists who produced "Serial Experiments Lain", it's not surprising that the story unfolds in fragments. Trying to adjust to his incomplete cybernetic limbs, Ichise stumbles through the grubby streets and sewers of Lukuss. Ran follows him mutely, sometimes wearing a fox mask, which is traditionally associated with shape-shifters. The mysterious doctor who began the transplants completes the job, sheathing the skeletal metal and improving Ichise's coordination. Yoshii the wanderer precipitates a war between the rival gangs of Organo and the Salvation Union to observe the "raw energy" it unleashes. The bleak atmosphere feels more important--and interesting--than any of the characters. Fans of "Lain" may find "Texhnolyze" profound and compelling; its detractors will dismiss it as pretentious hokum. Few viewers will regard it with indifference. (Rated 16 and older: considerable violence, nudity, sexual situations, alcohol and tobacco use) "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 2006

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 92

Summary: As the saying goes, Aaron Eckhart was born to play Nick Naylor, the 30-something "voice of Big Tobacco" in this brazen satire of corporate profits and what lobbyists will do to protect them. Right from the opening, Eckhart is in spin mode, turning the tables on a popular talk show when he states health officials want a young teen stricken by cancer to die more than big tobacco does, since the boy would be a martyr to them, but only a single lost customer to the industry. Audiences gasp, panelists guffaw, and the kid happily shakes Nick's hand. The Academy of Tobacco Studies has a colorful array of folks surrounding Nick, including his cantankerous boss (J.K. Simmons) and the Colonel (Robert Duvall), tobacco's undisputed leader. His closet friends are lobbyists for guns (David Koechner) and alcohol (Maria Bello) who discuss their odd businesses over regular lunches, but when a cutie-pie reporter (Katie Holmes) swings into Nick's life, things begin to unravel. Based on Christopher Buckley's even more outlandish novel, "Thank You for Smoking" is a bright light for the filmgoer tired of gutless films formulated by committee, and first-time filmmaker Jason Reitman has expertly cast the film, which includes deft turns by William H. Macy and Sam Elliot. Nick's son, a throwaway in the novel, becomes a major influence here in Nick's development and a key student of Naylorisms such as, "If you argue correctly, then you're never wrong," though a father and son trip to Hollywood to visit an uber agent (Rob Lowe at his most suave) demonstrates how the inclusion of the son both helps and hurts the film. Book fans will miss the wicked plot turn, but the final result is a sharp and smart comedy deserving of a long, savory drag. "--Doug Thomas"

Theatrical: 2008

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Drama

Duration: 158

Summary: Unmistakably a shot at greatness, Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" succeeds in wild, explosive ways. The film digs into nothing less than the sources of peculiarly American kinds of ambition, corruption, and industry--and makes exhilarating cinema from it all. Although inspired by Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel "Oil!", Anderson has crafted his own take on the material, focusing on a black-eyed, self-made oilman named Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), whose voracious appetite for oil turns him into a California tycoon in the early years of the 20th century. The early reels are a mesmerizing look at the getting of oil from the ground, an intensely physical process that later broadens into Plainview's equally indomitable urge to control land and power. Curious, diverting episodes accumulate during Plainview's rise: a mighty derrick fire (a bravura opportunity that Anderson, with the aid of cinematographer Robert Elswit, does not fail to meet), a visit from a long-lost brother (Kevin J. O'Connor), the ongoing involvement of Plainview's poker-faced adoptive son (Dillon Freasier). As the film progresses, it gravitates toward Plainview's rivalry with the local representative of God, a preacher named Eli Sunday (brimstone-spitting Paul Dano); religion and capitalism are thus presented not so much as opposing forces but as two sides of the same coin. And the worm in the apple here is less man's greed than his vanity. Anderson's offbeat take on all this--exemplified by the astonishing musical score by Jonny Greenwood--occasionally threatens to break the film apart, but even when it founders, it excites. As for Daniel Day-Lewis, his performance is Olivier-like in its grand scope and its attention to details of behavior; Plainview speaks in the rum-rich voice of John Huston, and squints with the wariness of Walter Huston. It's a fearsome performance, and the engine behind the film's relentless power. "--Robert Horton"

Theatrical: 1988

Studio: Mca Home Video

Genre: Horror

Duration: 93

Summary: An economic crisis brings unemployed Nada (Roddy Piper) to L.A. in search of work. What he finds instead is that the ruling elite of the world are aliens in disguise, their aim being to keep humans in a state of mindless consumerism. His discovery comes when he dons a pair of special sunglasses made by a resistance group and sees for the first time reality unadorned. Billboards, store signs, magazine covers--all bear subliminal messages to OBEY, to CONSUME, to have NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT. Money itself says THIS IS YOUR GOD. But worst of all, with these glasses you see which of us are really hideous, bug-eyed aliens. The conceptual breakthrough is hilarious while keeping its roots in darker matters. Although some fault the film for settling into its action plot, the ending has a great payoff. And the direction by John Carpenter is handled with superb workmanlike aplomb. One unforgettable set piece has Piper in a back-alley fistfight with a friend who won't put on the glasses that goes on and on, and just when you think it's over it goes another round. One of the most subversive films ever made in Hollywood, "They Live" was released on the eve of the 1988 elections. The first TV ads had two hideous alien politicians debating, then one accusing the other of being "No John Kennedy!" "--Jim Gay"

Theatrical: 1995

Studio: BBC Warner

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 420

Summary: Set in a fictitious suburb rather like, say, Pinner (only more so), "The Thin Blue Line" is the wickedly funny story of a rather down-at-heel police station headed by Inspector Raymond Fowler (Rowan Atkinson), a pompous, repressed but well-intentioned anachronism who wants to do the right thing but who is constantly hampered by his own shortcomings, not to mention his blundering CID colleagues. Atkinson expertly balances his character's inflated sense of self-importance with the insight born of old-school police values, for which his galumphing, shiny-suited CID counterpart, DI Grim (David Haig) has no time at all.
Strongest among the supporting cast is Sgt Pauline Dawkins (Serena Evans), who also happens to be Fowler's live-in lover--a moral dilemma that his traditional values won't allow him to resolve. He salves his conscience by avoiding sex with her whenever possible, an amusing subplot enhanced by Evans's brilliant performance--she positively vibrates with contained, ladylike lust in a manner only equalled by Penelope Keith in the classic sitcom "To the Manor Born".
Scripted by Ben Elton, this series manages to satirise provincialism, institutionalised pig-headedness and dated moral values in one fell swoop, while also being chock-full of quick-fire, "Blackadder"-esque dialogue. --"Roger Thomas"

Theatrical: 1995

Studio: Walt Disney Video

Genre: Crime

Duration: 115

Summary: Five different criminals face imminent death after botching a job quite badly.

Theatrical: 2001

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Horror

Duration: 91

Summary: When Cyrus Kriticos, a very rich collector of unique things dies, he leaves it all to his nephew and his family. All including his house, his fortune, and his malicious collection of ghosts!

Theatrical: 1999

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Duration: 100

Summary: Computer scientist Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) finds something extremely important. Knowing that he's marked for assassination, he leaves a message in the virtual reality world he's designed, hoping it will be found by colleague Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko). Hall is a suspect in Fuller's murder and indeed finds a bloody shirt in his house, with no recollection of what he did the night before. Hall plunges headlong into Fuller's world (a re-creation of 1937 Los Angeles) to try to unravel the slaying and is soon knee-deep in confusion and trouble. What this film lacks in character depth and plot cohesiveness it makes up for in special effects and high concept. Fans of films like "Blade Runner", "Dark City", "eXistenZ", and even the game Sim City should find this appealing. Of course, there's the question of letting the computers do all the heavy lifting in films while the humans walk through the plot (an all-too-familiar scenario in 1999), but the re-creation of '30s Los Angeles is certainly something to see, pallid script and acting or not. "The Thirteenth Floor" is a stylish modern-day noir that raises questions about technology versus reality, all the while wrapped up in a murder-mystery story line. "--Jerry Renshaw"

Theatrical: 1999

Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 113

Summary: For the Hollywood remake rule, which dictates that an update of an older film be inferior to the original in almost every aspect, "The Thomas Crown Affair" stands as a glorious exception. The original 1968 film, starring a dapper Steve McQueen and a radiant Faye Dunaway, was a diverting pop confection of mod clothes and nifty break-ins, but not much more. John McTiernan's new version, though, cranks up the entertainment factor to mach speed, turning what was a languid flick into a high-adrenaline caper romance. Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) is now a man of industry who likes to indulge in a little high-priced art theft on the side; Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) is the insurance investigator determined to get on his tail in more ways than one. If you're thinking cat-and-mouse game, think again--it's more like cat vs. smarter cat, as both the thief and the investigator try to outwit each other and "nothing" is off-limits, especially after they start a highly charged love affair that's a heated mix of business and pleasure.
What makes this "Thomas Crown" more enjoyable than its predecesor is McTiernan's attention to detail in both the set action pieces (no surprise from the man who helmed "Die Hard" with precision accuracy) and the developing romance, the witty and intelligent script by Leslie Dixon (she wrote the love scenes) and Kurt Wimmer (he wrote the action scenes), and, most of all, its two stunning leads (both over 40 to boot), combustible both in and out of bed. Brosnan, usually held prisoner in the James Bond straitjacket, lets loose with both a relaxed sensuality and a comic spirit he's rarely expressed before. The film, however, pretty much belongs to Russo, who doesn't just steal the spotlight, but bends it to her will. Beautiful, stylish, smart, self-possessed, incredibly sexy, she's practically a walking icon; it's no wonder Crown falls for her hook, line, and sinker. With Denis Leary as a police detective smitten with Russo, and Faye Dunaway in a throwaway but wholly enjoyable cameo as Brosnan's therapist. "--Mark Englehart"

Theatrical: 1984

Studio: 9 Network

Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror

Duration: 110

Summary: Saw this on PBS in 1983 and was terrified. The sheer graphic nature of the visual imagery remains burned into my brain -- burned people, wrecked houses, the utter hopelessness.



One of the things I remember best about this film was the bunker where the officials tried to cope with the disaster. That resonates with me today, because I am on the Emergency Operations Committee of the City of Newark, New Jersey. On 9/11, my post was at the Emergency Operations Center, working with other agencies: municipal, county, state, and federal. I had to prepare press releases and statements from the city to inform our residents on what to do and not do.



So if the bomb drops, that's where I'll be. And if the bomb drops, I'll be with those same folks, running out of food, water, power, and patience, while the world ends around me.



The officials try to figure out how to feed starving residents, and one wonders if his family has escaped the blast. He never finds out. I went through that myself...my wife was in New York on September 11, and I told her to get out, but didn't know if she'd made it. It was a chilling five hours. But she got out.



Thinking that day about "Threads," I saw myself in the same position as those city workers, studying a map, wondering if their families had survived, never finding out, and gradually being overwhelmed by the sheer hopelessness of the situation.



I remain haunted by the scene where British troops, long after the civilian government has collapsed, now little more than a uniformed mob, sift through the darkened bunker, finding everyone dead -- presumably from lack of food or radiation, or just exhaustion. The troops are only interested in food, and they sweep by the bodies, uncaring. I saw myself as one of the corpses lying on a desk in that scenario.



The final part of the picture, with Ruth and her daughter scrabbling at the diseased ground to farm, wrapped in rags, under a permanently gray sky, also haunts me. Below are spoilers, but at this point, I don't think I'm giving up the name of Orson Welles's sled.



Civilization had completely collapsed. Ruth's daughter's generation was growing up in a dreadful mix of ignorance and horror...knowing nothing but rubble, radiation, and death. With society and our social systems gone, they had no education.



I was struck by the scene where Ruth's daughter and her pals sit around a TV set, which is playing a tape, shucking corn (I think), and the tape is saying, "Cat...this is a skeleton of a cat." The TV was probably powered by a local power plant or batteries or some such, but there was no teacher. The kids were not interested in the tape.



That was what passed for education in the postwar world. No more Dickens, no more Michelangelo, no more Fermat. No universities, no high schools, no teachers. Learning had ended. Somehow, that upset the most...the idea that nuclear war would not only destroy humanity, but lobotomize the survivors.



When Ruth dies, Ruth's daughter takes her mother's bird book from her dead hands, incomprehendingly, and leaves her there. Quite probably she's never seen a bird. Family structure had broken down as well. That also resonated with me, because I thought about how important families and family rituals are in our civilized world. But in that environment, they meant nothing.



Ruth's daughter then meets and gets raped by some young men. One of the upsetting parts of this interchange was that neither party could speak properly. They were not only illiterate, but incoherent in speech...."Wozzat? Gizzum!" replacing the English language.



That was proved at the very end, when Ruth's daughter, pregnant, goes to what's left of a hospital, asking for help in delivering her baby.Actually, she yells at matron, "Babby! Come! Babby! Come!" I was struck by the idea of a woman in England -- birthplace of the language -- unable to say, "I'm having a baby, can you help me?"



I was equally struck that the cold matron, obviously older and still in possession of the English language, said, "You'll have to do it yourself, dear." There are no supplies left. Everyone is on their own.



And when Ruth delivers her daughter, it's deformed and stillborn. That's the final coda...the future of humanity. There isn't one.



And I hope that such is not the fate of my own beloved little daughter...to end up like Ruth's daughter.

Theatrical: 1998

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre: Action

Duration: 114

Summary: A small group of adventurous American soldiers in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War are determined to steal a huge cache of gold reputed to be hidden somewhere near their desert base. Finding a map they believe will take them to the gold, they embark on a journey that leads to unexpected discoveries, enabling them to rise to a heroic challenge that drastically changes their lives.

Theatrical: 1971

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Drama

Duration: 88

Summary: Two-Disc Special Edition:
* Digitally remastered with THX certified sound
* Commentary by George Lucas and co-writer/sound effects editor Walter Murch
* "Theatre of Noise" sound-effects track with branching segments to 13 master sessions with Walter Murch
* 2 New documentaries: "A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope" and "Artifacts from the Future: The Making of THX 1138"
* George Lucas's original student film "THX-11384EB"
* "Bald": 1971 production featurette
* Five new trailers from the 2004 theatrical release
* Original theatrical trailer

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm

Genre: Drama

Duration: 122

Summary: The lengthy, literate review by Dein captures the real and wonderful essence of this film. While some scenes are indeed grisly, they are absolutely faithful to the novel and never overdone. And although this film and its delightful images are from Terry Gilliam's camera, the novel with its bizarre story is by Mitch Cullin, a very important young novelist. Read his recent A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND for a sedate and thoughtful treatment of old age, a contrast to TIDELAND in many engrossing ways.

Theatrical: 1981

Studio: Anchor Bay

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 115

Summary: From a script cowritten with his fellow "Monty Python" veteran Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam pulled out all the stops on his prodigious imagination for this comedy-fantasy from 1981. Film critic Pauline Kael was right when she wrote, "This may be one of those rare pictures that suffers from a surfeit of good ideas," because there's not enough plot to keep pace with the sheer inventiveness of Gilliam's filmmaking. That hasn't stopped "Time Bandits" from becoming a classic, of sorts, attracting a cult following as a semi-reunion of the "Python" gang (with Palin and John Cleese making splendid appearances) and a rousing adventure of near-epic proportions. It's about a kid named Kevin (Craig Warnock) who joins a band of mischievous dwarves on a jaunt through various eras and epochs. They've stolen a map to holes in the space-time continuum that belongs to the Supreme Being (suitably played by Sir Ralph Richardson), and as Kevin survives a variety of heroic adventures, including an encounter with King Agamemnon (Sean Connery), an Evil Genius (David Warner) pursues the coveted map using his nefarious magical powers. As a warm-up for Gilliam's later, even more ambitious fantasies, "Brazil" and " The Adventures of Baron Munchausen", this is a dazzling dose of cinematic whimsy, and Gilliam doesn't compromise the darkness of his tale with an artificially upbeat ending. There's as much menace in "Time Bandits" as there is an awesome sense of wonder, and that gives the movie an extra kick of timeless appeal. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1959

Studio: Les Films de la Pléiade

Genre: Drama

Duration: 78

Summary: Charlie Kohler is a piano player in a bar. The waitress Lena is in love with him. One of Charlie's brother, Chico, a crook, takes refuge in the bar because he is chased by two gangsters, Momo and Ernest. We will discover that Charlie's real name is Edouard Saroyan, once a virtuose who gives up after his wife's suicide. Charlie now has to deal wih Chico, Ernest, Momo, Fido (his youngest brother who lives with him), and Lena...

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Anime / Comedy

Duration: 92

Summary: Satoshi Kon's third feature (following "Perfect Blue" and "Millennium Actress") confirms his status as one of the most interesting directors working in anime. "Tokyo Godfathers" centers on three homeless people: Hana, a flamboyant ex-drag entertainer; Gin, an alcoholic former bicycle racer; and Miyuki, a sullen teenage runaway. Their tenuous existence becomes more chaotic when they set out to find the parents of an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. They scream insults as they confront the lies they've told each other--and themselves--about the past. Yet they remain curiously endearing and even noble. All three care passionately about the abandoned infant, and they love each other, although they're loath to admit it. Kon skillfully uses color to suggest the bitter winter cold and the characters' alienation. "Tokyo Godfathers" shows that battling the inner demons that led these three characters to skid row can be a more daunting challenge than fighting aliens and cyborgs. (Rated PG-13: profanity, violence, tobacco and alcohol use) "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1982

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 111

Summary: "Tootsie" inevitably looks dated in some respects now, but it's still fabulous in others--the sexual politics look distinctly faded in their sniggering approach to sexual ambiguities, while the sardonic portrayal of a showbiz that loathes perfectionism is still both timely and hysterically funny. Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Michael Dorsey is a memorable self-caricature--the man is so obsessed with the craft of acting that he refuses to sit down when playing a tomato in a commercial, and so producers run away rather than work with him. By playing Dorothy Michaels playing her soap character, Dorsey gives himself the freedom to be a bad and popular actor. He is so busy with the surface of being a woman--the voice, the hair, the frocks--and with all the bad faith of his and Dorothy's emotional lives, that he learns to relax into the pleasure of performance. This aspect of the film is far more interesting, ironic and funny than the corny New Man moralising about sexual roles that goes with it. Jessica Lange got, and earned, an Oscar for her sensitive straight woman performance as the colleague Michael falls for, and Bill Murray, Teri Garr, Geena Davis (momentarily) and Charles Durning all turn in reliable supporting roles. Sydney Pollack directs efficiently rather than inspiredly--oddly, he earns almost more credit for his well-observed performance as Michael's world-weary agent.
On the DVD: The DVD is presented in crisp Dolby Digital sound and with the original theatrical visual ratio of 2.35:1; enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions. It is dubbed into French, German, Italian and Spanish and has subtitles in most European languages as well as Arabic, Hindi and Hebrew. The only special features are the theatrical trailer and filmographies for the leading performers and director. --"Roz Kaveney"

Theatrical: 1996

Studio: Universal/DVD

Genre: Drama

Duration: 94

Summary: Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Action

Duration: 94

Summary: This film is about a man (Statham) whose job is to deliver packages without asking any questions. Complications arise when he breaks those rules.

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 87

Summary: "Transporter 2" knows what its audience wants and--like its title character--it delivers. This is a movie that has not only a fight choreographer but also a car stunt choreographer; a movie in which a female assassin wears nothing but a bra and panties because, presumably, additional clothing would be too cumbersome; a movie in which crashing through a concrete wall in order to leap over a four-lane street will not even rumple the hood of the hero's car; a movie in which a drunken supermodel, after her advances are chastely and gently rebuffed by the hero, says "Thanks for the respect--that's what I needed most"; a movie, in short, for those who liked the first "Transporter" but found it too subdued and character-driven. Jason Statham ("The Italian Job") reprises his role as Frank Martin, a perhaps overly diligent chauffer who will break bones if his duty is impeded. The sheer glee with which "Transporter 2" casts aside logic, probability, and the laws of physics is infectious. If the sequence in which Frank flips his car upside-down in order to detach the bomb attached to his undercarriage doesn't reduce you to intoxicated giggles, well...you're watching the wrong movie. "Transporter 2" is utterly shameless, unstoppably ridiculous, and completely enjoyable. Also featuring Amber Valetta ("Hitch"), Jason Flemyng ("Snatch"), and Matthew Modine. "--Bret Fetzer"

Theatrical: 2007

Studio: Jinks/Cohen Company

Genre: TV Series

Summary: Jay and Tyler find themselves hunted by the FBI after a bombing of a museum. Their only lead is their best friend, Will Traveler, who disappeared after the bombing and is not in any record - anywhere. They need to find him and figure out what part he played in a spiraling nightmare of violence, death and conspiracies. Who is really Will Traveler?

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Anime / Adventure

Duration: 130

Summary:

Theatrical: 1993

Studio: Cinema Club

Genre: Drama

Duration: 120

Summary:

Theatrical: 2000

Studio: Channel 4 DVD

Genre: TV Series / Comedy

Duration: 103

Summary: When the skits work (which they generally do) this comedy production raises what is essentially candid camera work to an art form level. Dom Joly explores a number of themes (answering an absurdly large mobile phone, running away, cliched spy scenes) in the same way as a painter explores the themes. I would say get this collection as compared to the whole series, it has the best skits in about the right quantity.



Also helped by some very well placed theme music... you might find yourself humming the songs long after the gags are a distant memory.

Theatrical: 2001

Studio: Channel 4 DVD

Genre: TV Series / Comedy

Duration: 104

Summary: Not "Complete Series" but only a "Best Of" unfortunately.



Just as the US version of the Trigger Happy TV show doesn't work (due to the lack of the UK public, who are necessary for the gags to work); the timing and length of the show is also crucial. The show must be in it's half hour format to work: it's final gag being punctuated by the familar electric theme song outro; the silence of which is often followed by a final 'response line' from the last 'gag victim' (such as John McCririck) to great effect.



However, 'Best of Trigger Happy' dvd's edit a season's "best of" into one 90 minute programme. Not only is it totally mysterious as to who gets to decide for everyone which bits are "best", but the show simply does not work when edited into a 90-minute episode. It's just too long. The show was devised for half hour episodes, and that's the only way it works.



Like all "Best of" comedy dvds, this one is annoying because watching it will just remind you of all the scenes and sketches that are missing...which of course you'll remember from when you saw it on TV first time round. What's here is good, but it will just make you want to see the rest, which isn't here. That's why 'Best of' Dvd's are so annoying. (I'm looking at -you- 'Best of Adam & Joe'; 'Best of Trigger Happy 1,2,3'; 'Best of Balls of Steel';'Best of Smack The Pony'; 'Armstrong & Miller' etc).



Hopefully one of these days there will be a DVD release of "Trigger Happy TV: The Complete Series" that really is complete. (And a re-release of the 3 cd soundtracks would be a great idea, too!)



Then, can join the ranks of other comedy shows whose DVD's are COMPLETE![Much love to ya 'complete' dvd's out there: Fonejacker; Brass Eye; Jam; Day Today; Big Train; Bo Selecta; Vic Reeves Big Night Out; Stella Street; Sealab 2021; Dream On; Robot Chicken; Police Squad. Thank you for your complete completeness as I first watched you on TV, it's great to view you again the way I remember you!].



Get with the program, Trigger Happy TV! Release a DVD set of the complete series!

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: Channel 4 DVD

Genre: TV Series / Comedy

Duration: 81

Summary: Not "Complete Series" but only a "Best Of" unfortunately.



Just as the US version of the Trigger Happy TV show doesn't work (due to the lack of the UK public, who are necessary for the gags to work); the timing and length of the show is also crucial. The show must be in it's half hour format to work: it's final gag being punctuated by the familar electric theme song outro; the silence of which is often followed by a final 'response line' from the last 'gag victim' (such as John McCririck) to great effect.



However, 'Best of Trigger Happy' dvd's edit a season's "best of" into one 90 minute programme. Not only is it totally mysterious as to who gets to decide for everyone which bits are "best", but the show simply does not work when edited into a 90-minute episode. It's just too long. The show was devised for half hour episodes, and that's the only way it works.



Like all "Best of" comedy dvds, this one is annoying because watching it will just remind you of all the scenes and sketches that are missing...which of course you'll remember from when you saw it on TV first time round. What's here is good, but it will just make you want to see the rest, which isn't here. That's why 'Best of' Dvd's are so annoying. (I'm looking at -you- 'Best of Adam & Joe'; 'Best of Trigger Happy 1,2,3'; 'Best of Balls of Steel';'Best of Smack The Pony'; 'Armstrong & Miller' etc).



Hopefully one of these days there will be a DVD release of "Trigger Happy TV: The Complete Series" that really is complete. (And a re-release of the 3 cd soundtracks would be a great idea, too!)



Then, can join the ranks of other comedy shows whose DVD's are COMPLETE![Much love to ya 'complete' dvd's out there: Fonejacker; Brass Eye; Jam; Day Today; Big Train; Bo Selecta; Vic Reeves Big Night Out; Stella Street; Sealab 2021; Dream On; Robot Chicken; Police Squad. Thank you for your complete completeness as I first watched you on TV, it's great to view you again the way I remember you!].



Get with the program, Trigger Happy TV! Release a DVD set of the complete series!

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]

Genre: Anime / Manga

Duration: 30

Summary: Who and what is Vash the Stampede, a.k.a. "The Humanoid Typhoon"? To bounty hunters, he's an outlaw with 60,000,000,000 Double Dollars on his head. To Meryl Stryfe and Millie Thompson of the Bernardelli Insurance Society, he's a walking disaster area who's cost the company a fortune. To "otaku", he's one of the most popular characters in anime. Based on Yasuhiro Nightow's "manga", this comic adventure takes place in the distant future on a desert planet that looks like the American Old West. Vash wanders from town to town, unsuccessfully pursuing peace, doughnuts, and "the mayfly known as love." Meryl and Millie follow him, trying to minimize the destruction, but Vash's only real friend is the gun-totin' preacher Nicholas Wolfwood. Despite their grudging affection, Wolfwood articulates the other characters' thoughts when he tells Vash, "When you're around, things always seem to get worse!"
Anime heroes tend to be either cold-blooded warriors who kill for honor (the "Gundam Wing" pilots) or unlikely nerds who grow into the role of warrior when it's thrust upon them (Shinji Ikari in "Evangelion"). Sometimes comic and kooky, sometimes gentle and earnest, Vash reveres life and agonizes over the bloodshed he inadvertently causes. He'd rather eat than demonstrate his amazing marksmanship: he doesn't fire a shot until the fifth episode, although one of his arms is actually a gun. Voice actor Johnny Yong Bosh articulates both Vash's suffering and adolescent exuberance whenever he sees a pretty girl with exceptional panache. The runaway popularity of "Trigun" seems to have surprised the filmmakers. Although no plans have been announced for additional animation, a new "manga" series has appeared, "Trigun Maximum". It seems unlikely that the artists would prematurely end the adventures of a figure with so much potential--and so many fans. "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1934

Studio: Connoisseur Video

Genre: Documentary

Duration: 114

Summary: The infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.

Theatrical: 1994

Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid

Genre: Drama

Duration: 101 min

Summary: 'White' is a refreshing improvement on its portentous predecessor 'Blue', a dazzling tragicomedy about an impotent Polish hairdresser, Karol, who is unceremoniously divorced by his Parisian wife, thrown out onto the streets without a sou, a possport or much French. Busking on the Metro, he meets a fellow Pole, the lugubrious Mikolaj, who smuggles him back to their home country. Determined to exact revenge on his wife, Karol begins to trade very profitably on the black market.Maybe it's because Kieslowski is back in Poland, but 'White' is a much 'lighter' film than its predecessor, not in the sense of insubstantial, but in the director's relaxing the grip of his elaborate style, allowing his effects emanate from his story, his wonderful characters and the Polish landscape overlooking the post-communist embrace of (crooked) Western capitalism. Though still glossy compared to his earlier films, the relentless striving for poetic preciosity that marred 'Blue' is checked. Perhaps the return to Poland allowed Kieslowski to make an authentically East European film, a kind of absurdist shaggy dog story, its black comedy aching with anguish. The almost-ridiculous, little-man clown-hero could have bumbled from Gogol or Kafka (or silent cinema?), rumpled, besuited, a bit roly-poly, self-important despite being victim to a fate with a very sick, humiliating sense of humour - his admiring gaze at one of the film's many pigeons ends with dirt sliming down his shirt, just before a court appearance; the bank teller who cuts his frozen credit card is suitably, bureaucratically, inexorably faceless. The film's comic tension emerges from the disparity between the character's unintentional individuality, his being made seem eccentric because of the unfortunate things inflicted on him, and others' reaction to him; and his dehumanisation, both comically, as he is smuggled by suitcase to Poland, a devalued commodity fetish, only to be purloined by airport thieves, and, more bleakly, in the hardening of his soul as he becomes more successful at being a capitalist - the ironic message of 'White' seems to be that money and power is the key to sexual potency. Karol's natural self was deemed a social failure, so he has to play a part, even if it risks killing his soul, even if he must play a corpse, become his own ghost though he tries to assert the primacy of his body. His progress is symbolised in the film by the importance of language (translating, interpreting and misunderstanding), with epiphany only possibly with its transcendence in a physical, non-verbal communication, perhaps the human equivalent of what Kieslowski tried to do in his films, reach viewers through pure cinema. Like 'Blue', and all his films, 'White' is structured around recurring and reconfigured imagery - birds, suitcases, glass, statues, combs, 'lucky' coins, snow etc., - but, again, because they belong to the story's world, rather than being imposed on it by a style, they seem much more effective. 'White' isn't perfect - the plot is damaged by nagging implausibilities, and the film certainly dips in the second half, but that's inevitable after the fleet comic energy preceeding it, swept along by the tango melodies of Zbigniew Preisner's score, a welcome contrast to the bombast of 'Blue', and again more rooted to place. Once again, Kieslowski's irony, his play with viewpoint and fantasy, suggests we don't take his images or plot developments at face value.

Theatrical: 1993

Studio:

Genre: Drama

Duration: 100

Summary: First of a trilogy of films dealing with contemporary French society concerns how a composer deals with the death of her husband and child.

Theatrical: 1994

Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid

Genre: Drama

Duration: 11

Summary: In the third and final film of his celebrated TROIS COULEURS trilogy, Krzysztof Kieslowski attempts to show how all persons, whether they know it or not, are mysteriously connected by some acausal connecting principle of "fraternité." Just as THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VÉRONIQUE had dealt with the parallel lives of two identical women on either side of the Iron Curtain, RED deals with the parallel lives of an old man and a young man. An elderly retired judge, Joseph Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant), spends his days spying and eavesdropping on his neighbors with an arsenal of surveillance equipment. His malaise and dissatisfaction with life is the result of a divided spirit that is, either in whole or in part, restored by his Platonic relationship with a young French fashion model who has come to work in Geneva, Valentine (Irène Jacob). The film's general themes seem somewhat analogous to those in Bernardo Bertolucci and Alberto Moravia's THE CONFORMIST, which also starred Trintignant. Like Bertolucci, Kieslowski uses chronological dislocations of life experience to mirror the central character's dislocation of identity, offering them as pieces in the psychological jigsaw puzzle of how a man comes to be what he is.Kern's inability to reconcile with his past and get on with his present life may be a metaphor for the inability of Europe as a whole to deal with its history since World War II and confront its current situation. His need for distractions and deliberate sublimation of personal guilt and disappointment in an obsessive voyeuristic interest with the lives of those around him may also be a reflection of how modern communications technology has altered human behavior and ways in which people perceive themselves and the world around him. On a broader scale, it may serve to demonstrate how people's lives are colonized by people they have never met through the omnipresence and pervasiveness of mass media. And so, Marshall McLuhan's "global village" has resulted in a concomitant alienation of the individual from his fellows and of the individual from his sense of sovereign identity.The catalyst in Kern's life is, of course, Valentine. Like Goethe's Faust, Kern ultimately abandons the pursuit of forbidden knowledge for the redeeming love of a woman. Her name, Valentine, connotes love and human companionship and, throughout the course of the film, that is what she offers him. Indeed, her life is perhaps even more of a mystery than Kern's, perhaps because she is still young and has not acquired enough of a personal history yet. All we learn is that her brother is a heroin addict and that she desperately wants to please her boyfriend, who is currently living abroad and can only be contacted by telephone. (Her frantic efforts to beat the answering machine are a bit reminiscent of Carmen Maura's behavior in Almodóvar's WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, which was itself a takeoff on Jean Cocteau's play, THE HUMAN VOICE). Valentine's problem is that she does not have an autonomous identity of her own. As a fashion and advertising model, she is required to project to others an image of their own narcissism.Valentine's growing self-awareness is measured in the images she constantly sees of herself like the fashion-layout photographs and the billboard. However, these are not "true" images of herself, insofar as they have been determined by the will of others. Her increased fascination with her own face, as reflected in car windows, signalizes an internal change. By the final shot in the film, the artfully constructed mirror image of herself in the billboard-an encounter with her conscious self and her mass-media doppelgänger-becomes transformed into an actual image of herself as she "really" is in a real-life situation. She has evolved from her former passive status as an opaque photographic object to a new serene kind of feminine subjectivity and solipsism.In the context of a written review, this may sound all well and good but Kieslowski's film is not entirely convincing in itself. Indeed, RED and the whole TROIS COULEURS trilogy qualifies as one of the most curiously overrated film experiments to come out of Europe in recent memory (but then again, look at the ecstatic reception some of those mediocre-to-gawdawful Dogme 95 films are getting these days!). Kieslowski's emphasis on man's spiritual life is intriguing in a Felliniesque sort of way, but the overreliance on "fate" and "chance" as the determining factor in the characters' lives-the mysterious, quasi-Jungian force that ultimately brings everyone together-seems merely a vague and facile device with no higher purpose but to justify a lot of arbitrary coincidences. (SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION told us just as much while cleverly delineating a serious social problem at the same time). In RED, the accumulation of "significant" little plot points feels too obvious and opportunistic. All of it just doesn't sit right and one gets the impression that Kieslowski is cheating with the story-that he is groping for some kind of fuzzyheaded New Age revelation that isn't quite there. It's a seductive con at first but the dialogue, particularly Trintignant's, is overloaded with heavy, cryptic, pseudo-profound banalities ("Perhaps you were the woman I never met") that come across as little more than half-hearted, nondescript attempts at some great gnomic wisdom. And while Kieslowski is no doubt a master visual stylist, I still feel somewhat suspicious of his all-too-repetitive use of filtered light to create an automatic atmosphere of supposed inner awareness and expectancy. His images aren't really any more interesting or meaningful than the fashion layouts and chewing gum advertisements he seems to be obliquely criticizing. As Pauline Kael once asked, "do symbols plus pretty pictures equal art?"

Theatrical: 1994

Studio: Lightstorm Entertainment

Genre: Action

Duration: 141

Summary: Special agent Harry Tasker gets out of the water outside a heavily guarded mansion, takes off his wetsuit, and there is a dinner jacket underneath. Harry strolls into a swanky party. Harry meets with Juno Skinner, steals some computer files, and escapes in a blaze of gunfire. He's picked up by his partner, Albert "Gib" Gibson, and they return to the United States. Harry goes home to his wife Helen. Helen doesn't know what Harry does because he pretends to be a computer salesman. Their 14-year-old daughter Dana is a sullen teenager, and Helen is so bored by the routine of her life that she's on the verge of having an affair with used-car salesman Simon, who claims to be a spy. Harry is hot on the trail of a group of terrorists led by Salim Abu Aziz. Aziz and his men are smuggling nuclear weapons into the USA in pieces of Persian art, and Aziz plans to hold the country hostage in the name of the Crimson Jihad. Harry's also out to save his marriage when he discovers Helen with Simon, who still claims to be a spy. Harry uses the Agency's resources to give Helen a taste of the real thing. Harry blackmails Helen into seducing an enemy agent -- Harry himself -- in a hotel room, but their tryst is interrupted by Aziz's men, who kidnap them and take them to one of the Florida Keys, where they're preparing to detonate their nuclear bomb. Harry escapes and rescues Helen, and then they discover that Aziz has gone to Miami and kidnapped Dana. Harry uses a harrier jet to get to Miami, where he sets out to rescue Dana.

Theatrical: 1998

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 103

Summary: An insurance salesman/adjuster (Jim Carrey) discovers his entire life is actually a TV show.

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: A-Films

Genre: Art House

Duration: 127

Summary: Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages:
o Spanish (subtitles)
o English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
o Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1) Synopsis:
Iconoclastic director Peter Greenaway begins his most ambitious project to date with this feature, the first in a proposed series of films, television programs, and multimedia projects that examine the contents of 92 suitcases, each revealed by title character Tulse Henry Purcel Luper. Broken into three sections spanning 1928 to 1940, The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Part One follows our young hero from age 10, when he is reprimanded by his father for scrawling some graffiti on a wall in his desolate South Wales neighborhood. Years later, Tulse (JJ Field) is a desert explorer who winds up being further punished by the aptly-named dominatrix Passion Hockmeister (Caroline Dhavernas). Finally, in the film's last section, Tulse is in Antwerp at the start of World War II, where he ends up being imprisoned by Nazis. Told in a fractured, non-narrative style, The Tulse Luper Suitcases also incorporates many inter-titles, superimposed images, an ever-present narrator presented in a picture-within-picture format, intentionally fake-looking sets, and many, many references to other Greenaway films and characters.
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The first of three parts, we follow Tulse Luper in three distinct episodes: as a child during the first World War, as an explorer in Mormon Utah, and as a writer in Belgium during the rise of fascism. Packed with stylistic flourishes, it's a dense, comic study of 20th century history, revolving around the contents of one man's suitcases.
Special Features:
o Biographies
o Film Credits
o Filmographies
o Interactive Menu
o Making Of
o Photo Gallery
o Scene Access
o Teaser(s)
o Trailer(s)

Theatrical: 2004

Studio:

Genre: Art House

Duration: 108

Summary:

Theatrical: 1970

Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 89

Summary: