DVDpedia : Library : Title : R

Theatrical: 1987

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 94

Summary: Vowing to go straight, a convenience store banditt (Nicolas Cage) proposes marriage to the police departments photographer (Holly Hunter). All is wedded bliss until they discover she's unable to get pregnant and are turned down by every adoption agency in town. It does not take long before they realize the only solution is to kidnap one of the town's celebrated quintuplets and hit the road!

Theatrical: 1999

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Drama

Duration: 133

Summary: Reviled by critics and largely ignored by moviegoers when released in 1999, "Random Hearts" is a pox on the reputations of Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, and director Sydney Pollack, but it doesn't entirely deserve its lowly fate. The movie's lugubriously paced and its repressed passions are dulled under the weight of relentless melancholy, but Pollack deserves credit for defying the Hollywood Zeitgeist with a mature, substantial film about the power of betrayal to reach beyond the grave.
Ford plays a Washington, D.C. detective; Scott Thomas is a Congresswoman in the midst of a re-election campaign. When their spouses die in a plane crash, the cop is convinced they'd been having an affair, and his obsessive, masochistic quest for the painful truth draws him closer to the Congresswoman despite the mutual risks to their careers and domestic privacy. While she hides behind a façade of denial, his agonized investigation makes him simultaneously unappealing (a risk Ford may have taken as a challenge), sympathetic, and sadly compelling.
Pollack takes his own chances by keeping everything so relentlessly downbeat, but anyone receptive to the story will find that "Random Hearts" is a subtly rewarding study of tormented adults who've discovered too late the weaknesses of their seemingly stable marriages. It's anything but cheerful, and a subplot involving a corrupt cop (Dennis Haysbert) is a formulaic distraction. But "Random Hearts" provides welcome relief from dramas that flirt with emotional anguish without delving into its deeper consequences. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2001

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 112

Summary: Modeled after 1963's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", Jerry Zucker's "Rat Race" lacks the irreverence of Zucker's 1980 hit "Airplane!" but has enough chuckles to make it an agreeable time-killer. Like "Mad, Mad, Mad...", it employs a huge ensemble of comedy stalwarts, assembled by an eccentric hotelier (pearly-toothed John Cleese) to race from Las Vegas to New Mexico for a $2 million jackpot. With a backstage gambling subplot, Rowan Atkinson's Italian-geek lunacy, Seth Green's slacker antics, and some nicely understated work from SCTV alumnus Dave Thomas, the movie has almost as many highlights as clunkers, and Zucker's embrace of easy gags and traditional slapstick will tickle anyone's old-fashioned funny bone. Other ingredients are hopelessly stale: Whoopi Goldberg's frantic mugging, Cuba Gooding's latter-day Stepin Fetchit, "mature" humor that compromises the movie's broad appeal, and the assumption that crashing vehicles are inherently hilarious. Lamentable decisions, perhaps, but "Rat Race" maintains a pleasantly altruistic spirit. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2004

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: African American Cinema

Duration: 152

Summary: Jamie Foxx's uncannily accurate performance isn't the only good thing about "Ray". Riding high on a wave of Oscar buzz, Foxx proved himself worthy of all the hype by portraying blind R&B legend Ray Charles in a warts-and-all performance that Charles approved shortly before his death in June 2004. Despite a few dramatic embellishments of actual incidents (such as the suggestion that the accidental drowning of Charles's younger brother caused all the inner demons that Charles would battle into adulthood), the film does a remarkable job of summarizing Charles's strengths as a musical innovator and his weaknesses as a philandering heroin addict who recorded some of his best songs while flying high as a kite. Foxx seems to be channeling Charles himself, and as he did with the life of Ritchie Valens in La Bamba, director Taylor Hackford gets most of the period details absolutely right as he chronicles Ray's rise from "chitlin circuit" performer in the early '50s to his much-deserved elevation to legendary status as one of the all-time great musicians. Foxx expertly lip-syncs to Ray Charles' classic recordings, but you could swear he's the real deal in a film that honors Ray Charles without sanitizing his once-messy life. "--Jeff Shannon"
More on Ray Charles

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"Ray Charles and Betty Carter--Dedicated to You" (CD)

"Genius & Soul--The 50th Anniversary Collection" (CD)

"Ray: A Tribute to the Movie, the Music, and the Man" (book)

More Albums by Ray Charles

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: Touchstone / Disney

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 115

Summary: "Nothing is as it seems" in "The Recruit", a guessing-game thriller that employs plot twists and conflicting loyalties as its primary raison d'être. Surrounded by potential deception, a newly recruited CIA officer (Colin Farrell) must determine if his manipulative instructor (Al Pacino) is being honest when he identifies Farrell's fellow recruit and love interest (Bridget Moynihan) as an enemy "mole" assigned to steal a dangerous computer virus from CIA headquarters. While claiming to offer an insider's look at CIA training methods, this engrossing yet ultimately predictable plot is pure Hollywood fantasy; any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental, leaving the perpetually unshaven and scruffily coiffed Farrell to fend for himself in Pacino's cynical arena while tracing his familial roots in the spy game. Wearing its cleverness on its sleeve, "The Recruit" is an adequately elaborate puzzle of perceptions. "Everything is a test," as Farrell soon realizes, and attentive viewers will enjoy piecing it all together. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2010

Studio: Summit Entertainment

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 111

Summary: You can take the agent out of the CIA, but you can't take the CIA out of the agent--or so discovers Frank Moses, to his chagrin. Frank, played by Bruce Willis, simply wants to live his simple life with his government pension. But when a troop of black-ops guys descends on his house one night and blows it to smithereens, Frank realizes he needs to get a few of his old colleagues together and find out what's what. That's the premise of "Red", a jolly action flick based on a rather more serious graphic novel. Because Frank's old posse includes kicky roles for Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and a tea-pouring, hot-lead-spraying Helen Mirren, the movie boasts a certain appeal just at the "Holy cow, can you believe who's in this thing?" level. Actually, the rest of the cast is pretty sweet as well: Mary-Louise Parker steals much of the film as Frank's unsuspecting civilian date (swept into the action because she might innocently become a CIA target, too), Brian Cox hams it up as Frank's former Soviet adversary (wistfully recalling how he always wanted to assassinate a US president), and Karl Urban ("Star Trek") supplies brawn and brains as the current CIA agent in charge of bringing the hammer down on Frank. The breezy tone barely pauses to notice the semi-serious story point at the heart of the plot (a hazily recalled disaster in Guatemala many years earlier), nor the dead bodies that pile up around the edges of the action. "Flightplan" director Robert Schwentke lets his actors act up, which is not a capital crime given the skills of the cast list, and he shoves the plot along with fitting speed. It's not art, but as a multiplex diversion, "Red" scatters a decent share of legitimate jolts and rim-shot one-liners. "--Robert Horton"

Theatrical: 1984

Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 114

Summary: The Ronald Reagan 1980s were all about going back to the future--rewriting the past to better suit Reagan's upbeat vision of the present. So, Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo (a psychotic, shell-shocked Vietnam vet in the original film, transformed into a flag-waving hero in the sequel) was able to go back to Southeast Asia and "correct" history by decisively (and single-handedly) winning that messy ol' war on behalf of America. "Red Dawn" is a paranoid cold-war cautionary tale that presents us not with a rosy alternative past, but with an ominous vision of the future, metaphorically plopping a piece of Russian-occupied Afghanistan into America's back yard. In this celebration of the Second Amendment, storm troopers from the Evil Empire descend upon the inadequately defended United States and hold America hostage. Stealthily avoiding the invaders, a motley group of red-blooded, small-town, gun-toting teenagers go underground to form the Wolverines, a guerilla resistance squad dedicated to making those Russkies rue the day they parachuted onto U.S. soil. It's a darn good thing those kids had the right to keep and bear arms, huh! Written and directed by macho filmmaker John Milius, the self-described "Zen fascist" who also cowrote "Apocalypse Now", as well as the horrifying shark story Robert Shaw tells in "Jaws". The cast includes Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey (a few years before she and Swayze took up "Dirty Dancing"), Charlie Sheen, Powers Boothe, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ben Johnson. "Red Dawn" was a commercial success, although audiences invariably split into two camps, finding it either patriotic or appalling. Whatever your verdict, the film remains a telling reflection of its era. "--Jim Emerson"

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Mystery & Suspense

Summary:

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Dreamworks Video

Genre: Drama

Duration: 85

Summary: Veteran horror director Wes Craven lends his proven talent to the non-horror thriller "Red-Eye", turning it into an above-average potboiler that makes the most of its 85 tension-packed minutes. That's a perfect running time for a movie like this, in which a resourceful heroine Lisa (Rachel McAdams, the breakout star of 2005) is trapped on a red-eye flight with creepy villain Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy, even more menacing than he was as the Scarecrow in "Batman Begins") who's playing middle-man in the plot to assassinate a Homeland Security official. He's got her father pinned down by a would-be killer, using that advantage to coerce Lisa into phoning the luxury resort where she works and arranging to move the target into a pre-set position. It's a situation from which there is seemingly no escape, but of course Craven and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth find a way to milk the suspenseful dilemma for all it's worth, even managing to wedge in a few intriguing character details to enhance the fast-moving plot. It's still a B-movie, but it's tightly constructed and well-executed by Craven, whose previous films made him a perfect choice to maximize all that "Red-Eye" has to offer. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2000

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 106

Summary: In "Red Planet", the only thing thicker than the Martian atmosphere (which is breathable, by the way) is the layer of clichés that nearly smothers a formulaic beat-the-clock plot. Science fiction fans are sure to be forgiving, however, because the film is reasonably intelligent, boasts a few dazzling sequences, and presents fascinating technology in the year 2057. We don't know how the Mars-1 spaceship gets to Mars in only six months (newfangled propulsion, no doubt), but we do get some cool diagnostic readouts on tinfoil scrolls, an abundance of well-designed hardware, and a service-robot-turned-villain that's a high-tech hybrid of RoboCop, Bruce Lee, and a slinky panther with plenty of lethal attitude.
The oxygen in the Martian atmosphere has resulted from nascent efforts of terraforming, made necessary by Earth's overpolluted condition. Mars-1 has been dispatched to determine why the terraforming is failing, and upon arrival everything goes inevitably haywire. Nearly two hours, three deaths, and multiple crises later (including the discovery of a Martian life form), "space janitor" Val Kilmer and his ultracompetent commander (Carrie-Anne Moss from "The Matrix") have collaborated to set things right, capped off by second dose of the wretched narration that bookends the movie. Hoary material, to be sure, and as a veteran of TV commercials making his feature debut, director Anthony Hoffman is clearly more comfortable with flashy visuals than depth of character. Still, he keeps things humming right along. A perfectly suitable companion to another 2000 sci-fi thriller, "Pitch Black", "Red Planet" is a fine way to kill a couple of hours. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: Touchstone / Disney

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 102

Summary: "The Road Warrior" meets "Dragonslayer" in the briskly entertaining post-apocalyptic action thriller "Reign of Fire". "Reign of Fire" exists primarily to give us a bigger and better dragon than the Vermithrax Pejorative of 1981's classic "Dragonslayer", and in that regard, the special effects are mightily impressive; the reptilian fire-breathers are stupendously convincing. While the earlier film offers a richer, more whimsical medieval adventure, "Reign of Fire" is a fast-moving tale of man versus dragon that takes place in the charred England of 2020, after Earth has been scorched by rapidly multiplying dragons and the aftermath of a futile nuclear counterstrike. Mixing high-tech gadgetry with primitive survivalism, "X-Files" alumnus Rob Bowman makes the most of his midlevel budget, establishing a lavish castle base for the rugged, adversarial teaming of Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey as dragonslayers on the brink of extinction. With a steady supply of crowd-pleasing highlights, "Reign of Fire" is a pyrotechnical treat. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 121

Summary: Talk about hubris: this film, released at the height of sequelmania in the mid-1980s, came with its own intimations of future sequels built right into the title. Unfortunately, you have to make a good first film in order to generate follow-ups--something these filmmakers didn't manage--so the adventure began and ended with this one. Based on the pulp paperback adventure series The Destroyer, the film deals with a ne'er-do-well, Remo Williams (Fred Ward), who is recruited to battle the forces of evil. He is trained by an Asian martial arts master who, in those days before political correctness, was played by Joel Grey in heavy makeup. But the action is both forced and preposterous, jokey without every really being funny. The best thing about the film is Grey--and his stereotyped depiction of an Asian is pretty hard to take today. "--Marshall Fine"

Theatrical: 1998

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 87

Summary: This didn't turn out to be quite the deserving American vehicle for Hong Kong action superstar Chow Yun-fat that it should have been. But it is an entertaining potboiler about a hired gun (Chow) who fails to carry out an assignment to kill a cop (which would leave the fellow's son without a father), and becomes a target himself when the contract is handed over to other assassins. Mira Sorvino plays a document forger who is drawn into the fray, pairing up with the hero as they fight their way out of bad spots. The whole enterprise is a little too routine, but the action is sharp and the battles are imaginative and crisp. Director Antoine Fuqua has a by-the-numbers feeling for the influence of Hong Kong on contemporary thrillers (this film was also produced by John Woo), and that's enough to make "The Replacement Killers" purely enjoyable if not exactly a revelation. "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 2000

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 118

Summary: "The Replacements" manages to be both completely formulaic and yet immensely enjoyable. When a professional football players' strike happens, the owner of a fictitious team, the Washington Sentinels, commissions maverick coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) to pull together a team. McGinty selects a collection of talented oddballs--a Welsh soccer player, a sumo wrestler, a couple of professional bodyguards--with athletic pasts, figuring that if it doesn't work out as a game, it might as well be a circus. To lead the team, he finds Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), a once-promising player who had a disastrous championship game. Naturally, despite squabbling and bickering, a roguish camaraderie develops through a mixture of racial infighting, harassment from the striking professionals, and a big bar brawl--after which they're all thrown in jail and perform the most improbable impromptu dance number ever committed to film. The mixture of cheerfully cliché plot mechanics, an engaging collection of supporting actors (including Orlando Jones, Rhys Ifans from "Notting Hill", and Jon Favreau from "Swingers"), and sheer ridiculousness somehow combines to make "The Replacements" completely entertaining. Reeves is somehow turning into a pleasant leading man; he even emotes convincingly in this movie. And let's face it, Gene Hackman is quite possibly the greatest actor alive, able to speak the trashiest dialogue with fierce conviction. Plus, just to prove that the tight pants and close huddles of football are heterosexual, there are many, many shots of cheerleaders going through stripper-inspired routines. "--Bret Fetzer"

Theatrical: 2010

Studio: Universal Pictures

Genre: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Duration: 111

Summary: In the future humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called "The Union". The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you don't pay your bill, "The Union" sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its property... with no concern for your comfort or survival. Former soldier Remy is one of the best organ repo men in the business. But when he suffers a cardiac failure on the job, he awakens to find himself fitted with the company's top-of-the-line heart-replacement... as well as a hefty debt. But a side effect of the procedure is that his heart's no longer in the job. When he can't make the payments, The Union sends its toughest enforcer, Remy's former partner Jake, to track him down.

Theatrical: 2000

Studio: Artisan

Genre: Drama

Duration: 102

Summary: Employing shock techniques and sound design in a relentless sensory assault, "Requiem for a Dream" is about nothing less than the systematic destruction of hope. Based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr., and adapted by Selby and director Darren Aronofsky, this is undoubtedly one of the most effective films ever made about the experience of drug addiction (both euphoric and nightmarish), and few would deny that Aronofsky, in following his breakthrough film "Pi", has pushed the medium to a disturbing extreme, thrusting conventional narrative into a panic zone of traumatized psyches and bodies pushed to the furthest boundaries of chemical tolerance. It's too easy to call this a cautionary tale; it's a guided tour through hell, with Aronofsky as our bold and ruthless host.
The film focuses on a quartet of doomed souls, but it's Ellen Burstyn--in a raw and bravely triumphant performance--who most desperately embodies the downward spiral of drug abuse. As lonely widow Sara Goldfarb, she invests all of her dreams in an absurd self-help TV game show, jolting her bloodstream with diet pills and coffee while her son Harry (Jared Leto) shoots heroin with his best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) and slumming girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly). They're careening toward madness at varying speeds, and Aronofsky tracks this gloomy process by endlessly repeating the imagery of their deadly routines. Tormented by her dietary regime, Sara even imagines a carnivorous refrigerator in one of the film's most memorable scenes. And yet... does any of this have a point? Is Aronofsky telling us anything that any sane person doesn't already know? "Requiem for a Dream" is a noteworthy film, but watching it twice would qualify as masochistic behavior. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1992

Studio: Lions Gate

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 99

Summary: Quentin Tarantino came out of nowhere (i.e., a video store in Manhattan Beach, California) and turned Hollywood on its ear in 1992 with his explosive first feature, "Reservoir Dogs". Like Tarantino's mainstream breakthrough "Pulp Fiction", "Reservoir Dogs" has an unconventional structure, cleverly shuffling back and forth in time to reveal details about the characters, experienced criminals who know next to nothing about each other. Joe (Lawrence Tierney) has assembled them to pull off a simple heist, and has gruffly assigned them color-coded aliases (Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. White) to conceal their identities from being known even to each other. But something has gone wrong, and the plan has blown up in their faces. One by one, the surviving robbers find their way back to their prearranged warehouse hideout. There, they try to piece together the chronology of this bloody fiasco--and to identify the traitor among them who tipped off the police. Pressure mounts, blood flows, accusations and bullets fly. In the combustible atmosphere these men are forced to confront life-and-death questions of trust, loyalty, professionalism, deception, and betrayal. As many critics have observed, it is a movie about "honor among thieves" (just as "Pulp Fiction" is about redemption, and "Jackie Brown" is about survival). Along with everything else, the movie provides a showcase for a terrific ensemble of actors: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Christopher Penn, and Tarantino himself, offering a fervent dissection of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" over breakfast. "Reservoir Dogs" is violent (though the violence is implied rather than explicit), clever, gabby, harrowing, funny, suspenseful, and even--in the end--unexpectedly moving. (Don't forget that "Super Sounds of the Seventies" soundtrack, either.) "Reservoir Dogs" deserves just as much acclaim and attention as its follow-up, "Pulp Fiction", would receive two years later. "--Jim Emerson"

Theatrical:

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 288

Summary: The third installment in the massively popular film series based on Capcom's zombie horror/science fiction games, "Resident Evil: Extinction" brings the world to an end, not with a whimper but a bang, as Milla Jovovich's Alice pits her bio-organic superskills against armies of the undead in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. Also on hand is a more grown-up version of the games' Claire Redfield (played by "Heroes"' Ali Larter), who leads a convoy of humans (among them "Resident Evil" vets Oded Fehr and Mike Epps, who reprise their roles as Carlos and LJ, as well as newcomers Ashanti and Spencer Locke) in search of sanctuary; meanwhile, sinister Umbrella Corporation scientist Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen) seeks a cure for the zombie virus outbreak via Alice's blood, which he taps via a lab full of clones. Subtlety has never been the "Resident Evil" series' strong suit, but it's hard to argue against "Extinction"'s breakneck pace and impressive CG special effects; director Russell Mulcahy (the "Highlander" series) lends a lot of verve to the proceedings, and the script by producer Paul W.S. Anderson pulls in agreeable touches from "The Road Warrior" and "Day of the Dead". A hit during the summer of 2007, "Extinction" should please series devotees and action-horror fans alike; the DVD includes commentary by Mulcahy, Anderson, and co-producer Jeremy Bolt, as well as several making-of featurettes, and a glimpse at the next entry in the "Resident Evil" franchise, the CG-only "Degeneration". "-- Paul Gaita"

Theatrical: 2010

Studio: Screen Gems

Genre: Thrillers

Duration: 97

Summary: A barrage of 3-D effects enlivens Paul W.S. Anderson's "Resident Evil: Afterlife", the fourth entry in the seemingly endless action-science fiction horror franchise based on the popular Capcom video game series. Plot, dialogue, and character development all remain secondary considerations; what's key here are the set pieces that allow Milla Jovovich to unleash maximum damage to virally infected zombies, villainous henchmen, and just about anyone else who stands in the way of her stopping the shadowy Umbrella Corporation. Jovovich retains the blend of grit and pulchritude that have made her a fanboy favorite (though said viewers may decry the film's bit of shower-scene interruptus), and she's well supported by returning cast members Ali Larter and Boris Kodjoe ("Undercovers") and "Prison Break"'s Wentworth Miller, who, as Claire's brother, is back behind bars in a postapocalyptic jail overrun by plague zombies. And the 3-D effects are impressive and give a shot of adrenaline to the already hyper-driven action and CGI elements. Those looking for more than what the "Resident Evil" franchise is designed to provide--souped-up, B-movie thrills--are advised to lower their expectations; franchise devotees should be pleased, especially by the film's final scene, which (naturally) sets up another sequel. "--Paul Gaita"

Theatrical: 1987

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 185

Summary: This is one of those movies series that when I think about they remind me of all the saturdays in middle school where I would stay up till 4am watching all the old movies my parents and much-older siblings had laying around in our movie collection.



'Revenge of the Nerds' is the perfect middle-school/high-school movie in every since of the phrase. It is cheap/slackstick/sexual humor, but unlike a lot of newer movies along the same lines ('American Pie,' 'Eurotrip,' 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin') it never feel gratuitous, eventhough the language is much more questionable. The plot itself follows two best-friend nerds durring their fall semester of their freshman year. When they are kicked out of the dorms, they along with fellow 'outcasts' band together and start their own fraturnity and cause problems for their fellow Fraturnity full of Jocks.



The Second movies features almost all of the entire original cast (Anthony Edwards only appears in the first 3-minutes of the film), as they take a trip down the Miami for a natual 'Fraturnity Leadership Meeting' and of course chaos insues.



The third film takes place a good 10/15 years after the events of the second movie, and thus has a completly different tone than the previous two. This movie was original made-for-TV so already from the beginning the humor is more slapstick (and much less sexual), and its dare-I-say almost 'family freiendly'. In the movie Louis' nephue moves off to college to find the college overrun with Nerds, but the Dean trying to get rid of them all.



The Fourth (and final film) I have only viewed once, but it is another 'made-for-tv' movie that follows the surviving nerds (now in their late 30s/early 40s) getting married and starting their families.

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: Wonderview Productions

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 85

Summary: REVOLUTION OS tells the inside story of the hackers and computer programmers who rebelled against Microsoft and the idea of proprietary software to create GNU, Linux, and the Open Source movement. Shot on location in Silicon Valley on 35mm film and in widescreen, REVOLUTION OS captures an offbeat group of characters who are three-parts libertarian, two-parts communist, and one-part bad garage band.

Theatrical: 1983

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 193

Summary: Philip Kaufman's intimate epic about the "Mercury" astronauts (based on Tom Wolfe's book) was one of the most ambitious and spectacularly exciting movies of the 1980s. It surprised almost everybody by not becoming a smash hit. By all rights, the film should have been every bit the success that "Apollo 13" would later become; "The Right Stuff" is not only just as thrilling, but it is also a bigger and better movie. Combining history (both established and revisionist), grand mythmaking (and myth puncturing), adventure, melodrama, behind-the-scenes dish, spectacular visuals, and a down-to-earth sense of humor, "The Right Stuff" chronicles NASA's efforts to put a man in orbit. Such an achievement would be the first step toward President Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon, and, perhaps most important of all, would win a crucial public relations/morale victory over the Soviets, who had delivered a stunning blow to American pride by launching "Sputnik", the first satellite. The movie contrasts the daring feats of the unsung test pilots--one of whom, Chuck Yeager, embodied more than anyone else the skill and spirit of Wolfe's title--against the heavily publicized (and sanitized) accomplishments of the "Mercury" astronauts. Through no fault of their own, the spacemen became prisoners of the heroic images the government created for them in order to capture the public's imagination. The casting is inspired; the film features Sam Shepard as the legendary Yeager, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Dennis Quaid as "Gordo" Cooper, Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, Scott Wilson as Scott Crossfield, and Pamela Reed and Veronica Cartwright are superb in their thankless roles as astronauts' wives. "--Jim Emerson"

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: Dreamworks Video

Genre: Horror

Duration: 115

Summary: With its disturbing images and a few good shocks, "The Ring" is the kind of frightfest you'll watch to set a chilling mood or spook your susceptible friends, but when you try to sort it out, this well-mounted American remake (of the 1998 Japanese hit "Ringu", based on Koji Suzuki's popular novel) becomes a batch of incoherent parts. The negligible plot follows a Seattle reporter (Naomi Watts) as she investigates the death of her niece, the victim of a mysterious videotape that, according to urban legend, causes the viewer's death seven days later. ("Fear Dot Com" borrowed the same idea while avoiding this film's lofty pretensions.) The countdown structure follows the reporter, her son, and her estranged boyfriend into deepening layers of terror--all quite effective until the movie attempts to explain itself. At that you're better off shutting down your brain and letting the creepy visuals take over. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 94

Summary: Johnny Knoxville ("Jackass", "A Dirty Shame") stars as a man who pretends to be mentally challenged so he can fix the Special Olympics. This morally dubious premise (the movie goes to great lengths to be sure you understand how appalling it is) is not as inflammatory as it could be--"The Ringer" is careful not to mock its mentally challenged characters. This is sometimes a source of strength, as some of the funniest jokes come from the perspective of the athletes--for example, a group of the other athletes recognize that Steve (Knoxville) is not the high-functioning mentally disabled guy he pretends to be, but they go along with the masquerade and even help Steve because they can't stand the snotty reigning champion. But this respectfulness also makes the movie feel cautious and inhibited (one imagines there's a wealth of un-PC jokes that got cut out of the script so it could pass muster with the Special Olympics, who gave the movie its blessing). As a result, the movie's real plot turns out to be a love story, as Steve falls for one of the Special Olympics volunteers (Katherine Heigl, "Romy and Michelle: In the Beginning") and has to find sneaky ways to undermine her slimy boyfriend. All in all, an uneven comedy with occasional flashes of wicked wit. Also featuring the always welcome Brian Cox ("Adaptation", "X-Men 2"). "--Bret Fetzer"

Theatrical: 2008

Studio: Sony

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 111

Summary: In many ways a close adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's grim novel, "The Road" dutifully plods through the basics of McCarthy's nightmarish post-apocalyptic landscape: a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) try to survive as they trek along through the sodden, sunless remnants of some awful disaster. Scrounging for food and huddling together to stay warm, they spend most of their time trying to avoid the cannibalistic marauders who roam the highways. The film strikingly demonstrates that McCarthy's book was almost entirely dependent on his extraordinary language for its literary life; the story, such as it is, is so skeletal and spare it doesn't translate well into movie terms. "The Proposition" director John Hillcoat brings his grungy physicality to the material, so in the matters of the damp clothes and starved bodies and cheerless forests, the movie rings true. But the longer it trudges on, the more it seems a thoroughly conventional conclusion is at the end of this dystopian tale. "The Road" has one notable selling point: the performance of Viggo Mortensen. In his character's fierce determination to live--but also the gentle sighs he lets forth when confronted with, say, his first sip of whisky in years--Mortensen is completely in the moment, and all too human in the post-human world." --Robert Horton"


Stills from "The Road" (Click for larger image)

Theatrical: 1993

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 104

Summary: It's not "Blazing Saddles", but there are some chuckles to be found in Mel Brooks's 1993 spoof of the Robin Hood legend. Cary Elwes is Robin (with a lighthearted jab at Kevin Costner's bad English accent in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"), while Richard Lewis plays an angst-ridden King John, and Roger Rees a snotty Sheriff of Nottingham. Comic David Chappelle has some good moments as the only black member of Robins's noble thieves, and Brooks does his own spin on Friar Tuck: Rabbi Tuchman. The song-and-dance sequences featuring a chorus line of the Merry Men ("We're men / men in tights") is vintage Brooks, but otherwise the film can't get any traction. "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 1991

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 155

Summary: Kevin Costner's lousy English accent is a small obstacle in this often exciting version of the Robin Hood fable. That aside, it's refreshing to have a preface to the old story in which we meet the robber hero of Sherwood Forest as a soldier in King Richard's Crusades, coming home to find his people under siege from the cruelties of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman). After Robin and his community of outcasts and fighters take to the trees, director Kevin Reynolds ("Fandango", "187") is on more familiar narrative ground, and he goes for the gusto with lots of original action (Robin shoots two arrows simultaneously from his bow in two directions). Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as Marion, makes a convincing damsel in distress, and Morgan Freeman brings dignity to his role as Robin's Moor friend. Alan Rickman, however, gets the most attention for his scene-chewing role as the rotten sheriff, an almost campy performance that is highly entertaining but perhaps a little out of sorts with the rest of the film. "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical:

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Action & Adventure

Summary: Cast aside all notions of men in tights: Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood" is decidedly earthier and more grown-up than most romps through Sherwood Forest. The presence of the over-40 Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett cinches the deal, lending a dose of worldliness to a project that means to be about the origins of the famous character, who in this incarnation was evidently a late bloomer. Robin Longstride (that's his name before he started wearing a hood) is just returned from a 10-year jaunt in the Crusades when he loses his king (Danny Huston as Richard the Lionheart) and his job. Back in England, Robin folds himself neatly into a Nottingham family, where a grieving widow named Marion (Blanchett) and her father-in-law (Max von Sydow) hardly care that he doesn't much resemble their own departed warrior. But the merry men and their famous sideline will have to wait: except for one bit of robbing from the rich (i.e., the greedy government of King John) and giving to the poor, this movie is more concerned with creating a portrait of the royal intrigue that went into creating Robin Hood than in detailing the high jinks of the Nottingham outlaws. And that's not a bad thing, because although "Robin Hood" lacks the mechanical action beats that distinguish most films of its scale, it creates an engrossing story line around its political chess playing (outlined by screenwriter Brian Helgeland and apparently a few others). Crowe is in reliable crusty-tender form and Blanchett summons up more than her sketchy character probably deserves, but the film has a large cast of chewy, fun performers: Mark Strong ("Kick-Ass") does baddie duty as the treacherous pal of King John (preening Oscar Isaacs), William Hurt is stalwart and wise as a royal power broker, Eileen Atkins is a carefully considered royal mum, and Matthew Macfadyen is a Sheriff of Nottingham who's no longer central to the villainy--though no less hissable for his ineptitude (and a prime candidate at film's end for No. 1 bad guy in the sequel). In short, not a "Gladiator" re-do for Scott and Crowe, but a civilized tale of tyrants and rebels, staged in a pleasingly old-fashioned way. "--Robert Horton"

Theatrical: 2002

Studio: Sony

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 99

Summary: Sharper and deeper than Robin Williams's previous road material, "Live on Broadway" is a mature comedian's view of all things to do with power, prejudice, and paranoia in the 21st century. On the anthrax scare of 2001: "The Senate cleared out of their building but told the rest of us, 'Get on with your normal lives!'" On his solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Jerusalem: "Time share!" On the pitfalls of America's deepening alliance with Britain: "The House of Commons is like Congress with a two-drink minimum." A viewer may have to slog through Williams's tedious breast fetishism, but patience is quickly rewarded with bitchy takes on Martha Stewart facing prison, solid satire about French existentialist judges at the Olympics, and subversive op-eds about the Bush administration's inability to clarify terrorist threats to the public ("Has the CIA become the Central Intuitive Agency?"). "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 315

Summary: To create "Robotech" (1985), the early sci-fi epic that helped to foster an audience for Japanese animation in America, producers at Harmony Gold edited together three unrelated series: "Super Dimension Fortress: Macross", "Genesis Climber Mospeada", and "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross". "Dana's Story," which begins the "Robotech Masters" ("Southern Cross") adventure, opens 15 years after the previous episode ended. The daughter of Earthling Max Sterling and Zentraedi pilot Miriya (who married in episode 25), spunky Dana Sterling quickly becomes a squadron commander during the Second Robotech War. Serving with her are brooding musician Bowie Grant, corps Casanova Sean Philips, and no-nonsense Marie Crystal. The Robotech Masters attack Earth, hoping to recapture the mysterious Protoculture factory, which was hidden in the flying fortress SDF-1 centuries earlier: they need the Protoculture to maintain control over their oligarchic civilization. But the Masters cannot control Zor Prime, a clone of the inventor of Protoculture, whom Dana captures. This interplanetary struggle is complicated by the mutual attraction between Bowie and the alien Musica, "the Mistress of the Cosmic Harp." The "Robotech Masters" story line is as convoluted as the "Macross" continuity, the pacing as slow and the dialogue as wooden. American viewers either love or hate "Robotech", with little middle ground. The supplementary disc offers less material than the previous three: openings and closings of the component series, galleries of model sheets and comic book covers, and two clips in five languages. Unrated; suitable for ages 8 and up: Mild violence restricted to spaceship and robot battles. "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Animation

Duration: 30

Summary: The fifth collection in the series concludes the "Robotech Masters" story line (originally "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross"). Like the previous story, this adventure centers on a conflict pitting the freedom of thought and action that humans enjoy against the repressive civilization of the Robotech Masters. The endless spaceship and mecha battles ultimately prove less significant than the actions of the rebel clone Zor Prime. Having tasted freedom and love, he defies the Masters and destroys what amounts to a high-tech slave culture, where masses of clones and mecha labor to support a ruling elite. But the Second Robotech War ends as the first did, in a bittersweet Pyrrhic victory. The Robotech Masters have been destroyed, but much of the Earth has been devastated. And the spores of Flowers of Life ("the Three Who Act As One") have been dispersed to summon the alien Invid, setting the stage for the final episodes. The "Elements of Robotechnology V" disc includes portfolios of pre-production designs for "The Sentinels," unproduced "Southern Cross" designs, and the pilot episode of "Space Fortress Macross" (which would become "Booby Trap," the first installment in the "Macross Saga"). Unrated; suitable for ages 8 and up: Mild violence restricted to spaceship and robot battles. "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 375

Summary: This early anime series that helped introduce the genre to the United States in the mid-1980s is a curious hybrid. Harmony Gold bought the rights to the 36-episode "Super Dimension Fortress: Macross", in which an alien invasion was held at bay by the voice of a girl pop star, but executives felt that American viewers wouldn't accept that plot. Producer-story editor Carl Macek intercut sequences from "Macross" with two similar-looking sci-fi series from Tatsunoko Studios, "Genesis Climber Mospeada" and "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross", creating a sprawling 85-episode space opera with a completely new story line. A gigantic spaceship crashes into the Earth in 1999; after 10 years of analysis and repairs, the Earth forces relaunch the gargantuan flying fortress--just as the 50-foot alien Zentraedi attack hoping to capture it--precipitating an interstellar war. In addition to two discs (12 episodes) of the "Macross" adventure, this first collection includes the first video release of "Codename: Robotech". Made to promote interest in the series before its debut, "Codename" consists of the first 13 episodes recut as a feature. Captain Gloval's reminiscences about the characters' adventures ties together the rather choppy film. The supplemental disc also offers a commentary by Macek, describing the origins of the "Robotech" project and the making of the "Codename" feature; a portfolio of character model sheets; and selected scenes in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. A must-have for "Robotech" fans. Unrated; "contains mild animated violence." Suitable for ages 8 and up: violence is restricted to spaceship and robot battles. "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 325

Summary: Although it helped to create an audience for Japanese animation in the United States, "Robotech" (1985) has always been an anomaly: an anime series that was never seen in Japan in its final form. Producers at Harmony Gold edited together footage from "Super Dimension Fortress: Macross", "Genesis Climber Mospeada", and "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross", three similar-looking series from Tatsunoko Studios, to create an 85-episode sci-fi epic with a new story line. In addition to the second 12 episodes of the "Macross" adventure, this second three-disc set includes "Robotech Galaxy of Stars," a short promotional film from 1986, with unidentified voice actors signing photographs for children, and "Point of View," an interview that producer and story editor Carl Macek did with a Dallas talk show just before the local premiere of the feature. There are galleries of character model sheets and comic book covers, and "International Clips" offers two short sequences in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Even more fun is a collection of TV commercials for the original Matchbox toys, although the action figures, play sets, and spaceships the long-haired little boys gleefully play with now sell for up to $600 in online auctions. "Robotech" occupies a special place in the hearts of the Generation Y's who grew up watching it, and the appearance of the series on DVD has been eagerly awaited. Unrated; "contains mild animated violence" restricted to spaceship and robot battles; suitable for ages 8 and up. "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 375

Summary: Producers at Harmony Gold edited together "Super Dimension Fortress: Macross", "Genesis Climber Mospeada", and "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross" to create "Robotech" (1985), a landmark sci-fi adventure that helped to establish an audience for Japanese animation in America. In the final episodes of the "Macross" segment, the Lisa-Rick-Minmei romantic triangle plays out against the ongoing Earth-Zentraedi conflict and the machinations of rebel Zentraedi captain Khyron, which devastate much of the planet.
Intimations of a new threat posed by the distant Robotech Masters serve as a lead-in to the second part of the epic. A planned 65-episode fourth installment in the saga was never completed, but the first four episodes and some additional footage were combined into the feature "Robotech II: The Sentinels", the final installment in the "Robotech" continuity. The supplemental "Elements of Robotechnology III" disc includes "The Sentinels", a trailer for it prepared for the 1987 Toy Fair, and a rather self-serving commentary by writer-director Carl Macek. Members of Gen-X who grew up on "Robotech" will delight in retracing these romances and battles; it's a classic, of sorts. Viewers accustomed to the more rapid pacing, dynamic action, and sophisticated direction of recent anime will tire of the endless shilly-shallying. Unrated; suitable for ages 8 and up: Mild violence restricted to spaceship and robot battles. "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 405

Summary: "Robotech" (1985), the early sci-fi epic that helped to foster an audience for Japanese animation in America, was created by the producers at Harmony Gold, who edited together the unrelated series "Super Dimension Fortress: Macross", "Genesis Climber Mospeada", and "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross". The episodes in this penultimate collection begin the "New Generation" story line, originally "Genesis Climber Mospeada". Drawn by the Protoculture generated during the Second Robotech War, the alien Invid have invaded and conquered Earth. The only opposition to their tyranny comes from the survivors of Admiral Rick Hunter's space fleet and a few rebels on the devastated planet. Lieutenant Scott Bernard manages to assemble a cadre of resistance fighters in record time: sardonic Rand, the obnoxious little girl Annie, cyclone rider Rook, and engineer Lunk. The most curious member of the group is Lancer, who appears as the transvestite performer Yellow Dancer, a singer who models himself after Minmei, the heroine of the first continuity. This unlikely posse is soon battling not only the Invid, but human traitors and gang members. The "Elements of Robotechnology" disc includes a stolid presentation of the 1985-86 line of toys from Matchbox--now sought-after collectibles. The unaired pilot for "Genesis Climber Mospeada" allows viewers to compare the original story line with the recut version of episode 1, "The Invid Invasion." The "New Generation" story line is considerably more violent than the previous "Robotech" continuities. Unrated; suitable for ages 10 and up: Violence (human versus human, spaceship and robot battles). "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 1985

Studio: Adv Films

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 480

Summary: The episodes in this collection conclude the "New Generation"/"Mospeada" story line--and the entire series. As the war between the Earthlings and the alien Invid escalates, the Regis of the Invid creates two additional "Invid larvae humanoids" (aliens in human form), Sera and Corg. Sera argues for understanding between species, while Corg becomes a fanatic warrior. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Scott Bernard and his motley crew of freedom fighters prepare to join Admiral Rick Hunter's returning star fleet for a final attack on the Invid stronghold. Faced with imminent defeat, the Regis, who invaded Earth and enslaved humanity, delivers an address denouncing war to Scott's crew and transports her people "to a higher plane." Only Marlene/Ariel and Sera remain, and their romances with Scott and Lancer parallel the peace-through-intermarriage theme that began with Max and the Zentraedi Miriya in the "Macross" continuity. It's a surprisingly lame conclusion to three interstellar wars. This early sci-fi epic helped foster an audience for Japanese animation in America and was created by the producers at Harmony Gold, who edited together the unrelated series "Super Dimension Fortress: Macross", "Genesis Climber Mospeada", and "Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross". The seventh "Elements of Robotechnology" disc includes an assortment of deleted scenes--some only a few seconds long--but no translations or explanations as to why they were cut, and a gallery of print material about various "Robotech" products. Unrated; suitable for ages 10 and up: Minor nudity, violence (human versus human, spaceship and robot battles). "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 2007

Studio: Funimation

Genre: Animation

Duration: 180

Summary: Created for the 20th anniversary of the popular "Robotech" continuity, "The Shadow Chronicles Movie" picks up where 85-episode series ended. In 2044 A.D., humanity is at war with the alien Invid, who occupy most of the Earth. The Invid ruler takes her people to "a higher plane" to escape the Children of the Shadows, aliens dedicated to the destruction of any race that possesses Protoculture. (Illogically, they fear the power of Protoculture, but they can destroy its users.) New characters and ones from the original series battle the Children of Shadows until a cliffhanger ending that makes it clear a sequel must be in production.
Although it helped to create the audience for anime in America, the original "Robotech" was an anomaly: a Japanese show that never aired in Japan. Producers at Harmony Gold edited together the unrelated series "Super Dimension Fortress: Macross", "Genesis Climber Mospeada", and "Super-dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross". "The Shadow Chronicles Movie" is also an anomaly: an "anime" feature made primarily in the U.S. and Korea. Although they've added lots of flashy CG effects to the space battles, the film lacks the qualities that made the series a hit. Like "Star Wars", "Robotech" used an interstellar conflict as a backdrop for a tale about friendship, romance, and heroism. The filmmakers spend the first half-hour of "Shadow Chronicles" filling in background material for new viewers; the rest is so packed with exposition and action, there's no time to get to know the characters--or care about them. The movie will appeal primarily to fans of the series and its manifestations in games, toys, novels, etc. (Rated TV PG, suitable for ages 12 and older: violence, alcohol use) "--Charles Solomon"

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Animation

Duration: 89

Summary: The delightful designs of William Joyce (writer/illustrator of such popular children's books as "George Shrinks" and "Bently & Egg") make "Robots" a joy to behold. The round, bouncy, and ramshackle forms of hero Rodney Copperbottom and his computer-animated friends are part of an ornate and daffy
Fender providing assistance. Rube-Goldberg universe of elaborate contraptions and gleaming metallic surfaces. Rodney (voiced with a hint-of-Scottish lilt by Ewan McGregor) is a young inventor who sets off for Robot City to work for Big Weld (Mel Brooks), the supreme inventor of the mechanical world. But upon his arrival, Rodney discovers that Big Weld has disappeared, and the slick, shiny Ratchet (Greg Kinnear, "As Good As It Gets") is phasing out the spare parts that lumpen robots need to function and replacing them with "upgrades"--expensive and glistening new exoskeletons. Unfortunately, from this suitable beginning, the story degenerates into a series of action sequences that make very little sense, though some are kinetic and fun (though others are only there to serve the inevitable "Robots" video game). Most kids will enjoy the sheer visual pleasure of the movie, but compared to the narrative richness of Pixar movies like "The Incredibles" and "Toy Story", that pleasure is pretty short-lived. Also featuring the voices of Robin Williams, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Jennifer Coolidge, and many, many more. "--Bret Fetzer"
DVD Features
Jennifer Coolidge returns as the voice of Aunt Fanny in a mildly amusing new short, "Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty," which allows her to again be the butt of the joke. Fans of the characters will enjoy both a 17-minute discussion of the robots' creation as well as profiles of 11 of the bots, including early, almost unrecognizable conceptual sketches and brief interviews with the voice cast. The original short is fairly dull, and of the three deleted scenes, the most finished is an extended version of Rodney's initial meeting with Tim at the gate. One other is in sketch form only but does preserve another performance by Robin Williams. The kids' games are pretty good. There's a dancing robot that will perform eight routines on command or in random order. A memory game has a bit of replay value, and the build-a-bot segment takes some thought and investigation. The Xbox demo is a nifty little diversion that transforms one element (the transport-pod race) of the full-length, single-player Xbox game into a frenetic one- to four-player free-for-all.
In their commentary track, director Chris Wedge and producer-inspiration William Joyce have to remind each other to stop patting themselves on the back, but it is interesting to hear them talk about old games such as Mousetrap that played a part in developing the film. (Wedge's frequent references to a possible "director's cut" might not seem like a joke to DVD buyers who have gotten tired of DVD rereleases.) The commentary track by the Blue Sky technical team might be better, offering insights into the characters and the creation of the film without lapsing into too much techie-speak. "--David Horiuchi"

Stills from "Robots" (click for larger image)

























The World of "Robots"
"The Art of Robots"
"Robots" soundtrack
"Robots" score
"Robots" for Xbox
"Robots" for PS2
"Robots" for GBA

Theatrical: 1996

Studio: Buena Vista Pictures

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 136

Summary: Between his high-octane debut, "Bad Boys", and 1998's wannabe blockbuster "Armageddon", hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris's top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris's terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It's a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there's enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you're ordering this movie on Blu-ray, be careful with the volume knobs on your home-theater sound systems, because "The Rock" could cause partial hearing loss and structural damage to your home. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1984

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 106

Summary: Director Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump", "Contact") had a hit with this 1984 comedy that first teamed Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito. Turner steals the show from the guys, however, playing a pushy romance novelist who gets stuck among some dangerous figures in Colombia and has only a rumpled guide (Michael Douglas) as an ally. The chemistry between the stars is infectious (the trio went on to make a sequel, "Jewel of the Nile", and then an interesting, dark comedy directed by DeVito, "The War of the Roses"). Zemeckis--whose specialty at the time was creating set pieces of raucous action (as in his "Back to the Future")--keeps things hopping with lots of kinetic material. "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 1998

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 121

Summary: Robert De Niro stars as an American intelligence operative adrift in irrelevance since the end of the Cold War--much like a masterless samurai, a.k.a. "ronin." With his services for sale, he joins a renegade, international team of fellow covert warriors with nothing but time on their hands. Their mission, as defined by the woman who hires them (Natascha McElhone), is to get hold of a particular suitcase that is equally coveted by the Russian mafia and Irish terrorists. As the scheme gets underway, De Niro's lone wolf strikes up a rare friendship with his French counterpart (Jean Reno), gets into a more-or-less romantic frame of mind with McElhone, and asserts his experience on the planning and execution of the job--going so far as to publicly humiliate one team member (Sean Bean) who is clearly out of his league. The story is largely unremarkable--there's an obligatory twist midway through that changes the nature of the team's business--but legendary filmmaker John Frankenheimer ("Seconds", "The Manchurian Candidate") leaps at the material, bringing to it an honest tension and seasoned, breathtaking skill with precision-action direction. The centerpiece of the movie is an honest-to-God car chase that is the real thing: not the how-can-we-top-the-last-stunt cartoon nonsense of Richard Donner ("Lethal Weapon"), but a pulse-quickening, kinetic dance of superb montage and timing. In a sense, "Ronin" is almost Frankenheimer's self-quoting version of a John Frankenheimer film. There isn't anything here he hasn't done before, but it's sure great to see it all again. "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 2001

Studio: Touchstone Pictures

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 110

Summary: In a fitting follow-up to "Rushmore", writer-director Wes Anderson and cowriter-actor Owen Wilson have crafted another comedic masterwork that ripples with inventive, richly emotional substance. Because of the all-star cast, hilarious dialogue, and oddball characters existing in their own, wholly original universe, it's easy to miss the depth and complexity of Anderson's brand of comedy. Here, it revolves around Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), the errant patriarch of a dysfunctional family of geniuses, including precocious playwright Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), boyish financier and grieving widower Chas (Ben Stiller), and has-been tennis pro Richie (Luke Wilson). All were raised with supportive detachment by mother Etheline (Anjelica Huston), and all ache profoundly for a togetherness they never really had. The Tenenbaums reconcile somehow, but only after Anderson and Wilson (who costars as a loopy literary celebrity) put them through a compassionate series of quirky confrontations and rekindled affections. Not for every taste, but this is brilliant work from any perspective. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2005

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 96

Summary: Old pro Shirley MacLaine steals her every scene in "Rumor Has It"..., a very curiously conceived comedy directed by Rob Reiner ("When Harry Met Sally"..., "The Princess Bride"). Sarah (Jennifer Aniston, "The Good Girl") arrives at her sister's wedding with her fiance Jeff (Mark Ruffalo, "13 Going on 30"). She's already feeling anxiety-ridden about her impending marriage when she gleans from some odd hints from her grandmother Katherine (MacLaine, "The Apartment, Terms of Endearment") that her family was the basis for the movie "The Graduate". Quicker that you can say "Mrs. Robinson" she slips away from Jeff to investigate, suspecting that the guy Dustin Hoffman's character was based on--Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner, "Tin Cup")--might be her actual father...well, from there the plot takes a few twists, but this is not a movie that succeeds based on its story (which never really becomes persuasive). Instead, "Rumor Has It..." rests on the surprisingly complex and mature emotional interactions between the characters (particularly given that it's a movie about someone refusing to make choices in her life). Aniston won't win any awards for this, but she certainly gives her role more depth than a typical romantic comedy heroine; Costner and Ruffalo are both in fine form; and MacLaine appears just often enough to inject some delightfully prickly personality into a movie that often teeters on the edge of too much niceness. Also featuring Richard Jenkins ("Six Feet Under") and Mena Suvari ("American Beauty"). "--Bret Fetzer "

Theatrical: 1999

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 80

Summary: It's difficult to create a film that's fast paced, exciting, and aesthetically appealing without diluting its dialogue. "Run Lola Run", directed and written by Tom Tykwer, is an enchanting balance of pace and narrative, creating a universal parable that leaps over cultural barriers. This is the story of young Lola (Franka Potente) and her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). In the space of 20 minutes, they must come up with 100,000 deutsche marks to pay back a seedy gangster, who will be less than forgiving when he finds out that Manni incompetently lost his cash to an opportunistic vagrant. Lola, confronted with one obstacle after another, rides an emotional roller coaster in her high-speed efforts to help the hapless Manni--attempting to extract the cash first from her double-dealing father (appropriately a bank manager), and then by any means necessary. From this point nothing goes right for either protagonist, but just when you think you've figured out the movie, the director introduces a series of brilliant existential twists that boggle the mind. Tykwer uses rapid camera movements and innovative pauses to explore the theme of cause and effect. Accompanied by a pulse-pounding soundtrack, we follow Lola through every turn and every heartbreak as she and Manni rush forward on a collision course with fate. There were a variety of original and intelligent films released in 1999, but perhaps none were as witty and clever as this little gem--one of the best foreign films of the year. "--Jeremy Storey"

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Drama

Duration: 127

Summary: Based on the bestseller by John Grisham, "Runaway Jury" is a slick thriller that's exciting enough to overcome the gaps in its plot. The ultimate target has been changed: Grisham's legal assault on the tobacco industry was switched to the hot-button issue of gun control (no doubt to avoid comparison to "The Insider") in a riveting exposé of jury-tampering. Gene Hackman plays the ultra-cynical, utterly unscrupulous pawn of the gun-makers, using an expert staff and advanced electronics to hand-pick a New Orleans jury that will return a favorable verdict; Dustin Hoffman (making his first screen appearance with real-life former roommate Hackman) defends the grieving widow of a gun-shooting victim with idealistic zeal, while maverick juror John Cusack and accomplice Rachel Weisz play both ends against the middle in a personal quest to hold gun-makers accountable. It's riveting stuff, even when it's obvious that Grisham and director Gary Fleder have glossed over any details that would unravel the plot's intricate design. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2003

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 104

Summary: Professional wrestling star the Rock, who was such a lump of flesh in "The Scorpion King", proves surprisingly light on his feet in "The Rundown", demonstrating charm and humor as well as the requisite toughness. Beck (the Rock), a repo-man for deadbeats, is sent to South America to find a treasure hunter (Seann William Scott) who's seeking a priceless golden idol--which the local head honcho (Christopher Walken) would like to get his hands on as well. Add in the lovely but dangerous barmaid with a secret (Rosario Dawson), and Beck has some obstacles to overcome. The plot of "The Rundown" isn't anything special, but the script is enjoyably clever and reasonably coherent; the capable cast keeps things lively; and the movie's relaxed but sinewy pace sets it apart from the frantic floundering of recent action flicks--kudos to director Peter Berg ("Very Bad Things"). A surprisingly fun flick. "--Bret Fetzer"

Theatrical: 1987

Studio: Republic Pictures

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 101

Summary: In this action thriller based on an early story by Stephen King, Los Angeles in the year 2017 has become a police state in the wake of the global economy's total collapse. All forms of entertainment are government controlled, and the most popular show on television is an elaborate game show in which convicted criminals are given a chance to escape by running through a gauntlet of brutal killers known as "Stalkers." Anyone who survives is given their freedom and a condominium in Hawaii, so when a wrongly accused citizen (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is chosen as a contestant, all hell breaks loose. Cheesy sets and a slimy role for game-show host Richard Dawson make this violent mess of mayhem a candidate for guilty pleasure; it is the kind of movie that truly devoted Arnold fans will want to watch more than once. And check those credits--choreography by Paula Abdul! "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1998

Studio: New Line Home Video

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 98

Summary: The plot line may sound familiar: Two mismatched cops are assigned as reluctant partners to solve a crime. Culturally they are complete opposites, and they quickly realize they can't stand each other. One (Jackie Chan) believes in doing things by the book. He is a man with integrity and nerves of steel. The other (Chris Tucker) is an amiable rebel who can't stand authority figures. He's a man who has to do everything on his own, much to the displeasure of his superior officer, who in turn thinks this cop is a loose cannon but tolerates him because he gets the job done. Directed by Brett Ratner, "Rush Hour" doesn't break any new ground in terms of story, stunts, or direction. It rehashes just about every "buddy" movie ever made--in fact, it makes films such as "Tango and Cash" seem utterly original and clever by comparison. So, why did this uninspired movie make over $120 million at the box office? Was the whole world suffering from temporary insanity? Hardly. The explanation for the success of "Rush Hour" is quite simple: chemistry. The casting of veteran action maestro Jackie Chan with the charming and often hilarious Chris Tucker was a serendipitous stroke of genius. Fans of Jackie Chan may be slightly disappointed by the lack of action set pieces that emphasize his kung-fu craft. On the other hand, those who know the history of this seasoned Hong Kong actor will be able to appreciate that "Rush Hour" was the mainstream breakthrough that Chan had deserved for years. Coupled with the charismatic scene-stealer Tucker, Chan gets to flex his comic muscles to great effect. From their first scenes together to the trademark Chan outtakes during the end credits, their ability to play off of one another is a joy to behold, and this mischievous interaction is what saves the film from slipping into the depths of pitiful mediocrity. "--Jeremy Storey"

Theatrical: 2001

Studio: New Line Home Video

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 90

Summary: "Rush Hour 2" retains the appeal of its popular predecessor, so it's easily recommended to fans of its returning stars, Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. The action--and there's plenty of it--starts in Hong Kong, where Detective Lee (Chan) and his L.A. counterpart Detective Carter (Tucker) are attempting a vacation, only to get assigned to sleuth a counterfeiting scheme involving a triad kingpin (John Lone), his lethal henchwoman (Zhang Ziyi, from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), and an American billionaire (Alan King). Director Brett Ratner simply lets his stars strut their stuff, so it hardly matters that the plot is disposable, or that his direction is so bland he could've phoned it in from a Jacuzzi.
At its best, "Rush Hour 2" compares favorably to Chan's glossiest Hong Kong hits, and when the action moves to Las Vegas (where Don Cheadle makes an unbilled cameo), the movie goes into high-pitched hyperdrive, riding an easy wave of ambitious stuntwork and broad, derivative humor. Echoes of "Beverly Hills Cop" are too loud, however, and stale ideas (including a comedic highlight for Jeremy Piven as a gay clothier) are made even more aggravating by dialogue that's almost Neanderthal in its embrace of retro-racial stereotypes. Of course, that's what makes "Rush Hour 2" a palatable dish of mainstream comedy; it insults and comforts the viewer at the same time, and while some may find Tucker's relentless hamming unbearable, those who enjoyed "Rush Hour" are sure to appreciate another dose of Chan-Tucker lunacy. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 2007

Studio: New Line

Genre: Action & Adventure

Duration: 91

Summary: Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker head for the City of Lights in the somewhat threadbare but sporadically exciting "Rush Hour 3", the second sequel to director Brett Ratner's 1998 cop-buddy hit. Chan's Inspector Lee and Tucker's Detective Carter hop from Los Angeles to Paris in pursuit of a Chinese triad only to find a mixed reception, including a brutal warning from a French cop (Roman Polanski) and anti-American sentiments from a cab driver (Yvan Attal) who eventually becomes an important and funny ally. Lee and Carter, when not fighting their way out of rooms full of martial arts gangsters and crazed assassins (Sun Ming Ming), follow a trail to a beautiful woman (Noemie Lenoird) who literally carries a vital clue on her person. Lee also holds secret meetings with a United Nations authority (Max Von Sydow), but his personal struggles with a criminal mastermind (Hiroyuki Sanada)--who happens to be an important figure in his life—are at the heart of this movie.
The aging Chan still seems to defy the laws of physics with some of his more spectacular stunts. But it's true those stunts take a little more time than they used to, and judicious editing makes Chan look spry as ever. He frets charmingly in "Rush Hour 3", while Tucker revives his brash character's motormouth guile and whiny womanizing. There isn't a lot left to be discovered about Lee and Carter's compatibility, and even with a minor crisis over their loyalty to one another in "Rush Hour 3", their all-important relationship is almost too easy to take for granted now. Fortunately, the film's biggest thrills come from several wild fight scenes, especially a climactic battle on the Eiffel Tower that is rich in imagination. "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 1999

Studio: Walt Disney Video

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 93

Summary: Wes Anderson's follow-up to the quirky "Bottle Rocket" is a wonderfully unorthodox coming-of-age story that ranks with "Harold and Maude" and "The Graduate" in the pantheon of timeless cult classics. Jason Schwartzman (son of Talia Shire and nephew of Francis Coppola) stars as Max Fischer, a 15-year-old attending the prestigious Rushmore Academy on scholarship, where he's failing all of his classes but is the superstar of the school's extracurricular activities (head of the drama club, the beekeeper club, the fencing club...). Possessing boundless confidence and chutzpah, as well as an aura of authority he seems to have been born with, Max finds two unlikely soulmates in his permutations at Rushmore: industrial magnate and Rushmore alumnus Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and first-grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). His alliance with Blume and crush on Miss Cross, however, are thrown out of kilter by his expulsion from Rushmore, and a budding romance between the two adults that threatens Max's own designs on the lovely schoolteacher.
Never stooping to sentimentality or schmaltz, Anderson and cowriter Owen Wilson have fashioned a wickedly intelligent and wildly funny tale of young adulthood that hits all the right notes in its mix of melancholy and optimism. As played by Schwartzman, Max is both immediately endearing and ferociously irritating: smarter than all the adults around him, with little sense of his shortcomings, he's an unstoppable dynamo who commands grudging respect despite his outlandish projects (including a school play about Vietnam). Murray, as the tycoon who determinedly wages war with Max for the affections of Miss Cross, is a revelation of middle-aged resignation. Disgusted with his family, his life, and himself, he's turned around by both Max's antagonism and Miss Cross's love. Williams is equally affecting as the teacher who still carries a torch for her dead husband, and the superb supporting cast also includes Seymour Cassel as Max's barber father, Brian Cox as the frustrated headmaster of Rushmore, and a hilarious Mason Gamble as Max's young charge. Put this one on your shelf of modern masterpieces. "--Mark Englehart"

Theatrical: 1986

Studio: Walt Disney Video

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 93

Summary: A milestone comedy of the 1980s, "Ruthless People" delighted critics and audiences alike and set the tone of Hollywood comedies for years to come. Along with that other popular farce about wealthy Californians, "Down and Out in Beverly Hills", this ingenious romp revived Bette Midler's career and launched Disney (by way of its subsidiary, Touchstone Pictures) into the lucrative production of R-rated comedies; it also ensured the star power of then-TV star Danny DeVito. Dale Launer became Hollywood's hot screenwriter du jour by cleverly reworking O. Henry's "Ransom of Red Chief" into a wicked tale of marital malice heightened by a bungled kidnapping. Midler is sublime as the victim of low-rent abductors ("I've been kidnapped by Kmart!"), and DeVito's the gleeful philanderer who refuses to pay ransom for his wife's unwanted return. With Anita Morris, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, and Bill Pullman among the plot-twisting schemers, the movie's so much fun that an eventual remake seems almost inevitable. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical:

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Robin Williams

Duration: 99

Summary: The long tradition of family vacation comedies continues in RV, with Robin Williams doing his best to keep things amusing. He succeeds, for the most part, by downplaying his manic persona and settling comfortably into his role as well-meaning husband and father Bob Munro. Determined to combine work and pleasure, Bob rents the titular motor home to drive his wife (Cheryl Hines), teenage daughter (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) and pre-teen son (Josh Hutcherson) on a scenic vacation in the Colorado Rockies while secretly preparing his presentation for a high-stakes corporate merger. Their dysfunctional road trip leads to repeated encounters with the all-too-happy Gornicke family (led by Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth), who only appear to be stupid rednecks, when in fact they represent the familial togetherness that Bob is striving to regain. As directed by comedy veteran Barry Sonnenfeld (whose image as "Irv" the RV rental king is plastered across the side of the Munro's RV), these warm-and-fuzzy sentiments are strictly by-the-numbers, along with plenty of jokes about raw sewage, scavenging raccoons, and RV's run amuck. There aren't any real highlights, and the outcome is utterly predictable, but RV delivers enough comedy to qualify as an enjoyable diversion. Those who remember Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Vincente Minnell's 1954 hit The Long, Long Trailer may find RV similarly entertaining. --Jeff Shannon