Total Number of DVDs: 312
Last Updated: 26 May 2008

Title : # | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y
Page Number: 5 / 25

 

 

The Da Vinci Code

Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 6.4 (78,239 votes)
Duration: 149
Release: Nov 2006
# of Discs: 2
UPC: 0043396148369
Purchased On: 21 May 2008
Summary: Critics and controversy aside, "The Da Vinci Code" is a verifiable blockbuster. Combine the film's huge worldwide box-office take with over 100 million copies of Dan Brown's book sold, and "The Da Vinci Code" has clearly made the leap from pop-culture hit to a certifiable franchise. The leap for any story making the move from book to big screen, however, is always more perilous. In the case of "The Da Vinci Code", the plot is concocted of such a preposterous formula of elements that you wouldn’t envy screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, the man tasked with making this story filmable. The script follows Dan Brown’s book as closely as possible while incorporating a few needed changes, including a better ending. And if you’re like most of the world, by now you’ve read the book and know how it goes: while lecturing in Paris, noted Harvard Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to the Louvre by French police to help decipher a bizarre series of clues left at the scene of the murder of the chief curator. Enter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), gifted cryptologist. Neveu and Langdon team up to solve the mystery, and from there the story is propelled across Europe, ballooning into a modern-day mini-quest for the Holy Grail, where secret societies are discovered, codes are broken, and murderous albino monks are thwarted… oh, and alternative theories about the life of Christ and the beginnings of Christianity are presented too, of course. It’s not the typical formula for a stock Hollywood thriller. In fact, taken solely as a mystery, the movie almost works--despite some gaping holes--mostly just because it keeps moving. Brown’s greatest trick was to have the entire story take place in one day, so the action is forced to keep moving, despite some necessary pauses for exposition. As a screen couple, Hanks and Tautou are just fine together but not exactly memorable; meanwhile Sir Ian McKellen’s scenery-chewing as pivotal character Sir Leigh Teabing is just what the film needed to keep it from taking itself too seriously. The whole thing is like a good roller-coaster ride: try not to think too much about it--just sit back and enjoy the trip. "--Daniel Vancini"


 

Dan in Real Life

Director: Peter Hedges
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Steve Carell, John Mahoney, Bernie McInerney, Dianne Wiest
Genre: Comedy
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.2 (12,125 votes)
Duration: 98
Release: Mar 2008
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 0786936732658
Purchased On: 17 Mar 2008
Summary: Steve Carell’s best film performance to date can be found in the fitfully engaging "Dan In Real Life", where his long-suffering persona suits a character who lets his long-dormant hopes rise for a moment, only to be shot down again. Carell plays Dan Burns, a newspaper columnist who writes about family issues and relationships. As a widower with three growing girls to raise, however, the difference between Dan’s printed wisdom and his struggles with fatherhood and loneliness is often vast. He’s put to a severe test when he packs up the kids for a cabin holiday with his parents and siblings, then falls for the exotic, if elusive, Marie (Juliette Binoche) during a solo excursion to a bookstore. Stirred by a woman for the first time since his late wife, Dan is shocked to find that Marie is actually dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook), and that she’ll be spending the vacation with him in the midst of his family. From that point, the script, co-written by director Peter Hedges ("Pieces of April"), pretty much becomes a parade of difficult circumstances under which both Dan and Marie have to keep their attraction to one another secret. Certain scenes work better than others, but there is an overall monotony to the movie that isn’t helped by a lack of onscreen chemistry between Binoche and Carell. Both actors are fine on their own terms, but whatever is supposed to be clicking between Marie and Dan isn’t compelling enough to make one truly care that they get together somehow. Still, this is a film with plenty of moments to like, especially when Carell gets to broaden his previous range of emotions in a movie. "--Tom Keogh"


 

Daredevil

Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Favreau
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 5.5 (37,519 votes)
Duration: 103
Release: Jul 2003
# of Discs: 2
UPC: 0024543077886
Purchased On:
Summary: Darker than its popular comic-book predecessor "Spider-Man", the $80 million extravaganza "Daredevil" was packaged for maximum global appeal, its juvenile plot beginning when 12-year-old Matt Murdock is accidentally blinded shortly before his father is murdered. Later an adult attorney in New York's Hell's Kitchen, Murdock (Ben Affleck) uses his remaining, superenhanced senses to battle crime as Daredevil, the masked and vengeful "man without fear," pitted against dominant criminal Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) and the psychotic Bullseye (Colin Farrell), who can turn almost anything into a deadly projectile. Daredevil is well matched with the dynamic Elektra (Jennifer Garner), but their teaming is as shallow as the movie itself, which is peppered with Marvel trivia and cameo appearances (creator Stan Lee, "Clerks" director and "Daredevil" devotee Kevin Smith) and enough computer-assisted stuntwork to give Spidey a run for his money. This is Hollywood product at its most lavishly vacuous; die-hard fans will argue its merits while its red-leathered hero swoops and zooms toward a sequel. "--Jeff Shannon"


 

Dark City

Director: Alex Proyas
Starring: Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.7 (36,791 votes)
Duration: 96
Release: Jul 1998
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9780780622555
Purchased On:
Summary: If you're a fan of brooding comic-book antiheroes, got a nihilistic jolt from "The Crow" (1994), and share director Alex Proyas's highly developed preoccupation for style over substance, you might be tempted to call "Dark City" an instant classic of visual imagination. It's one of those films that exists in a world purely of its own making, setting its own rules and playing by them fairly, so that even its derivative elements (and there are quite a few) acquire their own specific uniqueness. Before long, however, the film becomes interesting only as a triumph of production design. And while that's certainly enough to grab your attention ("Blade Runner" is considered a classic, after all), it's painfully clear that "Dark City" has precious little heart and soul. One-dimensional characters are no match for the film's abundance of retro-futuristic style, so it's best to admire the latter on its own splendidly cinematic terms. Trivia buffs will be interested to know that the film's 50-plus sets (partially inspired by German expressionism) were built at the Fox Film Studios in Sydney, Australia, home base of director Alex Proyas and producer Andrew Mason. The underground world depicted in the film required the largest indoor set ever built in Australia. Befitting a film of such ambition, the DVD includes a feast of bonus features, including audio commentaries by the director, producer, writers, and cinematographer, and also by film critic Roger Ebert, who named "Dark City" one of the best films of 1998. Also included is an isolated music track, an interactive game, and a photo gallery of production stills and set design sketches. "--Jeff Shannon"


 

Dave Chappelle - Killin' Them Softly

Director: Stan Lathan
Starring: Dave Chappelle
Genre: Comedy
Rated: NR
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 8.7 (1,266 votes)
Duration: 60
Release: Jul 2003
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 0634991147521
Purchased On: 20 Apr 2008
Summary: "Killin' Them Softly" is easily one of HBO's best comedy specials, catching star Dave Chappelle at a career high in 2000 and with an abundance of hysterical, highly polished material. Taking his time, stretching concepts and bits like a master, Chappelle plunges into a wealth of anecdotes and observations about the influx of white people into Washington, D.C. (where this show was recorded) since the 1980s. ("Who are the scariest people? White guys in black gangs. No telling what they did to get respect.") There are fantastic tales of racing cops with Chappelle's white friend, Chip, and a great story about being left alone in a limousine outside a busy crack house. Other good stuff: introducing a kid to a PePe Le Pew cartoon and realizing too late the skunk is a sex criminal, and why we should know our 911 calls will end up played on television. "--Tom Keogh"


 

Dawn of the Dead

Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell
Genre: Horror
Rated: Unrated
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.4 (37,686 votes)
Duration: 110
Release: Oct 2004
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9781417018147
Purchased On:
Summary: Are you ready to get down with the sickness? Movie logic dictates that you shouldn't remake a classic, but Zack Snyder's "Dawn of the Dead" defies that logic and comes up a winner. You could argue that George A. Romero's 1978 original was sacred ground for horror buffs, but it was a "low-budget" classic, and Snyder's action-packed upgrade benefits from the same manic pacing that energized Romero's continuing zombie saga. Romero's indictment of mega-mall commercialism is lost (it's arguably outmoded anyway), so Snyder and screenwriter James Gunn compensate with the same setting--in this case, a Milwaukee shopping mall under siege by cannibalistic zombies in the wake of a devastating viral outbreak--a well-chosen cast (led by Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer), some outrageously morbid humor, and a no-frills plot that keeps tension high and blood splattering by the bucketful. Horror buffs will catch plenty of tributes to Romero's film (including cameos by three of its cast members, including gore-makeup wizard Tom Savini), and shocking images are abundant enough to qualify this "Dawn" as an excellent zombie-flick double-feature with "28 Days Later", its de facto British counterpart. "--Jeff Shannon"


 

The Day After Tomorrow

Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Dash Mihok, Jay O. Sanders
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 6.2 (49,013 votes)
Duration: 123
Release: Oct 2004
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 0024543135548
Purchased On:
Summary: Supreme silliness doesn't stop "The Day After Tomorrow" from being lots of fun for connoisseurs of epic-scale disaster flicks. After the blockbuster profits of "Independence Day" and "Godzilla", you can't blame director Roland Emmerich for using global warming as a politically correct excuse for destroying most of the northern hemisphere. Like most of Emmerich's films, this one emphasizes special effects over such lesser priorities as well-drawn characters and plausible plotting, and his dialogue (cowritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff) is so laughably trite that it could be entirely eliminated without harming the movie. It's the spectacle that's important here, not the lame, recycled plot about father and son (Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal) who endure an end-of-the-world scenario caused by the effects of global warming. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the awesome visions of tornado-ravaged Los Angeles, blizzards in New Delhi, Japan pummeled by grapefruit-sized hailstones, and Manhattan flooded by swelling oceans and then frozen by the onset of a modern ice age. It's all wildly impressive, and Emmerich obviously doesn't care if the science is flimsy, so why should you? "--Jeff Shannon"


 

Dazed and Confused

Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Jason London, Rory Cochrane, Wiley Wiggins, Sasha Jenson, Michelle Burke
Genre: Comedy
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.4 (24,257 votes)
Duration: 103
Release: Jul 1998
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9780783227368
Purchased On:
Summary: You remember high school? Really remember? If you think you do, watch this film: it'll all really come racing back. After changing the world with the generation-defining "Slacker", director Richard Linklater turned his free-range vérité sensibility on the 1970s. As before, his all-seeing camera meanders across a landscape studded with goofy pop culture references and poignant glimpses of human nature. Only this time around, he's spreading a thick layer of nostalgia over the lens (and across the soundtrack). It's as if "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The story deals with a group of friends on the last day of high school, 1976. Good-natured football star Randall "Pink" Floyd navigates effortlessly between the warring worlds of jocks, stoners, wannabes, and rockers with girlfriend and new-freshman buddy in tow. Surprisingly, it's not a coming-of-age movie, but a film that dares ask the eternal, overwhelming, adolescent question, "What happens next?" It's a little too honest to be a light comedy (representative quote: "If I ever say these were the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself."). But it's also way too much fun (remember souped-up Corvettes and bicentennial madness?) to be just another existential-essay-on-celluloid. "--Grant Balfour"
On the DVD
With a perfect combination of awesome '70s-era packaging and a totally rockin' selection of bonus features, the Criterion Collection's director-approved special edition two-disc release of "Dazed and Confused" instantly qualifies as one of the very best DVDs of 2006--the 30th anniversary of the Bicentennial, man! That's what I'm talkin' about! As a sublime companion piece to Criterion's release of Richard Linklater's previous film "Slacker", the set comes in a slipcase (complete with "Physical Graffiti"-like picture-windows) festooned with Flair-pen high-school "doodling" (just like you'd scribble on your Pee Chee folders, back in the day), and the features get off on a high note (kinda like Slater, y'know?) with writer-director Linklater's feature-length commentary, which offers all aspiring filmmakers an important lesson protecting your vision and knowing when "not" to compromise. In recalling the many struggles he endured during production, Linklater covers a lot of territory (notes from the studio, the fantasy abundance of muscle cars, selection of music, and his acute disappointment when Robert Plant--but not Jimmy Page--refused to allow Led Zeppelin songs to be used in the film), and his engaging, good-humored perspective (and appropriate sense of vindication) clearly arises from his film's eventual acceptance as a classic. (For all you film buffs out there, Linklater quite rightly recommends Tim Hunter's "Over the Edge" and Lindsay Anderson's "If..." as "great teenage films" that defined the genre before "Dazed".) The film itself never looked or sounded better (Linklater and cinematographer Lee Daniel supervised the high-def digital transfer), and a generous selection of deleted scenes will be welcomed by the film's legion of loyal fans.
The Disc 2 supplements are highlighted by "Making "Dazed"", filmmaker Kahane Corn's decade-in-the-making 50-minute documentary, chronicling all aspects of the production from casting to the "Dazed" tenth-anniversary celebration in Austin, Texas, in 2003. "Beer Bust at the Moon Tower" allows random viewing of a 118-minute compilation of behind-the-scenes footage, on-set interviews (with cast members both in and out of character), audition footage, and recollections from the anniversary bash. The accompanying 72-page booklet is a Criterion master-stroke: Designed like a small-scale high-school yearbook, it's filled with more "doodling" artwork, lots of photos, three appreciative mini-essays (the best being by journalist/author Chuck Klosterman), recollections by cast and crew, and humorous "Profiles in Confusion" portraits of the characters in "Dazed", reprinted from the film's similarly designed companion book. It's all topped off by a miniature reproduction of the film's original poster, designed by Frank Kozik. In terms of capturing "The Spirit of '76" and the film's celebratory sense of anti-nostalgia, this is surely one of Criterion's finest releases to date. "--Jeff Shannon"


 

Dead Man on Campus

Director: Alan Cohn
Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Poppy Montgomery, Lochlyn Munro, Randy Pearlstein
Genre: Comedy
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 5.4 (4,513 votes)
Duration: 94
Release: Mar 1999
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9780792153153
Purchased On:
Summary: Well, it's a good idea. "Dead Man on Campus" had the potential to be a classic dark comedy: Two students at a prestigious university are flunking out; however, due to a provision in the school's charter, if they had a roommate who committed suicide, they'd both get straight A's as a form of reparation for grief and trauma. So, to stay in school, they seek out the most depressed student on campus and transfer him into their three-person dorm room. Unfortunately, rather than satirizing the real issues--academic narrow-mindedness, parental pressure, the obsessiveness of late adolescence--the movie is a compilation of frat-boy clichés and jokes that want to be in bad taste but are actually quite tame. The leads (Tom Everett Scott and Mark-Paul Gosselaar) are pleasant and the soundtrack (produced by the Dust Brothers) has some very hip selections, but after a snappy opening-credit sequence, the movie stumbles along, aimless and sluggish. Alyson Hannigan ("American Pie", Willow on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") has a small role and is her charming geeky self. "--Bret Fetzer"


 

The Departed

Director: Martin Scorsese, Richard Schickel
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 8.6 (114,653 votes)
Duration: 152
Release: Feb 2007
# of Discs: 2
UPC: 0085391132882
Purchased On:
Summary: Martin Scorsese makes a welcome return to the mean streets (of Boston, in this case) with "The Departed", hailed by many as Scorsese's best film since "Casino". Since this crackling crime thriller is essentially a Scorsese-stamped remake of the acclaimed 2002 Hong Kong thriller "Infernal Affairs", the film was intensely scrutinized by devoted critics and cinephiles, and while Scorsese's intense filmmaking and all-star cast deserve ample acclaim, "The Departed" is also worthy of serious re-assessment, especially with regard to what some attentive viewers described as sloppy craftsmanship (!), notably in terms of mismatched shots and jagged continuity. But no matter where you fall on the Scorsese appreciation scale, there's no denying that "The Departed" is a signature piece of work from one of America's finest directors, designed for maximum impact with a breathtaking series of twists, turns, and violent surprises. It's an intricate cat-and-mouse game, but this time the cat and mouse are both moles: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is an ambitious cop on the rise, planted in the Boston police force by criminal kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hot-tempered police cadet who's been artificially disgraced and then planted into Costello's crime operation as a seemingly trustworthy soldier. As the multilayered plot unfolds (courtesy of a scorching adaptation by Kingdom of Heaven screenwriter William Monahan), Costigan and Sullivan conduct a volatile search for each other (they're essentially looking for "themselves") while simultaneously wooing the psychiatrist (Vera Farmiga) assigned to treat their crime-driven anxieties.
Such convenient coincidences might sink a lesser film, but "The Departed" is so electrifying that you barely notice the plot-holes. And while Nicholson's profane swagger is too much "Jack" and not enough "Costello," he's still a joy to watch, especially in a film that's additionally energized by memorable (and frequently hilarious) supporting roles for Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and a host of other big-name performers. "The Departed" also makes clever and plot-dependent use of cell-phones, to the extent that it couldn't exist without them. Powered by Scorsese's trademark use of well-chosen soundtrack songs (from vintage rock to Puccini's operas), "The Departed" may not be perfect, but it's one helluva ride for moviegoers, proving popular enough to become the biggest box-office hit of Scorsese's commercially rocky career. "--Jeff Shannon "

On the DVD
Introduced by director Martin Scorsese, the nine deleted scenes from "The Departed" are all interesting to watch, though not a significant loss from the picture. The other bonus features are very good as well. "Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie, and "The Departed"" is a 21-minute history of the real-life Boston gangster Jack Nicholson's character was based on. Scorsese, screenwriter William Monahan, and a number of journalists are among those interviewed. In "Crossing Criminal Cultures" (24 minutes), Scorsese and the cast discuss gangster pictures and specifically Scorsese's. Consider that a warm-up for "Scorsese on Scorsese", an 86-minute documentary from 2004. (It's the only bonus feature not available on the HD DVD or Blu-ray versions.) There's no narrator or interviewer: it's just Scorsese talking about his upbringing and influences. There's a generous use of clips through "The Aviator" and even his American Express commercial. "--David Horiuchi"


 

Desperado

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida, Cheech Marin, Steve Buscemi
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 6.9 (29,936 votes)
Duration: 103
Release: Aug 2003
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9781404904804
Purchased On:
Summary: It's Sergio Leone meets Sam Peckinpah meets Quentin Tarantino in this ultraviolent, mythological shoot-'em-up by auteur Robert Rodriguez. In "Desperado", Rodriguez creates larger-than-life, genre-tweaking stock characters and puts them through their paces. As they stride bravely through an Old West lightly dusted with camp humor, they're periodically called upon to nimbly dodge bullets and fireballs through outrageously choreographed displays of Hollywood pyrotechnics. In this bigger-budget semi-remake/semi-sequel to Rodriguez's indie sensation, "El Mariachi" (made, famously, for $7,000), Antonio Banderas is the darkly charismatic El Mariachi, the Mysterious Stranger in town; Steve Buscemi is perfectly cast as his weasely, motor-mouth Comic Sidekick, laying the groundwork for El Mariachi's entrance by spinning saloon stories to build up his legend; Cheech Marin is a standout as the Bartender, who really knows how to handle a toothpick; and gorgeous Salma Hayek is, well, the Girl--treated to the kind of full-blown, slow-mo introduction the movies traditionally lavish on beautiful new stars. It doesn't add up to much, but it's a kick. Be careful not to blow out your speakers with the DVD's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. "--Jim Emerson"


 

Deuce Bigalow - Male Gigolo

Director: Mike Mitchell (VI)
Starring: Rob Schneider, William Forsythe, Eddie Griffin, Arija Bareikis, Oded Fehr
Genre: Comedy
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 5.5 (16,361 votes)
Duration: 88
Release: Jun 2000
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 0717951009289
Purchased On:
Summary: "Saturday Night Live" alum and Adam Sandler sidekick Rob Schneider plays the title character of "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo", a miserable fish-tank cleaner who stumbles onto a new and different lifestyle when he looks after the fish of a high-priced male prostitute (Oded Fehr from "The Mummy"). Deuce teams up with a man-pimp (Eddie Griffin), gets harassed by a crazed cop (William Forsythe), and of course falls in love with a cute client (Arija Bareikis). The nonsensical plot is festooned with gags about wet T-shirts, foul-mouthed senior citizens, flatulence, Tourette's syndrome, narcolepsy, and just about everything else you might imagine. More surprising is that, by and large, the movie works. It's a combination of bad taste and goodheartedness, similar to "There's Something About Mary", which "Deuce Bigalow" is clearly emulating. It's not the pat "people should learn to accept themselves for who they are" theme or the formulaic happy ending; it's that the movie understands that sex is not the same thing as happiness or contentment. For all its crassness, "Deuce Bigalow" actually treats its characters as people, and the result is silly, obnoxious, and enjoyable. "--Bret Fetzer"


 

Devil's Advocate

Director: Taylor Hackford
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones, Judith Ivey
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.1 (45,154 votes)
Duration: 144
Release: Dec 1998
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9786305065555
Purchased On:
Summary: Too old for Hamlet and too young for Lear--what's an ambitious actor to do? Play the Devil, of course. Jack Nicholson did it in "The Witches of Eastwick"; Robert De Niro did it in "Angel Heart" (as Louis Cyphre--get it?). In "The Devil's Advocate" Al Pacino takes his turn as the great Satan, and clearly relishes his chance to raise hell. He's a New York lawyer, of course, by the name of John Milton, who recruits a hotshot young Florida attorney (Keanu Reeves) to his firm and seduces him with tempting offers of power, sex, and money. Think of the story as a twist on John Grisham's "The Firm", with the corporate evil made even more explicit. Reeves is wooden, and therefore doesn't seem to have much of a soul to lose, but he's really just our excuse to meet the devil. Pacino's the main attraction, gleefully showing off his--and the Antichrist's--chops at perpetrating menace and mayhem. The film was directed by Taylor Hackford ("Against All Odds", "Dolores Claiborne"), who provides alternate-track commentary for the movie itself, plus a dozen deleted scenes. Also note: due to a settlement with artist Frederick Hart over the movie's use of a sculpture resembling his "Ex Nihilo" in Washington's National Cathedral, future releases of the film will be altered. "--Jim Emerson"


 

Die Hard

Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Reginald VelJohnson, Bonnie Bedelia, Alexander Godunov, Paul Gleason
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 8.1 (101,458 votes)
Duration: 132
Release: Jul 2001
# of Discs: 2
UPC: 0024543012528
Purchased On:
Summary: This seminal 1988 thriller made Bruce Willis a star and established a new template for action stories: "Terrorists take over a (blank), and a lone hero, unknown to the villains, is trapped with them." In "Die Hard", those bad guys, led by the velvet-voiced Alan Rickman, assume control of a Los Angeles high-rise with Willis's visiting New York cop inside. The attraction of the film has as much to do with the sight of a barefoot mortal running around the guts of a modern office tower as it has to do with the plentiful fight sequences and the bond the hero establishes with an LA beat cop. Bonnie Bedelia plays Willis's wife, Hart Bochner is good as a brash hostage who tries negotiating his way to freedom, Alexander Godunov makes for a believable killer with lethal feet, and William Atherton is slimy as a busybody reporter. Exceptionally well directed by John McTiernan. "--Tom Keogh"


 

Die Hard 2 - Die Harder

Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, William Sadler, Reginald VelJohnson
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 6.8 (42,534 votes)
Duration: 124
Release: Jul 2001
# of Discs: 2
UPC: 0024543021483
Purchased On:
Summary: Director Renny Harlin ("Cutthroat Island") took the reins of this 1990 sequel, which places Bruce Willis's New York City cop character in harm's way again with a gaggle of terrorists. This time, Willis awaits his wife's arrival at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., when he gets wind of a plot to blow up the facility. Noisy, overbearing, and forgettable, the film has none of the purity of its predecessor's simple story; and it makes a huge miscalculation in allowing a terrible tragedy to occur rather than stretch out the tension. Where "Die Hard" set new precedents in action movies, "Die Hard 2" is just an anything-goes spectacle. "--Tom Keogh"


 

Die Hard with a Vengeance

Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Graham Greene, Colleen Camp
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.2 (47,516 votes)
Duration: 131
Release: Jul 2001
# of Discs: 2
UPC: 0024543021513
Purchased On:
Summary: The third installment of the hugely succesful Die Hard series, reteams Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan in a new action/adventure extravaganza of special effects, unexpected comedy and non-stop thrills.


 

Live Free or Die Hard

Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Cliff Curtis
Genre: Action & Adventure
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.7 (80,758 votes)
Duration: 129
Release: Nov 2007
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 0024543476160
Purchased On: 17 Mar 2008
Summary: Twelve years after "Die Hard with a Vengeance", the third and previous film in the "Die Hard" franchise, "Live Free or Die Hard" finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any "Die Hard" fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, "Deadwood", and Maggie Q, "Mission: Impossible 3") that seems to be operating under the government's noses.
"Live Free or Die Hard" uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of "Die Hard with a Vengeance" along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the "Underworld" franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rating--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --"David Horiuchi"

Beyond "Live Free or Die Hard" "Live Free or Die Hard" on Blu-Ray
"Top U.S. Box Office of 2007"
More from Fox

Stills from "Live Free or Die Hard" (click for larger image)


 

Dirty Work

Director: Bob Saget
Starring: Norm MacDonald, Artie Lange, Jack Warden, Traylor Howard, Don Rickles
Genre: Comedy
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 5.9 (7,259 votes)
Duration: 82
Release: Aug 1999
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9780792842163
Purchased On:
Summary: Life's not so great for Mitch Weaver (Macdonald). He's just lost his girlfriend, his job and now his best friend's dad (Warden) needs a new heart! But the only way to arrange the transplant is to cut a deal with a surgeon (Chase) with a gambling problem in other words, find $50,000 or the old man dies! Out of work and out of options, all Mitch and his friend have to rely on is their one natural talent, revenge! Whether planting phony hookers in cars or stinking up houses with rotting fish, these "Revenge Specialists for Hire" are sick, dirty and good! But when a rich client refuses to pay up after a job well done, they make him realize exactly who he's messing with after all, getting even is their business!


 

Dogma

Director: Kevin Smith
Starring: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Jason Mewes, Chris Rock
Genre: Comedy
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 7.3 (67,755 votes)
Duration: 128
Release: Dec 2002
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9780767849487
Purchased On:
Summary: Kevin Smith is a conundrum of a filmmaker: he's a writer with brilliant, clever ideas who can't set up a simple shot to save his life. It was fine back when Smith was making low-budget films like "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy", both of which had an amiable, grungy feel to them, but now that he's a rising director who's attracting top talent and tackling bigger themes, it might behoove him to polish his filmmaking. That's the main problem with "Dogma"--it's an ambitious, funny, aggressively intelligent film about modern-day religion, but while Smith's writing has matured significantly (anyone who thinks he's not topnotch should take a look at "Chasing Amy"), his direction hasn't. It's too bad, because "Dogma" is ripe for near-classic status in its theological satire, which is hardly as blasphemous as the protests that greeted the movie would lead you to believe.
Two banished angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) have discovered a loophole that would allow them back into heaven; problem is, they'd destroy civilization in the process by proving God fallible. It's up to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a lapsed Catholic who works in an abortion clinic, to save the day, with some help from two so-called prophets (Smith and Jason Mewes, as their perennial characters Jay and Silent Bob), the heretofore unknown 13th apostle (Chris Rock), and a sexy, heavenly muse (the sublime Salma Hayek, who almost single-handedly steals the film). In some ways "Dogma" is a shaggy dog of a road movie--which hits a comic peak when Affleck and Fiorentino banter drunkenly on a train to New Jersey, not realizing they're mortal enemies--and segues into a comedy-action flick as the vengeful angels (who have a taste for blood) try to make their way into heaven. Smith's cast is exceptional--with Fiorentino lending a sardonic gravity to the proceedings, and Jason Lee smirking evilly as the horned devil Azrael--and the film shuffles good-naturedly to its climax (featuring Alanis Morissette as a beatifically silent God), but it just looks so unrelentingly... "subpar". Credit Smith with being a daring writer but a less-than-stellar director. "--Mark Englehart"


 

Donnie Darko

Director: Richard Kelly (II)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Mary McDonnell
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 8.3 (113,400 votes)
Duration: 113
Release: Feb 2003
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 0024543036401
Purchased On:
Summary: This unclassifiable but stunningly original film obliterates the walls between teen comedy, science fiction, family drama, horror, and cultural satire--and remains wildly entertaining throughout. Jake Gyllenhaal ("October Sky") stars as Donnie, a borderline-schizophrenic adolescent for whom there is no difference between the signs and wonders of reality (a plane crash that decimates his house) and hallucination (a man-sized, reptilian rabbit who talks to him). Obsessed with the science of time travel and acutely aware of the world around him, Donnie is isolated by his powers of analysis and the apocalyptic visions that no one else seems to share. The debut feature of writer-director Richard Kelly, "Donnie Darko" is a shattering, hypnotic work that sets its own terms and gambles--rightfully so, as it turns out--that a viewer will stay aboard for the full ride. "--Tom Keogh"


 

Down to Earth

Director: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Starring: Chris Rock, Regina King, Chazz Palminteri, Eugene Levy, Frankie Faison
Genre: Comedy
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 5.0 (5,872 votes)
Duration: 87
Release: Jul 2001
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9780792173069
Purchased On:
Summary: A tepid reworking of Warren Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait" (itself a remake of 1941's "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"), "Down to Earth" tries to mold comedian Chris Rock into an amiable romantic lead, but it softens the scathingly observant humor that made Rock a standup successor to Richard Pryor. Rock's aggressive style is bracingly expressed in a few good scenes, but through most of this movie--from the directors of "American Pie"--he struggles with dialogue that would barely pass muster in a low-rated sitcom. Edgy potential loses out to crowd-pleasing with the familiar body-switch formula: by way of premature death and bad timing on the part of heaven's Vegas-styled gatekeepers (played by Eugene Levy and Chazz Palminteri), Rock--as struggling comedian Lance Barton--is reincarnated as a 55-year-old white billionaire with a nasty reputation.
Adjusting (too easily) to his racial transition, Lance charms a hospital administrator (Regina King) who's amazed to see the selfish white billionaire turning into romantic philanthropist. This allows plenty of black/white-contrast jokes (did you ever see a fat, middle-aged white guy who's into hip-hop?), and Rock, who cowrote the screenplay, still manages to work some pointed politics into the movie's good-natured tone. It's guaranteed that some will find "Down to Earth" quite entertaining, but others will wonder how potent this comedy could have been if Rock had been more willing to confront the harsher truths that lurk beneath the humor. "--Jeff Shannon"


 

Dumb and Dumber

Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Starring: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr, Karen Duffy
Genre: Comedy
Rated: PG-13
My Rating:
IMDB Rating: 6.9 (49,130 votes)
Duration: 106
Release: May 1997
# of Discs: 1
UPC: 9780780618558
Purchased On:
Summary: Delivering exactly what its title promises, this celebration of stupidity was Jim Carrey's 1994 follow-up to "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "The Mask". The film pairs the rubber- faced wacky man with Jeff Daniels as the not-so-dynamic duo of Lloyd and Harry, dunderheads who come into the possession of a briefcase containing ransom money that is intended for Mob-connected kidnappers. Lauren Holly costars as the woman who lost the briefcase, and with whom Carrey falls in love (both in real life and as his moronic on-screen character). As Lloyd and Harry make a mad dash to return the briefcase (never aware of its contents), the bumbling buddies attract Mobsters, cops, and trouble galore. This lowbrow laugh-a-thon scores some solid hits for hilarity, but with gags involving ill-fated parakeets, buxom bimbos, and an overdose of laxatives, be prepared to put your brain--and good taste--on hold. "--Jeff Shannon"


 


Created using DVDpedia