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Page # 16

Office Space
Comedies & Family Ent. 20th Century Fox R
Comedic tale of company workers who hate their jobs and decide to rebel against their greedy boss.

Onegai Teacher
Anime.Comedy.Drama Bandai Entertainment
An alien who becomes a teacher, and a student start a relationship and have to keep it all secret.

Ep 01: Tell me, Teacher
Ep 02: I Can't Get Married Anymore
Ep 03: This Isn't Right, Teacher
Ep 04: Actually, I Think I Love You
Ep 05: For That Teacher, I...
Ep 06: Let's Begin After We Start
Ep 07: Don't Cry Teacher
Ep 08: Long Night
Ep 09: Let's End It Now
Ep 10: But...
Ep 11: Teacher
Ep 12: Teacher Once Again
Ep 13: Secret Couple

Over the Hedge
Animated.Comedy Dreamworks PG
The manicured lawns and overstuffed garbage cans of suburbia become a buffet for woodland creatures in "Over the Hedge". A self-centered raccoon named RJ (voiced by Bruce Willis, "Die Hard") steals and accidentally destroys the hoard of an angry bear (Nick Nolte, "48 Hours"), who gives the raccoon a week to replace it. RJ despairs--until he meets an odd gang of foragers, ranging from a turtle named Verne (Garry Shandling, "The Larry Sanders Show"), a father/daughter duo of opossums (the bizarre pairing of William Shatner and pop singer Avril Lavigne), a family of porcupines (with "A Mighty Wind's" Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as the parents), and a hyperactive squirrel named Hammy (Steve Carell, "The 40 Year Old Virgin"). By convincing these friendly beasts that the suburban homesteads on the other side of a recently erected hedge are a mother-lode of cast-off food, RJ hopes to dupe them into doing his gathering. But when the suburban residents realize they've been invaded by woodland pests, an exterminator is called to take care of the problem. The overarching storyline of "Over the Hedge" is pure formula--your basic "family matters more than anything" lesson--but moment to moment, the movie is delightfully crisp and clever. The animation is topnotch, the acting is excellent (other voices include those of Allison Janney, "The West Wing", and Thomas Haden Church, "Sideways"), and the satirical jabs at consumerism are actually funny. An above-average animated movie. "--Bret Fetzer"

Stills from "Over the Hedge" (click for larger image)

























Overboard
Comedy MGM (Video & DVD) PG
Real-life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn star in this enjoyable 1987 comedy by Garry Marshall ("Pretty Woman") about an imperious heiress (Hawn) who loses her memory after a boating accident and is identified as the wife of a handyman (Russell). Russell's character brings her "home" to his messy house and unruly kids, and the laughs follow as the aristocratic Hawn tries fitting in. Marshall delivers the comic goods, the leads are entertaining (Russell needs to do more comedy), and the supporting cast is made up of happily familiar faces, including Roddy McDowall, Edward Herrmann, and Marshall favorite Hector Elizondo in an unbilled bit. "--Tom Keogh"

The Perfect Man
Comedy Universal Studios PG
One of Hilary Duff's most attractive qualities is that she's not a borderline anorexic like too many Hollywood starlets; she has a warm, full-bodied presence that makes her dangerously glossy prettiness accessible. Similarly, Heather Locklear--who's been an iconic plastic blonde on television for decades--is cultivating a bruised humanity as she matures. These two combine forces in "The Perfect Man", a curious teen comedy/adult romance hybrid about a single mother named Jean (Locklear, "Melrose Place") whose tactic for getting over a broken heart is to move to a different part of the country, uprooting her two daughters Holly and Zoe (Duff, "Cheaper by the Dozen", and newcomer Aria Wallace) in the process. Holly, to keep her mother from falling into another desperate and doomed relationship, uses advice from a schoolfriend's uncle (Chris Noth, "Sex and the City") to send Jean flowers and love letters from a secret admirer. Of course, sustaining this fantasy requires some wacky antics, but "The Perfect Man" balances goofiness with an emotional mother/daughter tug-of-war and has some entertaining supporting actors (including Caroline Rhea, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", and Carson Kressley, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"). The plot, however, has holes so big that it collapses even as it unfolds. "--Bret Fetzer"

Pirates Of The Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest
Action.Adventure Walt Disney Video PG-13
Take the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, add a dash of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and a lot more rum. Shake well and you'll have something resembling "Dead Man's Chest", a bombastic sequel that's enjoyable as long as you don't think too hard about it. The film opens with the interrupted wedding of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), both of whom are arrested for aiding in the escape of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in the first film. Their freedom can only be obtained by getting Captain Jack's compass, which is linked to a key that's linked to a chest belonging to Davy Jones, an undead pirate with a tentacle face and in possession of a lot of people's souls. If you're already confused, don't worry--plot is definitely not the strong suit of the franchise, as the film excels during its stunt pieces, which are impressively extravagant (in particular a three-way swordfight atop a mill wheel). It may help to know that Dead Man's Chest was filmed simultaneously with some of "Pirates 3", so don't expect a complete resolution (think more "The Empire Strikes Back") or the movie will feel a "lot" longer than it really is.
Bloom shows a tad bit more brawn this time around, but he's still every bit as pretty as the tomboyish Knightley. (Seriously, sometimes you think they could swap roles.) Bill Nighy ("Love, Actually") weighs in as Davy Jones and Stellan Skarsgård appears as Will's undead father. But the film still belongs wholly to Depp, who in a reprise of his Oscar-nominated role gets all the belly laughs with a single widened eyeliner-ed gaze. He still runs like a cartoon hen and slurs like Keith Richards--and he's still one of the most fascinating movie characters in recent history. "--Ellen A. Kim "

More "Pirates" at Amazon.com
Johnny Depp DVDs"
Buy "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl"
Buy the Soundtrack

Pitch Black
Action.Adventure Universal Studios Unrated
Owing a major debt to "Alien" and its cinematic spawn, "Pitch Black" is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with "The Arrival", director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.
A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and "Pitch Black" settles into familiar sci-fi territory.
What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of B-movie schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of "The Blair Witch Project", Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and "Pitch Black" gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in "High Art") and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from "Saving Private Ryan") being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. "--Jeff Shannon"

Planet of the Apes
Science Fiction Twentieth Century Fox PG
Many early science fiction films are now, quite inadvertently (and in most cases undeservedly), objects of camp attention: we laugh at the silly makeup, tin-can special effects, and the naive "high-tech" dialogue. Planet of the Apes is no such film. Its intelligent script, frightening costuming, and savagely effective conclusion (which needs no big-budget special effects to augment its impact) remain both potent and relevant. When Colonel George Taylor (the fabulous Charlton Heston) crash lands his spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes. However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the more liberal simians, Taylor escapes--only to find a more terrifying obstacle confronting his return home. Heavy-handed object lessons abound--the ubiquity of generational warfare, the inflexibility of dogma, the cruelty of prejudice--and the didactic fingerprints of Rod Serling are very much in evidence here. But director Franklin Schaffner has a dark, pop-apocalyptic sci-fi vision all his own, and time has not dulled the monumental emotional impact of the film's climactic payoff shot. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, you owe it to yourself to check out this stone classic, and even if you do, see it with fresh eyes; and don't be surprised if you get the chills all over again... and again... and again. --Miles Bethany

Porco Rosso
Anime.Action.Adventure Studio Ghibli / Buena Vista PG
"Porco Rosso" ("The Crimson Pig", 1992) ranks as Hayao Miyazaki's oddest film: a bittersweet period adventure about a dashing pilot who has somehow been turned into a pig. Miyazaki once said, "Initially, it was supposed to be a 45-minute film for tired businessmen to watch on long airplane flights... Why kids love it is a mystery to me." The early 1930s setting enabled Miyazaki to focus on the old airplanes he loves, and the film boasts complex and extremely effective aerial stunts and dogfights. In the new English dub from Disney, Michael Keaton as Porco delivers lines like "All middle-aged men are pigs" with appropriate cynicism, but his voice may be too familiar for some Miyazaki fans. Susan Egan makes a curiously distant Gina, the thrice-widowed hotel owner bound to Porco by years of friendship; Kimberly Williams is more effective as the irrepressible young engineer Fio. "Porco Rosso" may be an odd film, but Miyazaki's directorial imagination never flags. (Rated PG: violence, alcohol and tobacco use) "--Charles Solomon"

The Prestige
Drama Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone PG-13
"The Prestige" attempts a hat trick by combining a ridiculously good-looking cast, a highly regarded new director, and more than one sleight of hand. Does it pull it off? Sort of. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play rival magicians who were once friends before an on-stage tragedy drove a wedge between them. While Bale's Alfred Borden is a more skilled illusionist, Jackman's Rufus Angier is the better showman; much of the film's interesting first half is their attempts to sabotage--and simultaneously, top--each other's tricks. Even with the help of a prop inventor (Michael Caine) and a comely assistant (Scarlett Johansson), Angier can't match Borden's ultimate illusion: The Transporting Man. Angier's obsession with learning Borden's trick leads him to an encounter with an eccentric inventor (David Bowie) in a second half that gets bogged down in plot loops and theatrics. Director Christopher Nolan, reuniting with his "Batman Begins" star Bale, demonstrates the same dark touch that hued that film, but some plot elements--without giving anything away--seem out of place with the rest of the movie. It's better to sit back and let the sometimes-clunky turns steer themselves than try to draw back the black curtain. That said, "The Prestige" still manages to entertain long after the magician has left the stage--a feat in itself. --"Ellen A. Kim"

Primal Fear
Drama Paramount R
Clever twists and a bona fide surprise ending make this an above-average courtroom thriller, tapping into the post-O.J. scrutiny of our legal system in the case of a hotshot Chicago defense attorney (Richard Gere) whose latest client is an altar boy (Edward Norton) accused of murdering a Catholic archbishop. The film uses its own manipulation to tell a story about manipulation, and when we finally discover who's been pulling the strings, the payoff is both convincing and pertinent to the ongoing debate over what constitutes truth in the American system of justice. Making an impressive screen debut that has since led to a stellar career, Norton gives a performance that rides on a razor's edge of schizophrenic pathology--his role is an actor's showcase, and without crossing over the line of credibility, Norton milks it for all it's worth. Gere is equally effective in a role that capitalizes on his shifty screen persona, and Laura Linney and Frances McDormand give memorable performances in their intelligently written supporting roles. "--Jeff Shannon"

The Prince and Me
Comedy Paramount PG
The classic girlhood fantasy of marrying a handsome prince is given a surprisingly realistic and subtle treatment in "The Prince and Me". A pre-med student at the University of Wisconsin named Paige (Julia Stiles, "10 Things I Hate About You", "Mona Lisa Smile") collides with a lazy, presumptuous exchange student named Eddie (Luke Mably, "28 Days Later") and, after a prickly beginning, falls in love with him--only to discover that Eddie is Edvard, the Crown Prince of Denmark. The scenario is pure wish-fulfillment, but director Martha Coolidge ("Valley Girl", "Rambling Rose") not only takes a closer look at what royal life is really like, she also takes the time to turn these fantasy roles into characters that have more than two dimensions. It's still a romantic comedy aimed at teenagers, but within the genre's parameters, the movie has a strong visual style and what might be called depth. "--Bret Fetzer"

The Princess Bride
Comedy MGM (Video & DVD) PG
Screenwriter William Goldman's novel "The Princess Bride" earned its own loyal audience on the strength of its narrative voice and its gently satirical, hyperbolic spin on swashbuckled adventure that seemed almost purely literary. For all its derring-do and vivid over-the-top characters, the book's joy was dictated as much by the deadpan tone of its narrator and a winking acknowledgement of the clichés being sent up. Miraculously, director Rob Reiner and Goldman himself managed to visualize this romantic fable while keeping that external voice largely intact: using a storytelling framework, avuncular Grandpa (Peter Falk) gradually seduces his skeptical grandson (Fred Savage) into the absurd, irresistible melodrama of the title story.
And what a story: a lowly stable boy, Westley (Cary Elwes), pledges his love to the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright), only to be abducted and reportedly killed by pirates while Buttercup is betrothed to the evil Prince Humperdinck. Even as Buttercup herself is kidnapped by a giant, a scheming criminal mastermind, and a master Spanish swordsman, a mysterious masked pirate (could it be Westley?) follows in pursuit. As they sail toward the Cliffs of Insanity...
The wild and woolly arcs of the story, the sudden twists of fate, and, above all, the cartoon-scaled characters all work because of Goldman's very funny script, Reiner's confident direction, and a terrific cast. Elwes and Wright, both sporting their best English accents, juggle romantic fervor and physical slapstick effortlessly, while supporting roles boast Mandy Patinkin (the swordsman Inigo Montoya), Wallace Shawn (the incredulous schemer Vizzini), and Christopher Guest (evil Count Rugen) with brief but funny cameos from Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, and Peter Cook. "--Sam Sutherland"

The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement
Comedy Walt Disney Video G
If you're a ten-year-old girl, this sequel to Disney's 2001 hit will completely transfix you. How could it not? Bubbly Mia (Anne Hathaway), the American teenager who in the first film learned she was actually European royalty, finishes college and--whoosh!--heads off to Genovia, where he's given a closet full of fabulous clothes and jewelry in preparation to rule the kingdom under the tutelage of grandmother Julie Andrews. Throw in a horse and a volatile but innocent romantic attraction to the dreamy young stud (Chris Pine) who's also vying for the throne, and you have the kind of stuff that prepubescent girls rhapsodize about at slumber parties. Oh--and there's a slumber party here, too, featuring a bevy of cute, international young princesses mattress-surfing down a giant slide. Resistance is futile. For the rest of us, though, director Garry Marshall has managed to make his "Laverne & Shirley" days seem positively Shakespearean in comparison. The movie is precious, padded (two hours!), and pandering twaddle; Andrews, in her role as Queen Mother, is even shoehorned into a faux-hip-hop duet with Disney Channel favorite Raven (one of many, many grueling moments intended to sell the soundtrack). Then the film takes a maddening left turn three-quarters of the way into the plot and decides that, despite all the preceding consumption and connubial fantasies to the contrary, it's really about feminine emancipation. But don't worry--what causes you to smack your forehead in frustration will go right over the heads of its hypnotized target market. "--Steve Wiecking"

Princess Mononoke
Anime.Adventure.Fantasy Studio Ghibli / Miramax PG-13
This epic, animated 1997 fantasy has already made history as the top-grossing domestic feature ever released in Japan, where its combination of mythic themes, mystical forces, and ravishing visuals tapped deeply into cultural identity and contemporary, ecological anxieties. For international animation and "anime" fans, "Princess Mononoke" represents an auspicious next step for its revered creator, Hayao Miyazaki ("My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service"), an acknowledged "anime" pioneer, whose painterly style, vivid character design, and stylized approach to storytelling take ambitious, evolutionary steps here.
Set in medieval Japan, Miyazaki's original story envisions a struggle between nature and man. The march of technology, embodied in the dark iron forges of the ambitious Tatara clan, threatens the natural forces explicit in the benevolent Great God of the Forest and the wide-eyed, spectral spirits he protects. When Ashitaka, a young warrior from a remote, and endangered, village clan, kills a ravenous, boar-like monster, he discovers the beast is in fact an infectious "demon god," transformed by human anger. Ashitaka's quest to solve the beast's fatal curse brings him into the midst of human political intrigues as well as the more crucial battle between man and nature.
Miyazaki's convoluted fable is clearly not the stuff of kiddie matinees, nor is the often graphic violence depicted during the battles that ensue. If some younger viewers (or less attentive older ones) will wish for a diagram to sort out the players, Miyazaki's atmospheric world and its lush visual design are reasons enough to watch. For the English-language version, Miramax assembled an impressive vocal cast including Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup (as Ashitaka), Claire Danes (as San), Minnie Driver (as Lady Eboshi), Billy Bob Thornton, and Jada Pinkett Smith. They bring added nuance to a very different kind of magic kingdom. Recommended for ages 12 and older. "--Sam Sutherland"



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