Astin, John

Move Over Darling

Doris Day, the perky, chaste adult star of an odd collection of winking 1960s sex comedies, takes the Irene Dunne role in this remake of the comedy classic My Favorite Wife. As the survivor of a five-year ordeal on a desert island, she returns home the very day her husband has remarried. James Garner, trading his Maverick impish humor and con man cool for a mugging performance of double takes and pratfalls, is her overjoyed husband who is too cowardly to tell his neurotic bride (Polly Bergen). All of this, naturally, leads to a ridiculously complicated plot that combines door-slamming sex farce with mistaken identities (Day poses as a Swedish masseuse) and a goofy sped-up car chase. Chuck Connors, who costars as Day's hunky, he-man island mate "Adam," leads a topnotch supporting cast that includes sassy Thelma Ritter as Garner's no-nonsense mother, Don Knotts as a nervous shoe salesman enlisted by Day to impersonate Adam, Fred Clark at his indignant best, and John Astin and Pat Harrington in early roles. Edgar Buchanan practically steals the film as a gruff, irascible judge who growls through the legal circus that forms the film's chaotic climax. The cast for the most part rises above the tepid script and bland direction and Day sings two songs. Interestingly, this remake was originally developed for Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin as the never completed Something's Got to Give. --Sean Axmaker

Say "I do" to "madcap comedy" (Box Office) and "exuberant farce" (Film Daily) in this feel-good romp about one groom, two wives and one delightfully daffy honeymoon! Starring Doris Day, James Garner and Polly Bergen, Move Over, Darling is "a funny, funny film!" (Hollywood Citizen News) that's the perfect union of "humor, romance and heart" (The Hollywood Reporter)!

Five years after losing his first wife Ellen (Day) at sea, Nick (Garner) is finally ready to have her declared legally dead, get remarried and settle down to a peaceful second marriage! But wedded bliss becomes marital mayhem when Ellen turns up alive -- with a hilarious, hair-brained scheme to win back her husband, put a stop to the honeymoon and give first love a second chance-at happily-ever-after!

Evil Roy Slade

An all-star cast headlines this hilarious made-for-television movie spoof on the western genre. John Astin (The Addams Family) plays Evil Roy Slade, the meanest villain in the West. The good guys do not have a chance, as Evil Roy turns the tables on the classic western story of good triumphing over evil. Western veteran Pat Butram narrates, the Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Henry Gibson, Edie Adams, Pamela Austin, Milton Berle, Pat Morita, Ed Begley, Jr., Dom DeLuise and Penny Marshall co-star.

That Touch of Mink

A wholesome young woman gets swept into the world of the rich and famous when a romantic business tycoon falls in love with her simple country ways.

Teen Wolf & Teen Wolf Too

Teen WolfWhat's a high school kid got to do to be popular? Just let down his hair and howl! Starring Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future) Teen Wolf is an outrageous comedy about a shy teenager with more than a changing voice to contend with... he's a budding young werewolf! And when his new-found powers help him score at basketball - and with the popular girls - he has some pretty hairy decisions to make.Teen Wolf TooMeet a college freshman who s having trouble fitting into his "genes" - family ones that is - when he finds out his uncle and cousin are werewolves... and so is he! Now the clean cut science student is the star of the boxing team with a hair raising right hook and an animal attraction to his curvy coeds. Starring Jason Bateman (Necessary Roughness) this four fang film is sure to bring out the party animal in everyone!System Requirements:Starring: Jason Bateman Michael J. Fox John Astin Kim Darby James Hampton Mark Holton Jerry Levine Scott Paulin Paul Sand Jay Tarses Directed By: Rod Daniel Christopher Leitch Total Running Time: 186 Min. Color Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 027616878175 Manufacturer No: 1003676

Teen Wolf is a flip-flop of the horrorific I Was a Teenage Werewolf story: this time, lycanthropy makes the afflicted high-schooler a big man on campus. An otherwise routine teen comedy, this one works because of the customary bounce of Michael J. Fox, in one of his first leading roles (it was shot before Back to the Future but released in that blockbuster's wake, and cashed in nicely). Although his werewolf makeup makes him look more like Bigfoot than Lon Chaney, Jr., Fox manages to convey his peppy personality even under all that hair. Teen Wolf Too, however, is not even bearable. Here Fox is replaced by Jason Bateman, who finds that his wolfish inclination helps him become the big dog on the college boxing team. The sole bright spot is veteran actor Paul Sand as the boxing coach. The rest is howlingly unfunny. - -Robert Horton

The Frighteners

One movie lover's nightmare is another's raucous joyride, and this special effects-laden horror comedy is bound to split both camps right down the middle. (Or, as Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide puts it, "definitely not for all tastes but a wild time for those who get into it.") Michael J. Fox plays a psychic investigator who can actually see ghosts, and lives with a trio of undead spirits who scare people to promote Fox's ghost-busting business. In a town infamous for serial killings, a new series of deaths prompts Fox to induce his own out-of-body experience so he can battle death in a spirit-plagued netherworld where evil reigns supreme--or something like that. So much happens in this chaotic film that you might feel like you're watching several movies at once--a slasher pic, a supernatural thriller, and a black comedy all rolled into a nonstop showcase for grisly makeup and a dozen varieties of special effects. It's an odd but wildly inventive film from New Zealand director Peter Jackson, who earned critical acclaim for his previous film Heavenly Creatures and would later create the ingenious pseudo-documentary Forgotten Silver. --Jeff Shannon

One movie lover's nightmare is another's raucous joyride, and this special effects-laden horror comedy is bound to split both camps right down the middle. (Or, as Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide puts it, "definitely not for all tastes but a wild time for those who get into it.") Michael J. Fox plays a psychic investigator who can actually see ghosts, and lives with a trio of undead spirits who scare people to promote Fox's ghost-busting business. In a town infamous for serial killings, a new series of deaths prompts Fox to induce his own out-of-body experience so he can battle death in a spirit-plagued netherworld where evil reigns supreme--or something like that. So much happens in this chaotic film that you might feel like you're watching several movies at once--a slasher pic, a supernatural thriller, and a black comedy all rolled into a nonstop showcase for grisly makeup and a dozen varieties of special effects. It's an odd but wildly inventive film from New Zealand director Peter Jackson, who earned critical acclaim for his previous film Heavenly Creatures and would later create the ingenious pseudo-documentary Forgotten Silver. --Jeff Shannon

National Lampoon's European Vacation

After winning a tour package in a game show, the bickering Griswald family carve a trail of destruction through England (where they knock over Stonehenge), France, Germany, and Italy. Somehow Ellen (Bevery D'Angelo), the mom, gets kidnapped by gangsters, leading to a car chase that reunites the family, despite their differences. It's hard to believe that National Lampoon's European Vacation is only the second of the Vacation movies; it has the exhausted pallor of the last of a long series of sequels, drained of all zest or original ideas. The charmless smirk of Chevy Chase, mechanical in its idiocy, hangs over European Vacation like a death mask. It's hard to believe that this hack was once the funny and sexy hero of Foul Play. D'Angelo keeps her chin up and gives the movie whatever class it may have; she deserves better. --Bret Fetzer

When the Griswalds win a free two-week vacation in Europe they have no idea of the havoc they will create.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 4-FEB-2003
Media Type: DVD

Freaky Friday

Now experience all the laughs of the original comedy classic that inspired Disney's hilarious hit remake. Trading places was never so funny, and it could only happen on Friday the 13th! That's when the tomboyish and free-spirited Annabel (Jodie Foster) switches bodies with her straitlaced mother, Ellen (Barbara Harris), and suddenly finds herself responsible for running the entire household. In turn, Ellen, now in her daughter's body, faces the daunting challenges of school, including a typing test, field hockey competition, and much more!

Return of the Killer Tomatoes!

You're not going to believe this, but Return of the Killer Tomatoes is a genuinely funny movie. Ten years after John DeBello made the frowzy, low-budget Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, he brought the fleshy fruit back for a murderous encore. Like the first film, it works as a parody of horror-movie conventions (and it repeatedly makes fun of itself, Mad-magazine style), but this time the budget is higher. There's a great, ongoing send-up of product placement, plus a juicy role for the oft-underutilized John Astin, as the evil genius this kind of movie needs. Just to keep everything moving, another exploitation film keeps cutting in: Big-Breasted Girls Go to the Beach and Take Their Tops Off. It ain't high art, but this movie knows its audience. A young George Clooney plays one of the heroes. --Robert Horton

School of Life

Ryan Reynolds lights up the screen as the charismatic and hip Mr. D, a teacher whose lessons extend far beyond the classroom. A heartwarming tale of learning to appreciate every moment we're given, School of Life, is a funny and touching story about life in school, but more importantly, the human spirit.

The Frighteners (Director's Cut)

One movie lover's nightmare is another's raucous joyride, and this special effects-laden horror comedy is bound to split both camps right down the middle. (Or, as Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide puts it, "definitely not for all tastes but a wild time for those who get into it.") Michael J. Fox plays a psychic investigator who can actually see ghosts, and lives with a trio of undead spirits who scare people to promote Fox's ghost-busting business. In a town infamous for serial killings, a new series of deaths prompts Fox to induce his own out-of-body experience so he can battle death in a spirit-plagued netherworld where evil reigns supreme--or something like that. So much happens in this chaotic film that you might feel like you're watching several movies at once--a slasher pic, a supernatural thriller, and a black comedy all rolled into a nonstop showcase for grisly makeup and a dozen varieties of special effects. It's an odd but wildly inventive film from New Zealand director Peter Jackson, who earned critical acclaim for his previous film Heavenly Creatures and would later create the ingenious pseudo-documentary Forgotten Silver. --Jeff Shannon

One movie lover's nightmare is another's raucous joyride, and this special effects-laden horror comedy is bound to split both camps right down the middle. (Or, as Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide puts it, "definitely not for all tastes but a wild time for those who get into it.") Michael J. Fox plays a psychic investigator who can actually see ghosts, and lives with a trio of undead spirits who scare people to promote Fox's ghost-busting business. In a town infamous for serial killings, a new series of deaths prompts Fox to induce his own out-of-body experience so he can battle death in a spirit-plagued netherworld where evil reigns supreme--or something like that. So much happens in this chaotic film that you might feel like you're watching several movies at once--a slasher pic, a supernatural thriller, and a black comedy all rolled into a nonstop showcase for grisly makeup and a dozen varieties of special effects. It's an odd but wildly inventive film from New Zealand director Peter Jackson, who earned critical acclaim for his previous film Heavenly Creatures and would later create the ingenious pseudo-documentary Forgotten Silver. --Jeff Shannon