Cross, Roger R

Mad Money

Take three women in need of cash, a slew of money about to be shredded, and a plot that nicks a bit from 2005's Fun with Dick and Jane and you've got Mad Money. Diane Keaton stars as Bridget, a stay-at-home wife whose life as she knows it ends when her husband loses his cushy, high-paying job. Her college degree in literature turns out to be useless, so she accepts a janitorial position at the local bank. There she meets Nina (Queen Latifah) and Jackie (Katie Holmes), who could use some spare scratch as well. Suddenly, it dawns on Bridget that the bank has plenty of what they need: money! Because the gals are so cute and nice, it's clear they're not really going to rob the bank. What they will do, though, is take the old bills headed for the shredder and recycle it back into the economy by spending it. (Oh heck, they're basically stealing the money.) Played for laughs, the movie doesn't bother to discuss the economic ramifications of what would happen if too much money was recirculated, but that's neither here nor there. The trio of personable actors--particularly Keaton--does a good job of making the characters likable, even in some unbelievable situations. But Keaton deserves better than Mad Money, which isn't really funny enough to be a comedy and doesn't have enough romance to qualify as good chick flick. Still, Keaton, Latifah and Holmes share warm camaraderie. It'd be fun to see them reunited in a film that had a little more weight to it. Ironically, Mad Money was directed by directed by Callie Khouri, who wrote Thelma & Louise and Something to Talk About--movies that had all the key components (compelling storyline and characters worth cheering on) that Mad Money is lacking. --Jae-Ha Kim

Academy Award® winner Diane Keaton Academy Award® nominee Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes are all in for the crime of their lives! Deep inside the most secure bank in America three desperate women from very different worlds cook up the most unlikely heist of the century: Smuggle out millions of dollars in worn-out currency headed for a Federal Reserve shredder every day. Taking the cash is going to be easy but getting away with it will be insane! Ted Danson Christopher McDonald (HAPPY GILMORE) Roger Cross (24) and Stephen Root (OFFICE SPACE) co-star in this wild comedy caper from the creator of THELMA & LOUISE about chasing your dreams beating the system and paying the price for MAD MONEY!System Requirements:Running Time: 104 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/COMEDY OF ERRORS Rating: PG-13 UPC: 013138000095 Manufacturer No: DV80000

The Chronicles of Riddick (Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut)

Bigger isn't always better, but for anyone who enjoyed Pitch Black, a nominal sequel like The Chronicles of Riddick should prove adequately entertaining. Writer-director David Twohy returns with expansive sets, detailed costumes, an army of CGI effects artists, and the star he helped launch--Vin Diesel--bearing his franchise burden quite nicely as he reprises his title role. The Furian renegade Riddick has another bounty on his head, but when he escapes from his mercenary captors, he's plunged into an epic-scale war waged by the Necromongers. A fascist master race led by Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), they're determined to conquer all enemies in their quest for the Underverse, the appeal of which is largely unexplained (since Twohy is presumably reserving details for subsequent "chronicles"). With tissue-thin plotting, scant character development, and skimpy roles that waste the talents of Thandie Newton (as a Necromonger conspirator) and Judi Dench (as a wispy "Elemental" priestess), Twohy's back in the B-movie territory he started in (with The Arrival), brought to vivid life on a vast digital landscape with the conceptual allure of a lavish graphic novel. But does Riddick have leadership skills on his resumé? To get an answer to that question, sci-fi fans will welcome another sequel. --Jeff Shannon

Hideaway

For two hours Hatch Harrison was dead and when doctors revived him they brought more than Hatch's body back to life. JEFF GOLDBLUM CHRISTINE LAHTI and ALICIA SILVERSTONE star in HIDEAWAY a terrifying thriller that journeys from the unconscious mind to the heart of all evil. When Hatch returns to the living he discovers he is telepathically linked to a deranged killer. Horrified Hatch witnesses the killer stalking a series of young women including his own daughter. Through these visions Hatch is able to follow the killer to a gruesome hideaway where the terrifying secret of their linked lives is finally revealed.System Requirements:Running Time: 106 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: R UPC: 043396052734 Manufacturer No: 05273

Ballistic - Ecks vs. Sever

If you have a hearty appetite for fiery explosions, heavy ordnance, and nonsensical mayhem, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is just for you. This mindless action flick is so wrong-headed that even its ungainly title is inaccurate: as expert assassins on the fringes of government intelligence, FBI agent Ecks (Antonio Banderas) and Defense Intelligence agent Sever (Lucy Liu) aren't battling each other at all. Instead, he's trying to find his missing ex-wife (the stunning but expressionless Talisa Soto) and young son, while she's pursuing an agency turncoat (Gregg Henry) who's stolen the ultimate micro-technology for clandestine killing. United against a common enemy, Ecks and Sever lay waste to half of Vancouver (the film's budget-conscious location), and it all makes as much sense as meatballs on a vegetarian menu. Banderas and Liu look fabulous as corpses pile up around them, but Thai action director Kaos (a.k.a. Wych Kaosayananda) must have confused hi