Duke, Bill

X-Men - The Last Stand (Widescreen Edition)

Experience the awesome power of The X-Men's epic final battle. Join well-known mutant heroes and villains and meet a cadre of all-new warriors -- including Angel Beast Juggernaut and Colossus -- in this thrilling explosive adventure!After a controversial cure is discovered mutants can choose to retain their superhuman abilities or give up their unique gifts and become normal. When peaceful mutant leader Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) clashes with his militant counterpart Magneto (Ian McKellen) the battle lines are drawn for the war to end all wars.Bursting with nonstop action spectacular special effects and exclusive extras X-MEN THE LAST STAND is a force of nature that will blow you away! System Requirements:Running Time: 104 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543373926 Manufacturer No: 2237392

X-Men: The Last Stand is the third installment in the popular superhero franchise, and it's an exciting one with a splash of fresh new characters. When a scientist named Warren Worthington II announces a "cure" for mutant powers, it raises an interesting philosophical question: is mutant power a disease that needs a cure, or is it a benefit that homo superior enjoys over "normal" human beings? No surprise that Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants resist the idea that they need to be cured, and declare war on the human race. But it's a little tougher for the X-Men, led by Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Cyclops (James Marsden), and Storm (Halle Berry). If you're Rogue (Anna Paquin), for example, your power means you can't even touch your boyfriend, Iceman (Shawn Ashmore). To compound matters, someone previously thought dead has returned, and might be either friend or foe.

With director Bryan Singer having moved on to Superman Returns, the franchise passes to the hands of Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), whose best work is done in the big action sequences such as a showdown between mutant armies. But it's difficult to manage the sheer volume of characters when adding longtime comic-book stalwarts such as Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and Angel (Ben Foster), and one character in particular deserved better than an off-screen dismissal. And fans of the original Dark Phoenix comic book story might be underwhelmed by the movie's resolution. X-Men: The Last Stand is presumably the last film in the series, but the ambiguous ending leaves possibilities open. Look for the two writers most responsible for making the X-Men who they were, Stan Lee and Chris Claremont, in early cameos. --David Horiuchi

Beyond the Film

The movies	X-Men Evolution: The Complete Third Season	More Superhero DVDs
X-Men comic books	The X-Men on Xbox	The soundtrack and more

Red Dragon (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

A lot could've gone wrong in Red Dragon, but the movie exceeds expectations. Replacing the acclaimed Manhunter as an "official" entry in the Hannibal Lecter trilogy, this topnotch thriller--the second adaptation of Thomas Harris's first Lecter novel--returns to the fertile soil of The Silence of the Lambs, serving as both prequel and heir to the legacy of Lecter as portrayed, with mischievous menace, by the great Anthony Hopkins. Familiar faces and locations reappear (along with Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally) as Lecter coaches FBI profiler Will Graham (Edward Norton) in tracking the horrific "Tooth Fairy" killer (Ralph Fiennes), whose transformative killing spree is inspired by a William Blake painting. By dutifully serving Harris's potent material, Tally and director Brett Ratner craft a suspenseful film worthy of its predecessors, bringing Hopkins full circle as one of the cinema's all-time greatest villains. With overtones of Psycho and a superb supporting cast, Red Dragon succeeds against considerable odds. --Jeff Shannon

Payback - The Director's Cut (Special Collector's Edition)

Mel Gibson portrays Porter a career criminal bent on revenge after his partners in a street heist pump metal into him and take off with his $70000 cut. Bad move thugs. Because if you plan to double-cross Porter you'd better make sure he's dead. Porter resurfaces wading into a lurid urban underworld of syndicate kingpins cops on the take sniveling informants and deadly gangs. Porter wants his money back. And the way he sets out to get is assures that from beginning to heartpounding end Payback pays off big.System Requirements:Run Time: 90 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: UNRATED UPC: 097360411645 Manufacturer No: 041164

There were reasons writer-director Brian Helgeland's cut of Payback was dismissed by distributors Paramount and Warner Bros., then heavily re-shot and re-tooled by Mel Gibson's production company, Icon Entertainment. Those reasons are explained in detail by Gibson, Helgeland, and others in the special features of Payback: The Director's Cut (Special Collector's Edition). Among them: Helgeland's version was too dark. America wasn't ready in 1999 to see Gibson play an unapologetic, 1970s-style antihero who might not get exactly what he wants. Audiences didn't have the patience to wait for answers to their story questions. A dog dies. (A big no-no.) All of these comments make sound, practical sense. But here's the bottom line: Helgeland's cut, perhaps even a bit more disciplined and taut (according to Payback's editor, Kevin Stitt) than it was in 1999, is a serious movie with an organic tone and logic that makes the film look the way it was meant to look: as a neo-noir film for adults. The theatrical release of Payback, by contrast, was and is silly and vulgar, self-sabotaging, pointlessly vicious, and perversely jaunty. It is very much like--deliberately like--the Lethal Weapon series. The Director's Cut makes clear that's not at all what Helgeland had in mind.

Kudos to Gibson and Icon for giving Helgeland a chance to restore his film and get it out on this DVD. But a look at both versions (this disc does not include the theatrical cut) back-to-back can certainly make one's head spin. Icon's revisions in the original release show little faith in a contemporary audience's ability to discern much about a story or mood or character from spare but telling details. That film relies on crass swatches of voiceover narration, cute inserts, added scenes, and hipster tunes on the soundtrack. All of that was designed to tell an audience how to feel rather than encourage a cinematic experience encountered with an open heart and mind. Worst of all is a specious third act nakedly built around an obligatory Gibson-gets-tortured sequence, leading the film to a lazy, comforting conclusion. The Director's Cut eschews all of that. Gibson's character, Porter (based on the central character in the novel "The Hunter," written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark), is a man returning from the brink of death with nothing but his identity and the memory of something (an almost-nominal amount of money) taken from him. His iron determination, his capacity for brutality and inducing fear, and his survival instinct make him anything but warm and cuddly. It's his few ties to the past--especially an interrupted relationship with a call girl (Maria Bello)--that humanize him. One doesn't have to like Porter; one just accepts him and follows his journey in an honest, unmitigated fashion. That's exactly what Helgeland does, and his cleaner, leaner, smarter cut is instantly rewarding for its uncompromising, undistracted toughness. Special features include a documentary about the film's history, and a wonderful interview with Westlake. --Tom Keogh

Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs

BOOK of LOVE: The Definitive ReasonWhy Men Are Dogs delivers a humorouslook at the tribulations of unrequited loveand sour relationships. The film's story linefocuses on Jay Will and Ben - three menliving dating and loving in Los Angelesduring the 90's - who struggle with theresultant heartbreak and insecurity fromtheir failed relationships. Their storiesunfold through therapy sessions which areoften as comedic as they are insightful.System Requirements: Running Time 91 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 602498842515 Manufacturer No: CM4251DVD

Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

Schaefer and his men, an elite military rescue unit, are recruited by the CIA to rescue hostages held by guerrilla fighters in the Latin American jungle. But once in the jungle, they encounter a deadly enemy, not of earth.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 25-JAN-2005
Media Type: DVD

Rambo meets Alien in this terrific science-fiction thriller from 1987, directed by John McTiernan just a year before Die Hard made him Hollywood's most sought-after director of action-packed blockbusters. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of U.S. Army commandos to a remote region of South American jungle, where they've been assigned to search for South American officials who've been kidnapped by terrorists. Instead they find a bunch of skinned corpses hanging from the trees and realize that they're now facing a mysterious and much deadlier threat. As the squad is picked off one by one, Arnold finds himself pitted against a hideous alien creature that's heavily armed and wearing a spacesuit enabling the creature to render itself invisible. The title says it all in describing the relentless, escalating action that follows, maintained by McTiernan with an abundance of visual flair. The film's special effects are still impressive, and stunning locations in the Mexican jungles create a combined atmosphere of verdant beauty and imminent danger. The plot doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the movie's so exciting and tightly paced that its weaknesses seem irrelevant. --Jeff Shannon

Bird on a Wire

When the man he put in jail is released, a man hiding under the FBI witness relocation program goes on the lam with an old flame.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 31-MAY-2005
Media Type: DVD

This action-comedy from 1990 makes the critical mistake of trying to mix a potentially suspenseful plot with the kind of humor that Mel Gibson can only get away with in his Lethal Weapon movies. It doesn't work here because the movie's supposed to be a Hitchcockian thriller and Mel's wisecracking--not to mention some implausible plot twists and ridiculous chase scenes--makes it impossible to take any of this movie seriously. It works best as a lightweight vehicle for Gibson and Goldie Hawn, who bring their own established appeal to their roles as old lovers who are reunited under unexpectedly dangerous circumstances. After testifying against some drug-running killers, Mel's been safe under the protection of the FBI's witness relocation program, and Goldie coincidentally enters his life again just as the bad guys are hot on Mel's trail. They join up and go on the run from the villains and ... well, let's just say director John Badham doesn't have any big surprises up his sleeve. Goldie and Mel are enjoyable, as always, but you'd have to be their biggest fan to watch this movie more than once. --Jeff Shannon

Car Wash

Richard Pryor's face is plastered all over the cover of Car Wash, but don't be fooled. This slight comedy, made in 1976, is an ensemble piece much like Robert Altman's or Alan Rudolph's all-star movies in that there are a lot of familiar faces who have relatively little screen time or business to attend to. Set in smoggy Los Angeles, the film opens with a radio announcer's voiceover, "Hey, hey, L.A. It's a brand new day." And the camera pans the street, zooming in on the Dee-Luxe Car Wash, which is owned by the ultimate cheapskate, Mr. B (Sully Boyar). In rapid succession, we're introduced to a dizzying array of characters who all work or hang out at the car wash: drag queen Lindy (Antonio Fargas), brothers Floyd and Lloyd who want to be in show business, a hip brother, an angry brother, a taxi driver (George Carlin), cashier Marsha (Melanie Mayron), and a plethora of "types" who wash, dry, and polish everything in sight while making time to make time. Car Wash doesn't do much or have a lot to say, the laughs aren't particularly original, and the actors don't have much to do save for Fargas, whose role as a drag queen was groundbreaking because the character wasn't discriminated against or killed at the end. Even Richard Pryor is wasted in his single scene as a wealthy preacher named Daddy Rich. Car Wash, which was written by mainstream director Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin, Falling Down, The Client), is ultimately uneventful. Its revival on DVD is puzzling because it looks about as faded, dated, and undistinguished as a rusty old car. --Paula Nechak

Commando (Director's Cut)

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as retired Colonel John Matrix the ex-head of a special commando strike team he s forced back into action when his daughter (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped. With the help of the feisty stewardess Matrix has only a few hours to over his greatest challenge; finding his daughter before she gets killed.System Requirements:Running Time: 90 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 024543440796 Manufacturer No: 2244079

A massively underrated action thriller that kept Arnold Schwarzenegger occupied between mid-'80s blockbusters, Commando may be one of the last shoot-out films ever to have real characters in it. Not, of course, that they're anything other than stereotypes, but they're painted with such detailed, positive strokes that it's impossible not to relate to them. Arnie plays a retired military special-ops officer whose daughter (played with an expert balance of cute/feisty by Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped by the baddest of bad guys, who'll only hand her back as and when he's assassinated a tiresome banana-republic president on their behalf. Needless to say, Arnie is deeply annoyed by this, rescues the moppet single-handed amid more bullets and explosions than you can shake a stuntman's pay cheque at, and... well, why spoil the fun by revealing any more? Co-star Rae Dawn Chong gets some nice one-liners as the innocent bystander who gets caught up in the mayhem. --Roger Thomas

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

Based on the phenomenal best-selling book by famed author Deepak Chopra and featuring all-new music from Olivia Newton-John The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success offers a life-altering perspective on the attainment of success.Beloved singer Olivia Newton-John and acclaimed director-actor Bill Duke (X-Men: The Last Stand The Go-Getter) share powerful personal stories about challenges they've faced which have nonetheless placed them firmly on the path towards experiencing life's fullest potential. Their compelling narratives are intertwined with Deepak's essential teachings distilled into seven simple yet profound principles that anyone can employ to create success and abundance in all areas of life. Featuring all-new original music and beautiful cinematography this uniquely satisfying film is one you'll view many times and derive something new each time.System Requirements:Running Time: 64 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MISCELLANEOUS/SPECIAL INTEREST Rating: NR UPC: 024543429258 Manufacturer No: 2242925

The visual complement to his 1994 book of the same name, Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success provides adherents with the same kind of inspiration and advice that have made the New Delhi-born doctor and writer's work so popular. Whether it will sway those who consider Chopra more charlatan than guru, however, is another matter. To be sure, there's much to be said for the virtues of cultivating one's consciousness, which Chopra describes as "a faculty more powerful and reliable than the five senses." In fact, much is said about it here, often by some familiar faces, including singer Olivia Newton-John (who also provided much of the music for the DVD), actor-director Bill Duke, musician Dave Stewart of the band Eurythmics, and professional golfer Tina Mickelson. Their testimonials, while varying in specifics, all have the same essential theme: only after they'd reached their lowest ebb (breast cancer for Newton-John, a car accident for Stewart, drug problems for Duke) were they able to "tap into the power of their inner beings" and realize their full potential. That's where the Seven Spiritual Laws come in. Some contain considerable wisdom; the fourth (called "The Law of Least Effort") recommends acceptance and responsibility as alternatives to blaming others, while the sixth ("The Law of Detachment") suggests that relinquishing one's obsession with a particular goal will make it more likely to happen. Others are frustratingly vague; learning to "efficiently, effortlessly co-create with the universe" or to be "grounded in the wisdom of uncertainty" is all well and good, but in the absence of practical steps it comes off as vapid New Age speak. Overall, the DVD is well-produced, mixing interviews with the principals (Chopra included) with some lovely cinematography and several sequences that combine live action (mostly featuring Newton-John) with imaginative, computer-generated landscapes and interiors. The package contains a 16-page "study guide" along with the DVD. --Sam Graham

Predator (Widescreen Edition)

Schaefer and his men, an elite military rescue unit, are recruited by the CIA to rescue hostages held by guerrilla fighters in the Latin American jungle. But once in the jungle, they encounter an enemy unimaginably more deadly than any on Earth.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-FEB-2003
Media Type: DVD

Rambo meets Alien in this terrific science-fiction thriller from 1987, directed by John McTiernan just a year before Die Hard made him Hollywood's most sought-after director of action-packed blockbusters. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of U.S. Army commandos to a remote region of South American jungle, where they've been assigned to search for South American officials who've been kidnapped by terrorists. Instead they find a bunch of skinned corpses hanging from the trees and realize that they're now facing a mysterious and much deadlier threat. As the squad is picked off one by one, Arnold finds himself pitted against a hideous alien creature that's heavily armed and wearing a spacesuit enabling the creature to render itself invisible. The title says it all in describing the relentless, escalating action that follows, maintained by McTiernan with an abundance of visual flair. The film's special effects are still impressive, and stunning locations in the Mexican jungles create a combined atmosphere of verdant beauty and imminent danger. The plot doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the movie's so exciting and tightly paced that its weaknesses seem irrelevant. --Jeff Shannon