Edwards, Daryl

Picture Perfect

If you can get past Jennifer Aniston's form-fitting wardrobe in a movie about a woman struggling to advance in her profession, this romantic comedy is a fair match with My Best Friend's Wedding. Both films feature conniving, self-centered heroines who undergo a transformation--Aniston presents a bogus fiancé (Jerry Maguire's Jay Mohr) to impress her advertising agency boss and gradually discovers a mutual attraction with the imposter. Both movies go off in delightfully unpredictable directions. Picture Perfect falls prey to occasional sitcom fluff, but it's a fine showcase for Aniston's comedic and dramatic attributes. Critics were mixed-to-harsh in reviews for this movie, perhaps because it's a bit derivative and poses slight challenge to Aniston, who proved her skill with light comedy as a principal cast member of TV's Friends sitcom. It's clear that Aniston is a fine comedian, and she shows that talent to advantage in Picture Perfect. If you enjoy this movie, you should also check out Aniston's follow-up romantic comedy, The Object of My Affection. --Jeff Shannon

Adorable as she is ambitious, Kate (Jennifer Aniston) is determined to turn her mid-level advertising job into an executive position - and equally determined to tries snare Sam (Kevin Bacon), the agency's ultra-suave Romeo who prefers illicit affairs with

The Brother From Another Planet

Joe Morton stars in this story of a black extraterrestrial who crash-lands on Earth in Harlem and delivers a lesson in brotherly love.System Requirements:Starring: Joe Morton Daryl Edwards Steve James Leonard Jackson Maggie Renzi Rosetta LeNoire Directed By: John Sayles Running Time: 110 Min. Color Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 027616886460 Manufacturer No: 1004605

Having been stymied in the midst of trying to make Matewan, John Sayles wrote what he thought could be a cheap, quick little movie and it turned out to be this near classic, which blends fish-out-of-water comedy with trenchant and serious science fiction. Joe Morton plays an extraterrestrial whose spaceship crashes in New York Harbor. When he swims ashore, he finds that most of Harlem is filled with earthlings who look just like him. He can't speak, but he quickly learns to communicate; he also finds ways to understand these strange, quarrelsome creatures, who seem to talk forever without really saying much. Sayles is at his economic best, drawing a touchingly complex performance from the silent Morton and good acting from a strong supporting cast of mostly unknowns. --Marshall Fine

Substitute 2: School's Out

The delicate issue of student discipline becomes dangerously pointed when a vengeance-seeking mercenary (the perennially underrated Treat Williams) sews a couple of tweed patches onto the elbows of his flack jacket and proceeds to add a few chalk outlines to the blackboard jungle. Although the premise of this intermittently entertaining sequel can't match the goofy novelty of the 1996 original, it does sport a couple of effective action scenes (the teacher's demonstration of the yo-yo's history as a lethal weapon is a highlight), and a talented cast (including Broadway star B.D. Wong as a shop teacher who cares a little too much about his tools) that's fully aware of the numerous absurdities depicted herein. An occasionally effective lowbrow action flick that, at the very least, sure beats the heck out of study hall. --Andrew Wright

Shakedown

Picture Perfect

If you can get past Jennifer Aniston's form-fitting wardrobe in a movie about a woman struggling to advance in her profession, this romantic comedy is a fair match with My Best Friend's Wedding. Both films feature conniving, self-centered heroines who undergo a transformation--Aniston presents a bogus fiancé (Jerry Maguire's Jay Mohr) to impress her advertising agency boss and gradually discovers a mutual attraction with the imposter. Both movies go off in delightfully unpredictable directions. Picture Perfect falls prey to occasional sitcom fluff, but it's a fine showcase for Aniston's comedic and dramatic attributes. Critics were mixed-to-harsh in reviews for this movie, perhaps because it's a bit derivative and poses slight challenge to Aniston, who proved her skill with light comedy as a principal cast member of TV's Friends sitcom. It's clear that Aniston is a fine comedian, and she shows that talent to advantage in Picture Perfect. If you enjoy this movie, you should also check out Aniston's follow-up romantic comedy, The Object of My Affection. --Jeff Shannon

Adorable as she is ambitious, Kate (Jennifer Aniston) is determined to turn her mid-level advertising job into an executive position - and equally determined to tries snare Sam (Kevin Bacon), the agency's ultra-suave Romeo who prefers illicit affairs with attached women. She achieves both goals by pretending getting married to Nick, a man she met at a wedding and barely knows. But her carefully constructed fictional life comes face to face with reality when her boss wants to meet Nick, sending Kate's personal and professional worlds spinning out of control.

Brother from Another Planet

Having been stymied in the midst of trying to make Matewan, John Sayles wrote what he thought could be a cheap, quick little movie and it turned out to be this near classic, which blends fish-out-of-water comedy with trenchant and serious science fiction. Joe Morton plays an extraterrestrial whose spaceship crashes in New York Harbor. When he swims ashore, he finds that most of Harlem is filled with earthlings who look just like him. He can't speak, but he quickly learns to communicate; he also finds ways to understand these strange, quarrelsome creatures, who seem to talk forever without really saying much. Sayles is at his economic best, drawing a touchingly complex performance from the silent Morton and good acting from a strong supporting cast of mostly unknowns. --Marshall Fine

Shakedown

Almost You

Erica and Alex Boyer (Brooke Adams and Griffin Dunne) are young, married and live in a sprawling apartment in New York City. With a loving wife, a beautiful home, and a high-paying executive position in the family business, Alex should be quite happy. But he actually feels trapped by it all and is growing restless. When Erica dislocates her hip and requires the services of a private nurse, attractive Lisa Willoughby (Karen Young) enters their lives. A very complicated situation develops as Alex sees Lisa as the cure for his own troubles as well as his wife's¿ Sparked by fine performances by a cast that includes Joe Silver and Josh Mostel, ALMOST YOU is a sensitive, sincere, romantic comedy about marriage, commitment, and the light and dark sides of love in the 80's.

The Substitute 2: School's Out

The delicate issue of student discipline becomes dangerously pointed when a vengeance-seeking mercenary (the perennially underrated Treat Williams) sews a couple of tweed patches onto the elbows of his flack jacket and proceeds to add a few chalk outlines to the blackboard jungle. Although the premise of this intermittently entertaining sequel can't match the goofy novelty of the 1996 original, it does sport a couple of effective action scenes (the teacher's demonstration of the yo-yo's history as a lethal weapon is a highlight), and a talented cast (including Broadway star B.D. Wong as a shop teacher who cares a little too much about his tools) that's fully aware of the numerous absurdities depicted herein. An occasionally effective lowbrow action flick that, at the very least, sure beats the heck out of study hall. --Andrew Wright

Little Senegal [Region 2]

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o Spanish (subtitles) o English (Dolby Digital 2.0) o French (Dolby Digital 2.0) o Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: This beautifully photographed, touching film follows Alloune, a man who gives tours of the Senegal coastline where long ago his ancestors where imprisoned and shipped across the Atlantic in the slave trade. Through a slender doorway looking out to the wide ocean beyond, participants in Alloune's tour are moved, saddened, and quieted by the thought of what once was. Then one day, Alloune decides that he must track the path of his own ancestors, and so he travels to the southern United States. He wanders from one former plantation to the next, asking questions, looking in libraries, and researching an extended family tree, always carrying the weight of history on his small, long, thin frame. Finally his search leads him to New York City, where he locates a young nephew, and then a female cousin who is about his same age, in her fifties. Taking a job for his cousin as a security guard at her Harlem newspaper stand, Alloune begins the difficult task of adapting to city life. The relationship between Alloune and his cousin starts off as professional, changes to family relation, and finally ends up as a love affair. However, the distance between Africa and New York, history and present, can never be escaped or forgotten. This film screened in New York City in April 2002 as part of the Avignon/New York Film Festival organized by the French Institute Alliance Francaise. Special Features: o Film Credits o Filmographies o Interactive Menu o Scene Access o Trailer(s)