Elliott, Stephen

Arthur

When you get lost between the moon and New York City (ahem), chances are you'll find yourself taking another look at this hit comedy starring Oscar-nominated Dudley Moore as the charmingly witty, perpetually drunken millionaire Arthur Bach. Arthur falls in love with a waitress (Liza Minelli) who doesn't care about his money, but unfortunately Arthur's stern father wants him to marry a Waspy prima donna. The young lush turns to his wise and loyal butler (Oscar-winner John Gielgud) for assistance and advice. Arthur was a huge hit when released in 1981, as was its Oscar-winning theme song by Christopher Cross. Few remember that the movie was, sadly, the only one ever made by writer-director Steve Gordon, who died less than a year after the film's release. Consistently funny and heartwarming, Arthur was hailed as a tribute to the great romantic comedies of the 1930s. --Jeff Shannon

Death Wish

This controversial, 1974 drama exploits urban paranoia and presents vigilantism as cathartic release. But it is also a captivating, Everyman-ish story of a New Yorker who goes through a sea change after crime depletes his family, and who runs afoul of the law while taking it into his own hands. Charles Bronson stars as the vengeance-seeking urban warrior who goes on a punk-killing spree after his wife and daughter are attacked by intruders. Director Michael Winner (The Wicked Lady) shamelessly builds upon audience identification with Bronson's rage, but he also makes an interesting story out of the latter's tug-of-war with disapproving police. It's an unpleasant film all around, but not nearly as bad as its horrifying, numerous sequels. Watch for a very young Jeff Goldblum--in this, his second movie--as one of the assailants of Bronson's loved ones. --Tom Keogh

Beverly Hills Cop (Special Collector's Edition)

While its sequels were formulaic and safe, the first Beverly Hills Cop set out to explore some uncharted territory, and succeeded. A blend of violent action picture and sharp comedy, the film has an excellent director, Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman), who finds some original perspectives on stock scenes (highway chases, police rousts) and hits a gleeful note with Murphy while skewering L.A. culture. Good support from Judge Reinhold and John Ashton as local cops not used to doing things the Detroit way (Murphy's character hails from the Motor City). Paul Reiser has a funny, brief moment at the beginning, and Bronson Pinchot makes a hilarious impression in a great, never-to-be-duplicated scene with the star. --Tom Keogh

Murphy stars as a street-wise detective who pursues his friend's murderer to Beverly Hills where he gets involved in a network of smugglers and drug peddlers.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 12-DEC-2003
Media Type: DVD

Kiss Me Goodbye

This is a surprisingly winning little comedy, though hardly a hit. Extrapolated from Bruno Barreto's Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, the film stars Sally Field as a woman about to embark on her second marriage after her first husband, a charismatic Broadway director and choreographer (James Caan), has died. But as she plans her wedding to the likable but unexciting Jeff Bridges, Caan returns from the dead. Though only she can see him, it's a formula for disaster: She begins to doubt her plans and wonders whether she'd be happier with Caan's ghost than with Bridges's live body. Meanwhile, everyone else begins to doubt her sanity because she's talking to a dead man. Better than critics gave it credit for being, although you'll probably enjoy it more if you've never seen the original. --Marshall Fine

James Caan is tap-dancing ghost. Jeff Bridges is the very much alive stuffed shirt. Together, they make the perfect match for Sally Field, the woman caught between both men in this uproarious romp through the supernatural. The spooky fun begins when Kay Villano is one week away from marrying the serious Dr. Rupert Baines, and an uninvited guest appears on the scene; the ghost of Kay's dead, but oh-so-debonair husband Jolly. Kay's predicament is made worse because no one else can see or hear Jolly but her. The celestial shenanigans are non-stop as the three superstars hysterically battle out an odd eternal triangle with deliciously new dimensions.

The Hospital

Paddy Chayefsky (Marty) wrote the script for this 1971 film that mixes--in Chayefsky tradition--absurdist satire with a touching, almost wistful love story. George C. Scott plays a cynical doctor battling bureaucratic superstructures on the one hand and hippie-dippy flakiness among some patients on the other. When he falls for an eccentric young woman (Diana Rigg) with an alternative view on everything, the road to liberation from burdensome responsibilities seems to open before him. Director Arthur Hiller (Love Story) doesn't do much more than bring the screenplay to life, though he does create a persuasive sense of urban chaos in the setting. Scott gives a good, thoughtful performance. --Tom Keogh

This black comedy features an alcoholic doctor-turned-administrator who tries to manage an overburdened and chaotic hospital with fatal results. Chayevsky is dead-on in this satire on modern bureaucracies. Sadly this cult favorite still rings true in our HMO age-but luckily laughter is still the best medicine. A biting satire THE HOSPITAL earned two Oscar nominations including George C. Scott for Best Actor.System Requirements:Starring: George C. Scott Diana Rigg Barnard Hughes Nancy Marchand Stockard Channing Directed By: Arthur Hiller Running Time: 103 Min. Color Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 027616895523 Manufacturer No: 1005221

The Great Los Angeles Earthquake

Taking Care of Business

James Belushi (K-9) is Jimmy Dworski, a happy-go-lucky convict who breaks out of prison and finally gets a life ... somebody else's! When Dworski finds the daily planner book that literally runs the life of ultra-organized executive Spencer Barnes (Charles Grodin, MIDNIGHT RUN), all hell breaks loose! With newfound cash, credit cards, and the keys to a Malibu mansion, the imposter Dworski embarks on an all-expense-paid trip to "Easy Street" while posing as the high-powered Barnes. Meanwhile, Spencer's life is turned upside down as he hunts through the jungles of Los Angeles for his beloved book! When these oddball opposites finally meet, it's a comedic collision you won't soon forget!

The Hindenburg

"One gasbag meets another" is how critic Pauline Kael described the "flatulent seriousness" that director Robert Wise brought to this 1975 thriller about the ill-fated German zeppelin which exploded while landing in New Jersey in 1937. The great air disaster is speculatively depicted here as an act of sabotage, and the airship's trans-Atlantic journey gives the saboteur's plot plenty of time to unfold while the story introduces a variety of characters aboard for the luxurious flight. While the anti-Nazi message is delivered loud and clear, Anne Bancroft and George C. Scott lead an illustrious cast in what amounts to a pre-World War II episode of The Love Blimp, only there's not much romance and precious little suspense. It's all rather flatly intriguing, but aviation buffs will certainly appreciate the meticulous attention to period detail, and the film won special achievement Oscars for its impressive sound and visual effects. Worth a look, if you're a student of this particular chapter of history, and the movie earns some credit for having at least the kernel of a good idea. --Jeff Shannon

Walk Like a Man

(Synopsis): He stands to inherit a fortune if he can ever get off all fours! Award-winning comedian Howie Mandel unleashes howls of laughter in this hilariously outrageous comedy co-starring Christopher Lloyd and Cloris Leachman. Bobo Shand (Mandel) is a real wild man. In fact he may not really be a man at all! Lost in the mountains as an infant and raised by a pack of wolves Bobo has spent his entire life chasing rabbits and barking at the moon. Now he s being brought back to civilization just in time to claim a $30 million inheritance. But only if he can leave his wacky flea-bitten ways behind him and learn to Walk Like a Man.System Requirements: Running Time 86 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 027616902955 Manufacturer No: 1006072

Arthur 2 - On the Rocks

The world's richest tipsy wit is living in grand style with former waitress Linda as his wife. The two are thinking of starting a family but the father of his ex-fiancee hatches a plot to leave Arthur penniless. Now will Arthur have to take a job?Running Time: 113 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085393963521 Manufacturer No: 39635