Rosemary's Baby
by Roman Polanski
from Paramount
A loving New York couple is expecting their first baby, however Rosemary's husband makes a pact with the devil to send his career skyward.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: FARROW/CASSAVETES
Title: ROSEMARY'S BABY
Street Release Date: 10/03/2000
Genre: HORROR
Psychological terrorism and supernatural horror have rarely been dramatized as effectively as in this classic 1968 thriller, masterfully adapted and directed by Roman Polanski from the chilling novel by Ira Levin. Rosemary (Mia Farrow) is a young, trusting housewife in New York whose actor husband (John Cassavetes), unbeknownst to her, has literally made a deal with the devil. In the thrall of a witches' coven headquartered in their apartment building, the young husband arranges to have his wife impregnated by Satan in exchange for success in a Broadway play. To Rosemary, the pregnancy seems like a normal and happy one--that is, until she grows increasingly suspicious of her neighbors' evil influence. Polanski establishes this seemingly benevolent situation and then introduces each fiendish little detail with such unsettling subtlety that the film escalates to a palpable level of dread and paranoia. By the time Rosemary discovers that her infant son "has his father's eyes" ... well, let's just say the urge to scream along with her is unbearably intense! One of the few modern horror films that can claim to be genuinely terrifying, Rosemary's Baby is an unforgettable movie experience, guaranteed to send chills up your spine. --Jeff Shannon
The Jerk (26th Anniversary Edition)
from Universal Studios
Martin's screen debut, as the adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family, whose crazy inventions take him from rags to riches to rags.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: JERK
Title: JERK 26TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (DVD)
Street Release Date: 05/22/2007
Genre: COMEDY VIDEO
Carl Reiner (Where's Poppa?) brought comic Steve Martin to the screen in this mostly funny 1979 movie about a relentlessly stupid but innocent man, whom we get to know from childhood (where it never occurred to him that he was white as he was raised by a family of black sharecroppers) to romance (where he doesn't quite know what to do with Bernadette Peters). Martin is game as the moron, and this is the kind of film with funny moments people still talk about. --Tom Keogh
Planet of the Apes
by Franklin J. Schaffner
from 20th Century Fox
Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall star in this legendary science fiction masterpiece. Astronaut Taylor (Heston) crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist (McDowall).System Requirements:Running Time 112 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: Unknown UPC: 024543229742 Manufacturer No: 2232975
Many early science fiction films are now, quite inadvertently (and in most cases undeservedly), objects of camp attention: we laugh at the silly makeup, tin-can special effects, and the naive "high-tech" dialogue. Planet of the Apes is no such film. Its intelligent script, frightening costuming, and savagely effective conclusion (which needs no big-budget special effects to augment its impact) remain both potent and relevant. When Colonel George Taylor (the fabulous Charlton Heston) crash lands his spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes. However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the more liberal simians, Taylor escapes--only to find a more terrifying obstacle confronting his return home. Heavy-handed object lessons abound--the ubiquity of generational warfare, the inflexibility of dogma, the cruelty of prejudice--and the didactic fingerprints of Rod Serling are very much in evidence here. But director Franklin Schaffner has a dark, pop-apocalyptic sci-fi vision all his own, and time has not dulled the monumental emotional impact of the film's climactic payoff shot. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, you owe it to yourself to check out this stone classic, and even if you do, see it with fresh eyes; and don't be surprised if you get the chills all over again... and again... and again. --Miles Bethany
Planet of the Apes (Widescreen 35th Anniversary Edition)
by Franklin J. Schaffner
from 20th Century Fox
Many early science fiction films are now, quite inadvertently (and in most cases undeservedly), objects of camp attention: we laugh at the silly makeup, tin-can special effects, and the naive "high-tech" dialogue. Planet of the Apes is no such film. Its intelligent script, frightening costuming, and savagely effective conclusion (which needs no big-budget special effects to augment its impact) remain both potent and relevant. When Colonel George Taylor (the fabulous Charlton Heston) crash lands his spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes. However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the more liberal simians, Taylor escapes--only to find a more terrifying obstacle confronting his return home. Heavy-handed object lessons abound--the ubiquity of generational warfare, the inflexibility of dogma, the cruelty of prejudice--and the didactic fingerprints of Rod Serling are very much in evidence here. But director Franklin Schaffner has a dark, pop-apocalyptic sci-fi vision all his own, and time has not dulled the monumental emotional impact of the film's climactic payoff shot. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, you owe it to yourself to check out this stone classic, and even if you do, see it with fresh eyes; and don't be surprised if you get the chills all over again... and again... and again. --Miles Bethany
Rule the planet with this thrilling, action-packed "wild ride" (The Washington Post) from legendary director Tim Burton (Sleepy Hollow, Batman).
Agatha Christie Collection featuring Helen Hayes as Miss Marple (A Caribbean Mystery / Murder Is Easy / Murder with Mirrors)
by Robert Michael Lewis
from Warner Home Video
In a career that started in silent film in 1917 and ended in the mid-1980s with her splendid take on Miss Marple in this collection, Helen Hayes was inspirational to the end. Her performances in these made-for-television mysteries are absolutely spot-on as Agatha Christie's fearless genteel lady sleuth. This collection features three rollicking tales, Murder Is Easy costarring Bill Bixby, a still-radiant Olivia de Havilland, and a young Jonathan Pryce; A Caribbean Mystery, with Barnard Hughes and Swoosie Kurtz; and the grande-dame-duet Murder With Mirrors, with Hayes playing opposite her onetime real-life nemesis, Bette Davis. Mirrors alone is worth the price of the set, as Hayes is in fine form, completely un-vain and sweetly droll. As she heads toward a country manor to visit her "dear friend" Carrie Louise (Davis), she's informed of the vast changes that have undergone the estate; Carrie Louise's husband, a philanthropist, has decided to open the grounds to rehabilitate juvenile delinquents. As Miss Marple is being told some of the youthful offenders' stories, she's utterly unflappable. Told that one particular young man was caught flashing parishioners at St. Paul's, Hayes' Marple mutters, "We all must worship in our own way, I suppose." Davis, in one of her last film performances, plays a woman who may--or may not--be being slowly poisoned to death, but regardless is frail and slightly incoherent. Davis herself looks quite frail herself, and her line delivery seems a bit uncertain--perhaps extremely effective Method acting, or perhaps she was indeed as frail as she looks; either way, film fans won't want to miss this. It's chilling--and unforgettable. --A.T. Hurley
There may be no such thing as the perfect crime. But perfect crime entertainments are as easy as 1...2...3... in this star-packed set. First, sunshine and murder are just what the doctor orders when a physician-prescribed vacation plunges Miss Marple into A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY. MURDER IS EASY asks: Can a computer catch a killer? And MURDER WITH MIRRORS teams Leo (Rumpole) McKern with Hayes' Marple in a case of manor-house intrigue. Happy sleuthing!
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
by Ted Post
from 20th Century Fox
In the acclaimed sequel to Planet of the Apes another astronaut (James Franciscus) crashes through the time barrier searching for the missing Taylor (Charlton Heston). The daring rescue leads to a subterranean city where mutant humans who practice mind control worship a weapon capable of destroying the entire planet. Both an action-oriented science-fiction adventure and a wry commentary on today's world it's imaginative entertainment for fantasy buffs of all ages.Episodes-Bonus Features:Beneath the Planet of the Apes - Photo GalleryWeb-linksWidescreen FormatInteractive MenusScene Selection & Original Theatrical TrailersFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: Unknown UPC: 024543228080 Manufacturer No: 2232808
The second--and most horrifying--of the five Planet of the Apes movies, this film goes where few end-of-the-world movies ever dare tread. It's the far future. The mass of humanity has descended into speechless savagery, kept as captive animals by the talking apes who have inherited the world. Two astronauts from our time have landed here, retracing the path of their lost comrade, Captain Taylor (Charlton Heston). Unfortunately, they've landed in the middle of a grim situation. Warlike gorillas are preparing to eliminate the last shards of shattered human civilization, a degenerate, subterranean cult worshipping the greatest of all human achievements--the cobalt bomb. As well as rescuing Taylor, the two men have to stop the gorillas from wiping out humanity ... and stop humanity from fulfilling their self-appointed, self-destructive destiny. This is both thrill-a-minute science fiction and a surprisingly deep reflection on the human condition. Plus, it's got lots of guys in really keen ape suits. --Grant Balfour
The Jerk
from Universal Studios
Carl Reiner (Where's Poppa?) brought comic Steve Martin to the screen in this mostly funny 1979 movie about a relentlessly stupid but innocent man, whom we get to know from childhood (where it never occurred to him that he was white as he was raised by a family of black sharecroppers) to romance (where he doesn't quite know what to do with Bernadette Peters). Martin is game as the moron, and this is the kind of film with funny moments people still talk about. --Tom Keogh
Planet of the Apes
by Franklin J. Schaffner
from 20th Century Fox
Many early science fiction films are now, quite inadvertently (and in most cases undeservedly), objects of camp attention: we laugh at the silly makeup, tin-can special effects, and the naive "high-tech" dialogue. Planet of the Apes is no such film. Its intelligent script, frightening costuming, and savagely effective conclusion (which needs no big-budget special effects to augment its impact) remain both potent and relevant. When Colonel George Taylor (the fabulous Charlton Heston) crash lands his spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes. However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the more liberal simians, Taylor escapes--only to find a more terrifying obstacle confronting his return home. Heavy-handed object lessons abound--the ubiquity of generational warfare, the inflexibility of dogma, the cruelty of prejudice--and the didactic fingerprints of Rod Serling are very much in evidence here. But director Franklin Schaffner has a dark, pop-apocalyptic sci-fi vision all his own, and time has not dulled the monumental emotional impact of the film's climactic payoff shot. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, you owe it to yourself to check out this stone classic, and even if you do, see it with fresh eyes; and don't be surprised if you get the chills all over again... and again... and again. --Miles Bethany
Behind the Planet of the Apes
by Kevin Burns (III)
from Image Entertainment
Prepare for the ultimate adventure with this behind-the-scenes chronicle of the amazing Planet of the Apes phenomenon. Host Roddy McDowall takes you, film by film, from production meetings to make-up sessions, then right onto the movie set to see the actual filming of this science fiction masterpiece. Hear exclusive interviews with stars Charlton Heston and Kim Hunter, see rare archival photos, and view never-before-seen footage. Then see how the Apes saga reached beyond the original visionary films, creating a franchise that includes television and books. The most comprehensive history of Planet of the Apes ever created, this fascinating 127-minute documentary explores one of the most imaginative and influential series in movie history. This special two-disc set contains over two hours of extras! 319 minutes.
Scrooge
by Henry Edwards
from Image Entertainment
No Description Available.
Genre: Christmas
Rating: NR
Release Date: 14-NOV-2006
Media Type: DVD
This British production of Dickens's Christmas Carol has been eclipsed by subsequent versions, but it stands on its own as a darkly atmospheric (if sometimes regrettably brisk) telling of the beloved tale. Even with the rough quality of existing prints, this Scrooge has a visual intensity that approaches the bold compositions of German expressionism. And in its central role it has a mostly forgotten star: Sir Seymour Hicks, one of the era's celebrated English stage actors. With his gnarled face and flyaway hair, Hicks looks every inch the mean old misanthrope, and his cruelty has a realistic quality missing in some of the more stylized interpreters of the role. Hicks had played Scrooge many times on stage (and before in silent film), and he gets the tenor of every "Humbug!" just right. As a bandy-legged Bob Cratchit, Donald Calthorp is a perfect Victorian illustration come to grinning life. --Robert Horton
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