Fuchs, Jason

Flipper

The 1963 film that inspired a popular television series about a chatty, lovable dolphin gets a sunny makeover in this 1996 update. Elijah Wood plays Sandy, a bleak adolescent from Chicago struggling with the recent divorce of his parents and wanting only to immerse himself in familiar comforts. Instead, Sandy is sent to Coral Key, an island off Australia, to spend a summer with his Uncle Porter (Paul Hogan), a benevolent old fisherman. The sights and pleasures of the island, including a pretty neighbor named Kim (Jessica Wesson), aren't enough to shake off Sandy's gloomy outlook. But when he meets Flipper while boating with Porter, his morale improves considerably, then gets another boost when Flipper develops a loyal attachment to him. A subplot about a crooked charter-boat company dumping toxic waste off the coast feels like a necessary evil, just to give the screenwriter something to do. Other than that, the film is quite fun and charming, and Hogan is a pleasure to see with his cracker-barrel wisdom. Great fun all around for ages 6 and up. --Tom Keogh

Dive into adventure in the sun-drenched Florida Keys with Paul Hogan and Elijah Wood as they have the time of their lives in this action-packed family favorite. When Sandy Ricks (Wood) is sent to Coral Key to stay with his salty Uncle Porter (Hogan) for the summer, he never dreamed he'd become best mates with a feisty, orphaned dolphin named Flipper. In no time, the two new friends become caught up in a series of high-seas escapades and Sandy discovers a whole new outlook on life, in this heartwarming adventure.

The Hebrew Hammer

A cross between a Kosher Shaft and Airplane!'s shameless gag machine, The Hebrew Hammer is an unabashed burlesque about a streetwise Jewish private detective (a "circumcised dick" in his own parlance) named Mordechai Jefferson Carver (Adam Goldberg). Once ostracized by Gentile children, Mordechai has become a much-feared defender of Jews, so extreme that even the militant Jewish Justice League tosses him out. Until, that is, JJL leader Chief Bloomenbergansteinhal (Peter Coyote) and his lovely daughter Esther (Judy Greer) recruit him to take on the wicked Damien (Andy Dick), a snippy anti-Semite who murders Santa Claus in order to turn Christmas into a Jew-hating holiday. Written and directed by Jonathan Kesselman, this sporadically funny feature is based on a funkier short (included on this DVD) of the same name. The cast is better than the generally obvious material, and Nora Dunn (as Mordechai's mother) and Mario Van Peebles are very good in supporting roles. --Tom Keogh

THE HEBREW HAMMER stars Adam Goldberg in the title role of this holiday farce as a handsome Orthodox stud and man of action who is called upon to save Hanukkah. When Santa Claus' evil son Damian (Dick) is pushed over the edge by his father's liberal policies, he murders the Christian patriarch and, stepping into the vacated role, launches a nefarious worldwide campaign to eradicate the Jewish Holiday. The Hammer joins forces with Esther (Greer), the gorgeous daughter of the chief of the Jewish Justice League to topple Damian and save Hanukkah for future generations.

Mafia!

This hapless comedy may actually work a lot better on video than it did in theaters. A parody of contemporary mob movies (with a few sidebars skewering such hits as Forrest Gump and The English Patient), Mafia! most closely resembles the first two Godfather films in its generational saga of a gangster family. Lloyd Bridges plays Don Cortino, a native Sicilian who presides over a crime syndicate, and Jay Mohr plays his Michael Corleone-like son. The film is by Jim Abrahams, formerly of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker directing team (Airplane!, The Naked Gun), single- handedly trotting out the old dumb-joke aesthetic that worked wonderfully a lifetime ago but looks a little creaky in the era of There's Something About Mary. Silly allusions to every crime film (GoodFellas, Casino) produced in the last three decades and featuring at least one wise guy or made man find their way into Mafia!'s gags, but most are arbitrary and shrugged off. The film tanked in theaters for good reason; on the other hand, Mafia! might have a lot more to offer if you're slumped on your own couch at the end of a long day, ready for brain-dead entertainment and absolutely apathetic about comic integrity. Even a film this instantly stale on the big screen might have its place in video posterity. -- Tom Keogh

Winter Solstice

Title aside, Winter Solstice is set in the spring and summer of a small, pretty, and dull Northeastern town. Anthony LaPaglia eases comfortably into the role of a widower anxious about his two teenage boys growing up and slipping away from him in Josh Sternfeld's low-key drama. While the eldest (Aaron Stanford) yearns for something more, or at least something different, his younger brother (Mark Webber) is the poster child for underachievers: Unfocused and distracted, wound up yet unmotivated. Sternfeld creates a lovely texture of naturalism and the boys create a convincing brotherly vibe in shared glances and private jokes, but the lulling rhythms take over the film, even when Allison Janney arrives with her low-key nervous energy. --Sean Axmaker

WINTER SOLSTICE tells the tale of small steps taken in the aftermath of family loss. Landscape gardener Jim Winters (LaPaglia) is a quiet craftsman, a soft-spoken man who prefers an orderly life. His family, however, is anything but orderly. Older son Gabe (Stanford) is planning his escape to Florida, leaving behind any shot at a stable future with his girlfriend. Younger son Pete (Webber) has retreated into a private world of anger, drift and disappointment. It is only when he meets his new neighbor, Molly (Janney), that Jim finds a way to deal with his own life and his family's future.

The Hebrew Hammer

A cross between a Kosher Shaft and Airplane!'s shameless gag machine, The Hebrew Hammer is an unabashed burlesque about a streetwise Jewish private detective (a "circumcised dick" in his own parlance) named Mordechai Jefferson Carver (Adam Goldberg). Once ostracized by Gentile children, Mordechai has become a much-feared defender of Jews, so extreme that even the militant Jewish Justice League tosses him out. Until, that is, JJL leader Chief Bloomenbergansteinhal (Peter Coyote) and his lovely daughter Esther (Judy Greer) recruit him to take on the wicked Damien (Andy Dick), a snippy anti-Semite who murders Santa Claus in order to turn Christmas into a Jew-hating holiday. Written and directed by Jonathan Kesselman, this sporadically funny feature is based on a funkier short (included on this DVD) of the same name. The cast is better than the generally obvious material, and Nora Dunn (as Mordechai's mother) and Mario Van Peebles are very good in supporting roles. --Tom Keogh

Spooky House

Mysterious magician the Great Zamboni (Ben Kingsley) lives with his pet jaguar Shadow in an expansive mansion filled with secret passages and hidden chambers. Young orphan Max (Matt Weiberg) wants to befriend the reclusive magic man but all of his attempts are met with resistance. The boy's fortune changes one Halloween night though when he and his friends are chased into Zamboni's house and an evening of spectacular magic and illusion occurs!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: PG UPC: 787364753994

Family Favorites 4 Movie Collection (The Little Rascals / Casper / Flipper / Leave it to Beaver)

Get ready for hours of family fun! Perfect for movie fans of all ages, the Family Favorites 4-Movie Collection includes four feature-length, live-action films based on the original beloved television series. Join Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat and all the rest of The Little Rascals as they romp from one adventure to another; take flight with Casper the friendly but lonely ghost; dive into a wild and wet world of fun with Flipper; and look out for trouble with Beaver and the rest of the Cleaver gang in Leave It To Beaver. Available together on DVD for the first time, the Family Favorites 4-Movie Collection is a must-have addition to every family's DVD library!

Spooky House

Oscar®-winner Ben Kingsley plays the Great Zamboni, a magician with a mysterious secret. He lives alone with his jaguar, Shadow, in the Spooky House, an old mansion rigged with magic tricks and hidden chambers. In spite of all the urban legends about the reclusive Zamboni, young orphan Max (Matt Weinberg) believes he can befriend him. His attempts to charm the magician, however, are met with stubborn resistance. As Max and his friends try to uncover the secret of Zamboni's past, they are harassed by a trio of teenage bullies who work for the town's eccentric crime queen (Oscar®-winner Mercedes Ruehl). When the bullies chase the kids into the Spooky House on Halloween, a night of hilarious magic and spectacular illusions ensues. In this funny, heartwarming story, Zamboni and Max ultimately discover the power of real magic.

Mumford/Mafia!

Mafia! - DVD- Taking aim at Hollywood's greatest gangster films, MAFIA! is the hilarious comedy spoof that packs all the laughs you'd expect from the hit-making director of AIRPLANE! and HOT SHOTS! In this sidesplitting saga of disorganized crime's most dysfunctional family, legendary star Lloyd Bridges rules the underworld as the ruthless, powerful ... and ceaselessly clumsy ... Godfather Vincenzo Cortino. When the time comes to choose the next Don Cortino, however, a riotous rivalry breaks out between his two sons: one a war hero (handsome Jay Mohr -- JERRY MAGUIRE) and the other a raving psychotic! Also starring sexy Christina Applegate (JUST VISITING) in an outrageously funny cast -- you'll happily die laughing with this dead-on mobster movie parody that offers entertainment you can't refuse! Mumford - DVD- From Academy Award(R)-nominated writer/director Lawrence Kasdan (BODY HEAT, THE BIG CHILL) comes this endearing romantic comedy. Starring a first-rate ensemble cast -- including Ted Danson (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN), Martin Short (FATHER OF THE BRIDE), Mary McDonnell (INDEPENDENCE DAY), Jason Lee (DOGMA), and Alfre Woodard (DOWN IN THE DELTA) -- MUMFORD is sure to win your heart with its charm and wit. When a would-be psychologist, curiously named Dr. Mumford (Loren Dean, ENEMY OF THE STATE), comes to the idyllic town of the same name and offers his talent for listening and a disarming frankness, the town's quirkiest citizens scramble for a seat on his couch. As he lightens hearts darkened by old secrets -- including those of the beautiful and troubled Sofie Crisp (Hope Davis, ARLINGTON ROAD) -- no one realizes he's hiding a whopper of his own, or that he's fallen head over heels for one of his patients! Filled with personality disorders, surprises, offbeat alliances, and some hilarious fantasies, MUMFORD is just what the laugh doctor ordered.

Jane Austen's Mafia! [Region 2]

This hapless comedy may actually work a lot better on video than it did in theaters. A parody of contemporary mob movies (with a few sidebars skewering such hits as Forrest Gump and The English Patient), Mafia! most closely resembles the first two Godfather films in its generational saga of a gangster family. Lloyd Bridges plays Don Cortino, a native Sicilian who presides over a crime syndicate, and Jay Mohr plays his Michael Corleone-like son. The film is by Jim Abrahams, formerly of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker directing team (Airplane!, The Naked Gun), single- handedly trotting out the old dumb-joke aesthetic that worked wonderfully a lifetime ago but looks a little creaky in the era of There's Something About Mary. Silly allusions to every crime film (GoodFellas, Casino) produced in the last three decades and featuring at least one wise guy or made man find their way into Mafia!'s gags, but most are arbitrary and shrugged off. The film tanked in theaters for good reason; on the other hand, Mafia! might have a lot more to offer if you're slumped on your own couch at the end of a long day, ready for brain-dead entertainment and absolutely apathetic about comic integrity. Even a film this instantly stale on the big screen might have its place in video posterity. -- Tom Keogh