Grimes, Scott

Band of Brothers

Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company as well as soldiers' journals and letters Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elete rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties and whose lives became legend.Running Time: 705 min.System Requirements:Starring: Damian Lewis Donnie Wahlberg Ron Livingston Matthew Settle Rick Warden Frank John Hughes Scott Grimes Neal McDonough Rick Gomez Eion Bailey James Madio Kirk Acecedo Michael Cudlitz David Schwimmer Mark Lawrence Douglas Spain Michael Fassbender Jimmy Fallon Colin Hanks Tom Hanks. Running Time: 600 Min. Color. Copyright 2002 Warner Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 026359920523 Manufacturer No: 99205

An impressively rigorous, unsentimental, and harrowing look at combat during World War II, Band of Brothers follows a company of airborne infantry--Easy Company--from boot camp through the end of the war. The brutality of training takes the audience by increments to the even greater brutality of the war; Easy Company took part in some of the most difficult battles, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the failed invasion of Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the liberation of a concentration camp and the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest. But what makes these episodes work is not their historical sweep but their emphasis on riveting details (such as the rattle of a plane as the paratroopers wait to leap, or a flower in the buttonhole of a German soldier) and procedures (from military tactics to the workings of bureaucratic hierarchies). The scope of this miniseries (10 episodes, plus an actual documentary filled with interviews with surviving veterans) allows not only a thoroughness impossible in a two-hour movie, but also captures the wide range of responses to the stress and trauma of war--fear, cynicism, cruelty, compassion, and all-encompassing confusion. The result is a realism that makes both simplistic judgments and jingoistic enthusiasm impossible; the things these soldiers had to do are both terrible and understandable, and the psychological price they paid is made clear. The writing, directing, and acting are superb throughout. The cast is largely unknown, emphasizing the team of actors as a whole unit, much like the regiment; Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston play the central roles of two officers with grit and intelligence. Band of Brothers turns a vast historical event into a series of potent personal experiences; it's a deeply engrossing and affecting accomplishment. --Bret Fetzer

American Dad, Vol. 3

Disc 1:Bush Comes to DinnerAmerican Dream FactoryA.T. The Abusive TerrestrialBlack Mystery MonthAn Apcoalypse to RememberFour Little WordsWhen a Stan Loves a WomanSeamless branchingI Can't Stan YouDisc 2:The Magnificent StevenJoint CustodyThe Vacation GooMeter MadeDope & FaithBig Trouble in Little LangleyHayliasThe 42-Year-Old VirginDisc 3:TearjerkerSurro-GateFrannie 911System Requirements:Running Time: 394 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543504368 Manufacturer No: 2250436

"I'm not beloved," CIA Agent Stan Smith is shocked to discover after eavesdropping on his mocking neighbors in the episode, "I Can't Stan You." With all the resolve this "pig-headed" Red State poster boy and George "The Dub" Bush devotee can muster, he vows, "I will make these people like me." For those still on the fence about American Dad, this collection of 18 episodes spanning seasons two and three ought to do the trick. These characters may not be as indelible as the Family Guy clan, but these episodes rarely flag. If the outrageous storylines don't grab you, the rapid-fire random gags will. Like King of the Hill's Hank Hill , Stan (voiced by series co-creator Seth McFarlane) is oft confounded by a world seemingly gone mad. Unlike Hank, he is the voice of un-reason. In "Surro-Gate," Stan's dizzy wife, Francine (Wendy Schaal) agrees to be the surrogate for the Smith's gay neighbors, prompting the disapproving Stan to kidnap the infant, as well as the brood of a lesbian couple. In "Black Mystery Month," Stan reveals a Da Vinci Code-like conspiracy involving George Washington Carver that's plain nuts. In another episode, "Bush Comes to Dinner" for a night of drunken debauchery; some easy-target Bush-bashing redeemed when the President makes peace between Stan and his "lost cause" liberal daughter, Hayley (Rachael MacFarlane). Some of the best episodes focus more on the Smith family than politics. In "The Vacation Goo," Francine demands a real family getaway after discovering that all previous vacations were artificially created memories. In "Haylias," it is revealed that the unwitting Hayley is a brainwashed sleeper agent, who is activated by Stan to stop her from moving to France. "The 42-Year-Old Virgin" reveals another shocker: Trigger-happy Stan has never actually killed anyone! American Dad revels in guy humor. As Stan tells an unamused Hayley at one point, "You don't get a willy, you don't get the silly." American Dad brings the silly, but while the series is not above (or beneath) moth fart jokes, it is also smart enough to reference, say, Equus or the touching "When Somebody Loved Me" number from Toy Story 2. Stan's geeky son, Steve (Scott Grimes), bitchy alien Roger (MacFarlane), and talking fish Klaus (Dee Bradley Baker) are no Chris, Brian, or Stewie, but this set contains some of their more memorable outings. In "Frannie 911," it turns out that it actually would kill Roger to be nice. In "Surro-Gate," Klaus vows revenge on Roger and Stan following a waterslide prank. American Dad fans will salute this three-disc set's generous features, including a riotous Comic-Con cast table read of the episode, "The 42 Year-Old Virgin," nearly a half hour of deleted scenes (deleted jokes would be more accurate), unrated versions (with unbleeped profanities) of certain episodes, and freewheeling audio commentaries ("Hey, aren't we supposed to talk about the episode?" one participant tries to steer one digressive conversation). --Donald Liebenson

Mystery, Alaska

With Russell Crowe (THE INSIDER, A BEAUTIFUL MIND), Hank Azaria (GODZILLA, THE BIRD CAGE), and Burt Reynolds leading an incredible all-star cast, here's a fun, uplifting, action-packed story that everyone will love! A remote hockey-obsessed town populated by 633 of the most eccentric characters you'd ever want to meet, Mystery is the kind of place where nothing ever changes. But then life as they know it gets turned completely upside down! When a publicity stunt brings the world-famous New York Rangers -- and the national spotlight -- to Mystery for a game with the local team of weekend warriors, the whole town rises to meet the challenge of a lifetime! Also starring Mary McCormack (TRUE CRIME, DEEP IMPACT) and Lolita Davidovich (PLAY IT TO THE BONE, JUNGLE 2 JUNGLE) in another critical favorite from the hit-making director of AUSTIN POWERS 1&2 -- you'll stand and cheer as this ragtag bunch shows that nothing can melt their dreams of a miracle on ice!

When it comes to the subject of community, David E. Kelley--the prolific writer-producer behind television's The Practice and Ally McBeal--falls somewhere on a continuum between directors Howard Hawks and Robert Benton. While Hawks's professional characters are bound by a knowledge of how to do what they do even if they don't know why, Benton's people, professional or not, have long ago substituted their own eccentric reasons for that elusive why. Thus we get the kind of in-house, oddball rituals sandwiched between passages of actual work on Ally, and the affectionately entangled personal and professional ties between small-town folks in Kelley's earlier TV series Picket Fences.

Kelley's script for Mystery, Alaska (co-authored by Sean O'Byrne) takes that level of eccentricity to a geographical and spiritual extreme. The film revives the hackneyed Rocky formula, setting a lopsided hockey match within a remote, self-contained hamlet where the members of a tiny population all have to wear multiple hats and still keep neighborly ties intact. The story concerns the town's chief source of identity and pride: so-called "Saturday games," in which local men divide into teams and play pond hockey for the locals. When a prodigal son (Hank Azaria) of Mystery shows up with a television network offer to bring the New York Rangers in for a televised match against the homegrown team, the town fathers agree. Coaching falls to the town sheriff, John Biebe (Russell Crowe), an admirable man and a longtime player recently bumped from the team. John, however, doesn't want the job: everyone knows the real coach in those parts is Judge Burns (Burt Reynolds), but he wants no part of it either. All of that changes after a sad tragedy forces everyone to reevaluate their positions and pull together in order to beat the Rangers.

Following the success of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Jay Roach proves to be an able director of drama, swift action, and low-key, character-driven comedy not unlike that in Benton's Nobody's Fool. He has to deal with some pure corn at the end, but Roach pulls it off and guides the actors to and through far better moments. --Tom Keogh

American Dad!, Vol. 2

Stan Smith who works for the CIA and is constantly on the alert for terrorist activity. Stan will go to extremes to protect his beloved America from harm; as evidenced by the terror-alert color code on his fridge and his frequent knee-jerk reaction of shooting holes in the toaster whenever the toast pops up. In addition to Stan's wife and teenage children the Smith household has two rather unconventional members. There's Roger the sarcastic space alien who rescued Stan from Area 51 who deeply resents the fact that he's not allowed to leave the house and therefore has been reduced to drinking wine and smoking cigarettes and Klaus a lascivious German-speaking goldfish; the result of a CIA experiment gone seriously wrong where the CIA tried to give a fish a German man's brain. Stan's son is a dorky teenager who tries to be cool. His wife has had a past life of sex and drugs.Run Time: 408 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 024543433309 Manufacturer No: 2243330

The "Laugh Alert" level is Elevated with the release of this second volume of episodes that chronologically span seasons 1 and 2. You know the "there" that people talk about when they say, "Don't go 'there'?" Seth MacFarlane's American Dad! leaves "there" in the dust. Take the holiday--excuse me, Christmas--episode, "The Best Christmas Story Never," which somehow melds Charles Dickens with a Ray Bradbury-esque cautionary tale of tampering with the past. CIA Agent and true patriot act Stan Smith (voiced by MacFarlane) loses the spirit of the season in a blizzard of PC secularism in which even the fugitive "Christmas rapist" must be referred to as "the holiday rapist." In the "is nothing sacred" world of American Dad!, Christmas can only be saved by Stan accompanying the Ghost of Christmas Past (Lisa Kudrow) back in time to (don't ask) kill Jane Fonda (or Donald Sutherland), take over the direction of Taxi Driver from a drug-free Martin Scorsese, and shoot Ronald Reagan. The Smith family--wife Francine, geeky son Steve, and "peace-pusher" daughter Hayley--is still not as vividly drawn as the Griffins on MacFarlane's Family Guy (even Klaus, the talking German-accented goldfish admits in one episode that his "fish shtick" is getting thin), but one can't help salute the audacity of the oft-inspired writing. In "Stannie, Get Your Gun," Stan becomes a National Gun Association spokesperson after being accidentally paralyzed by his anti-gun daughter. "The American Dad After School Special" has an A Brilliant Mind-like twist as Stan battles an eating disorder brought about by Steve's new overweight girlfriend. In "Helping Handis," Steve becomes the big man on campus after he develops steroid-enhanced breasts.

Two episodes are standouts for their animation. "Dungeons and Wagons," as did South Park with "Make Love, Not Warcraft," creates a video game universe in which Steve rules. Near the end of "Failure Is Not a Factory-Installed Option," the screen adjusts to widescreen format, and the saga of the golden turd, begun in the first season episode, "Homeland Insecurity" compellingly continues with the jewel-encrusted oddity becoming the last temptation of an honest cop (Beau Bridges). American Dad! is, as should be apparent, not for all tastes (or more sensitive viewers--the episode "Tears of a Clooney" drops some unbleeped F-bombs), but fans of the series are rewarded with this three disc-set's prodigious extra features, including rowdy, chaotic commentaries for all the episodes, a wealth of hit and miss deleted scenes, and a segment devoted to the production of "Dungeons and Wagons." --Donald Liebenson

Critters

Carnivorous aliens who feed on human flesh invade Earth. Starring Dee Wallace-Stone and M. Emmet Walsh. Year: 1986 Director: Stephen Herek Starring: Dee Wallace-Stone, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Green Bush

Critters 2 - The Main Course

When two-year-old Krite eggs hatch, a new litter of bloodthirsty hairballs is unleashed.

The Clean Stand-Up Comedy Tour

Think comedy has to be dirty to be funny? Think Again! The kings of crossover comedy are here and out to prove that funny does not have to be a four-letter word!Thor Ramsey Michael Joiner Carlos Oscar and Michael Jr. bring you a night of clean live comedy in the tradition of Johnny Carson Sinbad and Bill Cosby that's never corny silly or preachy just laugh-out-loud hilarious. Charming witty energetic and anything but boring these four guys are sure to delight even the most conservative viewer while still appealing to those who prefer their comedy hip and fresh. Whether acting out jokes telling stories morphing into characters or joking about the humorous side of family society and everyday mishaps - their non-abrasive brand of comedy has captured audiences around the country and made them crowd favorites. Finally a stand-up comedy film the whole family can enjoy! DVD Extras Include Behind the Scenes FootageSystem Requirements:Running Time Approx. 95 Minutes Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 783722736920 Manufacturer No: ARD27369

Who's Your Monkey

Over the course of a single night four childhood friends kill a drug dealer rescue animals dispose of a dead body and discover the unbreakable bonds of friendship. This film is a hilarious irreverent heartfelt comedy full of laughs surprises and a lot of monkey business!

Puff, Puff, Pass

Danny Masterson (TV's 'That '70s Show') leads a hilarious ensemble cast that includes Mekhi Phifer (Dawn of the Dead 8 Mile) Terry Crews (TV's 'Everybody Hates Chris' Friday After Next) Darrell Hammond (TV's 'Saturday Night Live') Mo Collins (TV's 'Mad TV') about two hapless stoners who get involved in a scheme to rip off a shady character named Mr. Big after the duo sours on rehab.System Requirements:Running Time 95 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: R UPC: 043396142954 Manufacturer No: 14295

The Night They Saved Christmas [Region 2]