Guest, Nicholas

The Joy Luck Club

The 1993 film adaptation of Amy Tan's bestselling novel is both a delight and a moving experience, an anthology of stories wrapped in one Chinese-American woman's journey to understand her roots. Wayne Wang (Eat a Bowl of Tea) directs a large, outstanding cast spread over eight different tales of the lives of Chinese women, most of them set in the past. The script by Tan and Ronald Bass (Rain Man) is a delicate balance of emotions that swell but don't gush, and Wang brings impressive texture and a personal feel to Tan's descriptions of daily life in the Chinese-American community. This sprawling, good-looking movie makes for a cathartic tearjerker one can feel good about. --Tom Keogh

The stories of four native-born Chinese women and their American-born daughters, showing the influence each has on the others' lives, and how they are the same and different.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 14-OCT-2003
Media Type: DVD

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

Although Star Trek: The Motion Picture had been a box-office hit, it was by no means a unanimous success with Star Trek fans, who responded much more favorably to the "classic Trek" scenario of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Inspired by the "Space Seed" episode of the original TV series, the film reunites newly promoted Admiral Kirk with his nemesis from the earlier episode--the genetically superior Khan (Ricardo Montalban)--who is now seeking revenge upon Kirk for having been imprisoned on a desolated planet. Their battle ensues over control of the Genesis device, a top-secret Starfleet project enabling entire planets to be transformed into life-supporting worlds, pioneered by the mother (Bibi Besch) of Kirk's estranged and now-adult son. While Mr. Spock mentors the young Vulcan Lt. Saavik (then-newcomer Kirstie Alley), Kirk must battle Khan to the bitter end, through a climactic starship chase and an unexpected crisis that will cost the life of Kirk's closest friend. This was the kind of character-based Trek that fans were waiting for, boosted by spectacular special effects, a great villain (thanks to Montalban's splendidly melodramatic performance), and a deft combination of humor, excitement, and wondrous imagination. Director Nicholas Meyer (who would play a substantial role in the success of future Trek features) handles the film as a combination of Moby Dick, Shakespearean tragedy, World War II submarine thriller, and dazzling science fiction, setting the successful tone for the Trek films that followed. --Jeff Shannon

The Klingon Khan is back seeking vengeance from Admiral Kirk.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: PG
Release Date: 10-APR-2007
Media Type: DVD

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Special Edition)

You know exactly what you're getting in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: another goofball, slapstick comedy of chaos and catastrophe with Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and family. This time, there's no traveling involved: Clark and Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) prepare for a nice Christmas with the kids (played by none other than Juliette Lewis and Roseanne star Johnny Galecki), when their home is invaded by backwoods cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his brood, along with assorted other crazy and/or stuffy relatives. Complications, of course, are inevitable. The film is preceded by National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) and followed by National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation (1997). Directed by Jeremiah Chechik, who went on to do Benny & Joon and the Sharon Stone remake of Diabolique. --Jim Emerson

In this 3rd Lampoon outing, Clark is determined to have an old fashioned Christmas. The disasters begin when his crude cousin from Kansas arrives unannounced.
Genre: Christmas
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 7-OCT-2003
Media Type: DVD

Barnyard - The Original Party Animals (Full Screen Edition)

Moo-ve over all you pretenders...here are the original party animals - the critters of Barnyard! This laugh-filled tuneful animated adventure stars Otis (voiced by Kevin James) a carefree party cow. To the consternation of his respected father Ben (voiced by Sam Elliott) Otis is happy to spend his days singing dancing and playing tricks on humans. But all good things must come to an end and when Otis is suddenly forced into his father's position of responsibility the animal antics multiply as he struggles to find the courage and talent to be a true leader. Wild wacky and "udderly" hilarious here s a herd of animated pranksters that'll keep you laughing out loud!System Requirements:Run Time: 89 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: PG UPC: 097361186146 Manufacturer No: 118614

When the farmer's back is turned, the animals party down in Barnyard. A young cow named Otis (voiced by Kevin James, The King of Queens) loves to have fun at the farm's wild late-night hoe-downs, despite the disapproval of his father, Ben (Sam Elliott, Thank You for Smoking). When Ben dies defending the barnyard from marauding coyotes, Otis is chosen as the new leader--but responsibility sits uneasily on Otis' head and he fears he may not be able to protect his friends from the coyotes. Barnyard's design of the cows seems inspired by Gary Larson's The Far Side comics; though the style is simple, the characters are surprisingly expressive. From moment to moment, the movie is reasonably entertaining. The actors--including Courteney Cox, Danny Glover, and David Koechner (Anchorman) as a very menacing coyote--do solid voice work and there are plenty of amusing gags. But as Barnyard gallops towards its end, the combination of cliches (the story is a clumsy reworking of The Lion King), odd choices (the male cows have udders), and lackluster dialogue makes the movie sag. --Bret Fetzer

Roughnecks - The Starship Troopers Chronicles - The Complete Campaigns

ROUGHNECKS STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES: THE COMPLETE CAMPAIGNS follows the adventures of Rico Carmen and Carl a trio of high school buds. Lured to enlist by the thrill of travel and adventure on distant planets these unsung heroes are unaware that the battle of the bugs is about to re-erupt sending them all to the front lines of the First Interstellar War. As members of Lieutenant Razak's "Roughnecks" these three ordinary teenagers find themselves in an extraordinary set of circumstances-infiltrating alien worlds to battle monstrous bugs one-on-one. Armed with an anti-arthropod arsenal the "Roughnecks" battle hand-to-hand against massive insects as they struggle with their youth in the face of deadly grown-up battles.System Requirements:Running Time: 778 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Rating: PG UPC: 043396106567 Manufacturer No: 10656

The Complete Campaigns is a four-disc compilation of the Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles series that was originally released on eight DVDs: The Pluto Campaign, The Hydora Campaign, The Tophet Campaign, The Tesca Campaign, The Zephyr Campaign, The Klendathu Campaign, Trackers (including the four bonus episodes), and The Homefront Campaign. While Paul Verhoeven's dark, satirical adaptation of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers seriously strayed from the novel, this Verhoeven-produced TV series--part sequel, part remake, all CGI animated--hews closer to the spirit of the novel, a space-age twist on a World War II battle adventure. Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles is a series of military skirmishes and assignments on a variety of fronts, such as Bug City, water-dominated Hydora, the desert planet Tophet, the jungle planet Tesca, fiery Klendathu, and good old Earth.

The episodic nature works perfectly within this framework, and the mix of Marine grit ("No retreat, no surrender!"), military jargon, and understated melodrama give a feel somewhere between the steely seriousness of an old-fashioned war comic book and the spectacle and romance of a Japanese anime space opera. The CGI animation is less ambitious than in such feature films as Toy Story, but it's one of the most impressive examples of the animation made for TV. The detailed designs, rich textures, 3-D modeling, and awesome sense of scale (not to mention the pumped-up action and whiplash speed of the bug army) give it the look of an impossibly sophisticated video game, with the rat-a-tat editing and soaring camerawork of a Hollywood movie. The budgetary shortcuts are evident in moments of blurring and jerking, but overall it's startlingly effective. The PG-level violence may not be appropriate for younger viewers, but it's aimed at an older crowd and has won a loyal adult following.

The packaging is very convenient (a shelf-space-friendly four discs in Thinpaks), but unfortunately, serious Roughnecks fans will want to hold onto their old discs. Cramming the eight discs of content plus bonus episodes (granted, Trackers was a short disc) onto four single-sided discs apparently left no room for the producer/technical commentary tracks that accompanied most of the previous discs. The only bonus features are photo galleries and a fold-out illustration. --Sean Axmaker, David Horiuchi

Beyond Roughnecks at Amazon.com

Listmania: The Military in Space

More Films from Paul Verhoeven

The Book

Stills from Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles (click for larger image)

The Long Riders

This terrific Walter Hill Western follows the careers of the James and Younger brothers--and uses the nifty idea of casting actual clans of acting siblings in the roles. Thus, the James brothers are played by James and Stacy Keach; the Youngers by David, Keith, and Robert Carradine; the Millers by Randy and Dennis Quaid; and the Fords by Christopher and Nicholas Guest. Hill, working with an evocative Ry Cooder score, creates a film that is at once breathtakingly exciting and elegiac in its treatment of these post-Civil War outlaws. The Keaches in particular bring a surprising dignity to the roles of Frank and Jesse James, while David Carradine is a hoot as Cole Younger--and the Quaids mimic real life (as it was for them then) in their battles as the Miller brothers. Bloody, to be sure, but also bloody good. --Marshall Fine

Four theatrical families of the 1980s re-create the saga of the 1860s James Gang: Stacy and James Keach David Keith and Robert Carradine Randy and Dennis Quaid and Christopher and Nicholas Guest.System Requirements:Starring: David Carradine Keith Carradine Robert Carradine James Keach Stacy Keach Dennis Quaid Randy Quaid Kevin Brophy and Harry Carey Jr. Directed By: Walter Hill. Running Time: 99 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: R UPC: 027616859037

Grand Tour - Disaster in Time

Barnyard - The Original Party Animals (Widescreen Edition)

Kevin James plays Otis the Cow in this animated comedy. Hmm let's check the dictionary here... HEY! Cows are supposed to be female! Does this mean he's a tranvestite bull? Or is Otis a drag king? Or just a gruff-voiced lesbian with an unfortunate name? Well Kevin James is the King of Queens. Someone call Marlin Perkins we demand answers!System Requirements:Run Time: 90 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: PG UPC: 097363431244 Manufacturer No: 343124

When the farmer's back is turned, the animals party down in Barnyard. A young cow named Otis (voiced by Kevin James, The King of Queens) loves to have fun at the farm's wild late-night hoe-downs, despite the disapproval of his father, Ben (Sam Elliott, Thank You for Smoking). When Ben dies defending the barnyard from marauding coyotes, Otis is chosen as the new leader--but responsibility sits uneasily on Otis' head and he fears he may not be able to protect his friends from the coyotes. Barnyard's design of the cows seems inspired by Gary Larson's The Far Side comics; though the style is simple, the characters are surprisingly expressive. From moment to moment, the movie is reasonably entertaining. The actors--including Courteney Cox, Danny Glover, and David Koechner (Anchorman) as a very menacing coyote--do solid voice work and there are plenty of amusing gags. But as Barnyard gallops towards its end, the combination of cliches (the story is a clumsy reworking of The Lion King), odd choices (the male cows have udders), and lackluster dialogue makes the movie sag. --Bret Fetzer

The Land Before Time III - The Time of Great Giving

This direct-to-video sequel (the second) to The Land Before Time suffers from less ambitious animation, but the story is superior to the last film. This time, a meteorite has cut off the water supply to the Great Valley, causing inhabitants to bicker and bully among themselves. By contrast, Littlefoot and his friends are getting along just fine, and they leave the valley to go in search of a new water source. Directed by Roy Allen Smith, who made the The Land Before Time II. --Tom Keogh

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

Most of the original characters from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame--plus a few new ones--return for this animated sequel. Esmeralda (Demi Moore) and Phoebus (Kevin Kline) now have a son named Zephyr (Haley Joel Osment), with whom Quasi (Tom Hulce) has become friends. When the circus comes to town, the hunchback becomes enchanted by a magician's assistant, Madellaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt), but the her boss, the vain Sarousch (Michael McKean), is also a thief with an eye for the cathedral's jeweled bell. He forces Madellaine to woo Quasi while he carries out the theft. Will he get away with it? Will Madellaine learn to see the inner Quasi? And will he be able to trust again when he learns of her deception? Songs and humorous high jinks from the gargoyles, including Jason Alexander's Hugo, illustrate the lesson that--as in the first feature--you can't judge a book by its cover. This sequel is squarely aimed at a younger audience than the original was; children from 5 to 10 should be very entertained. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Return to the magnificence of Notre Dame in Disney's all-new movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II - a fun, romantic adventure told with vibrant animation and music as soaring as its setting. Still the faithful protector of Notre Dame's beloved bells, Quasimodo now rings them with the help of Zephyr, who is Quasi's best friend. Stopping with Zephyr at a traveling circus owned by the evil magician Sarousch, Quasi is captivated by Sarousch's lovely assistant, Madellaine. But greedy Sarousch is about to force Madellaine to help him steal the Cathedral's most famous bell. Encouraged by some laughable romantic advice from his gargoyle pals, Quasi listens to his own heart and discovers that he, too, must look past appearances to find true love.