Guttman, Ronald

August Rush

There?s music in the wind and sky. Can you hear it? And there?s hope. Can you feel it? The boy called August Rush can. The music mysteriously draws him penniless and alone to New York City in a quest to find ? somehow someway ? the parents separated from him years earlier. And along the way he may also find the musical genius hidden within him. Experience the magic of this rhapsodic epic of the heart starring Freddie Highmore (as August) Keri Russell Jonathan Rhys Meyers Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. ?I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales? August says. Open your heart and listen. You?ll believe too.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CHILDHOOD DRAMA UPC: 012569763685 Manufacturer No: 76368

Music has long been considered a universal language with the power to bring people together, but can the simple act of playing music possibly unite a child with a mother and father who live in two different cities and don't even know of the child's existence? Having shared one extraordinary night, classical cellist Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and Irish singer and songwriter Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) were a union meant to be that was torn apart by circumstances and a protective father (William Sadler). After eleven years, both Lyla and Louis have given up performing only to find that they are unhappy and searching for a sense of fulfillment that will ultimately lead both artists back to music and performing. Evan (Freddie Highmore) is an 11-year old orphan who's grown up hearing music in everything around him and is convinced that his real parents want him and will find him with the help of music. Driven by his innate musical genius and a powerful compulsion to perform before the world, Evan runs away from the orphanage and is initially taken in by a street man known as Wizard (Robin Williams) who encourages his musical talent and renames him August Rush and, later, by a local priest who arranges for August to receive a Julliard education. August is a child prodigy who excels beyond even the wildest expectations and earns the opportunity of a lifetime--a chance to perform in front of an enormous audience in New York's Central Park. The question is; can his performance possibly reach the audience August really craves? While elements of this film are completely unbelievable (take August's instant prowess on the guitar or his immediate and sophisticated grasp of musical notation and musical theory), the message of the universality of music and the notion that "the music is all around us, all you have to do is listen" is both compelling and powerful. --Tami Horiuchi

The Beast (Two-Disc Special Extended Version)

SPECIAL EXTENDED EDITION! Peter Benchley, the master of sea terror, returns with another tale of aquatic mayhem in this three hour uncut version. With almost 80 minutes of restored scenes previously edited from earlier release, this is the original version, nominated for two Prime Time Emmys. Stars William L. Petersen (CSI).

And the Band Played On

Based on the bestselling book by Randy Shilts this powerful and enlightening movie tells of the discovery of the disease we now know as AIDS. An unforgettable tale of scientific struggle corruption deceit tragedy and triumph.Running Time: 141 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 026359096228 Manufacturer No: 90962

A superior, made-for-cable film, this Home Box Office adaptation of Randy Shilts's chronicle detailing the emergence of AIDS in America and the fight against bureaucracy and society for a cure is a taut, outrageous, and affecting true-life drama. Matthew Modine (Birdy, Married to the Mob) is featured as a doctor with the Centers for Disease Control at the time when the first reports of a disease plaguing the gay community were heard. Modine and his colleagues embark on an investigation that resembles a compelling detective story as they try to track the source of the disease and discover a cure. Their efforts are thwarted by an ambivalent government and a turf war between French physicians and a celebrated American researcher (Alan Alda) who seems to place his own glory above the dead and the dying. Featuring heartfelt performances from a stellar cast including Richard Gere, Glenne Headly, Anjelica Huston, Steve Martin, Ian McKellen, Saul Rubinek, and Lily Tomlin, this impassioned film stands as an impressive and important document of one of the darkest eras in modern human history, and a tribute to the spirit of those who sought to save lives. --Robert Lane

Green Card

With the help of his lawyer, Georges (Gérard Depardieu), a composer and one-time petty thief who grew up in poverty, attempts to escape his life in Paris and begin anew in America by illegally marrying Bronte (Andie MacDowell), a prim and repressed young lady from a privileged life in Connecticut. Bronte, who has agreed to the scheme for her own self-serving reasons, is exasperated when the Immigration & Naturalization Service investigates their case, and she and Georges, whom she detests, must spend time together studying each other's lives to avoid disaster. The fallout, and how it ends, is infinitely more delightful than your run-of-the-mill Hollywood romantic comedy, and the very ending itself stops deliciously short of where Hollywood would feel compelled to drag the story. Fine performances are given by MacDowell, Depardieu--who is fiercely charming pounding the keyboard of a Steinway at an upper class Manhattan dinner party--and Bebe Neuwirth, who is perfect as an upper-class child turned artist who revels in her irresponsibility. --James McGrath

In the same romantic spirit as PRETTY WOMAN and GHOST, GREEN CARD lights up the screen with its irresistible charm and lighthearted humor! The fun starts when two strangers (Andie MacDowell, SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE), and Academy Award(R)-nominee Gerard Depardieu (CYRANO DE BERGERAC) agree to a marriage of convenience -- thinking it's going to be hassle-free. She'll get to live in the apartment of her dreams, he'll get a "green card" to live in the U.S. But before they know it, the two opposites encounter far greater differences than most married couples could ever imagine! And worst yet, this mismatched twosome just might be falling love. Winner of two Golden Globe Awards (Best Picture and Best Actor), this delightful tale enjoyed cheers from critics and audiences alike. With its sunny mix of wit, spirit, and charm, GREEN CARD is an entertaining hit you'll never forget!

Avalon

Writer-director Barry Levinson is at his best when exploring his native Baltimore during his formative years: the 1950s and 1960s. This film, drawing upon family stories, tells a compelling, amusing tale about an extended group that came to America one by one, each earning enough to bring the next sibling. The new, American-born generation--represented by Aidan Quinn and Kevin Pollak--see a future in that mysterious machine known as the television, even as the older generation, led by Armin Mueller-Stahl, finds its traditions shattering or being put aside. Funny, tragic, and telling, it's a terrific, multifaceted film that ultimately details the breakdown of the oral tradition in the wake of television's burgeoning popularity. --Marshall Fine

Intensely personal and yet universally appealing, AVALON follows immigrant Sam Krichinsky and his extended family as they seek a dream called America in a place called Avalon. From poverty through prosperity, the Krichinsky family faces their changing world with enduring humor and abiding love. Even when squabbling over a failed business or adjusting to a new land, Levinson never fails to find the comedy and immediacy of their immigrant experience. A superb cast, led by Armin Mueller-Stahl, Aidan Quinn and Elizabeth Perkins, perfectly captures the vibrant love and laughter of this quintessentially American family. The coming-of-age story of an entire nation, AVALON is a "tapestry of American life so rich and perfect it could hang in a museum."(Rex Reed)

The Beast

The master of sea terror, Peter Benchley, returns with another salty tale of aquatic mayhem! Rocked by mysterious deaths and disappearances, a small fishing village looks to Whip Dalton (Emmy nominee William L. Petersen) to get to the bottom of it. Little do they know that the hungry beast that hunts their waters is a blood-thirsty giant squid.

Her Alibi

To see why Tom Selleck's movie career has been a constant uphill battle, look no further than this tepid mystery/comedy from 1989. Selleck plays a successful mystery novelist who cures a persistent case of writer's block by visiting the courtroom trial of a young Romanian woman named Nina (played by late '80s supermodel Paulina Porizkova) who has been accused of murder. He supplies the alleged murderer with an alibi--she can claim she was having an affair with him at his Connecticut country home at the time of the murder--and then he brings her to Connecticut to make the alibi look legitimate. Is she in fact a killer? Did she serve poisoned casserole to a group of dinner guests? You'd have to be a major fan of Selleck or Porizkova to want to find out what happens next, because despite a few light moments of engaging comedy this is the kind of nonsensical fluff that quickly wears out its welcome. --Jeff Shannon

The Guru

The Day-Glo delights of India's Bollywood musicals collide with the crossed-love conventions of Hollywood romantic comedies in The Guru. Jimi Mistry, a young Indian named Ramu who wants to live the American dream and become famous, moves to New York and finds only menial work in restaurants. But when he mistakenly gets cast in a skin flick, he meets a sweet and thoughtful porn star (Heather Graham) whose philosophical mix of sex and spirituality come in handy when Ramu has to pretend to be a swami for an upper-crust birthday party. The birthday girl (Marisa Tomei) seizes upon Ramu's cribbed aphorisms and leads Ramu into a career as a sex guru. The Guru's uneven script squanders much of its comic potential, but the stars have charm to burn--and when the movie launches into its glorious musical numbers, it enters a realm of delirious glee. --Bret Fetzer

Little Nikita

The same year that River Phoenix made Running on Empty, in which he played the son of '60s radicals on the run from the law and hiding in plain sight, he also made this film, which is even less interesting than the vastly overrated Running. And, in this one, he plays a kid whose parents are, in fact, deep-cover Soviet moles (oops, the Berlin Wall is coming down--bad timing there) who are about to be brought to the surface. But Sonny Boy is being indoctrinated by a kindly FBI agent (Sidney Poitier)--and is torn between battling those dirty Commies and helping them because those dirty Commies are Mom and Dad. As silly as it sounds, building to an ersatz action finale. --Marshall Fine

The Believer