Irwin, Jennifer

Mrs. Winterbourne

Blues Brothers 2000

It's hard to ignore the sad and conspicuous absence of the late John Belushi, but this long-delayed sequel to 1980's The Blues Brothers still has Dan Aykroyd--as Chicago bad boy and blues rocker Elwood Blues--to keep the music alive. Once again, Elwood's trying to reunite the original Blues Brothers Band, and this time he's got a strip-joint bartender (John Goodman) and a 10-year-old orphan named Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) joining him at center stage. Believing that Elwood has kidnapped the kid, the cops are hot on his trail as the reunited band hits the road for the Battle of the Bands in Louisiana and the All-Star Blues Jam that ends the movie in a rockin' blaze of glory. It's a shameless clone of the first film, and nobody--especially not Aykroyd or director John Landis--seems to care that the story's not nearly as fun as the music that's used to stretch it out. Of course there's a seemingly endless parade of stunts, including a nonstop pileup of police cars that's hilariously absurd, but what really matters here--indeed, the movie's only saving grace--is the great lineup of legendary blues musicians. Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Junior Wells, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Jonny Lang, Eddie Floyd, and Blues Traveler are among the many special guests assembled for the film, and their stellar presence makes you wonder if the revived Blues Brothers shouldn't remain an obscure opening act. The collector's edition DVD includes production photos, the theatrical trailers, and a behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of the film including interviews with the principal cast. --Jeff Shannon

Superstar

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 21-MAY-2002
Media Type: DVD

Molly Shannon, the latest Saturday Night Live comic to have a movie built around her, isn't exactly funny--in fact, she's a little unsettling. Her creation, the neurotic Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher, invites laughter because she's a little too close to the bone for anyone who grew up feeling ugly and unloved, which is a lot of people. Mary lives with her grandmother (Glynis Johns), who insists that Mary study business. Mary herself yearns to be famous and admired, though for what isn't exactly clear; she envisions some vague combination of singing, dancing, and acting that will make her a superstar. A talent show promises to be her ticket to stardom (the winning prize is a role in "a movie with positive moral values"), and she won't let her loser status or any hostile cheerleaders stand in her way. Meanwhile, Mary acts out dating fantasies with trees and signposts, envisions the school lunch room bursting into a Fame-like dance number, and longs for the biggest jock in school. What makes Superstar more than just a collection of bad high school memories is that, though the formulaic plot redeems Mary, the movie as a whole isn't so sure. Mary completely loses herself in her obsessive fantasies--many inspired by cheesy made-for-TV movies--but there's always someone watching, aghast, as Mary acts out her inner thoughts. Is she misunderstood or freakish? Superstar never commits to one side or the other, which makes it both comic and uncomfortable. --Bret Fetzer

The Red Green Show - 1997 Season

The long-running Canadian comedy series is in top form on The Red Green Show: 1997 Season, representing the 7th year the Possum Lodge's resident handyman, Red Green (Steve Smith), shares his wisdom and dubious skills with duct tape and junkyard flotsam. Affectionately vexed by nebbish nephew Harold Green (Patrick McKenna), who never stops goading Red into dreaming bigger dreams for The Red Green Show, the greying host celebrates the sale of his series to Swiss television (though he isn't sure if Switzerland and Sweden are one and the same), organizes a local version of Pamploma's "Running of the Bulls" (though he's only got one healthy bull available), and shares advice on how to keep one's grown-up grandchildren attentive and loving (by making them think there's a sizable inheritance coming their way--which there isn't).

On the creative front, Red demonstrates how to make one's own version of an Airstream trailer out of discarded appliance parts and an aluminum boat. Red also uses massive quantities of duct tape to turn two beat-up cars into, uh, one very large, beat-up car, and he transforms an old police car into a zebra-striped, personal emergency vehicle. Meanwhile, speculation runs high at the lodge about the identity of a mystery celebrity who's buying a cabin in the neighborhood, and Harold acquires two tubas in hopes that Red will learn to play it with him. As always, The Red Green Show is both absurd and sweet in its effort to promote manly virtues among clueless men. Smith and McKenna, as always, are a real hoot. --Tom Keogh

Seven years into its 15-year run, The Red Green Show was just hitting its stride, or was that the fan? Anyway, this complete season of the public television comedy hit features some of the show's greatest moments. It was the year Red made the double-wide limo in Handyman Corner and the year the Repair Shop opened with its motto: "If it ain't broke, you're not trying." It was also the year the lodge members first uttered their solemn prayer: "I'm a man, but I can change if I have to, I guess."

Join Red, Harold, and all the guys at Possum Lodge for a year's worth of doing what men do when women aren't around—and some things that are even worse. "The funniest thing to hit public television since Monty Python's Flying Circus"—The Milwaukee Journal.

The Episodes:
Running of the Bulls—The guys at Possum Lodge stage a wild race.
Swiss It Up—Red and Harold sell the show to Switzerland.
The Implosion—A fundraiser for the Historical Society goes awry.
Adopt-a-Highway—Possum Lodge adopts a challenging stretch of highway.
The Strange Ranger—Ranger Gord goes missing from his tower.
Big Guy, Little Guy—Red joins a Big Brothers club just for the soapbox derby.
The Movie—Red and Harold make a feature film on Super 8 MOS.
Expropriation—Red speculates in real estate after a new highway is announced.
The Stool Pigeons—Harold creates an informer's club to snitch on criminals.
Celebrity—Werner Klemperer buys a cottage in the Possum Lake area.
Let Me Count the Ways—The men fix up their cabins for their wives' visit to the lake.
Pardi Gras—Possum Lodge inherits 137 tubas and the guys decide to have a parade.
The Splinter Lodge—Some of the men rebel against Red's leadership.
The Good Old Hockey Game—The men argue for hockey and against curling.
Step Outside—Red encourages Harold to stand up and fight for himself.
The Town Mall—Using the sewers, the men turn downtown into a mall.
The Winter Carnival—The men stage a carnival to entertain their wives.

The Red Green Show - 1999 Season

The Red Green Show: 1999 Season finds affable handyman Red Green (Steve Smith) still enthusiastic about helping men everywhere get a grip on all aspects of their lives. "Remember, if you're not handsome, at least be handy," remains Green's mantra for the average guy, though what that means exactly to him continues to defy all reason. In the 16 episodes included in this box set, Green takes the time to show the fellows watching at home how to install tractor wheels on a sedan in order to raise it high enough to mount a boat. (Why? Because it's hard to keep a boat strapped to the roof of a car with duct tape.) Elsewhere, in other segments, Green demonstrates the advantages of a snowball-pitching machine (a good way to get revenge on teens pelting one's windshield with snow); attaches canoe paddles to oversized wheels in order to make his van amphibious; and demonstrates how heavy oil drums used in place of tires can mash a whole lot of apples into a kind of pavement substitute. He also tips male viewers about using old socks as a tool belt, repurposing broken hedge clippers as windshield wipers (capable of shredding unwanted pamphlets left on a car window), and proves that one can build an ice-skating rink that doesn't require one to wake.

Fortunately, Red Green is just as enthusiastic about other things in a man's life, such as love (in one episode, he encourages men to take a good, hard look at their naked selves in the mirror before exiting a relationship to re-entering dating) and self-improvement (trying to become a kinder, gentler friend to Possum Lodge mates who trash his car). As always, Red's Lodge buddies, such as Dalton (Bob Bainborough) and Mike Hamar (Wayne Robson), are there to keep things at a fever pitch (Dalton discovers a mummy and fears it will reawaken, while Mike, the friendly career criminal, explains how he doesn't blame either his mother or "any of" his dads for his problems). Elsewhere, beloved character Harold (Patrick McKenna), Green's nephew, has gone to work for a big business in the big city, and soon regrets inviting Green to visit him at the office. (Green attempts to steal a few things while there). One of the highlights of the season is listening to Red guide men on what to do when their wives ask if they (the women) look old. His solution? Be concomittal. ("You look good to me honey.")--Tom Keogh

It was a very good, mostly okay, not-as-bad-as-it-could-have-been year.

Wit and wisdom of Possum Lodge

Written by and starring Steve Smith

"They say necessity is the mother of invention. Don't know who the father is; probably remorse." So says Red Green, although this wisdom doesn't stop him from turning a car into a dump truck or using a dump truck to clean out his car. The complete ninth season of the public television hit's 15-year run also sees Harold leave the Lodge for corporate life in the big city (with frequent visits from his uncle, of course). Meanwhile, gas station attendant Dale joins the group, and Ranger Gord begins his series of oh-so-educational cartoons.

Join Red, Harold, and all the guys at Possum Lodge for a year's worth of doing what men do when women aren't around—and some things that are even worse. "Sweet tales of male stupidity" —Toronto Sun.

EXTRA JUNK: Character bios and production notes written by series creator Steve Smith.

The Red Green Show - 1998 Season

In its eighth year, the Canadian comedy series carries on its absurdist brand of rustic humor in The Red Green Show: 1998 Season. As always, the Possum Lodge's indefatigable handyman, Red Green (Steve Smith), proves a never-ending fount of ideas about turning junkyard debris into modern conveniences and applying a bit of know-how to applications of duct tape on anything and everything. 1998 Season gets off to a scary start with the prospect of Red's nebbish nephew Harold (Patrick McKenna) leaving the show to attend college, which might be true or might be a ploy to earn Red's respect and attention. (The pre-credits teaser is one of the series' best: Red offering a suggestion about how to keep birds from crashing into one's picture window.) "House Moving" is literally that, an episode about moving an old building by balancing it on pick-up trucks. Guest star Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves) is around in a show in which Red demonstrates how to turn a car into a backhoe. "College Life" raises the prospect of Harold going off to school again, this time sharing an apartment with three girls, a situation for which he is less than prepared. In "Free Apricots," a tractor-trailer flips and provides Red and his chums with a large supply of the fruit; meanwhile, Red invents a car jack that goes really, really high. The very funny "Town Services Contract" finds the Possum Lodge boys receiving a contract for towing, snow-plowing, and ambulance services to Possum Lake. One of the best episodes of the season, "Mad About You," concerns Harold attempting to teach Red about anger management, an effort that goes hilariously awry. --Tom Keogh

It was a very good mostly okay not-as-bad-as-it-could-have-been year.

Wit and wisdom of Possum Lodge
Written by and starring Steve Smith

As Red says, "You have to grow old, but you don't have to mature." Eight years into its 15-year run, The Red Green Show showed no signs of maturity. This complete season of the public television hit sees Red at his most inventive, making a heart pacemaker out of a digital clock and trying to run the lodge electrical system from a car cigarette lighter, just to name a couple dismal but hilarious failures. It was also the year that Red ran for mayor and Harold ran off . . . to college. College??

Join Red, Harold, and all the guys at Possum Lodge for a year's worth of doing what men do when women aren't around—and some things that are even worse. "Red is a manly man with a bent brain pan . . . a hip cult classic" —The Detroit Free Press

EXTRA JUNK: Red and Harold character bios.

Red Green Stuffed and Mounted Six Pack

The Gate

A Cool Dry Place

Sometimes you need to lose it all before you find out what really matters, When a handsome attorney (Vince Vaughn) is caught in the middle of a romantic triangle, he is forced to choose between his estranged wife (Monica Potter) who wants him back and his sexy young girlfriend (Joey Lauren Adams) who wants him all to herself.

Harlan County War

Academy Award-winning actress Holly Hunter stars as Ruby, the wife of a coal miner in Harlan County, Kentucky. After two senseless deaths, the union calls a strike against the mining company. What follows is one of the most violent, bitter and notorious union battles in history. With no end to the violence in sight, Ruby decides to fight the company her own way.