Michael Keaton

Cars (Widescreen Edition)

There's an extra coat of hot wax on Pixar's vibrant, NASCAR-influenced comedy about a world populated entirely by cars. Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is the slick rookie taking the Piston Cup series by storm when the last race of the season (the film's high-octane opening) ends in a three-way tie. On the way to the tie-breaker race in California, Lightning loses his way off Route 66 in the Southwest desert and is taught to stop and smell the roses by the forgotten citizens of Radiator Springs. It's odd to have such a slim story from the whizzes of Pixar, and the film pales a bit from their other films (though can that be a fair comparison?). Nonetheless, Cars is another gleaming ride with Pixar founder John Lasseter, who's directing for the first time since Toy Story 2. There's the usual spectrum of excellent characters teamed with appropriate voice talent, loads of smooth humor for kids and parents alike, knockout visuals, and a colorful array of sidekicks, including a scene-stealing baby blue forklift named Guido. Lightning's plight is changed with the help of former big-city lawyer Sally Carrera (Pixar veteran Bonnie Hunt), the town's patriarch Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), and kooky tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). The Incredibles was the first Pixar film to break the 100-minute barrier, but had enough story not to suffer; Cars, at 116 minutes (including some must-see end credit footage), is not as fortunate, plus it never pierces the heart. Trivia fans should have bonanza with the frame-by-frame DVD function; the movie is stuffed with in-jokes, some appearing only for an instant. Ages 5 and up. --Doug Thomas

A young stock car named Lightning on his way to a big race is kept in town to repair damage he caused and he begins to see the townsfolk, various motor vehicles, as family and friends.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: DISNEY
Title: CARS
Street Release Date: 11/07/2006
Domestic
Genre: CHILDREN'S VIDEO

Cars (Full Screen Edition)

There's an extra coat of hot wax on Pixar's vibrant, NASCAR-influenced comedy about a world populated entirely by cars. Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is the slick rookie taking the Piston Cup series by storm when the last race of the season (the film's high-octane opening) ends in a three-way tie. On the way to the tie-breaker race in California, Lightning loses his way off Route 66 in the Southwest desert and is taught to stop and smell the roses by the forgotten citizens of Radiator Springs. It's odd to have such a slim story from the whizzes of Pixar, and the film pales a bit from their other films (though can that be a fair comparison?). Nonetheless, Cars is another gleaming ride with Pixar founder John Lasseter, who's directing for the first time since Toy Story 2. There's the usual spectrum of excellent characters teamed with appropriate voice talent, loads of smooth humor for kids and parents alike, knockout visuals, and a colorful array of sidekicks, including a scene-stealing baby blue forklift named Guido. Lightning's plight is changed with the help of former big-city lawyer Sally Carrera (Pixar veteran Bonnie Hunt), the town's patriarch Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), and kooky tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). The Incredibles was the first Pixar film to break the 100-minute barrier, but had enough story not to suffer; Cars, at 116 minutes (including some must-see end credit footage), is not as fortunate, plus it never pierces the heart. Trivia fans should have bonanza with the frame-by-frame DVD function; the movie is stuffed with in-jokes, some appearing only for an instant. Ages 5 and up. --Doug Thomas

From the acclaimed creators of TOY STORY THE INCREDIBLES and FINDING NEMO comes a high-octane adventure comedy that shows life is about the journey not the finish line. Hotshot rookie race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is living life in the fast lane until he hits a detour on his way to the most important race of his life. Stranded in Radiator Springs a forgotten town on the old Route 66 he meets Sally Mater Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) and a variety of quirky characters who help him discover that there s more to life than trophies and fame. Revved up with a sensational soundtrack featuring Rascal Flatts Sheryl Crow John Mayer James Taylor and others plus exciting bonus features including the exclusive short movie "Mater And The Ghostlight" CARS is full of freewheeling fun for everyone.System Requirements:Running Time: 116 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: G UPC: 786936708103 Manufacturer No: 5091603

Much Ado About Nothing

Full of sparkling merriment (The Hollywood Reporter) this sexy sunny comedy positively sizzles as one set of lovers battles against a dirty trick and another set simply battles each other! Adapted by Oscar® nominee* Kenneth Branagh and featuring an all-star cast this charming romp casts the battle of the sexes in the form of an elegant dance (The New York Times).A military war has just ended but the merry war between Beatrice (Emma Thompson) and Benedick (Branagh) rages on! Can their friends trick them into making love instead? For that matter can another couple s devotion survive the evil Don John s (Keanu Reeves) vicious lies? It s up to the blundering constable (Michael Keaton) to save the day so that the course of true love may yet run smooth!System Requirements: Running Time 111 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 027616869548 Manufacturer No: 1002756

Kenneth Branagh's 1993 production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a vigorous and imaginative work, cheerful and accessible for everyone. Largely the story of Benedick (Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson)--adversaries who come to believe each is trying to woo the other--the film veers from arched wit to ironic romps, and the two leads don't mind looking a little silly at times. But the plot is also layered with darker matters that concern the ease with which men and women fall into mutual distrust. Branagh has rounded up a mixed cast of stage vets and Hollywood stars, among the latter Denzel Washington and Michael Keaton, the latter playing a rather seedy, Beetlejuice-like version of Dogberry, king of malapropisms. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, Dolby sound, optional Spanish and French soundtracks or subtitles.--Tom Keogh

Jackie Brown (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

The curiosity of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown is Robert Forster's worldly wise bail bondsman Max Cherry, the most alive character in this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch. The Academy Awards saw it the same way, giving Forster the film's only nomination. The film is more "rum" than "punch" and will certainly disappoint those who are looking for Tarantino's trademark style. This movie is a slow, decaffeinated story of six characters glued to a half million dollars brought illegally into the country. The money belongs to Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson), a gunrunner just bright enough to control his universe and do his own dirty work. His just-paroled friend--a loose term with Ordell--Louis (Robert De Niro) is just taking up space and could be interested in the money. However, his loyalties are in question between his old partner and Ordell's doped-up girl (Bridget Fonda). Certainly Fed Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) wants to arrest Ordell with the illegal money. The key is the title character, a late-40s-ish flight attendant (Pam Grier) who can pull her own weight and soon has both sides believing she's working for them. The end result is rarely in doubt, and what is left is two hours of Tarantino's expert dialogue as he moves his characters around town.

Tarantino changed the race of Jackie and Ordell, a move that means little except that it allows Tarantino to heap on black culture and language, something he has a gift and passion for. He said this film is for an older audience although the language and drug use may put them off. The film is not a salute to Grier's blaxploitation films beyond the musical score. Unexpectedly the most fascinating scenes are between Grier and Forster: two neo-stars glowing in the limelight of their first major Hollywood film after decades of work. --Doug Thomas

Quentin Tarantino presents the premiere of the JACKIE BROWN COLLECTOR'S SERIES DVD, complete with your favorite award-winning movie, all-star cast, and never-before-seen footage. What do a sexy stewardess (Pam Grier), a street-tough gun runner (Samuel L. Jackson), a lonely bail bondsman (Academy Award®-nominee Robert Forster), a shifty ex-con (Robert DeNiro), an earnest federal agent (Michael Keaton), and a stoned-out beach bunny (Bridget Fonda) have in common? They're six players on the trail of a half million dollars in cash! The only questions are ... who's getting played ... and who's gonna make the big score! Combining an explosive mix of intense action and edgy humor, Tarantino scores again with the entertaining JACKIE BROWN!

Johnny Dangerously

This dispensable 1984 comedy is a mostly humorless parody of '30s gangster movies, the kind of thing that might work reasonably well in a five-minute sketch on Saturday Night Live but which nearly beats a viewer to death over the course of a feature. Michael Keaton and Joe Piscopo play rival Mafia bosses, but once the novelty of that is introduced, it's already old. There's plenty of sustained effort from the rest of the cast (Marilu Henner, Danny DeVito, Maureen Stapleton), with Griffin Dunne getting special points. Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) directs as if this were indeed on television. --Tom Keogh

In Amy Heckerling's hilarious send-up of 1930s gangster films, Michael Keaton stars as Johnny Dangerously, a devoted son who turns to a life of crime in order to pay for his mother's operation. As a dapper kingpin, he manages to provide support for her never-ending medical problems while romancing a steamy torch singer (Marilu Henner), battling arch-rival Danny Vermin (Joe Piscopo) and exposing a corrupt D.A. (Danny DeVito). It's a zany, wild spoof that's riddled with as many gags as bullet holes.

The Dream Team

Mr. Mom

Funnyman Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice) teams with Tootsie's Teri Garr in this "fresh and funny audience pleaser" (Boxoffice) that's all housework...and no pay!Jack and Caroline Butler (Keaton and Garr) are perfectly happy with their roles in life...until a layoff makes him a househusband and her a working wife! And while she wrangles with charts graphs and an all-too-eager-to-be-wrangled boss he has to contend with their hyper kids a ravenous vacuum cleaner an angry washing machine and an oversexed neighbor (Ann Jillian of TV's It's A Living)! From late nights in the boardroom to lonely nights in the bedroom the biggest challenge for both Jack and Caroline is learning to trust one another with their reversed roles...which they'd better do quickly...before Mr. Mom becomes Mr. Single Mom!System Requirements:Starring: Michael Keaton Teri Garr Martin Mull Ann Jillian Jeffrey Tambor Christopher Lloyd Valri Bromfield Frederick Koehler and Taliesin Jaffe. Directed By: Stan Dragoti. Running Time: 100 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Standard" format. Copyright 2000 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 027616809827 Manufacturer No: 908098

When Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) loses his job at an auto factory, he expects to quickly find another. But instead, his wife Caroline (Teri Garr) starts working for an ad agency and Jack ends up taking care of the house and kids. He soon runs afoul of shopping etiquette, a voracious vacuum cleaner, and he can't even drop his kids off at school properly. He starts losing his pride and letting himself go. He stops shaving, drinks at all hours, and watches soap operas. And not only does a predatory divorcée (Ann Jillian) have her eye on him, Caroline's new boss (Martin Mull) has more than business on his mind. Will their marriage survive? What makes Mr. Mom work isn't its role-reversal premise, but its clever off-the-main-plot scenes like the obstacle course at the company picnic, where a footrace with swim fins is set to a variation on the theme to Chariots of Fire; a poker game using discount coupons for money; or a traumatic, soap-opera-influenced dream Jack has when he realizes his life is going down the toilet. This is the first starring role for Michael Keaton, who went on to star in Beetlejuice and Batman; he makes the most of both its comic and sentimental side. The script, incidentally, is written by John Hughes, who later went on to write and direct The Breakfast Club and Home Alone. --Bret Fetzer

Herbie - Fully Loaded

The daughter of a NASCAR driver is given the used car as a graduation present and the two set out to break racing records.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: G
Release Date: 25-OCT-2005
Media Type: DVD

The simple pleasure of watching a living car squirt oil in a villain's face just never goes away. Disney, in their effort to revitalize the Herbie franchise, has made the wise choice of not trying too hard--aside from a small bit of skateboarding action, just about every element of Herbie: Fully Loaded would fit right into the 1963 original (groovily titled The Love Bug) or its various sequels. Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan, the fiery-tressed starlet of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday) wants to join her family's dynasty of race car drivers, but her father (Michael Keaton, Batman Returns) worries that she'll get hurt. Instead, as a college graduation gift, he buys her a junked-out Volkswagen Beetle--which turns out to be Herbie, a car with a mind of its own. Soon Maggie and Herbie are racing against an arrogant racing champion (Matt Dillon, Crash, There's Something About Mary) and duking it out with monster trucks, eventually hoping her father's heart will change. Herbie: Fully Loaded is formulaic fluff, but executed with cheerful enthusiasm; everyone involved has clearly embraced the mix of slapstick hijinks and light family drama. There's even a handful of cameos by NASCAR drivers. The result is every bit as ridiculous yet entertaining as its forebears. --Bret Fetzer

Clean and Sober

After making his mark in several hit comedies including Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton startled critics and audiences alike with his acclaimed performance in this 1988 drama about one man's struggle against cocaine addiction. Keaton's comedic energy is transformed here into the kind of jittery intensity that's perfect for his role, suggesting a driven personality who can maintain the appearance of self-control for only so long before he crashes and burns. After a series of setbacks, Keaton's character seeks refuge in a drug rehabilitation program and must confront the truth of his own addiction at the urging of a counselor (Morgan Freeman) who's heard every lame excuse in the book from addicts struggling to quit. Kathy Baker leads a superb supporting cast as a recovering alcoholic and battered wife whose flagging self-esteem is boosted by Keaton's attention. Under the careful direction of Glenn Gordon Caron (of TV's Moonlighting fame), Keaton and Baker handle this delicate material with consummate skill and grace, turning a potentially depressing story into a moving portrait of people who must battle their inner demons step by tentative step. --Jeff Shannon

Multiplicity

An overworked contractor has himself cloned to have more time for his work, wife, and family, with hilarious results that almost cost him his wife.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 28-AUG-2001
Media Type: DVD

An inevitable idea: a working man (Michael Keaton) who can't meet all his professional and family responsibilities has himself cloned. It works so well having one copy of himself to take charge of matters at the office that he makes another copy who takes care of the home front. Pretty soon, different aspects of Keaton's personality are emphasized in the different clones: the laborer becomes a macho creep and the domestic god becomes rather feminine. A third clone, struck from the duplicates instead of the original, becomes like a photocopy of a photocopy: inferior. This timely comedy should be better than it is, but special-effects requirements are so labor-intensive that most scenes feel stiff and leaden. Keaton is good in all four parts, and in certain gee-whiz effects scenes, where he even high-fives himself, he pulls off a minor miracle or two. (Of course, a kid did the same thing in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap.) The DVD release includes optional widescreen and standard formats and optional French and Spanish soundtracks. --Tom Keogh