Lynch, Kate

Lie With Me

Controversial brave and extremely sexually explicit Clement Virgo's LIE WITH ME examines the often raw relationship between David (Eric Balfour) and Leila (Lauren Lee Smith) two emotionally damaged young people living in Toronto. Each feels trapped in a bleak life and attempts to find some kind of escape with the other.System Requirements:Running Time 93 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 821575534154 Manufacturer No: TF-53415

Shot in sunny Toronto and set to a dreamy score, Lie With Me looks and sounds like an art film, but the end result isn't quite so lofty. The plot is thin and the dialogue superfluous, but no matter--Canada's Clément Virgo (Love Come Down) just wants to turn you on and he has enlisted two attractive, uninhibited young performers to assist in his aims. Leila (Lauren Lee Smith, The L Word) and David (Eric Balfour, Six Feet Under) meet at a party. He's with his girlfriend, but finds himself drawn to her. The feeling is mutual. She's alone, but quickly finds an unattached hipster with whom to have a tryst. David catches her in the act. Instead of turning away, he watches. They start seeing each other immediately afterwards. "I'm not hooked on danger, [I'm] hooked on sex," Leila claims, but she isn't exactly the most trustworthy narrator. She wants a purely physical relationship, while David wants something more. They return to their old lives, but the obsession refuses to die. Based on the novella by Virgo's partner, Tamara Berger, Lie With Me plays like a low-budget cross between Adrian Lyne's overrated 9 1/2 Weeks and Wayne Wang's underrated The Center of the World. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Anne of Green Gables - The Sequel

A sequel to the original Anne Of Green Gables which tells the continuing story of Anne Shirley the beguiling redhead from Prince Edward Island in Canada as she makes the transition from an angst-ridden youth to a bright accomplished teacher.System Requirements:Running Time: 232 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 622237222323 Manufacturer No: SULDV22232

This video is the sequel to the beloved children's book and video Anne of Green Gables. It continues the story of Anne Shirley, an imaginative and headstrong young orphan in 1890s Canada, whose hot temper matches her red hair. Anne of Green Gables told of Anne's adoption by an elderly brother and sister, Marilla (Colleen Dewhurst) and Matthew Cuthbert, and her childhood adventures in the idyllic village of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. Anne of Avonlea takes up the story soon after Matthew's death, when Anne has graduated from college. It follows her struggles and adventures as an aspiring writer and English teacher in a private school on the mainland. Girls seven and older, as well as adults, will enjoy this intelligent and beautifully made film, first shown on PBS. It's filled with themes parents can discuss with their daughters--including self-reliance, generosity, and perseverance. It also gives a realistic portrayal of the situation for women during this historical period, through characters that are multifaceted and human. Anne's struggle to find her voice as a writer, to handle difficult people maturely, to stay optimistic despite setbacks, and to nurture her students are both thought provoking and entertaining. Girls will also enjoy Anne's romantic travails, as she tries to decide between two suitors: her childhood friend Gilbert, and a rich, handsome, and mysterious widower. The film is beautifully filmed, and the costumes and settings portray an idyllic time and place. The cast is excellent. Megan Follows as the spirited Anne and Dewhurst as the gruff but tender Marilla give especially fine performances. --Elisabeth Keating

Meatballs (Special Edition)

Set at a low-end summer camp and aimed squarely at a teen audience Meatballs is a light screwball comedy that turned its low-budget Canadian roots into a very profitable box-office run. The biggest reason for the film's success is Bill Murray who stars as Tripper the head counselor who runs things at Camp Northstar with the help of his love interest Roxanne (Kate Lynch) and the camp's director Morty (Harvey Atkins) who is affectionately known as Mickey. Camp opens with Tripper and Morty preparing the misfit counselors-in-training Spaz Fink Crockett A.L. Candace Wendy and Wheels among them for the arrival of their hyperactive little charges. After settling in kids and counselors begin their activities with a soccer game in which depressed 11-year-old Rudy (Chris Makepeace) accidentally loses the game. Cast out by the other children Rudy runs away only to come across Tripper who befriends the boy and makes him his running partner. Romance sexy fun and comic hijinx usually with the heavy-sleeping Morty as their target lead up to an annual Olympiad in which Camp Northstar battles the wealthier and athletically superior residents of Camp Mohawk. The challenging events include cup stacking potato-sack racing and a nauseating hot dog-eating contest in which the portly Fink devours his way to victory. With the two-day event tied up it comes down to the cross-country run in which Tripper enters Rudy. Meatballs was the first major directorial effort by multi-talented filmmaker Ivan Reitman whose name has since become synonymous with the comedy genre.SPECIAL FEATURES: Three-Part Making-of Documentary Commentary with Ivan Reitman and Writer/Producer Daniel GoldbergRun Time: 94Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 043396143623 Manufacturer No: 14362

Decades before he was winning accolades for his work in Lost in Translation and Rushmore, Bill Murray was making moviegoers snicker with his breakthrough comedy Meatballs. This film--which was released theatrically in 1979--stars a 29-year-old Murray as a horny camp counselor named Tripper Harrison, who is just barely more mature than the kids he's looking after. Tripper seems like a screw up because he is, but the audience sees soon enough that he has that proverbial heart of gold, which is offset by an acerbic tongue. Looking over one of the unhappy children in his charge, Tripper says, "You must be the short, depressed kid we ordered." Camp North Star isn't the type of destination kids dream about during the school year. As envisioned by director Ivan Reitman (who would again collaborate with Murray in Ghostbusters), it's a place where kids do their time until their parents let them return home. But in his own way, Tripper makes it a fun place for the kids to learn about the opposite sex and get a feeing for competition. Unlike Little Darlings, the coming-of-age camping film starring Kristy McNichol and Tatum O'Neal that was released a year later, there really isn't a strong moral to this film. But there is a sense that thanks to Tripper's unorthodox madness, he makes Camp North Star a place that kids want to return to the following year. While not as self-assured as he would be in a smaller role in 1980's Caddyshack, Murray is highly likeable here as an overgrown doof.

On the DVD
In the special edition version of this DVD, the extra features include some insight into Murray, who is somewhat elusive about committing to film projects. Reitman reveals that he actually wasn't sure Murray (who wasn't a big name back then) was on board for Meatballs until he showed up for filming the first week. Interestingly enough, this comedy originally was supposed to focus its attention on several camp counselors, but Murray was so good in his role that the plot was adjusted to focus primarily on Tripper. Also included is a three-part "making of" featurette that includes insight into casting, the use of real campers because they didn't have enough money to pay for extras, and interviews with some of the cast members. --Jae-Ha Kim

Stills from Meatballs (click for larger image)

Beyond Meatballs at Amazon.com

More Films by Bill Murray

Get Ready for Camp

Comedies about Underdogs

Meatballs

Bill Murray plays a hip camp counselor at a summer facility for geeky kids and assorted losers. Murray's brand of ironic comedy feels grafted onto this banal and sentimental 1979 celebration of misfits. The comedian's frequent director, Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), was still finding his sea legs with this one, and he nearly convinced everyone at the time that Murray's film career was never going to happen. --Tom Keogh

The Haunting of Lisa

After being drawn to an old shed in the park, Lisa's mother Ellen learns that this shed was the setting for a horrific crime 30 years ago where a young girl disappeared and her stepfather and mother were murdered. A surviving family member, an 11 year old named Buddy, was placed in a foster home far from Heaven Lake. Lisa's visions show that Buddy has returned with a false identity and he is bent on killing just as he was 30 years ago.

God Bless the Child

Single mother Theresa Johnson becomes homeless loses her job and tries to survive with her young daughter Hillary through charities and public shelters.System Requirements:Running Time - 93 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 692865282334 Manufacturer No: E-50164

Lethal Lolita

God Bless the Child

Degree of Guilt

The Republic of Love

Based on a Pulitzer-winning novel, The Republic of Love is a romantic comedy about the barriers facing lovers in the 21st century. Tom is a charismatic late-night radio talk show host whose unconventional upbringing has made him a little too quick to fall in love. Fay is an academic whose expectations are impossibly high as a result of the living perfection that is her parents' marriage. The characters connect in a maze of malls, condos, and family homes, underpinning the idea that 'geography is destiny' and that each of us has our own 'republic' where lives intersect.