Nixon, Cynthia

Sex and the City - The Complete Series (Collector's Giftset)

Sex and the City is based on Candace Bushnell's provocative bestselling book. Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw, a self-described "sexual anthropologist," who writes "Sex and the City," a newspaper column that chronicles the state of sexual affairs of Manhattanites in this "age of un-innocence." Her "posse," including nice girl Charlotte (Kristin Davis), hard-edged Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and party girl Samantha (Kim Cattrall)--not to mention her own tumultuous love life--gives Carrie plenty of column fodder. Over the course of the first season's 12 episodes, the most prominent dramatic arc concerns Carrie, who goes from turning the tables on "toxic bachelors" by having "sex like a man" to wanting to join the ranks of "the monogamists" with the elusive Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Meanwhile, Miranda, Cynthia, and Samantha have their own dating woes.

The second season builds on the foundation of the first season with plot arcs that are both hilarious and heartfelt, taking the show from breakout hit to true pop-culture phenomenon. Relationship epiphanies coexist happily alongside farcical plots and zingy one-liners, resulting in emotionally satisfying episodes that feature the sharp kind of character-defining dialogue that seems to have disappeared from the rest of TV long ago. When last we left the NYC gals, Carrie had just broken up with a commitment-phobic Mr. Big (Chris Noth), but fans of Noth's seductive-yet-distant rake didn't have to wait long until he was back in the picture, as he and Carrie tried to make another go of it. Their relationship evolution, from reunion to second breakup, provides the core of the second season. Among other adventures, Charlotte puzzles over whether one of her beaus was "gay-straight" or "straight-gay"; Miranda tries to date a guy who insists on having sex only in places where they might get caught; and Samantha copes with dates who range from, um, not big enough to far too big--with numerous stops in between.

The third season was the charm, as the series earned its first Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series to go along with its Golden Globes for Best Comedy Series and Best Actress (Parker). One of this season's two principal story arcs concerned hapless-in-love Charlotte and her pursuit of a husband; enter (if only...) Kyle McLachlan as the unfortunately impotent Trey. Meanwhile, Carrie has a brief but memorable fling with a politician who's golden, but not in the way she anticipated. She then sabotages her too-good-to-be-true relationship with furniture designer Aidan (John Corbett) by having an affair with Mr. Big (Chris Noth), who himself has gotten married. Like I Love Lucy, the series benefited from a brief change of scenery with a three-episode jaunt to Los Angeles, where Carrie and company encountered, among others, Matthew McConaughey, Vince Vaughn, Hugh Hefner, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

The fourth season is just as smart and sexy as ever, mixing caustic adult wit and sharply observed situation comedy on the mean streets of Manhattan, though this time the quartet of singleton city girls must endure even tougher combat in the unending war of love, sex, and shopping. Carrie finally seems to have found her ideal life partner when she is reunited with handsome craftsman Aidan. But can their relationship survive trial by cohabitation? Meanwhile Charlotte seems to have both her dream Park Avenue apartment and a solution to her marital problems with Trey. But when the subject of babies comes up, everything starts to unravel for her, too. It's not just Charlotte who has baby issues either: after what seems like an eternity of enforced sexual abstinence Miranda is horrified to discover she's pregnant. And as for the sultry Samantha, she's on a quest for monogamy, first with an exotic lesbian artist, then with a philandering businessman, with whom to her utter dismay she just might have fallen in love.

It was a short but sweet fifth season, as HBO's resident comediennes found themselves affected by forces beyond their control--the pregnancies of both Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon. A truncated shooting schedule to accommodate the actresses forced this season to be reduced to a mere eight episodes, but they and creators forged ahead, creating a handful of episodes that if short in content were long on emotion and laughs. Carrie and Miranda wrestled with their solitary lifestyles, albeit with new attachments--Miranda had new baby Brady and single motherhood, while Carrie found herself in the world of publishing as the author of a real-life book of her columns. Charlotte wondered if she'd ever find another man, while Samantha finally got rid of the one that had been vexing her far too much. If the season as a whole felt less than the sum of its parts, those parts were some of the best comedy in the show's history. The season's climactic episode, "I Love a Charade," was one of the series' best episodes ever, equally touching and funny, and grounded the show in an emotional maturity that announced that after all their wild travails, these women had truly grown up.

After a long wait--like the entire fifth season--Carrie is dating again. The sixth season starts with Carrie and her sparkly new potential, Berger (Ron Livingston), trying to leave past relationships and hit it off, with mixed results. Meanwhile Carrie's friends seem to be settling down, relatively speaking. Miranda decides that her affair with TiVo cannot compete when Mr. Perfect (Blair Underwood, at his most charming) moves into her building. Charlotte's feelings for her "opposites attract" boyfriend (Evan Handler) deepen, but they still have a few things to iron out. Most surprising is Samantha's hot relationship with waiter-actor-stud Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) taking on something resembling love, despite Samantha's best intentions. Before the sixth season started in the summer of 2003, a bombshell hit: it was announced that this would be the finale. But it would be a long season, and these 12 episodes plant the seeds for the final 8 airing the following winter. These dozen episodes illustrate the maturity of the show: there's not a bad one in the bunch, and the show is still flat-out funny. The comedy blends serious points of how we perceive singles, couples, and parents (and the gifts we lavish on the latter two). Carrie's method of celebrating her singlehood is just another gem in this treasure of a series.

With the last eight episodes of the sixth season, HBO's grand sitcom concluded, leaving untold numbers of women--and many men--feeling deprived. The six-year series certainly did not outlast its welcome; the final season is some of the best TV had to offer in 2004. In many ways, the eight episodes served as a single finale, with all four characters approaching a kind of destiny and happiness, the theme of this last half-season (which aired weeks after the first half). Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) continues her romance with Russian artist (Mikhail Baryshnikov), a flippantly arrogant man who's been around the block, but able to supply Carrie's needed desire for magic. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) has settled down with Steve (David Eigenberg), but there is more that will change with her, including her address. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) continues to make baby plans now that the husband slot is filled quite nicely (Evan Handler). Going down the final stretch--and Samantha's (Kim Cattrall) cancer--gives the series a more serious tone, but there's always a jab to tickle the funny bone: Miranda's awkwardness with happiness, Charlotte's latest passion, Carrie typing someplace new, and Samantha getting into Paris Hilton territory. Like any series winding down, there is a wedding, a baby, old faces popping up, and some star-ladened new ones. In the final two-part episode, "An American in Paris," Carrie faces her romantic destiny, but also solidifies herself as a fashion icon, an Audrey Hepburn for 21st-century television. In the penultimate episode, she asks her friends an emotional question: "What if I never met you?" Certainly fans can ask of themselves the same question and reminisce how much better TV became since they first tuned in these four women of the City.

The Pelican Brief

Another John Grisham legal thriller comes to the screen, pairing Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts in a film directed by Alan J. Pakula, who is known for dark-hued suspense pictures such as Klute, The Parallax View,All the President's Men, and Presumed Innocent. The Pelican Brief isn't up to the level of those films, but it is a perfectly entertaining movie about a law student (Roberts) whose life is endangered when she discovers evidence of a conspiracy behind the killings of two Supreme Court justices. She enlists the help of an investigative reporter (Washington) and the two become fugitives. The charisma and chemistry of the leads goes a long way toward compensating for the story's shortcomings, as does a truly impressive supporting cast that includes Sam Shepard, John Heard, James B. Sikking, Tony Goldwyn, Stanley Tucci, Hume Cronyn, John Lithgow, William Atherton, and Robert Culp. --Jim Emerson

A New Orleans law student finds herself embroiled in a terrifying web of intrigue extending to the highest levels of government after she writes a speculative legal brief exposing the activities of a powerful oil magnate.

Sex and the City - The Complete Series (Collector's Giftset)

Sex and the City is based on Candace Bushnell's provocative bestselling book. Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw, a self-described "sexual anthropologist," who writes "Sex and the City," a newspaper column that chronicles the state of sexual affairs of Manhattanites in this "age of un-innocence." Her "posse," including nice girl Charlotte (Kristin Davis), hard-edged Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and party girl Samantha (Kim Cattrall)--not to mention her own tumultuous love life--gives Carrie plenty of column fodder. Over the course of the first season's 12 episodes, the most prominent dramatic arc concerns Carrie, who goes from turning the tables on "toxic bachelors" by having "sex like a man" to wanting to join the ranks of "the monogamists" with the elusive Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Meanwhile, Miranda, Cynthia, and Samantha have their own dating woes.

The second season builds on the foundation of the first season with plot arcs that are both hilarious and heartfelt, taking the show from breakout hit to true pop-culture phenomenon. Relationship epiphanies coexist happily alongside farcical plots and zingy one-liners, resulting in emotionally satisfying episodes that feature the sharp kind of character-defining dialogue that seems to have disappeared from the rest of TV long ago. When last we left the NYC gals, Carrie had just broken up with a commitment-phobic Mr. Big (Chris Noth), but fans of Noth's seductive-yet-distant rake didn't have to wait long until he was back in the picture, as he and Carrie tried to make another go of it. Their relationship evolution, from reunion to second breakup, provides the core of the second season. Among other adventures, Charlotte puzzles over whether one of her beaus was "gay-straight" or "straight-gay"; Miranda tries to date a guy who insists on having sex only in places where they might get caught; and Samantha copes with dates who range from, um, not big enough to far too big--with numerous stops in between.

The third season was the charm, as the series earned its first Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series to go along with its Golden Globes for Best Comedy Series and Best Actress (Parker). One of this season's two principal story arcs concerned hapless-in-love Charlotte and her pursuit of a husband; enter (if only...) Kyle McLachlan as the unfortunately impotent Trey. Meanwhile, Carrie has a brief but memorable fling with a politician who's golden, but not in the way she anticipated. She then sabotages her too-good-to-be-true relationship with furniture designer Aidan (John Corbett) by having an affair with Mr. Big (Chris Noth), who himself has gotten married. Like I Love Lucy, the series benefited from a brief change of scenery with a three-episode jaunt to Los Angeles, where Carrie and company encountered, among others, Matthew McConaughey, Vince Vaughn, Hugh Hefner, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

The fourth season is just as smart and sexy as ever, mixing caustic adult wit and sharply observed situation comedy on the mean streets of Manhattan, though this time the quartet of singleton city girls must endure even tougher combat in the unending war of love, sex, and shopping. Carrie finally seems to have found her ideal life partner when she is reunited with handsome craftsman Aidan. But can their relationship survive trial by cohabitation? Meanwhile Charlotte seems to have both her dream Park Avenue apartment and a solution to her marital problems with Trey. But when the subject of babies comes up, everything starts to unravel for her, too. It's not just Charlotte who has baby issues either: after what seems like an eternity of enforced sexual abstinence Miranda is horrified to discover she's pregnant. And as for the sultry Samantha, she's on a quest for monogamy, first with an exotic lesbian artist, then with a philandering businessman, with whom to her utter dismay she just might have fallen in love.

It was a short but sweet fifth season, as HBO's resident comediennes found themselves affected by forces beyond their control--the pregnancies of both Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon. A truncated shooting schedule to accommodate the actresses forced this season to be reduced to a mere eight episodes, but they and creators forged ahead, creating a handful of episodes that if short in content were long on emotion and laughs. Carrie and Miranda wrestled with their solitary lifestyles, albeit with new attachments--Miranda had new baby Brady and single motherhood, while Carrie found herself in the world of publishing as the author of a real-life book of her columns. Charlotte wondered if she'd ever find another man, while Samantha finally got rid of the one that had been vexing her far too much. If the season as a whole felt less than the sum of its parts, those parts were some of the best comedy in the show's history. The season's climactic episode, "I Love a Charade," was one of the series' best episodes ever, equally touching and funny, and grounded the show in an emotional maturity that announced that after all their wild travails, these women had truly grown up.

After a long wait--like the entire fifth season--Carrie is dating again. The sixth season starts with Carrie and her sparkly new potential, Berger (Ron Livingston), trying to leave past relationships and hit it off, with mixed results. Meanwhile Carrie's friends seem to be settling down, relatively speaking. Miranda decides that her affair with TiVo cannot compete when Mr. Perfect (Blair Underwood, at his most charming) moves into her building. Charlotte's feelings for her "opposites attract" boyfriend (Evan Handler) deepen, but they still have a few things to iron out. Most surprising is Samantha's hot relationship with waiter-actor-stud Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) taking on something resembling love, despite Samantha's best intentions. Before the sixth season started in the summer of 2003, a bombshell hit: it was announced that this would be the finale. But it would be a long season, and these 12 episodes plant the seeds for the final 8 airing the following winter. These dozen episodes illustrate the maturity of the show: there's not a bad one in the bunch, and the show is still flat-out funny. The comedy blends serious points of how we perceive singles, couples, and parents (and the gifts we lavish on the latter two). Carrie's method of celebrating her singlehood is just another gem in this treasure of a series.

With the last eight episodes of the sixth season, HBO's grand sitcom concluded, leaving untold numbers of women--and many men--feeling deprived. The six-year series certainly did not outlast its welcome; the final season is some of the best TV had to offer in 2004. In many ways, the eight episodes served as a single finale, with all four characters approaching a kind of destiny and happiness, the theme of this last half-season (which aired weeks after the first half). Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) continues her romance with Russian artist (Mikhail Baryshnikov), a flippantly arrogant man who's been around the block, but able to supply Carrie's needed desire for magic. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) has settled down with Steve (David Eigenberg), but there is more that will change with her, including her address. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) continues to make baby plans now that the husband slot is filled quite nicely (Evan Handler). Going down the final stretch--and Samantha's (Kim Cattrall) cancer--gives the series a more serious tone, but there's always a jab to tickle the funny bone: Miranda's awkwardness with happiness, Charlotte's latest passion, Carrie typing someplace new, and Samantha getting into Paris Hilton territory. Like any series winding down, there is a wedding, a baby, old faces popping up, and some star-ladened new ones. In the final two-part episode, "An American in Paris," Carrie faces her romantic destiny, but also solidifies herself as a fashion icon, an Audrey Hepburn for 21st-century television. In the penultimate episode, she asks her friends an emotional question: "What if I never met you?" Certainly fans can ask of themselves the same question and reminisce how much better TV became since they first tuned in these four women of the City.

For six seasons Carrie Bradshaw and friends Samantha Miranda and Charlotte offered us their hilarious outspoken and outrageous look at dating mating and relating in the big city. Celebrate the show that explores the day-to-day -- and night-to-night -- world of single women in this the definitive collector's edition.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 026359866128 Manufacturer No: 98861

Baby's Day Out

Only a mother or a certified baby-phile could love this John Hughes comedy (he wrote and coproduced it). Aside from that endorsement, the diaper starts to stink. Baby Bink is kidnapped by three inept crooks, but the child escapes from their hideaway, leading to a chase through the city. Bink's journey follows the story line of his favorite bedtime book, Baby's Day Out, and he goes to a zoo, a construction site, and a retirement center. Hughes is following his accountant's favorite bedtime tale, "Let's rewrite Home Alone again," but with very little of the humor or impact of that smash. A number of scenes center on the crushing or incineration of Joe Mantegna's groin, not exactly family-fare yuks. There are some moments of levity with the crooks and a gorilla. --Keith Simanton

Baby Bink is out on the town for the day, visiting wondrous places and seeing fantastic sights. The only problem is, he is traveling alone! Frantically hunted by his mother and turned into a celebrity by the media, Baby Bink stays one step ahead of a trio of bumbling con artists eager to collect the reward money being offered by his wealthy parents.

Warm Springs

He was the only president to be elected three times and is admired for his leadership during some of this nation's most challenging times most notably World War II and the Great Depression. Despite these historic accomplishments many Americans have never known of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's greatest achievement...until now. Starring Kenneth Branagh (Shakespeare) and Cynthia Nixon(Sex and the City) this inspiring true story reveals one man's secret quest for hope during his darkest days in a place that would serve as a source of strength for him the rest of his life: Warm Springs.Running Time: 120 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 026359275227

Warm Springs is a riveting, deeply moving film about a lesser-known chapter in the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the American president who saw his country through the dark, terrible times of the Great Depression and most of World War II. Before those epochal events, however, Roosevelt spent time in a political wilderness, groomed for high office but struck down by polio at age 39. Warm Springs is the fascinating story of Roosevelt's painful journey from despair back to wisdom and leadership. Kenneth Branagh gives an emotionally raw, courageous performance as FDR, estranged from his wife, Eleanor (a near-luminous Cynthia Nixon), and his political guru (David Paymer) while ambivalently seeking rehabilitation at Warm Springs, a broken-down spa in the backwoods of Georgia. Mired in misery, misanthropy, and drink, Roosevelt is coaxed back to civilized behavior and a glimmer of altruism by the spa's ailing, folksy manager, Tom Loyless (a remarkable Tim Blake Nelson), and the ministrations of a progressive-minded, physical therapist (solid work by Kathy Bates). Word of Roosevelt's improvement in the buoyant, mineral-rich waters of Warm Springs draws other polio victims--some of whom endure terrible discrimination and misery while traveling—to the spa. In time, these hopeful, all-ages paraplegics form a community that inspires a sense of mission in Roosevelt, setting the stage for his return to the political arena. Surehanded, 80-year-old veteran director Joseph Sargent (on a roll following his lovely, 2004 cable movie Something the Lord Made) has made a pitch-perfect and intimate, historical drama one never wants to see end. --Tom Keogh

Little Manhattan

Little Manhattan is a feel-good comedy that's perfect for kids and adults alike. In a city known for excitement two young friends are about to embark on the greatest adventure of all. Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) and Rosemary (newcomer Charlie Ray) have known each other nearly all of their lives but when they come face-to-face in a karate class they see each other in a whole new light. Filled with all the magical marvelous and maddening moments of first love this charming film is fun for the whole family!Episodes-Bonus Features: Side AFull Screen FeatureDirector Commentary by Mark Levin and screenwriter Jennifer FlackettHelmet InterviewSheep Meadow Segment FeaturetteFrom Scout to Screen FeaturetteSide BWidescreen FeatureDirector Commentary by Mark Levin and screenwriter Jennifer Flackett3 Deleted ScenesSystem Requirements:Running Time 90 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 024543224396 Manufacturer No: 2232439

Mark Twain - A Film Directed by Ken Burns

Given the legendary life of its subject, it's not surprising that Mark Twain is perhaps the most entertaining documentary Ken Burns has made. The creator of The Civil War and Jazz achieves reverent harmony with the magnificent story of Missouri-born author Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain), encompassing legend and fact with an exhilarating sense of adventure. Hailed by Hemingway as the originator of American literature, Twain (a nom de plume taken from a riverboat pilot's term for "safe waters") viewed himself as the American. Burns's film backs that claim as it follows Clemens's literary odyssey around the globe, from unrivaled acclaim as a writer to near destitution and the devastating deaths of his wife and three children. As usual, eloquent writers and scholars (including longtime Twain performer Hal Holbrook) provide a wondrous flow of anecdotes and observations, recounting Twain's remarkable humor while acknowledging a darker side that felt anger toward an indifferent god. Like all of Burns's films, Mark Twain is must-see viewing. --Jeff Shannon

Amadeus

Gripping human drama. Sumptuous period epic. Glorious celebration of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This marvelous winner of eight Academy Awards(R) portrays the rivalry between the genius Mozart (Tom Hulce) and the jealous court composer (Best Actor Oscar(R) Winner F.Murray Abraham) who may have ruined Mozart's career and shortened his life.

Eloise in Hollywood

A big time movie producer invites Eloise and Nanny to Hollywood and the Plaza Hotel s most famous six-year-old is instantly overcome by visions of overnight stardom and red-carpet premieres. When Eloise arrives in Tinseltown only to be asked to audition for a role in a major studio film she thinks her glamorous dreams may actually be coming true. It s an adventure full of famous actors crazy directors and behind the scenes fun. But Eloise soon discovers making a movie isn t always as exciting as it seems. Will she be able to pull off her secret plan to stop from becoming a huge Hollywood star and go back to being just plain fabulous Eloise? Imagination runs wild and being bored is never allowed in this fun-filled animated adventure featuring the talented voices of Lynn Redgrave Tim Curry Cynthia Nixon Lacey Chabert and more! System Requirements:Running Time: 44 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 013138213488 Manufacturer No: P2134

Based on the Eloise books by Kay Thompson, the animated Eloise movies feature a good-hearted young girl who's full of energy and a sense of adventure. In Eloise in Hollywood, Eloise and Nanny are traveling to Hollywood to watch a real movie being filmed and Eloise is simply bursting with excitement, especially once she finds out she's being auditioned for a minor role. Eloise meets child actress Debbie on the train only to find out later that she's starring in the movie she and Nanny are going to see being filmed. Unfortunately, Debbie's stardom goes to her head and her tantrums and downright rudeness get her fired from the set. After being selected as Debbie's replacement, Eloise quickly discovers that making movies is a lot more work (and a lot less glamour) than she ever dreamed. Can Eloise's good nature and Debbie's sincere repentance somehow set things right for everyone involved? (Ages 3 to 10) --Tami Horiuchi

Marvin's Room

Scott McPherson's off-Broadway hit made a strong transition to the screen in this 1996 film by director Jerry Zaks. Diane Keaton stars as a woman who, while taking care of her vegetating father in Florida, discovers that she has leukemia. Only her long-estranged sister (Meryl Streep) or the sister's children can provide a possible match for a bone-marrow transplant. But the reunion is a rocky one, marked both by Streep's guilt at having abandoned her sister to take care of their father, and by the explosive dynamic between Streep and her rebellious, pyromaniac oldest son (Leonardo DiCaprio). As grim as this all sounds, there is a strong vein of black humor running through it that has the viewer laughing at unlikely moments (particularly Keaton's visits to her distracted doctor, a surprisingly funny Robert De Niro). But rest assured: tears will flow, even as the film makes you reassess all of your own family relationships. --Marshall Fine

Leonardo DiCaprio (TITANIC, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN) drives an electrifying performance as the criminally rebellious son in this funny and stirring tale of one family's humor and heartache. Seventeen years ago, fiercely independent Lee (Meryl Streep -- ADAPTATION) left home ... and left behind her kindhearted sister Bessie (Diane Keaton -- THE FIRST WIVES CLUB) to care for their father, Marvin (Hume Cronyn). But now Lee is returning with her teenage son (DiCaprio), for a homecoming that's sure to turn the entire household upside down! Also starring Robert DeNiro (CASINO), this entertaining motion picture proves that people you know the least may be the ones you need the most!