Powell, Charles

Screamers

Popular Mechanics for Kids - Radical Rockets and Other Cool Cruising Machines

Join PMK's junior hosts, Jay and Elisha, for a thrilling tour of underwater and sky borne transport in Radical Rockets. The action begins on a Trident nuclear submarine, where Jay walks over missile silos, visits the ship's nerve center (and even steers it for a moment), looks through a periscope, and learns what makes a vessel that is longer than two football fields dive and surface. Meanwhile, Elisha takes a fantastic ride on a two-woman sub, then joins her cohort at NASA for some disorienting training in weightlessness, spurious motion, and flight control on the space shuttle. Along the way, there are lessons in the chemistry of booster rockets and how astronauts find leaks via computer. There's also a chapter on remote-controlled model submarines, but for the most part watching Radical Rockets is like gaining exclusive, enviable access to the biggest and coolest machines in the world. --Tom Keogh

Affliction

Paul Schrader's Affliction, adapted from the novel by Russell Banks (The Sweet Hereafter), charts the slow descent of small-town sheriff Wade Whitehouse (a raspy, gruffly restrained Nick Nolte) into violence, the legacy of the corrupt love of an abusive, alcoholic father. The story ostensibly centers on a hunting death on the outskirts of town, but as Wade digs into what may or not be a conspiracy, his personal life spirals out of control. James Coburn, who deservedly won an Oscar for his mocking, sneering performance, is Wade's father, who jumps back into the cycle of abuse when Wade moves in to care for the aging man. Chronicling the story in distant, dispassionate tones is Willem Dafoe as Wade's younger brother Rolfe, who "escaped" his father's legacy in a world of books. Schrader has made his reputation revealing the scarred psyches of American men trying to reconcile the contradictions of masculine fantasy and social reality, as in his screenplays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, and in Affliction he creates his most poignant and powerful work. The quiet beauty of the snow-blanketed New Hampshire setting (using Canadian locations) and Schrader's restrained yet intimate cinematic style builds the underlying emotional tensions until they explode in startling close-ups, revealing the repressed fear, rage, and helplessness cracking through Wade's carefully maintained façade. As Rolfe's narration coolly analyzes his brother's affliction, he reveals his own: an emotional remove so complete that he's edited himself out of his family history. The legacy of abuse leaves no one untouched. --Sean Axmaker

Obsessed

Fatal Attraction meets A Beautiful Mind in this fact-based Lifetime thriller. Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg) is sexually confident medical writer Ellena Roberts. Shortly after we meet her, she is arrested. While in jail, she meets with sympathetic defense attorney Sara Miller (Kate Burton) and recounts her side of the story. It seems she had a relationship with married surgeon David Stillman (Sam Robards), but he broke it off. She didn't want things to end and continued to write, to call, etc. She didn't make any threats, but nor would she give it a rest, so he called the cops. The case goes to court and David claims he knew Ellena professionally, but that they never had a relationship. By the end, we have a pretty good idea as to what really happened. That's because one person is sane--and therefore credible--while the other is not. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

In a Chicago jail cell, clever and charming Ellena Roberts recounts for attorney Sara Miller the details of a one-night stand that led to a heated love affair with prominent surgeon David Stillman. David's version of the facts differs entirely and he insists that he never slept with Ellena. Sure that the doctor is the one who's lying, Sara is preparing to defend her client in court when some disturbing facts emerge.

Popular Mechanics for Kids - Slither & Slime and Other Yucky Things

Slither & Slime investigates the question all kids want to know, and makes it look like a grand adventure: Where does a toilet flush go exactly? Junior hosts Jay and Elisha conspire to find out, with the aid of New York City sewer personnel, by dropping green dye and a ping-pong ball down an ordinary toilet and watching these items progress through sewage and processing systems that ultimately release cleansed (if undrinkable) water back into natural destinations. But Slither & Slime is also about what else is below our feet: a glimpse at the giant water tunnel under construction 66 stories beneath New York (due for operation in 2025), the look of subway maintenance late at night, and how tunnel-boring machines ("moles") dug their way under the English Channel to create the British-French "Chunnel." Spectacular footage and wry humor make this a great way to see below the surface of things. --Tom Keogh

Cheyenne Warrior

In the 1870s, pregnant Rebecca (Kelly Preston) and her husband are on their way across the West when they stop at a trading post. Her husband's naivete (and his prized Henry rifle) soon leads to his death at the hands of a ruthless buffalo hunter, and the proprietor of the trading post (Dan Haggerty) is killed as well. Cheyenne warrior chief Hawk (Pato Hoffman) is wounded in the fight with the buffalo hunter, and Rebecca helps nurse him back to health again, opting to stay at the trading post rather than go along with Hawk. Hawk returns to his tribe, but comes back to the post when Rebecca's baby is due (undoubtedly having figured out the date and put it in his Palm Pilot). Together they form a strange sort of love-hate affair and learn to get around their cultural differences, at the cost of Hawk's affiliation with his own people. There are problems with the script and direction of this movie; for instance, the baby sort of disappears for a prolonged period, and Rebecca seems to get over her husband's death within days. Still, there is the spectacular Colorado (?) scenery and considerable attention to period detail in clothing, weapons, etc. Pato Hoffman is excellent as the Cheyenne Hawk; why isn't this actor better known? --Jerry Renshaw

Fear of the Dark

Kids of the Round Table

Originally aired on the Disney Channel this entry in the "Timeless Adventure" series follows a group of kids who have created their own castle for make-believe medieval battles. One boy's play turns into much more however when he discovers Excalibur and Merlin in a magic glade.System Requirements:Running Time: 98 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 844628010924 Manufacturer No: TE1092

Affliction

Paul Schrader's Affliction, adapted from the novel by Russell Banks (The Sweet Hereafter), charts the slow descent of small-town sheriff Wade Whitehouse (a raspy, gruffly restrained Nick Nolte) into violence, the legacy of the corrupt love of an abusive, alcoholic father. The story ostensibly centers on a hunting death on the outskirts of town, but as Wade digs into what may or not be a conspiracy, his personal life spirals out of control. James Coburn, who deservedly won an Oscar for his mocking, sneering performance, is Wade's father, who jumps back into the cycle of abuse when Wade moves in to care for the aging man. Chronicling the story in distant, dispassionate tones is Willem Dafoe as Wade's younger brother Rolfe, who "escaped" his father's legacy in a world of books. Schrader has made his reputation revealing the scarred psyches of American men trying to reconcile the contradictions of masculine fantasy and social reality, as in his screenplays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, and in Affliction he creates his most poignant and powerful work. The quiet beauty of the snow-blanketed New Hampshire setting (using Canadian locations) and Schrader's restrained yet intimate cinematic style builds the underlying emotional tensions until they explode in startling close-ups, revealing the repressed fear, rage, and helplessness cracking through Wade's carefully maintained façade. As Rolfe's narration coolly analyzes his brother's affliction, he reveals his own: an emotional remove so complete that he's edited himself out of his family history. The legacy of abuse leaves no one untouched. --Sean Axmaker

Believe