Ruscio, Elizabeth

Columbo - Mystery Movie Collection, 1989

After a 10-year break from the role that made him a TV superstar, Peter Falk returned as rumpled LAPD homicide detective Lt. Columbo in 1989, appearing in feature-length episodes of The ABC Mystery Movie. The first five of those TV movies are collected here as the Mystery Movie Collection 1989 comprising what is essentially the long-delayed "eighth season" (and part of the ninth) of Columbo, the popular series that made its debut on NBC in 1971. Now signed to ABC with a lucrative new contract, Falk returned to his iconic role as if he'd never left, still wearing the same worn-out overcoat, still driving the same old 1959 Peugeot rust-bucket (with his lazy Bassett Hound "Dog" in the passenger seat), still making frequent references to the never-seen "Mrs. Columbo," and still annoying nervous murder suspects with his politely cunning approach to solving homicides in Los Angeles. As created by TV mystery masters Richard Levinson and William Link, the Columbo series was nothing if not formulaic, but the fun of watching these 93-minute TV movies comes from seeing how that formula still works like a charm: The first half-hour shows how the killers commit and conceal their crimes (Columbo is a police procedural, not a whodunit), and the remaining hour shows Columbo grilling his suspects, slowly turning up the heat until the killer's goose is summarily cooked. With his trademark line "Just one more thing...," Falk fits his role like an old shoe, and the show's writers played on the character's beloved status by milking humor from Columbo's well-established mannerisms, such as leaving the room after gently probing suspects for telling clues, then returning (after a pregnant pause) to deliver "one more thing "--his crime-solving coup de grace (aptly referred to by Rockford Files creator Stephen J. Cannell as Columbo's trademark "dart to the heart.")

The Mystery Movie Collection emphasizes a colorfully Southern Californian element of crime and eccentricity, from the beheading of a magician in "Columbo Goes to the Guillotine" (with Anthony Andrews hamming it up as the killer) to the malicious misdeeds of "Murder, Smoke and Shadows," in which Spielbergian movie-mogul wunderkind (Fisher Stevens) stages an electrocution murder on the backlot of Universal Studios. "Sex and the Married Detective" is a lightly comedic film noir send-up, in which a sex therapy radio-host (Lindsay Crouse) invents a sexy alter ego to eliminate her cheating lover. In "Grand Deceptions," Robert Foxworth's misdeeds on a military training base aren't clever enough to fool Columbo, and in "Murder: A Self Portrait," Patrick Bachau plays a selfish lothario with three lovers (wife, ex-wife, and girlfriend) who decides that three's a crowd and his ex (Fionnula Flanagan) has got to go! Clever enough to hold anyone's attention, these murders are smartly conceived and entertainingly solved, and the performances and direction are uniformly strong. But the obvious appeal of Columbo is Columbo himself, and with Falk in the role he was born to play (even though it was originally offered to Bing Crosby!), the character remained so popular that he appeared in 19 more TV movies between 1990 and 2003. The Mystery Movie Collection includes one DVD bonus feature: a 30-minute tribute to "America's Top Sleuths," as chosen in a 2007 online survey by viewers of the newly-launched Sleuth TV network. Columbo ranks #2 (out of 10), a close runner-up to Tom Selleck's Magnum P.I. --Jeff Shannon

Legendary actor Peter Falk returns in his 4-time Primetime Emmy® award-winning role as everyone s favorite trenchcoat-wearing Police Lieutenant in Columbo: Mystery Movie Collection 1989! Join Columbo in this three-disc set as he asks all the right questions in some of the most deceptive and deadly cases. The captivating movies feature such brilliant guest stars as Fisher Stevens (Factotum) and Lindsay Crouse (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) among others! The landmark crime series that inspired a genre is back and no murderer can hide for long with Columbo on the beat!System Requirements:Runtime: 466 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 025193327222 Manufacturer No: 61033272

28 Days (Special Edition)

To appreciate 28 Days, it's best to be thankful that director Betty Thomas hasn't forced Sandra Bullock into a remake of Clean and Sober. Instead Thomas has balanced her comedic sensibility (evident in Dr. Dolittle and Private Parts) with the seriousness of alcoholism and substance abuse, and she succeeds without compromising the gravity of the subject matter. Some critics have scoffed at the movie's breezy, formulaic portrait of 27-year-old boozer and pill-popper Gwen Cummings (Bullock), but this smooth-running star vehicle does for Bullock what Erin Brockovich did for Julia Roberts, focusing her appeal in a substantial role without taxing the limits of her talent. It's no wonder that Susannah Grant (who wrote both films) was one of the hottest new screenwriters of 1999. She writes "Hollywood Lite" without insulting anyone's intelligence.

As played by Bullock, Gwen is an alcoholic in denial whose latest bender with boozer boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) ruins the wedding of her sister (Elizabeth Perkins) and lands her in a month-long rehab program with the requisite gang of struggling drunks and junkies. Newcomer Alan Tudyk steals his scenes as a gay German rehabber who might've dropped in from a Berlin performance-art exhibit, and Steve Buscemi aptly conveys the weary commitment of a counselor who's seen it all. Thomas has surrounded Bullock with a sharp ensemble, and the addition of singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III (as a kind of Greek chorus crooner) is sublimely inspired. Certainly no surprises here--the warring sisters will reconcile, and at least one rehabber will fail to recover--but there's ample pleasure to be found in Bullock's finely tuned performance, and in Thomas's inclusion of flashbacks and tangents that add depth and laughter in just the right dosage. --Jeff Shannon

A disastrous drunken episode lands successful N.Y. journalist Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) in rehab where she encounters a bizarre assortment of characters and unique rituals during her touching and often hilarious road to recovery.System Requirements:Starring: Sandra Bullock Steve Buscemi Viggo Mortensen Elizabeth Perkins and Diane Ladd. Directed By: Betty Thomas. Running Time: 104 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396050648

Burglar

Burglar may not be one of Whoopi Goldberg's best outings, but it does offer her several opportunities to cut loose as a comedian. She plays a bookshop owner with a shady past who is being blackmailed by a crooked cop and must perform one last heist. Naturally, everything goes wrong and a handsome lothario winds up dead. Whoopi must find his murderer before the police find her. There are a couple of unexpected twists to this formulaic tale though Hugh (First Wives Club) Wilson's direction can't always navigate the tonal shifts between comedy and murder mystery. But Whoopi holds it all together with strong assistance from a stellar cast including Bob Goldthwait, John Goodman, Anne DeSalvo, and Lesley Ann Warren. Goldthwait, who plays a dog groomer and Whoopi's wacked-out best friend, has several priceless moments featuring his squeaky-door crazy-man vocal delivery. Goodman and DeSalvo, both crackerjack comic actors, don't have nearly enough to do while Warren plays a curvaceous dentist and the ex-wife of the murder victim who seems to have suspect written all over her. --Richard Natale

Comedy superstar Whoopi Goldberg steals a fortune in laughs as a San Francisco cat burglar out to clear herself of a murder charge. Year: 1987Running Time: 103 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 085391170525

The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom

Directed by Michael Ritchie (The Candidate) with an eye toward his terrific 1970s legacy of social and political satires, this 1993 HBO comedy stars Holly Hunter as the real-life Texas woman who solicited a killer to aid her daughter's dream of becoming a high school cheerleader. Hunter is remarkable in the lead, somehow both scary and sympathetic. But it is Ritchie who gets to the heart of the matter in the aftermath of the murder, when there is a mad scramble by the media and Hollywood to package the absurdist atrocity for their own ends. One of the director's more biting studies of the shadow side of ritual Americana, this is not for anyone looking for a bull docudrama. --Tom Keogh

Wanda and Verna both want their daughters to join the high school cheerleading team. Since Verna's child seems more likely to win Wanda plans to distract the child by murdering Verna! Based on a true story.Running Time: 99 min.System Requirements: Running Time 99 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: R UPC: 026359087523

The Clearing (2004)

Most thrillers can be judged on their plots, but with The Clearing the plot is only a frame for three excellent performances. The story is driven by the kidnapping of a retired businessman (Robert Redford) by a former disgruntled employee (Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire). But while half of the movie follows these two men as they wend their way towards a cabin in the woods, the other half observes the businessman's wife (Helen Mirren, the Prime Suspect series) as she copes with both the kidnapping and the secrets it accidentally reveals. Redford and Dafoe play a skillful cat and mouse game as each tries to manipulate the other, but the movie's emotional core is Mirren, a superb actress who turns in yet another rich and layered performance. The emphasis on character heightens the suspense, making The Clearing taut and compelling. --Bret Fetzer

Boasting the year?s most critically acclaimed and talented cast, including Robert Redford, Hellen Mirren, and William DaFoe, THE CLEARING is a taut, engrossing thriller about fate, love, and missed opportunities. ?Redford gives one of the best performances ever? as a self-made tycoon kidnapped and now in the most important negotiation ever ? for his life?

Desperate Hours

From Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* director Michael Cimino comes this taut psychological thriller about a family held hostage in their own home. Starring Mickey Rourke, OscarÂ(r) winner** Anthony Hopkins, Mimi Rogers and Kelly Lynch, this nail-biting action film grabs you by the throatand leaves you gasping in terror. Prepare yourself. The Desperate Hours have begun.In dire need of a hideout, escaped convict Michael Bosworth (Rourke) uses his charming smile to gain entry into the posh home of Nora and Tim Cornell (Rogers and Hopkins) and their two children. While waiting for his beautiful lawyer-turned-accomplice (Lynch) to arrive, Bosworth's smile soon explodesinto homicidal rage when the Cornells desperately try to fight back. Holding the family at gunpointand ruthlessly pitting husband against wife, Bosworth's fury escalates into a shocking night of terror and cold-blooded murder. Finally, the family is forced to take a stand that will either destroy them...or unite them as never before.*1978: The Deer Hunter**1991: Actor, The Silence of the Lambs

Glory Daze

Rich Wilkes's film is like an archeological dig that provides a historical look at some of the 1990s' hottest actors emoting the angst and confusion of college grads. Ben Affleck stars as a guy whose life hits bottom when his girlfriend dumps him, and so he then tries to make it a constant party. He faces confrontations with his dad, who wants him to "get serious," and his pompous professor, who belittles his work. And though he also faces the dissolution of his best friendships--his housemates in "El Rancho Grande"--it's growing up that bothers him. "I don't know what's going on anymore," he says. "When I was 18, everything was great. Now nothing makes me laugh."

Affleck sports a goatee and a mohawk, not to mention a grunge wardrobe that wouldn't be allowed on the set of one of the more corporate-driven blockbusters in which he has since appeared. He is supported by French Stewart, who is almost as alien playing a student as he is playing an alien on Third Rock from the Sun. Affleck's buddy Matt Damon does a literal walk-through, and even though Matthew McConaughey mugs without mercy, it's Brendan Fraser who steals the film with a hilarious bit. Alyssa Milano also gives a touching performance that far exceeds her TV persona. Although the movie presents itself as a comedy, it's filled with youthful rage. Ever since The Graduate, movies have portrayed the plight of idealistic kids shot from cannons into the questionable world around them, and Glory Daze speaks to the '90s in that tradition. --Lloyd Chesley

Letters from a Killer

Letters from a Killer

Falling Like This

Set in California in the early `80's, the story traces the intense summer romance between middle class Katie (Wilson) and sweet-faced juvenile delinquent (Vaughan). It's an intimate portrait of young lovers and their world together: the joyrides, the late-night bonfires, family troubles as well as a cycle of incarceration and reunion. Falling Like This serves up a raw, contemporary story of love capturing a moment in time when two youngsters looking for love manage to leave an indelible mark on each other.