Ruskin, Joseph

The Scorpion King (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

There's nothing original in The Scorpion King, but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalizing on his brief cameo in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell (The Mask) wraps it all in a slick, professional package. --Jeff Shannon

Smokin' Aces (Widescreen Edition)

Slick Las Vegas illusionist Buddy "Aces" Israel isn't playing nice. Turns out he's telling mob secrets to the FBI. After a $1 million contract is put out on him Aces tries to pull his greatest disappearing act before a rogues' gallery of ex-cons hit men and smokin' hot assassins tries to rub him out in this dark action comedy that takes no prisoners.System Requirements:Running Time: 109 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 025193226624 Manufacturer No: 61032266

A frantic and frequently amusing cocktail of Tarantino cool and Hong Kong bullet ballet, Joe (Narc) Carnahan's Smokin' Aces delivers some inspired moments of action and dark comedy in its dizzying-comic book plot about a rogue's gallery of killers on the hunt for a mob informer. At the core of Carnahan's bloody shaggy-dog tale is Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven, offering a more desperate take on his standard hustler persona), a Vegas magician who's turned informant against the mobsters who have treated him as their personal entertainment. Wishing to close Buddy's overactive mouth permanently, the mob capo puts a bounty on the two-bit showman's head, and a horde of hitmen descends on Buddy's digs to claim the prize. The unholy crew of gunmen offer the movie's most inspired (and outlandish) moments, with R&B singer Alicia Keys (as a cool, Foxy Brown-esque assassin), Nestor Carbonell (as a torture-minded sadist), Ben Affleck and Peter Berg (low-key bail bondsmen) and Chris Pine (the leader of a trio of semi-savage brothers) among the more memorable villains. Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, and Andy Garcia represent the other side of the coin as FBI agents determined to get to Buddy before the legion of doom, and the clashes between both factions produce some eye-popping gunplay. If there's any complaint to be made about Smokin' Aces, it's that the tone shifts between action-drama and hipster comedy feel forced (Carnahan struck a firmer balance between the two in his 1998 indie effort, Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane), but the performances and shootout set pieces, as well as Carnahan's hyperactive camera work, do much to make those transitions palatable. Eagle-eyed audience members will note the presence veteran scene stealers Curtis Armstrong (Ray), David Proval (The Sopranos), and Alex Rocco (The Godfather's Moe Green) in supporting roles. -- Paul Gaita

Robin and the Seven Hoods

In prohibition-era Chicago the corrupt sheriff and Guy Gisborne a south-side racketeer knock off the boss Big Jim. Everyone falls in line behind Guy except Robbo who controls the north side. Although he's outgunned Robbo wants to keep his own territory. A pool-playing dude from Indiana and the director of a boys' orphanage join forces with Robbo; and when he gives some money to the orphanage he becomes the toast of the town as a hood like Robin Hood. Meanwhile Guy schemes to get rid of Robbo and Big Jim's heretofore unknown daughter Marian appears and goes from man to man trying to find an ally in her quest to run the whole show. Can Robbo hold things together?Running Time: 124 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/CLASSICS UPC: 883929007578 Manufacturer No: 1000036692

"My kind of town, Chicago is...." The last film venture by the Rat Pack finds Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. in an update of the Robin Hood legend, set in Chi-town in 1928. The boys play gangsters who become Jazz Age Merry Men; Bing Crosby is their eloquent spokesman. As usual, women are in short supply within the featured cast, but the film is colorful enough anyway with its period trappings. By the time this movie was released in 1964, the Zeitgeist was already shifting toward the Beatles, and Frank, Dean, and Sammy looked like your father's entertainment. But while this film is no knockout, director Gordon Douglas (Young at Heart) makes it a pleasant enough way to say good-bye to the Rat Pack's life together on film. --Tom Keogh

Smokin' Aces (Full Screen Edition)

Slick Las Vegas illusionist Buddy "Aces" Israel isn't playing nice. Turns out he's telling mob secrets to the FBI. After a $1 million contract is put out on him Aces tries to pull his greatest disappearing act before a rogues' gallery of ex-cons hit men and smokin' hot assassins tries to rub him out in this dark action comedy that takes no prisoners.System Requirements:Running Time: 109 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 025193226723 Manufacturer No: 61032267

A frantic and frequently amusing cocktail of Tarantino cool and Hong Kong bullet ballet, Joe (Narc) Carnahan's Smokin' Aces delivers some inspired moments of action and dark comedy in its dizzying-comic book plot about a rogue's gallery of killers on the hunt for a mob informer. At the core of Carnahan's bloody shaggy-dog tale is Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven, offering a more desperate take on his standard hustler persona), a Vegas magician who's turned informant against the mobsters who have treated him as their personal entertainment. Wishing to close Buddy's overactive mouth permanently, the mob capo puts a bounty on the two-bit showman's head, and a horde of hitmen descends on Buddy's digs to claim the prize. The unholy crew of gunmen offer the movie's most inspired (and outlandish) moments, with R&B singer Alicia Keys (as a cool, Foxy Brown-esque assassin), Nestor Carbonell (as a torture-minded sadist), Ben Affleck and Peter Berg (low-key bail bondsmen) and Chris Pine (the leader of a trio of semi-savage brothers) among the more memorable villains. Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, and Andy Garcia represent the other side of the coin as FBI agents determined to get to Buddy before the legion of doom, and the clashes between both factions produce some eye-popping gunplay. If there's any complaint to be made about Smokin' Aces, it's that the tone shifts between action-drama and hipster comedy feel forced (Carnahan struck a firmer balance between the two in his 1998 indie effort, Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane), but the performances and shootout set pieces, as well as Carnahan's hyperactive camera work, do much to make those transitions palatable. Eagle-eyed audience members will note the presence veteran scene stealers Curtis Armstrong (Ray), David Proval (The Sopranos), and Alex Rocco (The Godfather's Moe Green) in supporting roles. -- Paul Gaita

Prizzi's Honor

It may not seem like the most obvious kind of Huston country, but this black Mafia comedy fits perfectly with the John Huston mindset. Adapted from Richard Condon's novel, the film stars Nicholson as a none-too-bright hit man for a Mafia family who falls in love with an independent operator--a female killer played by Kathleen Turner. The two make a surprisingly funny couple, whether taking a fling at domesticity or comparing professional notes. But their romance is threatened by the woman Nicholson has jilted: the don's daughter, played by Anjelica Huston in a particularly well-etched and poisonous portrayal, for which she won an Oscar. Look for equally tasty turns by cast members William Hickey, John Randolph, and Robert Loggia. --Marshall Fine

Get ready for a mob hit that's as "funny as hell" (L.A. Weekly), when legendary director John Huston takes aim at family values in "one of his very best films" (Roger Ebert)! With "a superb cast" (Boxoffice) led by Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner, this killer comedy scored eight Academy AwardÂ(r) nominations,* including Best Picture, and an OscarÂ(r) for Anjelica Huston. The Prizzi family's principal hit man, Charley (Nicholson), is about to discover that he and his new bride (Turner) share more than just body heat: They're both cold-blooded assassins, and their next job is to ice each other! Now Charley must choose which contract to honorthe oneto his wife or the one on his wifein this "wickedly amoral black comedy" (Screen International)! *1985: Actor (Nicholson), Supporting Actor (William Hickey), Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Costume Design

The Munsters: Two-Movie Fright Fest - (Franchise Collection) - (Munster, Go Home! & The Munsters' Revenge)

America s first family of fright lives on in The Munsters: Two-Movie Fright Fest! Following their wildly popular TV series original cast members Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster) Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) are reunited in two hilarious movies as you ve never seen them before in color!Munster Go Home!: The laughs begin when Herman moves the family to an English estate he inherited.The Munsters Revenge: Dr. Diablo (Sid Caesar) concocts a plan to create robot Munsters to pull off a series of art heists.System Requirements:Running Time: 97 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 025193107725 Manufacturer No: 31077

There aren't many funny, pre-Pufnstuf era monster movies suitable for the family, until one remembers the Munsters, who beyond their two-season television stint, made two feature films, albeit fifteen years apart. Both filmed in Technicolor, the vibrance of the Munsters' spooky lifestyle is most apparent in Munsters, Go Home (1966), far superior to the cornier Munsters' Revenge. A true '60s relic, Munsters, Go Home begins when Herman's deceased relative bestows him with Lord status, necessitating the Munsters' trip to England to claim his title. There, he meets other Munsters, Lady Effigy and Freddie Munster, whose jealousy results in frightening antics that only thrill Herman, Grandpa, Lily, Eddie, and Marilyn (with Pat Priest replaced by Debbie Watson). As the plot thickens, Herman faces other threats to the family honor with his classic innocent bravado. In Munsters' Revenge, a wax museum criminal circuit sends Munsters' imposters out to commit crimes, so it's up to the real family to solve the mystery. Different Eddies and Marilyns slightly spoil the family reunion's ambience, though ample physical comedy--for example when Herman's bee sting causes him to destroy the police precinct where he's being held as a criminal suspect--makes the film authentic to its original characters. Moreover, watching this double feature is an inspiring reminder of what props used to look like, like George Barris's Munster Koach, not to mention those that grace the entire Munster Mansion. --Trinie Dalton

The Scorpion King (Full Screen Collector's Edition)

There's nothing original in The Scorpion King, but this derivative action franchise gets off to a rousing start by cleverly stealing from a lot of better movies. Capitalizing on his brief cameo in The Mummy Returns, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. World Wrestling Federation star the Rock) stars as Mathayus, an Akkadian assassin in the age preceding Egyptian pharaohs, who vows to avenge his brother's murder by an undefeated warlord (Steven Brand) prophesied to become the desert-ruling Scorpion King. Their battle for supremacy comprises most of the film's brisk 95-minute running time, punctuated by comic relief from Mathayus's obligatory sidekick (Grant Heslov), romance with a beautiful sorceress (Kelly Hu), and alliance with a massive Nubian (Michael Clarke Duncan) on the eve of their climactic showdown. There's no rhyme or reason to the film's depiction of ancient civilization (the costuming is particularly ludicrous), but the Rock demonstrates adequate action-star potential, and director Chuck Russell (The Mask) wraps it all in a slick, professional package. --Jeff Shannon

The Rat Pack Collection (Ocean's 11 / Robin and the 7 Hoods / 4 for Texas)

4 FOR TEXAS -- Gamblers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are Wild West wild cards. With Anita Ekberg Ursula Andress the Three Stooges and Charles Bronson. OCEAN'S 11 -- The kicky original! Sinatra and pals have a sure way to beat Vegas: Rob 5 casinos at once! With Dean Martin Sammy Davis Jr. Peter Lawford Joey Bishop and more. ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS -- His kind of town Chicago is. Sinatra Dean Martin Peter Falk Bing Crosby and more in a breezy gangster spoof.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 012569734777 Manufacturer No: 73477

The Sword and the Sorcerer

Lean, lanky Lee Horsley (TV's Matt Houston) is hardly the iconic image of a medieval warrior, but in this cheesy Conan the Barbarian knockoff he makes his swaggering, mercenary Talon a genial smart aleck of a barbarian hero. The plot is pure pulp cliché: evil Cromwell (Richard Lynch) raises a demon to conquer a peaceful kingdom, kill the rulers, and imprison the royal heirs, and the son of a murdered patriot returns to take his righteous vengeance with a projectile-loaded, three-bladed sword. First-time director Albert Pyun apprenticed under Akira Kurosawa and brings with him an eye for handsome images and a fluid sense of action that helps overcome B-movie dialogue ("Unlock this door, wench, and leave that to us!"), scenery-chewing performances, and bargain-basement budget. In one fight sequence a guard punches a rock wall--and dents it! Kathleen Beller (the dark-eyed beauty of The Betsy) is the rebel princess who enlists Talon to the cause, Route 66's charming wanderer George Maharis is a conniving traitor under an unflattering mop of greasy hair, and Richard Moll dons a latex monster mask to play the double-crossed demon. It's utterly silly and often awkward, but it does have energy to spare. The sequel promised at the end of the film was never produced and Pyun went on to direct some of the best straight-to-video action films of the 1990s, including Nemesis. --Sean Axmaker

Robin and the Seven Hoods

"My kind of town, Chicago is...." The last film venture by the Rat Pack finds Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. in an update of the Robin Hood legend, set in Chi-town in 1928. The boys play gangsters who become Jazz Age Merry Men; Bing Crosby is their eloquent spokesman. As usual, women are in short supply within the featured cast, but the film is colorful enough anyway with its period trappings. By the time this movie was released in 1964, the Zeitgeist was already shifting toward the Beatles, and Frank, Dean, and Sammy looked like your father's entertainment. But while this film is no knockout, director Gordon Douglas (Young at Heart) makes it a pleasant enough way to say good-bye to the Rat Pack's life together on film. --Tom Keogh