Vander, Musetta

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney) escapes the chain gang with two fellow convicts the simple and somewhat slow Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) and ill-tempered Pete (John Turturro) to pursue the promise of hidden loot stashed in his house that is about to be swept away in a flood. On the way the trio experience a journey filled with hilarious adventure and cast of strange characters starting with a blind prophet who warns them that "the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find."System Requirements:Starring: George Clooney John Turturro Michael Badalucco Charles Durning John Goodman Holly Hunter and Tim Blake Nelson. Directed By: Joel Coen. Running Time: 103 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Standard" format. Copyright 2000 Buena Vista Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 786936144758

Only Joel and Ethan Coen, the fraternal director and producer team behind art-house hits such as The Big Lebowski and Fargo and masters of quirky and ultra-stylish genre subversion, would dare nick the plot line of Homer's Odyssey for a comic picaresque saga about three cons on the run in 1930s Mississippi. Our wandering hero in this case is one Ulysses Everett McGill, a slick-tongued wise guy with a thing about hair pomade (George Clooney, blithely sending up his own dapper image) who talks his chain-gang buddies (Coen-movie regular John Turturro and newcomer Tim Blake Nelson) into lighting out after some buried loot he claims to know of. En route they come up against a prophetic blind man on a railroad truck, a burly, one-eyed baddie (the ever-magnificent John Goodman), a trio of sexy singing ladies, a blues guitarist who's sold his soul to the devil, a brace of crooked politicos on the stump, a manic-depressive bank robber, and--well, you get the idea. Into this, their most relaxed film yet, the Coens have tossed a beguiling ragbag of inconsequential situations, a wealth of looping, left-field dialogue, and a whole stash of gags both verbal and visual. O Brother (the title's lifted from Preston Sturges's classic 1941 comedy Sullivan's Travels) is furthermore graced with glowing, burnished photography from Roger Deakins and a masterly soundtrack from T-Bone Burnett that pays loving homage to American '30s folk styles--blues, gospel, bluegrass, jazz, and more. And just to prove that the brothers haven't lost their knack for bad-taste humor, we get a Ku Klux Klan rally choreographed like a cross between a Nuremberg rally and a Busby Berkeley musical. --Philip Kemp

Wild Wild West

One of the box-office smashes of the summer of 1999, this film by director Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, Get Shorty) was raked by critics but embraced by audiences. Based on the 1960s TV adventure show that starred Robert Conrad, this film reimagined Secret Service agent James West as Will Smith, adding Oscar-winner Kevin Kline as his sidekick, agent-inventor Artemus Gordon. President Ulysses S. Grant puts West and Gordon on the trail of malign genius (and former Confederate soldier) Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) in a story about racism, partnership, and world domination. The special effects are lavish, even garish, but not all that special; they're not enough to elevate a mundane and familiar plot. Even Branagh, playing a man who only exists from the waist up--literally--can't find the juice in this lumbering affair. Still, the fast-talking team of Smith and Kline is a nimble one. Smith's affable charm and Kline's subversive wit win many points, though not nearly enough. --Marshall Fine

Wild, wild laughs, adventure and special-effects wizardry abound when megastar Will Smith reteams with the director of "Men in Black." Smith is agent James West, leading sidekick Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline) and a sexy adventuress (Salma Hayek) on a perilous assignment: stop Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) and his contraption-driven plot to establish a Disunited States of America.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Director commentary
DVD ROM Features:The Steel Assassin interactive game; Artemus Gordon's Mind-Protection Theater reveals a trainload of behind-the-scenes clips; genre essays; web events and chat room access; sampler trailers
DVD ROM exclusive web site
Documentaries:Full arsenal of behind-the-scenes documentaries
Filmographies
Interactive Menus
Music Video:Wild Wild West - Will Smith Ballamos - Enrique Iglesias
Outtakes
Photo gallery:Stills gallery
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer

The Cell (New Line Platinum Series)

Schizoid serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) has been captured at last, but a neurological seizure has rendered him comatose, and FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughan) has no way to determine the location of Stargher's latest and still-living victim. To probe the secrets contained in Stargher's traumatized psyche, the FBI recruits psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), who has mastered a new technology that allows her to enter the mind of another person. What she finds in Stargher's head is a theater of the grotesque, which, as envisioned by first-time director Tarsem Singh, is a smorgasbord of the surreal that borrows liberally from the Brothers Quay, Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, Hieronymous Bosch, Salvador Dali, and a surplus of other cannibalized sources.

This provides one of the wildest, weirdest visual feasts ever committed to film, and The Cell earns a place among such movie mind-trips as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Altered States, What Dreams May Come, and Un Chien Andalou. Is this a good thing? Sure, if all you want is freakazoid eye-candy. If you're looking for emotional depth, substantial plot, and artistic coherence, The Cell is sure to disappoint. The pop-psychology pablum of Mark Protosevich's screenplay would be laughable if it weren't given such somber significance, and Singh's exploitative use of sadomasochistic imagery is repugnant (this movie makes Seven look tame), so you're better off marveling at the nightmare visions that are realized with astonishing potency. The Cell is too shallow to stay in your head for long, but while it's there, it's one hell of a show. --Jeff Shannon

A therapist (Jennifer Lopez, Out Of Sight) uses an experimental treatment to enter the mind of a serial killer (Vincent D'Onofrio, Men In Black) to learn his secrets. An FBI agent (Vince Vaughn, Swingers) must rescue her from the killer's nightmare mind

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

In defiance of the Elder Lords, the evil Outworlders are back to wreak hell on Earth. Led by the mighty Shao Kahn, their gruesome goal is humanity's complete and utter destruction. Earth's last and only hope is the mighty martial arts warrior Liu Kang.

Kicking and Screaming

Will Ferrell is at his full, frenzied power as Phil Weston, a married, uncoordinated would-be sportsman with an uncoordinated would-be sportsman son--and an unresolved relationship with his coach father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who has very little tolerance for the uncoordinated. When Buck trades his own grandson to a real loser of a little league soccer team, Phil naturally takes over underdog coaching duties and the two men butt heads. You could easily, and perhaps rightfully, dismiss all of this as a dumb, demented Meatballs or Bad News Bears rip-off, but it's pleasantly dumb and sometimes hysterically demented: Encouraged by his neighbor, ex-Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka (yes, playing himself), Phil stops his vitamin regimen and becomes wildly addicted to regular doses of caffeine, which turns him into a monster of a team leader. In addition to Ferrell, Duvall does a doozy of a comic riff on his Great Santini role, and even Ditka is unexpectedly funny. It's a formula film with just enough far-out notions to keep you chuckling. --Steve Wiecking

Kicking & Screaming (Full Screen)

Will Ferrell is at his full, frenzied power as Phil Weston, a married, uncoordinated would-be sportsman with an uncoordinated would-be sportsman son--and an unresolved relationship with his coach father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who has very little tolerance for the uncoordinated. When Buck trades his own grandson to a real loser of a little league soccer team, Phil naturally takes over underdog coaching duties and the two men butt heads. You could easily, and perhaps rightfully, dismiss all of this as a dumb, demented Meatballs or Bad News Bears rip-off, but it's pleasantly dumb and sometimes hysterically demented: Encouraged by his neighbor, ex-Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka (yes, playing himself), Phil stops his vitamin regimen and becomes wildly addicted to regular doses of caffeine, which turns him into a monster of a team leader. In addition to Ferrell, Duvall does a doozy of a comic riff on his Great Santini role, and even Ditka is unexpectedly funny. It's a formula film with just enough far-out notions to keep you chuckling. --Steve Wiecking

Will Ferrell's trademark off-the-wall lunacy kicks in for a comedy sure to score big with the whole family! Phil Weston (Ferrell) is a mild-mannered suburban dad - who's suddenly transformed into a caffeine-fueled sports maniac when he becomes the coach of his son's unruly soccer team. But when the championship pits Phil's underdog team against the squad coached by his own domineering dad (Oscar winner Robert Duvall), it's game on for the most uproarious mismatch of the season! Suit up for fun, Ferrell-style, with the comedy Ebert & Roeper give "Two Thumbs Up!"

Gunshy

Forbidden Warrior

Synopsis:
Based on an Asian mythical hero, FORBIDDEN WARRIOR follows the story of beautiful young Seki, who discovers that she is the only living person with the power to control an all-powerful book of spells - and she must learn how to use her gifts in order to save the world from bloodthirsty rivals who would steal it.

DVD Features:
Widescreen Format
Commentary with Director Jimmy Nickerson and Producers Glen Hartford & Daniel Toll
Behind the Scenes - Making of Forbidden Warrior
Interactive Menus
Scene Selection
Trailers
Optional Spanish Subtitles

Mosquito Man

Spymate

From the creator of Air Bud comes an all-new action-packed movie for the whole family Spymate! Join Minkey the highly trained chimp spy as he tries to thwart the plans of evil scientist Dr. Farley (Richard Kind) and save kidnapped child inventor Amelia (Emma Roberts). It's a top secret action-packed mission to save the Earth that you and your family won't want to missSystem Requirements:Running Time 84 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: PG UPC: 786936695007 Manufacturer No: 4967003