Zwerling, Darrell

Chinatown (Special Collector's Edition)

Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley

Landmark movie in the film noir tradition, Roman Polanski's Chinatown stands as a true screen classic. Jack Nicholson is private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite (Faye Dunaway) to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in...Chinatown. Co-starring film legend John Huston and featuring an Academy Award®-winning script by Robert Towne, Chinatown captures a lost era in a masterfully woven movie that remains a timeless gem.

Joe Versus the Volcano

Joe Versus the Volcano is a true early-1990s cult film. This fantasy-comedy was the first pairing of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, yet it polarizes viewers like a Blue Velvet or Happiness. As the only directorial effort from John Patrick Shanley (the Oscar-winning writer of Moonstruck), it is something special, and it's hard to resist the film's feather-light heart tugging. Joe Banks is having the life sucked out of him at a dead-end job. Miserable in his gray surroundings with stark fluorescent lighting, Joe dreams of being brave again. A visit to the doctor reveals that he has a "brain cloud." It's fatal, but he'll be fine for a few more months. An eccentric millionaire, Samuel Harvey Graynamore (Lloyd Bridges), hears of Joe's predicament and comes to him with a proposal: The people of the Pacific island of Waponi Woo need a human sacrifice to appease their gods. Why not live like a king for a few weeks, then throw yourself into a volcano? (Graynamore needs a sacrificial victim to offer in exchange for permission to mine the island for a rare mineral.) Joe accepts Graynamore's lavish proposal and on his journey meets three romantic possibilities (all played by Ryan). Joe embraces life; so does the movie. It's packed with smile-inducing supporting performances by Bridges, Ossie Davis, Robert Stack, and Dan Hedaya; playful songs ("Sixteen Tons," "Ol' Man River," Presley's version of "Blue Moon"); and amusing scenes (such as Joe buying luggage). Add the daring, imaginative production design of Bo Welch (Edward Scissorhands), Hanks and Ryan's chemistry, and Georges Delerue's romantic music and you have a film to fall for. --Doug Thomas

Laughs erupt when Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love and fall in lava in Joe Versus the Volcano, a colorful, stylish laughquake written and directed by Moonstruck Oscar winner John Patrick Shanley. As Joe, Hanks adds to his phenomenal string of successes that includes, Splash, Big and Turner & Hooch. And Meg Ryan follows up her starmaking When Harry Met Sally...with three roles, playing each of the women in Joe's life. When we first meet Joe, he has the white-color blues. Every day is Monday, the boss is always in a bad mood and the cumulative stresses convince Joe he has a terminal condition called a "brain cloud." So when a zany jillionaire pops up and offers him a fleeting taste of the good life, Joe leaps at the chance. All he must do in return is leap into a volcano. But funny things happen on the way from the urban isle of Manhattan to the remote tropical isle of Waponi Woo... Out of the corporate frying pan. Into the fire. Is Joes doomed to be the last of the red-hot lovers? Not if the forces of courage, love and comedy have their way.

DVD Features:
Documentary
Filmographies
Interactive Menus
Music Video:Eric Burdon, "Sixteen Tons"
Other
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer

Chinatown

Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

Before their blockbuster collaboration on Grease, John Travolta and director Randal Kleiser boosted their early careers with this well-acted, sensitively directed television movie. Teenager Tod Lubitch (Travolta) is forced to live in a plastic isolation chamber because he was born with a nonfunctioning immune system, leaving him vulnerable to even the most common everyday viruses. A unique coming-of-age story, the movie (first telecast in 1976) has become the subject of jokes over the years, but Travolta's comeback has sparked new interest in the star's Welcome Back, Kotter days. --Jeff Shannon

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE THE (DVD MOVIE)

Before their blockbuster collaboration on Grease, John Travolta and director Randal Kleiser boosted their early careers with this well-acted, sensitively directed television movie. Teenager Tod Lubitch (Travolta) is forced to live in a plastic isolation chamber because he was born with a nonfunctioning immune system, leaving him vulnerable to even the most common everyday viruses. A unique coming-of-age story, the movie (first telecast in 1976) has become the subject of jokes over the years, but Travolta's comeback has sparked new interest in the star's Welcome Back, Kotter days. --Jeff Shannon

Chinatown

Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley

Sunset Limousine

John Ritter, whose celebrated life was recently and tragically ended, stars as a stand-up comic who moonlights as a limousine driver in this hilarious romp. Ritter's talent for pratfall and double entendre shines as he tries to his ex-girlfriend (Susan Dey of L.A. Law) that he is in fact a responsible individual. Featuring performances by Paul Reiser (Mad About You) and Martin Short (Saturday Night Live, Father of the Bride).

Boy in the Plastic Bubble

Before their blockbuster collaboration on Grease, John Travolta and director Randal Kleiser boosted their early careers with this well-acted, sensitively directed television movie. Teenager Tod Lubitch (Travolta) is forced to live in a plastic isolation chamber because he was born with a nonfunctioning immune system, leaving him vulnerable to even the most common everyday viruses. A unique coming-of-age story, the movie (first telecast in 1976) has become the subject of jokes over the years, but Travolta's comeback has sparked new interest in the star's Welcome Back, Kotter days. --Jeff Shannon

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

Before their blockbuster collaboration on Grease, John Travolta and director Randal Kleiser boosted their early careers with this well-acted, sensitively directed television movie. Teenager Tod Lubitch (Travolta) is forced to live in a plastic isolation chamber because he was born with a non-functioning immune system, leaving him vulnerable to even the most common everyday viruses. A unique coming-of-age story, the movie (first telecast in 1976) has become the subject of jokes over the years, but Travolta's comeback has sparked new interest in the star's Welcome Back, Kotter days. --Jeff Shannon

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

Before their blockbuster collaboration on Grease, John Travolta and director Randal Kleiser boosted their early careers with this well-acted, sensitively directed television movie. Teenager Tod Lubitch (Travolta) is forced to live in a plastic isolation chamber because he was born with a nonfunctioning immune system, leaving him vulnerable to even the most common everyday viruses. A unique coming-of-age story, the movie (first telecast in 1976) has become the subject of jokes over the years, but Travolta's comeback has sparked new interest in the star's Welcome Back, Kotter days. --Jeff Shannon