Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
by Steve Miner
from Walt Disney Home Entertainment
This charming Disney live-action picture is a genuine sleeper. It's a variation on the old boy-runs-away-to-join-the-circus story, except this time the boy is a girl. After she joins a traveling show in the 1930s, spunky teen Sonora Webster (Gabrielle Anwar) learns the ropes and eventually lands a plum role in the program: riding a horse off a 40-foot-high diving board into a tank of water. Well, Sonora thinks it's a plum, anyway. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken has the usual love interest, a brush with tragedy, and some worldly wisdom (the latter doled out by old pro Cliff Robertson, in a nice role as a crusty barnstormer). What makes the movie memorable is the performance of the lovely Gabrielle Anwar, the doe-eyed actress who later danced the tango so memorably with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. The movie may be sappy--no surprise with that title--but Anwar provides bright star wattage and a plucky role model. --Robert Horton
Everyone will cheer Walt Disney Pictures presentation of this captivating real-life story of Sonora Webster's determination and courage -- now on DVD. A runaway orphan, young Sonora (Gabrielle Anwar) persists for a menial job mucking stables in Doc Carver's traveling stunt show. Her great wish is to become a death-defying "diving girl," but Doc (Cliff Robertson) refuses her pleas. Undaunted, Sonora's gutsy resolve finally convinces him to give her a break. On the brink of stardom, however, a cruel twist of fate threatens to destroy her dream. With the help of a loving friend (Michael Schoeffling), Sonora must prove that if you want something badly enough, anything is possible!
My Father the Hero
by Steve Miner
from Walt Disney Video
Gerard Depardieu (GREEN CARD) stars as an overprotective father who lands in hot water when his overactive teenage daughter gets in over her head at a tropical vacation resort! Soon, the mischievous teen is getting dad in big, big trouble -- hurling him into one madcap misadventure after another. Combining uproarious comedy and a beautiful island setting, MY FATHER,THE HERO, simply overflows with nonstop fun in the sun. Discover for yourself the comedy hit that left critics and audiences alike drowning with laughter.
The Practice - Volume One
by Steve Gomer
from 20th Century Fox
Defense attorney Bobby Donnell could've had his pick of high-paying jobs at any number of fancy Boston law firms. Instead, he chose to be his own boss. The Practice: Volume One combines all six episodes from the debut mini season in 1997, along with seven episodes from the sophomore year. Though it would've been a more cohesive collection if entire two seasons were included on this four-disc DVD set, it's still a welcome addition for fans of this David E. Kelley drama. Starring Dylan McDermott as Bobby, the cast also includes Kelli Williams as uber-attorney Lindsay Dole, Emmy Award winner Camryn Manheim as Ellenor Frutt, and former cop-turned-defense attorney Eugene Young (Steve Harris). Then there's their friend--and also foil--prosecutor Helen Gamble (Lara Flynn Boyle), who admires the team's tenacity but stops at nothing to beat them in court. During the early seasons, Donnell's firm doesn't bring in enough money to decorate their offices, which are filthy--just like many of their clients. But as they slowly build a reputation as the go-to firm for clients who most likely are guilty but want to be set free, they begin to wrestle with moral dilemmas. As can be expected from a Kelley series, the cases presented here are fabulously sensationalist. But they also touch on human emotions, such as when they represent a client who was fired for being unattractive. The lawyers also have bittersweet moments as they realize they have surpassed their former legal mentors, some of whom have been seduced by the promise of big money. The most compelling episodes involve Dole--a brilliant but unseasoned attorney--who slowly and methodically tackles the tobacco industry. While the opponent has teams of senior attorneys, associates, paralegals, and interns at its disposal, Dole tirelessly works the case and refuses to give in, even when the outcome seems inevitable. The end result isn't believable in the least, but her passion sets the groundwork for one of the show's most watchable characters. --Jae-Ha Kim
The Practice: Volume One Extras
 View a clip of David E. Kelley speaking about the creation of The Practice. |
Beyond The Practice: Volume One
 More From David E. Kelley |  More TV Dramas |  More From 20th Century Fox |
Stills from The Practice: Volume One
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Set in Boston The Practice centers on a firm of passionate attorneys to whom every case is important and every client worth a fight to the end. Pursuing justice however sometimes means crossing the line...System Requirements:Running Time: 559 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543426226 Manufacturer No: 2242623
Day of the Dead
by Steve Miner
from First Look Pictures
Nick Cannon Mena Suvari and Ving Rhames star in this horror film based on the George A. Romero classic zombie film. A mysterious virus has infected the small town of Leadville Colorado and the military is brought in to enforce a quarantine and stop the spread of the disease. As people perish survivors realize that the virus is creating the walking dead who crave human flesh. Only a small number of people are immune to the virus and those few survivors must battle to fend off the infected zombies while trying to make it out of town alive.System Requirements:Running Time: 87 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/DEMONS Rating: R UPC: 687797122599 Manufacturer No: FLP-12259
Dawson's Creek - The Series Finale (Extended Cut)
by Kerr Smith
from Sony Pictures
With its series-finale episode, Dawson's Creek summed up its six-year run on the WB Network with a sweet and sad tale of reunion and farewell for old friends, soul mates, and lovers. The friends are now 25 and living new lives: Dawson (James Van Der Beek) is in Hollywood executive-producing The Creek, obviously based on his own life and considered "the new hit teen soap at the WB"; Joey (Katie Holmes) is a book editor in New York with a serious beau; Jen (Michelle Williams) is a single mother; Pacey (Joshua Jackson) is the relatively respectable owner of the reborn Icehouse Restaurant; and Jack (Kerr Smith) is teaching at the high school and struggling with his relationship. A wedding brings everyone together in Capeside, but tragedy strikes, and the remaining friends are left to consider their lives and what they want to do with them. Whether or not you agree with the final choices, of course, probably depends on who you've been rooting for.
The extended cut of the finale runs 104 minutes, about 16 longer than when it was broadcast in May 2003. Unlike deleted scenes on movie DVDs, each addition seems like a useful part of the story, and the DVD borrows a helpful feature from the Lord of the Rings extended editions by designating on the chapter menu which scenes are new or extended. Some differences are minor, but there are significant new scenes with Joey at work, Joey and her boyfriend (Jeremy Sisto of Six Feet Under), Joey and Dawson's reunion in Capeside, and Pacey's conversation with old flame Andie (Meredith Monroe).
As they did for two episodes of Dawson's Creek: The Complete First Season, creator Kevin Williamson (who co-wrote the finale) and executive producer Paul Stubin provide a commentary track in which they discuss the new scenes and which characters were originally intended to end up together. There are also four scenes that were filmed for the original pilot presentation (not the finished pilot shown in season one) then reshot. There's a small but important difference in the last scene, Pacey meets Tamara Jacobs in a different video store, and Dawson's dad is played by a different actor before the role was recast with John Wesley Shipp. --David Horiuchi
Part One It s five years later and Dawson Joey Pacey Jen and Jack are reunited in Capeside for Dawson s mom s wedding. But the celebratory mood comes to an end when they receive some heartbreaking news.Part Two As the gang faces a future more uncertain than ever before Joey struggles to come to terms with her true feelings for Dawson Pacey and her current boyfriend. When she finally does she surprises everyone with her decision.System Requirements:Starring: James Van Der Beek Katie Holmes Michelle Williams Joshua Jacskson Oliver Hudson Running Time: 108 Min. Copyright Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2005Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 043396018563 Manufacturer No: 01856
Forever Young
by Steve Miner
from Warner Home Video
Just prior to World War II, a man believes his sweethear to have died in a car accident and so consents to be a human subject in a cryogenics experiment. He wakes up in the 90s baffled by the world as it has become, but finds that true love waits forever. Includes the original theatrical trailer.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG
Release Date: 14-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD
A surprise sleeper hit when released in 1992, this romantic fantasy works as a comedic adventure and a gentle tearjerker thanks to Mel Gibson's appealing performance. He plays Daniel, a daring test pilot who is deeply distraught by the apparent death of his girlfriend, Helen, in 1939. Feeling little reason to live, he volunteers for a pioneering cryogenics experiment and is thawed out 50 years later by two young boys. They bring the confused pilot home to Nat's single mom, Claire (Jamie Lee Curtis). There's a hint of romance, but Daniel desperately needs to know if Helen really died in 1939, and he discovers that love has a way of surviving a half-century leap in time. The premise is hokey and certain plot details are conveniently ignored, but Gibson, Curtis, and Elijah Wood (as Nat) hold it together with irresistible charm and just the right balance of fantasy and drama. --Jeff Shannon
Warlock
by Steve Miner
from Lions Gate
Clever and original, this horror film directed by Steve Miner (Forever Young) stars Julian Sands as a 17th century warlock who escapes the gallows and is transported--along with the witch hunter who brought him to trial (Richard E. Grant)--300 years into the future. Running loose in contemporary Los Angeles, Sands's supernatural monster sets about reuniting the scattered portions of a Devil's Book that will reveal the true name of God and thus destroy mankind. In a great twist, the last bit of the book is in a very interesting place: the grave of Grant's character, who has enlisted the aid of a woman (Lori Singer) in a hurried effort to stop imminent disaster. Genuinely involving, Warlock is aided immeasurably by sharp performances from the equally eccentric Grant (Withnail and I) and Sands (Naked Lunch). Miner invents his way through a kind of simultaneously new and old horror tale, and the results are taut, fun, and surprising. The DVD release features Spanish and French subtitles, cast and crew information, and 2.0 Dolby surround sound. --Tom Keogh
Boston 1691 the gallows await the Warlock (Julian Sands). What was an apparent triumph of Witch Hunter Giles Redferne (Richard E. Grant) is short lived as the Warlock escapes and is hurled 300 years into the future. Now say a prayer for the City of Angels for it is here in Los Angeles where he begins the task of reuniting three portions of the Devils Book that will reveal the secret name of God. If spoken all creation will be destroyed. Redferne who is also transported enlists the aid of Kassandra (Lori Singer) who has miraculously escaped the Warlocks wrath. But the carnage has begun as the Warlock successfully unites the first two sections. The final portion is buried in an old Boston cemetery... in Redfernes grave! It is on these hallowed grounds where evil magic will confront the strength of righteousness with the future of mankind at stake.Starring: Julian Sands Lori Singer Richard E. Grant Mary Woronov Kevin OBrien Richard KussDirector: Steve MinerCopyright: 1991 Trimark Produced by Arnold Kopelson; Running time of 90 minutes; Closed Captioned. System Requirements:Standard format English (2.0 Dolby Surround) Spanish and French subtitles Theatrical trailer cast/crew bios Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 031398684336
Diagnosis Murder - The Third Season
by Lou Antonio
from Paramount Home Video
Emmy award winner Dick Van Dyke stars as Dr. Mark Sloan a dedicated doctor who dabbles in detective work in DIAGNOSIS MURDER. Caring and compassionate Dr. Sloan enlists the help of his police detective son Steve (Barry Van Dyke) whenever he suspects one of his patients is the victim of foul play. And he won t rest until the bad guys are put to bed - permanently! Working alongside Sloan is pathologist Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell). For star performances and classic "whodunit" suspense the right prescription is DIAGNOSIS MURDER. System Requirements:Run Time: 840 minutes Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 097361225340
Diagnosis Murder - The Complete 1st Season
by Lou Antonio
from Paramount
One of America's most beloved TV actors, Dick Van Dyke, proved his longevity and acting chops in Diagnosis Murder, as Dr. Mark Sloan, chief of staff at L.A.'s Community General Hospital, as well as a consultant for the police department on confounding murders. The show was originally conceived as a Murder, She Wrote-with-boys, to tap into the late '80s and early '90s wave of spunky-senior shows (Golden Girls, Matlock et al.). But Van Dyke's versatility and charisma drew fans of all ages, and the first season shows his breadth as an actor. The mysteries range from the fairly typical (a beautiful patient surrounded by intrigue has amnesia--or does she?) to the gritty and offbeat (Sloan's son, played by Van Dyke's real son, Barry, gets too close to a gang of corrupt cops, with near-disastrous results). Through it all, Van Dyke's Sloan is avuncular, thoughtful, warm, and serious, but conveys enough wry humor and cheekiness to take considerable advantage of Van Dyke's comic timing. One episode in this season, "Inheritance of Death," features Van Dyke playing multiple roles--young, old, men, women--in a conniving family grasping for the inheritance of an ancient family member, and it's laugh-out-loud funny. Another standout in the cast is Scott Baio as Sloan's earnest sidekick, Dr. Jack Stewart. The boxed set features all 19 episodes of the first season, plus the episode of Jake and the Fatman which introduced the character of Dr. Mark Sloan. --A.T. Hurley
Emmy award winner Dick Van Dyke stars as Dr. Mark Sloan a dedicated doctor who dabbles in detective work in DIAGNOSIS MURDER. Caring and compassionate Dr. Sloan enlists the help of his police detective son Steve (Barry Van Dyke) whenever he suspects one of his patients is the victim of foul play. And he won t rest until the bad guys are put to bed - permanently! Working alongside Sloan is pathologist Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell). For star performances and classic whodunit suspense the right prescription is DIAGNOSIS MURDER.System Requirements:Running Time 885 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097360788945 Manufacturer No: 078894
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