Mystery & Suspense

National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Widescreen)

Join Nicolas Cage on a heart-pounding adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat in a race to find the Lost City of Gold. Grounded in history imbued with myth and mystery Disney's NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS takes you on a globe-trotting quest full of adrenaline-pumping twists and turns -- all leading to the final clue in a mysterious and highly guarded book containing centuries of secrets. But there's only one way to find it -- Ben Gates must kidnap the President. Packed with fast-paced action and crackling humor NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS is a movie your entire family will want to rediscover again and again.System Requirements:Running Time: 124 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: PG UPC: 786936735390 Manufacturer No: 05439300

Less engrossing than its 2004 predecessor National Treasure, Jon Turteltaub's busy sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets is nevertheless a colorful and witty adventure, another race against overwhelming odds for the answer to a historical riddle. Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage), the treasure hunter who feverishly sought, in the first film, the whereabouts of a war chest hidden by America's forefathers, is now charged with protecting family honor. When a rival (Ed Harris) offers alleged proof that Gates' ancestor, Thomas Gates, was not a Civil War-era hero but a participant in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ben and his father (Jon Voight) and crew (Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger) hopscotch through Paris, London, Washington DC, and South Dakota to gather evidence refuting the claim. The film is most fun when the hunt, as in National Treasure, squeezes Ben into such impossible situations as examining twin desks in the queen's chambers in Buckingham Palace and the White House's Oval Office, or kidnapping an American president (Bruce Greenwood) for a few minutes of frank talk. Helen Mirren, the previous year's Oscar winner for Best Actress, wisely joins the cast of a likely hit film as Ben's archaeologist mother, long-estranged from Voight's character but as feisty as the rest of the family. Returning director Turteltaub takes excellent advantage of his colorful backdrops in European capitals and the always-eerie Mount Rushmore, and oversees some wildly imaginative sets for this dramedy's feverish third act in an audacious and completely unexpected, legendary setting. If National Treasure: Book of Secrets doesn't feel quite as crisp and unique as its predecessor, it is still ingenious and wry enough to laugh a bit at itself. --Tom Keogh

Stills from National Treasure: Book of Secrets (click for larger image)

Heroes: Season 2

Rejoin the epic and suspenseful phenomenon as Heroes: Season 2 arrives on DVD. Experience all the new and exciting twists of the astonishing series in this 4-disc set that includes every gripping Season 2 episode. Plus, see what could have been with exclusive bonus features that reveal the untold stories that never aired and an alternate ending to the season finale, where the fate of humanity takes an ominous turn when Peter fails to catch the vial containing the deadly virus.

Beyond Heroes - Season 2 on DVD

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Before They Were Heroes

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Stills from Heroes - Season 2 (Click for larger image)

Lost: The Complete Fourth Season

LOST: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON (DVD MOVIE)

Monk - Season Six

Get even more obsessed with TV's funniest and quirkiest detective series, Monk, as every episode from the smash-hit sixth season comes to DVD on 4 discs! Tony Shalhoub reprises his 3-time Primetime Emmy® Award and Golden Globe-winning role as the brilliant but phobia-laden detective Adrian Monk, who never lets his obsessive-compulsive disorder stop him from solving a crime in the most ingenious way imaginable! Dropping the clues this season are a roster of red-hot guest stars including Alfred Molina, David Koechner, Sarah Silverman, Snoop Dogg, Angela Kinsey and Vincent Ventresca. Take a tip from an insider: you'll be "committed" to the best detective series now on TV!

No Country for Old Men

The Coen brothers make their finest thriller since Fargo with a restrained adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel. Not that there aren't moments of intense violence, but No Country for Old Men is their quietest, most existential film yet. In this modern-day Western, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Vietnam vet who could use a break. One morning while hunting antelope, he spies several trucks surrounded by dead bodies (both human and canine). In examining the site, he finds a case filled with $2 million. Moss takes it with him, tells his wife (Kelly Macdonald) he's going away for awhile, and hits the road until he can determine his next move. On the way from El Paso to Mexico, he discovers he's being followed by ex-special ops agent Chigurh (an eerily calm Javier Bardem). Chigurh's weapon of choice is a cattle gun, and he uses it on everyone who gets in his way--or loses a coin toss (as far as he's concerned, bad luck is grounds for death). Just as Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a World War II vet, is on Moss's trail, Chigurh's former colleague, Wells (Woody Harrelson), is on his. For most of the movie, Moss remains one step ahead of his nemesis. Both men are clever and resourceful--except Moss has a conscience, Chigurh does not (he is, as McCarthy puts it, "a prophet of destruction"). At times, the film plays like an old horror movie, with Chigurh as its lumbering Frankenstein monster. Like the taciturn terminator, No Country for Old Men doesn't move quickly, but the tension never dissipates. This minimalist masterwork represents Joel and Ethan Coen and their entire cast, particularly Brolin and Jones, at the peak of their powers. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Cranford

The BBC drama series adapted from Mary Gaskells classic novels of small town gossip secrets and romance. 1842. Cranford a market town in the North West of England is a place governed by etiquette custom and above all an intricate network of ladies. It seems that life has always been conducted according to their social rules but Cranford is on the cusp of change? For spinsters Deborah Jenkyns the arbiter of correctness in Cranford and Matty her demurring sister the town is a hub of intrigue - a handsome new doctor Frank Harrison from London has arrived; a retired Captain and his daughters have moved in to a house opposite and the preparations for Lady Ludlows garden party are underway. Everyone - from charming rogue Dr Marshland to mean Mrs Jamieson and her lap dog talks and is talked about behind closed doors. The town also has its secrets which it slowly reveals: Mattys encounter with an old flame at the garden party; Lady Ludlows gardener Mr Carter teaching a gypsy lad to read and write; the wild expectations of the May Day celebrations and - news that shakes the town when it is revealed - a railway line from Manchester is coming to Cranford.Running Time: 295 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/BBC UPC: 883929012404 Manufacturer No: 1000037442

Adapted from Elizabeth Gaskells' novels, the five-episode miniseries Cranford focuses on female characters in the 19th-century British town to thematically contemplate encroaching modernity in rural England. With the camera roving house to house, each drama within the grander story is constructed of scenes featuring dialogue between several gossipy ladies obsessed with moral code, romantic ideas about courtship, and social occasions. Three main characters, the ever-appropriate Deborah Jenkyns (Eileen Atkins), her sweet sister, Matilda (Judi Dench), and their younger, more savvy relative, Miss Smith, continuously weigh in on situations, providing a dependable view when other ladies, like the nosey Miss Pole (Imelda Staunton) are too judgmental. In fine period dress, the women of Cranford remind the viewer of how little action was needed in their small-town lives to provide unceasing entertainment. The series' most intriguing aspect lies not in the ample female conversation but rather in its display of earlier technologies and ways of life. Part One, for example, quickly launches a main narrative thread that runs throughout the series, namely the arrival and assimilation of London doctor, Frank Harrison (Simon Woods), into village society. Dr. Harrison's medical practices, such as his refusal to amputate a man's arm because it's broken, are all the more radical because they are so fundamental by today's standards. In subsequent episodes, he recommends Miss Smith get spectacles to cure her headaches, and saves his love's life by cooling her fever after conservative doctor, Dr. Morgan (John Bowe), recommends the old school practice of burying her in blankets in front of a raging fire. In Part Two, Lady Ludlow (Francesca Annis) throws a garden party at her estate, treating all the women in their fancy hats to a new novelty: ice cream. This scene foreshadows Ludlow's future concern at a railroad plan involving her land that would connect Cranford to Manchester, symbolizing the ruin of this idyllic setting.

In fact, fluffy and clever as some scenes are, death and rebirth assert themselves in each showing, both physically and idealistically. Part Four shows an auctioning off of a deceased man's antiques, and focuses on issues of class and women's education, as Mr. Carter teaches a peasant boy to read while his assistant fumes at her trappings as a seamstress. Part Five ushers in a new period of medical emergencies, securing Dr. Harrison's shaky position in town. In total, Cranford offers a powerful, if sentimental, look at how death begets life, love, and passion. ‹Trinie Dalton

24 - Season Six

It s 20 months after the end of season 5 and Jack is back. A series of suicide bombings across the United States has CTU pushed to their limits and the only way to stop the attacks will be to sacrifice their star agent. But are they being misled and can Jack uncover the real mastermind before the bombings begin? Of course it s going to take more than weapons to stop Bauer from uncovering the truth but what he finds it just the beginning of a much larger conspiracy involving nation states the U.S. government and a host of other factors that make this season of 24 the most exciting to date.System Requirements:Running Time: 1012 mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543462927 Manufacturer No: 2246292

Creating and executing a TV series in which each season takes place in the course of just one day, with each episode occupying a single hour, is no mean feat, but the makers of 24 have pulled it off admirably. And while many of the show's longtime adherents seem to agree that this sixth season (with 24 episodes offered on six DVDs, plus a seventh disc loaded with bonus features) is perhaps its weakest, relative newcomers, freed from the expectations generated by the five that preceded it, will find it to be riveting entertainment. This is a show that hits the ground running and then proceeds to relentlessly ratchet up the tension, balancing its disparate elements--terrorism and espionage, political intrigue and treachery, personal drama--with remarkable aplomb. Indeed, the first episode is barely underway before we're told that a plague of terrorist bombings is sweeping the United States, killing many hundreds and leaving the nation in disarray. President Wayne Palmer (DB Woodside), in office for just three months following the assassination of his brother, agonizes over the proper course of action while some of his advisers counsel restraint and others urge him to adopt measures that will radically restrict Americans' (especially those of Muslim descent) civil liberties. Meanwhile, Jack Bauer (star and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland) has been released after two years in a Chinese prison, but only so he can be handed over to Abu Fayed (Adoni Maropis), a particularly nasty villain who proposes to trade Jack's life for the location of Hamri Al-Assad (Alexander Siddig), who's suspected of being the mastermind behind the current reign of terror. That's only the beginning, of course. Soon Jack (who, despite being severely tortured during his imprisonment, is still cool enough to coordinate a manhunt while simultaneously disarming a bomb set to detonate in two minutes) and his counter-terrorism cronies are dealing with the specter of a nuclear holocaust on American soil, more political assassination, Jack's feckless family, and a good deal more. And that's only in the first twelve hours! It doesn't all work--especially in the second half. Some of the characters are less than convincing (Jack's brother Graem, portrayed by Paul McCrane, is weak in every respect; in fact, the entire family sideshow is fairly ridiculous), while the casting is sometimes off the mark (Woodside does his best, but he lacks the gravitas needed in a plausible Chief Executive) and the story contains multiple plot points that will challenge even those willing to totally suspend their disbelief. By and large, though, 24 more than lives up to its own hype as the tube's most addictive program. Bonus material includes commentary on selected episodes, deleted scenes, a preview of Season 7, several featurettes, and a whole lot more. --Sam Graham

National Treasure / National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets [Blu-ray] (Amazon.com Exclusive)

Amazon.com Review for National Treasure
Like a Hardy Boys mystery on steroids, National Treasure offers popcorn thrills and enough boyish charm to overcome its rampant silliness. Although it was roundly criticized as a poor man's rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Da Vinci Code, it's entertaining on its own ludicrous terms, and Nicolas Cage proves once again that one actor's infectious enthusiasm can compensate for a multitude of movie sins. The contrived plot involves Cage's present-day quest for the ancient treasure of the Knights Templar, kept secret through the ages by Freemasons past and present. Finding the treasure requires the theft of the Declaration of Independence (there are crucial treasure clues on the back, of course!), so you can add "caper comedy" to this Jerry Bruckheimer production's multi-genre appeal. Nobody will ever accuse director Jon Turtletaub of artistic ambition, but you've got to admit he serves up an enjoyable dose of PG-rated entertainment, full of musty clues, skeletons, deep tunnels, and harmless adventure in the old-school tradition. It's a load of hokum, but it's fun hokum, and that makes all the difference. --Jeff Shannon

Amazon.com Review for National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Less engrossing than its 2004 predecessor National Treasure, Jon Turteltaub's busy sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets is nevertheless a colorful and witty adventure, another race against overwhelming odds for the answer to a historical riddle. Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage), the treasure hunter who feverishly sought, in the first film, the whereabouts of a war chest hidden by America's forefathers, is now charged with protecting family honor. When a rival (Ed Harris) offers alleged proof that Gates' ancestor, Thomas Gates, was not a Civil War-era hero but a participant in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ben and his father (Jon Voight) and crew (Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger) hopscotch through Paris, London, Washington DC, and South Dakota to gather evidence refuting the claim. The film is most fun when the hunt, as in National Treasure, squeezes Ben into such impossible situations as examining twin desks in the queen's chambers in Buckingham Palace and the White House's Oval Office, or kidnapping an American president (Bruce Greenwood) for a few minutes of frank talk. Helen Mirren, the previous year's Oscar winner for Best Actress, wisely joins the cast of a likely hit film as Ben's archaeologist mother, long-estranged from Voight's character but as feisty as the rest of the family. Returning director Turteltaub takes excellent advantage of his colorful backdrops in European capitals and the always-eerie Mount Rushmore, and oversees some wildly imaginative sets for this dramedy's feverish third act in an audacious and completely unexpected, legendary setting. If National Treasure: Book of Secrets doesn't feel quite as crisp and unique as its predecessor, it is still ingenious and wry enough to laugh a bit at itself. --Tom Keogh

Stills from National Treasure: Book of Secrets (click for larger image)

National Treasure: From Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, comes the definitive NATIONAL TREASURE. Get closer to the edge of your seat with the 2-Disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray of this thrilling adventure starring Academy Award(R) Winners Jon Voight (Best Actor, COMING HOME, 1978) and Nicolas Cage (Best Actor, LEAVING LAS VEGAS, 1995) as Benjamin Franklin Gates. Since boyhood, Gates has been obsessed with finding the legendary Knights Templar Treasure, the greatest fortune known to man. As he tries to find and decipher ancient riddles that will lead him to it, Gates is dogged by a ruthless enemy (Sean Bean, THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy). Now in a race against time, Gates must steal one of America's most sacred and guarded documents -- the Declaration of Independence -- or let it, and a key clue to the mystery, fall into dangerous hands. Heart-pounding chases, close calls and the FBI turn Gates' quest into a high-stakes crime caper and the most exciting treasure hunt you've ever experienced, now with a treasure trove of new special features
National Tresure 2- Book of Secrets:
Join Nicolas Cage on a heart-pounding adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat in a race to find the Lost City of Gold. Grounded in history, imbued with myth and mystery, Disney's NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS takes you on a globe-trotting quest full of adrenaline-pumping twists and turns -- all leading to the final clue in a mysterious and highly guarded book containing centuries of secrets. But there's only one way to find it -- Ben Gates must kidnap the President. Packed with fast-paced action and crackling humor, NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS is a movie your entire family will want to rediscover again and again

National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Join Nicolas Cage on a heart-pounding adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat in a race to find the Lost City of Gold. Grounded in history imbued with myth and mystery Disney's NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS takes you on a globe-trotting quest full of adrenaline-pumping twists and turns -- all leading to the final clue in a mysterious and highly guarded book containing centuries of secrets. But there's only one way to find it -- Ben Gates must kidnap the President. Packed with fast-paced action and crackling humor NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS is a movie your entire family will want to rediscover again and again.System Requirements:Running Time: 125 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: PG UPC: 786936763331 Manufacturer No: 05724900

Less engrossing than its 2004 predecessor National Treasure, Jon Turteltaub's busy sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets is nevertheless a colorful and witty adventure, another race against overwhelming odds for the answer to a historical riddle. Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage), the treasure hunter who feverishly sought, in the first film, the whereabouts of a war chest hidden by America's forefathers, is now charged with protecting family honor. When a rival (Ed Harris) offers alleged proof that Gates' ancestor, Thomas Gates, was not a Civil War-era hero but a participant in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ben and his father (Jon Voight) and crew (Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger) hopscotch through Paris, London, Washington DC, and South Dakota to gather evidence refuting the claim. The film is most fun when the hunt, as in National Treasure, squeezes Ben into such impossible situations as examining twin desks in the queen's chambers in Buckingham Palace and the White House's Oval Office, or kidnapping an American president (Bruce Greenwood) for a few minutes of frank talk. Helen Mirren, the previous year's Oscar winner for Best Actress, wisely joins the cast of a likely hit film as Ben's archaeologist mother, long-estranged from Voight's character but as feisty as the rest of the family. Returning director Turteltaub takes excellent advantage of his colorful backdrops in European capitals and the always-eerie Mount Rushmore, and oversees some wildly imaginative sets for this dramedy's feverish third act in an audacious and completely unexpected, legendary setting. If National Treasure: Book of Secrets doesn't feel quite as crisp and unique as its predecessor, it is still ingenious and wry enough to laugh a bit at itself. --Tom Keogh

Stills from National Treasure: Book of Secrets (click for larger image)

Holocaust

The 30th anniversary edition of Holocaust marks the first time this remarkable, nine-and-a-half-hour television miniseries has been released on DVD. Originally broadcast on NBC as part of an ongoing TV phenomenon in the 1970s called "The Big Event," Holocaust was an original story written by Gerald Green, who later scripted Kent State and Wallenberg: A Hero's Story, the latter another Holocaust-era tale. Holocaust narrowed the enormous story of the Nazis' systematic destruction of Jews by focusing on one family living in Berlin. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Josef Weiss, a Pole with a longtime family practice. Weiss debates with his wife, Berta (Rosemary Harris), the wisdom of moving out of Germany with their family. She insists they should not be chased away by Hitler, and by the time she thinks otherwise, it's too late for her, her parents, Josef, and the three Weiss children: Karl (James Woods), Rudi (Joseph Bottoms), and Anna (Blanche Baker). Holocaust begins with the marriage of Karl to Inga (Meryl Streep), a Christian, an arrangement already frowned upon by the rising Nazi regime in 1935. In time, Karl, a harmless artist, is dragged off to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, leaving Inga vulnerable to a predatory camp officer who passes notes between the husband and wife. Poor young Anna meets a grim fate that reveals something of the way Hitler was determined to eliminate the mentally ill along with Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups of people. The rebellious Rudi ends up fighting the Germans from a different front, while Josef is deported to Warsaw, eventually joined by Berta. There, Holocaust details the plight of the walled-in, so-called Warsaw ghetto, and the despair of the people within. Meanwhile, the destiny of another important character, a rather effete lawyer named Erik Dorf (Michael Moriarty), offers a peek into the internal workings of the Holocaust machinery. Dorf takes a much-needed job as an aide to Reinhard Heydrich (David Warner), Gestapo head and chair of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, which finalized plans for the extermination of European Jews. Holocaust was criticized at the time of its broadcast for allegedly cheapening genocide by shrinking the dimensions of the Nazis' organized evil for commercial television. But as a story free to extend into different aspects of the war on Jews, Holocaust is a real eye-opener. Tom Bell, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, and Sam Wanamaker are also featured in the cast. --Tom Keogh

An original TV dramatization of one of the most monstrous crimes in world history - the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis. Dramatically and definitively, the story covers an entire decade, the eventful years from 1935 to 1945. HOLOCAUST focuses on the tragedy and triumph of a single family - the Weiss family. Their story is told in counter-poise to that of another fictional family, that of Erik Dorf, who portrays a Nazi aide to Germany's infamous Heydrich. Starring a brilliant international cast and filmed on location in Berlin and Vienna.