Given the presence of both Steve Martin and John Candy, one would expect this John Hughes comedy to be much, much funnier than it is. Certainly it's not for lack of effort on the part of its stars. Martin is an uptight businessman trying to get home from New York for the holidays. But one thing after another gets in his way--most of it having to do with Candy, a boorish but well-meaning boob who ...
Manufacturer: Paramount Home EntertainmentStarring: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean, Kevin BaconDirected By: John Hughes
How does Spider-Man 3 follow on the heels of its predecessor, which was widely considered the best superhero movie ever? For starters, you pick up the loose threads from that movie, then add some key elements of the Spidey comic-book mythos (including fan-favorite villain Venom), the black costume, and the characters of Gwen Stacy and her police-captain father. In the beginning, ...
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentStarring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church, James FrancoDirected By: Sam Raimi
More than a few critics hailed Spider-Man 2 as "the best superhero movie ever," and there's no compelling reason to argue--thanks to a bigger budget, better special effects, and a dynamic, character-driven plot, it's a notch above Spider-Man in terms of emotional depth and rich comic-book sensibility. Ordinary People Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent received screenplay credit, and ...
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentStarring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary HarrisDirected By: Sam Raimi
Michael Crichton's bestselling novel was both a high-tech thriller and source of controversy with its hot-button plot about a man's charge of sexual harassment against a female colleague and former lover. The movie, directed by Barry Levinson, turned these issues into a prurient thriller dressed up in glossy production values, virtual reality computer graphics and steamy sex between Michael ...
Manufacturer: Warner Home VideoStarring: Michael Douglas, Demi Moore, Donald Sutherland, Caroline Goodall, Roma MaffiaDirected By: Barry Levinson
Along Came A Spider After an obligatory prologue in which its detective hero suffers a tragic professional setback, Along Came a Spider sets about its business of luring the viewer into its nefarious plot, relying on the magician's technique of misdirection to reveal a double-whammy surprise. The clever, late-coming plot twist is a bit too mechanical but effectively unexpected, ...
Manufacturer: Paramount Home EntertainmentStarring: Morgan Freeman, Alex McArthur, Bill Nunn, Richard T. Jones, Monica PotterDirected By: Lee Tamahori, Gary Fleder
After an obligatory prologue in which its detective hero suffers a tragic professional setback, Along Came a Spider (based on the James Patterson novel) sets about its business of luring the viewer into its nefarious plot, relying on the magician's technique of misdirection to reveal a double-whammy surprise. The clever, late-coming plot twist is a bit too mechanical but effectively ...
Manufacturer: Paramount Home EntertainmentStarring: Morgan Freeman, Michael Wincott, Monica Potter, Dylan Baker, Mika BooremDirected By: Lee Tamahori
At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, Happiness is director Todd Solondz's multi-story tale of sex, perversion and loneliness. Plumbing depths of Crumb-like angst and rejection, Solondz won the Cannes International Critics Prize in 1998 and the film was a staple of nearly every critic's Top 10 list. Admirable, shocking, and hilarious for its sarcastic yet ...
Manufacturer: Entertainment in VideoStarring: Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn BoyleDirected By: Todd Solondz
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 traumatised psyche, the FBI recruits psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), who has ...
Manufacturer: Entertainment in VideoStarring: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Colton James, Dylan BakerDirected By: Tarsem Singh
Dakota Fanning--the elfin star of Uptown Girls, The Cat in the Hat, and Man on Fire--trades in her blond locks for a semi-gothic brunette do in Hide and Seek. Fanning plays Emily, a young girl whose mother commits suicide. To help Emily through the trauma, her father David (Robert DeNiro), a psychologist, takes her to an isolated house in upstate New York. But instead ...
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentStarring: Robert De Niro, Stewart Summers, Jack Dylan Baumer, Dakota Fanning, Famke JanssenDirected By: John Polson
Pierce Brosnan gives one of his finest performances in The Matador, a low-key buddy comedy with an agreeably sinister twist. Light-years from his former James Bond image, Brosnan is unshaven, unnerved and unpredictable as freelance assassin Julian Noble, who encounters desperate businessman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) in the bar of a modern Mexico City hotel. Danny is intrigued when Julian ...
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home EntertainmStarring: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Dylan Baker, Philip Baker HallDirected By: Richard Shepard, Bob Yari
