Sales Rank:130 List Price: $29.98 Lowest New Price: $18.99 Lowest Used Price: $17.09 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Lee Pace
Anna Friel
Chi McBride
Jim Dale
Ellen Greene
Pushing Daisies is many things at once: detective show, romantic comedy, whimsical fantasy and above all, a story about a guy who bakes pies and has the ability to bring dead people back to life. Somehow all of these things come together to make one of the most enjoyable, funny and bittersweet shows to come along in a long time. A lot of that magic comes from the near-perfect casting - Lee Pace (The Fall, Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day) as Ned the Piemaker is wonderfully reserved and adorably neurotic; his facial expressions alone provide some of the most moving and hilarious moments in the series. Anna Friel as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, Chi McBride as Emerson Cod and Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook round out the regulars at the Pie Hole and veteran actresses Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene are great as Chuck's eccentric aunts whose passions include synchronized swimming, amateur ornithology and rare cheeses. Pushing Daisies exists in a world where people regularly break out into song to express their feelings, where death is never gory and usually played for comic effect, and where every color on screen is richly saturated and vibrant, creating an oddly timeless Edward Scissorhands-like world.
Bryan Fuller, the creator of cult favorites Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls has perfected his style with Pushing Daisies; this series has a broader appeal than the previous shows. Each imaginatively produced episode has such snappy writing paired with ghoulish sensibilities, heart wrenching romance and classic caper-style crime fighting, making every moment completely un-missable. The DVD release of Season One contains all nine original episodes and a behind-the-scenes featurette. ---Kira Canny
Sales Rank:167 List Price: $14.98 Lowest New Price: $7.13 Lowest Used Price: $7.83 MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
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Macaulay Culkin
Joe Pesci
Daniel Stern
John Heard
Roberts Blossom
Now and forever a favorite among kids, this 1990 comedy written by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) and directed by Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire) ushered Macaulay Culkin onto the screen as a troubled 8-year-old who doesn't comfortably mesh with his large family. He's forced to grow a little after being accidentally left behind when his folks and siblings fly off to Paris. A good-looking boy, Culkin lights up the screen during several funny sequences, the most famous of which finds him screaming for joy when he realizes he's unsupervised in his own house. A bit wooden with dialogue, the then-little star's voice could grate on the nerves (especially in long, wise-child passages of pure bromide), but he unquestionably carries the film. Billie Bird and John Candy show up as two of the interesting strangers Culkin's character meets. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are entertainingly cartoonish as thieves, but the ensuing violence once the little hero decides to keep them out of his house is over-the-top. --Tom Keogh
Sales Rank:1681 List Price: $29.99 Lowest New Price: $16.99 Lowest Used Price: $16.99 MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
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Denholm Elliott
Dan Aykroyd
Maurice Woods
Richard D. Fisher Jr.
Jim Gallagher
In this crowd-pleasing 1983 comedy of high finance about a homeless con artist who becomes a Wall Street robber baron, Eddie Murphy consolidated the success of his startling debut in the previous year's 48 Hours and polished his slick-winner persona. The turnabout begins with an argument between super-rich siblings, played by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche: Are captains of industry, they wonder, born or made? To settle the issue, the meanies construct a cruel experiment in social Darwinism. Preppie commodities trader Dan Aykroyd (perfectly cast) is stripped of all his worldly goods and expelled from the firm, and Murphy's smelly derelict is appointed to take his place, graduating to tailored suits and a world-class harem in record time. Eventually the two men team up to teach the nasty old manipulators a lesson, cornering the market in frozen orange juice futures in the process. Director John Landis (The Blues Brothers) doesn't have the world's lightest touch, but he hits most of the jokes hard and quite a few of them pay off. Trading Places is also a landmark film for fans of Jamie Lee Curtis. --David Chute
Sales Rank:836 List Price: $44.98 Lowest New Price: $28.39 Lowest Used Price: $22.96 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Charlie Sheen
Jon Cryer
Angus T. Jones
Two & a Half Men
Take a pair of bickering brothers, a precocious child, an ex-wife, and a meddling mother and you've got Two and a Half Men. In the sitcom's sophomore year, which aired during the 2004-2005 television season, siblings Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer) have their living situation somewhat under control. Alan is still as fussy as ever and Charlie is a overgrown child who views women as his preferred playthings. But they somehow manage to provide a surprisingly stable home for Alan's 11-year-old son Jake (Angus T. Jones), who in many ways is more mature than either his father or uncle. Living together in sunny southern California, the two and a half men in this 21st-century version of The Odd Couple create a lifestyle that works for their oddball family, whether it's sparring with family members, dealing with intrusive friends, or juggling the various women who traipse in and out of their lives. If you think too much about it, it's unsettling that a child is thrown into some of the sexcapades. Though played for laughs, it's a tad creepy watching Jake walk into some PG-13 situations--some of them including his dad. When he learns his ex-wife is dating, Alan tries to give Charlie a run for the money in the bachelor department. Cryer has always been a natural when it comes to comedy, but Sheen's best work always has been in drama. This season, he comes into his own in an easygoing role that suits him. The storylines offered aren't unique, but Cryer and Sheen exhibit warm chemistry that elevates this so-so series. This year's guest stars include Sean Penn and Elvis Costello, who appear as heightened versions of themselves. Denise Richards--who was married to Sheen at the time--also guest stars as one of Charlie's babes. (The couple's real-life daughter, Sam, also makes her acting debut here.) The four-disc box set includes all 24 episodes from the second season, as well as a gag reel (that's pretty funny) and a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of the sitcom's stars. --Jae-Ha Kim
Sales Rank:506 List Price: $199.98 Lowest New Price: $113.65 Lowest Used Price: $105.99 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Alan Alda
Wayne Rogers
McLean Stevenson
Gary Burghoff
Larry Linville
This M*A*S*H-tastic 36-disc collection is one for the television time capsule. It contains all 11 seasons of this multi-Emmy Award-winning series, PLUS Robert Altman's 1970 iconoclastic anti-war classic, PLUS two discs of special features, including two reunion specials and a series retrospective episode of A&E's Biography. As with the individual season sets, there are no new episode commentaries, a major disappointment. But M*A*S*H-ophiles will enjoy this set's other bonus features, including emotional behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of the last half-hour episode, "As Time Goes By," the inevitable bloopers, interviews with cast members as well as fans about their favorite episodes, a segment about the series' "Jocularity," a parade of PSAs (cut down on salt to avoid heart disease), and the text of an unproduced script penned by Alda for an episode titled, "Hawkeye on the Double." All of this material (except for a commemorative booklet) is available elsewhere in different configurations, but this space-saving (albeit ungainly packaged) box set collects them all under one tent.
Adapted for television by legendary comedy writer Larry Gelbart, the series has long since supplanted Altman's film in the public's consciousness. Life and death at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War doesn't seem like ripe fodder for a comedy series, but M*A*S*H masterfully balanced laughter and tears (less so in its later, more preachy seasons). It often does play better without a laugh track (a viewing option for all episodes). During its run, M*A*S*H survived several delicate operations, including the departure of Gelbart after season 4 and the loss of core ensemble members McLean Stevenson as Col. Henry Blake and Wayne Rogers as Trapper John (after season 3), Larry Linville as Frank Burns (after season 5) and Gary Burghoff (a veteran of the original film) as Radar (after season 8). The show thrived with the introduction of some new blood, Henry Morgan as "regular Army" Col. Potter and Mike Farrell as compassionate BJ (season 4) and David Ogden Stiers as elitist Charles Emerson Winchester III (season 6).
M*A*S*H was honored with the prestigious Peabody Award "for the depth of its humor and the manner in which comedy is used to lift the spirit and, as well, to offer a profound statement on the nature of war." This was a sitcom that did not always leave you laughing, as witness the classic season 3 episode "Abyssinia, Henry." And throughout its run, M*A*S*H broke the sitcom mold with several episodes, including "The Interview" (season 4), in which Clete Roberts interviews the staff of the 4077th, "Point of View" (season 7), subjectively seen through the eyes of a wounded soldier and "Life Time" (season 8), which unfolds in real time. M*A*S*H boasted one of television's greatest ensembles, fully embodied characters who each became icons, most notably Alan Alda, who served with distinction as Hawkeye, the series' soul and conscience. But a special salute to Loretta Switt, whose Margaret Houlihan went from "Hot Lips" to nobody's pushover. From the "Pilot" to the feature-length finale, "Goodbye, Farewell & Amen," still the most-watched episode in history, this essential (but not so much if you bought the individual season sets) collection honors one of television's greatest half-hours. --Donald Liebenson
Sales Rank:182 List Price: $26.99 Lowest New Price: $15.98 Lowest Used Price: $12.99 MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
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Zac Efron
Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Ashley Tisdale
Lucas Grabeel
Alyson Reed
The Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical is a combination of backstage action and Grease without the unwholesome habits. Scoring record ratings at the time of its January 2006 broadcast, it's a smash hit with tween audiences (ages 6 to 10), but appealing for all ages. At a New Year's Eve party, Troy (Zac Efron of the WB's Summerland) has a chance meeting with Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) when they share a karaoke song. Lo and behold, when school resumes, they discover that Gabriella has just transferred to Troy's East High School, a campus divided into tight cliques of jocks, cheerleaders, brainiacs, and skater dudes. Eager to recapture the magic they'd discovered during karaoke, Troy and Gabriella consider auditioning for the school's upcoming musical, much to the dismay of the school's frost queen/theater goddess, Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody). Problem is, Troy is also the star of the basketball team and Gabrielle is being recruited to compete in the Scholastic Decathlon. Will they give up their cliques to start something new, or will they do as the show's first big anthem urges and "Stick to the Status Quo"? Well, this is a Disney movie, so maybe the sacrifices won't be that hard, and even the hints of romance are mild.
The bestselling soundtrack is catchy in that Disney-pop kind of way, mixing in a dash of hip-hop ("Getcha Head in the Game," punctuated by squeaky basketball shoes and other sound effects), salsa ("Bop to the Top"), and the endearingly hammy ("What I've Been Looking For" performed by Sharpay and her brother, Ryan, played by Lucas Grabeel). It's not hard to imagine High School Musical becoming a semi-staple for high school groups to perform themselves. DVD bonus features include sing-along subtitles; a 9-minute featurette discussing casting, recording sessions, and rehearsals; a multi-angle look at a rehearsal of "Bop to the Top"; and music videos for "We're All in This Together" and a song that didn't make it into the final film, "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," performed by Efron, Hudgens, Tisdale, and Gabreel. --David Horiuchi
Sales Rank:2977 List Price: $19.98 Lowest New Price: $1.94 Lowest Used Price: $0.01 MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
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Patrick Stewart
Mako
Chris Evans
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Kevin Smith
From a visual standpoint, this CG feature starring the venerable '80s and '90s superheroes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is nothing short of slam-bang; the computer animation has a scope and look that transcends both the original comics and animated series and the three live-action features that preceded it. Writer/director Kevin Munroe creates a striking animated world for the four heroes in a half-shell to live, play, and fight in, and the action sequences are occasionally breathtaking in their speed and complexity. But where TMNT stumbles is its bland plot, which picks up after the last of the live-action features with all four teen turtles in disarray, and abandons longtime villain Shredder in favor of an industrialist (well voiced by Patrick Stewart) who recruits the Foot Clan (including Karai, played by Zhang Ziyi) to revive thirteen ancient monsters to aid in his world domination scheme. It's a simple and fun story for kids, but longtime Turtles fans will miss the wry humor and smart sense of irony of the original comics (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who gets an executive producer credit here) in this storyline. Still, for most adolescent audience members, such concerns won't matter a whit in the face of the abundant action. --Paul Gaita