Sales Rank:810 List Price: $14.98 Lowest New Price: $6.18 Lowest Used Price: $5.09 MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
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Director(s):
Actor(s):
Tim Robbins
Morgan Freeman
Bill Bolender
Larry Brandenburg
Brian Brophy
When this popular prison drama was released in 1994, some critics complained that the movie was too long (142 minutes) to sustain its story. Those complaints miss the point, because the passage of time is crucial to this story about patience, the squeaky wheels of justice, and the growth of a life-long friendship. Only when the film reaches its final, emotionally satisfying scene do you fully understand why writer-director Frank Darabont (adapting a novella by Stephen King) allows the story to unfold at its necessary pace, and the effect is dramatically rewarding. Tim Robbins plays a banker named Andy who's sent to Shawshank Prison on a murder charge, but as he gets to know a life-term prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman), we realize there's reason to believe the banker's crime was justifiable. We also realize that Andy's calm, quiet exterior hides a great reserve of patience and fortitude, and Red comes to admire this mild-mannered man who first struck him as weak and unfit for prison life. So it is that The Shawshank Redemption builds considerable impact as a prison drama that defies the conventions of the genre (violence, brutality, riots) to illustrate its theme of faith, friendship, and survival. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, it's a remarkable film that signaled the arrival of a promising new filmmaker--a film that many movie lovers count among their all-time favorites. --Jeff Shannon
Sales Rank:714 List Price: $49.98 Lowest New Price: $23.99 Lowest Used Price: $17.99 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
Billy Dickson
Bryan Gordon
David Carson
Duane Clark
Gregory Prange
Actor(s):
Chad Michael Murray
James Lafferty
Hilarie Burton
Bethany Joy Galeotti
Paul Johansson
One Tree Hill: The Complete First Season marks the beginning of a genuinely engrossing series that maintains, for a long while, an unusual focus on a single, powerful conflict defining the destinies of two characters. Adolescent half-brothers Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan (James Lafferty) Scott have lived parallel lives in One Tree, North Carolina. They share a common father, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), who has disregarded the existence of Lucas, his son by a one-time flame, Karen (Moira Kelly), whom he dumped years before to accept a basketball scholarship to college. While neglecting Lucas, Dan--whose hoop dreams never materialized--has spent his time almost perversely micro-managing every one of Nathan's moves on and off the court at his old high school, where the lad is currently an arrogant superstar under gruff-but-wise coach Whitey Durham (Barry Corbin). Nathan (whose mother is separated from Dan) is a child of privilege and has been raised to disregard teamwork, compromise, or the feelings of others. He regards Lucas, a basketball sensation on neighborhood playgrounds, as trash, and his own girlfriend, Peyton (Hilarie Burton), as a pretty bauble he can abuse and dismiss at will. Still, he's sympathetic; one can see glimpses of the human being struggling to emerge from under Dan's control.
Meanwhile, Lucas helps Karen run her café, hangs out with platonic best friend Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz), and pines for Peyton (herself a punky misfit at heart). He also turns to surrogate dad Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer)--actually his uncle and Dan's older brother--for support, and sees himself as a perpetual and doomed outsider in One Tree. All that changes when Whitey invites Lucas to join the b-ball team that Nathan dominates, a move that challenges the status quo of multiple relationships in a small community. For about a third of its episodes, this series from creator Mark Schwahn (who wrote the hit film Coach Carter) stays true to the suspense surrounding Lucas's and Nathan's changes in fortune. Then a bit of padding follows to the end of the season; there are 22 episodes to fill out, after all. But even as various distractions (a kidnapping subplot, a car accident and coma for a major character) and random events creep in (Dan, rather incredibly, takes over the team from Whitey at one point, thus coaching both his sons), One Tree Hill remains highly watchable. The writing is shaped well and organic, while performances are consistently excellent. (It's especially good to see Sheffer, perhaps best known for A River Runs Through It, again.) --Tom Keogh
Sales Rank:480 List Price: $14.99 Lowest New Price: $4.98 Lowest Used Price: $4.49 MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
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Director(s):
Ethan Coen
Joel Coen
Actor(s):
George Clooney
John Turturro
Tim Blake Nelson
John Goodman
Holly Hunter
Only Joel and Ethan Coen, the fraternal director and producer team behind art-house hits such as The Big Lebowski and Fargo and masters of quirky and ultra-stylish genre subversion, would dare nick the plot line of Homer's Odyssey for a comic picaresque saga about three cons on the run in 1930s Mississippi. Our wandering hero in this case is one Ulysses Everett McGill, a slick-tongued wise guy with a thing about hair pomade (George Clooney, blithely sending up his own dapper image) who talks his chain-gang buddies (Coen-movie regular John Turturro and newcomer Tim Blake Nelson) into lighting out after some buried loot he claims to know of. En route they come up against a prophetic blind man on a railroad truck, a burly, one-eyed baddie (the ever-magnificent John Goodman), a trio of sexy singing ladies, a blues guitarist who's sold his soul to the devil, a brace of crooked politicos on the stump, a manic-depressive bank robber, and--well, you get the idea. Into this, their most relaxed film yet, the Coens have tossed a beguiling ragbag of inconsequential situations, a wealth of looping, left-field dialogue, and a whole stash of gags both verbal and visual. O Brother (the title's lifted from Preston Sturges's classic 1941 comedy Sullivan's Travels) is furthermore graced with glowing, burnished photography from Roger Deakins and a masterly soundtrack from T-Bone Burnett that pays loving homage to American '30s folk styles--blues, gospel, bluegrass, jazz, and more. And just to prove that the brothers haven't lost their knack for bad-taste humor, we get a Ku Klux Klan rally choreographed like a cross between a Nuremberg rally and a Busby Berkeley musical. --Philip Kemp
Sales Rank:716 List Price: $64.98 Lowest New Price: $23.29 Lowest Used Price: $20.59 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
Arthur Davis
Chuck Jones
Frank Tashlin
Friz Freleng
Gerry Woolery
Actor(s):
Mel Blanc
Arthur Q. Bryan
June Foray
Julie Bennett
Ben Frommer
The fifth collection of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies continues Warner Bros.' scattershot approach, mixing classics and obscurities. Among the best-known and funniest cartoons are "Ali Baba Bunny" (Daffy yelling, "I'm rich! I'm socially secure!"), "Bewitched Bunny" (Witch Hazel galloping off in a cloud of hair pins), and "Buccaneer Bunny" (a sterling example of one of director Friz Freleng's favorite gags: having the characters run up and down stairs and in and out of various doors). "Gold Diggers of '49" and "Little Red Walking Hood" show Tex Avery beginning to explore the self-reflexive gags that would be become one of the hallmarks of his mature style. In "Walking Hood," Grandma stops the action to answer the phone and place her order with the grocer--including a case of gin. "The Daffy Doc" is Bob Clampett at his most surreal, with Daffy and Porky getting sucked into an iron lung, bulging and shrinking like balloon animals. Some of the earliest cartoons predate the adoption of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" as the theme song for the Warner Bros. cartoons. Many shorts from the early '30s were built around songs from Warner's musicals: "I've Got to Sing a Torch Song" (written for Gold Diggers of 1933) features caricatures of Mae West, George Bernard Shaw, Benito Mussolini, and Bing Crosby frolicking to the title tune. Greta Garbo delivers the closing, "That's All, Folks!" Like the previous four sets, Golden Collection Volume 5 comes loaded with extras that range from three WWII films in which Mr. Hook urges sailors to buy war bonds to "Extremes and In-Betweens: A Life in Animation" (2000), a documentary about Oscar-winning director Chuck Jones. Many of these cartoons will have viewers of all ages in stitches. (Unrated, suitable for ages 6 and older: cartoon violence, ethnic stereotypes, mild risqué humor, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
Sales Rank:418 List Price: $19.98 Lowest New Price: $13.79 Lowest Used Price: $12.95 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
Actor(s):
Noah Wyle
Sonya Walger
Bob Newhart
Kyle MacLachlan
Kelly Hu
Broadcast to record ratings on the TNT cable network, this Raiders-esque adventure does not go by the book, staring with its atypical action hero and his decidedly uncool profession. Flynn Carsen (Noah Wylie from E.R.) is a thirtysomething perpetual student who still lives with his mother (Olympia Dukakis). When his exasperated professor finally ejects him into the real world, Carsen's Holmesian deductive acumen lands him a job as the librarian at the Metropolitan Library. This is not an ordinary library. It houses history's most mythic artifacts, including the Ark of the Covenant, Pandora's Box, and the sword Excalibur. The fate of the world is in Carsen's hands ("That's so sad," he observes) when the dread Serpent Brotherhood steals the library's Spear of Destiny, and Carsen must retrieve it. His reluctant, and antagonistic, partner is Nicole (Sonya Walger), who is as skilled in martial arts as Carsen is schooled in the Dewey Decimal System. Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin add welcome comic relief, with Newhart, of all people, getting into the action by film's end. The humble hero (who would rather be known as "Flynn, the rather pleasant at parties"), somewhat cheesy special effects, and corny comedy make The Librarian a fun guilty pleasure. As Carsen proclaims, "Being a librarian is actually a cool job." This looks like the beginning of a beautiful franchise. --Donald Liebenson
Sales Rank:911 List Price: $59.98 Lowest New Price: $23.53 Lowest Used Price: $16.88 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
Thomas Schlamme
Chris Misiano
Actor(s):
Martin Sheen
Bradley Whitford
The second season of The West Wing takes up literally where the first season left off and, after a few moments of patriotic sentimentalism, maintains the series' astonishingly high standards in depicting the everyday life of the White House staff of a Democratic administration. The two-part opener covers the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), switching between the anxious wait on the injured and flashbacks to Bartlet's campaign for the Presidency. Other peaks in a series exceedingly short on lows include "Noel," the episode in which Alan Arkin's psychiatrist forces Josh Lynam to confront his post-traumatic stress disorder and the episodes in which President Bartlet, following a tragic car accident, rails angrily against God in Latin.
Other new aspects include the introduction of Ainsley Hayes, a young Republican counsel hired after she beats communications deputy Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in a TV debate ("Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!" crow his colleagues), as well as the revelation that the President has been suffering from multiple sclerosis. Tensions grow between him and the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as she realizes, in the episode "Third State of the Union," that he intends to run for a second term in office. It becomes clear to Bartlet that he must go public with his MS, and his staff is forced to come to terms with this, as well as deal with the usual plethora of domestic and international incidents, which apparently preclude any of them from having any sort of private lives. These include crises in Haiti and Columbia, an obstinate filibuster, and a Surgeon General's excessively frank remarks about the drug situation. Thankfully, the splendid Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) is on hand to make chief of staff Leo McGarry's life more of a misery in "The Drop-In."
These episodes, though occasionally marred by a sentimental soundtrack and an earnest and wishfully high regard for the Presidential office, are master classes in drama and dialogue, ranging from the wittily staccato to the magnificently grave, capturing authentically the hectic pace of political intrigue and the often vain efforts of decent, brilliant people to do the right thing. The West Wing is one of the all-time great TV dramas. --David Stubbs
Sales Rank:503 List Price: $28.96 Lowest New Price: $14.99 Lowest Used Price: $5.40 MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
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Director(s):
Actor(s):
Loretta Devine
Regina King
Delroy Lindo
Nia Long
Keith Robinson
Touted as a comedy but filled with its share of drama, This Christmas focuses on a middle-class African American family celebrating the holiday together at the matriarch's home. Ma'Dere Whitfield (Loretta Devine) lives with her youngest son Michael (singer Chris Brown) and her longtime boyfriend Joe (Delroy Lindo). Though all the kids know about her relationship, Ma'Dere insists that Joe temporarily move out every holiday season. Her kids don't care that they're cohabitating, but they play along. The Whitfield kids are a hodge podge of trouble: Eldest daughter Lisa (Regina King) tries to convince Ma'Dere to sell her home and business at the behest of her wandering husband; Claude (Columbus Short) is a Marine whose holiday leave actually is a euphemism for AWOL. And even sweet Michael looks like he might break his mama's heart by pursuing a career in music (a nice setup that treats viewers to a few songs by Brown). Ma'Dere's husband had left the family years ago to follow his musical dream and she's afraid her son will follow suit. The Whitfields definitely are a dysfunctional family with numerous skeletons stuffed away in the closet. Though not earth-shattering in terms of plot (one of them is having a relationship with a Caucasian!), the film touts a strong cast that makes some of the implausible elements relatable. King, who grew up on television on shows such as 227, does a superb job adding depth and emotion to a rather unlikeable and bossy character. While not warm and fuzzy, This Christmas is a welcome addition to any holiday viewing. Just make sure small children aren't included in the audience. --Jae-Ha Kim
Sales Rank:41 List Price: $49.95 Lowest New Price: $29.67 Lowest Used Price: $34.46 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
Allen Coulter
Daniel Attias
Edward Bianchi
Greg Yaitanes
Guy Ferland
Actor(s):
Glenn Close
Rose Byrne
Zeljko Ivanek
Tate Donovan
Ted Danson
Smart, sleek, and more than a little wicked, the Golden Globe-winning series Damages proves that legal programs don't have to follow a well-worn formula in order to prove completely addictive. In fact, the show (from Todd and Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, whose credits include The Sopranos) steers clear from nearly all courtroom drama clichés over the course of its 13 episodes, and hews closer to classic film noir with the slowly-spun web of deceit that is woven around fresh-scrubbed lawyer Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). After joining the legal firm headed by uber-powerful litigator Patty Hewes (Glenn Close, who won a Golden Globe for her performance), Parsons lands a career-making case--a class-action lawsuit against millionaire Arthur Frobisher (Golden Globe nominee Ted Danson)--but discovers that digging deeply into the case not only reveals layers of corruption, cover-up, and potential scandal, but places her own life in jeopardy as well. Smart, mature writing and note-perfect performances, most notably by Danson as the perverse and complex Frobisher, but also by Tate Donovan, Zeliko Ivanek, Peter Facinelli, Philip Bosco and Peter Reigert, make Damages a genuine pleasure for law and mystery show fans, but also those craving a challenging series that delivers water cooler chat material in every episode. The three-disc set includes all 13 episodes as well as deleted scenes; among the featured extras are two choice commentaries, one with Close, the Kesslers and Zelman, and the other with Ivanek and the creators, both of which are chock-full of production and technical insights. A 30-minute making-of featurette, discussions about the characters by the creators, and a guide to class-action lawsuits rounds out the fine supplemental features. --Paul Gaita