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Mystery/Suspense DVDs

Pulp Fiction (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Sales Rank:476
List Price: $19.99
Lowest New Price: $6.32
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)

Format:

Anamorphic
Closed-captioned
Collector's Edition
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Rosanna Arquette
Steve Buscemi
Paul Calderon
Bronagh Gallagher
Peter Greene

With the knockout one-two punch of 1992's Reservoir Dogs and 1994's Pulp Fiction writer-director Quentin Tarantino stunned the filmmaking world, exploding into prominence as a cinematic heavyweight contender. But Pulp Fiction was more than just the follow-up to an impressive first feature, or the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival, or a script stuffed with the sort of juicy bubblegum dialogue actors just love to chew, or the vehicle that reestablished John Travolta on the A-list, or the relatively low-budget ($8 million) independent showcase for an ultrahip mixture of established marquee names and rising stars from the indie scene (among them Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Julia Sweeney, Kathy Griffin, and Phil Lamar). It was more, even, than an unprecedented $100-million-plus hit for indie distributor Miramax. Pulp Fiction was a sensation. No, it was not the Second Coming (I actually think Reservoir Dogs is a more substantial film; and P.T. Anderson outdid Tarantino in 1997 by making his directorial debut with two even more mature and accomplished pictures, Hard Eight and Boogie Nights). But Pulp Fiction packs so much energy and invention into telling its nonchronologically interwoven short stories (all about temptation, corruption, and redemption amongst modern criminals, large and small) it leaves viewers both exhilarated and exhausted--hearts racing and knuckles white from the ride. (Oh, and the infectious, surf-guitar-based soundtrack is tastier than a Royale with Cheese.) --Jim Emerson

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Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season

Sales Rank:442
List Price: $59.99
Lowest New Price: $29.45
Lowest Used Price: $29.47
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Box set
Color
DVD-Video
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Teri Hatcher
Felicity Huffman
Marcia Cross
Eva Longoria Parker
Ricardo Chavira

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Pan's Labyrinth

Sales Rank:611
List Price: $14.98
Lowest New Price: $4.12
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)

Format:

AC-3
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
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DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Ivana Baquero
Sergi López
Maribel Verdú
Doug Jones
Ariadna Gil

Inspired by the Brothers Grimm, Jorge Luis Borges, and Guillermo del Toro's own unlimited imagination, Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale for adults. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) may only be 12, but the worlds she inhabits, both above and below ground, are dark as anything del Toro has conjured. Set in rural Spain, circa 1944, Ofelia and her widowed mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil, Belle Epoque), have just moved into an abandoned mill with Carmen's new husband, Captain Vidal (Sergi López, With a Friend like Harry). Carmen is pregnant with his son. Other than her sickly mother and kindly housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú, Y Tu Mamá También), the dreamy Ofelia is on her own. Vidal, an exceedingly cruel man, couldn't be bothered. He has informers to torture. Ofelia soon finds that an entire universe exists below the mill. Her guide is the persuasive Faun (Doug Jones, Mimic). As her mother grows weaker, Ofelia spends more and more time in the satyr's labyrinth. He offers to help her out of her predicament if she'll complete three treacherous tasks. Ofelia is willing to try, but does this alternate reality really exist or is it all in her head? Del Toro leaves that up to the viewer to decide in a beautiful, yet brutal twin to The Devil's Backbone, which was also haunted by the ghost of Franco. Though it lacks the humor of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth represents Guillermo Del Toro at the top of his considerable game. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Cranford

Sales Rank:532
List Price: $34.98
Lowest New Price: $25.77
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Closed-captioned
Color
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Simon Woods
Judi Dench
Lisa Dillon
Imelda Staunton
Julia McKenzie

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

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American Gangster (2-Disc Unrated Extended Edition)

Sales Rank:542
List Price: $29.98
Lowest New Price: $9.50
Lowest Used Price: $3.78
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)

Format:

Dolby
Dubbed
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Denzel Washington
Russell Crowe
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Josh Brolin
Lymari Nadal

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Eighth Season

Sales Rank:541
List Price: $84.98
Lowest New Price: $40.10
Lowest Used Price: $36.80
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Closed-captioned
Color
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Marg Helgenberger
Jorja Fox

The eighth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation begins with the answer to the previous season's cliffhanger: Yes, CSI Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) survives. But fans of this top-rated crime procedural won't be able to breathe a sigh of relief. By the end of the 17 episodes--which originally aired during the 2007-2008 television season--two fan favorites will be gone. This year, CSI explores the complicated romance between Sara and head CSI Gil Grissom (William Petersen). But the storyline is weaved in so well with the gruesome cases that their relationship is never overpowering to the viewer. Though the show was truncated due to the Writers Guild strike, the flow of the series doesn't lose any momentum--not even with the loss of cast members or even episodes that center on peripheral supporting characters. Fellow CSIs Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger), Nick Stokes (George Eads), and Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) return to help solve seemingly unsolvable cases. But not all of the best moments involve whodunits. Some of the most compelling vignettes revolve around Warrick, who is battling a nasty prescription drug addiction as he tries to navigate his way through a messy divorce. Longtime fans of the series may remember child genius Hannah West (portrayed chillingly by Juliette Goglia), who helped get her brother acquitted of a murder charge in season six. She is back after her brother is once again charged with homicide. Sara--who had wrongfully believed that Hannah was just an innocent little girl--finds herself unable to distance herself from this case. There is a crossover ratings stunt episode with Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) visiting from CBS' other drama Without a Trace. While both LaPaglia and Petersen are formidable, there really isn't room for both of them on one show. And let's face it, Petersen's our guy. --Jae-Ha Kim

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Scooby Doo, Where Are You! - The Complete First and Second Seasons

Sales Rank:1747
List Price: $64.98
Lowest New Price: $25.99
Lowest Used Price: $20.48
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)

Format:

Box set
Closed-captioned
Color
DVD-Video
Subtitled
NTSC

Director(s):

Howard Swift
Joseph Barbera
William Hanna

Actor(s):

Don Messick
Casey Kasem
Nicole Jaffe
Frank Welker
Stefanianna Christopherson

Chuck Jones and other great studio animators sneered at the cheap look and lazy craftsmanship of Hanna Barbera's television cartoons in the 1960s, but there's no question HB's original, 35-year-old Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is enduringly beloved. The Complete First and Second Seasons includes all 25 stories first broadcast from September '69 to October '71, a growth period in which canine hero Scooby's voice (by Don Messick, who also voiced The Jetsons's pup, Astro) was gradually refined from murky garble to Scoob's more familiar, "Rrroowwrr"-inflected, human-like speech. This set also represents the pre-frills Scooby-Doo: no guest appearances by Don Knotts or Batman, no Scrappy-Doo--just adventure and occasional bubblegum pop tunes by Danny Janssen and sundry co-writers (e.g., "Pretty Mary Sunlite" in the episode "Don't Fool with a Phantom").

Watching all the shows back-to-back reveals evolving complexity in the scripts. Over time, Scooby-Doo's creators added multiple bad guys in cahoots with major villains, and developed sub-plots, backstories, and even appealing allies and friends of Mystery, Inc., a traveling band of young debunkers of supernatural phenomena. Riding around in their psychedelic Mystery Van, preppie leader Fred and his friends--haughty Daphne, brainy Velma, quasi-hippie Shaggy, and Shaggy's best pal, Scooby, an excitable Great Dane--chase down and are chased by alleged ghouls who generally turn out to be venal humans running various scams.

Included here is Scooby-Doo's premiere, "What a Night for a Knight," in which the gang looks into the disappearance of a noted archaeologist and end up in a "haunted" museum. The fun "Go Away Ghost Ship" finds our heroes helping a shipping company daunted by the apparent ghost of pirate Red Beard, while the silly classic "A Tiki Scare Is No Fair" concerns a Hawaiian vacation for Mystery, Inc. disrupted by a witch doctor. --Tom Keogh

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Boston Legal - Season One

Sales Rank:1222
List Price: $49.98
Lowest New Price: $30.56
Lowest Used Price: $32.13
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Box set
Color
Dolby
Dubbed
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Allison Liddi
Arlene Sanford
Bill D'Elia
Charles Haid
Daniel Attias

Actor(s):

William Shatner
James Spader
Candice Bergen
Mark Valley
Rene Auberjonois

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Cool Hand Luke (Deluxe Edition)

Sales Rank:834
List Price: $19.98
Lowest New Price: $11.63
Lowest Used Price: $10.79
MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Color
DVD-Video
Original recording remastered
Restored
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Luke Askew
Joe Don Baker
J.D. Cannon
Marc Cavell
Dick Davalos

Paul Newman gives one of the defining performances of his career, and cemented his place as a beautiful-rebel screen icon playing the stubbornly tough and independent title character in Cool Hand Luke. And before he became familiar as a sidekick in 1970s disaster movies (Earthquake and the Airport movies), George Kennedy won an Oscar for playing Dragline, the brutal chain-gang boss who tries to beat loner Luke's cool out of him. It's a classic rebel-against-the-repressive-institution story in the line of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest or The Shawshank Redemption. Certain moments have become classics--particularly the hardboiled egg-eating contest, and the immortal line (drooled by Strother Martin, as a sadistic redneck prison officer), "What we have here is a failure to communicate." And don't forget, Luke is also the source of the oft-quoted driving ditty, "I don't care if it rains or freezes, long as I have my plastic Jesus, right here on the dashboard of my car..." He is cool, all right. --Jim Emerson

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Bones - The Complete Second Season

Sales Rank:301
List Price: $59.98
Lowest New Price: $29.48
Lowest Used Price: $29.48
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

AC-3
Box set
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Beginning with the death of a senator and ending with a marriage, the second season of Bones builds on the momentum created during the Fox drama's debut year. Bones' sophomore season (which includes all 21 episodes that originally aired during 2006-2007) centers on the collaborations between FBI special agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), whom Booth has nicknamed "Bones." While Booth doesn't completely believe in Bones' method, he can't argue with her success rate at solving crimes. As for Bones, she is meticulous at what she does and is a borderline genius, but she has issues. Seemingly oblivious to her own good looks, she is all but socially inept. Booth may be blunt, but he's comfortable dealing with the public. Bones, on the other hand, would rather be sequestered away with the dead, trying to figure out what happened before their uncertain deaths. Of course, while viewers can see that Bones and Booth would be a perfect couple, the characters aren't quite there yet. Their friendship becomes a little more complicated this season when it turns out that Bones' new demanding boss, Dr. Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor), is a former girlfriend of Booth's. And the two women aren't getting along.

Still, everyone is able to work together to solve a series of crimes, such as identifying the remains of an all but unidentifiable teenage boy and dealing with a serial killer who is emulating the crimes depicted in Bones' latest mystery novel. (Yes, she's not only a brilliant scientist but also an ace author.) Like many television dramas where forensic evidence is a driving force in the plots, Bones offers up the gross-out autopsies. But it also serves up a lot of humanity in the way the characters interact with one another. It is giving nothing away to reveal that Bones and Booth are not the couple getting married in the season finale. But the episode does reveal that beneath their tough exteriors, marriage and all that it implies is something they wouldn't mind... perhaps even with each other. --Jae-Ha Kim

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