Moon

Moon Review

Moon Overview

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the completion of his 3-year-long contract with Lunar Industries, mining Earth's primary source of energy on the dark side of the moon. Alone with only the base's vigilant computer Gerty (voiced by Oscar-Winner Kevin Spacey, 1999 Best Actor, American Beauty) as his sole companion, Bell's extended isolation has taken its toll. His only link to the outside world comes from satellite messages from his wife and young daughter. He longs to return home, but a terrible accident on the lunar surface leads to a disturbing discovery that contributes to his growing sense of paranoia and dislocation so many miles away from home. Moon is an engrossing, intelligent sci-fi thriller that ranks with genre classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Moon Specifications

Science fiction can encompass many genres--suspense, horror, action-adventure, romance, even comedy--but director Duncan Jones's Moon doesn't fit neatly into any of them. This smart, provocative film has no aliens or cool spaceships, and the effects (mostly consisting of model vehicles lumbering across the lunar surface) aren't all that special; instead, the material is character- and story-driven, centering on an excellent, multilayered performance by Sam Rockwell. The scene is some undetermined point in the future. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an employee of Lunar Industries, the company responsible for mining a fusion energy source called Helium-3, which is vital to Earth's efforts to reverse a serious energy crisis and can only be found on the far side of the Moon. Sam is all by himself, and as he nears the end of his three-year contract, the solitude is starting to get to him ("Three years is a long haul," he says. "Way, way, way too long. I'm talking to myself on a regular basis"); his only contact with his wife and daughter back home comes through the occasional video messages he exchanges with them, while his sole interaction on the Moon is with GERTY 3000, a computer voiced by Kevin Spacey (and an obvious parallel to 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000). Things start to go seriously sideways when Sam crashes his vehicle while out inspecting one of the giant Helium-3 harvesters. He comes to in the base infirmary, seemingly none the worse for the wear; but an unnerving surprise awaits him when he goes back to check out the accident site, and the resulting complications occupy the rest of the movie. Fans of 2001, Solaris, and other cerebral sci-fi will enjoy figuring out what's going on; others will find it slow-moving and tedious. Either way, Moon, which was made quickly and on a relatively low budget, is well worth a look. --Sam Graham

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The Office: Season Five

The Office: Season Five Review

The Office: Season Five Feature

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

The Office: Season Five Overview

Scranton’s most outrageous workforce is back to give their clients the business in the fifth hilarious season of The Office. Join obnoxious regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his fellow paper pushers Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Jim (John Krasinski), Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Ryan (B.J. Novak) as they steal customers, frame co-workers, indulge in intra-office love affairs and just plain behave badly while a documentary film crew captures their every word and misdeed. Developed for American television by Primetime Emmy® Award-winner Greg Daniels, The Office: Season Five features 26 uproarious episodes – including two one-hour specials, exclusive commentaries, webisodes, deleted scenes and more in a sidesplitting five-disc collection no true fan of The Office can afford to miss!

The Office: Season Five Specifications

Season Five is not just another day at The Office, delivering break-ups, corporate shake-ups, and a game-changing finale that, as with Jim (John Krasinski), should leave you ecstatic and speechless. The writers continue their masterful handling of the Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) romance, taking care of some unfinished business from last season's finale in the season opener with a glorious rain-swept gas station proposal. Their initial separation--while she attends art school in New York--avoids the usual sitcom mechanics ("We are not that couple," Jim states as he aborts a panicked trip to see her). The course of true love is no smoother for The Office's other soul mates, Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) and "major dork" Holly Flax (an Emmy-worthy Amy Ryan), the new HR rep. Meanwhile, Angela (Angela Kinsey) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) are having office trysts under the nose of her fiancé, Andy (Hangover star Ed Helms, having a breakout season in a career year). On the corporate front, Michael shockingly quits after butting heads with no-nonsense new boss Charles Miner (Idris Elba). In a brilliant stroke, Jim immediately gets on Charles's bad side, much to Dwight's delight. The formation of The Michael Scott Paper Company is a highlight of the season, as Michael and his dream team, Pam and Ryan (B.J. Novak), improbably put a major dent in Dunder Mifflin's sales (but at what cost?). For everyone who wonders how the blundering and tactless Michael keeps his job, it is instructive to get a glimpse of his sales acumen in the episodes "Heavy Competition," in which Michael poaches one of Dwight's clients, and "Broke," in which he negotiates a buyout of his struggling company. The Office's own dream team got dreamier with the addition of Ellie Kemper as "Erin," the adorable and naïve new receptionist. The Office still makes for cringe-worthy discomfort television (see a reunited Michael and Holly's excruciating skit at the "Company Picnic" in the season finale), but some of the best episodes are the ones in which the Scranton branch bonds in the face of adversity. A season benchmark is the episode in which the former Michael Scott Paper Company office space is transformed into "Café Disco" and all squabbles and resentments are forgotten on the dance floor. This season is representative of why The Office is one of television's most DVR'd series. Each episode offers priceless bits of background comic business and charming character grace notes that lend themselves to repeated viewing. Among them: Andy's drunken late night phone call to Angela in "Company Trip"; Pam demonstrating her volleyball prowess in "Company Picnic"; Kelly (Mindy Kaling) setting up one of the series' very best "that's what she saids" in "Customer Survey"; and Andy and Kelly's "dance off" in "Café Disco." As Dwight notes in "Heavy Competition," "There's a lot going on" in The Office, and in that chaos, this series soars. --Donald Liebenson

Also on the discs
This five-disc set works overtime with about eight episodes' worth of deleted scenes. Highlights include Pam bonding with her younger fellow students in New York, Kevin's revelation that he loves the smell of bacon on a woman, and Michael Scott on the loose with a defibrillator. The 10 audio commentaries are low-key, but informative, and some offer unique behind-the-scenes perspectives (one features craft services and catering personnel who reveal what the cast eats for breakfast). Along with the standard-issue gag reel, there are for completists two webisodes featuring the series' B+ team and synergetic promos for the Super Bowl and the Olympics. Andy Richter moderates an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Q&A featuring the cast, key creative personnel, and crew members. A "100 Episodes, 100 Moments" countdown is open to debate (not one "that's what she said!"). --Donald Liebenson

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Rich Man, Poor Man: The Complete Collection

Rich Man, Poor Man: The Complete Collection Review

Rich Man, Poor Man: The Complete Collection Feature

• COMPLETE RICH MAN, POOR MAN, THE (DVD MOVIE)

Rich Man, Poor Man: The Complete Collection Overview

The first-ever dramatic miniseries to appear on American television, the multi-award winning RICH MAN, POOR MAN spans decades and generations to trace the epic story of the Jordache family from 1945 to the late 1960s.

Now available for the first time on DVD, RICH MAN, POOR MAN: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION brings together all 34 episodes from Book I and II of this classic '70s series. Based on Irwin Shaw's best-selling novel and featuring an all-star cast (including Edward Asner, Bill Bixby, Susan Blakely, and Robert Reed), the series focuses in particular on Rudy Jordache (Peter Strauss) and his troubled brother Tom (Nick Nolte) as they navigate divergent paths away from their impoverished immigrant upbringing. While ambitious Rudy seems destined for success, Tom suffers from an endless string of bad luck but in the end, finds love. Encompassing a period of tremendous social and political upheaval, the Jordache saga explores timeless themes such as the difficulty of human relationships and the disillusionment of the American dream.

An absorbing and masterful portrait of a fascinating and ill-fated family, RICH MAN, POOR MAN: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION recaptures a landmark moment in American broadcasting history.

BONUS FEATURE: Brand-new audio commentary for Book I: Chapter 1 featuring star Peter Strauss and television historian David Bianculli

Rich Man, Poor Man: The Complete Collection Specifications

Rich Man, Poor Man may not have been the first miniseries, but its success in 1976 gave the format legs and set the template for many that followed: based on a popular book, starring new faces but surrounded by familiar stars, with a panoramic sweep that juxtaposes personal trials against historical events. Book I of Rich Man, Poor Man follows the ups and downs of the Jordache brothers--Rudy (Peter Strauss, Masada) and Tom (Nick Nolte, 48 Hours)--starting at the close of World War II through to the late '60s. Allusions to race relations, the Rosenberg trials, and other topical issues provide a backdrop to the tumultuous soap opera of these two men and Julie Prescott (Susan Blakely, The Towering Inferno), Rudy's high-school sweetheart and eventually his wife. Rudy's ambition leads him into politics, Tom struggles as a prizefighter and has children with a couple of women, and Julie falls into an unhappy marriage, a career in journalism, and alcoholism. Probably the most interesting aspect of Rich Man, Poor Man for today's audiences is its sexual honesty; it's hard to imagine anything on contemporary broadcast television being as frank about women's desires and the instability of marriages (though cable series like Mad Men have picked up that lead--in fact, Mad Men owes a considerable debt to Rich Man, Poor Man). It's no surprise that Nolte was the breakout star from the series; the rest of the cast varies from a bit wooden to solidly capable, but Nolte's energy and spontaneity--not to mention his six-pack abs!--pop out.

The success of Rich Man, Poor Man led to Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II, also included on this DVD set; almost twice as long, this second miniseries suffers from the absence of Nolte and from being more distanced from the source material. While Irwin Shaw's novel isn't great literature, he captures the rough chaos of life; Rich Man, Poor Man changed much of the book's plot and characters but held on to the fundamental grit. Book II, which tried to replicate the two-brothers-on-different-tracks formula by following Tom's son Wesley and Julie's son Billy, feels melodramatic and half-baked. Still, it has its moments and features the ongoing malevolence of William Smith as the series' dominant villain, Falconetti--a character who made such an impression that the actor was harassed on the street by the miniseries' fans. All in all, worthwhile for the original Rich Man, Poor Man, which also features Ed Asner, Bill Bixby, Robert Reed (of The Brady Bunch), Ray Milland (Oscar winner for The Lost Weekend), film noir icon Gloria Grahame, and many others. --Bret Fetzer

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Bridget Jones's Diary (Collector's Edition)

Bridget Jones's Diary (Collector's Edition) Review

Bridget Jones's Diary (Collector's Edition) Feature

• Screen stars Renee Zellweger (NURSE BETTY, JERRY MAGUIRE) and Hugh Grant (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, NOTTING HILL) craft memorable performances in a delightfully funny comedy that looks at the ups and downs of modern romance! A busy career woman approaching a "certain age," uncomfortably unmarried Bridget (Zellweger) decides to turn over a new page in her life by channeling her thoughts, opinion

Bridget Jones's Diary (Collector's Edition) Overview

Academy Award(R) winner Renée Zellweger (Best Supporting Actress, COLD MOUNTAIN, 2003; CHICAGO) and Hugh Grant (LOVE ACTUALLY, TWO WEEKS NOTICE) star in a delightful comedy about the ups and downs of modern romance. Bridget (Zellweger), a busy career woman, decides to turn over a new page in her life by channeling her thoughts, opinions and insecurities into a journal that becomes a hilarious chronicle of her adventures. Soon she becomes the center of attention between a guy who's too good to be true (Grant) and another who's so wrong for her, he could be just right (Colin Firth -- LOVE ACTUALLY)! Based on the best-selling book, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY is another acclaimed crowd-pleaser from the hit makers of FOUR WEDDING AND A FUNERAL and NOTTING HILL.

Bridget Jones's Diary (Collector's Edition) Specifications

Featuring a blowzy, winningly inept size-12 heroine, Bridget Jones's Diary is a fetching adaptation of Helen Fielding's runaway bestseller, grittier than Ally McBeal but sweeter than Sex and the City. The normally sylphlike Renée Zellweger (Nurse Betty, Me, Myself and Irene) wolfed pasta to gain poundage to play "singleton" Bridget, a London-based publicist who divides her free time between binge eating in front of the TV, downing Chardonnay with her friends, and updating the diary in which she records her negligible weight fluctuations and romantic misadventures of the year. Things start off badly at Christmas when her mother tries to set her up with seemingly standoffish lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), whom Bridget accidentally overhears dissing her. Instead she embarks on a disastrous liaison with her raffish boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant, infinitely more likeable when he's playing a baddie instead of his patented tongue-tied fops). Eventually, Bridget comes to wonder if she's let her pride prejudice her against the surprisingly attractive Mr. Darcy.

If the plot sounds familiar, that's because Fielding's novel was itself a retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, whose romantic male lead is also named Mr. Darcy. An extra ironic poke in the ribs is added by the casting of Firth, who played Austen's haughty hero in the acclaimed BBC adaptation of Austen's novel. First-time director Sharon Maguire directs with confident comic zest, while Zellweger twinkles charmingly, fearlessly baring her cellulite and pulling off a spot-on English accent. Like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill (both of which were written by this film's coscreenwriter, Richard Curtis), Bridget Jones's stock-in-trade is a very English self-deprecating sense of humor, a mild suspicion of Americans (especially if they're thin and successful), and a subtly expressed analysis of thirtysomething fears about growing up and becoming a "smug married." The whole is, as Bridget would say, v. good. --Leslie Felperin

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Austin Powers Collection: Shagadelic Edition Loaded With Extra Mojo (International Man of Mystery / The Spy Who Shagged Me / Goldmember) [Blu-ray]

Austin Powers Collection: Shagadelic Edition Loaded With Extra Mojo (International Man of Mystery / The Spy Who Shagged Me / Goldmember) [Blu-ray] Review

Austin Powers Collection: Shagadelic Edition Loaded With Extra Mojo (International Man of Mystery / The Spy Who Shagged Me / Goldmember) [Blu-ray] Feature

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; Special Edition; Subtitled; Widescreen

Austin Powers Collection: Shagadelic Edition Loaded With Extra Mojo (International Man of Mystery / The Spy Who Shagged Me / Goldmember) [Blu-ray] Overview

Austin Powers-International Man of Mystery Name: Austin Danger Powers. Sex: Yes, please! Combine the swinging '60s, spy movies, talented Mike Myers in dual roles and one hilariously well- placed champagne bottle and you get Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Say "Yeah, baby!" for laughs as Flower Power-era superspy Austin (Myers) is thawed from a 30-year cryogenic freeze to stop the world-dominating scheme of bald baddie Dr. Evil (also Myers). Elizabeth Hurley, shagadelic style and Austin's randy attempts to find '60s-style free love in a very different, uptight time add to the groovy fun of this mad, mod, Myers world.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me He's back--back in the 1960s. Secret agent Austin Powers (Mike Myers) hops in a top-secret time machine and zips 30 years back to 1969 to confront Dr. Evil (Myers) and his latest, vilest scheme. Evil is eviler – he has a diminutive clone Mini-Me (Verne J. Troyer) and massive Fat Bastard (Myers) as a henchmen. Austin, who "put the grrr in swinger, baby," is swingier…if he and fab spy chick Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) can recover the mojo Evil stole from Austin.

Austin Powers in Goldmember The mission for Austin (Mike Myers): Shake booty into the glittery roller-disco days of 1975 and rescue his suave spy dad (Michael Caine) from the scheme of – Shh! – Dr. Evil (Myers). The minions: freaky-flakey Goldmember, Fat Bastard (both played by Myers) and Mini Me (Verne Troyer). The minx: Austin's sassy ex-squeeze Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyoncé Knowles). The result: a three-for-all of grooviness that whisks from the 2000s to the 1970s and back to the 2000s – the screamingly funny third Austin Powers!

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Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone [Blu-ray]

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone [Blu-ray] Review

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone [Blu-ray] Feature

• EVANGELION:1.11 YOU'RE NOT ALONE-MOVIE-BR (DVD)

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone [Blu-ray] Overview

The stunning rebuild of the anime masterpiece is now extended and enhanced with never before seen new animation and 266 visual and audio improvements.

Tokyo-3 still stands after most of civilization was decimated in the Second Impact. Now the city endures the ceaseless onslaught of the deadly Angels, bizarre creatures bent on eradicating the human race. To combat this strange and ruthless enemy, the government agency NERV constructs a fleet of towering humanoid machines – the Evas – and Shinji Ikari is called into action, reluctantly taking his place at the controls of Eva Unit 01.

Living a life of loneliness and questioning his existence, Shinji struggles to accept responsibility for mankind’s battle for survival in this visually striking rebuild of one of the most important anime of all time. Shinji will fight the Angels alongside the only person who might understand his plight – Rei Ayanami, the elusive and frail pilot of Eva Unit 00. In this film experience not to be missed, Shinji and Rei will struggle to learn a simple truth: when carrying the burden of humanity’s survival on your shoulders, you are not alone.

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TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Legends - Errol Flynn (The Adventures of Robin Hood / Captain Blood / The Sea Hawk / Adventures of Don Juan)

TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Legends - Errol Flynn (The Adventures of Robin Hood / Captain Blood / The Sea Hawk / Adventures of Don Juan) Review

TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Legends - Errol Flynn (The Adventures of Robin Hood / Captain Blood / The Sea Hawk / Adventures of Don Juan) Feature

• TCM GREATEST CLASSICS-ERROL FLYNN (DVD MOVIE)

TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Legends - Errol Flynn (The Adventures of Robin Hood / Captain Blood / The Sea Hawk / Adventures of Don Juan) Overview

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938) - Winner of 3 Academy Awards* - Dashing Errol Flynn triumphs in this lavish version of the Robin Hood saga. Olivia de Havilland (as Maid Marian), supreme villains Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains and a boisterous who’s who of character actors co-star. Welcome to Sherwood! CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935) Flynn skyrocketed to stardom as a 17th-century physician turned pirate after escaping unjust political imprisonment. Radiant Olivia de Havilland co-stars in the first of their eight films together. Michael Curtiz directs. THE SEA HAWK (1940) Cannons thunder, blades clatter and Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s dyamic music swirls as Flynn plays a seagoing rogue who commandeers a 40-gun galleon, endures captivity, then boldly escapes to warn England of Spain’s armada. ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (1948) - Academy Award* Winner - In this later-career swashbuckler, Flynn is a warmer, wittier version of his earlier characters as he rescues the Spanish queen (Viveca Lindfors) from the snares of an evil duke.

DISC 1: SIDE A ~ THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD - INCLUDES: Commentary by Historian Rudy Behlmer • Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1938 with Newsreel, Musical Short Freddie Rich and His Orchestra and Cartoon Katnip Kollege • Errol Flynn Movie Trailer Gallery • Music-Only Audio Track • Languages & Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Main Feature. Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled.). SIDE B ~ CAPTAIN BLOOD - INCLUDES: Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1935 with Newsreel, Musical Short Johnny Green and His Orchestra, Comedy Short All-American Drawback, Cartoon Billboard Frolics and Theatrical Trailers • Featurette Captain Blood: A Swashbuckler Is Born • Audio-Only Bonus: Radio Production with the Film’s Stars • Languages: English & Français • Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Main Feature. Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled.). DISC 2: SIDE A ~ THE SEA HAWK - INCLUDES: Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 1940 with Newsreel, Short Alice in Movieland, Cartoon Porky’s Poor Fish and Theatrical Trailers • Featurette The Sea Hawk: Flynn in Action • Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Main Feature. Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled.) SIDE B ~ ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN - INCLUDES: Commentary by Director Vincent Sherman and Historian Rudy Behlmer • Warner Night at the Movies 1949 with Newsreel, Joe McDoakes Comedy Short So You Want to Be on the Radio, Travel Short Calgary Stampede, Cartoon Hare Splitter and Theatrical Trailers • Subtitles: English (Main Feature. Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled.)

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