Monday, February 28, 2011

The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America

The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America Overview

"He didn't look like one of us..." To many residents of Atlanta, Georgia in 1913, this was reason enough to suspect Leo Frank of murder. For some, it was reason enough to hang him. It's a story as old as humanity: pointing the finger at those who don't look or act or think like we do. Produced by three time Academy award winning film producer Charles Guggenheim, THE SHADOW OF HATE spans three centuries to examine this country's ongoing struggle to live up to its ideals of liberty, equality and justice for all. Through documentary footage and eyewitness reports, viewers are given a powerful perspective on historical events from the ordinary people who lived through them.

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Elmo's World - Flowers, Bananas & More [VHS]

Elmo's World - Flowers, Bananas & More [VHS] Overview

Flowers, Bananas & More--so titled, presumably, because Flowers, Bananas & Hair sounds kind of yucky--culls everybody's favorite 3-year-old monster's investigations of those things in a 50-minute tape. The Flowers episode cuts away from Elmo's crayon-filled playroom to follow a real, live boy in his quest to grow a plant. Through Elmo's lively voiceover, we learn that by filling a glass with a paper towel, a bean, and some water you can grow a bean pod, which is just what Elmo does, along with interviewing a friendly cactus and showing us a homemade video of Stinky the Plant, back in his world. In Bananas Mr. Noodle's usual bumbling with the object in question (Is it a telephone? A horn? A pen?) is a barrel of laughs, and we meet Top Banana, a spectacles- and bow tie-clad chap who brings his breed's health benefits to light. Hair, the final segment, is especially enlightening because every manner of the curious stuff shows up for a brief but thoughtful examination. By tuning us in to the Hair Channel, which is featuring a cartoon called "The Kingdom Where Everybody Wore His Hair the Same Way," Elmo leads us to the truth about hair: kinky or straight, short or long, everybody's got it, and what a person chooses to do with it doesn't count for much. Though it's bound to be a repeat for most kids, this is a tape that'll grow on budding botanists, stylists, and Elmo groupies in general. (Ages 3 to 7.) --Tammy La Gorce

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Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Parent Trap [VHS]

The Parent Trap [VHS] Overview

Hayley Mills is the two-fer star of this original version of the 1961 Disney comedy. The young actress plays twin sisters originally unaware of each others' existence and who later determine to bring their divorced parents together again by secretly trading places. Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara bring some adult legitimacy to their roles as the wary parents, Joanna Barnes is a good sport as dad's new and despised girlfriend, and director David Swift makes the whole production sprightly, warm, and fun. --Tom Keogh

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Gods Must Be Crazy [VHS]

The Gods Must Be Crazy [VHS] Overview

Three separate story lines set in Africa eventually come together in this 1980 film by Jamie Uys. (The film wasn't released in the U.S., where it became a huge hit, until 1984.) Story one involves a bushman whose discovery of a Coke bottle causes consternation among his tribe, story two concerns an awkward romance between a clumsy scientist and a sweet schoolteacher, and the third plot involves a group of terrorists on the run. Slapstick, satire, romance, violence--it's all here in a somewhat bumpy but entertaining movie. --Tom Keogh

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Ruby Bridges [VHS]

Ruby Bridges [VHS] Overview

This critically acclaimed film from "The Wonderful World Of Disney" features an all-star cast and is highlighted by a special introduction by President Clinton and Disney CEO Michael Eisner. The year is 1960. The place, New Orleans, Louisiana. When six-year-old Ruby (Chaz Monet) scores well on her local scholastic tests, she is chosen to be the first African-American student to integrate the local elementary school. Escorted to school by federal marshals, she is exposed to the ugliness of racism for the first time. Guided by the love of her family, the support of a white teacher (Penelope Ann Miller, CARLITO'S WAY), and a psychologist (Kevin Pollak, A FEW GOOD MEN), Ruby ultimately becomes an inspiration to all whose lives she touches. Also starring Lela Rochon (WAITING TO EXHALE) and Michael Beach (SOUL FOOD), RUBY BRIDGES is a film the entire family should watch together.

Ruby Bridges [VHS] Specifications

This well-conceived made-for-television Disney movie brings the pain and difficulty of desegregation to life for a generation of kids to whom the 1960s is ancient history. Young Chaz Monet plays Ruby, who in real life walked up those Southern school steps with armed guards barely shielding her from the hate-filled epithets white adults hurled at her as she single-handedly desegregated the institution. Penelope Ann Miller plays her Yankee teacher--actually a tutor, since no white kids will share her classroom. Kevin Pollak plays the psychiatrist who donates his time to help her deal with the trauma, but won't eat her mother's food. This 89-minute film offers surprisingly complex portraits of many of the adult characters and an admirably frank look at the less-than-positive reaction from her own community. Even her father (Michael Beach) waivers in resolution, especially when his white boss fires him. Superior acting, writing, and production mark this look at one of the uglier periods in American social history and the little girl who helped the country take a giant step in the right direction. Somewhat scary situations and use of racial slurs make parental guidance advisable for young children. (Ages 7 and older) --Kimberly Heinrichs

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Monday, February 21, 2011

American Tail [VHS]

American Tail [VHS] Overview

Don Bluth's An American Tail is based on the story of a young Russian mouse who is separated from his family in America and who later heads with his reunited kin out to the American West. It's pleasant, though not spectacular, and has its greatest problems in story development. Steven Spielberg produced with an eye toward creating animation hits outside of Disney, and he and Bluth certainly took a big step in that direction here. Kids like it a lot, and adults will warm to the sound of various familiar voices, such as Dom DeLuise as Tiger and Madeline Kahn as Gussie Mausheimer. It's also the source of the pop single "Somewhere Out There." --Tom Keogh

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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Murder in the First [VHS]

Murder in the First [VHS] Overview

Based on a true story that occured on the 1930s. A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend a hard-core prisoninmate accused of committing murder while behind bars.

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Message in a Bottle [VHS]

Message in a Bottle [VHS] Overview

If, as they say, you're in a certain mood, Message in a Bottle can be just the ticket. Based on Nicholas Sparks's bestselling novel, this handsome but overly calculated romance tale stars Robin Wright Penn as Theresa, a Chicago Tribune researcher who finds a note encased in a green bottle that has floated onto a Cape Cod shore. The message within is a heartfelt, yearning declaration of love to a woman named Catherine, but the author is unknown until Theresa (rather improbably) tracks him down in North Carolina. He's Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a taciturn builder of sailboats and a grieving widower whose late wife, poetically speaking, was the intended recipient of the seafaring note Theresa found. Theresa, a divorcée with a son, decides to meet Garret, only to find him as bottled-up as his message. Nevertheless, a romance blooms on the strength of quality time in a sailboat and lots of cuddling, though the script tosses in bits of conflict to keep their relationship spicy. Directed by Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman), this love story is entirely by the numbers, with Costner inhabiting (rather than performing) a stock fantasy of a man perfect in every way save his broken heart. Penn brings more vibrancy to her equally predictable part, but fortunately for all, Paul Newman, John Savage, Robbie Coltrane, and Illeana Douglas are on hand in nicely textured character parts. Sometimes predictability is exactly what one wants when settling in for an evening of home video, and this movie fits the bill nicely. The appealing cinematography is by ace cameraman Caleb Deschanel. --Tom Keogh

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Fantasia 2000 (Walt Disney Pictures Presents) [VHS]

Fantasia 2000 (Walt Disney Pictures Presents) [VHS] Overview

Disney animators and filmmakers have again burst the boundaries of imagination with FANTASIA 2000. Fulfilling Walt Disney's original vision of uniquely fusing sight and sound in a full-length motion picture, this film begins where its predecessor, FANTASIA, left off, with seven completely new segments and the return of the popular "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." In this fun-filled movie, breathtaking images are coupled with classical music favorites. From Beethoven to Gershwin -- from flamingos bobbing yo-yos to a city in bluesy motion -- vivid animation brings the music of the masters to colorful life. Sixty years after the original masterpiece, Roy E. Disney has orchestrated a brilliant collaboration of more than 1,200 artists and technicians, including the animators of THE LION KING, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and ALADDIN -- to present FANTASIA 2000, a film filled with "dazzling moments" (The New York Times) and "arguably the greatest Disney film ever" (KNX/CBS Radio), that is sure to captivate viewers of all ages!

Fantasia 2000 (Walt Disney Pictures Presents) [VHS] Specifications

More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical, and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000 features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death, and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not an equal) to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the one original Fantasia piece included here. The high point of Fantasia 2000, though, is a fantastic day-in-the-life sequence of 1930s New York City set to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and animated in the style of cartoonist Al Hirschfeld; it's a perfect melding of music, story, and animation. Let's hope future Fantasias (reportedly in the works) take a cue from the best of this compilation. The music is provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, interspersed with negligible intros by Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones, and others. --Mark Englehart

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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Step Reebok: The Video (Reebok Release)

Step Reebok: The Video (Reebok Release) Overview

True Reebok Release. Small 16 page manual, and of course the original Step Reebok Video.

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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Teletubbies - Favorite Things [VHS]

Teletubbies - Favorite Things [VHS] Overview

Those roly-poly creatures playfully romp with their beloved toys in the Teletubbies' fourth video, Favorite Things. Tinky Winky has his bag, Dipsy his splotched hat, Laa-Laa her ball, and, of course, littlest Po her scooter. The opening of the video has each Teletubby lose in turn his or her favorite item, and all must go off in search of it. Each Tubby is then featured in a segment: Laa-Laa chasing her ball, Tinky Winky singing into his bag, Dipsy dancing with his hat, and Po riding in circles on her scooter. Two videos--one of playing in a kiddie pool and the other of fixing up a bike for a ride--and a short animation are also included. Of all the Teletubbies' videos, this is most likely to be a kid's favorite--and the most likely to grate on a grownup's nerves. The constant repetition of chasing games will have children hopping about, but parents will find little of the charm of Here Come the Teletubbies or Nursery Rhymes. Yet, as slow as some of the moments may be, the Tubbies are as adorable as ever and still worthy of a "big hug!" --Jenny Brown

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Monday, February 14, 2011

Stagecoach [VHS]

Stagecoach [VHS] Overview

This landmark 1939 Western began the legendary relationship between John Ford and John Wayne, and became the standard for all subsequent Westerns. It solidified Ford as a major director and established Wayne as a charismatic screen presence. Seen today, Stagecoach still impresses as the first mature instance of a Western that is both mythic and poetic. The story about a cross-section of troubled passengers unraveling under the strain of Indian attack contains all of Ford's incomparable storytelling trademarks--particularly swift action and social introspection--underscored by the painterly landscape of Monument Valley. And what an ensemble of actors: Thomas Mitchell (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the drunken doctor), Claire Trevor, Donald Meek, Andy Devine, and the magical John Carradine. Due to the film's striking use of chiaroscuro lighting and low ceilings, Orson Welles watched Stagecoach over and over while preparing for Citizen Kane. --Bill Desowitz

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Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Slipper and the Rose [VHS]

The Slipper and the Rose [VHS] Overview

The Slipper and the Rose is a grand musical adventure in the tradition of The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. This lavish production features Richard Chamberlain in a spirited retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tale, and the Academy Award-nominated score is provided by the Oscar-winning song-writing duo the Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). The Slipper and the Rose is a brilliant mix of fantasy and realism that will enchant viewers of all ages. No musical collection would be complete without this romantically delightful film. Directed by Bryan Forbes (The Stepford Wives, King Rat). Available for the first time on home video in its complete, full-length version.

The Slipper and the Rose [VHS] Specifications

You know the story: Cinderella rides in a magical pumpkin to the ball, enchants the prince, and flees at midnight. He finds her slipper and tracks her down, and they live happily ever after. But wait! In The Slipper and the Rose, it turns out there's more to the life of a prince than being charming. The king prefers to choose the prince's wife, one of proper social station who would provide a strong political alliance to ward off the kingdom's enemies. That's one of the twists in this 1976 British take on the classic fairy tale, one of a long line of musical versions.

The disgruntled prince, who's as much of a focal point here as the lady with the footwear, is played by Richard Chamberlain, during the years when he was taking on the classics and had not yet been crowned king of the TV miniseries. He displays a pleasant voice opposite Gemma Craven as Cinderella, and veteran character actor Michael Hordern as the king leads the supporting ensemble. Add lavish sets and lush scenery (partially filmed in Austria), humor, fun choreography, and an Oscar-nominated score full of charming songs by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman (veterans of such Disney movies as Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book, and who also cowrote the script with director Bryan Forbes), and you have a grand, engaging family musical. The 143-minute running time and dreamy, deliberate pace might test the patience of antsy viewers, but this is the first time The Slipper and the Rose has been available on video in its uncut version, and its legion of fans wouldn't have it any other way. --David Horiuchi

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

The Big Lebowski [VHS]

The Big Lebowski [VHS] Overview

After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies. --Jeff Shannon

The Big Lebowski [VHS] Specifications

After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies. --Jeff Shannon

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Friday, February 11, 2011

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection) [VHS]

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection) [VHS] Overview

Imaginatively rendered but slightly chilly, this 1951 Disney adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic is also appropriately surreal. Alice (voiced by Kathryn Beaumont) has all the anticipated experiences: shrinking and growing, meeting the White Rabbit, having tea with the Mad Hatter, etc. Characterization is very strong, and the Disney team worked hard to bring screen personality to Carroll's eccentric creations. For a Disney film, however, it seems more the self-satisfied sum of its inventiveness than a truly engaging experience. --Tom Keogh

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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Fantastic Voyage [VHS]

Fantastic Voyage [VHS] Overview

2001: A Space Odyssey took the world on a mind-bending trip to outer space, but Fantastic Voyage is the original psychedelic inner-space adventure. When a brilliant scientist falls into a coma with an inoperable blood clot in the brain, a surgical team embarks on a top-secret journey to the center of the mind in a high-tech military submarine shrunk to microbial dimensions. Stephen Boyd stars as a colorless commander sent to keep an eye on things (though his eyes stay mostly on shapely medical assistant Raquel Welch), while Donald Pleasance is suitably twitchy as the claustrophobic medical consultant. The science is shaky at best, but the imaginative spectacle is marvelous: scuba-diving surgeons battle white blood cells, tap the lungs to replenish the oxygen supply, and shoot the aorta like daredevil surfers. The film took home a well-deserved Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Director Richard Fleischer, who turned Disney's 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea into one of the most riveting submarine adventures of all time, creates a picture so taut with cold-war tensions and cloak-and-dagger secrecy that niggling scientific contradictions (such as, how do miniaturized humans breathe full-sized air molecules?) seem moot. --Sean Axmaker

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Finding Nemo [VHS]

Finding Nemo [VHS] Overview

A delightful undersea world unfolds in Pixar's animated adventure Finding Nemo. When his son Nemo is captured by a scuba-diver, a nervous-nellie clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) sets off into the vast--and astonishingly detailed--ocean to find him. Along the way he hooks up with a scatterbrained blue tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who's both helpful and a hindrance, sometimes at the same time. Faced with sharks, deep-sea anglers, fields of poisonous jellyfish, sea turtles, pelicans, and much more, Marlin rises above his neuroses in this wonderfully funny and nonstop thrill ride--rarely does more than 10 minutes pass without a sequence destined to become a theme park attraction. Pixar continues its run of impeccable artistic and economic success (their movies include Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc). Also featuring the voices of Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, and Allison Janney. --Bret Fetzer

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Monday, February 7, 2011

At Close Range [VHS]

At Close Range [VHS] Overview

One of the overlooked films of the 1980s, perhaps because it is such a downbeat tale of an amoral family. Sean Penn plays a kid whose small-time criminal impulses are stoked to a new level when he falls in with his father (Christopher Walken), a vicious career criminal for whom no problem is so large that it can't be solved by a murder. At first exhilarated by the attention from his father (and the jobs he gives him to do), he gradually catches on to just what a bad guy Dad really is. But when he tries to extricate himself, he discovers that Dad now has him squarely in his sights. Penn is terrific in a role of emotional complexity, while Walken, king of the creeps, is positively frightening as this soft-spoken but highly lethal patriarch. --Marshall Fine

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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Jane Fonda's Toning and Shaping [VHS]

Jane Fonda's Toning and Shaping [VHS] Overview

This video was originally titled Jane Fonda's Workout with Weights when it came out in 1987. The title should have been kept, because it's a more accurate description than the vague Toning and Shaping. Jane Fonda and celebrity trainer Dan Isaacson teach two weight-training classes: a 45-minute beginner-intermediate class and a 40-minute intermediate-advanced class using dumbbells, a weight bench (or substitute), and ankle weights. Instruction is clear, helpful, and safety conscious. You learn how to do each move correctly, which muscles are being worked, how to position yourself, and technique tips. Repetitions are slow and controlled, and you are encouraged to choose weights heavy enough that the last reps are difficult. This workout hits all the major muscle groups and includes stretches after the weight work. If you've wanted to learn to strength train with weights, this is a good place to learn. --Joan Price

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Friday, February 4, 2011

Cruel Intentions [VHS]

Cruel Intentions [VHS] Overview

This modern-day teen update of Les Liaisons Dangereuses suffered at the hands of both critics and moviegoers thanks to its sumptuous ad campaign, which hyped the film as an arch, highly sexual, faux-serious drama (not unlike the successful, Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons). In fact, this intermittently successful sudser plays like high comedy for its first two-thirds, as its two evil heroes, rich stepsiblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe), blithely ruin lives and reputations with hearts as black as coal. Kathryn wants revenge on a boyfriend who dumped her, so she befriends his new intended, the gawky Cecile (Selma Blair), and gets Sebastian to deflower the innocent virgin. The meat of the game, though, lies in Sebastian's seduction of good girl Annette (a down-to-earth Reese Witherspoon), who's written a nationally published essay entitled "Why I Choose to Wait." If he fails, Kathryn gets his precious vintage convertible; if he wins, he gets Kathryn--in the sack. When the movie sticks to the merry ruination of Kathryn and Sebastian's pawns, it's highly enjoyable: Gellar in particular is a two-faced manipulator extraordinaire, and Phillippe, usually a black hole, manages some fun as a hipster Eurotrash stud. Most pleasantly surprising of all is Witherspoon, who puts a remarkably self-assured spin on a character usually considered vulnerable and tortured (see Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Liaisons). Unfortunately, writer-director Roger Kumble undermines everything he's built up with a false ending that's true to neither the reconceived characters nor the original story--revenge is a dish best served cold, not cooked up with unnecessary plot twists. --Mark Englehart

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Thursday, February 3, 2011

To Sir, with Love [VHS]

To Sir, with Love [VHS] Overview

Novelist James Clavell wrote, produced, and directed this 1967 British film (based on a novel by E.R. Braithwaite) about a rookie teacher who throws out stock lesson plans and really takes command of his unruly, adolescent students in a London school. Poitier is very good as a man struggling with the extent of his commitment to the job, and even more as a teacher whose commitment is to proffering life lessons instead of academics. The spirit of this movie can be found in more recent films such as Dangerous Minds and Mr. Holland's Opus, but none is as moving as this one. Besides, the others don't have a title song performed by pop star Lulu. --Tom Keogh

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Up Periscope [VHS]

Up Periscope [VHS] Overview

Anyone with a fondness for the conventions of the submarine picture will be content with the modest pleasures of Up Periscope, a World War II melodrama starring James Garner in one of his early Maverick-era roles. Pulled away from a week-long romance, Garner tags along with the sub to a Japanese-held island, where he will SCUBA ashore and copy a secret radio code. On top of the reliable suspense of a man alone behind enemy lines, the film also offers captain Edmond O'Brien, whose previous mission has his crew suspecting him of cowardice. Will he cut and run before Garner returns to the submarine? Director Gordon Douglas made a batch of entertaining pictures over the years (a bunch of Sinatra titles, the giant-bug classic Them!, In Like Flint) and he coolly finds some effective ways to photograph men in the close quarters of a sub. The main draw is James Garner in his youthful prime; even if the movie doesn't exploit his comic talent, it shows how effortlessly he connects with an audience. The supporting cast consists of the kind of actors who inevitably seem to people a WWII ship's crew: solid character actors (Alan Hale Jr., who performed similar undersea duties in Destination Tokyo), oddballs and one-offs (Frank Gifford, Edd "Kooky" Byrnes), and future names (Warren Oates). --Robert Horton

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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie [VHS]

The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie [VHS] Overview

This full-length adventure features an animated epic so big, so funny, and so spectacular that only the Powerpuff Girls can handle it! Created by a perfectly powerful experiment, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup explode into action as the new kids in Townsville! But after one enthusiastic game of tag, they nearly destroy their beloved city. Now called social freaks, they turn to the mysterious Mojo Jojo for help ? but this sinister simian has other plans - big plans - like leading an army of evil monkeys to destroy the world! Join the celebration as the Powerpuff Girls save Townsville and the world - for the very first time ... before bedtime!

The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie [VHS] Specifications

The prologue to every Powerpuff Girls show explains how the perky threesome were created in Professor Utonium's lab--by a combination of sugar, spice, and everything nice, along with an accidental dash of Chemical X--but how is it that they started fighting crime? Why didn't they just take their superpowers to the playground and use them for fun? And what's behind evil monkey MoJo JoJo's never-ending quest for Powerpuff vengeance? All questions are answered in The Powerpuff Girls Movie, which details the creation of Blossom (the commander and leader), Bubbles (the joy and laughter), and Buttercup (the toughest fighter) in more depth than ever before, and the result is a speedy, fun joy ride through the girls' early days. At first, the girls are happy-go-lucky, fitting in nicely at Pokey Oaks kindergarten, until a game of tag gets riotously out of hand (destroying the city of Townsville in the process) and they're shunned by the town populace. Alone, they find their only ally in MoJo, a monkey with a peculiarly large brain and a sympathetic nature, but is MoJo really on their side? The 87-minute length doesn't offer the breakneck momentum that regular episodes do, but it's still riotously funny and filled with tons of Powerpuff fighting. Fans may miss the other super villains featured in the show (MoJo's the only bad guy in town, for now), but with the jokes and action coming fast, you'll be pleasantly enraptured by the perky threesome. (Ages 7 and up) --Mark Englehart

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