Terry Gilliam
Adventure
Python Films
PG
After the death of his father the young cooper 'Dennis Cooper' goes to town where he has to pass several adventures. The town and the whole kingdom is threatened by a terrible monster called 'Jabberwocky'. Will Dennis make his fortune? Is anyone brave enough to defeat the monster? A medieval tale with Pythonesque humour.

Jean Yarbrough
Comedy
Exclusive Productions Inc.

Hal Goldman, Dick Linkroum, Don Weis, Seymour Berns, Norman Abbott (II)
Comedy
Passport International Entertainment, LLC

Hal Goldman, Dick Linkroum
Comedy
CBS Television

Jack Benny was a regular on his own radio program since 1932. He brought the program, with his underplayed humor, to TV along with his radio regulars. Jack, who remained 39-years-old, kept his money in his basement and drove his old Maxwell car just as he had done on the radio.

Hal Goldman, Dick Linkroum
Comedy
CBS Television

Jack Benny was a regular on his own radio program since 1932. He brought the program, with his underplayed humor, to TV along with his radio regulars. Jack, who remained 39-years-old, kept his money in his basement and drove his old Maxwell car just as he had done on the radio.

Hal Goldman, Dick Linkroum
Television
Critic's Choice
NR
Four more episodes from the original King of Talk TV! Includes four episodes from 11/30/52 with guest Bing Crosby, 10/31/54 featuring "The Life of Jack Benny," 11/28/54 with guest Mel Blanc and 2/6/55. B&W/104 min/NR. and 2/6/55. B&w/104 min/NR.

Hal Goldman, Dick Linkroum
Television
Critic's Choice
NR
Dorothy Shay and the Beverly Hillbillies sing a tune or two and Jack joins in for You Are My Sunshine (11/4/51), Humphrey Bogart drops by to talk about Beat the Devil (10/25/53), and Jack steals Jayne Mansfields purse to get her on the show (12/30/56) and then tries to win a date with Gisele MacKenzie, settling for a violin duet instead (11/6/60). B&w/104 min/NR.

John Badham
Western
Home Box Office (HBO)
R
The Jack Bull tells the story of Myrl Redding, a Wyoming horse trader who clashes with Henry Ballard, a fellow rancher, after Ballard abuses two of Myrl's horses and their Crow Indian caretaker, Billy. When Judge Wilkins throws out Myrl's complaint, the war he wages to force Ballard to nurse the emaciated animals back to health escalates into a vigilante manhunt, murder and the possible defeat of Wyoming's bid for statehood.

Hal Gurnee
Documentary
Shout Factory Theatr
NR
Jack Parr kept a low public profile after turning over the reigns of "The Tonight Show" to Johnny Carson in 1962. Thus, his passing in January 2004, did not receive nearly the attention it deserved. "The Jack Paar Collection" restores the legacy of the talk-show pioneer who brought the art of conversation to the barren landscape of late-night television. But, I kid you not, it is an indispensable time capsule that preserves appearances and performances by politicians, personalities, and entertainers who shaped the 20th century. And Robert Goulet, too. Disc 1 of this three-disc set is an appreciation of Paar that combines vintage clips with reminiscences and insights from the likes of Regis Philbin, Hugh Downs, who served as Paar's announcer, Dick Cavett, one of his writers, and the Smothers Brothers, who were among the legendary performers who made their earliest TV appearances on the "Tonight Show" stage (there are hilarious clips featuring Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, and, from 1964, Kermit the Frog, then just a tadpole in local television).
As Paar demonstrated when he quit "The Tonight Show" after one of his jokes was censored, anything could happen. In one hilarious clip, he fouls up a Goulet-Judy Garland duet by mixing up their cue cards. "Washington Post" TV critic Tom Shales observes that, unlike predecessor Steve Allen and successors Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, Jack Parr's "Tonight Show" combined "the edge of journalism and sparkle of showbiz." Then-Sen. John F. Kennedy was one of the first politicians who ventured into this more informal, unpredictable setting. There is amazing footage of guest Richard M. Nixon playing piano. Discs 2 and 3 present the master at work. Disc 2 contains complete monologues and guest interviews with Nixon, the boxer formerly known as Cassius Clay, Liberace, Billy Graham, and Robert Kennedy. Disc 3 offers three complete broadcasts, including a 1964 program with Cosby and Richard Burton (an added bonus is an embedded clip of Burton's towering performance as Hamlet). Forgive the obvious pun, but to watch Jack in his prime is to see why today's hosts are just not up to Paar. "--Donald Liebenson"""

Various
Comedy
Kultur Video
NR
In just five years, Jack Paar changed the way Americans watched television. The first successful host of the "Tonight Show" (Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs, and others were given chances prior to Paar), from 1957 to 1962 Paar made the late-night talk show a staple. In an era when celebrity still carried a measure of dignity, Paar both treated his guests with respect and got them, for the first time, to open up to the American public.
"As I Was Saying..." breaks up Paar's career between three videos. The first tape concerns itself mostly with Paar's pre-"Tonight Show" life: his start in radio, his stint in the Army, and his early days in Hollywood, where Jack Benny served as his mentor. Paar's Army hitch proves to be a turning point in his life--it was then that he first performed in front of an audience, and his job hosting the acts that come through to perform for the troops brought him national fame and Benny's attention.
The second tape shows the development of Paar's conversational humor, along with plenty of clips from the "Tonight Show". There are early clips with Bill Cosby and Woody Allen, clips with Jonathon Winters and Buddy Hackett, and a sampling of Paar's own monologues. Paar's defining moment is explained in detail: after NBC censored a joke he made about a water closet (the British term for a restroom), Paar walked off the show; his return, a month later, is considered one of television's classic moments. He strolled onstage, struck a pose, and looked right into the camera. "As I was saying, before I was interrupted...," he said, and the audience erupted.
The third tape is hosted by Paar himself and is an edited tour through his post-"Tonight Show" career and life. Almost no mention is made of his failed variety show or brief stint as a Johnny Carson competitor; instead, there are clips of Paar as a guest on Carson's show and on Pat Sajak's short-lived program. There is also footage from Paar's African excursions, which are little more than well-filmed and -narrated home movies. They're nice for Paar completists, but hardly as entertaining as the first two tapes. "--Randy Silver"

Jeff Tremaine
Action
Dickhouse Productions
R
Johnny Knoxville and his crazy friends appear on the big screen for the very first time in Jackass: The Movie. They wander around Japan in panda outfits, wreak havoc on a once civilized golf court, they even do stunts involving LIVE alligators, and so on. While Johnny Knoxvile and his pals put their life at risk, they are entertaining people at the same time. Get ready for Jackass: The Movie!!

John Maybury
Drama
Mandalay Pictures
R
The film centers on a wounded Gulf war veteran who returns to his native Vermont suffering from bouts of amnesia. He is hitching and gets picked up by a stranger, things go pear shaped when a cop pulls them over and is murdered by the stranger. The vet. is wrongly accused of killing the cop and lands up in an asylum. A quack doctor prescribes a course of experimental therapy, restraining him in a heavy duty straight jacket-like device, and locks him away in a body drawer of the basement morgue. During course of his treatment he gets flashbacks and visions of his future , where he can foresee he is to die in four days time. The catch is he doesn't know how. Thus commences the classic race against time.

Quentin Tarantino
Crime
Miramax Films
R
Jackie Brown is the name of a flight attendant who gets caught smuggling her boss' gun money on the airline she works for. Luckily for her, the Fed Ray Nicolet and the LA Cop Mark Dargus decide to team up in order to arrest the arms dealer she works for, whose name they don't even know. Here's when she has to choose one way: tell Nicolet and Dargus about Ordell Robbie (the arms dealer) and get her freedom -except that if Ordell suspects you're talking about him, you're dead- or keep her mouth shut and do some time. That's when she meets Max Cherry -her bail bondsman-, a late fifties, recently separated, burnt-out man, who falls in love with her. Then Jackie comes up with a plan to play the Feds off against Ordell and the guys he works with -Louis Gara and Melanie Ralston, among others- and walk off with their money. But she needs Max's help. No one is going to stand in the way of his million dollar payoff...

David Hugh Jones
Drama
Kings Road Entertainment
R
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.

Adrian Lyne
Drama
Carolco Pictures
R
New York postal worker Jacob Singer is trying to keep his frayed life from unraveling. His days are increasingly being invaded by flashbacks to his first marriage, his now-dead son, and his tour of duty in Vietnam. Athough his new wife tries to help Jacob keep his grip on sanity, the line between reality and delusion is steadily growing more and more uncertain.

Edward D. Wood Jr.
Crime
Howco Productions Inc.

Vic Brady draws young Don Gregor into a life of crime. He then blackmails Gregor's plastic surgeon father into fixing up his face so he can evade the cops. This is Steve Reeves' first speaking part.

Richard Thorpe
Crime
Avon Productions (II)

Vince Everett is serving a one-year jail sentence for manslaughter. While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, introduces him to the record business. Everett takes to it so well that he decides to become a singer when he gets out. However, he is quickly disillusioned by the record business. But with the help of a new friend, he decides to form his own label, and soon becomes an overnight sensation. But when he becomes a superstar, will his desire for fame and money cause him to forget the people who got him there?

Richard Thorpe
Crime
Avon Productions (II)

Vince Everett is serving a one-year jail sentence for manslaughter. While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, introduces him to the record business. Everett takes to it so well that he decides to become a singer when he gets out. However, he is quickly disillusioned by the record business. But with the help of a new friend, he decides to form his own label, and soon becomes an overnight sensation. But when he becomes a superstar, will his desire for fame and money cause him to forget the people who got him there?

Peter Kassovitz
Comedy
TriStar Pictures
PG-13
In 1944 Poland, a Jewish shop keeper named Jakob is summoned to ghetto headquarters after being caught out after curfew. While waiting for the German Kommondant, Jakob overhears a German radio broadcast about Russian troop movements. Returned to the ghetto, the shopkeeper shares his information with a friend and then rumors fly that there is a secret radio within the ghetto. Jakob uses the chance to spread hope throughout the ghetto by continuing to tell favorable tales of information from "his secret radio." Jakob, however, has a real secret in that he is hiding a young Jewish girl who escaped from a camp transport train. A rather uplifting and slightly humorous film about World War II Jewish Ghetto life.

Alfred Hitchcock
Adventure
Mayflower Pictures Corporation

Set in Cornwall where the young orphan, Mary, is sent to live with Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss who are the landlords of the Jamaica Inn. Mary soon realizes that her uncle's inn is the base of a gang of pirates who lure ships to their doom on the rocky coast. The girl starts fearing for her life.

Various
Music Video & Concerts
Charly
NR

Robert Altman, George W. George
Documentary
Warner Bros. Pictures

This documentary, which was undertaken soon after

Chuck Vinson
Comedy
Image Entertainment

Rocco Urbisci
Comedy
Image Entertainment

William Harper
Comedy
Image Entertainment

Robert Stevenson
Drama
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Small, plain and poor, Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. Denied love all her life, Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent, vibrant, energetic Mr. Rochester, a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile, the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.

Unknown
Comedy

David Mallet
Documentary
Home Box Office (HBO)

Sam Mendes
Biography
Universal Pictures
R
Anthony "Swoff" Swofford, a Camus-reading kid from Sacramento, enlists in the Marines in the late 1980s. He malingers during boot camp, but makes it through as a sniper, paired with the usually-reliable Troy. The Gulf War breaks out, and his unit goes to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield. After 175 days of boredom, adrenaline, heat, worry about his girl-fiend finding someone else, losing it and nearly killing a mate, demotion, latrine cleaning, faulty gas masks, and desert football, Desert Storm begins. In less than five days, it's over, but not before Swoff sees burned bodies, flaming oil derricks, an oil-drenched horse, and maybe a chance at killing. Where does all the testosterone go?

Doug McHenry
Crime
Jackson/McHenry Company,The
R
The story of a young man who must confront his own fears about love as well as his relationships with family and friends. Allen Payne (I) plays Jason, a sales clerk at a T.V. store. He falls in love with Lyric (Jada Pinkett Smith) and finds happiness, but his family history and crazy father Maddog (played by Forest Whitaker) come back to haunt him before he can leave it all for a better life.

Steven Spielberg
Adventure
Zanuck/Brown Productions
PG
In the beautiful quaint beach resort of Amity Island, something hideous, something so deliciously evil has vanquished the tranquility and shattered the peace. First, it violently took the life of a young girl, leaving her mangled remains rotting on the beach, her echoed screams cursing the night skies. Next, it moved its attention to the children, ripping and tearing as blood turned the calm waters red. Then, just when they thought it was safe to go back in the water, it struck again, mercilessly rampaging in the estuary and attacking the piers where the fisherman unknowingly sat waiting for a catch. Now, something must be done, before it returns to feed. With the Amity tourist board and town Mayor Larry Vaugn determined to keep the beaches open for the Summer Season, its up to Police Chief Brody, marine biologist Matt Hooper and colorful fisherman Quint to hunt down the 200 Pound White Death and put an end to the bloodshed. They are going to need a bigger boat.

Jeannot Szwarc
Action
Universal Pictures

The small island resort town of Amity is trying to bounce back from the financial problems it had after becoming known as the site of shark attacks four years ago. Mayor Larry Vaughn is welcoming developer Len Peterson and his new resort to Amity. Two scuba divers are exploring the area where the Orca sank after police chief Martin Brody killed a huge shark four years ago. A shark shows up and kills the two divers, but not before one of the divers takes a close-up picture of the shark's eye, and sometime later, while a mother is driving a boat that's pulling her water-skiing teenage daughter, the shark kills the daughter and causes the mother to accidentally blow up the boat, then a killer whale is found on the shore with a huge bite on it. After Brody sees this, he knows there's another huge great white shark in Amity's waters, but Vaughn and Peterson explain these attacks away as non-shark accidents, because the thought of another shark in Amity's waters would drive tourists away from the new resort and cause the new resort to lose money. It looks like Vaughn is still a mayor who puts money ahead of people's lives. Brody tips his gun's hollow point bullets with cyanide and melted candle wax and tells his sons Michael and Sean to stay away from the beaches and tells them to not go sailing with Mike's friends, who include Vaughn's son Larry Vaughn Jr. Everyone thinks Brody's fears are shark trauma-induced paranoia. Brody even tries to call his friend Matt Hooper, who is doing research on a boat in the Antarctic Circle, and Matt will be in the Antarctic Circle for a few more months. While keeping an eye on the waters from the beach's shark tower, Brody sees a huge dark spot in the water and rings the tower's alarm bell, but it turns out to be a school of bluefish. Vaughn fires Brody for causing this panic at the beach and scaring tourists and their money away, and even though they were told not to, Michael and Sean go out sailing with Junior Vaughn and their friends, unaware that the shark is trailing them. Brody knows it's up to him to find them before the shark kills too many of them.

Various
Comedy
Funimation Prod
NR
Snoogans! What are Jay and Silent Bob doing in Canada? Rewind .what are they doing at DEGRASSI! One major perk to being a diretor is that you can live out your fantasies. Kevin Smith's fantasy? To be featured in a three episode arc of Degrassi: The Next Generation! Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes (Clerks...nuff said) head north to film their next movie in which their alter egos are forced to go back to high school called "Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian Eh?" And what better high schoool to shoot at that Degrassi Community School? But drama ensues even before the cameras begin to roll! The Director's Cut edition is a MUST WATCH for any fan of Kevin Smith! Bursting with extas: Kevin Smith Exclusive Interview Commentary by Kevin Smith Jason Mewes and more Five Minutes of never before seen footage Bloopers Extended/Deleted Scenes and much much more! Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM UPC: 704400113581 Manufacturer No: FN-11358

Kevin Smith
Adventure
Dimension Films
R
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a tale of adventure on the open road. When Dante and Randal (of Clerks fame) get a restraining order to keep the punchy Jay and his hetero life-mate, Silent Bob, from selling drugs in front of the Quick Stop convenience store, their lives are suddenly empty. They find new purpose when their friend, Brodie, informs them a movie is being made featuring two infamous characters based on their likenesses. After visiting one of the creators of the Bluntman and Chronic, Holden McNeil, they set out to get what fat movie cash they deserve and hopefully put an end to people slandering them on the Internet. Along the way, they learn the rules of the road from a hitchhiking George Carlin, ride with a group of gorgeous jewel thieves, and incur the wrath of a hapless wildlife marshal for liberating an orangutan named Suzanne. The quest takes them from New Jersey to Hollywood where a showdown involving the police, the jewel thieves, and the Bluntman and Chronic filmmakers will decide the fate of Suzanne, Jay, Silent Bob, and their good names.

Kevin Smith
Action & Adventure
Dimension
R
With sidesplitting dialogue and rampant profanity, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" reunites Kevin Smith's dynamic duo in supreme lowbrow style. It's the fifth comedy in Smith's celebrated New Jersey "trilogy." Here Quick-Stop potheads Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) wreak vengeance on Hollywood, where Miramax is making a "Bluntman & Chronic" feature inspired by J. and S.B., but without their permission. En route from Jersey to La La Land, Jay and his "hetero life mate" encounter sexy jewel thieves (including the delightful Shannon Elizabeth), a precocious orangutan, a dimwit wildlife marshal (Will Ferrell), and a nonstop parade of in-jokes, harmless (yet controversial) gay jokes, and splendid celebrity cameos. While gently biting the Miramax hand that feeds him, and paying affectionate homage to the "Star Wars" saga, Smith sheds all inhibitions to give "Jay and Silent Bob" a stellar sendoff that's nasty, sassy, and undeniably hilarious. "--Jeff Shannon"

Michael John Warren, Patrick Paulson
Documentary
Marcy Projects

A behind the scenes look at the concert that made hip-hop history and is the basis for the film Fade to Black, starring Jay-Z. Hear as some of hip-hop's most prominent figures such as Russell Simmons, Q-Tip & Damon Dash describe the Madison Square Garden concert featured in Fade to Black.

Aram Avakian, Bert Stern
Documentary
Galaxy Productions (I)

Set at the Newport jazz festival in 1958, this documentary mixes images of water and the town with performers and audience. The film progresses from day to night and from improvisational music to Gospel. It's a concert film that suggests peace and leisure, jazz at a particular time and place.

Alan Crosland
Drama
Warner Bros. Pictures

Cantor Rabinowitz is concerned and upset because his son Jakie shows so little interest in carrying on the family's traditions and heritage. For five generations, men in the family have been Cantors in the synagogue, but Jakie is more interested in jazz and ragtime music. One day, they have such a bitter argument that Jakie leaves home for good. After a few years on his own, now calling himself Jack Robin, he gets an important opportunity through the help of well-known stage performer Mary Dale. But Jakie finds that in order to balance his career, his relationship with Mary, and his memories of his family, he will be forced to make some difficult choices.

Mabrouk El Mechri
Action & Adventure
Peace Arch Home Entertainment
R
Jean-Claude Van Damme gets caught in a real life hostage situation and must fight his way out.

Troy Miller, Keith Truesdell
Comedy
Dakota North Entertainment

Bob Odenkirk
Comedy
Shout! Factory
NR
Jeff Garlin, known by many for his role as Jeff Greene on Curb Your Enthusiasm, returns to his hometown and his comedy roots for his first hour-long special. He performs to a sold-out crowd at the historic Second City Theatre in Chicago. Garlin is a wonderful storyteller and enjoys the kind of comedy where if anyone looks stupid, it’s him. So sit back, lie down or stand up if you want for a night with Jeff Garlin.

Karyn Kusama
Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Dune Entertainment
R
Nerdy, reserved bookworm Needy and arrogant, conceited cheerleader Jennifer are best friends, though they share little in common. They share even less in common when Jennifer mysteriously gains an appetite for human blood after a disastrous fire at a local bar. As Needy's male classmates are steadily killed off in gruesome attacks, the young girl must uncover the truth behind her friend's transformation and find a way to stop the bloodthirsty rampage before it reaches her own boyfriend Chip.

Thornton Freeland
Drama
Buckingham Film Productions

During the Great War, a Negro corporal, Jericho Jackson, disobeys an order and saves crewmen trapped below deck after an attack. A sergeant dies in the incident; Jackson is court-martialed and sentenced to death. He bolts, and his captain unjustly gets a five-year sentence for aiding his escape; the captain vows to bring Jackson to justice. Meanwhile, Jackson has stolen a boat and sailed from Bordeaux to Morocco where his skills as a physician give him a new lease on life. He becomes a chief responsible for negotiating peace among tribes and leading the annual great salt caravan. A confrontation with his old captain is, however, unavoidable. Can there be justice?

Carl Reiner
Comedy
Aspen Film Society

Navin is an idiot. Hew grew up in Mississippi as adopted son of a black family. But at his 18th birthday he feels he wants to discover the rest of the world and sets out to St. Louis... Everyone exploits his naivety, but then a simple invention brings him a fortune.

Cameron Crowe
Comedy
Gracie Films
R
Jerry Maguire used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he's really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell, an egomaniacal football player. Can Jerry resurrect his career while still staying true to himself?

Debbie Miller
Comedy
Comedy Festival, The

Kevin Smith
Comedy
Miramax Films
PG-13
Ollie Trinkie is a publicist, who has a great girlfriend, Gertrude, whom he marries and they are expecting a baby but while he is looking forward to being a father, he doesn't lighten his workload. Gertrude gives birth but dies in the process. Ollie doesn't live up to his responsibilities as a father. Eventually the strain and pressure of losing his wife and being a father gets to him and he has breakdown, which leads to his termination. So with nothing much to do he tries to be good father to his daughter, Gertie. He also meets a young woman name Maya, who likes him but he is still not over his wife.

William Beaudine
Comedy
Circle Productions

Legendary outlaw of the Old West Jesse James, on the run from Marshal MacPhee, hides out in the castle of Baron Frankenstein's granddaughter Maria, who proceeds to transform Jesse's slow-witted pal Hank into a bald zombie, which she names Igor.

Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Documentary
A&E IndieFilms
PG-13
Jesus Camp follows several young children as they prepare to attend a summer camp where the kids will get their daily dose of evangelical Christianity. Becky Fischer works at the camp, which is named Kids on Fire. Through interviews with Fischer, the children, and others, Jesus Camp illustrates the unswerving belief of the faithful. A housewife and homeschooling mother tells her son that creationism has all the answers. Footage from inside the camp shows young children weeping and wailing as they promise to stop their sinning. Child after child is driven to tears. Juxtapose these scenes with clips from a more moderate Christian radio host (who is appalled by such tactics), and Jesus Camp seems to pose a clear question: are these children being brainwashed?

Josef von Sternberg
Comedy
RKO Radio Pictures

Air Force Colonel Shannon is assigned to escort defecting Soviet pilot Anna. He falls in love with her, but she is scheming to lure him back to the USSR. But Shannon has a scheme of his own.

William Wyler
Drama
Warner Bros. Pictures

Set in antebellum New Orleans during the early 1850's, this film follows Julie Marsden through her quest for social redemption on her own terms. Julie is a beautiful and free spirited, rapacious Southern belle who is sure of herself and controlling of her fiancé Preston Dillard, a successful young banker. Julie's sensitive but domineering personality--she does not want so much to hurt as to assert her independence--forces a wedge between Preston and herself. To win him back, she plays North against South amid a deadly epidemic of yellow fever which claims a surprising victim.

Oliver Stone
Crime
Warner Bros. Pictures
R
Details the actions of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who takes it upon himself to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. Garrison is extremely suspicious of the official story presented by the FBI, and what he already knows and what he subsequently learns lead him to suspect that there is more to the story than the public is being told.

Oliver Stone
Drama
Warner Home Video
R
Director Oliver Stone added 17 minutes of previously unseen footage for the "director's cut" edition of his hypnotic courtroom epic about the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. That fateful day in Dallas set in motion a sequence of events that would only intensify the mystery behind Kennedy's death, causing New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) to begin an investigation that would gradually become a personal obsession. Bravura filmmaking combined with controversial treatment of historical facts and audacious speculation, this breathtaking revision of history presents a mesmerizing parade of shady figures and conspiracy theories, unfolding like a classic mystery based on history's greatest unsolved crime. A technical triumph boasting Oscar-winning cinematography and editing, Stone's film is guaranteed to grab the viewer's attention with its daring take on the JFK controversy. The stellar supporting cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. "--Jeff Shannon"

Robert Groden
Documentary
New Frontier Productions

Nobuo Nakagawa
Horror
Shintoho Company

A graduate-school student has a friend who is pure evil. His friend and he are out driving one night when they hit a drunkard and the friend leaves the accident victim to die. The student's life then goes downhill from there.

Spike Lee
Documentary
40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Michael Drumm
Comedy
Chimichanga Productions

Troy Miller
Comedy
Dakota Pictures
NR
The greatly anticipated follow up to the platinum selling "Beyond the Pale". In this Austin performance that capped off the 2008 sold-out stand up tour, Gaffigan does not let the audience catch their breath. This all-new show proves no other comedian working today can romanticize laziness and over-indulgence like Jim Gaffigan.

Jim Henson
Short

John Moffitt
Comedy
Hbo Home Video
NR
Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 10/13/2009 Run time: 60 minutes

Vadim Jean
Comedy
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
R
"La La Wood" follows the legacy of Jiminy Glick (Martin Short in a fat suit), first introduced on "The Martin Short Show," who went on to get (non)-critical acclaim for his talk show "Primetime Glick," where Mr. Glick interviewed countless celebrities (which usually ended in verbally--sometimes physically--insulting/assaulting them). Now comes "La La Wood"--Jiminy Glick's home. This is his story (sort of).

Jonathan Demme
Documentary
Clinica Estetico
PG
Late in 2006, President Jimmy Carter tours the U.S. promoting his provocative "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." Demme's camera follows Carter from city to city, home to Plains (population 635), visiting a Habitat for Humanity site in New Orleans, and talking on radio and TV with Teri Gross, Charlie Rose, Diane Rehm, Jay Leno, Larry King, Wolf Blitzer, Tavis Smiley, and Al Jazeera and Israeli pundits, discussing Palestine's plight and the policies of Israel. Critics speak as well. Between events, Carter talks about Camp David, recent travels, being married, speaking Spanish, and wisdom he learned from Rachel Clark, his nanny. A montage of speeches, awards, and travels ends the film.

Malcolm St. Clair
Comedy
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

The two-man Laurel and Hardy Zoot Suit Band find themselves fronting a scam for "gasolene pills" in wartime oil-short America. They are however soon on the side of the angels helping recover $10,000 for an attractive young lady whose family have themselves been swindled.

Richard Pryor
Biography
Columbia Pictures Corporation

In this film that closely parallels his own life story, Richard Pryor plays Jo Jo Dancer, a popular stand-up comedian who has severely burned himself in a drug incident. As he lies unconscious in a hospital, his spiritual alter ego gets up and begins a journey of his own. He revisits his life, from growing up in a brothel as a child and struggling to beat the long odds to become a top rated comedian. However, his success brings new problems as he develops a tragic pattern of substance abuse that begins to screw up his life. All the while, Jo Jo's spirit watches these events and attempts to convince his past self to turn off from his path of self destruction.

Stanley Tucci
Drama
Bohemian Productions
R
Around 1940, New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character who cadges meals, drinks, and contributions to the Joe Gould Fund and who is writing a voluminous Oral History of the World, a record of 20,000 conversations he's overheard. Mitchell is fascinated with this Harvard grad and writes a 1942 piece about him, "Professor Seagull," bringing Gould some celebrity and an invitation to join the Greenwich Village Ravens, a poetry club he's often crashed. Gould's touchy, querulous personality and his frequent dropping in on Mitchell for hours of chat lead to a breakup, but the two Joes stay in touch until Gould's death and Mitchell's unveiling of the secret.

John Sturges
Western
Universal Pictures
PG
Joe Kidd is a former bounty hunter and all-around tough-guy in the American Southwest. When a band of Mexicans find their U. S. land claims denied and all relevant records destroyed in a courthouse fire, they turn to force of arms. Louis Chama is their charismatic leader, spouting revolutionary rhetoric and demanding land reform. A wealthy landowner with interests in the disputed area, Frank Harlan, decides to settle things his own way. He hires a band of killers and wants Joe Kidd to help them track Chama. Initially, Kidd wants to avoid any involvement, until Chama makes the mistake of stealing Kidd's horses and terrorizing his friends.

Various
Comedy, Romance
Silver and Gold Productions
NR
After his friends all go their separate ways, Joey Tribianni leaves New York for Hollywood to pursue his acting career full time. His slutty sister Gina buys him a nice apartment, and he finds a new roommate in his 20-year old nephew Michael (Gina had him when she was 16), who is literally a rocket scientist. Michael's book smarts and Joey's people smarts allow them to help each other out whenever they can, and make them nice companions.

Sandor Stern
Biography
Carson Productions

Various
Drama
HBO
NR
Based on David McCullough's bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries "John Adams" is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at America's founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul Giamatti), second president of the United States, is portrayed as a skilled orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti-English passions earns enemies. But he also gains the esteem of the first national government of the United States, i.e., the Continental Congress, which seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case for America's break from England's monarchy. The first thing one notices about "John Adams"' dramatizations of congress' proceedings, and the fervent pro-independence violence in the streets of Boston and elsewhere, is that America's roots don't look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous things happen in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of independence in a legitimate effort to get on with a revolutionary war under the command of George Washington. But the process isn't easy: not every one of the 13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England, and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century congressional sessions as they do today.
Besides this peek into a less-romanticized version of the past, "John Adams" is also a story of the man himself. Adams' frustration at being forgotten or overlooked at critical junctures of America's early development--sent abroad for years instead of helping to draft the U.S. constitution--is detailed. So is his dismay that the truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth. But above all, "John Adams" is the story of two key ties: Adams' 54-year marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husband's intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult, almost symbiotic relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades. Giamatti, of course, has to carry much of the drama, and if he doesn't always seem quite believable in the series' first half, he becomes increasingly excellent at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter over his place in history. Linney is marvelous, as is Dillane, Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above all Tom Wilkinson as a complex but indispensable Ben Franklin. "--Tom Keogh"

Peter Yates
Drama
Debrod
PG

Garry S. Grant
Documentary

Ian Fordyce
Comedy
David Paradine Productions

In this mock-documentary, John Cleese narrates a series of sketches on irritation -- types and techniques. Included are parents irritating their children, old ladies irritating movie-goers in a theater, an overly subservient waiter, a car repairman denying obvious car trouble, a party guest hinting for a ride, airplane pilots playing practical jokes on their passengers, and a talk show host who doesn't stop talking.

Jim Gable
Short
Graying & Balding Inc.

D.A. Pennebaker
Music
The Douglas Corporation

D.A. Pennebaker
Music
The Douglas Corporation

n/a
Music Video & Concerts
Eagle Rock Ent
NR
Not all that many blues musicians (or any other kind, for that matter) live to 70, so British bandleader John Mayall had good reason to celebrate when he reached that milestone in 2003--and celebrate he did, with the admirable, 137-minute "John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers: 70th Birthday Concert" to show for it. Mayall, a capable if not exactly stellar singer and multi-instrumentalist, is best known for the many fine players who passed through his band over the years, and Eric Clapton, the most renowned of the lot, is on hand here, as is former Mayall/Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. Clapton sings several tunes in addition to playing his trademark stinging solos on "Hideaway" and "All Your Love" (two of the tunes most responsible for the "Clapton is God" graffiti seen around London in the '60s), while Taylor is mostly impressive as well. But arguably the best guitarist on the Liverpool stage this night is current Bluesbreaker Buddy Whittington, who more than holds his own in the company of his more esteemed predecessors (check out Whittington's superb solos, informed by both Buddy Guy and jazz, on "Blues for the Lost Days" and the "17-minute" "Have You Heard"). Indeed, this may well be Mayall's best and most versatile band ever--no mean feat for a guy now in his fifth decade on the scene. A Mayall interview is the disc's sole bonus feature. "--Sam Graham"

Jeff Garlin
Documentary
Filthy World

At the Harry DeJour Playhouse in New York in the mid-2000s, John Waters emerges from a confessional onto a stage littered with trash. He tells stories. After a few about his childhood and early influences, he roughly follows the chronology of his career as a film director, relating anecdotes about the making of each film and letting those stories lead him to riffs on other topics. Gay references and wry observations about people's foibles and limits are constants. Waters' looks, too, are the butt of his jokes.

Various
Documentary
Digital 1Stop / Mill Creek Entertainment
NR
John Wayne 20 MoviePack - The Dawn Rider, The Desert Trail, The Lucky Texan , 'Neath Arizona Skies, Rainbow Valley, The Trail Beyond, Texas Terror, The Star Packer, Paradise Canyon, Riders of Destiny, West of the Divide, Winds of the Wasteland, Born to the West (Hell Town), The Lawless Frontier, The Man from Utah, Randy Rides Alone, Blue Steel, Sagebrush Trail, The American West of John Ford, Angel and the Badman, McLintock

System Requirements:
Running Time 1243 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Various
Documentary
Digital 1Stop / Mill Creek Entertainment
NR
John Wayne 20 MoviePack - The Dawn Rider, The Desert Trail, The Lucky Texan , 'Neath Arizona Skies, Rainbow Valley, The Trail Beyond, Texas Terror, The Star Packer, Paradise Canyon, Riders of Destiny, West of the Divide, Winds of the Wasteland, Born to the West (Hell Town), The Lawless Frontier, The Man from Utah, Randy Rides Alone, Blue Steel, Sagebrush Trail, The American West of John Ford, Angel and the Badman, McLintock

System Requirements:
Running Time 1243 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Unknown
Music Video & Concerts
New West Records
NR
Johnny Cash was a consummate professional during good times and bad, and this complete, uncut 50-minute set from the long-running PBS concert series "Austin City Limits" shows the Man in Black in fine form, recorded at a time (January 3, 1987) when his career was in a state of uneasy transition. Despite the success of his 1985 album "Highwayman", Cash had been dropped by Columbia, his label of 28 years, and one can sense a hint of weariness in this otherwise-fine performance. As evident by the warm, enthusiastic audience, this eclectic gig also hints at the personal and professional revival that Cash would enjoy in his later years with producer Rick Rubin. Like many of Cash's typical tour gigs, this one opens to the familiar strains of "Ring of Fire," and includes a handful of hits ("Folsom Prison Blues," "I Walk the Line," "Long Black Veil") along with a few rarities thrown in for good measure. Recommended to Johnny by Kris Kristofferson, a cover of John Prine's heartbreaking song "Sam Stone"--about the travails of a heroin-addicted Vietnam veteran--proves to be a perfect fit for Johnny (and a personal favorite), although Johnny (ever the devout Christian) changes the lyric "Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose" to "Daddy must have suffered a lot back then, I suppose," while retaining the song's sad, tragic tone. Cash then follows with a crowd-pleasing rendition of "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky," and his devoted wife, June Carter Cash, joins Johnny on "Where Did We Go Right?," a song by David Loggins (newly recorded at the time) that serves as a fitting tribute to the Cashes' long-term marriage. Johnny Cash considered this to be one of his finest TV performances, and considering this DVD's superior sound quality, recorded in an intimate setting, who are we to argue? "--Jeff Shannon"

Dick Carson
Music
Commonwealth Advertising Inc.

Robert Elfstrom
Documentary
Verité Production

Beth McCarthy-Miller
Comedy
Busboy Productions

Stanley Nelson
Documentary
Firelight Media Inc.

George Ratliff
Horror
ATO Pictures
R
The Cairn's life seems to be a harmonic family: The father Brad works as a stockbroker, his wife Abby takes care of their common new-born daughter Lily, and the 9-year-old Joshua is high-talented. But the appearances are deceptive. Joshua becomes gradual jealously, that his parents give the baby more attention than him. Therefore he begins to terrorize his family.

Norman Foster
Film-Noir
Mercury Productions

A US Navy engineer, returning to the US with his wife from a conference, finds himself pursued by Nazi agents, who are out to kill him. Without a word to his wife, he flees the hotel the couple is staying in and boards a ship, only to find, after the ship sails, that the agents have followed him there.

Alexandra Pelosi, Aaron Lubarsky
Documentary
Purple Monkey Productions

Wayne Wang
Drama
Hollywood Pictures

Through a series of flashbacks, four young chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China, explore their past. This search will help them understand their difficult mother/daughter relationship.

John Dahl
Action
Regency Enterprises
R
College student Lewis decides to drive across the country to see Venna, a friend who doesn't know that Lewis is interested in her romantically. Unfortunately for his plans, Lewis gets saddled with his raucous-spirited older brother, Fuller, whose on-the-road pranks get the brothers and Venna sucked into a nightmare when a psychotic truckdriver takes offense.

Derek Jarman
Drama
Megalovision

Queen Elizabeth I travels to late twentieth-century Britain to discover a tawdry and depressing landscape where life mostly seems aimless and is anyway held cheap. Three post-punk girls while away their vacuous existence as best they can, from time-to-time straying into murder to relieve the boredom.

John Ford
Comedy
Fox Film Corporation

Will Rogers plays the lead roll, that of Judge William "Billy" Priest in a very patriotic (Confederate) southern town. Priest plays a laid-back, widowed judge who helps uphold the law in his toughest court case yet. In the meantime, he plays matchmaker for his young nephew.

François Truffaut
Drama
Les Films du Carrosse

In Paris, 1900, two friends, Jules (Austrian) and Jim (French) fall in love with the same woman, Catherine. But Catherine loves and marries Jules. After WWI, when they meet again in Germany, Catherine starts to love Jim... This is the story of three people in love, a love which does not affect their friendship, and about how their relationship envolves with the years.

François Truffaut
Drama
Les Films du Carrosse

In Paris, 1900, two friends, Jules (Austrian) and Jim (French) fall in love with the same woman, Catherine. But Catherine loves and marries Jules. After WWI, when they meet again in Germany, Catherine starts to love Jim... This is the story of three people in love, a love which does not affect their friendship, and about how their relationship envolves with the years.

Federico Fellini
Comedy
Rizzoli Film

Juliet lives in a beautiful house by the ocean. Her sisters, and especially her Mother overshadow her with their beauty. She is a spiritual, superstious and naive woman. She visits a psychic seer who tells her she must follow the sex trade in order to be happy. Not long after she meets her eccentric and sexy neighbour, Suzy, who, by all counts appears to be a high class prostitute and encourages Juilet into sexual acts which make her guilty and nervous. A rare night when her husband is at home she wakes up to catch him talking to another woman on the phone. He calls out the name "Gabriella" while sleeping, but when she questions him he lies his way out of it. She finds out who Gabriella is and fears her husband will leave her. Juliet begins having visions who accuse and terrorise her. The pinnacle of the visions comes at the end where it is implied she realises she would be better off without her husband and is ultimately emotionally emancipated.

Penny Marshall
Action
Lawrence Gordon Productions
R
Terry works for a bank, and uses computers to communicate with clients all over the world. One day she gets a strange message from an unknown source. The message is coded. After decoding the message, Terry becomes embroiled in an espionage ring. People are killed, and Terry is chased. Throughout she remains in contact with this unknown person, who needs Terry to help save his life.

Norman Taurog
Comedy
Hal Wallis Productions

Hap Smith, nightclub entertainer, has a new act since his former partner Chick Allen joined the army: with lovely new partner Betsy Carter, Hap plays a clownish parody of a soldier. Meanwhile, Chick is organizing a soldier show at Fort Benning and finds he needs his old partner's help. To get onto the base, Hap impersonates a hapless real soldier, Dogface Dolan; but circumstances force them to prolong the masquerade, creating an increasingly tangled Army-sized snafu.

Phil Morrison
Comedy
Epoch Films
R
A dealer in outsider art threatens the equilibrium of her middle-class in-laws in North Carolina. Madeline is a go-getting art gallery owner from Chicago, recently married to George, a near-perfect Southern beau. When Madeline needs to close a deal with a reclusive North Carolina artist, George introduces her to his family: prickly mother Peg, taciturn father Eugene, cranky brother Johnny, and Johnny's pregnant, childlike wife Ashley, who is awe-struck by her glamorous sister-in-law. Madeline's presence exposes the fragile family dynamics as hidden resentments and anxieties surface.

Spike Lee
Drama
40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
R
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

Jason Reitman
Comedy
Fox Searchlight Pictures
PG-13
Sixteen year-old Juno MacGuff is the type of girl that beats to her own drummer, and doesn't really care what others may think of her. She learns that she's pregnant from a one-time sexual encounter with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker. Juno and Paulie like each other, but don't consider themselves to be exclusive boyfriend/girlfriend let alone be ready to be a family complete with child. Although she would rather not be pregnant, Juno is fairly pragmatic about her situation. Although there, Paulie really leaves all the decisions about the baby to Juno. Initially she decides that she will have an abortion, but that's something that she ultimately cannot go through with. So she decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption. But first she has to tell her father, Mac, and stepmother, Bren, that she is pregnant. Although they would have preferred if Juno was on hard drugs or expelled from school, Mac and Bren too are pragmatic about Juno's situation. The next step is to find prospective parents for the yet unborn child. In the Pennysaver ad section, Juno finds Mark and Vanessa Loring, a yuppie couple living in the suburbs. Juno likes the Lorings, and in some respects has found who looks to be a kindred spirit in Mark, with whom she shares a love of grunge music and horror films. Vanessa is a little more uptight and is the one in the relationship seemingly most eager to have a baby. On her own choosing, Juno enters into a closed rather than open adoption contract with the Lorings - meaning she will have no contact with the baby after she gives it up. During the second and third trimesters of Juno's pregnancy which she treats with care but detachment, Juno's relationships with her family, with Paulie, and with the Lorings develop, the latter whose on the surface perfect life masks some hidden problems.

Steven Spielberg
Action
Universal Pictures
PG-13
Huge advancements in scientific technology have been able to create an island full of living dinosaurs. John Hammond have invited four individuals, plus his two grandchildren to join him at Jurassic Park. But will everything go to plan? Especially when one of the parks own workers attempt to steal the dinosaurs embryos, and have to shut down all the electricity in the process. It's now a race for survival with everyone located all over the island.

Ron Meraska
Comedy
Image Entertainment
NR
Comedy so over the top, it's over the edge!
Live from Just for Laughs, the Montreal International Comedy Festival, come the top names in comedy on stage at the world's largest and most prestigious comedy event! Featuring hilarious performances by Jim Gaffigan, Lewis Black, Norm MacDonald, Bill Burr, Flight of the Conchords, Mitch Hedberg and more!

Roger Kumble
Comedy
Infinity Media
PG-13
Chris Brander (Reynolds) has always been friends with Jamie Palamino (Smart), but now decides it is time to take his relationship to the next step. The problem is, is that Jamie still wants to be 'Just Friends'. When he runs away and moves to L.A., he becomes a attractive music manager, who everyone wants. When his jet crashes, when flying to Paris with his newest singing sensation, Samantha James (Faris), he ends up back home. To his surprise, he encounters Jamie again, and sets out to be more than 'Just Friends' this time.

Mark Waters
Comedy
DreamWorks SKG
PG-13
Elizabeth Masterson, a dedicated doctor in San Francisco, had almost no time for anything. When her sister with two kids set her up on a date, she gets into a tragic car crash and gets in a coma. Meanwhile, an artist named David Abbott moves into San Francisco and coincidentally, into Elizabeth's apartment for rent. While at the apartment, Elizabeth's spirit haunts him. She doesn't remember who she is, who her family is, and what she did - All that she remembered was her apartment and where everything was. To settle the arguments, David agrees to figure out who Elizabeth really is. When they get close to figuring out who she is, they eventually find love in each other and as they finally know who she really is, they learn that fate really has put them both together.

Shawn Levy
Comedy
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
PG-13
A happy young couple, Sarah and Tom (Brittany Murphy and Ashton Kutcher) marry against the wishes of Sarah's friends and family and go to Europe for their Honeymoon. Unfortunately for them, Sarah's parents send Sarah's ex-boyfriend Peter Prentis (played by Christian Kane) to break up the happy marriage.