OFFICE SPACE NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Office Space from imdb

Peter Gibbons, thanks to a hypnotic suggestion, decides not to go to work at the same time his company is laying people off. When layoffs affect his two best friends, they conspire to plant a virus that will embezzle money from the company into their account. Written by Foggy

Peter Gibbons just can't seem to catch a break. His girlfriend is cheating on him, he has an obnoxious neighbor, and he's completely miserable with his job as a small cog in a company called Initech. Then he visits a hypnotherapist, who dies just after putting Peter into a state of complete bliss. Free of worrying about making a living, he no longer feels the need to keep his job, just as the company is going through a massive downsizing. However, his new attitude only makes him more valuable in the company's eyes, and his friends Michael and Samir are fired instead. Together, they scheme to plant a virus inside Initech's computer system that will pull money into their own account. Written by rmlohner

Here is a review for the movie Office Space from dvdtalk

The Movie:

"Office Space" was released in the early weeks of 1999 with little fanfare and not much advertising. The movie was quickly bumped out of theaters and ended up with a gross of a little over $10m. The movie then became an enormous hit on DVD, and the cult following the film has attracted has only grown since.

Directed by Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butthead"), "Space" stars Ron Livington as Peter, a worker at a generic tech company as software engineers. He's introduced in the middle of morning traffic, veering between lanes to try and get ahead, but only finding himself still locked in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Looking over to the side of the road, he spots an old man with a walker who looks like he's getting to his destination faster than Peter is. Once he arrives at work, he is told by three different managers that he forgot to add the new cover letter to his report.

Deeply dismayed with his current employment ("I was sitting in my cubicle today and realized that every single day of my life has worse than the day before it, so every single day that you see me is on the worst day of my life."), he eventually agrees to see an occupational therapist recommended by his irritable girlfriend. When the therapist has a heart attack in the middle of the treatment, Peter has something of a "break" - he decides to persue his dreams of doing nothing ("I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be.") He sleeps late, doesn't come in on weekends if he's asked, and tries to romance the waitress (Jennifer Aniston) at the chain restaurant next door. He's not going to quit - he's just going to essentially stop going.

Meanwhile, "consultants" have been brought in, and everyone knows they're there to decide who stays and who goes. Peter, who strolls in without a care, ends up managing to impress them enough not only to not fire him, but to actually give him a promotion. Despite that, Peter and friends Michael (David Herman), and Samir (Ajay Naidu) decide to go ahead with a plan to take money from the company through a program that will take off little bits of change from every transaction. Needless to say, it doesn't go according to plan.

Full of quotable lines and hilarious moments, "Office Space" gets all the details right and the laughs do often operate on the fact that almost everyone finds themselves at a job like this at one time or another (I once worked at an office doing data entry and no one really told me what to do. While I worked there for an entire Summer, I didn't find out until the last day that I had been doing an aspect of the job wrong for months. Every day, every one went to their cubicle and there was barely any communication.) However, the film's spin on office culture is funny and sharply realized, with "we all have wanted to it at one time or another" moments like when the three take the troublesome printer out behind the office and destroy it. The film's use of rap music is also nothing short of priceless.

The performances are terrific, as well. Gary Cole's boss is a classic character, droning out every word of every sentence and offering a flat, insincere thanks when he snares someone to come in to work additional hours on the weekend. Livington is a great "everyguy", and Naidu and Herman are superb as his co-workers. Aniston makes something out of a pretty minimal part, and convincingly plays an average girl tired of having to wear "flair" on her uniform at the restaurant. Finally, Stephen Root ("Newsradio") is amusing as quiet, mumbling worker Milton (the film is based on Judge's "Milton" animated shorts).

"Office Space" is shot in a pretty minimalist way by Judge (his first live-action effort), but the characters and dialogue work supremely well and absolutely carry the movie.


The DVD

VIDEO: "Office Space" is presented by Fox in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen (the previous DVD edition was non-anamorphic), "Office Space" still isn't the strongest movie visually, but the picture quality is noticably better this time around. Sharpness and detail are improved, as the picture appeared consistently more detailed and crisp this time around.

Additionally, the picture looks smoother and more "film like" here, with no edge enhancement, pixelation or shimmering. There are some moments where some minor specks are spotted on the print, but these are pretty minor and not distracting. Colors appeared somewhat richer here, and black level looked solid. Overall, while the prior release didn't look too bad, I was pleased to see that this new transfer does certainly look better.

SOUND: "Office Space" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. This is the same audio presentation as the prior release. Largely a "comedy"-style presentation, the majority of the audio comes from the front speakers, with the surrounds only providing minimal reinforcement. The rap songs on the soundtrack deliver some solid bass, but otherwise this is a fairly straightforward, dialogue-driven audio presentation.

EXTRAS: "Out of the Office" is a nearly 30-minute "look back" documentary that has Judge and the cast talking about their thoughts on the film, their characters and working on the film. It's only in the last quarter of the documentary that we learn more about things like a potential PG-13 rating, the popular Swingline stapler, and the reaction to the movie. The featurette does have some fun interviews with the cast and a few insights, but there's a lot of time spent on praising each other and quite a few movie clips added in. Some outtakes from John C. McGinley are also added in during his segment, and are quite funny.

Also offered here are eight deleted scenes presented in rough form, with no optional commentary. Some of the scenes are quite funny, and I thought a couple should have been included in the movie. There's also the trailer, and some additional DVD-ROM content (audio clips, an interactive game, wallpaper, screensaver and more.)

Final Thoughts: "Office Space" remains a smart and hilarious office comedy, with great performances and memorable characters and dialogue. Fox's new Special Edition doesn't offer much in the way of supplements (a commentary from Judge or the cast would have been nice), but image quality does get a boost here.

Here is the direct download for the movie Office Space.

THE MOVIE W NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie W from imdb

A chronicle on the life and presidency of George W. Bush.

Here is a review for the movie W from dvdtalk

A George W. Bush bio-pic in the calloused hands of filmmaker Oliver Stone provides so much promise, it'll make your head throb to simply consider the potential. Would "W." be flat-out character assassination? A screwball farce? A diseased ode to the haunted mind of a controversial president? Turns out, after all the hand-wringing anticipation and peanut gallery predictions of malicious liberal content, "W." is total and utter kitten play; a softball portrait of Bush that resembles more of a nutty community theater production than a typical scorching Stone project. Nevertheless, the unnervingly ordinary path taken by Stone exposes something completely unanticipated: sympathy.

Written by Stanley Weiser ("Wall Street"), "W." isn't structured as a typical bio-pic. Stone goes more for a "greatest hits" assembly, using the dubious planning stages of the Iraq War with confidants Condoleeza Rice (a virtually unrecognizable Thandie Newton), Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), Karl Rove (Toby Jones), Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), and Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss) as the home base of the picture. From there, the narrative bounces throughout time to survey Bush's Yale frat-pledging years, his limited patience with jobs, sating a desire to run a baseball team, the wooing of Laura Bush (Elizabeth Banks), his ascension to Texas leadership, and the feeding of a lifelong combustibility with parents George Sr. (James Cromwell) and Barbara (Ellen Burstyn).

There's no rolling sense of pace holding the film together, instead "W." aims for an episodic approach to hunt a deeper understanding of what demons propelled Bush from a spoiled young man to the presidency. It's one hell of a story, yet Stone seems afraid to get his hands dirty. In 1995's "Nixon," the director found a particular respectful wavelength to approach a poisonous regime, while keeping a dense psychological framework alive even through the most iconic historical situations. "W." doesn't share that same passion. Stone shuffles away from his bag of visual tricks to shoot the picture with startling straightforwardness, eschewing camera pizzazz and editing subtext to stay close to Bush, abandoning all artistic flourishes. It creates an interesting tension at first, especially with so much dead, eerily silent (a minimal amount of music is used for the picture) space allowed for Brolin to deliver career-best work as Bush, but the inertia soon catches up with the film.

Perhaps it's unfair to criticize Stone for his ambivalence toward Bush, yet that very restraint eventually overcomes the film, checking off familiar moments in history (the pretzel choke, the "Mission Accomplished" debacle) with plodding execution. There's no spinning-plate craftsmanship or meticulous political satire to be dissected in the picture, which favors only mild, ineffective comedy with Bush's famously inarticulate ways and grave examination of familial discord.

The roaring, enduring confrontation between Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. is primarily where Stone rests between bouts of historical recreation. This is the psychological meat of the film, presenting Bush's indefatigable attempts to win fatherly approval while fighting the legacy of the Bush name. Bush Jr. was a party boy at heart, apathetic toward responsibility, turning to booze for consolation. "W." turns the president into a sensitive man of perplexed intention, falling into his political successes almost accidentally, hoping only to impress his father. The Shakespearian war of wills between the two Bushes conjures the film's most evocative moments, observing the fragility of Bush Jr. and how it informed his rise to power. Again, Stone treats the man with outrageous kindness when evisceration is certainly easier, spotlighting the vulnerability of Bush to best reassess what has occurred in the country over the last eight years.

Pushed through production this year at a lightning pace, "W." is overlong and winded at 125 minutes, was visibly neutered to meet a PG-13 rating, and lacks a concentrated editorial polish along the lines of Stone's previous motion pictures. It's a messy film of contorted faces and stained lives, but certainly Stone deserves some credit for tackling Bush with such reserve. Assembled from both fact and fiction, "W." doesn't throw the book at George W. Bush; the picture presents a whole new angle to the man that's fascinating to reflect on, trapped in a glacial, flavorless film that undermines such a valiant take on a legendary figure of division.

Here is the direct download for the movie W.

MAX PAYNE NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Max Payne from imdb

Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a DEA agent (Wahlberg) whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin (Kunis) out to avenge her sister's death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

Here is a review for the movie Max Payne from dvdtalk

85 minutes long, rated PG-13, released by Fox, directed by John Moore, and a screenplay based on a video game. That's a recipe for disaster, and "Max Payne" is more than happy to fulfill its destiny as a noxious actioner devoid of humanity, elementary cinematic language, and thespian nuance. Once again the game world collides with the multiplex, and once again I question the point of taking an interactive experience and turning it into a conventional feature film, omitting the specificity that made the property viable in the first place.

Mourning his dead wife and baby, detective Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) has spent the last three years hunting the killers who tore apart his idyllic life. After a chance meeting with a Russian prostitute (Olga Kurylenko), a clue is left behind by her gruesome death, leading Max closer to an energy drug that produces hallucinogenic visions of demons, the possible motive behind the slaughter of his family. Finding little help from former colleagues (Beau Bridges) and police officers (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), Max forms an alliance with assassin Mona Sax (Mila Kunis), and the two set out to uncover the mastermind behind a recent rash of murders, possibly leading to the solution of Payne's case.

What John Moore brings to the artistic table is visual fetishism. After "Behind Enemy Lines," "Flight of the Phoenix," and "The Omen" remake, Moore has proven himself a meticulous screen stylist, preferring a glossy moment of violence over anything resembling a legitimate emotional reaction. A former commercial director, Moore hasn't bothered to warm up his touch over the years, leaving "Payne" a soulless exercise in empty calorie filmmaking; the background lighting and set design continually take precedence over the actors and ultimately whatever story manages to survive the creative malnourishment.

Moore treats "Payne" as another polished cinematographic playing field, imagining a world where the snow never stops falling (a noticeable continuity nightmare), the locations are ripe with noirish lighting, and the streets are guarded by psychological demons of the night. Moore demonstrates outstanding control over his environments, but holds no fundamental storytelling instincts, spending all of his time perfecting the shots while an entire film leisurely strolls past him with almost nothing to do but stand around and look confused. Moore fumbles "Payne" immediately, excessively clowning around with hackneyed camera and post-production technology, leading to a full mummification of the picture from the surplus of strained gimmickry.

I've only played the "Payne" video game once, and while it satisfied my home console blood thirst temporarily, it certainly didn't scream out for a feature-length film adaptation. Screenwriter Beau Thorne is hopelessly lost trying to dream up a furious, elongated road for Payne, instead falling back on the most eye-rolling scripting clichés to pass time between the action beats Moore works himself into a lather to cover. Corporate conspiracies? Deceptive friendships? Gorgeous 90-pound female professional killers? Surely there could be more to the "Payne" universe than scraps from the "CSI: Miami" reject pile. Thorne barely eeks out a coherent tale of revenge for our hero, forgoing valiant scripting imagination to serve up the same old double-crosses and seedy criminal underworlds.

It should come as no surprise that Moore is terrible with actors as well, ignoring their needs to feed his own plastic precision. The cast is a fairly strange assortment of faces, with Chris O'Donnell, Donal Logue, and Nelly Furtado completing a miscasting arc that includes Kunis, Ludacris, and ultimately Wahlberg. Doing his now infamous tough-guy stance, Wahlberg sleepwalks through "Payne," effectively erasing the reputable work that actor has been putting forth recently. It's tough to fault Wahlberg for his blank stare, since he's competing with Moore and his slackjawed lust for pointless slow-motion, shattering glass, and sexualized bullet discharges.

Coming on the heels of last year's woeful "Hitman" adaptation (oddly, also starring Kurylenko), "Max Payne" further dents the questionable concept of the big screen video game celebration. Here's the ultimate question: would you rather play out the violent wrath of Max Payne or watch some lousy filmmakers turn the world into mounds of formulaic drivel?

Here is the direct download for the movie Max Payne.

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie The Secret Life of Bees from imdb

Set in South Carolina in 1964, the film is the moving tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping, honey and the Black Madonna. Written by Fox Searchlight

Here is a review for the movie The Secret Life of Bees from dvdtalk

"The Secret Life of Bees" is really "Oprah Book Club: The Movie." A sluggish attempt to marry histrionic behavior best left in soap operas with a route story of discrimination and abuse in 1964 South Carolina, the picture is an admirable effort to articulate compassion, but remains lost to a sticky mess of melodrama that devours anything close to a sincere moment.

Living under the tight control of her alcoholic father T. Ray (Paul Bettany), young teen Lily (Dakota Fanning) is dealing with her own guilt over her mother's death and the questions left behind. Leaving T. Ray, Lily and fugitive housekeeper Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson) hit the road, soon stumbling upon the Boatwright family, June (Alicia Keys), May (Sophie Okonedo), and August (Queen Latifah), and their business of honey production. Joining the women under false pretenses, Lily finds a safe haven amongst the family, who allow the girl an opportunity to find herself and seek out answers to the mystery of her mother while tending to the bees.

Adapted from the best-seller by Sue Monk Kidd, "Bees" doesn't mess around with subtle acts of indignation. Writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood aims for the inspirational waterworks with this production, reducing an established astuteness behind the camera to play roughly with manipulation. "Bees" doesn't strike me as a particularly reflective concept for a movie, working well-worn lines of racial unrest and southern-fried domestic dispute (Fanning's similar "Hounddog" open mere weeks ago) to middling results, suffocated in overacting and montage-heavy storytelling. It's not that "Bees" lacks comfort, it just accepts artificiality over soulful nuance, deflating the experience to a robotic bore.

Prince-Bythewood has much to cover with "Bees," making room to communicate the sisterhood of Boatwrights and their commitment to spiritual harmony while the outside world dissolves into pure hatred. Unfortunately, the filmmaker dials down the family's personalities to fit more confined, easily digestible narrative spaces, making the hollow performances even more grating. The condensed script doesn't even make much room for Hudson, who becomes the Silent Bob of the troupe, a merciful quality as the director keeps the rest of the gang in perpetual states of crying and/or sermonizing.

"Bees" is kindly enough and perhaps those who desire a less taxing time at the multiplex will swim comfortably along with the melodrama. "Bees" comes across to me as one-half of a movie, buttressed by artifice to see itself to completion, riding the coattails of the source material to blanket the disconcerting surface quality of the film. It's impossible to invest in Lily's distress when she's a threadbare character, let loose in a screen world of ridiculous stereotypes and sun-kissed contrivance. "The Secret Life of Bees" aspires to make the audience weep uncontrollably as the characters find their inspirational path in life, but it'll most likely put everyone to sleep.

Here is the direct download for the movie The Secret Life of Bees.

TROPIC THUNDER NOW AVAILABLE

TROPIC THUNDER NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE TROPIC THUNDER FROM IMDB

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE TROPIC THUNDER FROM DVDTALK

In writer/director/star Ben Stiller's new comedy, Tropic Thunder, Robert Downey Jr., playing Russell Crowe-like actor Kirk Lazarus, a bad-boy Australian thespian who had his skin surgically darkened as part of his method in preparation for the role of an African American solider in the Vietnam War, describes his own complicated situation by saying, "I'm playing the dude who plays a dude who is disguised as another dude." Perplexing, self-referential, and yet strangely accurate. They could have adapted this line for the poster: Tropic Thunder is the movie about a movie that's really another movie.

Downey's Lazarus is one of the leading serious actors of this flick's fictional Hollywood, and he is joining fading action star Tugg Speedman (Stiller) and low-brow comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) in Vietnam to shoot a multi-million-dollar adaptation of a book called Tropic Thunder, the story of Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte), a vet who went through hell and lived to tell about it. In a case of art imitating life, this production starts to sink into hell itself, Apocalypse Now! style. This leads Tayback and the neophyte British director (Steve Coogan) at the helm to take drastic measures. They plan to force that imitation of life to be more than imitation, dropping their cast--which also includes hip-hop soda impresario (say it out loud) Alpa Cino (Brandon T. Jackson) and gawky newcomer Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel)--into the middle of the jungle, where hidden cameras will capture them trekking through the bush while avoiding the wicked firepower doled out by crazy munitions man Cody (Danny McBride, stealing another show a mere week after Pineapple Express).

Only problem is, the attempt to use reality to create the illusion of "war is hell" ends up getting a little too real. Stranded on their own, and trespassing across the poppy fields of the local drug cartel, the actors are now caught in an actual conflict that they still think is special effects set-up, digging themselves deeper and deeper into trouble before actually having to man up and take on the bad guys all on their own.

It's a crazy concept, and one that doubles back on itself so much, Tropic Thunder could have become a knotted mess had the wrong cooks been let into the kitchen. Instead, Stiller, who co-wrote the screenplay with actor Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive and Etan Coen (who wrote Idiocracy, and is not to be mistaken for a Coen Brother), has a firm grasp on what he is trying to do here, and somehow he keeps it all straight. At times, he veers off on a silly Stiller tangent, going more towards a Zoolander-style spoof than incisive satire, including an instantaneous switch over to "jungle crazy" when his character is stranded on his own or the long dialogue sequences about method acting that may be a little too "inside baseball" for anyone who hasn't sat through multiple seasons of Inside the Actor's Studio, but he always manages to jump back before going off the rails.

That same attention to detail that could overwhelm the picture also works in the movie's favor, making Tropic Thunder a sort of compatriot to films like Hot Fuzz and Pineapple Express. These are movies about the love of the cheesy action films many of us grew up on, using the comedies as a disguise to get away with making their own version of that thing they so adore. It's an endeavor that requires a nerdy obsessiveness. Even the names have some importance. Downey plays Lazarus playing Osiris, the man who rose from the dead playing the Egyptian god of the dead, with a character arc about rediscovering one's true identity. It's like a comparative literature grad student decided to rewrite Commando. (Of course, there are also guys named "Cockburn" and "Pecker," so it's not all about the classics.)

Fans of Ben Stiller's old TV show know what a crafty eye he has for over-the-top parody. (Remember Eddie Munster starring in Cape Fear?) The best stuff in Tropic Thunder is when he goes after the movie industry with both guns, skewering such Hollywood conventions as the "magical retard" and other Oscar-baiting tactics. Both Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black are having fun at the expense of their own self-image. Black's Jeff Portnoy is a kind of cross between Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy, with maybe a little of Andy Dick's drug mania tossed in. (Or even Downey's.) To hear the man who made Nacho Libre bemoaning that the laughter he inspires doesn't come with more respect is seasoned with a kind of delicious irony. So, too, does Downey's speech about being found in a cardboard box pretending he's Neil Armstrong after filming a biopic about the astronaut strike pretty close to the actor's home. His performance as the delusional thespian who has buried himself so deep he's forgotten his own identity is nothing short of astounding. Stiller even let's the racial debate flare between Lazarus and Alpa Cino, who also adds to the movie's themes by having his own secrets.

In addition to the leads, Tropic Thunder is sure to draw a lot of attention for its host of cameos. Stiller peppers his film with people like Maria Menounos and Jon Voight playing themselves, but he also fills supporting roles with some surprising faces. Matthew McConaughey actually manages to play slimy convincingly as Tugg Speedman's agent, but the true surprise is Tom Cruise letting out his silly side as billionaire studio chief Les Grossman. Sporting a beard, bald cap, and oddly disproportionate fat suit, Cruise recaptures some of that lethal energy he brought to P.T. Anderson's Magnolia and then cuts loose with it, clearly having a ball ranting and raving from underneath the ridiculous costume. Normally, it's the kind of outfit Stiller would put himself in, but for once the actor sticks to just being who he is. It's a smart move, especially after the shots Tropic Thunder takes at Eddie Murphy for The Klumps.

All in all, Tropic Thunder isn't an entirely consistent comedy. I laughed a lot, but I also did have stretches where I wasn't laughing much at all. I wasn't bored, per se, but there are some tonal divots that maybe try too hard to add in the smarts or Apatow-like pathos. When what you're making fun of is dumb through and through, you don't have to work that hard to prove you're brighter than the source material. Thankfully, Tropic Thunder really hits its stride in the final third, and it's nonstop yuks all the way to the ingenious closing credits. Factoring in that the movie has one of the best cold opens I've ever seen, then that means Tropic Thunder finishes just as strong as it began, and that's really saying something.

Jamie S. Rich is a novelist and comic book writer. His current novel is entitled Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? and was released by Oni Press in the summer of 2007. It follows up on both of his successful books from 2006, the pop-culture hit The Everlasting, and his original graphic novel with Joëlle Jones, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. Rich is currently writing the ongoing independent comic book series Love the Way You Love.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE TROPIC THUNDER.

THE WOMEN NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie The Women from imdb

The story centers on a group of gossipy, high-society women who spend their days at the beauty salon and haunting fashion shows. The sweet, happily-wedded Mary Haines finds her marriage in trouble when shop girl Crystal Allen gets her hooks into Mary's man. Naturally, this situation becomes the hot talk amongst Mary's catty friends, especially the scandalmonger Sylvia Fowler, who has little room to talk - she finds herself on a train to Reno and headed for divorce right after Mary. Written by Anonymous

Here is a review for the movie The Women from dvdtalk

With this impressive collection of actresses and production duties handled by the renowned Diane English, it's a crushing disappointment to find the latest update of the famed play "The Women" a defanged, broad ode to one-dimensional empowerment. The performances shine, but the rest of this mediocre travelogue of feminine foibles is given the blunt-force treatment, draining the material of deserved big-screen acidity.

When gossip concerning her husband's infidelity leads to Mary's (Meg Ryan) doorstep, she panics, unable to process this violation of trust during a period of time where she also loses her job and the admiration of her teen daughter. Coming to the rescue are her friends, fashion magazine editor Sylvia (Annette Bening), full-time mom Edith (Debra Messing), and full-time lesbian Miriam (Jada Pinkett Smith), not to mention further support from housekeeper Maggie (Cloris Leachman) and mother Catherine (Candice Bergen). While struggling with their own disappointments in life, the ladies team up to help Mary through this difficult time, turning their venom on Crystal (Eva Mendes, vamping it up), the formidable mistress who won't back down from the affair.

An amalgamation of the 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce and the classic 1939 feature film from director George Cukor, this modern take on age-old questions of loyalty and the toxicity of cattiness is hoping to compete in a "Sex and the City" world of women dominated by labels, liquor, and lascivious behavior. From the outside, English, the creator of the iconic television comedy "Murphy Brown," is the perfect match for the heady material. After all, who better to tackle a tale of female worry with an all-female cast (only one man is allowed here) than a lauded professional with extensive experience probing the female mind?

As inspiring as her gifts are, English is lacking a deep-seated knowledge of motion picture timing and execution. "The Women" feels slack and pushy with its themes, written more as a sitcom than as an epic narrative of companionship and Manhattan-bred, high-society anxiety. English loves her characters, each woman representing a certain shade of femininity, but there's little consistency to the story, which springs back and forth from a screwball comedy to weighty drama, exploring the difficulty of marriage maintenance, the dangerous self-esteem issues facing women today, and the thin-ice dance of lifelong bonding. Meeting the demands of the Cukor film, her own modernization subplots, and the need to invent a world for these characters, distracts English from an organized screenplay, which often resorts to light sermonizing to cross off the bullet points she wants to cover. It leaves little room for appealing tartness to stroll in and lift the picture off the ground.

While not written as a free-for-all acting battle royal, English casts her feature beautifully, with every member of the ensemble at least attempting to muscle their way into the action. Actresses like Pinkett Smith try too hard to make an impression (her slouched lesbo stance screams incompetence), while stars such as Ryan and Bening carefully ace their roles. Playing the fashion queen fearing her age is leaving her ego vulnerable to a youthful revolt at her magazine, Bening seems almost a caricature of the Samantha Jones mentality at first (English introduces the character comedically as a Saks Fifth Avenue cyborg, complete with robot vision), but the performance relaxes during the film, and Bening plays the comedy and soul with generous quirk.

Meg Ryan is the unofficial star of "Women," taking on the sympathy of the script while assuming the audience's role as the confused spectator to emotional disaster. Here's a phrase I haven't used since the 1990s: Ryan delivers a knockout performance. She hits both areas of physical comedy and domestic distress with lovely timing she hasn't embraced in years. English deserves kudos for this unexpected note of casting success.

Unlike the diseased nonsense of "Sex and the City," "The Women" has a few important issues it wants to discuss between moments of females getting gushy over handbags and holding low opinions of men. That counts for something in this newly-minted genre. Still, English isn't confident behind the camera, and while her picture sparkles with New York majesty, fashion accessories, and a game cast, "The Women" never achieves a healthy level of playfulness or profundity, trapped in a void of mediocrity no quantity of star-powered estrogen can salvage.

Here is the direct download for the movie The Women.

(PRE RELEASE) DISNEY'S TINKERBELL NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Tinkerbell from imdb

Enter the magical world of fairies and meet the enchanting creatures of Pixie Hollow, who "nurture nature" and bring about the change of the seasons. Changing the colors of the leaves, moving a sunbeam to melt snow, waking animals from their winter slumber, or giving a patch of sproutlings a sprinkle of water are all within the realm of these seasonal specialists. Tinker Bell thinks her fairy talent as a "tinker" isn't as special or important as the other fairies' talents. But when Tink tries to change who she is, she creates nothing but disaster! With encouragement from her friends Rosetta, Silvermist, Fawn and Iridessa, Tink learns the key to solving her problems lies in her unique tinker abilities and discovers that when shes true to herself, magical things can happen.

Here is the direct download for the movie Tinkerbell.

BODY OF LIES NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Body of Lies from imdb

Roger Ferris, Leonardo DiCaprio, is a CIA covert operative working in Jordan searching for terrorists who have been bombing civilian targets. Ferris uncovers information on the Islamist mastermind Al-Saleem (Alon Aboutboul). He devises a plan to infiltrate Al-Saleem's terrorist network with the help of his boss back in Langley, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Ferris enlists the help of the Chief of Jordanian Intelligence, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) on this operation. But he doesn't know how far he can trust him without putting his life in danger. During war time, a spy doesn't know who he can trust, not even his own people. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

Here is a review for the movie Body of Lies from dvdtalk

"Body of Lies" is a mediocre espionage film tarted up as a prestigious offering, cast with blinding stars, directed by a once mighty visionary, and drawing from topical source material meant to provoke chills and international thought. However esteemed the package may be, "Lies" is a turgid Middle Eastern thriller, firing blanks as an action submission and presenting a wet match to light the fire of political discourse.

As a C.I.A. operative, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio, appropriately furious) fights tooth and nail every day to maintain his cover and keep one step ahead of terrorists during his rounds of the Middle East. As Ferris's boss, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) enjoys the easy life in Washington overseeing perilous missions, abusing Ferris's exasperation to his own advantage. Sent to Jordan to cozy up to intelligence officer Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), Ferris begins a campaign of deception to help nab an influential terrorist leader, only to find his own methods are starting to spiral out of control, leaving him and his newfound Iranian love (Golshifteh Farahani) wide open to vicious retaliation and the potential loss of American support.

Serviceable is a great way to describe "Body of Lies." There's nothing bone-rattling about this presentation of paranoia, instead the film takes a paint-by-numbers approach to wartime maneuvering and geopolitical happenings. Scott focuses on his polish this time around, making "Lies" a pretty picture with pretty stars, forgetting this genre is always best served with gritted teeth and an antagonistic point of view. Instead we have "The Kingdom" all over again: a topical thriller that uses Hollywood convention to limbo under any real confrontation or political stance. "Lies" isn't nearly as dopey as last year's Peter Berg sleeping pill, but it comes close, passing up an opportune moment to enrage audiences with a stark display of terrorism run amuck to skip through a field of cliché that wastes the monumental talents of the cast.

Scripted by William Monaghan (based on David Ignatius's book), "Lies" takes a sprawling, globe-trotting look at the mind games of terrorists and those who enlisted in the fight to curb violence. Scott is predictably skilled at getting a sense of scope into the film, observing Ferris as he rubber bands all over the map to maintain his cover and integrity. "Lies" generates location recognition wonderfully, and I have little reservation with the technical achievements of the film. What bothers me is the tepid pacing of the picture, and the shameless calculation of the screenwriting, viewed directly in the character of Aisha, a nurse who treats Ferris for a possible case of rabies, stealing his heart in the process.

While performed with suitable flirtation by Farahani, the character is meant to soften Ferris and provide a dangling thread for the third act to swoop in and exploit. It's tough to find a purpose for Aisha beyond obvious romantic manipulations, and the subplot seems to elongate an already overstuffed motion picture (125 minutes). Aisha is emblematic of the film's attempt to follow structure within a plot that demands chaos, forcing Scott to usher in a mammoth suicide bombing, shoot-out, or torture sequence every 15 minutes to keep his audience awake.

"Lies" isn't insightful about the war on terror, tends to sermonize when backed into a corner, and indulges Crowe far too much as he clowns it up as the prototypical American military fatso who would sell his own mother to protect himself. "Lies" cannot be swallowed as a lesson on current events, it's not that profound. It's a movie with terrorism, not about terrorism, and the thinness of the film starts to increasingly irritate when Scott has to find a way to end the picture on a stable note. Even if the concept was fresh ("Traitor" danced a similar jig two months ago), "Lies" remains an anesthetizing viewing experience.

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CHRONICLES OF NARNIA 2 NOW AVAILABLE

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA 2 NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE


HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA 2 FROM IMDB

"Prince Caspian" finds the Pevensie siblings pulled back into the land of Narnia, where a thousand years have passed since they left. The children are once again enlisted to join the colorful creatures of Narnia in combating an evil villain who prevents the rightful Prince from ruling the land. Written by Max Davison {RockyHexorcist2785}

The four Pevensie children return to Narnia, only to discover that hundreds of years have passed since they ruled there, and the evil King Miraz has taken charge. With the help of a heroic mouse called Reepicheep, and the exiled heir to the throne, Prince Caspian, they set out to overthrow the King, once again with Aslan's help. Written by comicfan

A year after their first adventure in Narnia, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are pulled back in by Susan's magic horn. They find that hundreds of years have passed, and Narnia is now ruled by the bloodthirsty General Miraz, uncle to the true heir, Prince Caspian, now in exile. Now the children must find Caspian and help him depose Miraz...but how will they get home after it's done? Written by rmlohner

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA 2 FROM DVDTALK

I felt indifference to 2005's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," and I feel indifference to its sequel, "Prince Caspian." There's something missing from this franchise, and three years ago the absence of persuasive content was baffling. Now, the clues are more apparent.

When a magical train station whisks siblings Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) back to the realm of Narnia, they learn that while one year has passed for them since their last visit, hundreds have gone by in Narnia, and the land is in ruin. Overrun by humans led by villainous King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), it's up to Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) to escape the clutches of Miraz and seek counsel with the creatures and leaders that remain in Narnia. Teaming up with the Prince, Peter and the clan decide to fight Miraz for control of the land, while Lucy searches anxiously for signs of the all-powerful lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson).

I'm aware that stepping on the literary throat of C.S. Lewis is sure to provoke a rabid response, but understand that my beef is not with the source material, but with the director of the two "Narnia" films, Andrew Adamson. While surely putting forth a herculean effort to lift these massive fantasy features off the ground, Adamson has a horrible grasp on the drama and performances. Surely "Wardrobe" could coast on the very newness of it all, but "Caspian" is a visual sleeper hold from frame one; a constipated effort to erect widescreen wonderment, yet the production is missing dimension and needed narrative gusto.

"Caspian" handles oddly from the opening sequence, which introduces us to the new "Narnia" look: muddy, low-lit cinematography, which lends the picture a brooding stance, making an already overlong picture feel eternal. While the story might come easy to Lewis devotees, as a film "Caspian" has substantial difficultly arranging itself into a kinetic whole. It takes a good 30 minutes for the film to warm up properly, only to find that Adamson has little interest in his characters, giving mere seconds to important motivations and sweeping Shakespearean dramatic turns that seem critical to the experience.

"Caspian" doesn't feel rushed, just unfinished. Adamson's focus is on the eye-opening, big-bang material, in which Caspian and Peter try to lead Narnia forces of dwarves (played by Peter Dinklage and Warwick Davis), centaurs, and sword-wielding CG mice into battle against Miraz. That's all well and good, but where's the meat here? Where's the connective tissue that the audience can savor while our heroes step into battle? "Caspian" is marked by long stretches of screentime where there's nothing dramatic to grab onto, as though the film was engaged in a dullsville holding pattern while waiting for the next opportunity to declare war. Once it becomes clear that Adamson isn't interested in establishing a human element, the picture becomes a chore to sit through.

The performances don't exactly help matters either, with the Pevensie clan of young actors showing a noticeable lack of panache with these more difficult roles. Truthfully, the kids are completely ineffective, and it cripples "Caspian," which details the once and future kings and queens of Narnia as troubled souls, yet nothing registers in their body language, nostril flaring, or distant stares. I also wasn't thrilled with Barnes as the titular royal heir. It's difficult to get excited about a hero who looks exactly like and seems about as threatening as a Jonas Brother.

"Caspian" is quick to head into battle, and the final hour of the movie is devoted almost entirely to expansive combat arrangements and a marathon one-on-one duel between Peter and Miraz. Admittedly, I was more swayed by this section of the film due to its thankful influx of velocity, but Adamson is hardly serving up anything new here. It's the same war cries and catapult assaults as detailed in such hits as "Lord of the Rings," without anything to single them out for "Caspian." It all speaks to the fatigue of the production's imagination, and while it may entertain the faithful, I doubt it'll inspire more than a drowsy "yip-ee-do" out of the casual viewer.

I suppose I was expecting the next chapter in the Pevensie family adventure story that was promised at the end of "Wardrobe." What "Caspian" ends up becoming is a simpleminded, violent war picture (the film's PG rating is misleading) with minimal effort put into character growth. It's a decent ride for special effects and all things that go boom, but anyone expecting depth here might be better off snuggling up with the original books instead.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA 2.

QUARANTINE NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Quarantine from imdb

Television reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown. After a few of the residents are viciously attacked, they try to escape with the news crew in tow, only to find that the CDC has quarantined the building. Phones, Internet, televisions and cell phone access have been cut-off, and officials are not relaying information to those locked inside. When the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew's videotape. Written by zjohnson

Television reporter Angela Vidal (Carpenter) and her cameraman (Harris) are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown. After a few of the residents are viciously attacked, they try to escape with the news crew in tow, only to find that the CDC has quarantined the building. Phones, internet, televisions and cell phone access have been cut-off, and officials are not relaying information to those locked inside. When the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew’s videotape. Written by Screen Gems.

Here is a review for the movie Quarantine from dvdtalk

Most audience members stumbling into "Quarantine" will have no idea it's a remake of a 2007 Spanish horror film titled "Rec." I can't blame anyone for their ignorance, since the original picture never broke through to America due to distribution disinterest, and that's a cryin' shame. "Rec" was a beautiful chiller, constructed with resourcefulness and genre filmmaking wizardry that instilled a modest concept with the right amount of armrest-ripping content to fuel nightmares for weeks. "Quarantine" is the unavoidable American replica, only this version has ingested a bottle of idiot pills and washed it all down with a full glass of directorial incompetence.

Sent on an assignment to cover a night at the average Los Angeles firehouse, T.V. personality Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) is stuck reporting on the mundane details of fireman life. Becoming frustrated with her botched attempts to add some spice into this monotonous story, Angela's fortunes change when a call arrives requesting emergency assistance at an apartment complex. Tagging along with her newfound friends (including Jay Hernandez), Angela and her cameraman Scott (Steve Harris) head into the building, only to be quickly sealed in by faceless government officials. Now trapped with angry cops (Columbus Short), paranoid residents (Rade Serbedzija), and an anxious medical professional (Greg Germann), Angela and her roving camera discover the true reason for the quarantine...and it's hungry for flesh.

There's nothing broad to be found in "Quarantine" that directly separates it from "Rec." Director John Erick Dowdle (of the unreleasable "The Poughkeepsie Tapes") crafts a straightforward copy of the Spanish film, preserving the same plot and scare beats, but altering the corners of the writing to put his fat stamp on the picture. To Americanize "Rec," "Quarantine" introduces crude sexual tension between Angela and the firemen, and turns our camera-ready hostess from a frustrated lifestyle reporter to a veritable sorority pledge, with Dowdle encouraging Carpenter to play daft instead of confident, ultimately reducing Angela's role in the overall scheme of things.

The changes are minor, but they do add up, wandering away from "Rec" in all the wrong ways. The original film spent some time with the characters, "Quarantine" quickly sets up the humans as zombie food, with little development beyond differing puncture wounds. "Rec" was a multi-layered visual piece of broadcasting verisimilitude, resembling a chaotic news explosion; the remake retains an unacceptable glossy look, highlighting the already recognizable cast as humdrum actors, not frantic citizens trapped in Hell. Also, while "Rec" didn't win any awards for steady cinematography, director Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza composed carefully for maximum suspense and exposition. Dowdle just throws his camera around arbitrarily, with huge sections of the film lost to inane handheld blur and iffy technical believability. In other words, "Rec" invited the viewer to get lost in the terror. "Quarantine" can't stop reminding everyone that it's just a dopey movie.

Reviewing "Quarantine" on its own merits is a difficult challenge, since "Rec" is as close to perfection as fright films get these days. To the uninitiated, the remake will be easy enough to swallow, with plenty of cheap boo scares and hysterical Carpenter overacting to justify the price of admission. For "Rec" fans, there's no reason to return to this story, since Hollywood has drained the tension away, replacing Spanish innovation with American stupidity.

Here is the direct download for the movie Quarantine.

KIT KITTREDGE NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Kit Kittredge from imdb

'Kit Kittredge: An American Mystery' centers around a young living in the struggles of the Great Depression. 10 year old Kit lives in a boarding house her parents own in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a passion for writing, & dreams of having something of hers put in the local paper someday. With the help of her friends, Sterling & Ruthie, will her dream finally come true? Written by wgdpink

The film focuses on Kit Kittredge, who grows up in the early years of the Great Depression. Written by anonymous

Here is a review for the movie Kit Kittredge from dvdtalk

It's easy to see that "Kit Kittredge" is after family audiences. It's a harmless tale told without a lick of objectionable content, sure to offer relief to many parents unwilling to subject their children to the heated warfare of lowbrow summer entertainment. However, as generous in spirit as "Kittredge" is, it's an absolute chore to sit through for anyone not plugged into the "American Girl" franchise hoedown.

Watching her family hope to make ends meet during the Great Depression, Kit Kittredge (Abigail Breslin) remains courageous, even trying to score work with the local paper writing about matters of the unemployed. When her father (Chris O'Donnell) heads out of state to find work, it forces Kit's mother (Julia Ormond) to take in eccentric boarders (including Stanley Tucci, Joan Cusack, and Jane Krakowski), most of which have great distaste for the hobos that fill the manual labor jobs of the neighborhood. One of the homeless kids, teenager Will (Max Theroit), is a friend of the Kittredges, and when he's accused of theft, Kit springs into action, trying to uncover the clues that will clear Will's name and save the family home from foreclosure.

"Kittredge" is born from the popular "American Girl" doll line, which gives young girls (and Marie Osmond types) a chance to experience life from a different era and perspective. It's an interesting concept for a toy, and if there's anything to outright praise about the "Kittredge" movie, it's the obsession with Depression iconography. The picture is all soup lines, chicken-feed-bag dresses, and the use of "hobo" as the ultimate four-letter word (seriously, these characters wield the term like a switchblade).

Director Patricia Rozema embraces the era and manufactures an agreeable cardboard backdrop for Kit and her adventures, but she overdoses on the earnestness, turning Kit into a blinding beacon of one-dimensional goodwill and kid-sized worry. "Kittredge" has been drained of complexity to satisfy the wee ones in the audience, and I'm absolutely fine with that; what troubles me about the picture is its amplified presentation. The cast is all wildly gesticulating arms and heavily-pronounced melodrama, while the plot itself is pulled straight from a "Scooby-Doo" episode, with slapstick bad guys and cartoonishly greedy motivations. Rozema pitches everything to the rafters, turning the picture into a sugary, aggravating caper.

The perky pinch is also felt by Breslin, pushed here by Rozema to give an adult performance dancing across the emotional rainbow, but she's too limited to have much effect. Breslin is entering the Dakota Fanning phase of her career: the place where studios lust after her name, thus pressuring the actress to take roles beyond her skill level. Breslin sells the earnestness of Kit, but not the gravity, and her performance is cringingly robotic as a result.

"Kit Kittredge" is hopelessly vanilla entertainment, and while it's sure to please some matinee attendees, it's going to feel like a demonic endurance ritual to the less inclined.

Here is the direct download for the movie Kit Kittredge.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS NOW AVAILABLE

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS FROM IMDB

Lazy court-process clerk and stoner Dale Denton has only one reason to visit his equally lazy dealer Saul Silver: to purchase weed, specifically, a rare new strain called Pineapple Express. But when Dale becomes the only witness to a murder by a crooked cop and the city's most dangerous drug lord, he panics and dumps his roach of Pineapple Express at the scene. Dale now has another reason to visit Saul: to find out if the weed is so rare that it can be traced back to him--and it is. As Dale and Saul run for their lives, they quickly discover that they're not suffering from weed-fueled paranoia: incredibly, the bad guys really are hot on their trail and trying to figure out the fastest way to kill them both. All aboard the Pineapple Express. Written by Anonymous

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS FROM DVDTALK

We all have nights in our past that have become legendary in their telling, nights out with friends that grow epic the more the story is repeated. Nights where we felt like anything could happen and even though anything might not have, the mythology is that it did. Few of us get to make movies about such nights, however, and now writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have managed to pull off two. First was Superbad, their high school comedy about boys on a quest to get laid; second on deck, the new film Pineapple Express. While a stranger animal than its predecessor, more adult and more all over the place, Pineapple Express proves Rogen and Goldberg have more than one hit in them, and it continues the impressive winning streak of Judd Apatow as a producer.

Pineapple Express hinges on one night, but it's actually more like the longest 48 hours in the life of process server and marijuana aficionado Dale Denton (Rogen) and his goofy dealer Saul (James Franco, probably best known as Harry Osborne in the Spider-Man movies). Working a late evening trying to serve a subpoena, Dale witnesses an Asian hitman being murdered by a drug trafficker (Gary Cole) and a dirty cop on his payroll (Rosie Perez). It's a scene straight out of Cassavetes, even down to the ridiculously designed California home. Pineapple Express is the Killing of a Chinese Bookie of marijuana comedies--both naturalistic and improbable, its narrative strangely fractured but somehow coming together anyway.

In a panic, Dale tosses his ever-present joint out the window, leaving a trail for the killer to find. It turns out that the bad guy, Ted, is the man two rungs up the ladder from Saul, and the only inventory of a special strain of pot called Pineapple Express to trickle down the food chain has gone to Saul. Recognizing his wares, Ted sends a couple of thugs (Kevin Corrigan and The Office's Craig Robinson) down the supply line, putting the stoned pair on the run for their lives.

Much of the humor of Pineapple Express is derived from Dale and Saul trying to put together a plan and then execute it. Saul's fuzzy logic fuels Dale's paranoia and the two end up lost in the woods, locked in a car chase while driving a stolen police cruiser, and being chased by the shotgun-wielding father of Dale's underage girlfriend. (The angry daddy is a hilarious cameo by Ed Begley Jr.) The film is directed by David Gordon Green, whose previous four features have all been realistic dramas shot in a sparse, understated style. (His most recent work was Snow Angels, one of the best films of the year.) In his first comedic turn, Green manages to adapt his leisurely, 1970s verite style to the stoner comedy. It turns out his southern drawl storytelling is perfectly suited to capture the cannabis haze. The same skill that allows him to guide actors through emotionally wrenching scenes in his dramas allows him to create a comfortable space for Rogen and Franco to operate in, and Green lets their scenes run long, giving them the time to work their magic on the dialogue.

Fans of Freaks and Geeks will enjoy seeing Rogen and Franco back together again. While Rogen has been showing his comedy chops in movies like Knocked Up over the last couple of years, Franco has largely been making overly earnest dramas. It's fun to see him cut loose, and he relishes the language of Rogen and Goldberg's script, getting more comedy out of subtly mis-chosen words than a lot of comedians get out of perfectly structured jokes. With his laid-back manner and Rogen's manic anxiety, the two actors form a classic comic duo, like Abbot and Costello, Spade and Farley, and other skinny/fat comedy teams. The proceedings also spark up every time the guys run into Red (Danny R. McBride, The Foot Fist Way), the middle-man between Saul and Ted. Sexually ambiguous, Buddhist, and altogether absurd, Red is an hysterical third wheel, alternating between jokes both rude and oddly calming.

As the plot of Pineapple Express progresses, the script's ADD should have caused the film to derail at some point. David Gordon Green keeps control, though, and he is able to jump from the broad satire of the movie's cold opening to buddy humor and then to slapstick without ever faltering. There are some knock-down, drag-out brawls in this movie that will have you cringing even while you laugh. Seth Rogen taking a flying ash tray to the head is comedy gold, as is James Franco driving a cop car with his foot sticking out the windshield. By the final act, when the convoluted storylines of Ted's war with the Asian drug cartel converges with the hunt for Dale and Saul, all logic is tossed out the window and Green just goes for it. Pineapple Express turns into a free-for-all parody of action comedies, comparable to Hot Fuzz for the sheer geeky detail of the farce. The fight goes on forever, the gun supply is unlimited, and the script even makes fun of its own lack of definition (no one knows what nationality "the Asians" really are, they are just Asian). Some might sniff that the giant shootout that takes up the whole last quarter of the movie is an immature excuse for a bunch of friends to goof around with guns and play-fight, but that conveniently ignores that this is the point entirely. Pineapple Express is about friendship, sticking together, and having a laugh while you do all the crazy stuff you would never do if the other guy wasn't egging you on.

When it's done poorly, pot humor can grow old quick, but Pineapple Express transcends the whole "dude, I have the munchies/my fingers are huuuuuge" norm and just goes gonzo. It practically invents its own genre, a Dadaist mash-up of B action movies and bawdy comedies that those of us who grew up in the '80s saw time and time again in heavy rotation on cable. Written smartly, directed with an assured style, and performed by some of the best comedians of our day, this Pineapple Express takes off like a shot and strikes every target. Get your tickets now.

Jamie S. Rich is a novelist and comic book writer. His current novel is entitled Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? and was released by Oni Press in the summer of 2007. It follows up on both of his successful books from 2006, the pop-culture hit The Everlasting, and his original graphic novel with Joëlle Jones, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. Rich is currently writing the ongoing independent comic book series Love the Way You Love.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS.

HELLRAISER NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Hellraiser from imdb

Clive Barker's feature directing debut graphically depicts the tale of a man and wife who move into an old house and discover a hideous creature - the man's half-brother, who is also the woman's former lover - hiding upstairs. Having lost his earthly body to a trio of S&M demons, the Cenobites, he is brought back into existence by a drop of blood on the floor. He soon forces his former mistress to bring him his necessary human sacrifices to complete his body... but the Cenobites won't be happy about this. Written by Ary Luiz Dalazen Jr. {ajr@fortalnet.com.br}

A man finds he is given more than he bargains for when he solves the puzzle of the Lament Configuration - a doorway to hell. But his ex-lover has found a way of bringing him back, and his niece, Kirsty Lawrence, finds herself bargaining with the Cenobites, angels to some, demons to others, whose greatest pleasure is the greatest pain. Written by David Carroll {davidc@atom.ansto.gov.au}

Here is a review for the movie Hellraiser from dvdtalk

The Product:
When Stephen King called then unknown Clive Barker the future of horror, it was an endorsement that turned many a genre fan's cynical head. After all, if the reigning monarch of the macabre thought that this English newcomer was the savior of the medium he helped to popularize, there must have been something to such publicized posturing. Leafing through the young writer's Books of Blood, however, didn't leave many with the same overriding impression. Indeed, Barker frequently came across like H.P. Lovecraft without an internal monologue, and his stories often substituting lashings of gore for anything remotely resembling suspense. In some ways, he was the first crossbreed cyberpunk terror scribe, using the Gothic instead of the technical as fuel for his foul dreams. No, it would take a film to confirm Barker's reputation - and what a film it was/is. Hellraiser may not make a lick of logical sense, or spell out its ideas in huge, embraceable shapes, but in its own insidious way, it illustrated its inherent and undeniable brilliance. That's why it has remained one of the greatest horror films of the last 20 years - even of all time.

The Plot:
Hoping to rekindle his dying marriage, American Larry Cotton brings his frigid British wife Julia back to the UK. Along for the move is independent daughter Kirsty. She's wary of her stepmother and protective of her doormat papa. They decide to take up residence in the old Cotton family abode, and it's clear from the evidence that black sheep brother Frank has been squatting there for several months. This saddens Larry...and enlivens Julia. She had an affair with the sleazy sibling years before, and the thought of his animalist presence brings out long hidden thoughts of sex and seduction. When Larry is injured, bleeding profusely onto the rickety attic floor, he inadvertently resurrects Frank from beyond the grave. Apparently, the pain loving playboy bought a strange puzzle box - the Lament Configuration - while abroad, and in solving it, he summoned the Cenobites, demons who feed on human suffering. They tore him limb from limb. Now, he wants Julia to help him come back to life by bringing potential victims to his lair. There, she will kill them and he will drink their blood. Ultimately, he plans on taking Larry out of the picture as well. Of course, once Kirsty discovers the plot, she will do anything to save her father - including making a deal with these erotic devils.

The DVD:
No matter what Clive Barker thinks (at least circa the year 2000), Hellraiser remains a modern horror classic. It speaks a spook show language all its own, and does something that few fright film are capable of - it reinvents the genre while staying true to the tenets that made said movies important in the first place. Call it a fetishized Frankenstein, a post-modern Prometheus with a perverted, adulterous bent, or Satan's private S&M screed, but there is no denying the film's power. In a situation (cinematically) that constantly overreaches without every achieving its goal, Barker basically damns the torpedoes and embraces the glories of going full bore gonzo. Sure, some of the monster effects are sloppy by 2007 CGI slickness standards, and the origins of the Cenobites (supernatural explorers of the evil and enticing?) can still mandate a massive suspension of one's disbelief. But because of the novelty in the first time filmmaker's approach, because of the underling themes that help to fill in the necessary nuances and blanks, Hellraiser rises and remains at the top. Instead of feeling derivative and dated, a one time innovation that has long since been mimicked into irrelevance, what we have here remains fully aware of its era, and awfully ahead of its time.

One of the things that turns a horror film into a confirmed classic is a connection to recognizable reality. After all, a possessed teenager spewing pea soup and masturbating with a crucifix may seem shockingly otherworldly, but when told within a clear cut context of parent/child confusion, adolescent growing pains, the onset of puberty, and the then popularized generation gap, the atrocities in a film like The Exorcist become an incredibly potent allegory. It's the same with Hellraiser. In essence, Barker is delivering every cuckold's worst nightmare. In his slightly psychotic vision, weak men better watch out - their sexually frustrated wives will kill people to feed a reanimated corpse with flesh-free copulation on its mind. Indeed, the main emblematic elements here are Frank and Julia's unholy trysts. The first occurs during the post-wedding celebration. The next happens right under hubby's blind bat suburban stodginess. While he's mindless watching boxing, or calming his daughter's concerns, his spouse is in the attic, feeding bodies to a horny troll whose out to destroy his life - literally. The notion of illustrating how far adultery can be taken, as well as the notion that said paramours won't be happy until they've stripped the victim of their dignity...and skin, is one of Hellraiser's most potent elements. It turns a standard splatter film into something much deeper.

Then, there is the standard Barker subtext of innocence violated - in this case, the caustic coming of age for budding daughter Kirsty. Sitting precariously on the border between unready and ripe, seeking independence while clinging to absent apron strings, our unlikely heroine becomes the center of some unrivaled dread. Ashley Laurence gives an amazing performance in the movie, moderating between clueless and courageous, smart and scared shitless. Her confrontations with the Cenobites (so inventive they require their own review to discuss) are expertly handled and highly memorable. And since she exudes a kind of untainted virtue, it makes the meeting with undead Frank all the more disturbing. With Clare Higgins and Andrew Robinson rounding out the first rate cast, and Doug Bradley's iconic turn as lead demon Pinhead, Hellraiser harkens back to a time when ideas plus ick created masterful macabre. Sure, it's low to no budget leanings meant that Barker and crew had to cut a lot of corners, and as a novice behind the lens, our director can be forgiven for some not so subtle self-indulgence. But with most of the movies from the era revolving around quipping killers and the standard slice and dice, Hellraiser rests on its unusual and intense laurels - and we respond accordingly.

The Video:
Previous DVD editions of this frequently marginalized movie cannot compare to the job Anchor Bay does this time around. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen image looks marvelous, bright and colorful with lots of defining details. The biggest improvement comes with Kirsty's first encounter with the Cenobites in her hospital room. Where previous versions practically whited-out over the intense lighting and exposure Barker employed, the new transfer is just terrific. It's still stunning, but in a much more manageable way.

The Audio:
Given both a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround reboot and a standard 2.0 stereo mix, Hellraiser has never sounded better, either. Christopher Young's amazing score, which resembles the sound of the Antichrist's cathedral weeping, is just fantastic, and the dialogue is readily discernible. About the only downside to this otherwise excellent remaster is the exposure of the film's infrequent technical glitches. One occasionally experiences a flat or tinny quality in the sound effects provided via the unforgiving digital medium.

The Extras:
The added content is a mixture, a combination of ported over bonuses from previous releases with three new featurettes created exclusively for this 20th Anniversary DVD. Of the original content, we are treated to an interview with Andrew Robinson ("Mr. Cotton, I Presume?") which offers a great deal of personal insight. Then there is "Actress from Hell", which sees Ms. Laurence discuss the impact the film had on her life and career. Finally, "Helicomposer" allows Young a chance to defend his superb sonic choices. All three Q&As are delightful, and help define the place Hellraiser holds in the hearts of those who made it. There is also something called "Under the Skin - Doug Bradley on Hellraiser" that's not exactly new. It is, however, making its first home video appearance. Everything else is carried over from something else, including an informative behind the scenes documentary ("Hellraiser: Resurrection") and a collection of TV spots, storyboard galleries, still galleries, and DVD-rom screenplays. Perhaps the best left over extra is the full length audio commentary by Barker, Laurence, and moderator Peter Atkins. Recorded in 2000, it is here where we learn of Barker's disdain for the film, Laurence's love of the onset experience, and the nods to other filmmakers (Argento, Fulci) that the director deliberately paid homage to. While not quite as comprehensive as one would hope (both Clare Higgins and Sean "Frank" Chapman are absent), it's still a wonderful wealth of contextual connections.

Final Thoughts:
Thanks to its frightmare eccentricities, lack of ready home theater availability, and a souring via sequels (there have been seven...and counting), Hellraiser has lost some of its legacy and luster over the years. Yet revisiting it outside all the horror geek hullabaloo reveals a certified macabre classic. Easily earning a Highly Recommended rating, it's a film that stands the test of time by constantly beating the continuum at its own reconfigured relevancy. This latest DVD incarnation offers a stellar image, a wonderful sound package, and some priceless moments of bonus feature perception. Sadly, it could all be overshadowed by a proposed remake that is in the works. After two decades of struggle, it seems a shame that the original will be pushed aside by some sloppy, CGI-oriented 'reimagining'. Barker may have been hindered by financial and artistic shortcomings, but the results definitely speak for themselves. Hellraiser is a post-modern masterpiece. It will definitely tear you scary movie soul apart.

Here is the direct download for the movie Hellraiser.

BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Beverly hills Chihuahua from imdb

While on vacation in Mexico, Chloe, a ritzy Beverly Hills chihuahua, finds herself lost and in need of assistance in order to get back home.

Here is a review for the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua from dvdtalk

"Talk to the paw." Yes, that's an actual line from "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," Disney's latest attempt to induce drastic birth control methods in America. I feel like an ogre beating up on such a mindless, semi-harmless production aimed directly at distracting toddlers while moms and dads fight about house payments, but it's difficult for me to condone such unfunny funny business. "Chihuahua" is terrible and kids deserve better.

A pampered pooch, Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) lives a life of California luxury with her owner, fragrance tycoon Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis). Entrusting Chloe to her niece Rachael (Piper Perabo), Viv takes off on business, leaving Rachael stuck bringing the dog along on an impromptu trip to Mexico. Wandering away from her hotel, Chloe is kidnapped and forced to join an illegal dog-fighting circuit. Finding comfort in former police dog Delgado (Andy Garcia), Chloe manages to escape, heading off on a cross-country journey to return home. Back in the states, lovesick Papi (George Lopez) springs into action, crossing the border to find his canine princess.

Had "Chihuahua" been something straightforward, a creation that believes in brevity and the value of an imaginative punchline, perhaps the end product might've found an unexpected rhythm and taken audiences by surprise. What's actually here is a lazy movie that bathes in the stink of inanity, using talking dogs as a way into the hearts of audiences. With the Cesar Millaning of America going on right now, it's hard to argue Disney's creative angle, but did they really need to hire Raja Gosnell to direct? The man who made two terrible "Scooby-Doo" pictures and the loathsome "Yours, Mine and Ours" remake? Was there no one else?

Gosnell is a filmmaking zombie and blankly guides "Chihuahua" through an obstacle course of slapstick, cartoon mischief, and dangerous Mexican stereotyping. I write dangerous because, frankly, I'm not sure if "Chihuahua" actually crosses a line of taste, it just feels wrong. Portraying Mexico as a breeding ground for criminal activity, imagining the local police as incompetent fools, and encouraging lines such as "hold your tacos!," the movie doesn't exactly make a strong case for racial harmony. However, worrying about such touchy matters comes a distant second to the real cancer of the film: it's not funny in the least.

What disturbs me most about "Chihuahua" is how seriously Gosnell takes the movie. This is no farce, it's a character study, with backstory for the dogs, the goofiest being Delgado, who lost his scent after blowing a "Miami Vice" style bust and yearns for its return. Boy, Lassie never had such gravitas. Gosnell has a story to tell here and he's sticking to it, no matter how much it bores the audience to tears. Rolling through backstabbing mice, villainous dog nappers, and the blossoming romance between Rachael and Papi's kindly gardener owner, "Chihuahua" almost doesn't have time for jokes. Did I mention Chloe's discovery of an independent Chihuahua tribe located in hidden Mexican ruins? That the leader of said tribe is voiced by Placido Domingo? There's plenty of strange going on, but still no laughs.

Sure, there's cute dogs to look at, and who doesn't love reducing a once proud culture to a horde of dog-fighting heathens, but the absence of ingenuity, of basic comedic curiosity, is disturbing and worse, frightfully boring. In fact, the only hilarious moment in the film is the epilogue, where Disney, after spending 90 minutes showcasing wisecracking, heroic animals that fight for honor and bust criminals, pleads for audiences to be careful with pet adoptions. Suddenly the film has a conscience. If only it had a brain.

Here is the direct download for the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

HALLOWEEN NOW AVAILABLE

HALLOWEEN NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE HALLOWEEN FROM IMDB

After young Michael Myers killed his older sister one Halloween night he was committed for 15 years to a mental institution were he soon broke out and is in search for his little sister Laurie Strode as he returns back to his home town Haddonfield and finds his sister she and hers friends must put up a battle to survive as Michael Myers tries to kill them. Written by Nick F.

The residents of Haddonfield don't know it yet... but death is coming to their small sleepy town. Fifteen years ago a small six year old boy called Michael Myers brutally slashed his elder sister to death. Locked up till his 21st birthday, he escapes the mental institution that held him for fifteen years and makes his way back to his hometown intent on a murderous rampage pursued by Dr Sam Loomis who is Michael's doctor and the only one who knows Michael's true evil. Elsewhere a shy teenager by the name of Laurie Strode is babysitting on the night Michael comes home... is it pure coincidence that she and her friends are being stalked by him? Written by TheSteph

On Halloween 1963, Haddenfield, 6-year-old Michael Myers (Daeg Farch), estranged and mentally unstable, is imprisoned in Smith's Grove Sanitarium under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) for the murders of his mother's (Sheri Moon) boyfriend, his older sister, and her boyfriend. Now, 15 years later, he is accidentally released and now in search of his baby sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Dr. Loomis must warn the residents of Haddenfield and get to Laurie before Michael does. Written by Corey Semple (aka Hairsprayer07)

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE HALLOWEEN FROM DVDTALK

Before anyone takes a dump all over Rob Zombie's remake of the John Carpenter classic "Halloween," let me remind the picky bastards out there that the last time we saw Michael Myers on the big screen, he was trading karate chops with Busta Rhymes. Yeah, now this update doesn't seem so bad, does it?

As the troubled child in the Myers family (including Sheri Moon Zombie and William Forsythe), Michael (Daeg Faerch) has used his isolation to create a horrifying inner world where he tortures animals and uses masks to accept his evil nature. After slaughtering his family, Michael is sent to a mental hospital where he's put in the care of Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). After years in his cell, Michael has grown to hulking proportions (now played by Tyler Mane) and manages to escape, heading to his old hometown of Haddonfield to locate his baby sister, Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton), for his final act of brutality.

Now, to be fair, Zombie's take on the The Shape has nowhere near the quality, durability, or effortlessness of Carpenter's 1978 creation. That being said, there's much to appreciate in this merciless reimagining, but it requires great effort to clear away the expectations that come with a typical "Halloween" movie.

Having been an outspoken critic in the past on the ugly business of turning our screen monsters into misunderstood kittens just to find a new angle to mine for genre gold, I was surprised to find Zombie's attempt to establish a psychological backstory for Myers so engaging. In the new "Halloween," Myers is no longer a mysterious, unstoppable creature of indeterminate sadistic hunger; he now possesses the profile of a classic serial killer, humanizing him to a point where his acts of violence do not emanate from a vague need to scare, but of uncontrollable impulse to destroy. It's a slippery slope to chase this narrative tail, but Zombie shows remarkable tenacity, setting aside the film's first 40 minutes for the effort.

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