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DVDs in Collection: 382

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The Salton Sea
Drama Warner Home Video R
In the real world, drug use is unimaginably boring to watch--but it inspires spectacular visuals in movies like "Trainspotting" and "Drugstore Cowboy". To this list add "The Salton Sea", a moody thriller starring Val Kilmer as a musician who goes undercover into the world of speed freaks to find the men who killed his wife. Though that plot summary may sound trite, creative direction, strong performances, and a solid script that shifts to and fro in time make "The Salton Sea" worth a look. Kilmer has an erratic track record but he's always an intriguing on-screen presence; Vincent D'Onofrio has a field day playing a noseless speed dealer called Pooh Bear. The cast is full of excellent character actors, including Anthony LaPaglia ("Lantana"), Peter Sarsgaard ("Boys Don't Cry"), B.D. Wong ("Jurassic Park"), Deborah Kara Unger ("Crash"), Adam Goldberg ("Saving Private Ryan"), and Luis Guzman ("The Limey"). "--Bret Fetzer"

Samurai I - Musashi Miyamoto - Criterion Collection
Foreign Criterion NR
Toshirô Mifune defines the quintessential samurai in Hiroshi Inagaki's 1954 "Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto", the first feature in a trilogy based on the epic novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. As in Kurosawa's classic "Seven Samurai", which appeared the same year, Mifune plays a brash and ambitious peasant who desires fame and power as a swordsman. His dreams of glory in war sour when his army is routed and he becomes hunted by the authorities, but the "tough love" attentions of a kindly but severe monk help him develop from a hot-tempered outlaw to a thoughtful swordsman. Inagaki's somber color epic is very different from the energetic action of Kurosawa's films. The sword fights and battles are practically theatrical in their presentation, staged in long takes that emphasize form and movement over flash and flamboyance. Mifune brings a sad, almost tragic quality to the samurai warrior Musashi Miyamoto, whose dedication proscribes him to a lonely life on the road. Though the film stands well on its own, its stature takes on greater significance as the first act of Inagaki's stately, contemplative epic of the professional and spiritual development of Musashi, whose training and adventures continue in "Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple". "--Sean Axmaker"

Samurai II - Duel at Ichijoji temple - Criterion Collection
Foreign Criterion NR
Picking up where "Samurai I" left off, Toshirô Mifune's samurai in training Musashi Miyamoto is a wandering swordsman who hones his skills in a succession of duels. When he defeats a succession of students from a local school of martial arts, he becomes marked for death by the school elders and is attacked in a series of cowardly ambushes. Romantic threads from the first film become further complicated when the virginal Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa) and the sad courtesan Akemi (Mariko Okada) meet and discover their rivalry and Musashi earns himself an archenemy, an ambitious young swordsman named Sasaki Kojiro (Koji Tsuruta) who vows to defeat Musashi to make his name as the finest fencer in all of Japan. Inagaki ably manages the rather complicated plot with unexpected ease (subtitles are employed to help English viewers make a few narrative jumps) while he charts Musashi's education in compassion and humility and his internal struggle with his conflicted love for Otsu. The direction is still as distant and unostentatious as in the first film, while the color and settings become richer and more pronounced: studio-bound locations take on the quality and delicacy of paintings. The dramatic centerpiece of the trilogy, an epic pre-dawn battle where 40 swordsmen ambush Musashi, uses darkness and landscape to great dramatic effect as figures seep in and out of the picture. "--Sean Axmaker"

Samurai III - Duel at Ganryu Island - Criterion Collection
Foreign Criterion NR
Toshirô Mifune is confidence supreme and humility incarnate as the mature samurai master Musashi Miyamoto in the final film of Inagaki's sprawling trilogy. Now a legendary swordsman whose latest quest is to save an isolated village from rampaging brigands (shades of "Seven Samurai"), he remains haunted by the memory of Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa). Meanwhile the ruthless and increasingly jealous Kojiro Sasaki (Koji Tsuruta) plots his battle royal with Musashi to prove who is the finest fencer in Japan. Inagaki weaves the web of subplots into a series of grand confrontations, among them the most exciting battles of the trilogy: Musashi's skirmish with the army of cutthroats while the village erupts in a fiery inferno around him, and the sunset duel between Musashi and Kojiro on an isolated beach, the two warriors taking on mythic dimensions silhouetted against the sun setting over the surf. Inagaki's delicate use of color throughout the series becomes most pronounced in this final sequence, where the glow of orange and red adds dramatic flourish to the twilight battle. Inagaki's reserved, restrained style and Mifune's melancholy performance--his granite face and stocky stance the very essence of somber wisdom and sad assurance--bring a gravity and seriousness to the drama that ultimately illuminates the personal cost of Musashi's supreme skill as his story ends on an elegiac but hopeful note. "--Sean Axmaker"

Samurai X - Complete
Anime Adv Films NR
Nineteenth century Japan: a land torn by warfare and rebellion, where small bands of soldiers seek to overthrow the tyrannical Tokugawa Shogunate. Enter Kenshin, a young orphan whose fighting skills were honed by the great swordsman Hiko. But Kenshins so

Samurai X - Reflection
Anime Adv Films Unrated
The final OAV in the "Samurai X"/"Rurouni Kenshin" continuity brings the long-running saga of master swordsman and assassin Kenshin Himura to its conclusion. The story is set in 1893, long after the bloody conflicts of the Meiji Restoration--and the events in the previous OAVs that culminated in the death of Kenshin's wife, Tomoe. With his devoted second wife, Kaoru, Kenshin seeks peace in trying to aid the helpless. But he cannot escape the karmic burden of the many deaths he caused: there is no peace for Kenshin in this world. The Japanese concept of the transitory nature of beauty permeates the two-part adventure. Director Kazuhiro Furuhashi ushers the narrative along at a deliberate pace, deftly inserting the many flashback sequences. The result is a properly elegiac farewell to one of most popular anime characters on both sides of the Pacific. (Rated 17 and older: violence, alcohol use, mature themes) "--Charles Solomon"

Sanjuro - Criterion Collection
Foreign Criterion PG-13
Akira Kurosawa's sequel to "Yojimbo" is more lighthearted and less cynical, a rousing adventure with Toshirô Mifune reprising his role as the scruffy mercenary who becomes an unlikely big brother to a troupe of nine naive samurai. Shuffling into a secret meeting where the proud young men discuss the graft choking their clan, Mifune's Sanjuro scratches his scraggly beard and distractedly rubs his neck like some common peasant while giving them advice on appearances and truths: "People aren't what they seem," he warns the dubious lads. "Be careful." Naturally they aren't, and Sanjuro grudgingly adopts the well-meaning but hopelessly ill-equipped heroes, giving the starry-eyed youths a series of lessons in real-world honor and respect while saving their skins from reckless attacks and impulsive plans. It isn't the subtlest of Kurosawa's films--the repetitious lessons and speeches delivered to the thickheaded samurai are rather obvious--but it's one of his most entertaining. Mifune, gruffly at ease with the boys, is hilariously discomforted in the presence of a cultured lady, who sees through his shaggy exterior and imparts a little wisdom of her own. Mifune bounds into action in a number of impressive sword fights--wonderfully choreographed lightning-quick battles in which Mifune leaps all over the widescreen image--but an increasing sense of waste, of futility, hangs over the action scenes, culminating in a tense but meaningless duel of honor. The accompanying trailer on the DVD features brief behind-the-scenes glimpses of Kurosawa directing Mifune through an action sequence. "--Sean Axmaker"

Saving Private Ryan
Drama Dreamworks Video R
When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with "Duel" in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan", his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.
A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.
The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning "Schindler's List", but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. "Saving Private Ryan" touches us deeper than "Schindler" because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. "--Doug Thomas"

Schindler's List
Drama Mca Home Video R
Steven Spielberg had a banner year in 1993. He scored one of his biggest commercial hits that summer with the mega-hit "Jurassic Park", but it was the artistic and critical triumph of "Schindler's List" that Spielberg called "the most satisfying experience of my career." Adapted from the best-selling book by Thomas Keneally and filmed in Poland with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, Spielberg's masterpiece ranks among the greatest films ever made about the Holocaust during World War II. It's a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center--Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps.
By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. "Schindler's List" gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatizing the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds.
As a drinker and womanizer who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. "--Jeff Shannon"

Scrubs - The Complete First Season
Television Touchstone / Disney NR
The sitcom may be flatlining, but as long as there are fresh and original series like "Scrubs", the prognosis isn't entirely negative. Created by Bill Lawrence, "Scrubs" is an interns'-eye view of hospital life and the torturous, tragic, and triumphant route to becoming a doctor. The eminently likeable Zach Braff heads the cast as "newbie" J.D., whose years of medical school haven't quite prepared him for chaotic Sacred Heart Hospital. "Family Guy" has nothing on the live-action "Scrubs" when it comes to surreal asides and fantasy sequences (for example, J.D. literally becomes the proverbial deer in the headlights when he cannot answer a medical query), pop culture references, and TV Land casting (John Ritter guest stars as J.D.'s negligent father in "My Old Man," and "St. Elsewhere" veterans William Daniels, Ed Begley, Jr., Stephen Furst, and Eric Laneuville appear as Legionnaire's-stricken doctors in "My Sacrifical Clam"). With surgical precision, this inaugural season charts J.D.'s growth as a doctor and a human being, and the close-knit bonds he forms with his equally overwhelmed peers and colleagues, including best friend and surgeon Chris Turk (Donald Faison), beautiful, but raw-nerved and by-the-book Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), and supportive nurse Carla Espinoza (Judy Reyes'), who affectionately nicknames J.D. "Bambi." But at the heart of the series is J.D.'s relationship with his mentor, Dr. Cox (an Emmy-worthy John C. McGinley), a cross between Obi-Wan Kenobi and a pit bull. Giving "Scrubs" a further shot of adrenaline are recurring characters Jordan (Christa Miller Lawrence), Dr. Cox's satanic ex-wife, and Neil Flynn as the Janitor, who torments J.D. just as Larry Miller menaced Jerry in the "Seinfeld" episode "The Doorman."
"Scrubs"' animated sensibility allows for inexplicable cameos by Jimmie Walker or, at one point, an impromptu "West Side Story"-esque dance-off to convey the schism between the surgeons and other doctors. But while hilariously funny, "Scrubs", too, can break your heart, as in the two-parter "My Occurrence"/"My Hero," with guest star Brendan Fraser as Jordan's spontaneously spirited brother, who is diagnosed with leukemia, and "My Old Lady," in which J.D., Elliot, and Chris experience for the first time losing a patient. "Scrubs" is one of NBC's few remaining "Must-See" series, but it has not been well-served by the network. Whether you're a "newbie" or devoted viewer, this DVD release is just what the doctor ordered. "--Donald Liebenson"

Sealab 2021 - Season 1
Television Turner Home Ent NR
It is the year 2021. In this mind-bogglingly distant future, Sealab rises imperiously from the ocean's floor, her crew charged with exploring the possibility of underwater colonization. That is, when they're not fighting giant squids over a toy oven.* Or running pirate radio stations. Or trying to put their brains into robot bodies. Or going back in time. Or being attacked by flesh-ripping aliens. Or becoming addicted to scorpion venom. Or getting stuck in a storage closet. Or going back in time again. Captain Murphy. Marco. Debbie. Stormy. Doctor Quinn. Dolphin Boy. They're all inside this box, screaming to get out so they can live inside your television. So buy the damn thing and set them free. You'll be ridiculously glad you did. Promise. *Makes real cupcakes! With a 40-watt bulb!

Sealab 2021 - Season 2
Kids & Family Turner Home Ent NR
The second season of "Sealab 2021", the Cartoon Network's certifiably bizarre reworking of Hanna-Barbera's earnest 1972 animated series "Sealab 2020", surfaces in a two-disc set that includes an unaired episode and supplemental features that place a strong emphasis on "mental." For series devotees, season 2 is a must-have, thanks to its lineup of memorable episodes, including "Stimutacs," which fans voted as the series' best episode; the behind-the-scenes chaos of "Swimming in Oblivion"; "Hail, Squishface," which tosses jabs at "Star Trek"'s "Trouble with Tribbles" episode; and the aptly named "Bizarro," which pits the Sealab crew against their evil doubles.
As with most Adult Swim programming from Cartoon Network, viewers will either "get" "Sealab 2021", or find its kitchen-sink loopiness indigestible, but one has to admire the producers' ability to spin this recycled footage into the most outlandish plots with such regularity. Said producers (co-creators Adam Reed and Matt Thompson) are present on some freewheeling commentary tracks for all 13 episodes in the set, though viewers hoping for some insight into the show might find the chatter mostly dispensable; however, the inclusion of a rough cut of "Ronnie," the series' only unaired episode, more than makes up for the commentaries, as do hilarious interviews with the cast (which includes Erik Estrada and Brett Butler), and a tour of the production company, both of which are dominated by girls in bikinis (who also give a read-through of the script for "Der Dieb"). The sole sober note on the set is struck by an affectionate tribute to voice-over legend Harry Goz, who provided the voice for the addled Captain Murphy before passing away in 2003. It's rare for a DVD's supplemental extra to match the same tone as the main feature, but the season 2 set manages to stay nearly 100% Bizarro from start to finish. "--Paul Gaita"

Sealab 2021 - Season 3
Television Turner Home Ent NR
It's almost too dramatic to say that the third season of Cartoon Network's supremely silly animated series "Sealab 2021" was controversial, but there's no denying that it's a hot-button issue for the show's legion of devoted fans. The crux of the problem is the untimely death of voice actor Harry Goz, who played Sealab's questionable "leader" Captain Murphy; without Goz's contributions to anchor the show's free-wheeling and frequently surreal adventures, the third-season episodes were deemed by fans to be in a freefall, and Murphy's replacement, ex-football coach "Tornado" Shanks (voiced by Goz's son Michael), was greeted with something less than enthusiasm. Regardless of which side you choose in the great "Sealab" debate, there are still laughs to be had in the 13 episodes compiled in this double-disc set, especially in "Tourist Season," which has Murphy turn Sealab into a tourist trap; "Red Dawn," with Murphy leading the crew in a Communist revolution (which inspired the set's striking cover art); and the doggedly weird "Return to Oblivion," which sends a tentacled Cartoon Network rep to the lab to see if it can be saved from its own self-destructive ways (it can't). Extras for season 3 are somewhat slight: there are two early pilots from creators Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, rough versions of an unfinished episode and "Dearly Beloved Seed" (these are billed as unaired episodes), a featurette on "Stormy" Waters, and a clutch of commentaries, most of which are gags save for one from toonzone.net's Karl Olson, who discusses "Tornado Shanks." "--Paul Gaita"

Sealab 2021 - Season 4
Television Turner Home Ent NR
"Sealab 2021" fans still reeling from the untimely end of the Adult Swim animated series in 2005 can relive every demented moment from the show with this double-disc set, which compiles the show's final episodes, including its retrospective finale, "Legacy of Laughter." Story-wise, it's business as usual for the crew of Sealab, with new captain Tornado Shanks (Michael Goz), who replaced Hank Murphy (Goz's father Harry, who passed away during the previous season), shepherding the team into all manner of disasters, including the mutant shark/human son of the late Marco (Erik Estrada) in "Joy of Grief" and "Sharko's Machine"; an attempt to rescue the Sealab by turning it into a Native American gambling parlor ("Casinko"); fan favorite "Shrabster," which unfolds in reverse; and the series conclusion, "Legacy of Laughter," which reunites all of the characters from the entire show's run. Longtime viewers may argue that the series declined in quality after the passing of Harry Goz, but it can be argued that while the show changed, its offbeat style and stories remained largely intact and still quite funny, if not always up to the standards of the earlier seasons.
The Season 4 extras are largely hit-or-miss. "Shrabster Forward" retells the episode in its correct chronological order, while the deleted scene from "Joy of Grief" is a middling comic tidbit. More amusing is the alternate ending for "Legacy of Laughter," which asks what the cast will do now that the show is over, and the unaired mini-episode "Nightshift," which takes a look at the lives of the crew that keeps Sealab running while the main characters indulge in adventures. A "Best of "Sealab"/Sunken Treasures" clip compilation, which serves up some of the series' funniest moments, is an appropriate wrap-up for this deliriously clever show. "--Paul Gaita"

Seaquest DSV - Season One
Television Mca Home Video NR
Travel to the spectacular undersea world of seaQuest DSV as all 23 groundbreaking episodes from the epic first season surface on DVD. The amazing adventure begins in the mid-21st century, as humankind expands its undersea colonization efforts and a tenuous world peace is enforced by the United Earth Oceans (UEO). In order to protect the fledgling underwater colonies from unknown dangers and hostile invaders lurking in the depths of Earth’s last frontier, the UEO recruits Captain Nathan Bridger (Roy Scheider) to command the high-tech battle submarine seaQuest and its diverse and eclectic crew. Along for the ride are a roster of stellar guest stars, including Charlton Heston, William Shatner, Seth Green, Kellie Martin and Kent McCord.

Seaquest DSV: Season Two
Science Fiction & Fantasy Universal Studios NR
Adventure resurfaces with the return of the spectacular Primetime Emmy® Award-winning SeaQuest DSV. Rejoin Captain Nathan Bridger (Roy Scheider) and his dedicated crew as they serve as guardians to Earth's undersea colonies and protect world peace from all threats—both above and below the water. This must-own 8-disc set is packed with all 21 thrilling Season Two episodes and features amazing guest stars Mark Hamill, Dom DeLuise, Kent McCord and others. Season Two of SeaQuest DSV continues the incredible, imaginative epic journey into the Earth's last frontier!

Secretary
Drama Lions Gate R
This kinky love story features a standout performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal, an offbeat young actress in her first starring role. Gyllenhaal plays Lee, a nervous girl who compulsively cuts herself, who gets a job as a secretary for Edward, an imperious lawyer (James Spader, an old hand at tales of perverse affection). Edward's reprimands for typos and spelling errors begin with mild humiliation, but as Lee responds to his orders--which are driven as much by his own anxieties and fears as any sense of order--the punishments escalate to spankings, shackles, and more. "Secretary" walks a fine line. It finds sly humor in these sadomasochistic doings without turning them into a gag, and it takes Lee and Edward's mutual desires seriously without getting self-righteous or pompous. Certainly not a movie for everyone, but some people may be unexpectedly stirred up by this smart and steamy tale of repressed passion. "--Bret Fetzer"

Serenity
Science Fiction & Fantasy Universal Studios Home Entertainment PG-13
"Serenity" offers perfect proof that "Firefly" deserved a better fate than premature TV cancellation. Joss Whedon's acclaimed sci-fi Western hybrid series was ideally suited (in Browncoats, of course) for a big-screen conversion, and this action-packed adventure allows Whedon to fill in the "Firefly" backstory, especially the history and mystery of the spaceship Serenity's volatile and traumatized stowaway, River Tam (Summer Glau). Her lethal skills as a programmed "weapon" makes her a coveted prize for the power-hungry planetary Alliance, represented here by an Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who'll stop at nothing to retrieve River from Serenity's protective crew. We still get all the quip-filled dialogue and ass-kicking action that we've come to expect from the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", but Whedon goes a talented step further here, blessing his established ensemble cast with a more fully-developed dynamic of endearing relationships. "Serenity"'s cast is led with well-balanced depth and humor by Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds, whose maverick spirit is matched by his devotion to crewmates Wash (Alan Tudyk), Zoe (Gina Torres), fun-loving fighter Jayne (Adam Baldwin), engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), doctor Simon (Sean Maher), and Mal's former flame Inara (Morena Baccarin), who plays a pivotal role in Whedon's briskly-paced plot. As many critics agreed, "Serenity" offered all the fun and breezy excitement that was missing from George Lucas's latter-day "Star Wars" epics, and Whedon leaves an opening for a continuing franchise that never feels cheap or commercially opportunistic. With the mega-corporate mysteries of Blue Sun yet to be explored, it's a safe bet we haven't seen the last of the good ship Serenity. "--Jeff Shannon"

Serial Experiments Lain - Boxed Set
Anime Geneon [Pioneer] Unrated
Disturbing, perplexing, sometimes infuriating, Ryutaro Nakamura's "serial experiments lain" covers some of the same themes as "The X-Files" and the films of David Lynch. When introverted 13-year-old Lain receives an e-mail from a dead classmate, she gains access to "the Wired," a virtual world that promises unlimited power to those who can exploit it. Gradually the borders between the real and the virtual blur, and Lain's own identity begins to fade and fragment. Her parents tell her that she is not really their child, her online self grows in power and independence, and shadowy organizations pursue her in both worlds. Finally she begins to realize that she is either reality's only hope, or its worst enemy.
Nakamura keeps the pace of "serial experiments lain" deliberately slow, imbuing the early episodes with a sense of mounting dread that pays off as the plot develops. The anime technique of panning across static images creates a meditative stillness that works perfectly, and the repetition of certain key images gives them a dreamlike significance. Viewers will either love or hate the complex plot, which seems intent on incorporating every possible paranoid conspiracy, from sinister nanotechnology to alien plots. However--unlike many other anime--it somehow hangs together, and frankly "not" understanding everything is part of the pleasure of this kind of story. Fans of action-heavy anime and people who like every loose end tied up should steer clear, but those who surrender themselves to the slowly unfolding mysteries of the plot will be amply rewarded. "--Simon Leake"

Seven Samurai - Criterion Collection
Foreign Criterion Unrated
Unanimously hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of the motion picture, "Seven Samurai" has inspired countless films modeled after its basic premise. But Akira Kurosawa's classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character development. The story is set in the 1600s, when the residents of a small Japanese village are seeking protection against repeated attacks by a band of marauding thieves. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai), including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a farmer's son desperately seeking glory and acceptance. The samurai get acquainted with but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove to be fatal. The climactic battle with the raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever filmed. It's poetry in hyperactive motion and one of Kurosawa's crowning cinematic achievements. This is not a film that can be well served by any synopsis; it must be seen to be appreciated (accept nothing less than its complete 203-minute version) and belongs on the short list of any definitive home-video library. "--Jeff Shannon"

The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection
Foreign Criterion NR
Ingmar Bergman's 1956 film has been parodied by everyone from Woody Allen to "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey", but it remains one of the strangest and richest classics of world cinema. Max Von Sydow plays a knight returning from the Crusades to encounter an apocalyptic scenario inspired by the Book of Genesis. He plays chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot), sees a manacled witch, watches a band of flagellants go by--all of it foretelling an inevitable end to life. Unabashedly allegorical and lyrical and existing in a world unto itself, the film is enormously mesmerizing no matter what one thinks of the weighty meanings Bergman has attached to it all. The DVD release has English subtitles, audio commentary by critic Peter Cowie, theatrical trailer, and Bergman's filmography. "--Tom Keogh"

Shaolin Soccer
Art House & International Miramax Unrated
Computer generated special effects have seldom been so giddy as in "Shaolin Soccer", a gleeful fusion of kung fu and a classic "Bad News Bears" sports story. A former soccer star--whose "golden leg" was broken by a hired mob--assembles a team of former students of Shaolin martial arts, whose assorted skills (indicated by their nicknames, like Mighty Steel Leg and Iron Head) lend themselves to the swift interplay of the world's most popular game. Along the way, the team's leader (Hong Kong comic superstar Stephen Chow) meets a sticky bun baker (Vicki Zhao) whose kung fu is the equal of any of his teammates. "Shaolin Soccer" is supremely silly--in the final match, their opponents are called Team Evil--but that's part of the fun. American movies rarely achieve this perfect balance of the absurd and the sincere. A delight. "--Bret Fetzer"

Shine
Drama New Line Home Video PG-13
This tearjerker by Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks is a surprising story about real-life classical pianist David Helfgott, an Australian who rose to international prominence at a very young age in the 1950s and '60s, and suffered a psychological collapse after enduring years of abuse from his father (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Hicks has three very fine actors portraying Helfgott at different stages of his life, including the adorably wry and goofy Noah Taylor ("Flirting"), who takes up the character's teen years, and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, giving a great performance playing the musician as a schizophrenic adult. Despite the Helfgotts' compromised psychological health, "Shine" is hardly a depressing experience. If anything, the story is really about how long one person's life can take to make glorious sense of itself. Sir John Gielgud, in golden form, plays Helfgott's teacher. The DVD release presents the film in its widescreen format, and also includes a Q&A with director Hicks and Rush's Golden Globes acceptance speech. "--Tom Keogh"

Shinobi: Complete Collection
Foreign Adv Films Unrated
Kageru is strong, fast and extremely intelligent-the best in his ninja class. But his low birth relegates him to the lower clan of Shinobi. His friend Aoi finds herself in the same situation, and together they challenge some the very foundations of the Shinobi hierarchy!

Sin City
Action & Adventure Dimension R
Brutal and breathtaking, Sin City is Robert Rodriguez's stunningly realized vision of Frank Miller's pulpy comic books. In the first of three separate but loosely related stories, Marv (Mickey Rourke in heavy makeup) tries to track down the killers of a woman who ended up dead in his bed. In the second story, Dwight's (Clive Owen) attempt to defend a woman from a brutal abuser goes horribly wrong, and threatens to destroy the uneasy truce among the police, the mob, and the women of Old Town. Finally, an aging cop on his last day on the job (Bruce Willis) rescues a young girl from a kidnapper, but is himself thrown in jail. Years later, he has a chance to save her again.

Based on three of Miller's immensely popular and immensely gritty books (The Hard Goodbye, The Big Fat Kill, and That Yellow Bastard), Sin City is unquestionably the most faithful comic-book-based movie ever made. Each shot looks like a panel from its source material, and director Rodriguez (who refers to it as a "translation" rather than an adaptation) resigned from the Directors Guild so that Miller could share a directing credit. Like the books, it's almost entirely in stark black and white with some occasional bursts of color (a woman's red lips, a villain's yellow face). The backgrounds are entirely digitally generated, yet not self-consciously so, and perfectly capture Miller's gritty cityscape. And though most of Miller's copious nudity is absent, the violence is unrelentingly present. That may be the biggest obstacle to viewers who aren't already fans of the books and who may have been turned off by Kill Bill (whose director, Quentin Tarantino, helmed one scene of Sin City). In addition, it's a bleak, desperate world in which the heroes are killers, corruption rules, and the women are almost all prostitutes or strippers. But Miller's stories are riveting, and the huge cast--which also includes Jessica Alba, Jaime King, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Elijah Wood, Nick Stahl, Michael Clarke Duncan, Devin Aoki, Carla Gugino, and Josh Hartnett--is just about perfect. (Only Bruce Willis and Michael Madsen, while very well-suited to their roles, seem hard to separate from their established screen personas.) In what Rodriguez hopes is the first of a series, Sin City is a spectacular achievement. --David Horiuchi

Sliders - The First and Second Seasons
Television Universal Studios NR
Though often and unfairly dismissed as a "Quantum Leap" clone, the Fox TV series "Sliders" earned a substantial fan base thanks to its intriguing central premise--the existence of multiple alternate realities--and impressive special effects, both of which get a fine showcase in this six-disc DVD set. Jerry O'Connell leads the appealing cast as a college student who accidentally discovers a portal into alternate dimensions; with the help of his professor ("Lord of the Rings"' John Rhys-Davies), a spunky Girl Friday (Sabrina Lloyd), and a soul crooner (Cleavant Derricks), O'Connell encounters a host of strange parallel Earths, including a British-ruled United States and one where dinosaurs roam a national park. All nine episodes of the 1995 debut season and the 12-episode second season from '96, as well as the pilot from '95, are included in the aesthetically impressive set; extras, however, are limited to commentary by creators Tracy Torme and Robert K. Weiss on the pilot episode, and a making-of featurette with O'Connell and Derricks. "--Paul Gaita"

Sliders - Third Season
Science Fiction & Fantasy Universal Studios NR
Mastermind Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell) returns for more fantastical adventures as he continues traveling from universe to universe in the complete Third Season of Sliders. Along with comrade Wade (Sabrina Lloyd), physics professor Arturo (John Rhys-Davies), and Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown (Cleavant Derricks), Quinn explores new and mysterious Earths and along the way encounters tornadoes, droughts, wizards, warlocks and even his own younger self. Featuring TV's hottest guest stars, including Apollonia Kotero, Corey Feldman and Danny Masterson, Sliders will rock your world. All 25 thrilling episodes of season three are here in this 4-disc set and available for the first time on DVD! Sliders: The Third Season. Will they ever make it home?

Slither
Horror Universal Studios R
With laughs and gross-outs aplenty, "Slither" is the best horror comedy since "Shaun of the Dead". Having written for the jubilant trash-mongers at Troma Films before scripting 2004's well-received remake of "Dawn of the Dead", writer-director James Gunn crafted this hilarious splatter-fest as an homage to the comically violent horror films of the 1970s and '80s, and he gets it just right with a low-budget look, perfect casting, grisly make-up effects and judicious use of CGI gore. The story's a deliberate monster-mash, borrowing from a dozen other movies with its plot about an invasion of slithery slug-like parasites from outer space, arriving (via meteorite) in the redneck town of Wheelsy, South Carolina, where they turn most of the local yokels into flesh-eating zombies. The first victim (played by Michael Rooker) turns into a squid-like, multi-tentacled host monster (kill him and you kill 'em all), and his terrified wife (Elizabeth Banks) teams up with Wheelsy's sheriff (Nathan Fillion, from "Firefly" and "Serenity") and mayor (comedic scene-stealer Gregg Henry) to eradicate the alien threat before Wheelsy turns into Slugville. Gunn handles comedy and horror with exuberant flair, and "Slither"'s greatest strength is that it never aspires to be anything more than it is: 96 minutes of good laughs and gruesomeness, served up with the kind of gleeful abandon that only true horror buffs can fully appreciate."--Jeff Shannon"

Soldier
Action & Adventure Warner Home Video R
Kurt Russell hits new heights in laconic action heroes with his portrayal of Sergeant Todd, born and bred to be a soldier in a futuristic army. Raised to kill mercilessly, living only for battle, he finds himself at the twilight of his career (and so-called life) when a regiment of genetically enhanced warriors threatens to make his brand of soldiering obsolete. Despite his extensive skills, he is no match for the best of breed of the new order, and he's left for dead on a planet that serves only as a junk heap. There he encounters a ragtag group of castaways, and in his own strange and silent way slowly begins to learn how to be less a killer and more a human. All is disrupted, though, when the genetic regiment arrives on the trash planet and decides to eradicate the local human "trespassers." Though Todd had been overmatched before, this time he has more than ever to fight for--a home, and friends. "Soldier" is one of those rare sci fi movies that relies more on plot and action than special effects (though the trash planet is effectively wrought). The pace of action in the last half of the film is relentless and exciting, and Russell's portrayal of the old warrior as he warms to human emotions relies more on expression than words--in fact, he barely utters more than a half-dozen lines. "--Tod Nelson"

The Son of Kong
Classics Turner Home Ent NR
In this sequel to "King Kong," Kong's exhibitor takes off on a cruise, ends up back on Kong's island, and make friends with the adorable Little Kong.

South Park - Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Comedy Paramount R
OK, let's get all the disclaimers out of the way first. Despite its colorful (if crude) animation, "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" is in no way meant for kids. It is chock full of profanity that might even make Quentin Tarantino blanch and has blasphemous references to God, Satan, Saddam Hussein (who's sleeping with Satan, literally), and Canada. It's rife with scatological humor, suggestive sexual situations, political incorrectness, and gleeful, rampant vulgarity. And it's probably one of the most brilliant satires ever made. The plot: flatulent Canadian gross "meisters" Terrance and Philip hit the big screen, and the South Park quartet of third graders--Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman--begin repeating their profane one-liners ad infinitum. The parents of South Park, led by Kyle's overbearing mom, form "Mothers Against Canada," blaming their neighbors to the north for their children's corruption and taking Terrance and Philip as war prisoners. It's up to the kids then to rescue their heroes from execution, not mention a brooding Satan, who's planning to take over the world.
To give away any more of the plot would destroy the fun, but this feature-length version of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Comedy Central hit is a dead-on and hilarious send-up of pop culture. And did we mention it's a musical? From the opening production number "Mountain Town" to the cheerful antiprofanity sing-along "It's Easy, MMMKay" to Satan's faux-Disney ballad "Up There," Parker (who wrote or cowrote all the songs) brilliantly shoots down every earnest musical from "Beauty and the Beast" to "Les Misérables". And in advocating free speech and satirizing well-meaning but misguided parental censorship groups (with a special nod to the MPAA), "Bigger, Longer & Uncut" hits home against adult paranoia and hypocrisy with a vengeance. And the jokes, while indeed vulgar and gross, are hysterical; we can't repeat them here, especially the lyrics to Terrance and Philip's hit song, but you'll be rolling on the floor. Don't worry, though--to paraphrase Cartman, this movie won't warp your fragile little mind. Unless you have something against the First Amendment. "--Mark Englehart"

South Park - The Complete Eighth Season
Television Paramount NR
To quote "Bad Day at Black Rock", a man is as big as what'll make him mad. By this criteria, "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are giants. Fanaticism of any stripe, steroids, vapid pop culture icons marketed as role models for impressionable youth, and mass merchants encroaching on small town life are just some of the hot button issues tackled in "South Park"'s eighth season. Of course, "South Park" is not above (or beneath) stooping to conquer, as witness "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset," which climaxes in a "whore-off" featuring--you guessed it--Paris Hilton. Sure, Paris is an easy target, as is Michael Jackson (portrayed in the episode "The Jeffersons" not as a child molester, but as an infantile parent who needs to grow up). But just as a segment of the population tunes in to "The Daily Show" to get Jon Stewart and company's satirical take on the day's news, so do "South Park" fans eagerly await Parker and Stone's perspective on the zeitgeist. Which brings us to the season's most infamous episode, "The Passion of the Jew," in which Kyle is devastated by Mel Gibson's brutalizing epic, Cartman is transformed into Gibson's Hitlerian apostle, and an unimpressed Stan and Kenny try in vain to get their money back from Gibson himself, a loony toon with a penchant for torture. And while Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction is old news, "South Park"'s response, "Good Times with Weapons," remains a relevant satire of misplaced parental priorities, not to mention an anime-stylized tour-de-force in which the boys purchase martial arts weapons at a county fair and imagine themselves as ninja warriors.
In one of Stone and Parker's candid mini-commentaries, available as a listening option on each episode, the duo grade this season a B+. Give them extra credit, then, for such seriously (or hilariously) twisted episodes as the one (whose title cannot be printed here) that sends up the film "You Got Served", and the instant holiday classic "Woodland Critter Christmas," with its Satan-worshiping forest creatures, and a brilliant surprise ending that echoes Chuck Jones's classic cartoon "Duck Amuck", in which the unseen animator tormenting poor Daffy is revealed to be none other than Bugs "Ain't I a stinker?" Bunny. "--Donald Liebenson"

South Park - The Complete Fifth Season
Television Paramount NR
Comedy, Lenny Bruce once said, is tragedy plus time. Less than two months--hardly any time at all--had elapsed after September 11 when "South Park" broadcast an episode that addressed the tragedy. Wit and satire have their place, of course, but in the aftermath of epochal upheaval, sometimes good old-fashioned ridicule can diminish an enemy and help to heal a grieving nation. The Emmy-nominated episode "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants" does the cathartic trick, as Cartman plays Bugs Bunny to Osama's Elmer Fudd with a series of humiliating pranks, one of which reveals Osama's miniscule Bin Laden. "This is how we deal with stuff," creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone remark during the "commentary-mini," a listening option on each episode. In this fifth season, "It Hits the Fan," to quote the title of the notorious season-opening episode, in which the "S" word is uttered a staggering 162 times. In another series milestone, "Kenny Dies," and actually stays dead (at least until season 6). One of "South Park"'s best characters gets his own half hour in "Butters' Very Own Episode," while one of the series' absolute worst, "Towelie," also gets his. Over the course of these 14 episodes, many life lessons are learned about sex education ("Proper Condom Use"), prejudice ("Here Comes the Neighborhood") and stereotypes ("The Entity"). But perhaps the most valuable lesson is: "Don't tick off Cartman," as witness his diabolical revenge against the unfortunate ninth grader who rips him off in "Scott Tenorman Must Die."
The genius of "South Park" is its uncanny ability to make satiric hay with such otherwise sure-fire comedy killers as aborted fetuses, concentration camps, and cancer (which becomes instantly funny when the words "up the a**" are added to it, and funnier still when spoken by actual members of Radiohead). 2001 was a rough year for America, and while this country's "problems" provide Stone and Parker with a fount of material (most of it objectionable), we can take odd comfort that they remain vigilant in rooting for their "team." "--Donald Liebenson"

South Park - The Complete First Season
Television Paramount NR
"South Park" exploded on the pop culture landscape like a dirty bomb in 1997, and the 13 episodes that comprise the groundbreaking first season have lost none of their subversive impact. If "Seinfeld" was a show about nothing, then "South Park" is a show about everything, from important moral lessons in compassion and tolerance to good old-fashioned animated character assassination (Kathie Lee Gifford in "Weight Gain 4000" and Barbra Streisand in "Mecha-Streisand"). Like an After School Special gone quite mad, profanity-spewing third-graders Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and the ill-fated Kenny navigate childhood in their mountain town. Nothing in "South Park" is sacred, and each episode has something to offend, from "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" (featuring George Clooney as the voice of Sparky, the homosexual dog), to the Halloween episode "Pink Eye," in which Cartman dresses up as Adolph Hitler. Best not to even get started on Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Pooh, or the season finale cliffhanger, "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut."
Each episode is preceded by a faux introduction by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who proclaim every episode to be their favorite. Their incarnations as Rootin'-Tootin' Trey Parker and Pistol-Slingin' Matt Stone indicate that after "South Park" runs its course, they'd be great hosts of their own children's show, which--and this cannot be stressed strongly enough--"South Park" is "not". Other extras include the "South Park" boys' appearance on the CableAce awards and "A South Park Thanksgiving," featuring Jay Leno, which aired exclusively on "The Tonight Show". A minor annoyance is the slapdash packaging that mislabels the episodes ("Damien," for example, is on disc 3, not 2 as indicated). "--Donald Liebenson"