Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Tenth Season

Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Tenth Season

TV legend Angela Lansbury returns to her acclaimed and admired role as mystery writer Jessica Fletcher in all 21 entertaining episodes of Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Tenth Season. Loaded with the shocking surprises and clever storylines that fans of this 41-time Primetime Emmy® nominated and 16-time Golden Globe® nominated series have come to expect, this compelling season follows Jessica as she investigates crimes from the far reaches of the globe to her own doorstep in the sleepy town of Cabot Cove. With such amazing guest stars as Mickey Rooney, Tippi Hedren, David Warner, George Segal and Morgan Fairchild, each case is sure to keep you riveted until the final clue.

Push [Blu-ray] (2009)

Push [Blu-ray] (2009)

Complicated to the point of viewer exhaustion, Push is a hard-to-follow and often silly work of science fiction about refugees from a secret U.S. government program simply referred to as "the Division." Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans play the children of psychically gifted parents victimized by the Division. (She's a seer, he's got mild telekinetic abilities.) Neither wants to end up forced to cooperate with Djimon Hounsou's determined operator trying to create the ultra-"pusher," i.e., a subject so gifted they can work major miracles with their mind. The odd thing is that the story is set in China, where gang action and general exotica have a way of obscuring the story proper. Things get a little more interesting when the odd pairing of Fanning and Evans is joined by a few other interesting actors (Ming Na, Cliff Curtis, Camille Belle) playing ex-Division types with psychic abilities. For a while, an "X-Men"-like vibe starts to build, but then quickly dissipates in a script practically drunk on upending audience expectations every few minutes. Nearly two hours long, Push wears down one's tolerance pretty quickly, yet manages to leave one feeling as if the story is unfinished by end credits. --Tom Keogh

Push (2009)

Push (2009)

Complicated to the point of viewer exhaustion, Push is a hard-to-follow and often silly work of science fiction about refugees from a secret U.S. government program simply referred to as "the Division." Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans play the children of psychically gifted parents victimized by the Division. (She's a seer, he's got mild telekinetic abilities.) Neither wants to end up forced to cooperate with Djimon Hounsou's determined operator trying to create the ultra-"pusher," i.e., a subject so gifted they can work major miracles with their mind. The odd thing is that the story is set in China, where gang action and general exotica have a way of obscuring the story proper. Things get a little more interesting when the odd pairing of Fanning and Evans is joined by a few other interesting actors (Ming Na, Cliff Curtis, Camille Belle) playing ex-Division types with psychic abilities. For a while, an "X-Men"-like vibe starts to build, but then quickly dissipates in a script practically drunk on upending audience expectations every few minutes. Nearly two hours long, Push wears down one's tolerance pretty quickly, yet manages to leave one feeling as if the story is unfinished by end credits. --Tom Keogh

Knowing [Blu-ray] (2009)

Knowing [Blu-ray] (2009)

Nicolas Cage stars in this largely unsatisfying science-fiction tale that begins as a taut and spooky story concerning psychic legacies and ends up falling back on Steven Spielberg's old, cosmic playbook for default explanations about weird phenomena. Cage stars as astrophysicist and widower John Koestler, whose young son attends a school where a 50-year-old time capsule is dug up and opened. Koestler's son, Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), is given an envelope from the capsule containing a sheet of paper inscribed with seemingly-random numbers. Koestler interprets groupings of the numbers as prophesies (made in 1959) of disasters leading up to a globally catastrophic event late in 2009. Moreover, some of the later tragedies involve him or members of his family, suggesting the paper was meant to fall into his and Caleb's hands. That’s not the only freaky thing drawing father and son in a direction they really don't want to go. Among other things, a quartet of mute strangers keeps showing up with a powerful interest in Caleb's whereabouts, and the daughter and granddaughter of the little girl who originally scribbled those numbers in 1959 are under the shadow of a separate prediction of doom. Everything goes swimmingly until it's time for director Alex Proyas (The Crow) to begin tying up all the strings, and cliches start falling like rain. On the plus side, Knowing includes a couple of breathtaking scenes of calamity, the most horrifying (and realistic) of which is a jet crash the likes of which has never been committed to film. --Tom Keogh

Knowing (2009)

Knowing (2009)

Nicolas Cage stars in this largely unsatisfying science-fiction tale that begins as a taut and spooky story concerning psychic legacies and ends up falling back on Steven Spielberg's old, cosmic playbook for default explanations about weird phenomena. Cage stars as astrophysicist and widower John Koestler, whose young son attends a school where a 50-year-old time capsule is dug up and opened. Koestler's son, Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), is given an envelope from the capsule containing a sheet of paper inscribed with seemingly-random numbers. Koestler interprets groupings of the numbers as prophesies (made in 1959) of disasters leading up to a globally catastrophic event late in 2009. Moreover, some of the later tragedies involve him or members of his family, suggesting the paper was meant to fall into his and Caleb's hands. That’s not the only freaky thing drawing father and son in a direction they really don't want to go. Among other things, a quartet of mute strangers keeps showing up with a powerful interest in Caleb's whereabouts, and the daughter and granddaughter of the little girl who originally scribbled those numbers in 1959 are under the shadow of a separate prediction of doom. Everything goes swimmingly until it's time for director Alex Proyas (The Crow) to begin tying up all the strings, and cliches start falling like rain. On the plus side, Knowing includes a couple of breathtaking scenes of calamity, the most horrifying (and realistic) of which is a jet crash the likes of which has never been committed to film. --Tom Keogh

Princess Protection Program (2009)

Princess Protection Program (2009)

Get ready for a hilarious and heartwarming royal reality check in Princess Protection Program, the new smash-hit Disney Channel Original Movie starring Selena Gomez, Wizards Of Waverly Place, and Demi Lovato, Sonny With A Chance. Plus, this Royal B.F.F. Extended Edition DVD features an insider s look at the realities and responsibilities of being a real-life princess and lets you listen in as real-life best friends Selena and Demi dish about their lives on and off the set!

The worlds of royalty and roughing-it collide when the lovely Rosalinda, Lovato enters the Princess Protection Program and moves in with her new cousin Carter, Gomez, a total tomboy. In an unexpected role reversal, Rosie learns how to act like an everyday girl and Carter finds her own inner princess. Once they discover what they have in common, they prove that best friends really are forever.

Bonus Features include: Exclusive music video, Royal and Loyal BFFs Selena and Demi reveal their secrets, A Royal Reality, real life princesses share their realities.

Eureka: Season 3.0

Eureka: Season 3.0

Make a return trip to the seemingly ordinary small town where extraordinary things happen with Eureka 3.0 in Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. Reunite with the town’s hard-working sheriff, Carter (Colin Ferguson), as he tries to deal with his adopted hometown’s unique geniuses, volatile experiments and earth-shaking secrets … all while trying to raise his feisty teenage daughter on his own. Witty, surprising and full of intriguing mysteries, it’s the innovative SciFi Channel series that explores the fascinating intersections where human dilemmas and super-science collide.