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Batman Begins [Blu-ray]

Actors: Christian Bale, Jr. Mark Boone, Michael Caine, Rutger Hauer, Liam Neeson
ASIN : B000PC6A3E
Sales Rank : 86
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Bros.
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0085391115212
UPC : 085391115212
Release Date : December 08, 2008
Publisher : Warner Bros.
Manufacturer : Warner Bros.
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Warner Bros.
Running Time : 140

Description

Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.

Amazon.com

Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?

Co-written by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi

Batman at Amazon.com

All Batman DVDs	Batman Begins 101: A Comic Book Primer	Where Have I Seen Christian Bale?
All Batman Comics and Graphic Novels	Batman Toys	Batman Begins Soundtrack

Stills from Batman Begins (click for larger images)

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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray]

Actors: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone
ASIN : B001E75QGG
Sales Rank : 66
Director : Steven Spielberg
Brand : INDIANA JONES & KINGDOM OF CRYSTAL SKULL (BLU
Studio : Paramount
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0097361386645
UPC : 097361386645
Release Date : December 14, 2008
Publisher : Paramount
Manufacturer : Paramount
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Paramount
Running Time : 122

Product Description

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas bring you the greatest adventurer of all time in a nonstop thrill ride (Richard Corliss TIME) that s packed with sensational awe-inspiring spectacles (Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull finds Indy (Harrison Ford) trying to outrace a brilliant and beautiful agent (Cate Blanchett) for the mystical all-powerful Crystal Skull of Akator. Teaming up with a rebellious young biker (Shia LaBeouf) and his spirited original love Marion (Karen Allen) Indy takes you on a breathtaking action-packed adventure in the exciting tradition of the classic Indiana Jones movies!System Requirements:Running Time: 122 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/HEROES Rating: PG-13 UPC: 097361386645 Manufacturer No: 138664

Amazon.com

Nearly 20 years after riding his last Crusade, Harrison Ford makes a welcome return as archaeologist/relic hunter Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, an action-packed fourth installment that's, in a nutshell, less memorable than the first three but great nostalgia for fans of the series. Producer George Lucas and screenwriter David Koepp (War of the Worlds) set the film during the cold war, as the Soviets--replacing Nazis as Indy's villains of choice and led by a sword-wielding Cate Blanchett with black bob and sunglasses--are in pursuit of a crystal skull, which has mystical powers related to a city of gold. After escaping from them in a spectacular opening action sequence, Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young greaser (Shia LaBeouf) whose friend--and Indy's colleague--Professor Oxley (John Hurt) has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts. Whatever secrets the skull holds are tertiary; its reveal is the weakest part of the movie, as the CGI effects that inevitably accompany it feel jarring next to the boulder-rolling world of Indy audiences knew and loved. There's plenty of comedy, delightful stunts--ants play a deadly role here--and the return of Raiders love interest Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, once shrill but now softened, giving her ex-love bemused glances and eye-rolls as he huffs his way to save the day. Which brings us to Ford: bullwhip still in hand, he's a little creakier, a lot grayer, but still twice the action hero of anyone in film today. With all the anticipation and hype leading up to the film's release, perhaps no reunion is sweeter than that of Ford with the role that fits him as snugly as that fedora hat. --Ellen A. Kim




Stills from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Click for larger image)

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Band of Brothers [Blu-ray]

Actors: John Adams, James Alley Jr., Brendan Carr, Lynn 'Buck' Compton, Dominic Cooper
ASIN : B00129H7VS
Sales Rank : 59
Director : David Frankel, David Leland, David Nutter, Mikael Salomon, Phil Alden Robinson
Studio : HBO
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, DTS Surround Sound, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0883929023936
UPC : 883929023936
Release Date : December 11, 2008
Publisher : HBO
Manufacturer : HBO
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : HBO
Running Time : 705

Amazon.com

An impressively rigorous, unsentimental, and harrowing look at combat during World War II, Band of Brothers follows a company of airborne infantry--Easy Company--from boot camp through the end of the war. The brutality of training takes the audience by increments to the even greater brutality of the war; Easy Company took part in some of the most difficult battles, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the failed invasion of Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the liberation of a concentration camp and the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest. But what makes these episodes work is not their historical sweep but their emphasis on riveting details (such as the rattle of a plane as the paratroopers wait to leap, or a flower in the buttonhole of a German soldier) and procedures (from military tactics to the workings of bureaucratic hierarchies). The scope of this miniseries (10 episodes, plus an actual documentary filled with interviews with surviving veterans) allows not only a thoroughness impossible in a two-hour movie, but also captures the wide range of responses to the stress and trauma of war--fear, cynicism, cruelty, compassion, and all-encompassing confusion. The result is a realism that makes both simplistic judgments and jingoistic enthusiasm impossible; the things these soldiers had to do are both terrible and understandable, and the psychological price they paid is made clear. The writing, directing, and acting are superb throughout. The cast is largely unknown, emphasizing the team of actors as a whole unit, much like the regiment; Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston play the central roles of two officers with grit and intelligence. Band of Brothers turns a vast historical event into a series of potent personal experiences; it's a deeply engrossing and affecting accomplishment. --Bret Fetzer

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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Actors: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone
ASIN : B00005JPO1
Sales Rank : 133
Director : Steven Spielberg
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0097361390246
UPC : 097361390246
Release Date : December 14, 2008
Publisher : Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Paramount Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Paramount Home Entertainment
Running Time : 122

Product Description

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 10/14/2008 Run time: 122 minutes Rating: Pg13

Amazon.com

Nearly 20 years after riding his last Crusade, Harrison Ford makes a welcome return as archaeologist/relic hunter Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, an action-packed fourth installment that's, in a nutshell, less memorable than the first three but great nostalgia for fans of the series. Producer George Lucas and screenwriter David Koepp (War of the Worlds) set the film during the cold war, as the Soviets--replacing Nazis as Indy's villains of choice and led by a sword-wielding Cate Blanchett with black bob and sunglasses--are in pursuit of a crystal skull, which has mystical powers related to a city of gold. After escaping from them in a spectacular opening action sequence, Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young greaser (Shia LaBeouf) whose friend--and Indy's colleague--Professor Oxley (John Hurt) has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts. Whatever secrets the skull holds are tertiary; its reveal is the weakest part of the movie, as the CGI effects that inevitably accompany it feel jarring next to the boulder-rolling world of Indy audiences knew and loved. There's plenty of comedy, delightful stunts--ants play a deadly role here--and the return of Raiders love interest Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, once shrill but now softened, giving her ex-love bemused glances and eye-rolls as he huffs his way to save the day. Which brings us to Ford: bullwhip still in hand, he's a little creakier, a lot grayer, but still twice the action hero of anyone in film today. With all the anticipation and hype leading up to the film's release, perhaps no reunion is sweeter than that of Ford with the role that fits him as snugly as that fedora hat. --Ellen A. Kim




Stills from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Click for larger image)

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Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]

Actors: Charlie Adler, Kevin Dunn, Mike Fisher, Robert Foxworth, Bernie Mac
ASIN : B000NTPDT6
Sales Rank : 71
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0097361312422
UPC : 097361312422
Release Date : December 02, 2008
Publisher : Paramount
Manufacturer : Paramount
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Paramount
Running Time : 143

Album Description

From director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg comes a thrilling battle between the heroic Autobotsr and the evil Decepticonsr. When their epic struggle comes to Earth, all that stands between the Decepticonsr and ultimate power is a clue held by young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). Unaware that he is mankind's last chance for survival, Sam and Bumblebee, his robot disguised as a car, are in a heart-pounding race against an enemy unlike anything anyone has seen before. It's the incredible, breath-taking film spectacular that USA Today says ''will appeal to the kid in all of us.''

Amazon.com

"I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?" deadpans Sam Witwicky, hero and human heart of Michael Bay's rollicking robot-smackdown fest, Transformers. Witwicky (the sweetly nerdy Shia LaBeouf, channeling a young John Cusack) is the perfect counterpoint to the nearly nonstop exhilarating action. The plot is simple: an alien civil war (the Autobots vs. the evil Decepticons) has spilled onto Earth, and young Sam is caught in the fray by his newly purchased souped-up Camaro. Which has a mind--and identity, as a noble-warrior robot named Bumblebee--of its own. The effects, especially the mind-blowing transformations of the robots into their earthly forms and back again, are stellar.

Fans of the earlier film and TV series will be thrilled at this cutting-edge incarnation, but this version should please all fans of high-adrenaline action. Director Bay gleefully salts the movie with homages to pop-culture touchstones like Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Kong, and the early technothriller WarGames. The actors, though clearly all supporting those kickass robots, are uniformly on-target, including the dashing Josh Duhamel as a U.S. Army sergeant fighting an enemy he never anticipated; Jon Voight, as a tough yet sympathetic Secretary of Defense in over his head; and John Turturro, whose special agent manages to be confidently unctuous, even stripped to his undies. But the film belongs to Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and the dastardly Megatron--and the wicked stunts they collide in all over the globe. Long live Transformers! --A.T. Hurley

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Dexter - The Complete Second Season

Actor: Michael C. Hall
ASIN : B000V86OKG
Sales Rank : 53
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Showtime / Paramount
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0097368925144
UPC : 097368925144
Release Date : December 19, 2008
Publisher : Showtime / Paramount
Manufacturer : Showtime / Paramount
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Showtime / Paramount
Running Time : 636

Product Description

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/19/2008 Run time: 636 minutes Rating: Nr

Amazon.com

Dark and sinister is the new sexy, thanks to Dexter, which in its second season has proven to be the most successful series Showtime has offered up yet. Remember how much you squirmed in your seat during the season one finale? Believe it or not, the premiere of season two felt like it could have been a season finale--because jaws were on the floor when the credits rolled. For being a supposed sociopath, Dex is pretty broken up about the gruesome events that concluded last season. The one and only person who could possibly understand him is six feet under, and it seems our unlikely hero is losing his homicidal grip. He’s even having a little trouble slicing up a few of his latest victims (from a murderous gang member to a chainsaw-wielding fiend from his past). Enter Lila (Jaime Murray, Hustle), a lady with a sweet British accent and a few dark secrets of her own. She seems to accept Dex for who he really is, and he finds himself feeling relaxed for the first time in his life. In contrast, his relationship with his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) has been stretched almost to a breaking point. The problem is, he should be anything but relaxed. Someone picked a poor place to go scuba diving off the Florida coast, and came across an underwater graveyard: Dex’s primo spot for dropping dismembered bodies wrapped in heavy-duty trash bags. Word about the "Bay Harbor Butcher" gets out quick, and the F.B.I. sends the best of the best, Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine, Deadwood) to work alongside the police to sniff out Miami’s latest serial killer. This guy is no schlub, and Dex may have met his match. And, yes, Dexter gets to work with Lundy on a daily basis, which provides some wonderfully awkward moments. It certainly doesn’t help that the intuitively paranoid Sergeant Doakes (Erik King, Oz) is hot on Dex’s trail.

Season two of Dexter is all about decisions. Lila or Rita? Old code or new code? Run or fight? Right or wrong? Well, one thing’s for sure: When it comes to writing, casting, acting, and production, the makers of this show made all the right decisions. Michael C. Hall is simply superb as the title character. You’ll never find yourself more willing to genuinely root for a serial killer. It’s bloody liberating. --Jordan Thompson

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Tropic Thunder (Unrated Director's Cut)

Actors: Jr. Robert Downey, Nick Nolte, David Pressman, Amy Stiller, Tom Cruise
ASIN : B001H5X7JS
Sales Rank : 45
Director : Ben Stiller
Studio : Dreamworks Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0097361394541
UPC : 097361394541
Release Date : December 18, 2008
Publisher : Dreamworks Video
Manufacturer : Dreamworks Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Dreamworks Video
Running Time : 120

Amazon.com

It's not really a knock to say that nothing in Tropic Thunder is funnier than its first five minutes, so sly that--especially for people watching in theaters--you don't realize right away they are the opening minutes of the movie. This outrageous comedy begins with a series of fake previews, each introducing one of the main characters in the film-proper (not that there's anything proper about this film) and each bearing the familiar logo of a different motion picture studio: Universal, DreamWorks SKG, et al. Such playing fast and loose with corporate talismans verges on sacrilege, but it's an index of how much le tout Tinseltown endorses the movie as a demented valentine to itself. The premise is that the cast of a would-be "Son of Rambo" movie shooting in some Southeast Asian jungle get into a real shooting war with drug-smuggling montagnards. Don't ask--though the movie does have an answer--why such highly paid, usually ultra-pampered personnel as superhero Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), Mozart of fart comedy Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), hip-hop artist Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), and five-time Oscar-winner Kirk Lazarus from Aus-try-leeah (Robert Downey Jr.) should be running through the jungle unattended and very vulnerable. It matters only that the real-life cast has a high time kidding their own profession and flexing their comedic muscles. Bonus points go to Stiller for co-writing the script (with Justin Theroux) and directing, and to Downey, brilliant as a white actor surgically turned black actor for his role and utterly committed to staying in character no matter what ("I don't drop character till I done the DVD commentary").

Be warned: The movie, too, is committed--to being an equal-opportunity offender. Its political incorrectness extends not only to Lazarus's black-like-me posturing but also Speedman's recent, Sean Penn–style Oscar bid playing a cognitively challenged farmboy--or, in Lazarus's deathless phrase, "going the full retard." Others in the cast include Steve Coogan as a director out of his depth, Nick Nolte as the Viet-vet novelist whose book inspired the film-within-the-film, Matthew McConaughey as Speedman's sun-blissed agent back home, and Tom Cruise--bald, fat-suited, and profane--as an epically repulsive studio head. Two hours running time is a mite excessive, but otherwise, what's not to like? --Richard T. Jameson




Stills from Tropic Thunder (Click for larger image)

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Kung Fu Panda Two - Pack (Kung Fu Panda Full Screen Edition + Secrets of the Furious Five Widescreen)

Actors: Jack Black, Ian McShane, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan
ASIN : B001G6E7RE
Sales Rank : 35
Director : John Stevenson, Mark Osborne, Raman Hui
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Dreamworks Animated
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0097361399041
UPC : 097361399041
Release Date : December 08, 2008
Publisher : Dreamworks Animated
Manufacturer : Dreamworks Animated
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Dreamworks Animated
Running Time : 24

Product Description

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 11/07/2008 Rating: Pg

Amazon.com

What's a panda to do when his dreams of kung-fu awesomeness awake to the cold reality of noodle-making? Clumsy, overweight Po (Jack Black) dreams of becoming a kung fu master like China's revered "furious five," but instead seems destined to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather in the restaurant business. When great leader Oogway has a vision that the imprisoned kung fu warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane) will soon escape, he declares it time to choose China's dragon warrior--one kung fu master deemed worthy of possessing the dragon's scroll and its secret to limitless power. Po and all the townspeople rush to the Jade Palace atop the highest mountain to witness the contest between Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogan), Crane (David Cross) and Viper (Lucy Liu), but Po is locked outside the palace. After a miracle of sorts, Po lands inside the palace gates, where he is chosen as the dragon warrior and placed under the tutelage of the decidedly non-plussed master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman). An unconventional student to say the least, hilarity reigns as Shifu tries desperately to make Po into some semblance of a kung fu warrior. Can Po possibly fulfill his destiny as dragon warrior, or was Oogway's final decision a critical mistake? A film rich with hilarious moments, superior animation, and an important message about believing in oneself and the power that comes from within, Kung Fu Panda is great entertainment that will have the whole family laughing and begging for more. (Ages 3 and older) --Tami Horiuchi




Stills from Kung Fu Panda (Click for larger image)