Gil Junger It's, like, Shakespeare, man! This good-natured and likeable update of The Taming of the Shrew takes the basics of Shakespeare's farce about a surly wench and the man who tries to win her and transfers it to modern-day Padua High School. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is a sullen, forbidding riot grrrl who has a blistering word for everyone; her sunny younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is poised for high school stardom. The problem: overprotective and paranoid Papa Stratford (a dryly funny Larry Miller) won't let Bianca date until boy-hating Kat does, which is to say never. When Bianca's pining suitor Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets wind of this, he hires the mysterious, brooding Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to loosen Kat up. Of course, what starts out as a paying gig turns to true love as Patrick discovers that underneath her brittle exterior, Kat is a regular babe. The script, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is sitcom-funny with peppy one-liners and lots of smart teenspeak; however, its cleverness and imagination doesn't really extend beyond its characters' Renaissance names and occasional snippets of real Shakespearean dialogue. What makes the movie energetic and winning is the formula that helped make She's All That such a big hit: two high-wattage stars who look great and can really act. Ledger is a hunk of promise with a quick grin and charming Aussie accent, and Stiles mines Kat's bitterness and anger to depths usually unknown in teen films; her recitation of her English class sonnet (from which the film takes its title) is funny, heartbreaking, and hopelessly romantic. The imperious Allison Janney (Primary Colors) nearly steals the film as a no-nonsense guidance counselor secretly writing a trashy romance novel. —Mark Englehart

Like the animated series it’s based on, Aeon Flux is the kind of sci-fi that’s best appreciated by the MTV generation. It’s a serious attempt at stylized, futuristic action/adventure (the title character, played by Charlize Theron, is essentially a female James Bond for the cyberpunk era) and taken for what it is, it’s not all that bad. The action takes place in the year 2415, four centuries after a virus nearly decimated the human race, leaving only five million survivors in a utopian city called Bregna. Aeon belongs to the Monicans, a secret rebel resistance force that is struggling to destroy the Goodchild regime led by its namesake, Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas), the ruler of Bregna and a descendant of the man who found a cure for the deadly virus. As instructed by the Handler (Frances McDormand, gamely playing along in ridiculous sci-fi regalia), Aeon is assigned to assassinate Goodchild, but there are deeper secrets to be discovered, and conspiracies to be foiled. This leads director Karyn Kusama (who fared much better with her debut feature Girlfight) to indulge in all sorts of routine action and fast-paced gunplay, but the elusive pleasures of Aeon Flux are mostly found in the sleek athleticism of Theron and costar Sophie Okonedo (as a fellow Monican), who commit themselves 100% to roles that are dramatically flat yet physically dynamic. Other highlights include Aeon’s high-tech gadgetry (including an eyeball that doubles as a microsocope) and the amusing sight of Pete Postlethwaite in a costume resembling a construction-site disposal tube, but Flux fans may wonder what happened to the surreal, chromium sheen future that gave the MTV series its visionary appeal. As a live-action feature, Aeon Flux is a miscalculated exercise in cheesy style and dour tone, but it’s entertaining enough to earn a small cadre of admirers. —Jeff Shannon

Blu-Ray If you're determined to spend three hours with Oliver Stone's take on the personal and military struggles of ancient Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, you should know that Alexander (Colin Farrell, in blonde disarray) is not half so much fun as mom Olympias (Angelina Jolie) or his future wild bride Roxane (Rosario Dawson). Indeed, it's the women in Alex's life who provide the movie's most satisfying action: Jolie, sporting some kind of Russian accent, wraps herself in snakes while hissing promises of Farrell's destiny; Dawson disrobes and threatens to cut Farrell's throat before shtupping his brains out. The rest is leaden history, supposedly novel because it showcases epic battle sequences and addresses Alexander's great love for his buddy Hephaistion (Jared Leto). But the man-on-man romance is limited to teary hugs, and the battles are indecipherable messes-you have to wait for Anthony Hopkins' narration to tell you what happened (in fact, you have to wait for Hopkins' narration to tell you everything that happens). There's some spectacle on display but, alas, not much that is truly spectacular. —Steve Wiecking

Tim Burton Tim Burton was born to bring Alice in Wonderland to the big screen. Ironically, his version of the Victorian text plays more like The Wizard of Oz than a Lewis Carroll adaptation. On the day of her engagement party, the 19-year-old Alice (a nicely understated Mia Wasikowska) is lead by a white-gloved rabbit to an alternate reality that looks strangely familiar—she's been dreaming about it since she was 6 years old. Stranded in a hall of doors, she sips from a potion that makes her shrink and nibbles on a cake that makes her grow. Once she gets the balance right, she walks through the door that leads her to Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Matt Lucas), the Dormouse (Barbara Windsor), the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), and the Cheshire Cat (a delightful Stephen Fry), who inform her that only she can free them from the wrath of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter channeling Bette Davis) by slaying the Jabberwocky. To pull off the feat, she teams up with the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp in glam-rock garb), rebel bloodhound Bayard (Timothy Spall), and Red's sweet sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway in goth-rock makeup). While Red welcomes Alice with open arms, she plans an execution for the hat-maker when he displeases her ("Off with his head!"). Drawing from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Burton creates a candy-colored action-adventure tale with a feminist twist. If it drags towards the end, his 3-D extravaganza still offers a trippy good time with a poignant aftertaste. —Kathleen C. Fennessy

Blue-Ray An all-star cast—including such A-list stars as Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, and Meryl Streep—lend their voices to The Ant Bully. Social misfit Lucas gets bullied by the bigger boys in his neighborhood, so he takes out his frustrations on the only things around smaller than him: An ant hill on his front lawn. After being flooded and stepped on, the ants fight back when ant wizard Zoc (Cage, National Treasure) develops a potion that shrinks Lucas down to bug-size. But Zoc's thirst for revenge gets foiled when the beatific ant queen (Streep, The Devil Wears Prada) decrees that Lucas must learn to live like an ant, and Zoc's girlfriend Hova (Roberts, Runaway Bride) takes up the task of teaching the unhappy boy how to value others over himself. The animation of The Ant Bully makes good use of scale as Lucas grapples with the gigantic world around him, but the writing is not so imaginative; the name actors are thrown away on bland characters and lackluster dialogue. The lessons Lucas learns are admirable (and amusingly Communist in flavor), but the way he learns them feels contrived and uncompelling. It's too bad, because there probably won't be many other movies featuring the combined talents of Meryl Streep and Bruce Campbell (Army of Darkness). Also featuring Ricardo Montalban (Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan), Lily Tomlin (Nashville), and Paul Giamatti (Sideways) as a sleazy exterminator. —Bret Fetzer

Blu-Ray

Blu-Ray 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

Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher For fans and newcomers, this boxed set holds a great collection, including all four great movies. The first in the series, Batman (1989), and arguably the best of the four movies, exudes the moodiness of the Dark Knight's character. Tim Burton's direction and Michael Keaton's rendition of Batman are an electrifying combo. Together they capture the sinister atmosphere of Gotham City and Batman's darkness. Jack Nicholson as the fiendish Joker and Kim Basinger as the resourceful and gorgeous Vicki Vale lend their charm. Three years later, in 1992, Burton and Keaton reunited for Batman Returns. This time our pointy-eared hero has to combat two villains: Danny DeVito as the disturbed and freaky Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. In Batman Forever (1995), Joel Schumacher gave his direction to the story with Val Kilmer under the cape. Kilmer keeps the moodiness but adds a little panache to his rendition. His archenemies this time are the Riddler (Jim Carrey) and Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones). Luckily, he enlists the help of the Boy Wonder, Robin (Chris O'Donnell). The final movie in the series, Batman & Robin, is great eye candy, and this time Schumacher returns with George Clooney as the leading man and Chris O'Donnell again as Robin. Together Batman and Robin battle the icy Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), with a little help from Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone). Delve into the Gotham City world with the Dark Knight to protect you, and don't forget to make lots of popcorn for this Batman marathon. —Samantha Allen Storey

Guillermo del Toro Après l’échec cuisant de Blade, les studios New Line ont eu la bonne idée de confier la réalisation du deuxième épisode des aventures sanglantes et stylisées du chasseur de vampires au réalisateur d’origine mexicaine Guillermo del Toro, remarqué pour son film d’épouvante El Espinazo del Diablo.

Aux prises avec une lignée mutante de vampires vicieux, qui se nourrissent de leurs congénères, Blade (Wesley Snipes) est obligé de conclure une alliance avec ses ennemis de toujours : les vampires eux-mêmes. Les proies deviennent alliées, mais doit-il réellement leur faire confiance ?

Les références pleuvent dans le film de Guillermo del Toro. De Alien à The Matrix, en passant par From Dusk Till Dawn et Tigre et Dragon, la parenté avec tout ce que le cinéma d’action a donné de meilleur est évidente, sans que le résultat ne soit tout à fait à la hauteur. Bien que les scènes de combat soient chorégraphiées au millimètre près, les éclairages minutieusement travaillés, les mouvements de caméra aussi souples que ceux d’un serpent, et le héros, qui ne fait ni dans la dentelle ni dans le sentiment, parfaitement en contrôle, il semble manquer quelque chose à ce Blade II en forme de bédé ultra-graphique et ultra-violente. Un peu d’âme, peut-être ? —Helen Faradji

David S. Goyer Even skeptical fans of the Blade franchise will enjoy sinking their teeth into Blade: Trinity. The law of diminishing returns is in full effect here, and the franchise is wearing out its welcome, but let's face it: any movie that features Jessica Biel as an ass-kicking vampire slayer and Parker Posey—yes, Parker Posey!—as a vamping vampire villainess can't be all bad, right? Those lovely ladies bring equal measures of relief and grief to Blade, the half-human, half-vampire once again played, with tongue more firmly in stone-cold cheek, by Wesley Snipes. With series writer David S. Goyer in the director's chair, the film is calculated for mainstream appeal, trading suspenseful horror for campy humor and choppy, nonsensical action. The franchise still offers some intriguing ideas, however, including Drake (Dominic Purcell), the original vampire, whose blood contains the secret that could destroy all blood-suckers in a plot that incorporates a sinister "blood farm" where humans are held—and drained—in suspended animation. And Biel's wise-cracking sidekick (Ryan Reynolds) in her cadre of "Nightstalkers" provides comic relief in a series that's grown increasingly dour. All of which makes Blade: Trinity a love-it-or-hate-it sequel... supposedly the last in a trilogy, but the ending suggests otherwise. —Jeff Shannon

Stephen Norrington The recipe for Blade is quite simple; you take one part Batman, one part horror flick, and two parts kung fu and frost it all over with some truly campy acting. What do you get? An action flick that will reaffirm your belief that the superhero action genre did not die in the fluorescent hands of Joel Schumacher. Blade is the story of a ruthless and supreme vampire slayer (Wesley Snipes) who makes other contemporary slayers (Buffy et al.) look like amateurs. Armed with a samurai sword made of silver and guns that shoot silver bullets, he lives to hunt and kill "Sucker Heads." Pitted against our hero is a cast of villains led by Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), a crafty and charismatic vampire who believes that his people should be ruling the world, and that the human race is merely the food source they prey on. Born half-human and half-vampire after his mother had been attacked by a blood-sucker, Blade is brought to life by a very buff-looking Snipes in his best action performance to date. Apparent throughout the film is the fluid grace and admirable skill that Snipes brings to the many breathtaking action sequences that lift this movie into a league of its own. The influence of Hong Kong action cinema is clear, and you may even notice vague impressions of Japanese anime sprinkled innovatively throughout. Dorff holds his own against Snipes as the menacing nemesis Frost, and the grizzly Kris Kristofferson brings a tough, cynical edge to his role as Whistler, Blade's mentor and friend. Ample credit should also go to director Stephen Norrington and screenwriter David S. Goyer, who prove it is possible to adapt comic book characters to the big screen without making them look absurd. Indeed, quite the reverse happens here: Blade comes vividly to life from the moment you first see him, in an outstanding opening sequence that sets the tone for the action-packed film that follows. From that moment onward you are pulled into the world of Blade and his perpetual battle against the vampire race. —Jeremy Storey

Blue-Ray

Blu-Ray

The murder rate is as high as an elephant's eye in this flaccid adaptation of Stephen King's short story. While driving through Nebraska en route to a new job, medico Burt (Peter Horton) and his wife Vicky (a pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton) nearly run over a mutilated boy who staggers from the cornfields. Seeking help, they enter the town of Gatlin, whose under-20 residents have butchered their parents per the decree of junior-grade holy roller Isaac (John Franklin), who preaches the word of a being called "He Who Walks Behind the Rows." King's original story (from his 1978 collection Night Shift) was a lean and brutal mélange of Southern-gothic atmosphere and E.C. Comics-style gore, which scripter Greg Goldsmith effectively neutralizes by adding a youthful narrator (a grating Robbie Kiger) and putting an upbeat spin on the story's morbid conclusion. Fritz Kiersch's direction is TV-movie flat, with the sole inspired moment (hideous religious iconography glimpsed during a bloody "service") delivered as a throwaway. Aside from Horton and Courtney Gains (as Isaac's hatchet man Malachai), the performances are dreadful, and the depiction of the Lovecraftian monster-god as a sort of giant gopher inspires more laughter than terror. Amazingly, the film spawned six sequels; Franklin (Cousin Itt in the Addams Family films) later appeared in and wrote 1999's Children of the Corn 666. Anchor Bay's letterboxed presentation is the R-rated theatrical cut (Kiersch's cut was longer and gorier) and includes the original trailer and a booklet outlining the story's transition from page to screen. —Paul Gaita

Blu-Ray As a producer, Jerry Bruckheimer makes movies for guys, mostly action films like Top Gun and Gone in 60 Seconds. The ones he makes that feature women, such as Flashdance and now Coyote Ugly, broaden their appeal with a fondness for "strong women." For Bruckheimer, that means self-determined, attractive women who don't need men to get what they want. Is there anything sexier than that? In Coyote Ugly, the charming young waif Piper Perabo stars as Violet, a New Jersey waitress who moves to New York to make it big as a songwriter. She has absolutely no idea how the music business works, relying instead on her faith in her own abilities. In order to make ends meet, she gets a job in a bar called Coyote Ugly, where the bartenders are scantily clad women who dance on the bar and order around their mostly male clientele. Really, they are strippers who don't have to take off their clothes. In fact, the owner (Maria Bello) orders them to enact the first rule of strip clubs: "Appear available but never be available." Bruckheimer is smart enough to focus on the naive girl instead of the seamier side of the story, following her as she realizes her dream and picks up a disposable but nice man along the way. Further "empowering" the female figures in the film, Zoe (Tyra Banks), the bartender whom Violet is replacing, leaves in order to go to law school. See? They're as smart as they are sexy! Then there's John Goodman, who turns in an absolutely charming performance as Violet's concerned father. This is a sweet and inoffensive film as long as you don't think too much about it. —Andy Spletzer

Blue-Ray

Christopher Nolan

Despicable Me is a compelling animated comedy about an aging supervillain's falling popularity at the hands of a younger supervillain and three young orphan girls. Gru is a true, bad-to-the-core evildoer who's earned the title of the world's No. 1 supervillain. But when young upstart Vector steels the Pyramid of Giza, Gru's status suddenly sinks to No. 2. Gru counters his fall by speeding up his plan to shrink and steal the moon, enlisting the help of his army of minions and the elderly Dr. Nefario, but a lack of funding and the difficulties involved in stealing the needed shrink-ray gun threaten to derail everything. Adopting three young orphan girls is an unlikely, but seemingly effective means to further Gru's evil mission, but Gru quickly discovers that caring for three young girls is more work, and distraction, than he could ever have anticipated. What unfolds is an unexpected shift in attitude that will forever change the lives of Gru, Vector, and all three young girls. A visually appealing film produced by Chris Meledandri (Ice Age, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, and Horton Hears a Who), Despicable Me is full of weirdly shaped characters and settings that are somehow a perfect fit for Sergio Pablos's story. What's especially refreshing is that in this film, 3-D effects are used skillfully and effectively: even when the effects are exploited for comic reasons, they don't become a distraction, as is all too common in many recent movies. The film is full of corny banter and silly antics that inspire plenty of spontaneous laughter, and the minions, while not the best-developed characters, sure are comical. Ultimately, there's also a wholesome message about following one's heart. Steve Carell is the perfect villain-gone-soft in his role as Gru, Jason Segal is quite funny as Vector, and Julie Andrews makes a surprising appearance as Gru's very un-motherly mom. The story isn't new, the humor is relatively juvenile and somewhat forgettable, and it's no Toy Story 3, but Despicable Me celebrates silliness in a way that's satisfying and highly entertaining. (Ages 6 and older) —Tami Horiuchi

Sylvester Stallone They might be expendable, but they sure are durable: The Expendables is crammed with well-traveled action heroes, called to a summit meeting here to capture some of that good old ultraviolent '80s-movie feel. Star-director Sylvester Stallone rides herd as the leader of this mercenary band, which includes Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Stallone's old Rocky V nemesis Dolph Lundgren. Mickey Rourke, looking like a car wreck on Highway 61, plays the tattoo artist who communicates the gang's assignments to Stallone; throw in Terry Crews and Ultimate Fighting champ Randy Couture, and you've got a badass crew indeed. The specifics here involve a Latin American island where US interests have mucked up the local politics beyond repair—but when Sly's eye is caught by the feisty daughter (Giselle Itie) of the local military jefe, a simple job gets complicated. Adding to the B-movie flavor of the enterprise, we've got Eric Roberts and Steve Austin bouncing around as badder-than-the-bad guys, plus Bruce Willis popping in for a one-scene bit, and… well, perhaps another unbilled cameo. The violence doesn't reach the frantic pace of Stallone's last Rambo picture, but it builds to a pretty crazy crescendo in the final reels, during which each cast member gets to show his stuff. Although Stallone's face looks younger than it did in the first Rocky movie, his line delivery is more sluggish than ever, and what lines! The dialogue is stuck in the '80s, too. Although it's pretty ham-handed throughout, The Expendables is likely critic-proof: the audience that wants to see this kind of body-slamming throwdown isn't going to care about the niceties. Let the knife throwing begin. —Robert Horton

Hd/Blu

Justin Lin

John Singleton, Justin Lin, Rob Cohen

Blu-Ray

Blu-Ray

Robert Zemeckis The Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Director Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor Tom Hanks, this unlikely story of a slow-witted but good-hearted man somehow at the center of the pivotal events of the 20th century is a funny and heartwarming epic. Hanks plays the title character, a shy Southern boy in love with his childhood best friend (Robin Wright) who finds that his ability to run fast takes him places. As an All-Star football player he meets John F. Kennedy; as a soldier in Vietnam he's a war hero; and as a world champion Ping-Pong player he's hailed by Richard Nixon. Becoming a successful shrimp-boat captain, he still yearns for the love of his life, who takes a quite different and much sadder path in life. The visual effects incorporating Hanks into existing newsreel footage is both funny and impressive, but the heart of the film lies in its sweet love story and in the triumphant performance of Hanks as an unassuming soul who savors the most from his life and times. —Robert Lane

Blu-Ray

The man who put the rock in raucous, Aldous Snow, returns to new levels of debauchery in Get Him to the Greek, something of a spinoff of the character's first appearance in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. As played by the equally naughty Russell Brand, Aldous has fallen off the wagon and is more obnoxious than ever, a condition that will make Aaron Green's job more difficult. Poor Aaron (Jonah Hill) is the goggle-eyed record-company stooge whose job it is to transport Aldous from London to Los Angeles in the course of 72 vodka-saturated hours—specifically to the Greek Theatre, where Aldous is supposed to revive his stumbling career with a comeback show. Now, given Russell Brand's raggedy hilarity in Sarah Marshall, this movie should be a slam dunk, as it imports that film's director (Nicholas Stoller), the "produced by Judd Apatow" imprimatur, and Jonah Hill in his deadpan stride. (Hill's character isn't related to his Sarah Marshall role, by the way.) And yet Get Him to the Greek summons up only sporadic laughs and commits the comedy crime of trying to explain Aldous's bad behavior, instead of simply letting his freak flag gloriously fly. So we are treated to the spectacle of Aldous's father (Colm Meaney, nice casting), who never loved his son enough, and Aldous's ex (Rose Byrne), who appears a little too inclined to spread the love around. Meanwhile, the comic situations that do arise are divorced from plausibility, whether it's the logistics of how a program like The Today Show works or the likelihood of a three-way involving Aaron's girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss, from Mad Men). One surprise: as Aaron's hard-driving boss, Sean "Don't call me Puff Daddy" Combs is thoroughly amusing. Rushed and choppy by comparison to other comedies from the Apatow mill, Get Him to the Greek feels like the sophomore slump for Aldous Snow—and possibly the swan song. —Robert Horton

Blue-Ray

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Brad Falchuk, Elodie Keene, Joss Whedon, Paris Barclay It was a choral rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" that first put Glee on the map, the thrilling end to an intriguing pilot episode that aired after American Idol in May 2009. After the full season began airing that fall, Glee became the most talked about show on TV, a musical-comedy-drama of colorful characters and soaring production numbers. Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) is a teacher at an Ohio high school who decides to coach the glee club (or show choir) that he belonged to when he was a student. The initial members are a ragtag bunch of social outcasts: born-for-Broadway diva Rachel (Leah Michele), big-voiced Mercedes (Amber Riley), wheelchair-bound Artie (Kevin McHale), stuttering goth girl Tina (Jenn Ushkowitz), and closeted gay Kurt (Chris Colfer). But things get interesting when the club starts to prepare for the sectional competition and manages to add some of the school's popular kids: quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith), his bullying teammate Puck (Mark Salling), and cheerleaders Quinn (Dianna Agron), Santana (Naya Rivera), and Brittany (Heather Morris), the final three planted as spies by Schuester's rival, internationally acclaimed cheerleading coach Sue (Jane Lynch). Meanwhile, a triangle develops among Will, his wife (Jessalyn Gilsig), and the school's obsessive-compulsive guidance counselor, Emma (Jayma Mays). Other relationships get tangled, faces are slushied, and Sue plots the club's destruction while tossing out plenty of zingers. (Note that parental discretion is advised due to some mature themes.)

Through the course of its initial 13 episodes and another 9 that aired in the spring of 2010, Glee transfixed its audiences with its offbeat combination of humor and drama and its musical numbers, ranging from Broadway to classic rock to rap, or even merging them together in the show's famous "mash-ups." Michele and Morrison, both with Broadway résumés, get the biggest credits (check Michele's roof-raising "Don't Rain on My Parade" or her "Defying Gravity" duel with Coifer), but the whole cast sings and dances with skill and heart. It didn't take long for entertainment powerhouses of all stripes to take an interest in Glee, either as contributors (such as Madonna, who lent her music to a full episode) or as guest stars. Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth makes numerous appearances as glee-club alumna April Rhodes (none better than her duet with Morrison of "One Less Bell to Answer" and "A House Is Not a Home"), and in the season's best episode, "Dream" (directed by Joss Whedon), Neil Patrick Harris and Idina Menzel (Chenoweth's Wicked costar) sing terrific duets with Morrison and Michele, respectively. Other guest stars, to often-humorous effect, include Josh Groban, Molly Shannon, Eve, and Olivia Newton-John. At the end of the season, well-deserved Emmy wins went to director-creator Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck), Lynch, and Harris, and Morrison, Michele, Colfer, and Chenoweth also earned nominations. —David Horiuchi

Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, an unassuming picture shot during a post-production lull on his elaborate period piece Changeling, was quietly rolled out at Christmastime 2008, whereupon it proceeded to blow away all the Oscar-bait behemoths at the box office and win its 78-year-old star the best reviews of his acting career. Both film and performance are consummately sly—coming on with deceptive simplicity, only to evolve into something complex, powerful, and surprisingly tender. Just as Unforgiven was a tragic reflection on Eastwood's legacy in the Western genre, Gran Torino caps and eloquently critiques the urban heritage of Dirty Harry and his violent brethren. And on top of that, the movie becomes a savvy meditation on America in a particular historical moment, racially, economically, spiritually. Call it a "state of the union" message. But call it that with a wry grin.

The latest Dirty Harry is actually a grumpy Walt: Walt Kowalski (Eastwood playing his own age), widower, Korean War veteran, retired auto worker, and the last white resident of his Detroit side street. It's hard to say who irks him more—his blood kin (a pretty lame bunch) or the Hmong families who are his new neighbors. Kowalski's a racist, because it has never occurred to him he shouldn't be. Besides, that's the flipside of the mutual ethnic baiting that serves as coin of affection for him and his working-class buddies. Circumstances—and two young people next door, the feisty Sue (Ahney Her) and her conflicted brother Thao (Bee Vang)—contrive to involve Walt with a new community, and anoint him as its hero after he turns his big guns on some ruffians. The trajectory of this may surprise you—several times over. Eastwood opted to film in economically blighted Detroit—a shrewd decision, but it's his mapping of Walt's world in that classical style of his that really counts. Every incidental corner of lawn, porch, and basement comes to matter—and by all means the workshop/garage that houses the mint-condition Gran Torino which Walt helped build in a more prosperous era. This is a remarkable movie. —Richard T. Jameson

Randal Kleiser Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. In this 2002 DVD release, Grease lovers can also now see it in the correct 2:35 to 1 Panavision aspect ratio, and see retrospective interviews with cast members and director Randal Kleiser. All these stylistic touches are essential to the film's success. Without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film would have to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative.

The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. Ignore the sequel at all costs. —Dave McCoy

Michel Gondry

Xavier Gens

Chris Sanders Dean DeBlois

Hd/Blu

Blu-Ray Just as A Bug's Life was a computer-animated comedy inspired by Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, the funny and often enthralling Ice Age is a digital re-imagining of the Western Three Godfathers. The heroes of this unofficial remake (set 20,000 years ago, during the titular Paleolithic era) are a taciturn mastodon named Manfred (voiced by Ray Romano), an annoying sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo), and a duplicitous saber-toothed tiger, Diego (Denis Leary). The unlikely team encounters a dying, human mother who relinquishes her chirpy toddler to the care of these critters. Hoping, against all odds, to return the little guy to his migrating tribe, Manfred and his associates need to establish trust among themselves, not an easy thing in a harsh world of predators, prey, and pushy glaciers. Audiences that have become accustomed to the rounded, polished, storybook look of Pixar's house brand of computer animation (Monsters, Inc.) will find the blunt edges and chilly brilliance of Ice Age—evoking the harsh, dangerous environment of a frozen world—a wholly different, and equally pleasing, trip. Recommended for ages 4 and up. —Tom Keogh

Spike Lee

Jon Favreau After the high-flying adventures of the first Iron Man picture, the billionaire arms manufacturer and irrepressible bon vivant Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) finds himself nursing a hangover. But not like any hangover he's had before: this one is toxic, a potentially deadly condition resulting from heavy metals (or something) bleeding out of the hardware he's installed in the middle of his chest. This is the problem Stark needs to solve in Iron Man 2, not to mention the threat from resentful Russian science whiz Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), whose father helped create the Iron Man technology. There's an even bigger problem for the film: the need to set up a future Marvel Comics movie universe in which a variety of veteran characters will join forces, a requirement that slows down whatever through-line the movie can generate (although fanboys will have a good time digging the clues laid out here). Actually, the main plot is no great shakes: another Iron Man suit is deployed (Don Cheadle, replacing Terrence Howard from the first film, gets to climb inside), Stark continues to bicker with assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and a weaselly business rival (Sam Rockwell) tries to out-do the Iron Man suit with an army of Vanko-designed drones. Mickey Rourke is a letdown, burdened by a wobbly Russian accent and looking skeptical about the genre foolishness around him, and Scarlett Johansson has to wait until the final couple of reels to unleash some butt-kickin' skills as the future Black Widow. That climax is sufficiently lively, and the initial half-hour, including Stark's smirky appearance before a Senate committee and a wacky showdown at the Monaco Grand Prix, provides a strong, swift opening. But the lull between these high points is crying for more action and more Downey improv. —Robert Horton

Harald Zwart A remake of the 1984 film of the same name, The Karate Kid well exceeds expectations, delivering a powerful viewing experience filled with action-packed martial arts scenes, great footage of China and its many wonders, and an absorbing story of a preadolescent boy's struggle to find his own inner strength. The title Karate Kid is really a misnomer as it is the art of kung fu that is practiced in this remake, not karate, and other details, including the film's setting in China, also differ from the original film. What remains the same, and just as powerful, is the underlying story: a young boy moves to a new place where he feels isolated and is bullied by his peers. Through an unlikely relationship with an adult, the boy not only learns to protect himself through martial arts, but develops the much more important qualities of respect and the mastery of one's own mind and body. Relative newcomer Jaden Smith (son of actors and producers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith) is excellent as the main character Drek Parker; Jackie Chan gives a restrained and highly effective performance as his mentor Mr. Han; and Zhenwei Wang is eerily believable as the bully Chen. This is an intense and often violent film that fully engulfs its viewers—be prepared to gasp and cheer out loud, and know that you may never look at the act of putting on and taking off a jacket in the same way again. (Ages 8 and older with parental guidance) —Tami Horiuchi

Knight and Day has action by the boatload, cheeky wit, unexpected double-crossing, sexual tension, and the blinding smile of its star, Tom Cruise. In short, what more could you ask of a rollicking good-time movie? Knight and Day, which also stars the irresistible Cameron Diaz as Cruise's superspy's ultimate foil, channels the best elements of earlier films like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Mission: Impossible, the Bourne films, and even a little of Duplicity's sophistication. Mostly, though, Knight and Day is about moving things along merrily, if not completely coherently, as the two stars tangle, and tussle with trust issues, in a completely believable, compulsively watchable way. Cruise plays Roy, an on-the-lam spy (who may have had some kind of psychotic break—or who may in fact be the only person telling the truth); he runs into the winsome June (Diaz), who gets caught up in Roy's mad dash to escape the cabal of federal agents on his tail. "No one follows us," Roy announces to a terrified diner crowd as he moves to make his escape with June, "or I kill myself—and then her." While Knight and Day, directed by James Mangold, has more than its share of high-speed chases, hails of bullets, and explosions, it works far better as a romantic comedy—for the chemistry between Diaz and Cruise is delicious, palpable, and believable. So grab a date and an extra-large popcorn, and get ready for a sweet and fun Knight and Day. —A.T. Hurley

Blu-Ray

Hd/Blu

Blue-Ray While Japan undergoes tumultuous transition to a more Westernized society in 1876-77, The Last Samurai gives epic sweep to an intimate story of cultures at a crossroads. In America, tormented Civil War veteran Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is coerced by a mercenary officer (Tony Goldwyn) to train the Japanese Emperor's troops in the use of modern weaponry. Opposing this "progress" is a rebellion of samurai warriors, holding fast to their traditions of honor despite strategic disadvantage. As a captive of the samurai leader (Ken Watanabe), Algren learns, appreciates, and adopts the samurai code, switching sides for a climactic battle that will put everyone's honor to the ultimate test. All of which makes director Edward Zwick's noble epic eminently worthwhile, even if its Hollywood trappings (including an all-too-conventional ending) prevent it from being the masterpiece that Zwick and screenwriter John Logan clearly wanted it to be. Instead, The Last Samurai is an elegant mainstream adventure, impressive in all aspects of its production. It may not engage the emotions as effectively as Logan's script for Gladiator, but like Cruise's character, it finds its own quality of honor. —Jeff Shannon

The heroes of 1899 are brought to life with the help of some expensive special effects in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From the pages of Victorian literature come Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr. Hyde), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, an Invisible Man, Mina Harker (from Dracula), and the hunter Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery), all brought together to combat an evil megalomaniac out to conquer the world. Hardly an original plot, but perhaps that's fitting for a movie sewn together like Frankenstein's monster. The movie rushes from one frenetic battle to another, replacing sense with spectacle—Nemo's submarine rising from the water, a warehouse full of zeppelins bursting into flame, Venice collapsing into its own canals; flashy, dumb, and completely incoherent. Fans of the original comic book will be disappointed. Also featuring Peta Wilson, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Richard Roxburgh, and Jason Flemyng. —Bret Fetzer

Martin Campbell

Blue-Ray The series formula started to kick in with this immediate sequel to Lethal Weapon, but that doesn't necessarily make it a weak movie. Joe Pesci joins the fold, Richard Donner directs again, and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover return as LAPD partners, their relationship smoother now that Gibson's character has recovered from his maddening grief over his wife's death. But the reckless Mel and cautious Danny equation, good for a million laughs, settles into place in this story involving a South African smuggler and a new girlfriend (Patsy Kensit) for Gibson. The movie is hardly comfy, though. The last act gets nasty, and a climactic fight between Gibson (who gets the worst of it) and some high-kicking villain is ugly. The DVD release includes production notes, Dolby sound, theatrical trailer, optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, optional French soundtrack, and optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles. —Tom Keogh

The Losers provides nonstop and pretty thrilling action, with a stellar cast, doing the comic book series from which it was adapted proud in the process. The movie may not have an airtight plot line, but its enthusiastic, talented actors—Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, and the underappreciated Jason Patric—and the crisp, punch-packing direction by Sylvain White more than make up for it. The Losers follows the gambits of a team of U.S. Special Forces, with appropriately comic-bookish names like Clay (Morgan), Roque (Idris Elba), Jensen (Evans), Pooch (Columbus Short), and Cougar (Óscar Jaenada). They're sent to Bolivia, where they are double-crossed and presumed dead—with a big bad evil guy, Max (Patric), hot on their trail. In the jungle, they join up with a mystery woman (Saldana, a confident, believable action hero) with her own agenda—and perhaps not the most trustworthy of intentions. The action is nonstop, with plenty of great special effects, as the team continues mostly under the radar with both its mission and trying to stay one step ahead of the shadowy Max. Morgan is terrific as a budding action star, self-deprecating in the manner of George Clooney, and a man who (almost always) gets the job done. And he'd be nowhere without his crew of sidekicks, all of whom have great chemistry and repartee, though it's Evans's Jensen who gets the best comic-relief lines. "I'm warning you, I am a lethal killing machine," Jensen intones to a mocking disbeliever. "In the words of ancient Taoist masters, 'Don't start none… Won't be none.'" Saldana brings great sex appeal to her role as the mystery ally. The comic-book nonstop action in The Losers makes it the perfect movie escape—a true winner for fans of action, humor, and a little extra kick in the pants. —A.T. Hurley

Tom McGrath Villainy is a way of life, but if a villain doesn't have a hero to battle, can he still expect the same sense of satisfaction from his evil deeds? When Megamind (Will Ferrell) finally defeats his long-time nemesis Metro Man (Brad Pitt), he ecstatically goes about laying ruin to Metro City, reveling in the fact that he can now have anything he wants. Surprisingly, Megamind's glee quickly turns to dissatisfaction as he realizes that the battle was half the fun and everything comes too easy now. Thus begins a plot to turn the nerdy Hal (Jonah Hill) into Tighten, a new hero for Megamind to battle. What Megamind doesn't count on is that Tighten may not turn out to be as good as he's meant to be. Nor does he anticipate falling in love with his old rival's girl Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey). In the end, Megamind finds he must rethink his assumptions about good, bad, and what makes him happy. Megamind and Despicable Me are remarkably similar movies: both deal with villains who are unfulfilled by their evil ways and who, despite their despicable natures, have some essential goodness deep down inside. Both villains are presented in highly stylized animation and the 3-D effects in each film are skillful and effective without being overdone. Megamind has Minion, who watches over him, while Gru has a whole crew of mindless minions supporting his evil ventures. Finally, both films are solidly entertaining. Because the two films were released within a few months of one another, speculation about who copied who will no doubt run rampant, but the bottom line is that both films are well worth seeing. (Ages 7 and older) —Tami Horiuchi

Set in the chillingly possible future of 2054, Steven Spielberg's Minority Report is arguably the most intelligently provocative sci-fi thriller since Blade Runner. Like Ridley Scott's "future noir" classic, Spielberg's gritty vision was freely adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick, with its central premise of "Precrime" law enforcement, totally reliant on three isolated human "precogs" capable (due to drug-related mutation) of envisioning murders before they're committed. As Precrime's confident captain, Tom Cruise preempts these killings like a true action hero, only to run for his life when he is himself implicated in one of the precogs' visions. Inspired by the brainstorming of expert futurists, Spielberg packs this paranoid chase with potential conspirators (Max Von Sydow, Colin Farrell), domestic tragedy, and a heartbreaking precog pawn (Samantha Morton), while Cruise's performance gains depth and substance with each passing scene. Making judicious use of astonishing special effects, Minority Report brilliantly extrapolates a future that's utterly convincing, and too close for comfort. —Jeff Shannon

Blue-Ray

Donald Petrie

Nick Cassavetes

Jake Gyllenhaal's doe eyes and bulging biceps will make some hearts flutter in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Dastan (Gyllenhaal), adopted prince of the Persian empire, must flee into the desert when accused of murdering his royal father—but a glass-handled dagger he found as loot from a captured city turns out to hold powerful time-manipulating magic. Not only is he pursued by his vengeful brothers, his scheming uncle (Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast), and a strange cabal of assassins, but a princess/priestess named Tamina (Gemma Arterton, Quantum of Solace) wants the dagger back and will kill Dastan if she has to. Prince of Persia wants to be a rollicking adventure along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, it's hampered by clumsy dialogue and hard-to-follow action sequences, with choppy editing that wrecks the flow of the parkour-inspired stunts. But the production design is extravagant and every time Alfred Molina (Spiderman 2) appears as a greedy sheik the movie gets a delightful jolt of energy. Gyllenhaal doesn't have much to work with—Dastan is a fairly generic hero—and whoever designed his hair should have been fired on the first day, but his lazy charm comes through and carries him through the movie. —Bret Fetzer

Blu-Ray

Paul W.S. Anderson A barrage of 3-D effects enlivens Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth entry in the seemingly endless action-science fiction horror franchise based on the popular Capcom video game series. Plot, dialogue, and character development all remain secondary considerations; what's key here are the set pieces that allow Milla Jovovich to unleash maximum damage to virally infected zombies, villainous henchmen, and just about anyone else who stands in the way of her stopping the shadowy Umbrella Corporation. Jovovich retains the blend of grit and pulchritude that have made her a fanboy favorite (though said viewers may decry the film's bit of shower-scene interruptus), and she's well supported by returning cast members Ali Larter and Boris Kodjoe (Undercovers) and Prison Break's Wentworth Miller, who, as Claire's brother, is back behind bars in a postapocalyptic jail overrun by plague zombies. And the 3-D effects are impressive and give a shot of adrenaline to the already hyper-driven action and CGI elements. Those looking for more than what the Resident Evil franchise is designed to provide—souped-up, B-movie thrills—are advised to lower their expectations; franchise devotees should be pleased, especially by the film's final scene, which (naturally) sets up another sequel. —Paul Gaita

The delightful designs of William Joyce (writer/illustrator of such popular children's books as George Shrinks and Bently & Egg) make Robots a joy to behold. The round, bouncy, and ramshackle forms of hero Rodney Copperbottom and his computer-animated friends are part of an ornate and daffy Rube-Goldberg universe of elaborate contraptions and gleaming metallic surfaces. Rodney (voiced with a hint-of-Scottish lilt by Ewan McGregor) is a young inventor who sets off for Robot City to work for Big Weld (Mel Brooks), the supreme inventor of the mechanical world. But upon his arrival, Rodney discovers that Big Weld has disappeared, and the slick, shiny Ratchet (Greg Kinnear, As Good As It Gets) is phasing out the spare parts that lumpen robots need to function and replacing them with "upgrades"—expensive and glistening new exoskeletons. Unfortunately, from this suitable beginning, the story degenerates into a series of action sequences that make very little sense, though some are kinetic and fun (though others are only there to serve the inevitable Robots video game). Most kids will enjoy the sheer visual pleasure of the movie, but compared to the narrative richness of Pixar movies like The Incredibles and Toy Story, that pleasure is pretty short-lived. Also featuring the voices of Robin Williams, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Jennifer Coolidge, and many, many more. —Bret Fetzer

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a finger-blistering time capsule of right now, yet in a hundred years it will still be so crammed with charm, wit, brio, and exuberance it will still be irresistible. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera, Superbad) is an accidental heartbreaker, a Canadian slacker who obsesses over the girls who've dumped him but hardly realizes how he's dumped other girls. But everything else in his life (including playing bass in a band) fades to insignificance when he lays eyes on Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Live Free or Die Hard), his deadpan pixie dream girl. Unfortunately, Ramona has some serious baggage: seven deadly exes, and Scott must battle them all if he wants to date Ramona. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is saturated in pop culture, particularly video games. Many events make almost no sense, but it doesn't matter—sheer narrative ferocity and glee of invention sweep the viewer along. Cera pushes his geek/dork dreamboat persona to new heights of sweet twee-ness; if this movie doesn't shoot him into the stratosphere, we live in a cold, unfeeling universe, bereft of justice. The whole supporting cast (including Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman, Anna Kendrick, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, and a host of less familiar but excellent young actors) plays every moment for all it's worth. This movie is supremely uncool and passionate, which makes it essential viewing. —Bret Fetzer

Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi More than a few critics hailed Spider-Man 2 as "the best superhero movie ever," and there's no compelling reason to argue—thanks to a bigger budget, better special effects, and a dynamic, character-driven plot, it's a notch above Spider-Man in terms of emotional depth and rich comic-book sensibility. Ordinary People Oscar®-winner Alvin Sargent received screenplay credit, and celebrated author and comic-book expert Michael Chabon worked on the story, but it's director Sam Raimi's affinity for the material that brings Spidey 2 to vivid life. When a fusion experiment goes terribly wrong, a brilliant physicist (Alfred Molina) is turned into Spidey's newest nemesis, the deranged, mechanically tentacled "Doctor Octopus," obsessed with completing his experiment and killing Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) in the process. Even more compelling is Peter Parker's urgent dilemma: continue his burdensome, lonely life of crime-fighting as Spider-Man, or pursue love and happiness with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst)? Molina's outstanding as a tragic villain controlled by his own invention, and the action sequences are nothing less than breathtaking, but the real success of Spider-Man 2 is its sense of priorities. With all of Hollywood's biggest and best toys at his disposal, Raimi and his writers stay true to the Marvel mythology, honoring Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and setting the bar impressively high for the challenge of Spider-Man 3. —Jeff Shannon

Blu-Ray

Jon M. Chu

Step Up 3D capitalizes both on the compelling dance moves of the first two films in the series, as well as on the trend toward using 3D in full-length feature films. And the idea to present a high-energy dance film in 3D turns out to be a brilliant use of the technology. Viewers feel as though they're right in the midst of the competitive moves, the sweaty, almost frenzied choreography practically palpable on the screen. Step Up 3D follows a plot arc similar to the first two Step Up films, with urban kids kicking around in the streets, at loose ends but dying to express themselves artistically and physically. The dance numbers are the climaxes worth waiting for and are sprinkled throughout the movie, holding together a thin plot that nevertheless works just fine to get viewers from Dance Point A to B and beyond. Standouts in the young, hip, incredibly talented cast are Rick Malambri as Luke, the Australian hot-body Sharni Vinson as Natalie, and Keith Stallworth as Jacob—but the entire cast is eye-popping eye candy when they do their gravity-defying hip-hop moves. Luke and Natalie and Adam Savani as Moose take on a world-ranked dance group where the competition is heightened, tensions erupt, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Step Up 3D is reminiscent of films like Bring It On and even TV shows like Glee in which talented young people struggle in their art and in their personal lives—but the payoff for the characters, and the viewers, comes in their impossibly watchable performances at the end. Step Up 3Dhas plenty to root for and is family friendly except for the youngest viewers. Don't be surprised if you feel like busting a move as you get deep into the dance showdown. —A.T. Hurley

Richard Donner Filled out with about eight minutes of additional footage, this deluxe Superman almost doubles Marlon Brando's screen time with added scenes on Krypton and in the Fortress of Solitude and fills out the early life of Clark Kent, contributing to a more mythic portrait of America's greatest hero. There is also more disaster footage during the earthquake climax, and Lex Luthor's "Gauntlet of Death" sequence (seen on network TV broadcasts) is reinstated.

The commentary by director Richard Donner and "creative consultant" Tom Mankeiwicz lacks the focus and detail of a filmmaker really grappling with his work (it has been almost 25 years, after all), but it's full of interesting asides, casting trivia (Goldie Hawn as Miss Teschmacher?), and the good-humored byplay of two old friends.

The three documentary featurettes hosted by Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) are essentially chapters of a comprehensive behind-the-scenes study, full of illuminating interviews (Donner and Mankeiwicz are more revealing here), special-effects tests (including all the failed attempts to make you believe a man can fly), and the bizarre true story of the unceremonious firing of Richard Donner after he had turned Superman into a worldwide smash and shot about 70 percent of the sequel.

A separate supplement features screen tests for Christopher Reeve and five different Lois Lanes (including a giggly Leslie Ann Warren and a snappy Stockard Channing), and two legendary, delightfully demented scenes featuring Lex Luthor's snarling "babies" (also seen on TV broadcasts) are featured in the gallery of Deleted Scenes. —Sean Axmaker

Disney's 50th full-length animated feature film, Tangled is a visually appealing, music-filled adventure full of romance and humor. The movie focuses on Rapunzel, a girl with long magical hair who's lived her entire life imprisoned in a tower by her greedy mother. Naturally optimistic and acquiescent, Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) rarely complains about her circumstances, but for her 18th birthday she longs to leave the tower to see the floating lights that appear every year on her birthday. Her mother (Donna Murphy) refuses her request, but when thief Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi) climbs the tower to escape his pursuers, Rapunzel (once she's conked him on the head with a skillet multiple times) impulsively decides to trust the young man and convinces him to help her escape to see the floating lights. Thus begins a journey that alternates quite schizophrenically between optimistic excitement and guilty remorse that will ultimately change Rapunzel's and Flynn's lives forever. Tangled is a masterful blend of humor, adventure, passion, and drama combined with a great musical score and top-notch animation. The Real 3-D effects add to the experience but probably won't really be missed in other formats. Best of all, Disney presents a princess who matures from a meek and compliant girl into a spunky young woman who's not afraid to pursue her dreams and risk it all for love—now that's a Disney princess worth emulating. (Ages 6 and older) —Tami Horiuchi

The third installment of Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster vampire series is its most action packed, both in terms of fight scenes and human-vampire-werewolf lovin'. In Eclipse, the vampiric Cullen clan and the werewolves—their sworn enemies—unite against an army of "newborn" vampires, whose remnants of human blood in their veins makes them stronger and more uncontrollable, causing a string of murders in the Seattle area. They've been created by the vengeful vampire Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard, taking over for Rachelle Lefevre), still keen on destroying human Bella (Kristen Stewart). Thus, Bella is under careful watch, and her undead love Edward (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf best friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) spend a lot of time arguing over who is the better man for her. (In one hilarious scene where Bella's freezing and only Jacob has the lupine body heat to warm her, he looks over at Edward and cracks, "I am hotter than you." Go Team Jacob!) But there's more at the heart of the triangle than love: Bella, against Edward's warnings, doesn't want to grow older than him and would willingly give up contact with her parents, the chance to grow old with children, and more to be turned into a bloodthirsty vampire. (Jacob's trump card is that Bella wouldn't have to give up her mortality to be with him.) But the unfolding of this love triangle is even clumsier than it was on the page; you're never really convinced Bella has romantic feelings for Jacob, even during their climactic kiss on top of the mountain. This is likely to confuse non-readers of the book series, as Stewart emotes nothing that intones there's a real competition here (clearly, she's Team Edward).

Pattinson, on the other hand, appears to have overcome his awkwardness to become a much cooler Edward; Howard, while missing Lefevre's mischief as Victoria, brings her own touch of soft-spoken manipulation; and Billy Burke, as Bella's father Charlie, continues to steal every scene he's in. The other Cullens also get far more play here, notably Rosalie (Nikki Reed), whose revealing back story is touching and tragic, and Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), who trains everyone in combat and who, halfway through the movie, adopts a sudden Southern accent that he didn't have before, once it's revealed he was a Confederate soldier (on a side note, it's mentioned in the books that Jasper can calm the emotions of others, but that trait isn't used in the movie). The climactic fight scene is well staged by director David Slade (30 Days of Night, Hard Candy); the violence, while not bloody, is still more abundant and disturbing than in the previous films; and the sex, while not actually happening between anyone (yet), is certainly on everyone's mind (but Edward wants to get married first). It seems the characters, and the series, are growing up. —Ellen A. Kim

Hd/Blu Transporter 2 knows what its audience wants and—like its title character—it delivers. This is a movie that has not only a fight choreographer but also a car stunt choreographer; a movie in which a female assassin wears nothing but a bra and panties because, presumably, additional clothing would be too cumbersome; a movie in which crashing through a concrete wall in order to leap over a four-lane street will not even rumple the hood of the hero's car; a movie in which a drunken supermodel, after her advances are chastely and gently rebuffed by the hero, says "Thanks for the respect—that's what I needed most"; a movie, in short, for those who liked the first Transporter but found it too subdued and character-driven. Jason Statham (The Italian Job) reprises his role as Frank Martin, a perhaps overly diligent chauffer who will break bones if his duty is impeded. The sheer glee with which Transporter 2 casts aside logic, probability, and the laws of physics is infectious. If the sequence in which Frank flips his car upside-down in order to detach the bomb attached to his undercarriage doesn't reduce you to intoxicated giggles, well...you're watching the wrong movie. Transporter 2 is utterly shameless, unstoppably ridiculous, and completely enjoyable. Also featuring Amber Valetta (Hitch), Jason Flemyng (Snatch), and Matthew Modine. —Bret Fetzer

The son of a virtual world designer goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed. He meets his fathers creation turned bad and a unique ally who was born inside the digital domain of the grid. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 04/05/2011 Starring: 0eff Bridges Garrett Hedlund Run time: 126 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Joseph Kosinski

Chris Weitz New Moon, the second in Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster teen-fiction saga adapted for film, is stronger than its predecessor, Twilight. Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), taking the helm from Catherine Hardwicke, brings a lighter, more assured touch to the sequel, which continues the star-crossed love story of mortal Bella (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson). Incidentally, Edward is absent for most of the film; after an accident on Bella's birthday reminds Edward that her life is always at risk when he's around, he chooses to abandon her, sending her into a deep depression. The only person who helps her heal her broken heart is her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a member of the Quileute tribe who, as he grows taller, beefier, and more aggressive (with less clothing), comes to realize he's not entirely human either. But even his love for Bella doesn't prevent her from throwing herself in the path of danger, because that's the only time she can see visions of Edward. One such fateful misunderstanding sends Edward into the coven of the Volturi (a sort of vampire Mafia, if you will), where the most dangerous vampires hold both Edward and Bella's fate in their cold, dark hands. Much of New Moon rests on the shoulders of Lautner, so scrawny in Twilight, who famously packed on the muscle to avoid getting recast. He's very nearly successful in carrying the load, but the cheese-tastic beefcake scenes disservice him, and Jacob and Bella's complicated friendship stumbles on its way to any kind of love triangle. Some of that blame lies with Stewart, who understandably holds her emotions close to her chest but reveals much too little (c'mon, even an angsty girl has to be a little joyful in the arms of two different hunks). As is with the book, the film is just a bridge between sagas, so the plot drags and not a lot happens. Fortunately, while Twilight was trapped in its own self-consciousness, the wobbly-legged cast seems to have found stronger footing in New Moon; the jokes come faster, the writing (by Melissa Rosenberg, who also scribed Twilight) is a hair wittier. (Even Pattinson seems more comfortable in Edward's skin.) The Volturi, highlighted by Michael Sheen's Aro and Dakota Fanning's Jane, also make an all-too-brief impression, but at least there's more to look forward to when Eclipse, the third installment, is released. —Ellen A. Kim

Catherine Hardwicke The big-screen adaptation of Twilight, Stephenie Meyer's bestselling vampire romance, is aimed squarely at its key demographic: teen girls whose idea of Prince Charming is a brooding, pale, undead teen who could kill you instantly at any moment. Such a prince is more fascinating than frightening to new girl Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who moves to the rainy-gray town of Forks, Wash., to live with her dad (Billy Burke), the local sheriff who's puzzled by a series of "animal attacks." On her first day at school, Bella appears to (visibly) nauseate her lab partner, Edward (Robert Pattinson). Turns out the scent of her blood is this vampire's "brand of heroin," and his struggle not to kill her causes an irresistible pull toward her. Whether he's attracted for the normal reasons or because she smells especially sweet to him is vague in the book and even less clear on-screen; nonetheless, Bella falls hopelessly in love with Edward, which sets her on a dangerous path when a few nomad vampires show up in town, one particularly keen on tracking the human. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), Twilight is full of funny moments—not all of which are intentional—and the casting, from Stewart to Bella's self-absorbed friend Jessica (Anna Kendrick) is spot-on. The weakest link, unfortunately, is Pattinson. While he certainly looks the part, his Edward could have used an extra injection of testosterone (Pattinson, who is British, used James Dean as a model for his American accent). In scenes where he growls about the temptation to kill those who would harm Bella, or flitting around a forest warning her how dangerous he is, he comes off more like a whimpering puppy than a debonair monster. The good news is, his chemistry with Stewart (particularly in their big kissing scene) is palpable, which, let's face it, is really what matters to Twilight fans most. —Ellen A. Kim

Andy Jones, Andy Wachowski, Josh Oreck, Kôji Morimoto, Lana Wachowski

Blu-Ray Although this DVD is wrapped in the handsome packaging of the "Vista Series," the extras here are minimal. The first disc has no extras but is packed with four separate Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and is THX certified. The second disc holds four features, including a standard making-of featurette (15 minutes long) and a nifty segment that allows viewers to compare the storyboards to the final film and separate the music and sound effects in the train station sequence. More satisfying is the 20-minute short on the state of comic books, featuring revealing comments from critics and authors including Frank Miller (of the touchstone Dark Knight series). Seven deleted scenes are introduced by the director, and while none is significant to the plot, they are all must-see for fans of the film. Though this first installment of the Vista Series may deliver less than viewers might expect, the exquisite attention to design promises big things from future endeavors. —Doug Thomas

Blu-Ray

It's Elena's first day back at Mystic Falls High School since the tragic death of her parents. Along with her Aunt Jenna, Elena tries her best to look after her troubled younger brother, Jeremy, and salvage what family they have left. The first day is already shaping up to be a struggle for Elena until she meets the mysterious new kid at school, Stefan. Elena is touched that he can relate to what she's going through. What Elena doesn't know is that Stefan is a vampire, constantly resisting the urge to taste her blood. As their undeniable connection grows deeper, Stefan's dangerous older brother, Damon, shows up to wreak havoc on the town of Mystic Falls - and claim Elena for himself. The Vampire Diaries is based on the bestselling book series from Alloy Entertainment.

Blu-ray Walter Hill's controversial 1979 drama was blamed for causing gang violence at theaters, but now it looks as highly stylized and pulpy as Hill (Last Man Standing) intended. The plot finds a New York gang having to cross the territory of rivals in order to get to their own 'hood. A sort of urban Western with a comic-book pace, artificial colors, fable-like tone, and broad acting, the film isn't intended to steep us in gritty realities so much as spin a decadent fantasy out of them. Still, this is a tough film with an almost futuristic element to its characterizations of gang activity, and it is more absorbing than Hill's more elaborate youth opera of punk wars, Streets of Fire. —Tom Keogh

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Vin Diesel is no James Bond, and he doesn't want to be. That's why XXX announced Diesel as the adrenalin-junkie Bond of the PlayStation generation, copying the Bond formula so shamelessly that this action-packed silliness would be a Bond movie if it starred Pierce Brosnan. Reuniting Diesel with his Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, XXX has an attitude (if not a brain) all its own, plucking Diesel's Xander Cage from his celebrity as an extreme sports renegade, recruited by a National Security Agency big shot (Samuel L. Jackson) to foil a nasty Czech villain (Marton Csokas) who's eager to depopulate Prague with remote-controlled biological weaponry. Toss in a sulky, sultry Russian agent (Asia Argento) and you've got extreme Bond-age for anyone who thinks tuxedos are passé. With a handful of eye-popping action sequences, XXX launched a movie franchise with a cool guy, another cool muscle car, and plenty of box-office sizzle. —Jeff Shannon

A blend of live action and computer animation, Yogi Bear is a lighthearted comedy featuring everyone's favorite smarter-than-average bear, Yogi (Dan Aykroyd), and his pal Boo-Boo (Justin Timberlake). Ranger Smith (Tom Cavanagh) and his assistant Ranger Jones (T.J. Miller) are charged with keeping everything running smoothly in Jellystone Park, which basically translates into keeping Yogi's obsession with stealing people's picnic baskets under control and stocking the pamphlet stand. But when Mayor Brown (Andrew Daly) decides to close the park and rezone the land to allow widespread logging, Ranger Smith must find a way to make the park quickly turn a profit to stop the process and save the park from destruction. Documentary filmmaker Rachel (Anna Faris) happens to be in the park on a quest to film the unusual talking bear Yogi, so she and Ranger Smith team up and create a big centennial celebration that has the potential to save the park. Unfortunately, a crazy stunt by Yogi derails the celebration and destroys any chance of the park making a profit. The question is, was there sabotage involved and is there any other way to save the park? This film is packed full of crazy inventions, silly gags, high adventure, and slapstick comedy, and, while it's really just fanciful entertainment, it does leave viewers with the message that you can't fail if you never stop trying. (Ages 7 and older) —Tami Horiuchi