December 2003 DVD & Blu-rays

Aboard the Black Pearl, infamous pirate Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) attacks the city of Port Royal and kidnaps a governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley). Barbossa then sets sail with his hostage toward a secret hideaway, hoping to lift an ancient curse by sacrificing her and returning a once-plundered treasure. Elizabeth's childhood friend Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) meets an eccentric seaman, Jack Sparrow, who reveals that the Black Pearl was formerly his ship, until Barbossa committed mutiny. Together, they assemble a ragtag crew and commandeer a British vessel, hoping to chase down and free both Elizabeth and Sparrow's Pearl. Following after them is the British military, led by Elizabeth's would-be fiancé, Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport).

September 1944. Several days before Finland, an ally of Nazi Germany, pulls out of World War II, Veiko, (Ville Haapasalo) a lone Finnish sniper, is turned on by his compatriots for a being a pacifist and, in their eyes, a reluctant fighter. As a punishment, the young man is placed in shackles, nailed to a heavy rock and forced to wear a German uniform, knowing full well that Russian soldiers have orders to shoot Germans on sight, without accepting surrender. Veiko is thus left to die in a remote Lapland forest, with nothing but a few supplies and his wits. Days pass, and after several failed attempts, he succeeds in freeing himself and heads for safety, shackles still attached. While trying to escape, Veiko witnesses the following through his rifle's telescope: Ivan, a captain in the Russian army accused of anti-Soviet correspondence, is being held prisoner by the Soviet Military secret police. En route to his court martial, Russian planes accidentally bomb the vehicle carrying the disgraced captain, killing the driver and his guard. Not far away is Anni (Anni-Kristiina Juuso), a Lapp reindeer farmer whose husband was drafted into the war by the Finnish authorities four years earlier, never to return. Hungry and alone, the young and resourceful widow locates the bodies of Ivan and his captors while foraging for food. As she begins to bury the dead, Anni discovers that Ivan is still alive, but seriously hurt. She carries him to her wooden hut and nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, Veiko, in search of tools to remove his shackles, stumbles upon Anni's farm. Thus World War II creates the unlikeliest of bonds (between three different people, from three different cultures, speaking three different languages.) Comic, and sometimes tragic, misunderstandings soon arise, resulting in a passionate, and very human, three-way relationship. Unable to communicate with the others and unaware that the war between the USSR and Finland is over, Ivan is convinced that Veiko is a German soldier gone astray; to Ivan, the German uniform the Finnish soldier was forced to wear is further proof. But Veiko is unaware of Ivan's hatred and just wants to cut off his shackles, return home and put the war behind him. Yet, to avoid falling into enemy hands, Veiko opts to stay on Anni's farm for temporary safety. The earthy and sensuous Anni, who has not been with a man in four years, could not be more delighted with her good fortune, language barrier be damned. For Anni, Veiko and Ivan are not enemies, but just men. An uncommon and touching bond develops, as the three unlikely souls begin a domestic routine of hunting and gathering in preparation for the long Lap winter. The two men do what they can to contribute to Anni's well being: Veiko builds a sauna and Ivan picks mushrooms... but their war is not over.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back - and oh so bad - on the streets of Miami in "Bad Boys II", reuniting them with director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Narcotics detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) have been assigned to a high-tech task force investigating the flow of designer ecstasy into Miami. Their inquiries inadvertently lead them to a major conspiracy involving a vicious kingpin (Jordi Molla), whose ambitions to take over the city's drug trade have ignited a bloody turf war. But Mike and Marcus's friendship and working relationship is threatened when Mike begins to develop feelings for Marcus' sister Syd (Gabrielle Union). Unless they can separate the personal from the professional, the bad boys are in danger of blowing the case and endangering Syd's life in the process.

"Gigli", is a new romantic gangster comedy from director Martin Brest, ("Scent of a Woman", "Midnight Run", "Beverly Hills Cop") about a lowly thug who lets love get in the way of a high-risk mob assignment. Gigli (Ben Affleck) is ordered to kidnap the psychologically challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor. When plans go awry, Gigli's boss sends in Ricki (Jennifer Lopez), a gorgeous, free-spirited female gangster who has her own set of orders to assist with the kidnapping. But Gigli begins falling for the decidedly unavailable Ricki, which could be a hazard to his occupation.

John J. (Robert Duvall) is a seasoned hit man sent on a job to Argentina. When the General he's sent to kill delays his return to the country, John passes the time with Manuela (Luciana Pedraza), a beautiful dancer who becomes his teacher and guide into Argentina's sensual world of the tango. Spellbound by the rich and mysterious world Manuela has shown him, his idyll is shattered when the reality of why he's there comes crashing down around him.

The winner of the second Project Greenlight screenwriting contest, "The Battle of Shaker Heights", is a uniquely funny portrait of modern youth under siege. For high school senior Kelly Ernswiler, life is war - or, at least, it's simulated war. In all his 17 years, Kelly has found just one true passion: re-enacting the epic battle scenes of World War II. When he meets Bart Bowland, a fellow war re-enactor who is Kelly's direct opposite, his life take twists and turns he never expected – including a real-life Special Ops mission against a school bully, an ongoing battle with his outrageous family and the epic teenage crush of a lifetime.

Dr. Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Anna (Lindsay Lohan), are not getting along. They don't see eye-to-eye on clothes, hair, music, and certainly not in each other's taste in men. One Thursday evening, their disagreements reach a fever pitch - Anna is incensed that her mother doesn't support her musical aspirations and Tess, a widow about to remarry, can't see why Anna won't give her fiance (Mark Harmon) a break. Everything soon changes when two identical Fortune Cookies cause a little mystic mayhem.

Ash and Pikachu travel to the Water Capital of the world, Alto Mare, where they meet two new Pokemons, the brother/sister pair of birds called Latias and Latios who protect a treasure called the Droplet of the Heart, which is the target of a pair of thieves, Zanna and Rion. As the town gets accidentally flooded, the Droplet becomes endangered... can Ash save the day?

Based very loosely on the Alan Moore graphic novel epic of the same name, this is the story of a group of characters drawn from famous works of literature, including Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, The Invisible Man, Mina Murray and Dr. Jekyll, banding together to combat criminal undertakings of the highest order near the turn of the 19th century. Rather than remain true to the comic roots, the film also incorporates Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray, in an apparent effort to keep the cast from being entirely without Americans, and it is set in New York.

When the vacationing Rugrats and their parents get stranded on a deserted island, Tommy Pickles knows there's only one man who can help them: Nigel Thornberry! Except a bonk on the head has made Nigel suddenly seem more like a 3-year-old than a man. Luckily, the babies have Eliza on their side, and with her ability to communicate with animals, she can even talk to Spike! Will the Rugrats ever make it back to their own back yard? Will Nigel the toddler turn back into a documentary-making dad? Will Spike sound an awful lot like Bruce Willis?

This is the true story of a former bicycle repairman, Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), who made his fortune introducing the automobile to the American West, and who owned a small, knobbly-kneed horse called Seabiscuit. Howard teamed up with a half-blind ex-boxing prize fighter, Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), who became the horse's jockey and a former "mustang breaker" Wild West performer called "The Lone Plainsman", Tom Smith (Chris Cooper), who became the horse's trainer. As the United States struggled through the Great Depression, people around the country followed with rapt interest of the Seabiscuit story, leading to his win of the Horse of the Year honors in 1938...

As its 23 horrifying days of flesh-eating come to an end, an ancient creature known as the Creeper embarks on a final voracious feeding frenzy, terrorizing a group of varsity basketball players, cheerleaders and coaches stranded on a remote highway after their bus breaks down. Fighting their own fears and prejudices while trapped aboard the isolated bus, the terrified group of young athletes are forced to come together and do battle against the winged creature hell-bent on completing its grizzly ritual of feasting on humans.

A young Frenchman moves into an apartment full of international students in Barcelona and discovers that mixing with students of many nationalities gives him a new perspective on life.

The film follows 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain (Romola Garai), and the fortunes of her eccentric family, struggling to survive in a decaying English castle. Her father (Bill Nighy) is desperate to repeat the spectacular success of his first novel, but hasn't written a word for 12 years; her exquisite sister Rose (Rose Byrne) can only rail against their fate, and their bohemian step-mother Topaz (Tara FitzGerald) is a nudist and no help at all. Salvation comes in the form of their American landlord Simon Cotton (Henry Thomas) and his brother Neil (Marc Blucas).

Combining the physicality of international action superstar Jackie Chan with state-of-the-art special effects, Highbinders is an action comedy co-starring Claire Forlani and Julian Sands. Chan stars as Eddie, an indomitable Hong Kong cop who, after a near-fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion, is suddenly transformed into a Highbinder -- an immortal warrior with superhuman powers. Eddie enlists the help of fellow agent Nicole (Claire Forlani) to determine the secret of the medallion and face down the evil Highbinders who so desperately want it back.

The story of a struggling artist (Woody Allen) who has an affair with a much, much younger woman (Christina Ricci), which breaks the heart of her boyfriend (Jason Biggs), and raises the ire of her shotgun-wielding father (Dammu DeVito).

In the explosive action-thriller "S.W.A.T." starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell, and inspired by the '70s television series, Farrell portrays Jim Street, an L.A.P.D. officer whose recent demotion to a desk job leaves him desperate for a second chance to don the elite S.W.A.T. uniform. That break comes when team commander Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson) is assigned to recruit and train five top-notch officers for a new Special Weapons and Tactics unit (S.W.A.T.).

Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger) is a member of an arcane order of priests who is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of the head of this order. The body may be of a Sin Eater, a renegade who offers absolution, last rites and therefore a path to heaven outside the jurisdiction of the church. Alex enlists the aid of his old comrade Father Thomas and of a troubled artist (Shannyn Sossamon) upon whom he once performed an exorcism. He soon finds himself plunged directly into the face of unimaginable evil, murder, and ultimately, a fate worse than death.

A fast and furious action tale of three tough, hard-hitting women who take on a powerful pair of computer moguls, the Hong Kong police, two deadly assassins, and... each other. Shu Qi and Zhao Wei play sisters whose family inheritances are a state-of-the-art computer surveillance system and an unresolved family vendetta. After a wealthy Shanghai computer magnate is murdered, a beautiful and ambitious young undercover detective (Mok) is assigned to the case. Finding herself further drawn-in when she discovers the criminal masterminds are two women, the young detective eventually comes face-to-face with the sisters who, despite their delicate appearance, hold mental and combat skill to match her own. A battle of wits and force ensues in this tale of technological wizardry.

It's 1955 and industries are booming as America undergoes a postwar metamorphosis. However, in the small town of Northfork, the townspeople are being evacuated because of the construction of a dam that will wash away their homes. A group of trench-coat-wearing government employees, hired to get rid of the proud few who remain, go about the business of destroying lives with efficiency. Meanwhile, a young orphan boy lies sick in bed, being cared for by a devoted priest. The boy's fever dreams include fantastic beings that might be angels... but are they simply in his head?