October 2005 DVD & Blu-rays

Jiminy Glick (Martin Short), an entertainment critic for a television station in Butte, Montana, arrives at the Toronto Film Festival, a complete unknown, intent on finding fame among the rich, famous and fabulous. His dreams of becoming the most celebrated and renowned star interviewer are realized when he is granted an exclusive with elusive young megastar Ben DiCarlo (Corey Pearson). This catapults Jiminy from obscurity to being the most talked about guy in town. Filmmakers and studio executives want to schmooze him and every actor wants to be interviewed by him, including fading Hollywood star Miranda Coolidge (Elizabeth Perkins). When Miranda is later found dead in Jiminy's bed, he thinks he is to blame and suddenly gets embroiled in a murder mystery whodunit complete with sex, scandal, rappers and glamorous celebrities.

In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona (Nathalie Press) meets the exotic, pampered Tasmin (Emily Blunt). Over the summer season, the two young women discover they have much to teach one another, and much to explore together.

The escalating events begin when African-born U.N. translator Silvia Broome (Kidman) alleges that she has overheard a death threat against an African head of state, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than Silvia can understand. With the words "The Teacher will never leave this room alive," in an instant, Silvia's life is turned upside down as she becomes a hunted target of the killers. Placed under the protection of federal agent Tobin Keller (Penn), Silvia's world only grows more nightmarish. As Keller digs deeper into his eyewitness' past and her secretive world of global connections, the more suspicious he becomes that she herself might be involved in the conspiracy. With every step of the way, he finds more reasons to mistrust her.

An American artist living a bohemian existence in Paris, Tom Warshaw (David Duchovny) is trying to make sense of his troubled adult life by reflecting upon his extraordinary childhood...The year is 1973, and thirteen-year-old Greenwich Village native Tommy Warshaw (Anton Yelchin) is on the brink of becoming a man. While his bereaved single mother (Téa Leoni) continues to mourn the death of his father, Tommy escapes his own grief by causing trouble at school and making afternoon meat deliveries with his best friend Pappas (Robin Williams), a mentally challenged janitor. Following the romantic advice offered by Lady (Erykah Badu) - incarcerated in the infamous Greenwich Village Women's House of Detention for shadowy reasons—Tommy even experiences his first taste of love. Yet when an unexpected tragedy radically alters his world, Tommy must make a life-defining choice—one that will compel the adult Tom Warshaw, thirty years later, to confront his unfinished past.

On November 13, 1974, police received a frantic phone call that led them to a grisly crime scene at the DeFeo residence in Amityville, Long Island—an entire family had been slaughtered in their beds. In the days that followed, Ronald DeFeo confessed to methodically shooting his parents and four siblings while they slept. He claimed voices in the house drove him to commit the murders. One year later, George and Kathy Lutz and their children moved into the house thinking it would be their dream home. But shortly after settling in, bizarre and unexplainable events began to occur – nightmarish visions and haunting voices from an evil presence still lurking within the house. 28 days after moving in, the Lutzes abandoned the home, lucky to escape with their lives. Now, 30 years after the shocking real-life events that inspired one of the most popular horror stories of all time, return to the house that started it all: "The Amityville Horror".

Set during the 12th century in the holy city of Jerusalem, a young Muslim peasant and blacksmith, Salaq Ul-Hul (Orlando Bloom), becomes a knight so that he may help repel the Crusaders who took control of the city in 1099. Meanwhile, the young knight also falls in love with the city's beautiful princess...

"11:14" tells the seemingly random yet vitally connected story of a set of incidents that all converge one evening at 11:14pm. It's a sort of musical chairs with a corpse, with the structurally intriguing storytelling style of Memento and Run Lola Run. The story starts at - 11:14pm - one evening with a young man named Jack who is driving down the freeway, on his way to a rendezvous with his girlfriend. His car hits a body at that moment. Thinking he killed him, Jack tries to hide the body. From there, we backtrack to follow the chain of events of five different characters and five different storylines that all converge and become party to Jack's hitting the body at 11:14pm.

The film centers on two teen girls who settle in for a relaxing weekend at a country farmhouse, unaware that a violent intruder is speeding toward them to transform their dreams into a relentless, bloody nightmare.

On and beneath the meanest streets of Glasgow, fiery gangster Bart is merciless with debtors, would-be rivals, and anyone else to whom he takes even a passing dislike. How does Bart maintain his chokehold? Through his unwitting enforcer Danny, who he has "raised" since boyhood. Danny has been kept as a near-prisoner by his "Uncle" Bart; trained to attack and, if necessary, kill. Danny knows little of life, except the brutal existence that Bart has so crudely and cruelly fashioned for him. But when Danny has a chance encounter with soft-spoken blind piano tuner Sam, he senses true kindness and compassion for the first time and experiences the transforming power of music. When a sudden gangland coup separates Danny from Bart and his mob, Danny is at last away from the underworld. He takes refuge with Sam and his spunky teenaged stepdaughter Victoria. Sam and Victoria open their home and hearts to Danny, who begins to envision a new future for himself. However, the mob will not give up its prize pupil so easily, and Danny must soon fight again, and fight back, to protect his new family and bury his troubled past.

Will Ferrell stars as Phil Weston, an everage Joe who's had to put up all his life with his overly competitive father, Buck (Robert Duvall). When Phil decides to coach his 10-year old son's soccer team, he goes head-to-head for the league championship against Buck, who coaches his own young son on the preeminent team of the league. Old scores come into play as Phil and Buck find themselves going to extreme measures to win the championship trophy.

Based on Ann Brashares' best-selling novel about a special 16th summer in the lives of four lifelong friends. The film stars Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn, America Ferrara and Blake Lively as four 16-year-old best friends who are separated for the first time. On a last shopping trip together, the girls find a pair of thrift-shop jeans that fits each of them perfectly and they decide to use these "magic" pants as a way of keeping in touch over the months ahead, each girl wearing the jeans for a week to see what luck they bring her before sending them on to the next. Though miles apart, the four friends still experience life, love and loss together in a summer they'll never forget.

Set against the background of an Inquisition trial in 1740s Peru, Bridge tells the story of five people tragically killed when the San Luis Rey Bridge collapses and how this changes the lives of their friends and families.

1976. Buenos Aires is haunted by the ongoing disappearances of individuals who dare to take a stand against the dictatorship government. Carlos Rueda, the director of a children's theatre, returns home to find his wife, Cecilia, has been taken away for writing a controversial article in the local paper. Carlos meets with others whose loved ones have disappeared and discovers that he can look into their faces and see the fate of those they love. People flock to him for news of those who have disappeared, but no matter how hard he tries he cannot see where Cecilia is, though he can sense where she has been. Carlos desperately searches for his wife, but he is always one step behind. Meanwhile, Cecilia is planning her own dangerous escape.

Peaceful, rustic Berkeley is a charming fishing community where life is sweet and the people friendly. All that is about to change. After losing her childhood farm to the bank, local beauty Rene decides to leave town and head for the big city. Suddenly, an avalanche of meteorites races through the sky, bombarding the town and bringing an otherworldly infection. Departing is going to be much more difficult than she had planned. The living dead are awakened and Rene is now caught in a nightmare of zombies hungry for human flesh. She manages to find salvation in a small isolated farm house owned by the town loony, Marion. There she is met with four other desperate survivors. Together they battle their way through a plague of walking dead and discover that there is more transpiring than just an infection.

Anthony "Blest" Campo and his crew are the best street artists in town, which makes them a prime target for Bobby Cox and the infamous NYPD Vandal Squad. After a fatal accident threatens to break up the crew and convinces Blest he needs to leave town for good, a violent clash is inevitable.

The film 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 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 tools to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.

This is a profile of several New York City's public school kids and their journey into the world of ballroom dancing. The eleven-year-olds go from reluctantly participating in ballroom dancing to preparing to compete in the citywide finals.

A romantic comedy-of-manners where the single mother of a young Chinese-American woman arrives on her doorstep unannounced... and pregnant.

Ian Cranston, the great-great grandson of Ichabod Crane, returns to Sleepy Hollow unaware of his significant lineage. Ian's return stirs the vengeful spirit of the Headless Horseman, and a slaughter ensues. Ian, the newcomer, must save his town by confronting the Horseman and settling an old score.

This is the story of Carmen (Natalia Verbeke), a young Spanish flamenco dancer living in London, who meets Kit (Gael Garcia Bernal), a Brazilian actor, the night before her wedding (to James D'Arcy) and ends up kissing him. What ensues is a plot of subterfuge to cover up their newfound affair.

In this new tale, George Romero creates a harrowing vision of a modern-day world where the walking dead roam an uninhabited wasteland and the living try to lead "normal" lives behind the walls of a fortified city. A new society has been built by a handful of enterprising, ruthless opportunists, who live in the towers of a skyscraper, high above the hard-scrabble existence on the streets below. But outside the city walls, an army of the dead is evolving. Inside, anarchy is on the rise. With the very survival of the city at stake, a group of hardened mercenaries is called into action to protect the living from an army of the dead.

A young cleaning woman, Anna (Virginie Ledoyen), sent to spruce up the abandoned St. Ange orphanage in the remotes of the French Alps in 1960, discovers that only one orphan, Judith (Lou Doillon), still lives there. As she sets about her scrubbing duties, Anna begins to experience some very strange things, like hearing the footsteps and voices of children down the long lonely hallways. Meanwhile, her coworker, Helenka, doesn't hear a thing, and begins to worry about Anna's state of mind...

Filmmaker and award-winning photojournalist Mark S. Wexler's portrays his famous cinematographer father and attempts to reconcil with him. It is clear from the outset that the impatient Haskell Wexler has little confidence in his son, the filmmaker. They become dueling directors as Haskell prods, cajoles and lectures Mark throughout the production, reminding his son that he, Haskell Wexler, is the star of the movie.

"Last Days" is filmmaker Gus Van Sant's meditation on the inner turmoil that engulfs a brilliant, but troubled, musician in the final hours of his life. Michael Pitt stars as Blake, an introspective artist who is buckling under the weight of fame, professional obligations, and a mounting feeling of isolation. "Last Days" follows Blake through a handful of hours he spends in and near his wooded home, a fugitive from his own life. It is a period of random moments and fractured consciousness, fused by spontaneous bursts of rock & roll. Expanding on the elliptical style forged in his two previous films, "Gerry" and the Palme d'Or-winning "Elephant", Van Sant layers images and sounds to articulate an emotional landscape, creating a dynamic work about a soul in transition.

Start your engines! Herbie, the most beloved car star of them all, is back and Lindsay Lohan's got him in Disney's all new revved-up comedy adventure, "Herbie: Fully Loaded". Lohan stars as Maggie Peyton, the new owner of Number 53—the free-wheelin' Volkswagen bug with a mind of its own—who puts the car through its paces on the road to becoming a NASCAR competitor. Herbie's got some new tricks under his hood as he takes audiences for an action-packed spin in this high-speed comedy. With an all-star cast along for a wild ride, this comedy puts Herbie to the test—on-road, off-road, on the track and into the record books.

Just when his career hits an all-time low, a conceited and frustrated movie star, Jack Wyatt, gets one last shot when he's cast to do a remake of a cult TV series, Bewitched, playing the lead role of 'Darren'. In search of his leading lady, 'Samantha', the competitive, insecure Wyatt makes it pretty clear to his producers that his co-star needs to be an unknown, so as not to steal his thunder. Finally, after weeks of searching, he finds the perfect witch in the shy Isabel Bigelow, but he has no idea just how 'perfect' she really is. So, as the script for the popular show is being re-tooled to, instead, center around Darren's character, the actor Wyatt soon discovers that his increasingly annoyed new leading lady, Isabel—who begins to wreak havoc on set—is an actual witch, who can truly cast spells.

Paul Schrader's initially scrapped prequel to "The Exorcist" focuses on a young Father Merrin and his first encounter with Satan.

A road trip to the biggest college football championship of the year takes a turn for the worse for Carly, Paige and their friends, when they decide to camp out for the night before heading to the game. A confrontation with a mysterious trucker at the camp site leaves everyone unsettled, and Carly has her hands full trying to keep the peace between her boyfriend Wade and her hot-headed brother Nick. They wake up the next morning to find that their car might have been tampered with, preventing their departure. At the risk of being stranded, they accept a local's invitation for a ride into Ambrose, the only town for miles. Once there, they are drawn to Ambrose's main attraction--Trudy's House of Wax, which is filled with remarkably life-like wax sculptures. But as they soon discover, there is a shocking reason the exhibits look so real. As the friends uncover the town's dark secrets, they are stalked by a mysterious killer and find themselves in a bloody battle for survival. The group must find a way out of Ambrose—or become permanent additions to the "House of Wax".

A chronicle that reveals a groundbreaking dance phenomenon that's exploding on the streets of South Central, Los Angeles; it is a revolutionary form of artistic expression borne from oppression. The dance, aggressive and visually stunning, modernizes moves indigenous to African tribal rituals and features mind-blowing, athletic movement sped up to impossible speeds. We meet Tommy Johnson (Tommy the Clown), who first created the style as a response to the 1992 Rodney King riots and named it Clowning, as well as the kids who developed the movement into what they now call Krumping. The kids use dance as an alternative to gangs and hustling: they form their own troupe and paint their faces like warriors, meeting to out-perform rival gangs of dancers or just to hone their skills. For the dancers, Krumping becomes a way of life--and, because it's authentic expression (in complete opposition to the bling-bling hip-hop culture), the dance becomes a vital part of who they are.

The two men embark on parallel, if separate, journeys. Their yearning is a common one—for a better and different life. Dondup, delayed by the timeless pace of his village, is forced to hitchhike through the beautiful wild countryside of Bhutan to reach his goal. He shares the road with a monk, an apple seller, a papermaker and his beautiful young daughter, Sonam. Throughout the journey, the perceptive yet mischievous monk relates the story of Tashi. It is a mystical fable of lust, jealousy and murder, that holds up a mirror to the restless Dondup, and his blossoming attraction to the innocent Sonam. The cataclysmic conclusion of the monk's tale leaves Dondup with a dilemma—is the grass truly greener on the other side?

Melinda and Melinda combines romantic comedy and drama in a way that Woody Allen, unique among filmmakers, likes to contrast. It takes place in Manhattan and chronicles a pair of crises that give great reign to the funny and serious talents of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Radha Mitchell, Amanda Peet, Chloë Sevigny and Wallace Shawn. All the usual Allen areas are explained - the fragility of love, marital infidelity, sophisticated romance, the inability to communicate. As a character in the movie puts it, "He's despondent, he's desperate, he's suicidal. All the comic elements are in place."

Bunty and Babi are two avid dreamers -- two free souls born into caged small town realities. They grow weary of being two specks on the horizon. They desire the horizon itself. And, so they pack their aspirations in worn out bags, whip a scarf of confidence around their proud necks and set forth on a journey across the length and breath of the country, spinning circles around the people they meet.

Stephanie returns home to care for her dying mother. Having run away to the big city over 15 years ago, Stephanie is reminded of another lifestyle back in the desolate rural landscape of her childhood. The countryside provokes a flood of emotions and memories. Not only for Stephanie, but also for Mikhail and Jamel, the two young men who share her affections and her bed. Experiencing inevitable flashbacks of her childhood as a boy, transsexual Stephanie is haunted by the early death of her beloved only sister. The monotony of streetwalking and turning tricks night after night is also difficult to forget. Young Russian man Mikhail lives illegally hand to mouth in a country where he hardly speaks the language. A former soldier, he is still tormented by horrific images of war. Jamel is an Arab guy who makes ends meet through prostitution. Not as tough as he acts, he secretly yearns for the days when he was still part of his family. His biggest fear is sleeping alone. Their future is uncertain. Others may not understand them. But the three unlikely friends have found comfort and passion in one another's arms.