Video Reviews 9-28-07.Qxp

New On Video & DVD Family Guy Season 5 Seth MacFarlane's animated comedy continues its assault on pop culture, good taste, and the Fox censors with its riotous fifth season. Even though nothing has really changed for the Griffin family, there's still plenty of comedic ground to cover. Peter keeps his crown as the laziest man in Quahog, Rhode Island, but getting older means experiences that no man should have to go through. Meanwhile, his beloved Lois is still far too sexy for her portly husband, leading to a liaison with Bill Clinton. Son Chris joins a band, but he can't seem to shake his fear of the evil monkey in his closet. Daughter Meg continues her tour of mediocrity with a job at a store in town, while Brian the dog puts down his martini long enough to go beyond the bounds of Quahog and travel to Iraq. Baby Stewie remains intent on world domination and matricide, but he takes some time off to connect with an ex- love. Volume five includes the first 13 episodes of the fifth season, plus commentary, deleted scenes and more to delight Family Guy fans. Disc 1 includes the following episodes: "Stewie Loves Lois," "Mother Tucker," "Hell Comes to Quahog," "Saving Private Brian," "Whistle While Your Wife Works" and "Prick Up Your Ears." Additional Actors: Adam West, Mike Henry, Phil LaMarr, Phyllis Diller, Gore Vidal, Carrie Fisher, Gary Cole, Macaulay Culkin, Louis Gossett Jr., Johnny Brennan, Drew Barrymore, David Cross. Disc 2 includes the following episodes: "Chick Cancer," "Barely Legal," "Road to Rupert," "Peter's Two Dads," "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou," "Airport '07" and "Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey." Additional Actors: Stacey Scowley, Alex Breckenridge, Lori Alan, Johnny Brennan, Danny Smith, Drew Barrymore, Adam West, Lizzy Caplan, Rachael MacFarlane, Kerrigan Mahan, Natasha Melnick, Lisa Wilhoit, Garrett Morris, Tamera Mowry, Tom Kenny, George Wendt, Rob Lowe, Phyllis Diller, Charles Durning, Beth Littleford, Kevin Michael Richardson, Ralph Garman, Hugh Hefner, Roy Scheider. Disc 3: Bonus Material includes 38 deleted scenes, 3 animatic episodes, a featurette called "Drawing Peter" and a promo called "Freakin' Sweet." Fox Superman Doomsday To defend Earth, Superman (voiced by Adam Baldwin) battles an evil entity known as Doomsday. But the powerful being, created by Lex Luthor (James Marsters), proves too strong for the Man of Steel. Lois Lane (Anne Heche) joins the world in mourning the fallen super- hero, but Luthor's joy in his enemy's demise is short-lived: Even death can't stop Superman. This animated epic is based on DC Comics' 1993 "The Death and Return of Superman" story arc. Warner A Dog's Breakfast In this black comedy, Hollywood makeup artist Marilyn (Kate Hewlett) is thrilled when she gets engaged to TV star Ryan (Paul McGillion), but the situation goes to the dogs when her overprotective brother Patrick (David Hewlett) learns that Marilyn's fiancé is plotting her murder. Things get out of hand when Patrick tries to save his little sister from her killer hubby-to-be, pushing the siblings' tight-knit family to the brink of insanity. Fox Stargate Atlantis Season 3 A team of scientists and military personnel is dispatched to a far-off galaxy to explore the remnants of the Lost City of the Ancients--also known as Atlantis--in this STARGATE SG-1 spin-off series. The Ancients were an advanced human race that initially created the Stargate network, and diplomat Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson) and pilot Major John Sheppherd (Joe Flanigan) head the international squad that is sent to investigate. The team arrives at Atlantis to find the city abandoned and their ship permanently stranded, unless they can find a power source to get themselves home to earth. They make contact with a brave but primitive native civiliza- tion as well as with the evil Wraith species. This collection gathers each episode from the third season. Disc 1 includes the following episodes: "No Man's Land," "Misbegotten," "Irresistible" and "Sateda." Additional Actors: Mitch Pileggi, Beau Bridges, Kavan Smith, Robert Picardo, Gary Jones, Christopher Heyerdahl, Trevor Devall, Connor Trinneer, David Nykl, Kirby Morrow, Andy Maton, Angelique Naude, Tamlyn Tomita, Emy Aneke, Scott Heindl, Julia Anderson, Lisa Marie Caruk, Richard Kind, Chiara Zanni, David Paulsen, Frank Collison, Alexandra Carter. Disc 2 includes the following episodes: "Progeny," "The Real World," "Common Ground" and "McKay & Mrs. Miller." Additional Actors: David Nykl, David Ogden Stiers, John O'Callaghan, Kerry Sandomirsky, Richard Dean Anderson, Alan Ruck, Ryan Robbins, Christopher Heyerdahl, Robert Davi, Trevor Devall, Amanda Tapping, Kate Hewlett. Disc 3 includes the following episodes: "Phantoms," "The Return (Part 1)," "The Return (Part 2)" and "Echoes." Additional Actors: Nels Lennarson, Anna Williams, Beau Bridges, Robert Picardo, Mitch Pileggi, David Nykl, Richard Dean Anderson, Kirby Morrow, Ryan Robbins, Bill Dow, Dan Shea, Elias Toufexis, Andrew Moxham, David MacInnis, Panou, David Quinlan, Megan Leitch, Gary Jones, John O'Callaghan, Claire Rankin, Michael Chase, David Neale. Disc 4 includes the following episodes: "Irresponsible," "Tao of Rodney," "The Game" and "Sunday." Additional Actors: Robert Davi, Dean Wray, Meredith McGeachie, Richard Kind, David Nykl, Kavan Smith, David Dayan Fisher, Laura Harris, James Longley, John Shaw, Brenda James, Matthew Del Negro, Linda Ko, Caroline Cave, Lindsay Collins. Disc 5 includes the following episodes: "The Ark," "Submersion," "Vengeance" and "First Strike." Additional Actors: Kavan Smith, Joris Jarsky, Kenneth Welsh, David Nykl, Michael Tayles, Donna Soares, Connor Trinneer, Ryan Booth, Josh Blacker, Jewel Staite, Michael Beach, David Ogden Stiers. Fox The Fly Collection: The Fly Scientist André Delambre (David Hedison) has invented a matter trans- porter. To perfect his machine, he decides to test the device on a human subject -- himself. He steps into the chamber unaware that an ordinary housefly has accompanied him. His head and arm become horrifically switched with those of the fly. Now Delambre and his wife (Patricia Owens) are faced with a gruesome dilemma in this classic sci-fi horror co-starring Vincent Price., Return of the Fly Years after his scientist father met a unique and gruesome end as a grotesque man-fly hybrid, Philippe Delambre (Brett Halsey) is determined to carry on his dad's dubious work. With the help of his uncle François (Vincent Price), Philippe re-creates his father's matter transmission device. But the machine still has a few bugs in it. Philippe soon finds himself sharing his father's fate with horrifying results in this classic sci-fi sequel., The Curse of the Fly The third installment of the classic Fly series, this sci- fi adventure follows Henri Delambre (Brian Donlevy), a man determined to continue his deceased father's experiments to create a teleportation machine. Unfortunately for the scientist, his new daughter-in-law, a woman who secretly escaped from a mental institution, displays a bothersome curiosity about his secret research. & The Fly Collection Disc of Horrors The bonus material for this campy cult horror trilogy includes a Vincent Price biography "Fly Trap: Catching a Classic," as well as trail- ers, lobby cards and photo galleries for each of the films (The Fly, The Return of the Fly and The Curse of the Fly.) Fox Lucky You Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) plays poker for a living, using every opportunity that arises in daily life to hone his skills and test the odds. He is fueled by both a compulsion to win and the desire to do better than his father, L.C. Cheever (Robert Duvall), who is a championship poker player. Huck’s skills come naturally, but he lacks patience. When he meets Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore), an earnest, honest girl from Bakersfield pursuing her dream of being a singer, he sees the possibility of a real relationship for the first time. But Huck’s habits are hard to break, and he’ll have to make some changes if he wants to make this relationship work. Barrymore is sweet as Billie, but it is the relationship between Huck and his father that moves the story along. Huck harbors ill feelings towards L.C. from his childhood--feelings that are complicated by his burning desire to best his father at poker. Bana effectively shows the animosity Huck feels towards his father with subtle changes to his facial expression and body language, and Duvall actually makes the hard-nosed L.C. likable. Ultimately, the real star of this movie is poker. Throughout the film, it’s the strategies and bets, the flops and the rivers, that draw the viewer in. Professional poker players served as consultants and extras in the film, lending authenticity to the World Series of Poker where father and son face off. Debra Messing plays Billie’s sister, Horatio Sanz is Ready Eddie, who can turn any situation into a bet, and Robert Downey Jr. appears all too briefly as Huck’s friend. Warner Sports Century Babe Ruth Through exclusive interviews and archival footage, this award-winning program from ESPN traces in great detail the life of baseball's first superstar, Babe Ruth -- from his troublesome childhood to becoming a worldwide legend. Boasting seven World Series wins, Ruth was the first player to hit 50 homers, finishing his career with 714. He remains one of the sports world's most popular figures more than half a century after his final game. Genius New On Video & DVD Shark Season 1 James Woods brings movie star charisma to the small screen with his turn as Sebastian Stark, a supremely confident defense attorney who changes sides when a wife beater he's gotten acquitted turns around and kills the woman. Working for the good guys, however, doesn't mean abandoning his bad-guy tactics, as Stark makes abundantly clear to the young prosecutors at the Los Angeles district attorney's office in this CBS drama co-starring Jeri Ryan.

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