RICKY GERVAIS, GREG KINNEAR AND TÉA LEONI STAR IN THE MOST SPIRITED ROMANTIC COMEDY OF THE SEASON

Debuts on DVD and Blu-ray December 28, 2008 with Exclusive Bonus Features

HOLLYWOD, CALIF. – Ghost Town is a “hilarious romantic comedy” (Time) arriving on DVD and Blu-ray on December 28, 2008 from Paramount Home Entertainment. Emmy® winner Ricky Gervais (“The Office,” Stardust), Oscar® nominee Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine, Baby Mama) and Téa Leoni (Spanglish, Fun with Dick and Jane) star in this “clever, heartfelt and funny” (“Entertainment Tonight”) tale about a man, a woman and a ghost. The feel-good comedy of the season, Ghost Town is a perfect pick-me-up for the post holiday blues.

Ricky Gervais is Bertram Pincus, a New York City dentist with the people skills of a barracuda. When a routine surgery goes awry, Pincus is pronounced dead, but miraculously revived seven minutes later. The ill-mannered Manhattanite suffers only one lasting after-effect: the ability to see and speak with the dead. When word gets out in the spirit community, Pincus is irritated to discover he’s the go-to-guy for every phantom with unfinished business in the city. At the forefront of the ghostly mob is recently deceased Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who is determined to stop the remarriage of his widow, Gwen (Téa Leoni). The laughs unfold when the prickly and romantically inexperienced Pincus, smitten with Gwen, tries to woo her away from her betrothed—with hysterically awkward results.

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On November 18th, Paramount Home Entertainment will release the hilarious and outrageous comedy TROPIC THUNDER on DVD and Blu-ray! One of the year’s funniest films, TROPIC THUNDER includes a star-studded cast and this Director’s Cut DVD has enough bonus material to keep you “in the s&*t” for days! GET SOME as TROPIC THUNDER rocks onto DVD and Blu-ray November 18th!!

**Best Buy - Booty Sweat T-Shirt! (ONLY Available on Blu-ray)

**Walmart - Exclusive two-pack: Tropic Thunder Single-disc DVD and “Get Some” music sampler CD - perfect for anytime you’re lost in the jungle!

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Movie Info:
Writers: Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel
Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Lainie Kazan, Ido Mosseri, Rob Schneider, Dave Matthews, Michael Buffer, Charlotte Rae, Sayed Badreya, Daoud Heidami, Kevin Nealon, Robert Smigel
Rating: Unrated (PG-13)
Studio: Sony

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: June 6, 2008
DVD Release Date: October 7, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $

Imagine a movie where Adam Sandler is the hottest thing since sliced bread. The girls all dig him, the guys want to be him and he spends lots of time wiggling his hips in time to music, just to show off his abnormally large “package”. This thing is so huge, you assume NASA can see it from space. Well, you don’t have to imagine it, because that’s part of the premise for You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. I know that sounds kind of weird, but it is rather funny when it translates to screen. It’s that kind of, over the top, crude humor that Sandler is know for and allows him to thrive as an artist.

Here’s a note to all those parents with kids who like Adam Sandler. Watch this first, because boy was I embarrassed to be watching this film with my 13 year old Adam-Sandler obsessed son, who is somewhat naive and innocent despite understanding the point and premise of sex. There are many sex jokes in this and while it’s more than okay for older teens and adults, the youngsters will definitely have to skip seeing this one until they’re older. I think I would be embarrassed watching some of these moments period, because that was Sandler’s intent for the film!

While Zohan has Sandler returning to his earlier comic roots, with the kind of humor presented in Waterboy and Happy Gilmore, and it is a nice follow up to Chuck and Larry, it’s definitely not as good as said previously mentioned movies. Some of the jokes get a little too repetitious and while this is definitely better than Click, this wasn’t the return to comedy for Sandler that we all had hoped. Still, I have to admit, I found myself laughing out loud more than once.

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Movie Info:
Writers: Ben Best, Jody Hill, Danny R. McBride
Director: Jody Hill
Cast:
Rating: R
Studio: Paramount

Release Info: June 24, 2006
Theatrical Release:
DVD Release Date: September 23, 2008
Online Availability: Best Buy for $19.99

First, I want to say I’m not knocking indie films. The Foot Fist Way is most definitely an indie flick. It feels it. It looks it. It personifies that indie vibe. There are plenty of indies I like. This indie film just tries too hard and falls flat. Still, it’s easy to see why Will Ferrell would have gotten involved in the project when it came to releasing The Foot Fist Way. It’s also easy to see why the movie is only exclusively being sold at Best Buy. This limited release means limited exposure and limited money loss. In truth, the producers, creators and cast don’t yet know if The Foot Fist Way is going to make it or not. It could really go either way.

In the grand scheme of independent movie making, there are far fewer Clerks and Napoleon Dynamites. That’s just the way it goes! I was expecting something of The Foot Fist Way merely because Danny R. McBride is the main character. He was severely underplayed in the Owen Wilson comedy Drillbit Taylor. He’s also done well in other supporting roles in Hot Rod, Pineapple Express and the heavily controversial Tropic Thunder. But even McBride can’t save The Foot Fist Way. It’s just not in the cards.

While The Foot Fist Way starts out trying valiantly to maintain that independent, “yes, I really rock” movie feel, about halfway through the movie, it loses steam and falls apart. It turns into just another bad comedy and that’s not the vibe these actors seemed to have been going for when they started the movie. What or why the steam is lost is unknown. What is inevitable is the failure of this movie.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Mike Myers, Graham Gordy
Director: Marco Schnabel
Cast: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Romany Malco, Meagan Good, Verne Troyer, Ben Kingsley, Omid Djalili, Telma Hopkins, John Oliver, Jessica Simpson, Kanye West, Deepak Chopra
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Paramount Home Video

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $23.99

I had mixed feelings about watching this movie. Sure, the hype was high. This is the first movie that Mike Myers has shown his face in since the late 90s. He’s done a lot of voice work, but nothing onscreen. So, like many others I was interested in seeing this. The Love Guru looks funny and maybe it is, in theory, but it certainly isn’t as funny as you might expect it to be. There are funny moments, but they aren’t consistent.

I think part of the problem with The Love Guru is that this is what you would expect from Myers. He’s not stretching his skills or sowing his comedic oats. He’s doing the same exact thing that we know he is capable of because he’s been doing it since his days on Saturday Night Live. Myers would have had more success doing another Austin Powers film. People know and love that character and Pitka, the Love Guru may dress funny, but that’s more or less as far as it goes. Well that and Justin Timberlake’s entire getup is worth a laugh or two.

I can’t say what I was expecting because I don’t know. I expected to laugh and I did a couple of times. Myers is a comedic genius, but I couldn’t get over the feeling that he felt like it was time to be back onscreen. Unfortunately, he tossed something mindless together, put in some well known stars (many of which have been in his past films), and the entire project feels like a glitzy, yet still half-assed film.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Eric Steven Stahl, Sean McLain
Director: Eric Steven Stahl
Cast: Beau Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Mathew Botuchis, Shiri Appleby, Dan Castellaneta, Baelyn Neff, Victor Alfieri
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Bros

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: Direct to DVD
DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for

One of the easiest things in the world to do is to mock reality television. Everyone knows that it’s only as real as the directors and editors want it to be. Sure, it may (or may not, depending on the case) be unscripted, but that’s about it. It’s always baffled me that reality television is so popular when you consider this fact. I mean, there are much better fictional shows on television. Considering that reality television is often poorly made and contains some fiction, you might as well watch the good stuff. Either way, the idea doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

It’s bad enough to have networks full of reality television, but to have movies attempt to be funny by mocking something that obviously isn’t real anyway, things go from bad to worse. There are at least two or three recognizable names in here, which could cause you to hope for the best. I know that’s what it made me do. I’m telling you now there is no cause for hope. Abandon ship while you can because this is so not worth your time it’s not even funny.

Once upon a time Beau Bridges and Roseanna Arquette starred in some pretty good movies. How they got caught up in this mess of a film I will never know. They play parents, which could be believable, but isn’t very exciting when it comes to this flick. Maybe it’s just the bad idea that I cannot get over, but I See You.com seems filled with absolutely no hope to succeed.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Scott Prendergast
Director: Scott Prendergast
Cast: Lisa Kudrow, Scott Prendergast, Teri Garr, Christine Taylor, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Theatrical Release:
DVD Release Date: September 26, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon

I love independent films, though comedy is usually hit or miss for me. I don’t always find the same thing that everyone else finds funny, so it can lead to a letdown where certain popular comedies are concerned. That being said, I walked into watching Kabluey as carefully as I could.

I think the thing that really got me interested is that prior to learning anything of the film, I learned that the little boys in the film were based on Scott Prendergast’s real life nephews. I don’t know why, since I am not familiar with Prendergast’s work, this was interesting to me, but it was. Despite how little I know about him, I figured this one film would tell me all I needed to know, considering Prendergast not only stars in the male lead, but he’s also the writer and director of the film. So, I figured in the worst case scenario if the film bombed, I would know where to place the appropriate amount of blame.

The good news is that there is little to blame Prendergast for in Kabluey. The film offers a nice amount of comedy, a quirky storyline, and plenty of reasons to watch this more than once.

The Kabluey Plot
Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) is a soldier’s wife that is finding life at home with two kids and a husband gone in Iraq to be a little daunting. Due to the fact that she is depressed and can’t manage to keep up, her brother-in-law, Salman (Prendergast), a known loser, moves in as a means of helping her out. Salman might be a loser, but not even he deserves to have to live with a depressed military wife and two satanic children (they inform Salman that it is their mission to kill him). As you might suspect, he has no clue how to handle life in this new environment. This leads him to new employment, though this has its share of pitfalls, as well.

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Movie Info:
Writers: Tim Burton, Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson
Director: Henry Selick
Cast: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Edward Ivory, Susan McBride, Debi Durst
Rating: PG
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: October 29, 1993
DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $22.99

I know this may sound weird, but I used to hate Halloween. I couldn’t stand the holiday. I think it had to do with the fact that, due to my disability, I couldn’t always do the one thing a kid wants to do on Halloween…trick or treat. Because of that, I associated my negativity of those specific Halloween days to Halloween, as a whole. It wasn’t until I became a parent that I started to truly appreciate this holiday. In fact, back in the 90s, when The Nightmare Before Christmas was released, I was too young to appreciate the film. I knew it involved Halloween in some way, so I just never wanted to see it. Today, I can admit how wrong I was in judging a film by what I believed was its premise.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a movie by Tim Burton. I think Burton is visionary in his approach to cinema. I liked his interpretation of Sweeney Todd and how Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was more on par with the book the movie is based on, as opposed to the equally as good Gene Wilder version. Even going back as far as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, I’ve liked Burton. I don’t think I really even knew who he was back then, but I knew I liked his movies.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Director: Joachim Trier
Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Viktoria Winge, Espen Klouman Hoiner, Elisabeth Sand, Sigmund Sæverud, Henrik Mestad, Odd Magnus Williamson
Rating: R
Studio: Miramax

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: September 2, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $23.99

Reprise can be somewhat tricky to classify because it is a foreign film. This automatically means that many people will rule it out because they will have to “read” the film. The majority of watchers for a subtitled film are artsy, intellectual types. That is unfortunate because there are a number of amazing foreign films that are ignored. Reprise is one of those films that may suffer from the issue of subtitles.

If you can get past the issue of subtitles, you may just find yourself a fan of Norwegian films, or at least this Norwegian film. If this film is any representation of the country’s filmmaking abilities it certainly says good things about Norwegian filmmakers. If I had to classify Reprise I would say that it is somewhere in the middle of drama and light comedy. There are definitely some laughs, but it’s not outright comedy, as there are plenty of serious moments, too. It’s one of those films that, like life, has no clear cut category to fall into. Come to think of it, that is probably one of the things that make it so good.

I think one of the reasons I like Reprise so much is because it is hard to classify. If I was talking with friends about it, I would be most likely to say, “You just have to see it.” I might tell them a thing or two about it, but it’s definitely one of those movies you just have to see to understand, because a description just isn’t going to do the film justice. The most important thing to know about this film is that the story is good and the actors do well in all of their respective roles.

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TV Show Info:
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Curly Howard
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Original Air Dates:1940-1942
DVD Box Set Release Date: August 26, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon

When you are a kid there is just something funny about grown men smacking, bumping, kicking, and poking each other in the eyes. Over 20 years later (in my case, for others it could be much longer), it is still pretty hilarious. As a huge Stooges fan I look forward to each of these compilations as they come. Despite the fact that I have already had the chance to see a large number of these classic shorts, it is great to be able to revisit them. It’s even better to see them preserved in such good quality. Now I can watch them whenever I want, which is an extra special treat, considering these are rarely, if ever, shown on television these days.

The heyday for The Three Stooges was between 1934 and 1947. Prior to then, Curly was not a member of the group and Shemp Howard was the third Stooge. Curly replaced Shemp in 1934 and amused audiences until 1947 when he had a stroke. Shemp came back on the show at that time, with Curly’s blessing, until he would be able to return. Unfortunately, he never got back to the point where he was strong enough to handle the demands of filming. However, his contributions to comedy are still celebrated today, in sets such as this. This particular set pays close attention to the years 1940 to 1942.

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