title: The Skulls function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close();�<br> studio: Universal Studios Home Video MPAA rating: PG-13 starring: Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, Hill Harper, Leslie Bibb, Craig T. Nelson release year: 2000 film rating: Two-and-a-Half Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein There’s a fine idea for a movie that can’t fight its way to the surface in ‘The Skulls.’ There certainly are secret societies at work in American Ivy League universities, whose members often emerge to wield great power in the world at large. On the audio commentary track, director Rob Cohen even acknowledges that the movie’s fictional Skulls are based on the actual Skull and Bones Society at Yale University, which counts as members (among other notable types) both George Bushes. Unfortunately, John Pogue’s script and Cohen’s direction wind up reducing the real-life disquiet of this notion to fairytale status as they stretch the boundaries of credulity.

title: Get Carter function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Warner Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, John Osborne, Dorothy White, Geraldine Moffat, Rosemarie Dunham, Petra Markham, Britt Ekland, George Sewell release year: 1971 film rating: Five stars reviewed by: Bill Warren When 'Get Carter' was first released, it was excoriated in some quarters for its "extreme" violence; seen today, the violence itself looks almost tame -- but the cold ferocity of Michael Caine's performance is still unnerving, even frightening. For a man who is personally obviously so likable, he has the uncanny ability of making his eyes go lifeless and cold, and he has plenty of opportunities to do so in 'Get Carter.'

title: Fargo function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: MGM Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Kristin Rudrud, Harve Presnell, Tony Denman, Steven Reevis release year: 1996 film rating: Five stars sound/picture: Four Stars reviewed by: Bill Warren A card reading "this is a true story" begins "Fargo," which baffled those who tried to learn just what the real-life story was. As the documentaries, "trivia tracks" and other elements of this outstanding DVD indicate, that was baloney, a flat-out lie. And why not? Dan O'Bannon began "Return of the Living Dead" with a similar claim, and he did run into the irked flak that the Coens did. Evidently, the newspaper story that spurred the Coens to write "Fargo" dealt with a husband in New England who claimed his wife had left town; it was learned he had fed her body through a wood chipper. In the excellent documentary, "Minnesota Nice," that accompanies the film, actor Peter Stormare says there are ...

title: The Talented Mr. Ripley function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close();� studio: Paramount Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Davenport release year: 1999 film rating: Four Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein To some extent, this screen version of Patricia Highsmith’s novel ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ (which was adapted for the screen before as the French film ‘Purple Noon’) is by all accounts a reimagining of the source material. Director/scenarist Anthony Minghella tweaks the title character’s motives and desires enough to change the story’s emphasis entirely, but creates something new that works on its own terms – startling, insightful and ultimately quite sad.

title: Hatchet For The Honeymoon function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Image Entertainment MPAA rating: NR starring: Stephen Forsyth, Laura Betti, Dagmar Lassander, Jesus Puente, Femi Benussi, Silvia Lienas, Veronica Llimera, Antonio Mas release year: 1969 film rating: Four stars sound/picture: Four stars reviewed by: Bill Warren Another entry in Image's very welcome Mario Bava Collection, "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" is one of his most vividly colorful movies, with superb photography by the director himself, and rich production design by Jesus Maria Herrero. A Spanish-Italian coproduction, "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" was shot partly in one of Generalissimo Franco's sumptuous villas. According to the excellent production notes by Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas, Bava made the relatively low-budget "Hatchet" right after his most expensive movie, "Danger: Diabolik." He was unhappy with the increased interference the higher budget brought, and was far more content making this witty, well-plotted shocker. He and Mario Musy adapted it from a somewhat different screenplay by Santiago Moncada, then altered it again when Laura Betti, a ...