Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Find Me Guilty : Widescreen Edition

  • Widescreen
From five-time Oscar®-nominee Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Network, Dog Day Afternoon) comes the most hysterically funny testament to bad courtroom behavior since My Cousin Vinny! Vin Diesel (Saving Private Ryan) "gives a sensational performance" (The New York Times) in the true story of the most remarkable criminal trial in US history. Find Me Guilty proves beyond a reasonable doubt that justice has a strange sense of humor!

When police arrest twenty members of the Lucchese crime family, the authorities offer Jackie Dee DiNorscio (Diesel) a bargain: a shortened prison term if he'll testify against his own. But the wisecracking DiNorscio has other ideas. Refusing to cooperate, he decides to defend himself at his own trial... and proceeds to turn the courtroom upside-down in a hilarious fight that culminates in one of the most shocking verdicts in judicial history!Vin Diesel gives hi! s best performance to date in Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty, a courtroom comedy-drama (based on the true story of Mafia soldier "Fat Jack" DiNorscio) about the longest criminal trial in U.S. history. Diesel plays Giacomo "Jackie Dee" DiNorscio, a loyal member of New Jersey's notorious Lucchese crime family, who's already serving a 30-year jail term when he's offered an opportunity to shorten his sentence if he agrees to testify against many of his closest friends. He refuses, choosing instead to defend himself in a 21-month courtroom trial that involves 20 other Mafia members, each with their own defense attorney, all brought to trial on 76 charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to narcotics trafficking. As the lead defense attorney (Peter Dinklage) and prosecutor (Linus Roache) guide the trial through a maze of legal triumphs and setbacks, Lumet (still going strong at age 81) turns this goombah gab-fest into the kind of edgy New York comedy that only he could dire! ct, drawing heavily on his experience with such courtroom clas! sics as The Verdict and 12 Angry Men. And while he's filled the screen with a marvelous supporting cast including Alex Rocco, Ron Silver (as the no-nonsense judge) and Annabella Sciorra, Lumet can't quite overcome the confined, theatrical nature of the material, much of it drawn directly from actual courtroom transcripts. Find Me Guilty lacks the dramatic impact of The Verdict, favoring instead the rich absurdity of the DiNorscio case and its equally outrageous outcome after the jury's surprisingly brief deliberation. This is comfortable territory for Lumet, and he brings out the best in his extensive cast â€" especially Diesel, who walks a fine line between courtroom shenanigans and fierce loyalty to his criminal clan.--Jeff Shannondvd- mafia court comedy

Charlie Bartlett : Widescreen Edition

  • Widescreen
The kids at Western Summit High have "issues," and newcomer Charlie Bartlett is coming to their rescue. With a briefcase full of prescription pills and a head full of pop psychology, this rebel with a cause brings hilarious help to the student body and unending grief to their neurotic principal, Mr. Gardner (Robert Downey, Jr.). Suddenly, Charlie is the hottest man on campus and he's even caught the eye of Gardner's sultry daughter. An outrageous send-up of today's Prozac generation, Charlie Bartlett has your prescription for laugh-out-loud insanity!The ghost of Ferris Bueller haunts Charlie Bartlett. In John Hughes' classic comedy, a wily principal chases a clever student all over Chicago. In editor-turned-director Jon Poll's darker-hued enterprise, the hero of the title (Huff's preternaturally poised Anton Yelchin) gets kicked out of private school for selling fake IDs, so! his heavily-medicated mother (a reliably excellent Hope Davis) transfers her son to a public institution. Looking like a junior stockbroker in navy blazer and attaché case, he turns into a bully piñata, until he joins forces with surly dealer Murphey (Walk the Line’s Tyler Hilton) to sell prescription medication and split the profits (Charlie secures the meds from an assortment of pill-pushing psychiatrists). By listening to their problems and offering well-researched advice, the unlicensed doc becomes the most popular kid on campus. He even captures the interest of self-possessed drama queen Susan (The 40-Year-Old Virgin’s Kat Dennings), daughter of booze-soaked Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr. in top form). Gardner doesn't trust Charlie, but lacks the evidence to confirm his suspicions--so he sets out to secure some. Once he installs surveillance cameras, the game is on. By the end, the two competitors will have both lost... and won. Aside from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Charlie Bartlett recalls! Wes And erson's Rushmore, except Poll's Gustin Nash-penned satire trades counter-cultural cool for trenchant commentary about quick-fix solutions to deep-seated dilemmas. That means fewer laughs than its forerunners, but Charlie Bartlett presents a more penetrating analysis of today’s generation gap. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Charlie Bartlett


More "School Days" Comedies

The Charlie Bartlett Soundtrack

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Stills from Charlie Bartlett







Specs: Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby Surround
Language: Dubbed: English
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: Disc 1: Fullscreen 1.33:1, Disc 2 & 3: Widescreen:! 1.85:1, Disc 4: Widescreen: 2.35:1
Episodes-Bonus Featu! res:
  • Disc 1 Side A: Charlie Bartlett
  • Disc 1 Side B: Charlie Bartlett
  • Disc 2: Back to School
  • Disc 3: Home for the Holidays
  • Disc 4 Side A: Richard III
  • Disc 4 Side B: Richard III
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a comedy about two people thrust together for one hilarious, sleepless night of adventure in a world of mix tapes, late-night living, and, live, loud music. Nick (Michael Cera) frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and a vague ability to play the bass. Norah (Kat Dennings) is questioning pretty much all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming the first date in a romance that could change both their lives.In the big-screen version of Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's popular young adult novel, two! high-school seniors fall in love over the course of one eventful evening. A straight bass player in a queercore band, Nick (Juno's Michael Cera) has just been dumped by the two-timing Tris (Alexis Dziena). He's committed to making more self-pitying mix CDs until his bandmates convince him to help track down a top-secret rock concert. Meanwhile, Norah (Charlie Bartlett's Kat Dennings) and her hard-partying pal, Caroline (Ari Graynor), set off on the same journey. Nora had never met Nick, but she already had a crush on him (While attending the same school as Tris, she's been enjoying the mixes Nick keeps making--and Tris keeps throwing away). When the inebriated Caroline goes missing, they spend the rest of the night racing around the Lower East Side in his Yugo looking for the friend, the show, and trying to avoid Tris (Norah's ex-boyfriend, Tal (Tropic Thunder's Jay Baruchel), presents further complications). Peter Sollett's follow-up to Rais! ing Victor Vargas aims to please several audiences at onc! e. It st arts out like a less dirty-minded Superbad, morphs into a post-millennial After Hours, and ends as a Big Apple take on Before Sunset. It's sweet and funny, but could use more of its own identity, though Cera and Dennings make for an appealing couple and the supporting performers, especially Graynor and Kevin Corrigan in a wordless cameo, enhance the proceedings considerably. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Nick & Norah's Infinate Playlist (click for larger image)







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Paperback Book

Soundtrack CD

Seventeen-year-old Caroline Wexler (KAT DENNINGS) is facing a teenager's nightmare: her widowed father has moved them from the city to a tiny, nowhere town. When Caroline realizes she has nothing in common with the permanently stoned kids that populate her new school, she pursues the one person she connects with -- her handsome young teacher, Mr. Anderson (JOSH LUCAS). A bizarre love triangle ensues between Caroline, Mr. Anderson, and a stoner classmate (REECE THOMPSON). A mash up of genres and tones, Daydream Nation is a coming of age story for the 21st century.Daydream Nation is an independent, quirky, vaguely creepy film that will keep the viewer guessing. Writer-director Michael Goldbach has created unexpected layers to the story of a big-city girl who moves to a small town! and stirs up trouble because she's bored--and is then caught in the awful consequences. The cast is terrific, including Kat Dennings as Caroline, the high schooler so bored she begins an affair with her teacher (Mr. A, played by Josh Lucas, also terrific). Meanwhile Reece Thompson, as fellow teen Thurston, creates the final piece of the love triangle that spells trouble with a capital T. Andie MacDowell plays Thurston's mom, and is a standout; her performance is reminiscent of Cloris Leachman's in The Last Picture Show. Daydream Nation is offbeat in the manner of Juno, Donnie Darko, or Jim Jarmusch's or David Lynch's weirdest work. "For a while there, it seemed liked craziness was in the air," Caroline narrates in a voice-over. "And we were all just… breathing it in." If some of the plot twists aren't completely believable, the performances and the assured direction still make Daydream Nation a very watchable, engaging experience! --a creative antidote to formulaic films and one that lovers o! f indepe ndent film will enjoy. --A.T. HurleyDVD

Great Lakes Select Honey, Clover, 32-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 3)