News

I came of age in my personal and professional life at a time when AIDS, that other pandemic, also came of age. Those were scary times. You couldn’t be your true self back then and if you tried, chances are the virus would find you. Almost everyone I knew during my coming out process are no longer here. I had an internship in public relations at Warner Bros. while in college, and after I graduated from USC, I got an opportunity to live and work in Russia where you couldn’t and wouldn’t talk about your sexuality, and you never asked anybody about theirs because of the threat of capital punishment.

I went about my business and shut off that part of my brain until I came back to Los Angeles to work for a dear friend, the late Nanci Ryder, who was the most gay-friendly person on the planet.

Eulogizing the 1960s in a haze of marijuana smoke, psychotropic apparitions, ether vapors, and coke sweats, Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s brilliant, notorious 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has aged startlingly well. Picked up by Gilliam when fellow cinematic madman Alex Cox dropped out, the project was long thought to be the most preposterous screen adaptation ever mounted—an impossibly addled switchback ride through the death rattles of the 1960s, compacted and then stretched out like silly putty over a three-day fever dream in the heart of Sin City.

For Gilliam, the sheer outrageousness of the dystopian Freedomland that Thompson had found or hallucinated about out in the desert while covering the Mint 400 motorcycle race for Sports Illustrated presented a perfect outlet for his giddy, often disturbing brand of inventiveness, and, indeed, Fear and Loathing stands as the Monty Python alum’s last completely successful work.

Frank Darabont's 1999 Oscar darling "The Green Mile," based on an inexplicably serialized novel by Stephen King, is set in 1935 Louisiana in the fictional Cold Mountain Penitentiary, specifically the prison's death row. The correctional officers are overseen by Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) who struggles to retain his soul working such a dire job. The floor that leads to the prison's electric chair is painted green, earning it the titular nickname. Paul attempts to wrangle his officers' cruelty and retain what little hope he can, even after witnessing the state execute prisoner after prisoner. To make matters worse, he's suffering from a bladder infection.

The wildest prisoner on death row is William "Wild Bill" Wharton, played by the always amazing Sam Rockwell. Wharton was clearly mentally ill, and would frequently assault the officers, forcing him into a padded cell. He spat insults and racial epithets, flashing his yellowed teeth and horribly casual hate.

There might be numerous animated films out there, but nothing beats the charm of the good old classics ( Photo Credit – IMDb )

Christmas is defined by a multitude of old family traditions — like making egg nog, matching ugly sweaters with loved ones, and decorating the Christmas tree. Add a great Christmas movie night to it, right next to your loved ones, and there’s probably no other activity in the world more beautiful to curl up to. While a few of us appreciate a good new holiday film like this year’s “Candy Cane Lane,” revisiting a few oldies is never a bad idea.

In this guide, we’ve got you a few classic animated films to watch this Christmas. They’re nostalgic. Some of them even felt scared as children! But the vibe was immaculate, and the goal is to help you recreate it. It’s even better if you...

At this point, it's probably not a spoiler to say that a key "Yellowjackets" character is alive and somewhat well. That character is Vanessa "Van" Palmer (Lauren Ambrose and Liv Hewton), and if we're being honest, she's kind of living the best life out of all the show's plane crash survivors. Why is that? Well, she has her own video and DVD rental business, While You Were Streaming, smack dab in the middle of an undisclosed Pennsylvanian town. If you are even the slightest bit familiar with the work we do here at Slash Film dot com, it shouldn't be a surprise that we consider this the best possible fate to have.

What also isn't surprising is that Van has very good taste in movies, and also knows a thing or two about Hollywood's bizarre queer history. That's because While You Were Streaming is filled with Easter eggs to mainstream queer cinema,...

The original "Jurassic Park" film by Steven Spielberg made history through its outstanding achievements in animatronics and complex puppetry, truly bringing dinosaurs to life through pure blockbuster magic. It is a movie that provided modern culture with the image of what a dinosaur looks like, and how it moves and behaves. 

While there's been no shortage of animatronic dinosaurs since then, the franchise has struggled with the hunger for innovation and the desire to escalate what the original film achieved. Should these films lean into the horror of these dinosaurs, or should they embrace the fast-paced action spectacle of the franchise?

Joe Johnston's approach to "Jurassic Park III" was certainly interested in the latter, and with a bigger vision demanded bigger technology to follow it. Coupled with the production issues that led Johnston to describe the set experience as "a living hell on a daily basis," the physical danger...

When I first watched the 1992 Charlie Chaplin biopic, "Chaplin," I didn't know anything about the slapstick comic and actor besides that he was renowned as a legendary figure. But by the end of the first act, I was already drawing connections between the silent-movie star and entertainers of my generation. "Aye, that's Mr. Noodle!" I yelled at the screen during the scene where Chaplin, played by a 20-something-year-old Robert Downey Jr., auditions for Hollywood comedy producer Mack Sennett (Dan Aykroyd). Mr. Noodle and his brother, Mister Noodle, were played by Bill Irwin and Michael Jeter, respectively, during the "Elmo's...

The post Robert Downey Jr. Pulled Out All The Stops To Prepare For His Chaplin Performance appeared first on /Film.

Click here to read the full article.

Air Bud — the Disney film about a dog who could play basketball (and which starred Buddy, a golden retriever that could indeed launch the ball into the net with his nose) — first dribbled its way into our hearts 25 years ago.

The idea for Air Bud had been hatched by Canadian brothers Robert and William Vince, who churned out low-budget horror films. When they caught Buddy on Late Show With David Letterman, inspiration struck for a family film. They described the idea to director Charles Martin Smith (who’d go on to direct 2011’s Dolphin Tale and 2019’s A Dog’s Way Home).

“I said, ‘That just sounds horrible,’ ” Smith recalls of their pitch. “This is what I said to them: ‘If you’d let me rewrite it and make it honest — a classic story of a boy and his dog — I’ll be in.

It was an unusual ceremony, in which an Emmy rule change pitted series regulars against one-episode guest stars. In addition, two of the most awarded comedies of all time battled it out, a favorite drama lost the top spot and one of the most celebrated talk shows of all time finally received a top honor. This was also the last year that the Big Four networks received all the nominations for Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series. We’re throwing it back three decades to August 30, 1992, when Tim Allen, Kirstie Alley and Dennis Miller hosted the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox. Read on for our Emmys flashback 30 years ago to 1992.

Between 1989 and 1992, “Cheers” and “Murphy Brown” volleyed the Best Comedy award back and forth. This was “Murphy’s” year, winning in this category for the second and final time. The other sitcoms up were “Brooklyn Bridge,” “Home Improvement” and “Seinfeld.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has given The Green Mile a 4K upgrade and will be releasing it as a 4K Uhd & Blu-ray Combo Pack (along with Digital) that will be available on February 22nd. Here's a look at the official cover art and list of bonus features:

Burbank, Calif., January 5, 2022 – The Green Mile, which received four Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clarke Duncan, Best Sound and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on 2/22/22, it was announced today by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Released in 1999, the critically-acclaimed The Green Mile was directed by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) and is based on Stephen King's 1996 novel of the same name.

The film stars Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks, Academy Award® nominee Michael Clarke Duncan (Armageddon), David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter,...

“Please boss, don’t put that thing over my face, don’t put me in the dark. I’s afraid of the dark.”

The Green Mile, which received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clarke Duncan, Best Sound and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on 2/22/22, it was announced today by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Released in 1999, the critically-acclaimed The Green Mile was directed by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) and is based on Stephen King’s 1996 novel of the same name.

The film stars Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, Academy Award® nominee Michael Clarke Duncan (Armageddon), David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Graeme Greene, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey DeMunn, Patricia Clarkson, and Harry Dean Stanton.

The film was written and directed by Darabont, based on...

Have you had a chance to really bite in to the delicious Smackdown 1991 podcast yet? We know you read the article given the plentiful comments but there's so much to chat about within the podcast conversation. Nikki M James, Rory O'Malley, Nick Westrate, Mark Harris, and Katey Rich were all terrific guests, don'cha think? Dying to hear your thoughts on the specific things we discussed, but especially...

- Fried Green Tomatoes' 'food fight as lesbian sex' metaphor (!), the confusion over Ninny's identity, and its rose-colored lensing of race relations

- Whether Cape Fear's ending is confusingly botched or confusing on purpose... "my reminiscence"?

- Rambling Rose's Laura Dern / Lukas Haas sex scene driving mothers and spouses from the room!

- The camp of all the Barbra scenes in Prince of Tides. What word was Dr Lowenstein looking up in her Pocket Oxford Dictionary? 

- Michael Jeter's "sprinkling for fairy dust" ("Sprinking?...

Samuel L. Jackson

Jackson played John Raymond Arnold, the chief engineer of Jurassic Park, in the 1993 film.

Vince Vaughn

Vaughn played documentarian Nick Van Owen in “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.”

Julianne Moore

The actress starred as Sarah Harding, a behavioral paleontologist and Ian Malcolm’s girlfriend, in “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.”

Camilla Belle

Camilla Belle was 11 when she starred in “The Lost World” as a girl who got attacked by a Compsognathus.

William H. Macy

Macy played Paul Kirby in 2001’s “Jurassic Park III.” He was the businessman who tricked Dr. Alan Grant back onto Isla Sorna to find his son who had disappeared.

Wayne Knight

Knight played Dennis Nedry, a computer programmer at Jurassic Park, in the first film and was subsequently mentioned in “The Lost World.” In the movie, he is devoured by a Dilophosaurus.

Téa Leoni

Leoni played Macy’s ex-wife Amanda Kirby in the third “Jurassic Park” film.

A look back at the highest kicks (and notes) over the history of the Tony Awards telecast celebrating Broadway

“Grand Hotel” (1990)

Michael Jeter, perhaps best known from the sitcom “Evening Shade,” was a rubber-limbed sensation playing a tipsy bookkeeper in the number “Let’s Take a Glass Together.”

“Dreamgirls” (1992)

Jennifer Holliday’s rendition of “And I’m Telling You…” has been widely imitated, and this is the performance that is most often imitated. A-ma-zing.

“Rent” (1996)

Jonathan Larson’s rock opera version of “La Boheme” gained extra poignance with his unexpected death after the first Off Broadway preview. The show became a phenomenon, and launched the careers of Idina Menzel, Jesse L. Martin and Taye Diggs. Tony Awards

“Promises, Promises” (1979)

Ok, the song “Turkey Lurkey” frankly doesn’t make any sense — and the whole office holiday party is kind of shoehorned into the plot. But Michael Bennett‘s choreography is head-bobbingly,...

A look back at the highest kicks (and notes) over the history of the Tony Awards telecast celebrating Broadway “Grand Hotel” (1990) Michael Jeter, perhaps best known from the sitcom “Evening Shade,” was a rubber-limbed sensation playing a tipsy bookkeeper in the number “Let’s Take a Glass Together.” “Dreamgirls” (1992) Jennifer Holliday’s rendition of “And I’m Telling You…” has been widely imitated, and this is the performance that is most often imitated. A-ma-zing. “Rent” (1996) Jonathan Larson’s rock opera version of “La Boheme” gained extra poignance with his unexpected death after the first Off Broadway preview. The show became a phenomenon,...

facebook

twitter

google+

Director and veteran movie SFX artist Greg Nicotero chats about making The Walking Dead, working with Quentin Tarantino and more...

Here be spoilers for The Walking Dead season 6B. Nb: interview took place before the finale had aired

For any self-respecting horror fan, Greg Nicotero is a legend. Cutting his early blood-stained teeth working as a makeup artist under Tom Savini and George Romero, he’s worked (as you’ll read below) with just about every great genre director and has gone on to become, for many of us, the strongest episode director of The Walking Dead.

In town to talk all things walker-related, we sat down to discuss the fusion of his directorial style with his superlative and endlessly creative special effects. His enthusiasm for his work was a joy to behold and you suspect that given free rein, he could talk endlessly about his experiences...

It’s hard to believe something like 1991’s The Fisher King was a studio backed effort. An anomaly both as a mainstream cinematic event and within Gilliam’s own idiosyncratic filmography, the film received as much panning as praise upon its theatrical release (shortly after a premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it was part of a three way tie with Zhang Yimou and Philippe Garrel for the Silver Lion). In the decades since, the film has garnered something of a cult following, as have many of Gilliam’s earlier works of note, filled with an often unbridled zaniness necessitating time to marinate for full appreciation. Stuffed to the point of emotional, narrative, and logical imbalance, there are as many moments of beauty as inelegance. But Gilliam’s ambitious odd-couple outfit, based on a script from Richard Lagravenese, revels in its own unique flavoring.

Radio shock jock Jack (Jeff Bridges...

“I Love New York In June”

By Raymond Benson

I had seen Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King only once, back in 1991 on its initial release, and I liked it very much. As years went on, though, my memories of it were such that I considered it to be atypical of Gilliam’s work. For me, he’s always been a hit-and-miss director; some of his pictures are absolute classics and others not so much. There is a certain beautiful sloppiness to his direction; to use a painting analogy, it’s as if he throws a lot of paint on the canvas and maybe it’ll turn out to be something coherent, funny, and meaningful. Gilliam, I think, is much more of a visual designer than a people-director—his films always look great, usually very original and envelope-pushing in their conception and the execution of the visuals. They are often big pictures on large canvases.

14 years ago, Universal Pictures was banking on the re-invention of one of its top movie franchises becoming its biggest hit of the summer. The studio handed one of its greatest money-making franchises to a visionary director and tasked him with breathing new life into a sagging franchise. This director would need to create a movie that winked at its past, while also expanding its world beyond its memorable but somewhat limiting premise. Sound familiar?

Long before Jurassic World there was Jurassic Park III, a 2001 movie that has largely been swept under the rug by fans of the blockbuster film series. Pinpointing exactly why Jurassic Park III is so often ignored is difficult. When Jurassic Park III is referenced in the public discourse, it's often unfavourably compared to the original Jurassic Park or disregarded as being as bad or worse than The Lost World. Make no mistake - Jurassic Park III is much,...

Adventure runs wild when renowned paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) agrees to accompany a wealthy adventurer (William H. Macy) and his wife (Tea Leoni) on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, InGen's former breeding ground for prehistoric creatures. But when they're terrifyingly stranded, Dr. Grant discovers that his hosts are not what they seem and the island's native inhabitants are smarter, faster, fiercer and more brutal than he ever imagined in this heart-stomping thriller. Jurassic Park III featured: Director: Joe Johnston Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant William H. Macy as Paul Kirby Téa Leoni as Amanda Kirby Alessandro Nivola as Billy Brennan Trevor Morgan as Eric Kirby Michael Jeter as Udesky John Diehl as Cooper Bruce A. Young as M. B. Nash Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Degler Taylor Nichols as Mark Degler Mark Harelik as Ben Hildebrand Julio Oscar Mechoso as Enrique Cardoso Blake Michael Bryan as...

This year's Emmy nominations saw a historic first: Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox was nominated for the outstanding guest actress in a comedy series award, making her the first openly transgender person nominated in an acting category. (Conductor Angela Morley won several Emmys for music direction.)

The award ultimately went to Cox's Orange costar, Uzo "Crazy Eyes" Aduba – the win was announced during the Creative Arts portion of the awards, which took place on Aug. 16 – but Cox's nomination is a first nonetheless. Now in their 66th year, the Emmy Awards have seen many famous firsts. Have a...

Review by Sam Moffitt

I think everybody knows Dwight Yoakum as a hell of a good singer, an excellent song writer and one of Country music’s biggest stars. How many people know he directed a terrific western with all the elements we expect of a good western movie?

Yoakum shocked me, quite frankly, with his appearance in Sling Blade, Billy Bob Thornton’s masterpiece. From everything I’ve heard Yoakum is a very nice guy with his feet firmly on the ground and treats his fans with a great deal of respect. In Sling Blade he was all too believable as a complete son of a bitch. Where did a non actor get those kind of chops? In fact he is so good at playing an evil character it’s shocking. When Carl finally lays into him to put an end to it you want to stand up and cheer.

Jurassic Park III (2001) - continues the adventure that began with Jurassic Park (1993) and Lost World: Jurassic Park, The (1997). Directed by Joe Johnston, from a screenplay written by Peter Buckman and Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor. The film starred Sam Neill, William H Macy , Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan, Michael Jeter, John Diehl, Bruce A. Young and Mark Harelik, with Laura Dern making a special appearance as Dr. Ellie Sattler.

The fourth Jp movie gets a new director: indie filmmaker Trevorrow Colin Trevorrow, whose well-received, (very) low-budget, independently made feature Safety Not Guaranteed won the Screenwriting Award at last year's Sundance Festival, has been named the director of the upcoming Jurassic Park sequel Jurassic Park 4. (Pictured above: Nope, that's not Trevorrow, but the 1993 Jurassic Park's imposing star, Mr. Tyrannosaurus Rex.) Now, why would Universal and executive producer Steven Spielberg bring this particular indie filmmaker aboard the billionaire Jp frachise? Well, why specifically Trevorrow is impossible to say. Yet, it seems clear that his handling of a science-fiction narrative about time travel played an important role in his selection. Another plus: He was surely cheaper than bigger names associated with action films. And let's not forget another crucial aspect of his selection: The director, whose innovative Safety Not Guaranteed was warmly greeted by critics, may bring to the increasingly paleozoic (i.

Currently with $10.63 million at the North American box office, The Rum Diary has the dubious distinction of possibly ending up as the biggest Johnny Depp flop in "very wide" release — movies screened at more than 2,000 locations. Among 38 Johnny Depp titles found on Box Office Mojo's inflation-adjusted list, The Rum Diary ranks no. 31. With luck, The Rum Diary will ultimately settle somewhere between What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Astronaut's Wife, and Cry-Baby. With inflation-adjusted box-office totals ranging between $15m-$19m, those are all releases from the 1990s — before Depp became a worldwide box-office superstar as a result of Gore Verbinski's international blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003. In case The Rum Diary manages to outgross The Astronaut's Wife, it'll be Depp's second-lowest-grossing movie in "very wide" release. In order to achieve that feat, The Rum Diary will have...

The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III debut as a trilogy set on Blu-ray. October 25, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Wamg has Two special copies to giveaway!

Official Rules: 1. You Must Be A Us Resident. Prize Will Only Be Shipped To Us Addresses. 2. Fill Out Your Real Name And Email Address Below. 3. Answer The Following Question: In a battle, who do you want in your corner and why – Velociraptor or T-Rex? Best answer wins… Winners Will Be Chosen From All Qualifying Entries. No Purchase Necessary. Prizes Will Not Be Substituted Or Exchanged. Contest Will End On Friday, November 4th 11:59pm Cst.

Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg.s award-winning cinematic franchise, based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton, generated nearly $2 billion combined at the worldwide...

Simon salutes the sterling work of Kevin Costner in a list of the 10 best films of his career so far. “Let’s do some good”…

It’s a topic we seem to return to on an annual basis at Den Of Geek, and we’re firm believers with an ‘on with the tradition’ philosophy here. But, of all the movie stars who have risen and fallen over the past few decades, have any had quite as much of an eye for a good risk, or taking a chance, as Kevin Costner?

It’s testament to his body of work just going through some of his quality films that didn’t make the following run-down of his top ten movies. For Love Of The Game is a woefully underrated baseball movie, for instance, while there’s a lot to like in Mr Brooks, too. And you’ll notice the almost-criminal omission...

Universal Studios have give us this fantastic exclusive featurette to coincide with the Blu-ray release of the greatest dinosaur movie ever made, Jurassic Park. The Blu-ray is released in the UK 24th October. Jurassic Park for me is an all-time classic and I love everything about it. It was ground-breaking on so many levels and I’m so pleased it’s making its way to Blu-ray packed to the rafters with special features (all of which are listed below).

One of those special features is this featurette focusing on the music in Jurassic Park with the title ‘A Whole New Level’. John Williams provides the score for the film and in the featurette, all the sound effects have been stripped to let you see simply the score that plays during a few select scenes. One of those scenes is the raptor kitchen scene which is on the list for one...

(c) Universal/courtesy Everett Collection “Jurassic Park,” Sam Neill, Ariana Richards, 1993,

As much because of its groundbreaking special effects as its box-office busting theatrical haul, “Jurassic Park” is perhaps one of the most significant blockbusters of the modern era. It combined practical effects with computer-generated ones in a game-changing way that immediately and lastingly affected not just the way filmmakers made films, but the way audiences watched them. Appropriately, Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s newly released “Jurassic Park: Ultimate...

In celebration of the the Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy being released on Blu-Ray and DVD, Wamg was invited to a special effects press day. Melissa (that would be me) from Wamg sat down with Ariana Richards, who plays Lex Murphy in Jurassic Park and The Lost World : Jurassic Park, and three of the top special effects professionals in the world, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and John Rosengrant to talk about their experiences working on the film. Muren, Tippett, and Rosengrant worked on the special effects of the films, create things such as the giant tyrannosaurus rex! Pretty neat, huh?

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy is one of the most successful film franchises in worldwide box-office history. On a remote tropical island, an amazing living theme park becomes a game of survival for humans foolhardy enough to set foot on it. Meticulously recreated dinosaurs...

I think I may have actually felt a little bit of wee come out earlier when we heard the news that the legendary legends (!) from Universal Studios have decided to bring Jurassic Park back to the cinema! They did it with Back to the Future and it as one of the best cinematic experiences I’ve ever had!

We were all geared up for the Blu-ray release but not we find out that it’s coming back to the cinema. I don’t usually like putting up press releases in full because they can often be boring But anything to do with Jurassic Park being remastered and coming to the big screen is far from boring! There’s also a few pics of the full box set which I’ve placed below so scroll down and read on to find out all your need to know about one of the...

Early in my talent representation career I worked for a personal manager to actors in New York City. Yvette Schumer was a genuine, palpable, and strong advocate for her actors. Her taste in clients embraced the core of the acting trade, the old reliable of showbiz: the character actor. When I joined her firm in 1979, she had just signed an unusual, offbeat, neurotic, hilarious, rip-your-heart-out-intense, deeply human, spiritual, troubled yet sober craftsman named Michael Jeter.It wasn't until a decade after I met Michael that his considerable skills received their proper due on Broadway and then in television and the movies. His work entertained and touched us up until his terribly premature death in 2003. Through the 1980s, before he achieved fame and fortune, Jeter experienced the highs and lows of a genius actor looking for regular work in NYC. In early 1983 he replaced one of the leads in...

We’re still savoring the goodness found in the Superman and Lord of the Rings treasure chests but now we have something to put on our Christmas list. Coming in October is a Blu-ray box set of the three Jurassic Park films and there’s something to recommend in all three. Here’s the formal release:

Universal City, California, June 27, 2011 – The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III debut as a trilogy set on Blu-ray™ October 25, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s award-winning cinematic franchise, based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton, generated nearly $2 billion combined at the worldwide box office and featured groundbreaking visual effects that changed the art of movie-making forever. Now, all three epic films have been digitally...

We know that you're excited about seeing the Jurassic Park trilogy on Blu-ray high definition in a few months, and we don't blame you one bit! The prospect of seeing The Lost World: Jurassic Park II's gymnastics sequence in full 1080p is just too good to resist!

How about a trailer to further whet your appetite?

From the Press Release

The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III debut as a trilogy set on Blu-ray October 25, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg's award-winning cinematic franchise, based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton, generated nearly $2 billion combined at the worldwide box office and featured groundbreaking visual effects that changed the art of movie-making forever. Now, all three epic films have been digitally...

Universal Home Entertainment has announced that the Jurassic Park trilogy will be coming to Blu-ray this fall, with some T-rex-sized bonus features, and an awesome gift set edition, complete with a custom T-rex dino statue. Check out all the details below!

Official Press Release:

One of the Most Thrilling & Groundbreaking Motion-Picture Trilogies of All Time Roars onto Blu-ray™ with Breathtaking

New High-Definition Picture & Perfect Sound Jurassic Park All Three Epic Adventures from Filmmaker Steven Spielberg Plus More Than Two Hours of All-New Bonus Features

Available on Blu-ray™ For the First Time Ever On October 25, 2011 “You won’t believe your eyes!”—Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“A triumph of special effects artistry!”—Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Universal City, California, June 27, 2011 – The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III...

The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III debut as a trilogy set on Blu-ray™ October 25, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s award-winning cinematic franchise, based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton, generated nearly $2 billion combined at the worldwide box office and featured groundbreaking visual effects that changed the art of movie-making forever. Now, all three epic films have been digitally restored and remastered in flawless high definition for the ultimate viewing experience. Additionally, the films’ visceral sound effects and the unforgettable music from legendary composer John Williams can now be heard in pristine 7.1 surround sound. Arriving in stores just in time for holiday gift giving, this collectible three-movie set also features hours of bonus features, including an all-new, six-part documentary...

Finally! All of the speculation is over. The moment dinosaur fans have been waiting for has arrived! The Jurassic Park trilogy is on its way to Blu-ray high definition, and we have every single detail ready and waiting for you right here!

From the Press Release

The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III debut as a trilogy set on Blu-ray October 25, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg's award-winning cinematic franchise, based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton, generated nearly $2 billion combined at the worldwide box office and featured groundbreaking visual effects that changed the art of movie-making forever. Now, all three epic films have been digitally restored and remastered in flawless high definition for the ultimate viewing experience. Additionally, the...

One Of The Most Thrilling & Groundbreaking Motion-picture Trilogies Of All Time Roars Onto Blu-ray. With Breathtaking New High-definition Picture & Perfect Sound Jurassic Park

All Three Epic Adventures From Filmmaker Steven Spielberg Plus More Than Two Hours Of All-new Bonus Features Available On Blu-ray For The First Time Ever On October 25, 2011

“You won’t believe your eyes!” – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“A triumph of special effects artistry!” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Universal City, California, June 27, 2011 - The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III debut as a trilogy set on Blu-ray. October 25, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s award-winning cinematic franchise, based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton, generated nearly $2 billion combined at the worldwide box office and featured groundbreaking visual effects...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

The Next Three Days – Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Liam Neeson

Movie of the Week

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

The Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

The Plot: Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on a treacherous quest to hunt down and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s immortality — the Horcruxes.

The Buzz: I am the least qualified to helm a discussion on the buzz surrounding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I’m the least qualified to discuss anything at all about Harry Potter, as I’ve read a mere ten pages of the first book, and only recently caught up with the films. That being said, having watched the first six films in swift succession, immersing myself in Rowling’s world, I...

Chicago – The Blu-Ray Round-Up is back with this week’s collection of HD titles that may not get the buzz of something like the latest Sandra Bullock romantic comedy or what Sam Raimi brought back from Hell but could be just what you’re looking for at the mall this weekend. A few modern horror movies, a notable box office bust, and a beloved BBC show highlight this week’s list. Pick your favorite.

“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” “Wolf,” and “Red Dwarf: Back To Earth - The Director’s Cut” was released on October 6th, 2009.

“Waterworld” will be released on October 20th, 2009.

“Red Dwarf: Back To Earth - The Director’s Cut”

Photo credit: BBC

Synopsis: “Back To Earth takes place after “Series X.” Kochanski’s dead and the crew are hurled through a portal and discover they’re just characters from a TV series. Knowing they...

I suppose it would be prudent of me to say upfront that this DVD is a rip-off.

Air Bud: Special Edition is not so much a special edition as it is a gift rerelease. Like taking something old and giving it to someone bundled with a homemade cookie. You’ll find that this DVD is a barebones one with a total of one special feature (not counting trailers, which really shouldn’t count at all), but wait! It includes an "Air Bud" dog tag in the set, so that totally makes up for it.

Originally released in theaters in 1997, Air Bud was a movie made solely to show off the basketball skills of Buddy the Dog (who did the tricks in real life) by creating the typical boy-meets-dog scenario around him. You know what’s impressive? Aside from being a dog that plays basketball, Buddy was also cozy with the camera.

I suppose it would be prudent of me to say upfront that this DVD is a rip-off.

Air Bud: Special Edition is not so much a special edition as it is a gift rerelease. Like taking something old and giving it to someone bundled with a homemade cookie. You’ll find that this DVD is a barebones one with a total of one special feature (not counting trailers, which really shouldn’t count at all), but wait! It includes an "Air Bud" dog tag in the set, so that totally makes up for it.

Originally released in theaters in 1997, Air Bud was a movie made solely to show off the basketball skills of Buddy the Dog (who did the tricks in real life) by creating the typical boy-meets-dog scenario around him. You know what’s impressive? Aside from being a dog that plays basketball, Buddy was also cozy with the camera.

Finding stirring mainstream movie material in the horrors of the Holocaust, Sony's "Jakob the Liar" has a more involving and believable story than its much-heralded doppelganger -- Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful" -- and it's a pity that director Peter Kassovitz's fine film seems fated to be lost in the thicket of serious, literary movies facing audiences this fall.

Premiering out of competition in the Deauville Festival of American Cinema, the drama-with-comedy "Jakob" has one not-so-secret ingredient that may draw audiences when it opens Stateside on Sept. 24: star Robin Williams in his best film since "Good Will Hunting", playing a role that's nothing like his larger-than-life clowning in last year's hit "Patch Adams" (which he filmed after "Jakob"'s fall 1997 shoot in Poland and Hungary).

Based on the German novel by Lodz Ghetto survivor Jurek Becker (first published in the United States three years ago), "Jakob" was filmed successfully in 1974 by East German filmmaker Frank Beyer. (That film won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and was nominated for the foreign-language Oscar in 1976 but lost to "Black and White in Color".)

Kassovitz, who experienced the war as a child in his native Hungary and moved to Paris during the 1956 revolution, is not well known outside France, where's he's been directing and writing for 40 years, mostly in television. "Jakob" is a tricky but successful marriage of a good story -- adapted by Kassovitz and French screenwriter-novelist Didier Decoin (recent miniseries "The Count of Monte Cristo" and the original book "The Chambermaid on the Titanic") -- with a filmmaking team committed to showing the harsh milieu with few concerns about commerciality.

The result is far more inspiring, entertaining and worth experiencing than you might expect. Set not in a concentration camp but in Lodz, Poland, in the winter of 1944, "Jakob" is the tale of a futureless man, a cafe owner isolated with his fellow Jews by the Germans in the guarded ghetto. One evening before curfew, Jakob (Williams) chases after a newspaper carried by a breeze and is harassed by a guard.

Ordered to report for punishment for doing nothing wrong, inside a Germans-only building with a banished radio, widower Jakob overhears news that the Russians are advancing against the Nazis. Everything changes for him when he's miraculously spared by the seemingly distracted occupiers and returns home bursting to tell someone the first encouraging information about the outside world they've heard in a long time.

But now he's in serious danger knowing something he should not, which is why he only reluctantly tells others. To stop headstrong Mischa (Liev Schrieber) from a suicidal gesture, Jakob tells him the news. A few scenes later, Jakob's forced to swear he's telling the truth to stop defeated Kowalsky (Bob Balaban) from hanging himself. Keeping secrets is impossible for these two reborn rascals, and the story gets out that Jakob has a radio hidden away.

In short order, Jakob becomes an underground celebrity. He secretly takes another huge risk by hiding an orphan girl (Hannah Taylor Gordon) who escapes from a train bound for the death camps. Denying that he has a radio does no good, and Jakob realizes he is helping his fellow victims. He starts to play the role of a reluctant -- not necessarily genuine -- prophet, but there's not a happy end to his story.

Alan Arkin, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Mathieu Kassovitz, Michael Jeter and Nina Siemaszko fill out the excellent cast. The sets, cinematography, makeup, costumes and Edward Shearmur's score are more than adequate at transporting one into the film's grim environment.

JAKOB THE LIAR

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Columbia Pictures

Blue Wolf Prods. with Kasso Inc.

Director: Peter Kassovitz

Screenwriters: Peter Kassovitz & Didier Decoin

Based on the book by: Jurek Becker

Producers: Marsha Garces Williams, Steven Haft

Executive producer: Robin Williams

Director of photography: Elemer Ragalyi

Production designer: Luciana Arrighi

Editor: Claire Simpson

Costume designer: Wieslawa Starska

Music: Edward Shearmur

Casting: Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Barden

Color/stereo

Cast:

Jakob: Robin Williams

Mischa: Liev Schreiber

Kowalsky: Bob Balaban

Frankfurter: Alan Arkin

Lina: Hannah Taylor Gordon

Kirschbaum: Armin Mueller-Stahl

Rosa: Nina Siemaszko

Avron: Michael Jeter

Herschel: Mathieu Kassovitz

Running time -- 120 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...

Having impressively proved himself a capable actor, country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam adds director-screenwriter-producer-composer to his resume, and the resulting "South of Heaven, West of Hell" would suggest a case of wearing at least one Stetson too many.

A subversive Gothic western starring Yoakam and a bunch of his Hollywood buddies, the picture, which actually is much closer to hell than its directions would imply, is an interminable, annoying mess of fractured cowboy-movie cliches.

Although Yoakam and co-screenwriter Stan Bertheaud must have had a hoot cramming in all the frat boy perversity -- castration, rape, incest and pedophilia rank high on its top 10 list -- it all comes across as the kind of indulgence that gives vanity projects a bad name.

Yoakam has cast himself as Valentine Casey, a marshal with an uncertain past who finds himself biding time in some kind of existential purgatory resembling a desolate New Mexico town called Los Tragos.

Part of that past resurfaces when the murderous, inbred Henry Gang, presided over by Bible-thumping Leland (Luke Askew), rides into town. Apparently way back when, after Val's own family died during an influenza outbreak, Leland raised Val as his own. Now Leland and his boys, including Vince Vaughn and Paul Reubens, have returned with larceny on their minds. Though Val sticks to his guns, the Henry Gang proceeds to slaughter everything around him that tries to block their path to the bank vault.

Cut to nine months later, where we find Val in the Arizona desert breaking wild horses and meeting up with Adalyne Dunfries (Bridget Fonda), the daughter of the local hotel and saloon owner who has returned to town accompanied by the odd Brigadier Smalls Billy Bob Thornton with long golden hair).

Just when it looks like Val and Adalyne are about to have a thing going, who else but the Henry Gang comes in and gums up the works, precipitating a protracted fight to the finish.

While Yoakam underplays his part to the point of catatonia, the rest of his cast, also including Bud Cort, Peter Fonda and Michael Jeter, go in the opposite direction in some kind of contest to determine who can be the most irritating. Jeter's the clear winner as the screeching Uncle Jude.

To his credit, director of photography James Glennon ("El Norte", "Election") mines plenty of atmospheric value for the low-budget buck, but there ain't enough purdy sunsets in the world to compensate for this long-winded, one-trick pony of a home movie.

SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL

Trimark

Director: Dwight Yoakam

Producers: Gray Frederickson, Darris Hatch

Screenwriters: Dwight Yoakam, Stan Bertheaud

Story: Dwight Yoakam, Dennis Hackin, Otto Felix

Director of photography: James Glennon

Production designer: Siobhan Roome

Editor: Robert Ferretti

Costume designer: Le Dawson

Music: Dwight Yoakam

Color/stereo

Cast:

Valentine Casey: Dwight Yoakam

Taylor: Vince Vaughn

Brigadier Smalls: Billy Bob Thornton

Adalyne Dunfries: Bridget Fonda

Shoshonee Bill: Peter Fonda

Arvid: Paul Reubens

Agent Otts: Bud Cort

Doc Angus Dunfries: Bo Hopkins

Leland: Luke Askew

Uncle Jude: Michael Jeter

Running time -- 131 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

Having impressively proved himself a capable actor, country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam adds director-screenwriter-producer-composer to his resume, and the resulting "South of Heaven, West of Hell" would suggest a case of wearing at least one Stetson too many.

A subversive Gothic western starring Yoakam and a bunch of his Hollywood buddies, the picture, which actually is much closer to hell than its directions would imply, is an interminable, annoying mess of fractured cowboy-movie cliches.

Although Yoakam and co-screenwriter Stan Bertheaud must have had a hoot cramming in all the frat boy perversity -- castration, rape, incest and pedophilia rank high on its top 10 list -- it all comes across as the kind of indulgence that gives vanity projects a bad name.

Yoakam has cast himself as Valentine Casey, a marshal with an uncertain past who finds himself biding time in some kind of existential purgatory resembling a desolate New Mexico town called Los Tragos.

Part of that past resurfaces when the murderous, inbred Henry Gang, presided over by Bible-thumping Leland (Luke Askew), rides into town. Apparently way back when, after Val's own family died during an influenza outbreak, Leland raised Val as his own. Now Leland and his boys, including Vince Vaughn and Paul Reubens, have returned with larceny on their minds. Though Val sticks to his guns, the Henry Gang proceeds to slaughter everything around him that tries to block their path to the bank vault.

Cut to nine months later, where we find Val in the Arizona desert breaking wild horses and meeting up with Adalyne Dunfries (Bridget Fonda), the daughter of the local hotel and saloon owner who has returned to town accompanied by the odd Brigadier Smalls Billy Bob Thornton with long golden hair).

Just when it looks like Val and Adalyne are about to have a thing going, who else but the Henry Gang comes in and gums up the works, precipitating a protracted fight to the finish.

While Yoakam underplays his part to the point of catatonia, the rest of his cast, also including Bud Cort, Peter Fonda and Michael Jeter, go in the opposite direction in some kind of contest to determine who can be the most irritating. Jeter's the clear winner as the screeching Uncle Jude.

To his credit, director of photography James Glennon ("El Norte", "Election") mines plenty of atmospheric value for the low-budget buck, but there ain't enough purdy sunsets in the world to compensate for this long-winded, one-trick pony of a home movie.

SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL

Trimark

Director: Dwight Yoakam

Producers: Gray Frederickson, Darris Hatch

Screenwriters: Dwight Yoakam, Stan Bertheaud

Story: Dwight Yoakam, Dennis Hackin, Otto Felix

Director of photography: James Glennon

Production designer: Siobhan Roome

Editor: Robert Ferretti

Costume designer: Le Dawson

Music: Dwight Yoakam

Color/stereo

Cast:

Valentine Casey: Dwight Yoakam

Taylor: Vince Vaughn

Brigadier Smalls: Billy Bob Thornton

Adalyne Dunfries: Bridget Fonda

Shoshonee Bill: Peter Fonda

Arvid: Paul Reubens

Agent Otts: Bud Cort

Doc Angus Dunfries: Bo Hopkins

Leland: Luke Askew

Uncle Jude: Michael Jeter

Running time -- 131 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

Opens

Aug. 15

Clearly, Kevin Costner loves Westerns. He returns once more to the genre as director and star of "Open Range", his fourth following a best director Oscar for "Dances With Wolves" and starring roles in "Silverado" and "Wyatt Earp". But he's like a youngster in church, awed by the stained glass and solemn ceremonies. He treats Western vistas and stock characters as icons. He sentimentalizes all the tough-guy emotions and male chivalry toward women folk.

He's a man torn in two. On one hand, he would like to deglamorize the Old West with storms that leave cowboys at their mercy and a hardscrabble town that harkens back to the early Westerns of William S. Hart and, more recently, Robert Altman's "McCabe & Mrs. Miller." On the other, he clings to the old mythology.

Westerns are always iffy boxoffice prospects, especially when, like "Open Range", they come with a ponderous pace and emotions distilled from much older movies. As this one is unlikely to be championed by critics and will attract one of the studios' least favorite demographics -- baby boomer males who remember when horse operas were Hollywood's stable commodity -- the range may stay open only a short while for the Walt Disney Co., which has domestic rights.

"Open Range", written by Craig Storper from a novel by the late Lauran Paine, presents a classic situation. We're somewhere in the Old West -- no territory is ever mentioned -- where a quartet of "free-grazers," headed by the Boss (Robert Duvall) and top hand Charley (Costner), run their herd through a county jealously guarded by Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon), an Irish immigrant cattle rancher. The other two cowboys are mere kids: The hulking Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and a Mexican teen everyone calls Button (Diego Luna) see the trail as one big adventure.

Baxter aims to steal the free-grazers' cattle and snuff out the insignificant cowboys. He doesn't realize -- nor does Boss -- that Charley is a former killer who still "has no problem with killing." Baxter runs roughshod over the entire town, owning virtually everything including its sheriff (James Russo). The townsfolk harbor resentment toward Baxter and his men, especially the stable owner (Michael Jeter), doctor (Dean McDermott) and his old-maid sister Sue (a very deglamorized Annette Bening).

John Ford or Howard Hawks would have handled the buildup to a climatic gunfight with its brief character studies in well under two hours. But Costner extends all this to a wearying 138 minutes, filling his morality tale with too many lengthy silences and butt-scratching pauses, presumably to allow time for the characters' moral rectitude to settle into an audience's consciousness.

Yet in spite of its portentousness, the film does engage one. The actors do fine work, especially Duvall, whose Boss has the gait and demeanor of a weather-beaten man who shies away from town life. Gambon suggests a villain whose villainy is understandable: A foreigner who has built an empire single-handedly, he has nothing in his psychological makeup to handle what he sees as a threat to that empire. However, the less said the better about the romance between Costner's lonesome cowboy and Bening's town spinster or the bits involving a cute puppy.

The main set is a shoddy, rain-drenched marvel, a town so poorly constructed that we understand why cowboys prefer the open range. The gunfight, occupying a good 20 minutes, is convincingly 19th century. Men stand a few feet from each other, hurling lead into bodies to create frightening damage no surgeon can mend. It alone justifies the movie.

Cinematography, costumes and props quietly do their jobs splendidly. If nothing else, the movie reminds us what an elastic and marvelous storytelling opportunity Westerns provide to filmmakers. The genre could stand a revival. Next up is Ron Howard's "The Missing" in December.

OPEN RANGE

Buena Vista Pictures

Touchstone Pictures in association with

Cobalt Media Group present

a Tig production

Credits: Director: Kevin Costner

Screenwriter: Craig Storper

Based on the novel by: Lauran Paine

Producers: David Valdes, Kevin Costner, Jake Eberts

Executive producers: Armyan Bernstein, Craig Storper

Director of photography: James Muro

Production designer: Gae Buckley

Music: Michael Kamen

Costume designer: John Bloomfield

Editors: Michael J. Duthie, Miklos Wright

Cast:

Boss Spearmana: Robert Duvall

Charley Waite: Kevin Costner

Sue Barlow: Annette Bening

Denton Baxter: Michael Gambon

Percy: Michael Jeter

Mose: Abraham Benrubi

Button: Diego Luna: Sheriff Poole: James Russo

Running time -- 138 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

Character actor Michael Jeter, a veteran of stage, screen and television who appeared on Sesame Street as well as in the prison drama The Green Mile, died over the weekend in Los Angeles; he was 50. A longtime supporter of AIDS charities who revealed in 1997 that he was HIV positive, Jeter was found dead in his home, according to his publicist, who also said the cause of death was not yet determined. A small, slight actor with a large presence, Jeter won a Tony Award in 1990 for Grand Hotel, an honor he soon followed up with an Emmy Award in 1992 for the sitcom Evening Shade, co-starring Burt Reynolds. Called an "actor's actor" by critics, Jeter received acclaim for his scene-stealing turn as a homeless cabaret singer in The Fisher King, and was also featured in Sister Act 2, Waterworld, Mouse Hunt, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Patch Adams, The Gift, and Jurassic Park III. Jeter played a death row inmate in 1999's The Green Mile, and had almost completed a role opposite his Green Mile co-star, Tom Hanks, in The Polar Express, slated for release in 2004; filming was suspended on Monday in observance of his passing. On the small screen, Jeter appeared in the Tales of the City miniseries as well as two David E. Kelley shows, Picket Fences and Chicago Hope. He also played "The Other Mr. Noodle" on Sesame Street beginning in 2000. Jeter is survived by his life partner, Sean Blue, his parents and five siblings. --Prepared by IMDb staff...

Having impressively proved himself a capable actor, country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam adds director-screenwriter-producer-composer to his resume, and the resulting "South of Heaven, West of Hell" would suggest a case of wearing at least one Stetson too many.

A subversive Gothic western starring Yoakam and a bunch of his Hollywood buddies, the picture, which actually is much closer to hell than its directions would imply, is an interminable, annoying mess of fractured cowboy-movie cliches.

Although Yoakam and co-screenwriter Stan Bertheaud must have had a hoot cramming in all the frat boy perversity -- castration, rape, incest and pedophilia rank high on its top 10 list -- it all comes across as the kind of indulgence that gives vanity projects a bad name.

Yoakam has cast himself as Valentine Casey, a marshal with an uncertain past who finds himself biding time in some kind of existential purgatory resembling a desolate New Mexico town called Los Tragos.

Part of that past resurfaces when the murderous, inbred Henry Gang, presided over by Bible-thumping Leland (Luke Askew), rides into town. Apparently way back when, after Val's own family died during an influenza outbreak, Leland raised Val as his own. Now Leland and his boys, including Vince Vaughn and Paul Reubens, have returned with larceny on their minds. Though Val sticks to his guns, the Henry Gang proceeds to slaughter everything around him that tries to block their path to the bank vault.

Cut to nine months later, where we find Val in the Arizona desert breaking wild horses and meeting up with Adalyne Dunfries (Bridget Fonda), the daughter of the local hotel and saloon owner who has returned to town accompanied by the odd Brigadier Smalls Billy Bob Thornton with long golden hair).

Just when it looks like Val and Adalyne are about to have a thing going, who else but the Henry Gang comes in and gums up the works, precipitating a protracted fight to the finish.

While Yoakam underplays his part to the point of catatonia, the rest of his cast, also including Bud Cort, Peter Fonda and Michael Jeter, go in the opposite direction in some kind of contest to determine who can be the most irritating. Jeter's the clear winner as the screeching Uncle Jude.

To his credit, director of photography James Glennon ("El Norte", "Election") mines plenty of atmospheric value for the low-budget buck, but there ain't enough purdy sunsets in the world to compensate for this long-winded, one-trick pony of a home movie.

SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL

Trimark

Director: Dwight Yoakam

Producers: Gray Frederickson, Darris Hatch

Screenwriters: Dwight Yoakam, Stan Bertheaud

Story: Dwight Yoakam, Dennis Hackin, Otto Felix

Director of photography: James Glennon

Production designer: Siobhan Roome

Editor: Robert Ferretti

Costume designer: Le Dawson

Music: Dwight Yoakam

Color/stereo

Cast:

Valentine Casey: Dwight Yoakam

Taylor: Vince Vaughn

Brigadier Smalls: Billy Bob Thornton

Adalyne Dunfries: Bridget Fonda

Shoshonee Bill: Peter Fonda

Arvid: Paul Reubens

Agent Otts: Bud Cort

Doc Angus Dunfries: Bo Hopkins

Leland: Luke Askew

Uncle Jude: Michael Jeter

Running time -- 131 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

Having impressively proved himself a capable actor, country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam adds director-screenwriter-producer-composer to his resume, and the resulting "South of Heaven, West of Hell" would suggest a case of wearing at least one Stetson too many.

A subversive Gothic western starring Yoakam and a bunch of his Hollywood buddies, the picture, which actually is much closer to hell than its directions would imply, is an interminable, annoying mess of fractured cowboy-movie cliches.

Although Yoakam and co-screenwriter Stan Bertheaud must have had a hoot cramming in all the frat boy perversity -- castration, rape, incest and pedophilia rank high on its top 10 list -- it all comes across as the kind of indulgence that gives vanity projects a bad name.

Yoakam has cast himself as Valentine Casey, a marshal with an uncertain past who finds himself biding time in some kind of existential purgatory resembling a desolate New Mexico town called Los Tragos.

Part of that past resurfaces when the murderous, inbred Henry Gang, presided over by Bible-thumping Leland (Luke Askew), rides into town. Apparently way back when, after Val's own family died during an influenza outbreak, Leland raised Val as his own. Now Leland and his boys, including Vince Vaughn and Paul Reubens, have returned with larceny on their minds. Though Val sticks to his guns, the Henry Gang proceeds to slaughter everything around him that tries to block their path to the bank vault.

Cut to nine months later, where we find Val in the Arizona desert breaking wild horses and meeting up with Adalyne Dunfries (Bridget Fonda), the daughter of the local hotel and saloon owner who has returned to town accompanied by the odd Brigadier Smalls Billy Bob Thornton with long golden hair).

Just when it looks like Val and Adalyne are about to have a thing going, who else but the Henry Gang comes in and gums up the works, precipitating a protracted fight to the finish.

While Yoakam underplays his part to the point of catatonia, the rest of his cast, also including Bud Cort, Peter Fonda and Michael Jeter, go in the opposite direction in some kind of contest to determine who can be the most irritating. Jeter's the clear winner as the screeching Uncle Jude.

To his credit, director of photography James Glennon ("El Norte", "Election") mines plenty of atmospheric value for the low-budget buck, but there ain't enough purdy sunsets in the world to compensate for this long-winded, one-trick pony of a home movie.

SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL

Trimark

Director: Dwight Yoakam

Producers: Gray Frederickson, Darris Hatch

Screenwriters: Dwight Yoakam, Stan Bertheaud

Story: Dwight Yoakam, Dennis Hackin, Otto Felix

Director of photography: James Glennon

Production designer: Siobhan Roome

Editor: Robert Ferretti

Costume designer: Le Dawson

Music: Dwight Yoakam

Color/stereo

Cast:

Valentine Casey: Dwight Yoakam

Taylor: Vince Vaughn

Brigadier Smalls: Billy Bob Thornton

Adalyne Dunfries: Bridget Fonda

Shoshonee Bill: Peter Fonda

Arvid: Paul Reubens

Agent Otts: Bud Cort

Doc Angus Dunfries: Bo Hopkins

Leland: Luke Askew

Uncle Jude: Michael Jeter

Running time -- 131 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

A formulaic family film that scores enough points to draw a decent audience in its theatrical release, Disney's "Air Bud" does not show a dog slam-dunking on a basketball court as in the film's print ads, but it's got plenty of furry footwork and a nose for easy shots at emotional manipulation.

Directed by Charles Martin Smith from a screenplay credited to Paul Tamasy and Aaron Mendelsohn, "Air Bud" is less rowdy than the "Mighty Ducks" films and closer to "The Secret Garden", with brooding young Josh (Kevin Zegers) discovering an overgrown basketball court and meeting his tail-wagging, soon-to-be best pal.

In a clunky opening, the golden retriever star (Buddy) is shown enduring his humiliating life as a costumed attraction for a bad party clown dubbed Norm Snively (Michael Jeter), who drives the requisite falling-apart pickup. The unnamed canine slips off the truck and hides from people, which is what dadless Josh wants to do since moving to a new mountain home with his family.

His mom (Wendy Makkena) is gentle and fair, but Josh doesn't talk a lot and misses playing basketball with his father, a test pilot killed in the line of duty. Along comes Buddy, who can butt the ball like a seal into the basket. Buddy does run into trouble more than once -- with destructive physical comedy the result -- but on the court he's a barking show-off with the chops.

Josh and Buddy become major attractions in the junior high school basketball program and the team heads toward the finals, but there are numerous complications, including a jerky rival (Brendan Fletcher) on the team, the rival's super-jerky dad (Norman Browning), a former NBA legend (Bill Cobbs) who's also hiding from the world, and the repulsive slob Snively, who succeeds in taking the dog back.

Poor Buddy has to wear another costume and watch Josh lead his team to glory, while the filmmakers are more concerned with overdoing the kid-tells-dog-to-get-lost scene than questioning the collective lust for glory that drives junior hoopsters and adults to such paroxysms in an otherwise bucolic setting.

Appearing only at the end, Eric Christmas is crowd-pleasingly over-the-top as the crotchety judge who allows Buddy to choose an owner. There's little in the way of surprises, and a few cute running gags have to go a long way. The strongest team players, Zegers, Makkena and Cobbs admirably stay in game face as they share the ball with Buddy.

Owned by trainer Kevin DiCicco, Buddy is already a media sensation with "22,000 career baskets" and countless personal appearances. He steals the movie at every opportunity. Director Smith does not handle all aspects with equal success, but he keeps this mongrel production from straying into fantasyland.

AIR BUD

Buena Vista Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures presents

in association with Keystone Pictures

A Robert Vince production

Director Charles Martin Smith

Writers Paul Tamasy, Aaron Mendelsohn

Producers Robert Vince, William Vince

Executive producers Michael Strange,

Anne Vince

Director of photography Mike Southon

Production designer Elizabeth Wilcox

Editor Alison Grace

Music Brahm Wenger

Casting Abra Edelman, Elisa Goodman

Color/stereo

Cast:

Norm Snively Michael Jeter

Josh Framm Kevin Zegers

Jackie Framm Wendy Makkena

Arthur Chaney Bill Cobbs

Judge Cranfield Eric Christmas

Buddy/Air Bud Buddy

Running time -- 101 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...