William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)

• Hamlet has the kind of power, energy and excitement that movies can truly exploit,' award-winning actor/director Kenneth Branagh says. In this first-ever full-text film of William Shakespeare's greatest work, the power surges through every scene. The timeless tale of murder, corruption and revenge is reset in an opulent 19th-century world, using sprawling Blenheim Palace as Elsinore and st

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Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 14-AUG-2007
Media Type: DVDIt's the greatest work of literature, but nobody had ever filmed Hamlet uncut--until Kenneth Branagh went about the task for his lavish 1996 production. The result is a sumptuous, star-studded version that scores a palpable hit on its avowed goal: to make the text as clear and urgent as possible. Branagh himself plays the melancholy son of the Danish court, c! aught in a famous muddle about whether to seek revenge against his royal father's presumed slayer… the man who now sits on the throne and shares the bed of Hamlet's mother. (Or, as the song "That's Entertainment" summarizes the plot: "A ghost and a prince meet / And everyone winds up mincemeat.") As a director, Branagh (who shot the movie in 70 mm.) uses the vast, cold interiors of a vaguely 19th-century manor to gorgeous effect; the story might scurry down this hallway, into that back chamber, or sprawl out into the enormous main room. With its endless collection of mirrors, the place is as big and empty as Citizen Kane's Xanadu.

That all works; what doesn't work is Branagh's tendency to over-direct the big dramatic moments. He indulges in quick cutting and flashbacks as though to fend off the audience's objections to the four-hour running time, and the style sometimes looks like wasted energy. The experienced Shakespearians in the cast come off nicely; Derek! Jacobi's Claudius, Richard Briers' Polonius, and Michael Malo! ney's La ertes are just terrific. Julie Christie is a suitably attractive Gertrude, and Kate Winslet makes the most of Ophelia's mad scenes. Branagh's habit of folding in unexpected American performers is on the mark, too: Billy Crystal is surprisingly good as the Gravedigger, Robin Williams predictably camps up Osric, and Charlton Heston is an inspired choice as the grandiloquent Player King. The biggest irony here is that Branagh himself is not quite spot-on as Hamlet. Of course he speaks the lines beautifully, but Branagh's screen personality radiates certainty and clarity of vision; there's little of the doubt that might make him Hamlet-esque. Still, tremendous credit for fending off slings and arrows to get the movie made. --Robert Horton

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters for DVD

• The Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie establishes the origins of the Aqua Teens and attempts to explain the back story to some age-old mysteries that have surrounded the Aqua Teens. Or does it? No one really knowsRunning Time: 166 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: R Age: 053939791921 UPC: 053939791921 Manufacturer No: T7919

The Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie establishes the origins of the Aqua Teens and attempts to explain the back story to some age-old mysteries that have surrounded the Aqua Teens. Or does it? No one really knows

DVD Features:
Alternate endings
Deleted Scenes
Featurette
Music Video
Other
Photo gallery
Theatrical Trailer

Fans of Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force series (part of the cable channel’s Adult Swim programming) know what they’re in for with this feature! -length extension of the nearly-indescribable animated show. Set in a rundown, Jersey suburb, Aqua Teen concerns the misadventures of three human-size characters who happen to be fast food refuse: the crude Master Shake, a discarded milkshake in a cup similar to those from McDonalds; skeptical Frylock, a flying, cardboard box of french fries; and the personable Meatwad, a piece of expired, red beef of unknown origin. Together, they go in search of a missing piece of an exercise machine that happens to be more than an exercise machine, placing them on a collision course with the likes of Oglethorpe and Emory, a pair of jagged, ridiculous creatures from the future who travel with a robot companion claiming to be the Ghost of Christmas Past. They also encounter Dr. Weird, a mad scientist given to disguises and who seeks revenge against the Hunger Force; McPee Pants, a rapping spider who wears a shower cap and diaper; and the hilarious Ignignokt and Err, two-dimensional ! villains from the ancient days of pokey, Atari video games. Da! ve Willi s and Matt Maiellaro, series creators and writers-directors on Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, are wildly entertaining class clowns, but they expect the rest of us to follow them into their surreal world of postmodern animated nuttiness. The rewards, however, are plentiful. --Tom Keogh