Library

Languages: English, French, Japanese, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Japanese

Sound: AC-3

Summary: For "Halo Legends", various anime directors made eight short films that explore the universe of the popular video game franchise, just as the shorts in "Animatrix" expanded on the "Matrix" features. Although "Halo" ranks among the top first-person shooter games, the AI narrator of Hideki Futamura's two-part introductory episode complains about humanity's violent tendencies: "Like a virus, war is always with you." "The Duel," which pits two Covenant warriors in a samurai-like battle over honor, has a watercolor look that recalls "Gankutsuou: Count of Monte Cristo". Unfortunately, the effect is applied too evenly, and the characters get lost in the backgrounds. Daisuke Nishio's "Odd Man Out" injects a welcome note of comedy, as warrior Spartan 337 copes with three difficult children and their pet tyrannosaur. Other Spartans in single fighters attack the flagship of the Covenant fleet in "The Package," by Shinji Aramaki. The elaborately choreographed space battle is obviously modeled on the attack on the Death Star in "Star Wars", but the sequence packs more visual punch than the other films in the anthology. Dr. Catherine Halsey ends this segment with the line, "Something tells me this is just the beginning," so additional films may be in the works. "Halo Legends" was clearly intended to expand the audience for the already-popular franchise, but the shorts aren't strong enough as films to win many viewers who aren't currently members of the "Halo Nation." The disc comes loaded with extras, including a standard making-of mini-documentary about each segment. Although the cover bears the warning "Parents strongly cautioned: Violent Content Throughout," the action in "Halo Legends" is surprisingly tame. (Rated PG-13: violence, violence against women) "--Charles Solomon"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Summary:

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Sound: AC-3

Summary: Voldemort's power is growing stronger. He now has control over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to finish Dumbledore's work and find the rest of the Horcruxes to defeat the Dark Lord. But little hope remains for the Trio, and the rest of the Wizarding World, so everything they do must go as planned.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital

Summary: The final chapter begins as Harry, Ron, and Hermione continue their quest of finding and destroying the Dark Lord's three remaining Horcruxes, the magical items responsible for his immortality. But as the mystical Deathly Hallows are uncovered, and Voldemort finds out about their mission, the biggest battle begins and life as they know it will never be the same again.

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Summary: The sixth installment of the "Harry Potter" series begins right where "The Order of the Phoenix" left off. The wizarding world is rocked by the news that "He Who Must Not Be Named" has truly returned, and the audience finally knows that Harry is "the Chosen One"--the only wizard who can defeat Lord Voldemort in the end. Dark forces loom around every corner, and now regularly attempt to penetrate the protected walls of Hogwarts School. This is no longer the fun and fascinating world of magic from the first few books—it's dark, dangerous, and scary.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) to be a new Death Eater recruit on a special mission for the Dark Lord. In the meantime, Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) seems to have finally removed the shroud of secrecy from Harry about the dark path that lies ahead, and instead provides private lessons to get him prepared. It's in these intriguing scenes that the dark past of Tom Riddle (a.k.a. Voldemort) is finally revealed. The actors cast as the different young versions of Riddle (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane) do an eerily fantastic job of portraying the villain as a child. While the previous movies' many new characters could be slightly overwhelming, only one new key character is introduced this time: Professor Horace Slughorn (with a spot-on performance by Jim Broadbent). Within his mind he holds a key secret in the battle to defeat the Dark Lord, and Harry is tasked by Dumbledore to uncover a memory about Voldemort's darkest weapon--the Horcrux. Despite the long list of distractions, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) still try to focus on being teenagers, and audiences will enjoy the budding awkward romances. All of the actors have developed nicely, giving their most convincing performances to date.
More dramatic and significant things go down in this movie than any of its predecessors, and the stakes are higher than ever. The creators have been tasked with a practically impossible challenge, as fans of the beloved J.K. Rowling book series desperately want the movies to capture the magic of the books as closely as possible. Alas, the point at which one accepts that these two mediums are very different is the point at which one can truly enjoy these brilliant adaptations. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is no exception: it may be the best film yet. For those who have not read the book, nail-biting entertainment is guaranteed. For those who have, the movie does it justice. The key dramatic scenes, including the cave and the shocking twist in the final chapter, are executed very well. It does a perfect job of setting up the two-part grand finale that is to follow. "--Jordan Thompson"

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: HARRY POTTER: THE FIRST SIX YEARS

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE - The magical adventure begins when Harry Potter is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS - Cars fly, trees attack and a mysterious house-elf warns Harry that he is in great danger as he returns for his second year at Hogwarts.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN - Harry must confront soul-sucking Dementors, outsmart a werewolf and learn the truth about the escaped prisoner of Azkaban – Sirius Black.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE - Harry must overcome a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX - When few believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, Harry must secretly train his friends for the wizarding war that lies ahead.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE - As Lord Voldemort tightens his grip on both Muggle and wizarding worlds, Harry and Dumbledore work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses.
(c) 2009 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. Harry Potter Publishing Rights (c) J.K.R

Comments: Box set

Summary: In the ongoing deluge of comic-book adaptations, "Hellboy" ranks well above average. Having turned down an offer to helm "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" in favor of bringing "Hellboy"'s origin story to the big screen, the gifted Mexican director Guillermo del Toro compensates for the excesses of "Blade II" with a moodily effective, consistently entertaining action-packed fantasy, beginning in 1944 when the mad monk Rasputin--in cahoots with occult-buff Hitler and his Nazi thugs--opens a transdimensional portal through which a baby demon emerges, capable of destroying the world with his powers. Instead, the aptly named Hellboy is raised by the benevolent Prof. Bloom, founder of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, whose allied forces enlist the adult Hellboy (Ron Perlman, perfectly cast) to battle evil at every turn. While nursing a melancholy love for the comely firestarter Liz (Selma Blair), Hellboy files his demonic horns ("to fit in," says Bloom) and wreaks havoc on the bad guys. The action is occasionally routine (the movie suffers when compared to the similar "X-Men" blockbusters), but del Toro and Perlman have honored Mike Mignola's original Dark Horse comics with a lavish and loyal interpretation, retaining the amusing and sympathetic quirks of character that made the comic-book Hellboy a pop-culture original. He's red as a lobster, puffs stogies like Groucho Marx, and fights the good fight with a kind but troubled heart. What's not to like? "--Jeff Shannon"

Languages: English

Summary:

Summary: Will Smith's easygoing charm makes "Hitch" the kind of pleasant, uplifting romantic comedy that you could recommend to almost anyone--especially if there's romance in the air. As suave Manhattan dating consultant Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, Smith plays up the smoother, sophisticated side of his established screen persona as he mentors a pudgy accountant (Kevin James) on the lessons of love. The joke, of course, is that Hitch's own love life is a mess, and as he coaches James toward romance with a rich, powerful, and seemingly inaccessible beauty named Allegra (Amber Valetta), he's trying too hard to impress a savvy gossip columnist (Eva Mendes) with whom he's fallen in love. Through mistaken identities and mismatched couples, director Andy Tennant brings the same light touch that made Drew Barrymore's "Ever After" so effortlessly engaging. As romantic comedies go, "Hitch" doesn't offer any big surprises, but as a date movie it gets the job done with amiable ease and style. "--Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com"

Comments: Box set

Summary: Don't panic! After twenty years stuck in development (a mere blink compared to how long it takes to find the answer to life, the universe, and everything), "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" has finally been turned into a movie. Following the radio play, TV series, commemorative towel, and books, this latest installment in the sci-fi-comedy franchise is based on the screenplay and detailed notes by Douglas Adams. For those unfamiliar with the story, everyman Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) wakes up one morning to discover that his house is set to be demolished to make room for a bypass. Little does he know the entire planet Earth is also set to be destroyed for an interplanetary bypass by the Vogons, a hideous and bureaucratic race of aliens realized in the film by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Whisked off the planet by his best friend, alien-in-disguise Ford Prefect (Mos Def), Dent embarks on a goofy jaunt across the galaxy accompanied by his trusty Hitchhiker's Guide, which looks like a really fancy PDA. The guide itself provides some of the funniest bits of the movie, little animated shorts that explain the ludicrous life forms and extraterrestrial phenomena our heroes encounter. Along the way Arthur meets the two-headed party animal/president of the galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) and develops an unrequited crush on fellow earthling Trillian (Zooey Deschanel). The creatures and sets are inspired and answer to the sci-fi fan's primal need to see lots and lots of cool stuff. Where the story stumbles is in the telling--as books, the Hitchhiker's Guide was foremost about goofy and brilliant ideas that raised questions about our place in the universe while getting a laugh. The movie has enough trouble figuring out how to get the characters from one fantastical location to the next that Adams's funniest concepts often feel left in the dust. While the reverence the filmmakers felt toward Adams's legacy is apparent, one wonders what we could have expected had the creator of this science fiction universe lived to see it with his own eyes. "--Ryan Boudinot, Amazon.com"

Languages: English, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, French, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary:

Languages: Engels

Subtitles: Engels, Italiaans, Chinees

Summary: Review Hobbit Pt.3 -3D-De reviews worden geladen.

Summary: The first of a trilogy of films adapted from the enduringly popular J.R.R. Tolkien masterpiece, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is nominated for three Academy Awards, is an epic adventure that immerses audiences once again in the fantastical world of Middle-earth.Set 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, the adventure follows our hero Bilbo Baggins, the eponymous Hobbit, who is reluctantly swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the Wizard Gandalf, Bilbo finds himself press ganged into the company of thirteen Dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield and on a journey into the wild. Together they must traverse troll infested forests and goblin lairs, hunted by a merciless white Orc and haunted by a mysterious and sinister figure known only as The Necromancer.Over 130 mins of Bonus Features including Peter Jackson’s behind the scenes production diaries. From pre-production to the NZ premiere witness the forefront of movie making on location with the star studded cast of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Languages: English, French

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Summary:

Languages: English

Summary: This dramatization of the book hogfather by Terry Pratchett is extremely well made and fun. Like most of the general public in the UK we have had to wait for the dvd of hogfather to be released. This is mainly due to the greediness both of the american studio 20th century fox demanding a wheelbarrow load of cash for the program. And also sky were desperately trying to get their nits on something to justify their ridiculous tv service fee for a load of crap most of the time.
Anyway despite the 6 month wait the program hogfather is one of the best fantasy things to be put into practice since the lord of the rings. It focuses on all things mythical such as the tooth fairy, the hogfather a.k.a father christmas and death or the grim reaper. The main heroine in this tale is death's granddaughter who is 3/4 human. The tale moves onto 4 so called auditors who want the hogfather assassinated. It is then the job of death and his granddaughter to save the hogfather in order for the sun to rise the next day.
The tale ends with the task completed and the end of the problem.
The most amazing thing of this program is the design of discworld being a flat planet in space on top of 4 elephants on top of a giant turtle.

So buy it, it's well worth the money.

Languages: English, None

Subtitles: English

Summary: The movie consist of 13 separate episodes each handling a period between 1960 and 1970. The length of these periods varies from one day to some years. It tells the story of a group of people in Munich (mostly music and film students). Every episode focuses on a different character from the group, although the main storyline and character, the young composer Hermann, continues. The movie tells a story in many different levels about love, friendship, misfortune, loss, art, politics, history with important historic events of the decennium in the background. It was the most costly and ambitious drama production in German television, although very cinematographic. Believed to be partly autobiographic.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby

Summary: A light-hearted animated film set in the woods at the bottom of some mountains. People and creatures with varying levels of intelligence (the bear and the little squirrel thing are my favourites) supply the laughs and of course progress the story at a good pace.

I think this film is suitable for the majority of people. I can't understand why it hasn't been distributed more widely.

Summary: Meet Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, heir of the Viking chiefdom, but a boy with one very big problem: a hero he is not. How to Train Your Dragon' is the riotous story of Hiccup's quest to hunt down the fiercest dragon, bring it into submission, and-hopefully-pass his initiation. Instead, he ends up with the smallest, most ornery dragon-it's even toothless! Thus begins the hijinx of the world's most lovable, unlikely hero and a most reluctant beast. Packed with energetic drawings and plenty of action, this boisterous tale is just right for fantasy fans or anyone with a spirit of adventure.

Comments: Box set

Summary: Amazingly, Ang Lee's "Hulk" makes a fair fist of pleasing everybody. The latest in a run of Marvel Comic-to-film transfers, it acknowledges the history of a character who dates back to 1962 while recreating him in contemporary terms. Though this, Hulk's origin still draws on the 1960s iconography of bomb tests and desert bases, this new take mixes gene-tampering with gamma radiation and never forgets that poor Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) has been psychologically primed by a mad father (Nick Nolte) and a disappointed girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) to transform from repressed wimp to big green powerhouse even before the mad science kicks in.
The long first act is enlivened by comic book-style split-screen effects and multiple foreshadowings--Lee keeps finding excuses to light Bana's face green--but is also absorbing personal drama from the man who gave you "The Ice Storm" before flexing his action muscles on "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". When Banner begins his Jekyll-and-Hyde seizures, the ILM CGI boys step in and use Bana as a template for the most fully-realised digital characterisation yet seen in the movies. Comics fans will thrill as a credibly bulky, superswift, super-green behemoth tangles with mutated killer dogs (including a very vicious poodle) in a night time forest, bursts out of confinement in an underground secret base, takes on America's military might while bouncing around a "Road Runner and Coyote"-like South Western desert and then invades San Francisco for some major "Hulk... smash" action. Artful and entertaining, engaging and explosive, this is among the most satisfying superhero movies.
On the DVD: "Hulk" two-disc set doesn't quite hulk-out as well comparative Marvel movie releases for the "X-Men" films, "Spider-Man" and "Daredevil". Disc 2 assembles a pile of those infotainment documentaries prepared to drum up pre-publicity but which feel a bit redundant once the movie is out, especially since there's so much repetition between the featurettes. It's all very well, and some of the technical stuff is fascinating, but this particular film could do with a more in-depth thematic approach: there's a lot about how the CGI Hulk was realised but little on the development of the story, the performances or the general tone, though Ang Lee's slightly sparse commentary makes interesting stabs in that direction. The biggest revelation in the background material is that Lee, known for his delicacy of touch, himself wore the motion capture suit and smashed up plywood tanks as a guide for the CGI animators. --"Kim Newman"

Languages: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Summary: Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her younger sister’s place and must rely on her sharp instincts when she’s pitted against highly trained Tributes who have prepared their entire lives. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Languages: English

Sound: Dolby Digital

Summary: Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a "Victor's Tour" of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) - a competition that could change Panem forever.

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: Datasat

Summary: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD]

Languages: English

Sound: Auro 11.1

Summary: After young Katniss Everdeen agrees to be the symbol of rebellion, the Mockingjay, she tries to return Peeta to his normal state, tries to get to the Capitol, and tries to deal with the battles coming her way...but all for her main goal; assassinating President Snow and returning peace to the Districts of Panem. As her squad starts to get smaller and smaller, will she make it to the Capitol? Will she get revenge on Snow? Or will her target change? Will she be with her "Star-Crossed Lover", Peeta? Or her long time friend, Gale? Deaths, Bombs, Bows and Arrows, A Love Triangle, Hope. What will happen?

Languages: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Sound: AC-3

Summary: The making of honest action movies has become so rare that Kathryn Bigelow's magnificent "The Hurt Locker" was shown mostly in art cinemas rather than multiplexes. That's fine; the picture is a work of art. But it also delivers more kinetic excitement, more breath-bating suspense, more putting-you-right-there in the danger zone than all the brain-dead, visually incoherent wrecking derbies hogging mall screens. Partly it's a matter of subject. The movie focuses on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, the guys whose more or less daily job is to disarm the homemade bombs that have accounted for most U.S. casualties in Iraq. But even more, the film's extraordinary tension derives from the precision and intelligence of Bigelow's direction. She gets every sweaty detail and tactical nuance in the close-up confrontation of man and bomb, while keeping us alert to the volatile wraparound reality of an ineluctably foreign environment--hot streets and blank-walled buildings full of onlookers, some merely curious and some hostile, perhaps thumbing a cellphone that could become a trigger. This is exemplary moviemaking. You don't need CGI, just a human eye, and the imagination to realize that, say, the sight of dust and scale popped off a derelict car by an explosion half a block away delivers more shock value than a pixelated fireball.
The setting may be Iraq in 2004, but it could just as well be Thermopylae; "The Hurt Locker" is no "Iraq War movie." Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal--who did time as a journalist embed with an EOD unit--align themselves with neither supporters nor opponents of the U.S. involvement. There's no politics here. War is just the job the characters in the movie do. One in particular, the supremely resourceful staff sergeant played by Jeremy Renner, is addicted to the almost nonstop adrenaline rush and the opportunity to express his esoteric, life-on-the-edge genius. The hurt locker of the title is a box he keeps under his bunk, filled with bomb parts and other signatory memorabilia of "things that could have killed me." That none of it has killed him so far is no real consolation. In this movie, you never know who's going to go and when; even high-profile talent (we won't name names here) is no guarantee. But one thing can be guaranteed, and that is that almost every sequence in the movie becomes a riveting, often fiercely enigmatic set piece. This is Kathryn Bigelow's best film since 1987's "Near Dark". It could also be the best film of 2009. "--Richard T. Jameson"