Baby Geniuses/Superbabies: Baby Geniuses
- DVD, Double Feature, Full Screen, Special Features
- Sony Pictures, both movies 1:33 minutes each
The first snow has fallen.
The mice children go sledding
with Grandma and Grandpa.
But at the top of the hill,
who will go first?
Bitty, the smallest mouse,
is scared.
When she tries,
WHEEEEEE,
she finds that sledding is the best!
Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully captured the chills and thrills of a first sled ride when first snow was published in 1985. She has added words and created new pictures for this handsome larger edition, a companion to picnic.
Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential), Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly) and JK Simmons (Thank You For Smoking, Spiderman 1-3) star in ! this intriguing thriller about a man whose life spins out of control after psychic tells him his days are numbered. After his car breaks down in a desolate town, a slick salesman, Jimmy Starks (Pearce), visits a fortune teller (Simmons) to kill some time. But the psychicâs ominous reading sends Jimmyâs life into a tailspin when he learns that his life will soon end, but he is safe at least, until the first snow of the season. Now, with his ultimate fate looming nearer, Jimmy becomes obsessed with revisiting his past in hopes of changing his destiny before itâs too late. With a thriller as low-key as First Snow, dynamic acting is a must. Fortunately, Guy Pearce (Memento) owns the screen as slick salesman Jimmy Starks. In his first film, Oscar-nominated writer Mark Fergus (Children of Men) forgoes visual effects in favor of an increasingly complex narrative. As in many Stephen King novels, the story centers on the collision between a man of reason a! nd a man of faith--in the supernatural, that is. The foreshado! wing beg ins when Starks visits fortune teller Vacaro (J.K. Simmons, Spider-Man). Starks assumes he's a fellow hustler. Then his every prediction comes true. On a return trip, Vacaro tells him he'll be dead by first snow, but can't say how or when. Should Starks put his affairs in order, enjoy his time with girlfriend Deirdre (Piper Perabo), or just do nothing? Then again, snow seems unlikely for Albuquerque. Over the next few days, several possible culprits come to light, like Andy (Rick Gonzalez), an assistant Starks fired, and Vince (Shea Wigham), a partner he sold down the river. Convinced one of them is going to seek revenge, Starks becomes so paranoid he opens the door to disaster. Fergus excels in keeping the tension at a low boil, but he undersells the climax. Still, it's a nice change from all the mysteries that build in intensity before collapsing in a heap of improbabilities. First Snow is rooted in the real world from the first frame to the last. --Kathle! en C. Fennessy With good source material (Stephen Fried's A Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia), Jolie's stunning performance, and strong directing by Michael Cristofer, the movie goes beyond the merely sensational. The script was cowritten by Cristofer and novelist Jay McInerney, whose Bright Lights, Big City covers similar territory. As a cautionary tale, Gia works. But to watch Jolie in her character's tragic self-destruction is utterly compelling. --N.F. Mendoza
The Boston Herald acclaimed it as "a suspenseful tale that portrays the players as Davids going up against Goliaths." And Bill Simmons of ESPN magazine exclaimed, "This book made me want to gamble! Vegas! Vegas!" Filled with tense action, high stakes, and incredibly close calls, Bringing Down the House is a nail-biting chronicle of a real-life Ocean's Eleven. It's one story that Vegas does not want you to read.The hilarious Steve Martin (FATHER OF THE BRIDE) and Academy Award(R)-nominee Queen Latifah (Best Supporting Actress, 2002, CHICAGO) star with Eugene Levy (AMERICAN PIE) in the laugh-out-loud hit comedy BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE. Peter Sanderson (Martin), a divorced, straitlaced, uptight workaholic attorney, meets a brainy bombshel! l lawyer in an on-line chat room and they make a date. Expecti! ng his s oul mate, he opens the door and finds himself face-to-face with Charlene (Latifah) -- a wild and crazy soul "sister" who's just escaped from prison and wants Peter to clear her name. But Peter wants absolutely nothing to do with her, and that prompts Charlene to turn Peter's perfectly ordered life totally upside down. Hysterical complications abound and Peter soon finds out he may need Charlene just as much as she needs him. It's a houseful of fun your family will enjoy again and again.The pleasingly contrasting comic styles of Queen Latifah and Steve Martin bring some energy to Bringing Down the House, a hopelessly formulaic comedy. Martin plays Peter, an uptight lawyer too obsessed with work to spend quality time with his kids. Into his life comes Queen Latifah as Charlene, an escaped convict who threatens to wreck his relationship with a wealthy but arch-conservative client (Joan Plowright, in high dudgeon) if Peter won't take up her case. Of course, Latifah's exu! berant ways enchant his kids and bring out a looser, livelier side of Peter, all in a series of scenes so standard they hardly register. Thank goodness for Eugene Levy; as one of Peter's law partners with a taste for Charlene's bodacious brand of sexy, Levy's ingenious transformation from nebbish to loverman is the movie's secret weapon, stealthily planting comic explosions amidst the modest rice-krispie-crackle of the stale plot. --Bret Fetzer