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For steadfast and forthright Hank R. Hill ("Not that Hank P. Hill who doesn't pay his Discover Card bill," he clarifies), these are the times that try men's souls: His presidential candidate of choice, George W. Bush, has a limp handshake. His wife, Peggy, and son, Bobby, prefer charcoal grilling to his precious propane. And a new co-worker from Oklahoma is hustling on the side, casting the clueless Hank (voiced by series creator Mike Judge) as her pimp. But the pleasure of King of the Hill is that we can always count on Hank to do the right thing by his town, his friends, his family, and his country. If he heads for the border to keep niece Luanne (Brittany Murphy) from voting Communist (she likes the candidate's red tie), we know he will turn the car around and make it to the polls with a minute to spare. If he gives Arlen High School's star football player an A so he will be eligible to play in the state tournament, we know he will be moved to stand up for his wife, Peggy (Kathy Najimy), who originally flunked him. And if Alabaster Jones (from Oklahoma City) comes to reclaim his "ho," we can be reassured that Hank will "mack daddy" him down.

King of the Hill's fifth season chronicles another momentous year for Bobby (Pamela Segall), who turns 13, is disgraced, but finds redemption, as the school mascot, and saves the life of a drowning pig at the county fair ("Not this pig, not today!"). Pitiable Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root) continues to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune, as his faithless ex-wife Lenore returns to louse up his budding romance with, yes, former governor Ann Richards (as herself), and he takes in a delinquent who takes advantage of him ("All the books about parenting are by comedians," he laments, "and I never know when they're kidding or when they're serious."). King of the Hill continues to fly under the radar. This three-disc set's only extra is a brief sneak preview of the series' tenth, and final, season. That's seemingly more effort than Fox's cracked marketing team expends on this underappreciated treasure. But check out season 5. When it comes to brilliantly funny character-based comedy, keen social satire, and virtuoso voice work, nobody messes with Texas. --Donald Liebenson

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Another solid season of an excellent show... let's hope the DVDs get better

King of the Hill - The Complete Fifth Season (2000-2001.)

REVIEW:
I was disappointed when Mike Judge stopped doing Beavis and Butt-Head, as were plenty of other people. But, my disappointment was somewhat lifted when I discovered King of the Hill, the new series that he had begun work on. This series combined crew members from The Simpsons and Beavis and Butt-Head, truly creating a series that was the best of both worlds. Like many TV shows, this one is now getting season box set reviews. Read on for my comments on the Fifth Season.

OVERVIEW:
King of the Hill's fifth season consists of the following episodes:

85: The Perils of Polling 10/1/2000
Election time is approaching, and Hank finds himself in a crisis over which candidate to choose.

86: The Buck Stops Here 11/5/2000
Bobby gets work as a golf course caddy and gets fired, but is immediately rehired as Buck Strickland's personal caddy.

87: I Don't Want to Wait 11/12/2000
Bobby's thirteenth birthday fast approaches, and with Joseph hitting puberty, the two of them encounter their own identity crises.

88: Spin the Choice 11/19/2000
Hank's plans for the perfect Thanksgiving are shattered when John Redcorn reveals the true nature of the holiday to Bobby.

89: Peggy Makes the Big Leagues 11/26/2000
Peggy becomes an excellent player for the Strickland Propane softball team, but Hank fails to give her the proper recognition.

90: When Cotton Comes Marching Home 12/3/2000
Cotton moves to Arlen, and gets a job in a restaurant - only to find they won't give him Veteran's Day off.

91: What Makes Bobby Run? 12/10/2000
Bobby wins a position as school mascot, but disgraces everyone he knows by running away instead of taking the ceremonial beating mascots are supposed to.

92: 'Twas the Nut Before Christmas 12/17/2000
Bill converts his house into a playground for children around the holidays, and dresses up as Santa Claus.

93: Chasing Bobby 1/21/2001
Hank's beloved truck is predicted by a mechanic not to last very much longer.

94: Yankee Hankie 2/4/2001
Hank is in a state of shock when he discovers his actual birthplace is NOT in Texas.

95: Hank and the Great Glass Elevator 2/11/2001
Hank's friends take him to a fancy hotel for his birthday, but he gets them thrown out of the hotel by mooning former Texas governor Ann Richards.

96: Now Who's the Dummy? 2/18/2001
Bobby is given a ventriloquist dummy during a visit to a senior citizen living center.

97: Ho Yeah! 2/25/2001
Hank and Peggy take in a girl who works with Hank at Strickland Propane, not knowing the secrets of her past.

98: The Exterminator 3/4/2001
Dale is forced to give up exterminating when the chemicals of the job make him ill.

99: Luanne Virgin 2.0 3/4/2001
Luanne becomes a born-again virgin, and quickly meets a new boyfriend, much to Peggy's dismay.

100: Hank's Choice 4/1/2001
Bobby is discovered to be allergic to Ladybird, so Hank gives her to Bill.

101: It's Not Easy Being Green 4/8/2001
Hank and the guys protest the draining of a local quarry, because it hides a dark secret from their high school days.

102: The Trouble with Gribbles 4/22/2001
Dale comes up with a rather awkward plan to sue a cigarette company to get Nancy the facelift she desires.

103: Hank's Back Story 5/6/2001
Hank's back condition forces him to wear padding on his rear to compensate for his lack of bone there.

104: Kidney Boy and Hamster Girl: A Love Story 5/13/2001
Bobby sneaks into Arlen High School, and becomes friends with many of the students due to a story he made up about himself.

EPISODES REVIEW:
There's really not much to say. Any fan of King of the Hill knows these are great episodes, and any fan of the series would be making a smart move adding them to their collection. Although I probably wouldn't call this my favorite season overall, the fact of the matter is that they are still great episodes, and any viewer should own them.

DVD REVIEW:
After Season Two, the King of the Hill DVDs took a massive downward turn. Seasons Three and Four featured NO EXTRAS AT ALL. One thing I like about the King of the Hill DVDs is that they give a brief summary of the episode and the original air date in the episode selection screen, but the fact of the matter is that this doesn't compensate for the lack of extras. Let's hope FOX gets their act together for this release, and releases a package that is as good as the First or Second Season boxes.

OVERALL:
Overall, King of the Hill is a damn fine animated sitcom, and the fifth season is really no exception to this rule. If you're a fan of the series, I would strongly recommend buying this set when it comes out.

Season 5 Shows

"THE BUCK STOPS HERE"
Episode KH501
Original Airdate: 11/05/00

Bobby is working for Hank's boss!

"WHEN COTTON COMES MARCHING HOME AGAIN"
Episode KH503
Original Airdate: 11/12/00

It's Veterans' Day in Arlen!

"PEGGY MAKES THE BIG LEAGUES"
Episode KH504
Original Airdate: 11/26/00

Peggy "graduates" to subbing at the high school.

"SPIN THE CHOICE"
Episode KH505
Original Airdate: 11/19/00

Bobby hopes one Thanksgiving will make up for all the white man's sins

"YANKEE HANKIE"
Episode KH506
Original Airdate: 02/04/01

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere...

"WHAT MAKES BOBBY RUN"
Episode KH507
Original Airdate: 12/10/00

Bobby turns yellow when a middle school tradition turns on him!

"Twas the Nut Before Christmas"
Episode KH508
Original Airdate: 12/17/00

Bill's Christmas cheer doesn't stop with the New Year!

"The Exterminator"
Episode KH509
Original Airdate: 03/04/01

Killing bugs is killing Dale!

"Chasing Bobby"
Episode KH510
Original Airdate: 01/21/01

Hank's gone soft!

"Hank's Choice"
Episode KH511
Original Airdate: 04/01/01

When Bobby discovers he's allergic to Ladybird, Hank must choose between the dog or his son - and it's a tough one

"Hank and the Great Glass Elevator"
Episode KH512
Original Airdate: 02/11/01

"It's a marvelous night for a moon dance..."

"Lupe's Revenge"
Episode KH513
Original Airdate: 05/13/01

During a class field trip to Mexico, Peggy unwittingly smuggles an illegal back into Texas. Guest voice: Kathy Bates

"Now who's the Dummy?"
Episode KH514
Original Airdate: 02/18/01

The show must go on!

"Ho Yeah!"
Episode KH515
Original Airdate: 02/25/01

"The only woman I'm pimping is sweet lady propane!" - Hank

"Luanne Virgin 2.0"
Episode KH516
Original Airdate: 03/11/01

Luanne becomes a born-again virgin, which inspires Peggy to confess a sexual secret

"Hank's Back Story"
Episode KH517
Original Airdate: 05/06/01

Hank's unique health condition threatens his ability to compete in the Durndle County Mower Races

"It's Not Easy Being Green"
Episode KH518
Original Airdate: 04/08/01

Bobby becomes an environmental activist and
unearths Hank's long buried secret

"The Trouble with Gribbles"
Episode KH519
Original Airdate: 04/22/01

Dale fights a big tobacco company and becomes a victim of their hardball tactics

"Kidney Boy and Hamster Girl"
Episode KH522
Original Airdate: 05/13/01

Bobby gets caught up in Arlen High School's quest
to get No Doubt to play their prom

Product Description

Adapted from Cormac McCarthy's award-winning novel, All the Pretty Horses cries for epic length but runs only 112 minutes for theatrical release. Drastically shortened during a lengthy stretch between production and release, this operatic drama feels as if huge chunks are missing, and what remains are fragments of a masterpiece that might have been. Unless a more definitive version is revealed, we must settle for this faint echo of McCarthy's ambitious narrative, in which dispossessed Texas rancher John Grady Cole (Matt Damon) ventures to Mexico in 1949 to revive his fading dreams of cowboy glory. With best friend Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas), Cole's odyssey takes him from youthful idealism to rugged, often horrific, and ultimately ennobling tests of integrity.

Much of Cole's ordeal is sparked by his forbidden love for Alejandra (Penelope Cruz), the beautiful daughter of his Mexican employer, whose family honor is threatened by their mutual attraction. A gunslinging teenager (Lucas Black) casts a black cloud over them all, and All the Pretty Horses becomes a test of Cole's ability to navigate a labyrinth of distorted truth, imprisonment, and hard-fought redemption. All of which begs for emotional depth and carefully developed characters, but this truncated film lacks both. Scenes jump from one to the next with obvious gaps between them, lending no opportunity for emotional investment. It's clear that director Billy Bob Thornton is attempting to redefine the Western, and the effort is laudable on many points, notably in its perfect match of visuals and a flavorful musical score. There's much to admire in this film, making its shortcomings all the more lamentable. --Jeff Shannon

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Marvel Comics' first family of superherodom, the Fantastic Four, hits the big screen in a light-hearted and funny adventure. It begins when down-on-his-luck genius Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd, Horatio Hornblower) has to enlist the financial and intellectual help from former schoolmate and rival Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon, Nip/Tuck) in order to pursue outer-space research into human DNA. Also on the trip are Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis, The Shield); his former lover, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba, Dark Angel, Sin City), who's now Doom's employee and love interest; and her hotshot-pilot brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans, Cellular). Things don't go as planned, of course, and the quartet becomes blessed--or is it cursed?--with superhuman powers: flexibility, brute strength, invisibility and projecting force fields, and bursting into flame. Meanwhile, Doom himself is undergoing a transformation.

Among the many entries in the comic-book-movie frenzy, Fantastic Four is refreshing because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Characterization isn't too deep, and the action is a bit sparse until the final reel (like most "first" superhero movies, it has to go through the "how did we get these powers and what we will do with them" churn). But it's a good-looking cast, and original comic-book cocreator Stan Lee makes his most significant Marvel-movie cameo yet, in a speaking role as the FF's steadfast postal carrier, Willie Lumpkin. Newcomers to superhero movies might find the idea of a family with flexibility, strength, invisibility, and force fields a retread of The Incredibles, but Pixar's animated film was very much a tribute to the FF and other heroes of the last 40 years. The irony is that while Fantastic Four is an enjoyable B-grade movie, it's the tribute, The Incredibles, that turned out to be a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

DVD features
The principal extra on the DVD is a spirited commentary track by Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Ioan Gruffudd. Self-avowed FF fan Chiklis explains why the Thing doesn't have a craggy brow, Alba recalls which things were "cool," and they all talk about looking forward to the sequel. There are three short deleted scenes (including a goofy Wolverine reference), 20 minutes of barely watchable hand-held video footage from the press tour, music videos, and some short featurettes including an appearance by FF creator Stan Lee. --David Horiuchi

The Fantastic Four at Amazon.com

Comics and Graphic Novels	Disney animated series	The classic comic book
Movie tie-in graphic novel	The Xbox game	Fantastic Four Soundtrack

The Fantastic Cast

Jessica Alba as Sue Storm	Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm
Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards	Chris Evans as Johnny Storm

Stills from Fantastic Four (click for larger images)

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In his direction of The Hurricane, veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison understands that slavish loyalty to factual detail is no guarantee of compelling screen biography. In telling the story of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter--who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1967 and spent nearly two decades in jail--Jewison and his screenwriters compress time, combine characters, and rearrange events with a nonchalance that would be galling if they didn't remain honest to the core truth of Carter's ordeal. Because of that emotional integrity--and because Denzel Washington brings total conviction to his title role--The Hurricane rises above the confines of biographical fidelity to embrace higher values of courage, compassion, and ultimate justice.

Jewison is woefully heavy-handed in his treatment of the fictionalized, absurdly villainous detective (Dan Hedaya) who zealously plots to keep Carter in jail, and anyone familiar with Carter's story may object to the film's simplified account. But what matters here is the shining star of hope that is Lesra (Vicellous Reon Shannon), the Brooklyn teenager who rejuvenates Carter's legal battle in the early 1980s. This surrogate father-son relationship is what revives Carter's hope for family and future, and makes The Hurricane so engrossing and emotionally effective. Lesra's real-life Canadian mentors are compressed from nine characters to three, but their efforts are superbly dramatized, and Jewison hits the small but important grace notes that make a good film even better. By its final scenes, The Hurricane conveys the rich, rewarding satisfaction of surviving a difficult but valuable journey of mind, body, and soul. --Jeff Shannon

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Mel Brooks's directorial debut remains both a career high point and a classic show business farce. Hinging on a crafty plot premise, which in turn unleashes a joyously insane onstage spoof, The Producers is powered by a clutch of over-the-top performances, capped by the odd couple pairing of the late Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, making his screen debut.

Mostel is Max Bialystock, a gone-to-seed Broadway producer who spends his days wheedling checks from his "investors," elderly women for whom Bialystock is only too willing to provide company. When wide-eyed auditor Leo Bloom (Wilder) comes to check the books, he unwittingly inspires the wild-eyed Max to hatch a sure-fire plan: sell 25,000 percent of his next show, produce a deliberate flop, then abscond with the proceeds. Unfortunately for the producers (but fortunately for us), their candidate for failure is Springtime for Hitler, a Brooksian conceit that envisions what Goebbels might have accomplished with a little help from Busby Berkeley.

Truly startling during its original 1968 release, The Producers does show signs of age in some peripheral scenes that make merry at the expense of gays and women. But the show's nifty cast (notably including the late Dick Shawn as LSD, the space cadet that snags the musical's title role, and Kenneth Mars as the helmeted playwright) clicks throughout, and the sight of Mostel fleecing his marks is irresistibly funny. Add Wilder's literally hysterical Bloom, and it's easy to understand the film's exalted status among late-'60s comedies. --Sam Sutherland

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Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star in this visually stunning metaphysical tale of life after death. Neurologist Chris and artist Annie had the perfect life until they lost their children in an auto accident; they're just starting to recover when Chris meets an untimely death himself. He's met by a messenger named Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and taken to his own personal afterlife--a freshly drawn world reminiscent of Annie's own artwork, still dripping and wet with paint. Meanwhile a depressed Annie takes her own life, compelling Chris to traverse heaven and hell to save Annie from an eternity of despair.

The multitextured visuals seem to have been created from a lost fairy tale. Heaven recalls the landscape paintings of Thomas Cole and Renaissance architecture complete with floating cherubs, while hell is a massive shipwreck, an upside-down cathedral overgrown with thorns and a sea of groaning faces popping out of the ground (one of those faces is German director Werner Herzog). Williams is the perfect actor to play against the imaginative computer-generated imagery--he himself is a human special effect. But the lack of chemistry between Williams and Sciorra is painfully apparent, and the flashback plot structure flattens the story's impact despite its deeply felt examinations of the heart and the spirit. Still, there's no denying Eugenio Zanetti's triumphant production design and the Oscar-winning special effects, which create a fully formed universe that is at once beautiful, eerie, and a unique example of movie magic. --Shannon Gee

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If you love concert DVDs that offer first-rate music, excellent sound and picture, a beautiful setting, and substantial bonus features, then Alison Krauss and Union Station Live is destined to become your new favorite. It's not just for bluegrass fans either, as proven by Krauss's crossover success on the smash soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou? as well as her pop-oriented hits such as "Now That I've Found You." That song plus "The Lucky One," "When You Say Nothing at All," and others are the perfect showcase for Krauss's meltingly gorgeous voice, and admirers of the concert's two-CD set will also find out how funny she is in her between-songs banter. AKUS has never been all about Krauss, however, so there are also instrumental jams plus featured spots for other members, including Dan Tyminski on O Brother's rousing "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow."

The second DVD offers 50 minutes of interviews in which all five members plus drummer Larry Atamanuik discuss their influences, their instruments, and their favorite songs. There's also backstage and road footage, baby pictures, and more. Perhaps the only disappointment is that two songs from the CDs are not included in the concert: "Down to the River to Pray," which is heard over the end credits but not shown on stage--presumably because the CD version was not taken from this 2002 Louisville show--and "There Is a Reason." --David Horiuchi

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Charles Spencer Chaplin, the London ragamuffin who became the most popular man of his era, gets his proper due with this deluxe package of four classics. Each two-disc set begins with an excellent new digital transfer of the picture and remastered sound. The Gold Rush, Chaplin's 1925 masterpiece, puts the Little Tramp into the snowy Yukon; it includes such celebrated sequences as the "Dance of the Rolls" and Chaplin's uncanny metamorphosis into a large chicken. Both the original silent version and Chaplin's re-edited 1942 release (for which he added his own musical score and narration) are included. A documentary on "Chaplin Today" looks at the film through the eyes of Burkina Faso director Idrissa Ouedraogo. Modern Times (1936) is Chaplin's peerless take on the machine age; his ballet on the assembly line remains one of the great images of modern man driven mad by mechanization. The DVD extras include a couple of (somewhat extraneous) vintage promotional films about the wonderful world of mass production, the famous Chaplin composition "Smile" performed by Liberace (huh?), and penetrating comments on the film by the Belgian filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne.

The Great Dictator is Chaplin's comic undressing of Hitler, boldly released in 1940. An absorbing documentary, "The Tramp and the Dictator," details production of the film, and color footage shot on the set provides fascinating behind-the-scenes material. Limelight (1952), in which he plays a fading vaudevillian, is Chaplin's magnificent elegy on his own career. Extras include a deleted scene, the entire Oscar-winning score, and Bernardo Bertolucci on the film's emotional impact: "I don't cry often, but here my tears flow." Each film has a loving introduction by Chaplin biographer David Robinson--but newcomers to Chaplin should watch the movies first, as the extras give away endings and the best jokes. --Robert Horton

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My grandfather would be proud...

My grandfather, as big a Chaplin fan as they came, never got over the narrated version of The Gold Rush. It wasn't the narration that bothered him as much as the way that "they had to change the ending." A romantic at heart, he missed the original's softer closing. Every time the film aired on television or was re-released at the theater, he looked for the silent version with the original ending. He never found it. The re-release seemed to be a constant thorn in his side. Sort of like the 1940's version of Greedo shooting first. I hope my grandpa is looking down from above, because the original version of the film is included in this standout DVD collection. If you liked Charlie's light-hearted narration, that version's here too (I think both versions are great). And so are four beautifully restored Charlie Chaplin films. The hilarious Modern Times. The controversial The Great Dictator (Chaplin's first "talkie"). The oftentimes overlooked -- and underrated -- Limelight. And quite possibly the most well-liked film of Chaplin's career, The Gold Rush. There aren't as many outtakes as a Chaplin fan would want, but that's because most were lost or destroyed. The outtakes that are included are as fun as the "little fellow" himself. I'm guessing the films look nearly as good as they did when they were first projected onto the gigantic movie house screens of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. This collection takes you back to the early days of film and reminds you that when most were taking baby steps, Mr. Chaplin was moving cinematic storytelling ahead by leaps and bounds. My grandfather would be proud.

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While hardly a spiritual upgrade of the slasher film, this high-concept teen body-count thriller drops hints of The Sixth Sense into the smart-aleck sensibility of Scream. Helmed by X-Files veteran James Wong, who cowrote the screenplay with longtime creative partner Glen Morgan, Final Destination is an often entertaining thriller marked by an unsettling sense of unease and scenes of eerie imagery. It suffers, however, from a schizophrenic tone and a frankly ludicrous premise. A high school Cassandra, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa of Idle Hands), wakes from a preflight nightmare and panics when he's convinced the plane is doomed. His ruckus bumps seven passengers from the Paris-bound plane, which immediately explodes into a fireball on takeoff, but fate hasn't finished with these lucky few and, one by one, death claims them. Wong brings such a funereal tone to these early scenes of survivor's guilt and inevitable doom that the already far-fetched film threatens to veer into unplanned absurdity. Thankfully, the tale loosens up with a playful morgue humor: one of the victims winds up the splattered punch line to a grim joke and elaborate Rube Goldbergesque chains of cause and effect become inspired spectacles of destruction. Final Destination is a pretty silly thriller when it takes itself seriously, and the filmmakers play fast and loose with their own rules of fate, but once they stick their tongues firmly in cheek, the film takes off with a screwy interpretation of the domino effect of doom. --Sean Axmaker

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Improbable as it sounds, perky junior high student Jiyu "Jubei" Nanohana is the reincarnation of the legendary samurai Yagyu Jubei. When she puts on the fabled Lovely Eye Patch, she becomes a devastating swordswoman. Yagyu's loyal retainer Koinusuke, who's spent the last 300 years seeking the Patch's ordained recipient, insists she assume this new identity and its attendant responsibilities--including a 300-year-old vendetta with the Ryujoji clan. Jubei has mixed feelings about this legacy, as she does about the romantic attentions of elegant Kendo champion Shiro and gleefully "unrefined" Bantaro. Shiro's scheming brother, Hajime Ryujoji, hopes to realize an ancient plot to rule Japan "by the sword." Mikage, who attacked Jubei in an earlier episode, returns to reveal the secret of the Eye Patch: warriors struck with Yagyu Jubei's sword receive no wounds, but discover their true hearts. Jubei uses this knowledge to free Hajime from his clan's ancient grudge. But Shiro is possessed by the spirit of Daiyu Taiko Ryujoji, who was defeated by Yagyu Jubei 300 years ago, precipitating the centuries-long vendetta. In a surprisingly deft ending, writer-director Akitaroh Daichi has Jubie's perennially distracted father use his skills as a writer to devise a way to destroy Daiyu and free his daughter from the Lovely Eye Patch. As a result of her adventures, Jubei matures: the ditzy whiner in episode 1 grows into an appealing young woman. (Unrated: suitable for ages 13 and older: violence, minor risqué humor) --Charles Solomon

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