Emile Zola's novel of a rural mine town and a perilous worker's strike becomes a big-budget film of grit and torment in Germinal. The first half of the movie captures a world just this side of prison where whole families work in the Voreux mines with a daily dose of coal dust covering their skins and clogging their minds. Escapes are rare: a drink at the company bar or a carnival. An outsider provokes talk of a strike, something the failing owners want as well. When the workers revolt, it becomes a monster. While true to Zola's passion for the worker and social change, the movie cannot recover from the operatic drama that turns the action into mere motion, failing to draw in the audience (although this is an impressive-looking film, with Voreux passing as the real thing). Viewers will be moved by the workers' plight, the daily grime that they must rinse away, and their efforts to instill a normal life in this industrial hell-and will surely learn to appreciate their own jobs, whatever the inadequacies. -Doug Thomas.

Otis Redding's career was just taking off when he was killed in a plane crash. This DVD combines footage of Otis from Monterey Pop with black-and-white video from the Stax/Volt European tour earlier that same year. In both cases, his backup band is Booker T and the MG's (with the Mar-Keys). The European gig features Sam and Dave, as well as Booker T and the MG's doing their big hit, "Green Onions". Monterey Pop was, of course, the first big rock & roll rave-up, and it's there that Otis and the band really cut loose. The piece is short (48 minutes) and repeats a few numbers-at both concerts, Otis was sharing the bill and only had time to do his hits. His biggest hit, "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" (which was written after Monterey and recorded only three days before Otis died) is here only as a fragment over a photo montage. Nevertheless, you can see why the man and his music still live on-it's the passion, particularly with "Try a Little Tenderness" from Stax/Volt and "I've Been Loving You" from Monterey Pop. -Geof Miller.

Despite the presence of hack director Arthur Hiller, this hybrid comedy-thriller works most of the time as pleasant faux Hitchcock. Gene Wilder is a book editor who is relaxing by taking a cross-country train ride. Then he gets caught up in a murder-and becomes a suspect. It's up to him to prove his own innocence. As noted, the script, by Colin Higgins, owes a big debt to Alfred Hitchcock; but the mystery isn't all that mysterious and the comedy isn't all that hilarious-at least not until Richard Pryor shows up, which is at least halfway through the film. Things definitely pick up from there. Jill Clayburgh, as the love interest, is merely along for the train ride. Wilder and Pryor eventually teamed up for several other films, but they were never as funny together as they are in this one. -Marshall Fine.

So, they let both Rex Harrison and Anthony Newley sing. This 1968 family musical is classier than the 1998 Eddie Murphy remake, with all of its scatological humor. This won a couple of Oscars (Best Song, Best Effects) and was nominated for seven more, including Best Picture. At the time of release, however, this was a box-office dud. Based (in part) on the magical Hugh Lofting book, it begins in Puddleby-by-the-Marsh, England, from which the world-renowned veterinarian Dolittle (Harrison) begins his quest for a giant pink sea snail. Children should find this enjoyable for its exotic creatures, such as the Pushme-Pullyou. Most adults may not agree as readily, although some of us consider this a guilty pleasure. -Rochelle O'Gorman.

An extravagantly planned ceremony that reveals the unexpected reality. An ambitious writer, who uses sex without barriers to advance professionally, becomes engaged with the daughter of a well established editor to further his career. His fiancée is the perfect bride to be awaiting the magical day that she has dreamt of all her life, only to find herself suddenly faced with her partner's dark secret for everyone to see.

Stomp is a rhythmic, musical extravaganza that has stunned audiences across the globe. If you weren't lucky enough to catch them in your hometown (or you did and you crave more), now there's Stomp Out Loud, a special HBO performance that will bring the unusual musical feats right into your living room. You might just find yourself grabbing a broom or even your remote control to keep time. "It's comedy, it's theater, it's very physical, it's energetic, it's occasionally quite terrifying," says one performer. Taking their show from the theater to the streets, this astonishing troupe can make music out of just about anything and just about anywhere. The opening sequence shows them dangling by harnesses across the back of a Manhattan billboard drumming on hubcaps, pipes, street signs, and plastic garbage pails, all the while swaying and keeping in perfect time. You know how you like to groove along to the radio while driving? Stomp doesn't need a radio-they use their hands to make their own music while cruising the streets of New York. Using just basketballs in a steamy alleyway, the troop creates an incredibly intricate dance and sound with the street, brick walls, and Dumpsters. Included in the program are the push broom, garbage can, and pole dances, just a few of their best-known sequences. Stomp Out Loud showcases the performers in the theater, out about town, and in short humorous vignettes (love the recurring card game!). [+]

Mathilde va mal. Regulierement, elle vole des jouets dans les grands magasins. Parfois elle s'evanouit. Nico, son mari chirurgien, ne voit rien ou ne veut rien voir, quoiqu'elle lui montre. Ell recontre un docteur qui lui fait subir des sceances l'hypnose. Une reverie, ce >, une invention pour se sauver d'elle-meme? Biontot, elle va mieux et, vite, tres bien. Du coup, Nico, lui, va tres mal.