Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - Directed by Brad Siberling, LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS follows the Baudelaire orphans-Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam Aiken), and baby Sunny (played by twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman)-as they are followed by the wicked Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). A distant relative and an awful actor, Olaf is determined to claim the fortune willed to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, whose parents died in a mysterious fire. Enigmatic author Lemony Snicket (Jude Law) recounts the adventures of the three children as they change hands from the conniving Olaf to the reptile-loving Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) to Aunt Josephine (Meryl Steep), who lives in fear of just about everything. An adaptation that condenses the first three books in the series-THE BAD BEGINNING, THE REPTILE ROOM, and THE WIDE WINDOW-into one installment, the film captures the darkly humorous tone of the popular children's novels by Lemony Snicket (AKA Daniel Handler). Carrey clearly has fun with his intentionally over-the-top role as the villain, while the young actors embody their resourceful characters wonderfully. The true star of the film, however, may be the production design of Rick Heinrichs (SLEEPY HOLLOW), which creates a visually stunning world filled with gothic mansions and ramshackle houses. By keeping the heart of the eccentric books intact, A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS proves to be an usually inventive and quirky Hollywood film. DVD

Once again, Buena Vista has chosen to release a movie-only disc with no bonus material. In the case of Tombstone, the lack of extras is made even more incomprehensible in light of the fact that the laserdisc release of the film featured deleted scenes with director commentary, all of which added depth to the film. With a director's cut that was three hours in length, the decision to leave that footage on the cutting room floor is frustrating. Fans of the film will want to at least rent Tombstone on DVD, however, as the non-anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer thankfully negates the pan-and-scan of the original tape and restores the film's epic Western feel. The picture and sound quality are even a notch above the Buena Vista releases of the time, and the picture would be even better if not for a little too much shimmering from edge enhancement at times. Regardless of the disc's shortcomings, the shootout at the O.K. Corral is a perfect showroom sequence for the benefits of DVD. While rumors of a special edition remain unconfirmed, hopefully Buena Vista will do the film justice in the future.

The DVD of Goodfellas has got to be one of the very first DVDs ever released by Warner Brothers because they make a critical error in the release. While many films offer widescreen on one side and full screen on the other, this film offers only one version -- a widescreen film broken into two sides. Viewers have to flip the DVD over to watch the second half of the film; 19 chapters are on side A and the last 15 chapters are on side B. Goodfellas is a classic film, and the DVD offers a great video transfer and excellent Dolby Digital 5:1 Surround, but no DVD fan will accept the two-sided format. In terms of extras, there are very few, limited only to theatrical trailers, production notes, and cast bios. For many, this Martin Scorsese classic is a must-have for any collection, but those who can wait for a future, corrected release of this film are better off watching the widescreen VHS tape. Language option in English and French and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.