Audio commentary

Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis topped his breakaway hit Romancing the Stone with Back to the Future, a joyous comedy with a dazzling hook: what would it be like to meet your parents in their youth? Billed as a special-effects comedy, the imaginative film (the top box-office smash of 1985) has staying power because of the heart behind Zemeckis and Bob Gale's script. High schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox, during the height of his TV success) is catapulted back to the '50s where he sees his parents in their teens, and accidentally changes the history of how Mom and Dad met.

Brendan Fraser stars in Bedazzled as Elliot, a dweebish office worker who yearns for Alison (played by Frances O'Connor from Mansfield Park), a coworker who barely knows he exists. When he blithely says he'd give his soul for Alison, the Devil appears (Elizabeth Hurley, Austin Powers) and says she'll give him seven wishes in exchange. Elliot is dubious at first, but agrees out of desperation. Unfortunately, his every wish always leaves the Devil a little wiggle room. When he asks to be rich and powerful, the Devil turns him into a drug lord beset on all sides.

A Beautiful Mind manages to twist enough pathos out of John Nash's incredible life story to redeem an at-times goofy portrayal of schizophrenia. Russell Crowe tackles the role with characteristic fervor, playing the Nobel prize-winning mathematician from his days at Princeton, where he developed a groundbreaking economic theory, to his meteoric rise to the cover of Forbes magazine and an MIT professorship, and on through to his eventual dismissal due to schizophrenic delusions. Of course, it is the delusions that fascinate director Ron Howard and, predictably, go astray.

Despite symptoms of sequelitis, Austin Powers in Goldmember is must-see lunacy for devoted fans of the shagadelic franchise. For every big-name cameo and raunchy double-entendre, there's an equal share of juvenile scatology and pop-cultural spoofery. All is forgiven when the hilarity level is consistently high, and Mike Myers--returning here as randy Brit spy Austin, his nemesis Dr. Evil, the bloated Scottish henchman Fat Bastard, and new Dutch disco-villain Goldmember--thrives by favoring comedic chaos over coherent plotting.

First he fought for the Crown, now he's fighting for the family jewels! Mike Myers (Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery) returns as the world's grooviest superspy in his latest comedy-adventure! Intent on world domination, diabolical genius Dr. Evil travels back to 1969 and steals Austin's "mojo." Now Austin must return to the Swingin' Sixties, recover his mojo and stop his terminally square arch nemesis from liquidating the world.

Back in 1967, buck-toothed, crushed-velvet-wearing, mop-topped Austin Powers worked as a swingin' fashion photographer by day and a groovy super agent for a British organization the rest of the time. His chief nemesis was the bald-pated, cat-loving, megalomaniacal Dr. Evil. Just before Austin Powers catches him once and for all, Dr. Evil has himself place in a cryogenic capsule and blasted into space. Not wanting to be outdone, Powers volunteers to have himself frozen, too. Thirty years pass, and Evil eventually returns to London to continued his wicked machinations.

Thanks to the ambitious vision of director Tim Burton, the blockbuster hit of 1989 delivers the goods despite an occasionally spotty script, giving the caped crusader a thorough overhaul in keeping with the crime fighter's evolution in DC Comics. Michael Keaton strikes just the right mood as the brooding "Dark Knight" of Gotham City; Kim Basinger plays Gotham's intrepid reporter Vicki Vale; and Jack Nicholson goes wild as the maniacal and scene-stealing Joker, who plots a takeover of the city with his lethal Smilex gas.

Around the World in 80 Days on DVD sports an attractive transfer and an inside look at 1950s Hollywood. BBC Radio's Brian Sibley offers a trivia-laden commentary track, while Turner Film Classics host Robert Osborne provides some nice historical perspective in his introductions to most of the extra features. Most interesting is "Around the World with Mike Todd," a 50-minute 1968 documentary about the film's producer, covering his Broadway hits, his films, and his life with Elizabeth Taylor.

Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon are The Banger Sisters, two former groupies who got it on with every late '60s music legend with a guitar and a Y-chromosome. Now, more than two decades later, Suzette (Hawn) is still her brassy self, and Lavinia (Sarandon) is a prim, proper suburban wife and mother. When their two worlds collide, the ensuing "big bang" will rock the house down with laughter!

In this hilarious farce, three of Hollywood's favorite female stars - Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton - live every secretary's dream as they turn the tables on their boss and turn their male controlled workplace into a model office. At Consolidated, the office manager (Tomlin), the vice president's secretary (Parton) and the newest employee (Fonda) become great friends as they share their resentment about their egotistical, sexist boss (Dabney Coleman).