Romance - Page 50

Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Brand: Warner Brothers Model: 18229603

They’re back – and they’re not alone. The seductive characters of The Vampire Diaries return for a stunning 5-Disc 22-Episode Season Two. This time Elena, Stefan, Damon and the other residents of Mystic Falls are joined by sinister new blood. Released from the tomb, Katherine unleashes her personal brand of evil in a diabolical plot. The Originals – the world’s oldest and most dangerous vampires – hunt for Elena, who discovers she has a terrifying connection to their world. And now bloodsuckers aren’t the only monsters in town. On moonlit nights, werewolves roam in search of victims…including vampires, who succumb to a single werewolf bite. The Vampire Diaries: unending suspense, undying romance. When Mystic Falls welcomes some secretive new citizens, vampires end up squaring off against warlocks and werewolves in the second season of the CW's Vampire Diaries. During the gothic horror-fantasy's first year, Elena (Nina Dobrev) also found out about Katherine, her blood-sucking look-alike (Dobrev excels in depicting these polar-opposite personalities). With Katherine back in the picture, Caroline (Candice Accola) joins the ranks of the undead, Damon (Ian Somerhalder of the overactive eyebrows) gets his anger back, and Tyler (Michael Trevino) learns about his lycanthrope legacy. That leaves Bonnie (Kat Graham), who joins forces with Damon, Stefan (Paul Wesley), and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) to track down a magical moonstone before Katherine and the Original vampires, who aim to destroy Elena to break a curse. Caroline's boyfriend, Matt (Zach Roerig), Elena's aunt, Jenna (Sara Canning), and Jenna's boyfriend, Alaric (Matt Davis), also get caught up in the supernatural skirmish. If Tyler's Uncle Mason (Taylor Kinney) contributes to the hunk factor, werewolves don't always shake things up as much as intended, especially when Twilight got there first. The adherence to vampire mythology can also be a little lax, since this variant eats and drinks just like the living...

Manufacturer: Universal Pictures Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)

“Gut-bustingly funny. Bridesmaids gets an A!!!” (Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly) From the producer of Superbad, Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin comes the breakout comedy critics are calling “brazenly hysterical!” (Alynda Wheat, People) Thirty-something Annie (Kristen Wiig) has hit a rough patch but finds her life turned completely upside down when she takes on the Maid of Honor role in her best friend Lillian’s (Maya Rudolph) wedding. In way over her head but determined to succeed, Annie leads a hilarious hodgepodge of bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to the big event. The delightful Kristen Wiig, who's shone in dozens of supporting roles and on Saturday Night Live, hits a bull's-eye with her first lead role in Bridesmaids. Annie (Wiig) isn't doing so well; her bakery failed and she keeps sleeping with a good-looking louse (Jon Hamm, Mad Men), but she's always had her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph, Away We Go) to buoy her up… until Lillian gets engaged. Annie becomes maid of honor, but another friend of Lillian's--the rich and lovely Helen (Rose Byrne, Get Him to the Greek)--wants to take over that position. Misadventures with bad Brazilian food, dress fittings, an unfortunate flight to Vegas, and a sympathetic traffic cop (Chris O'Dowd from British TV comedy The IT Crowd) follow, with increasingly hilarious results. Bridesmaids successfully balances raunchy comedy and character portrait. The embarrassing and socially catastrophic stuff, which in too many movies balloons into absurdity, is here kept in check just enough to allow Annie and the other characters to be multidimensional people--without the movie losing its comic capacity for cringe. (Actress Melissa McCarthy, of Mike & Molly, works miracles with a character than in most hands would be pure cartoon.) Wiig's enormous appeal keeps Annie sympathetic, even as she becomes more and more of a train wreck. Bridesmaids is both sma...