The New Year's Eve Movie Funkfest

It's an annual tradition since the advent of DVD. Usually it had been confined to box sets of films ("Back To The Future" trilogy, Indiana Jones trilogy, "Scream" trilogy) or TV sets ("Sopranos" season 1, the "Monty Python" complete series megaset). This year, it's a new thing.

It was basically your average "you pick, I pick" home entertainment film festival. The chick picked the first film, I picked the next, and so forth. We're going from 2pm - 2am. Here's the lineup, with write-ups snagged from the backs of the DVDs themselves:

"The Royal Tenenbaums"
Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) had three children-Chas, Margot, and Richie-and then they separated. Chas (Ben Stiller) started buying real estate in his early teens and seemed to have an almost preternatural understanding of international finance. Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) was a playwright and received a Braverman Grant of $50,000 in the ninth grade. Richie (Luke Wilson) was a junior champion tennis player and won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Wes Anderson's hilarious, touching, and brilliantly stylized study of melancholy and redemption.

"Hercules In The Haunted World"
Hercules (Reg Park) must battle a monster made of stone, retrieve a golden apple from the tree of Hesperides, and brave the horrors of Hades to rescue his beloved from the clutches of the evil Lyco (Christopher Lee). Oracles, witches, and vampires abound in this delirious blend of sword and sandal adventure, horror, and psychedelia. Maestro Mario Bava's first color film is awash in a sea of primary hues, creepy atmosphere, and eye-popping imagery. Fantoma is very proud to present the original European cut of this widescreen wonder for the first time in the U.S.

"Lady Snowblood"
Her father, a schoolteacher, is brutally murdered. Her mother is beaten, raped, and forced into prostitution to survive, only to die giving her life. From her dying mother's lips comes her only reason for living ... bloody revenge! Trained in the arts of death by the priest who adopts her, Yuki sets out to find the four villains who destroyed her family. But when the secret of her bloody mission is uncovered by a well-meaning journalist, the tables are turned and evil finds the one weapon that can pierce the heart of the woman known to all of Japan as: Lady Snowblood!

"Payback"
Mel Gibson "gives one of his strongest performances," teaming with his co-screenwriter Brian Helgeland and a superb supporting cast to ignite PAYBACK's explosive mix of story, stars and style. The dynamic superstar portrays Porter, a career criminal bent on revenge after his partners in a street heist pump metal into him and take off with his $70,000 cut. Bad move, thugs. Because if you plan to double-cross Porter, you'd better make sure he's dead. Porter resurfaces, wading into a lurid urban underworld of syndicate kingpins, cops on the take, sniveling informants and deadly gangs. Porter wants his money back. And the way he sets out to get it assures that, from beginning to heartpounding end, PAYBACK pays off big.

"Sin City: Recut & Extended"
An amazing cast of big-screen favorites is directed by Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn), Frank Miller - and special guest director Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill 1 & 2, Pulp Fiction) - in an acclaimed and visually stunning hit that's the coolest movie of the year! Straight from the pages of Miller's hip series of Sin City graphic novels, Bruce Willis stars as a cop with a bum ticker and a vow to protect a sexy stripper (Jessica Alba - Fantastic Four); Mickey Rourke (Man On Fire) as an outcast misanthrope on a mission to avenge the death of his one true love (Jaime King - Pearl Harbor); and Clive Owen (King Arthur) as Dwight, the clandestine love of Shellie (Brittany Murphy - Little Black Book), who spends his night defending Gail ( Rosaio Dawson - The Devil's Rejects) and her Old Town girls (Devon Aoki and Alexi Blede) from a tough guy (Benicio Del Toro - 21 Grams) with a penchant for violence. Also starring Elijah Wood, Nick Stahl, Michael Madsen, Carla Gugino and Michael Clarke Duncan.

"Mr. Sardonicus"
Desperate to retrieve a winning lottery ticket, a greedy baron unearths his father's corpse. An enourmous jackpot is his reward, but not without a price: his face is frozen permanently into a hideous grin. He enlists his fiendish one-eyed servant to help him lift this horrible curse, but their schemes fail. Finally, he turns to a noted neurosurgeon, and his wife's former lover, to cure him. This creepy horror classic is based on a novella by screenwriter Ray Russell, and is brought to life by William Castle, master of terror!

"Shaun Of The Dead"
Get ready for a gut-busting, bone-mashing good time in the hilarious horror comedy, "Shaun of the Dead." There comes a day in every man's life when he has to get off the couch ... and kill some zombies. When flesh-eating zombies are on the hunt for a bite to eat, it's up to slacker Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his best pal Ed to save their friends and family from becoming the next entree. Satisfy your bloodthirsty appetite with the movie that masters of horror and film critics alike are hailing as the funniest and scariest movie of the year. Novelist Stephen King gushes "it's a 10 on the fun meter and destined to be a cult classic" and Devin Gordon at Newsweek calls "Shaun of the Dead" "a bloody hoot!" It's a screamingly funny outrageous Zomedy that will have you dying with laughter.

"The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946)
The sign outside the roadside diner says "Man Wanted." Drifter Frank Chambers knows the sign has more thanone meaning when he eyes pouty, luminous Cora, the much-younger bride of the diner's proprietor.Based on the same titled novel by James M. Cain, this quintessential film-noir classic combines studio-system gloss with Cain's hard-bitten tale of murderous attractions.John Garfield and Lana Turner give career-benchmark performances as Frank and Cora, illicity lovers who botch a first attempt to bump off Cora's hubby, pull it off, betray each other at trial and yet wriggle free. But their volatile tale does not end there. As the film's metaphorical title indicates, fate is sure to ring again.

"Henry"
James Stewart gives one of his finest performances in this lighthearted film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Stewart stars as the good-natured Elwood P. Dowd, whose constant companion is Harvey, a six-foot tall rabbit that only he can see.To his sister, Veta Louise, Elwood s obsession with Harvey has been a thorn in the side of her plans to marry off her daughter. But when Veta Louise decides to put Elwood in a mental hospital, a hilarious mix-up occurs and she finds herself committed instead.It s up to Elwood to straighten out the mess with his kindly philosophy, and his imaginary friend, in this popular classic that features a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-wining performance by Josephine Hull.

"Undisputed"
Two of Hollywood's hottest stars -- Wesley Snipes (BLADE 1&2, PASSENGER 57) and Ving Rhames (PULP FICTION, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 1&2) -- go head-to-head in this explosive crime thriller! When the world's heavyweight champion (Rhames) is sent to prison, everything points to an inevitable showdown with the penitentiary's undefeated champ (Snipes). But to make sure the meeting will happen, a former mob boss (Peter Falk -- TV's COLUMBO, CORKY ROMANO) must call in favors from the outside world. Then the battle is on ... and the action, adrenaline, and intensity switch into high gear! Also featuring Master P (RHYME & REASON, I GOT THE HOOK-UP) and Ed Lover (RIDE) -- this powerfully entertaining motion picture is another crowd-pleaser from the hit-making director of 48 HRS., ANOTHER 48 HRS., and LAST MAN STANDING!

See you at two, ya'll. Happy new year.