On Demand picks

October 31, 2009

THE MUMMY RETURNS

(Starz on Demand) Brendan Fraser and company, back in a megabudget replay of the earlier film, taking on that wacky Imhotep - not to mention WWF star Dwayne “The Rock’’ Johnson, making his movie debut as another bad guy, a Scorpion King who already has been lined up for a sequel to this sequel. More sand, more scorpions, more gold, more troops, more everything except originality and imagination; the film is overwhelmed by its special effects. (PG-13; runs through Nov. 12)

THE OUTSIDERS

(Encore on Comcast) Francis Ford Coppola’s small, sincere, and nearly perfectly realized story of competition among adolescents in Oklahoma in the ’60s. The taut screenplay is based on a popular novel by S.E. Hinton. Quietly fine performances by Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane. (PG; runs through Nov. 12)

A FISH CALLED WANDA

(Comcast Movies and Events) A Monty Pythonized heist caper that’s really about Brit-Yank love-hate. Frequently hilarious, with great over-the-top performances by Kevin Kline as a G. Gordon Liddy clone, Jamie Lee Curtis as a devious femme fatale, John Cleese as an uptight barrister, and Michael Palin as an animal-loving thief who gets french fries stuffed up his nose. (R; runs through Nov. 13)

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