National Lampoon's Vacation/European Vacation/Vegas Vacation [DVD] [Standard]

This film marks the directorial debut of Satoshi Kon, who fascinated audiences around the world with InchPaprikaInch, InchMillennium ActressInch, and InchTokyo GodfathersInch. Hailed as the first animated film to feature an authentic psychological suspense story, this film was acclaimed at international film festivals and was released in theaters in Japan in 1998. Blending a play within a play, the story unfolds as fiction and reality, dreams and delusions, and cyberspace intertwine-like an optical illusion. After leaving her pop idol group and starting a new life as an actress, Mima soon finds herself overwhelmed by a wave of provocative offers - including photo shoots and roles in a TV drama - that go against her whishes, but before long a string of murders begins to unfold, targeting those around her

In the '90s, perceptive albeit troubled FBI rookie Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) was tasked with reopening the cold case of the enigmatic, at-large serial killer dubbed InchLonglegsInch (Nicholas Cage), elusive because of his skill in making his victims do themselves-or one another-in. Will she be able to deal with his depraved history... or the fact that she now has his attention? Oz Perkins' moody thriller also stars Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Kiernan Shipka. 101 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack English.

Norbit (Eddie Murphy, channeling Buckwheat and Woody Allen) is a shy, nebbishy fellow, raised by Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy again) in a combination orphanage/Chinese restaurant in Boiling Springs, Tennessee. As a child, Norbit comes to love Kate, a fellow orphan, but the soulmates are separated when Kate is adopted. Enter Rasputia, an aggressive, plus-sized 10-year-old who protects him from bullies and demands his romantic loyalty, much like her thuggish older brothers demand InchprotectionInch money from all the merchants in Boiling Springs. Rasputia and Norbit eventually marry-and the peevish adult Rasputia is played to great comic effect by Eddie Murphy in a fat suit. Although Rasputia is controlling, unfaithful, hideous-looking, and always madder than a hornet, she and Norbit make a life together, albeit one based on inertia, fear, and complacency. The bubble bursts when the now-grown Kate (Thandie Newton) returns to Boiling Springs to buy Mr. Wong's orphanage. Norbit's love is rekindled, and he must find a way to end his loveless marriage, save Kate from marrying a crooked philanderer (Cuba Gooding Jr., in a rare villainous turn), and prevent Rasputia's brothers from carrying through with a big con job that would destroy the orphanage and Kate's life. Eddie Murphy, not surprisingly, carries the show, with broad, juvenile humor, fat jokes, and pratfalls, and while he never aims very high, he manages to inject some poignancy into Norbit's and Wong's characters, even as he plays Rasputia strictly for laughs. It's not Shakespeare-it's not even BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE-but the laughs are as big as Rasputia's muumuu.