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Mean Girls

DIRECTOR: Mark Waters

CAST: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lizzy Caplan, Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Franzese, Lacey Chabert, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Jonathan Bennett, Rajiv Surendra

SYNOPSIS: Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey smartly skewers the conventions of high school in this story of an outsider (Lohan) working to become the ultimate insider.

WHAT WE SAID: Times film critic Steve Persall gave Mean Girls a B+. "Mean Girls probably isn't a generation-defining film such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Heathers or Clueless. In fact, today's teenagers may require growing up a bit to understand Fey's understated needling of high school culture. What looks cool or nerdy, isn't. Everything is a rite of passage, even the petty stuff, unlike other adolescent comedies that irresponsibly convince young viewers that, yes, this is all there is. The result is a minor movie with major lessons in campus tolerance and consequences for those who don't agree. If that doesn't sound funny, don't worry. Mean Girls contains more than its share of recognition laughs for students, teachers and parents - all of whom take turns as targets of the humor."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; sexual content, profanity, teen partying

RUNNING TIME: 105 min.

DIRECTOR: Hector Babenco

CAST: Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos, Ivan de Almeida, Rodrigo Santoro, Gero Camilo, Milhem Cortaz, Ailton Graca, Caio Blat, Milton Goncalves

SYNOPSIS: Episodic but occasionally harrowing drama set in a Brazilian prison where a physician (Vasconcelos) handles an AIDS outbreak before a bloody riot. Based on a true story.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the film a B. "Carandiru is a better than usual prison drama," Persall wrote. "Its strengths are those details that only an eyewitness knows; the structure of cellblock politics, casual vices, a bucket of water washing spilled blood down a stairway. The material isn't very different from an episode of HBO's Oz, except for English subtitles and the constant thought that all of this rough stuff is true."

MPAA RATING: R; strong violence, harsh profanity, strong sexuality

RUNNING TIME: 147 min.

DIRECTOR: Jim Jarmusch

CAST: Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, RZA, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Alfred Molina, Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Joie Lee, Cinque Lee, Joe Rigano, Vinny Vella, Vinny Vella Jr., Renee French, E.J. Rodriguez, Alex Descas, Isaach de Bankole, Meg White, Jack White, Steve Coogan, GZA, Bill Rice, Taylor Mead

SYNOPSIS: Various people share java and smokes in a series of vignettes.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the film a B+, while acknowledging that Jarmusch's films are an acquired taste. "The film is a series of vignettes with little in common except the titular vices. Characters meet over cafe tables to share coffee, cigarettes and conversation. It doesn't sound like much until you listen. It doesn't look like much until you seek something beyond movement for satisfaction. Best of all, it cheerily invites viewers to do both."

MPAA RATING: R; language

RUNNING TIME: 97 min.

Leave it to George Lucas to have the most talked-about movies of the fall, even though they've been available on video for the better part of 20 years.

The trick, of course, is to have something people want, and then refuse to give it to them until you're good and ready. So it has been with the original Star Wars films, which began with Stars Wars in 1977, continued with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and came full circle with Return of the Jedi (1983).

Dozens of other classics from the same period have made the leap to DVD; even Steven Spielberg gave into the trend. Yet, until this month, Lucas has held out, refusing to release the original films on DVD even as he lured audience to theaters with a new series of flicks that owe their existence to computers. You have to wonder: Was he shrewd or stupid?

A little of both, perhaps, but the payoff comes now when film fans finally get the original movies - Episodes IV, V and VI - in a digital mode.

The good news? They look fantastic and sound even better. Lucas has remastered all three films, and the result is a story arc that has its weaknesses (think most of Jedi), but remains surprisingly entertaining. It's a series that seems to have predicted the digital age; even early special effects hold up remarkably well and lend themselves to tweaking.

You may remember that Lucas released the films to theaters in the '90s with some digital adjustments; characters were added or motivations strengthened. A scene in which Han Solo originally shot Guido the bounty hunter was revised to show Guido firing first, and Jabba the Hut's role was expanded. Those changes remain in this trilogy, along with one additional update. You'll have to discover that for yourself.

The collection also comes with an entire disc of extras, including a lengthy look at the making of the films that ranges from the birth of the lightsaber to directors who came after Lucas talking about the impact of Star Wars on their lives. There is also a 10-minute preview of the next Star Wars film, in which Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader.

Bottom line? If you love Star Wars, you'll want this collection. If not, you stopped reading a long time ago.

- MIKE PEARSON, Scripps Howard News Service