While the special effects are nothing special and the pacing is on the slow side, I found the story is entertaining. You can see how Gene Roddenberry was influenced by this and many other 1950s sci-fi films for Star Trek. While the human actors do an admirable job, Robby the Robot steals the show and went on to become one of the most famous robots in movie history appearing in an additional 20 movies and TV shows over the past 50 years.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/forrest.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, <i>Forrest Gump</i> was the second-best film of 1994 in my opinion, right behind <i>The Shawshank Redemption</i>. Regardless, Paramount's third entry in its Sapphire Series is a hit with outstanding audio and video and a kick-ass DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fredclaus.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Did you know that Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti) has a brother? Yep, his name is Fred (Vince Vaughn), and he's on the naughty list. After growing up in saintly Nick's shadow, Fred becomes a scrooge who's lost his belief in Christmas. Estranged from the family but in dire need of cash, Fred ventures to the North Pole to help his brother through the holiday crunch in exchange for $50,000. His outlook on Christmas begins to change when he realizes Nick is in trouble from a scheming efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) out to shut down Christmas forever.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/friday13.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>In 1958 at the Crystal Lake kids camp, young Jason Voorhees drowned due to the inattention of the camp counselors. Shortly following the drowning, two camp counselors mysteriously died in a double homicide resulting in the camps closure. Twenty two years later, the owner of the property thinks enough time has passed and a new generation of kids should enjoy the beautiful setting&#151;boy was he wrong!