Welcome to our April 2003 DVD reviews & video reviews.
Home video is exploding these days because of one thing:
High Definition Digital Television. The high definition video disc format wars are over, and that should mean an
ever-increasing number of titles in the new Blu-Ray format. We hope you enjoy this archive of our
DVD reviews & home video reviews archive for April, 2003.
A dark comedy about a man who is incapable of establishing a normal human relationship,
having abandoned his dysfunctional family of geniuses thirty years ago, returns to reconcile and
naturally, fails miserably. An all-star cast including Gene Hackman, Angelica Houston, Ben
Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny Glover, and Luke Wilson. The Criterion Collection DVD set includes a
host of theatrical trailers, a "making of" documentary, interviews with the cast, and a
collection of design art for the movie (which is much more interesting than it sounds here).
Here's a movie you may never heard of before. It barely caused a murmer in its 2001 theatrical release, and that's a shame because it's a very funny movie.
Cusack plays a paranoid hitman who's trying to go home again for his high school reunion. He tries to re-connect with his sweetheart whom he stood up at the Senior Prom, left town. Features an Oscar-calibre cameo appearance by Alan Arkin as Cusack's psychologist, and an endearing appearance by John's sister Joan who plays his "office" secretary. Dan Akroyd shines as "the competition" - a fellow hitman who's trying to recruit Cusack into his stable of villains.
You know the expression "get inside his head?" Well, in this movie they actually do it. Cusack plays an out-of-work puppeteer who is finally forced to seek employment. He gets hired as a file clerk in this strange company's office. The floor
of the building this company occupies is only 4 feet high and you have to stop the elevator in mid-floor in order to get out. One night he hears a strange noise behind a file cabinet. On investigation, our hero discovers a small ventilator shaft. He crawls in, and starts down the shaft when suddenly he gets sucked into another dimension and wakes up inside John Malkovich's body. And things only get stranger from there. It's Alice's Wonderland brought to life. Malkovich's own performance is dead on target for this bizarre romp.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, this Capotesque tale of a gay antique dealer in Savannah, played to the hilt by Kevin Spacey, who is accused of murdering his lover. John Cusack plays a reporter sent down by Town and Country to interview Spacey, only to fall into this quagmire. Its an intriguing tale based on the John Berendt novel. Largely panned by critics, its worth seeing for Kevin Spacey's performance alone.
Here's a movie I'm sure you never heard of before. It barely caused a murmer in its 2001 theatrical release, and that's a shame because it's a very funny movie.
Set in modern England, the story revolves around a young nurse (Minnie Driver) whose loser of a boyfriend fills her apartment with radio gear and recording equipment he uses to create techno-music that nobody buys while she slaves away to support them. One day she
catches her boyfriend cheating, so she tosses him out on the street along with everything but one radio. After coming home from a comiseration birthday bender, her American
girlfriend (Mary McCormack) starts to play with the radio only to tune into a cellphone call made by the idiot who's the lookout for a bank robbery in progress across the street from the flat!
The girls try to do the right thing, but are dismissed as cranks by the local cops. So they hatch this scheme to blackmail the crooks, who are part of the local mob. Naturally, the mob doesn't take well to blackmail, but their strong-arm tactics blow up. Its a trip watching the ladies romp through this screwball comedy as they try to evade the cops (who think they were in on the bank job in the first place) and capture the crooks. And remember, its got Minnie "drop-dead gorgeous" Driver in it, and Mary McCormick has never been better. Rent it the next time you can't seem to decide on what to bring home. I guarantee you'll thank me.
Of all the incarnations of Dicken's classic work, we love this one the most. Who could resist the charms of the furry critters from Henson's genius mixed with the charm and grace of the inimitable Michael Caine as the evil Ebeneezer Scrooge. I don't care if you're six or sixty, you'll love this movie.
This delightful fairy tale is the perfect family movie. Its got lots of adventure and humor for the youngsters, combined with swashbuckling action and sweetness for the more mature. We've got pirates and a princess who needs to have her hero rescue her from the clutches of the evil villains. Directed to a tee by Rob Reiner. The special edition has two featurettes on the "making of" and extra footage of
Cary Elwes. Very nice for gifting or for keeping.
The classic that endures. Its the story of the chorus girl
who finally gets her big break in Hollywood when she's discovered by the movie
star. When Hollywood switches from silent pictures to talkies, it spells the
end for the darlings of the silver screen, Don and Lena, because Lena has a
fingernails-on-a-blackboard kind of voice. The studio hires a young woman from
the chorus to dub Lena's vocals, and hilarity ensues leading to a happy ending.
Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor shine with song and dance. Debbie Reynolds holds
her own with the guys here. The special edition DVD set is a new digital transfer,
and includes the theatrical trailers, two documentaries, lots of interviews with
Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and others. Its a set every film buff would
want to have.
For over 30 years, we thought (as seems to happen so often) we were the only people on the planet who loved this movie. Then a year ago, the Broadway production let us know we were not alone. So we invite you all to share this little treasure.
Poor little Millie (Julie Andrews), a girl in the 1920's who's just discovering that women can be far more daring now. She has her sights set on marrying a man who will support her in style. She figures the best way is to look for her future mate by seeking a job. She takes a room in a boarding house for women where she meets Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lilly), the house mother. She seems a little foreboding, but everything is so new to Millie that she overlooks it. Mrs. Meers introduces Millie to another of the girls staying at the hotel, Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore). Miss Dorothy takes Millie along for several adventures. The plot (and I use the term loosely) becomes a game of intrigue, white slavery, with some racist overtones that I choose to guiltily overlook.
Its one of Julie Andrews' best performances, second only perhaps to Victor/Victoria, and its certainly Mary Tyler Moore's best result. Top it off with the joyful singing of Carol
Channing, the comic relief of Beatrice Lilly, Jack Soo, and Pat Morita, and you have a charmer that will entertain you over and over again.
A shadow of the original hit movie, this highly-touted sequel to the hit movie suffers
mightily by comparison. The Earth is once again threatened by an alien. Its
the ungodly-thin Laura Flynn-Boyle (whom we joke was the prototype for Maris
Crane from TV's "Frasier") who is after the key to the destruction
of an alien race and galactic domination. Our hero Agent Jay (Will Smith) is
forced to retrieve his mentor and original partner Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones),
who had his memory erased at the end of the first movie. Anyone who saw the
first movie could have written this one. It was jaunty good fun, with some
clever quips here and there, but its largely unremarkable.
The Special Edition DVD set includes audio commentary by
directory Barry Sonnenfeld. And there is a second DVD that includes a blooper
reel, the Will Smith music video, some trailers, and an alternate ending. Die-hard
fans will enjoy this set, but for most of us its a nice night's rental and that's
about the best one could say about it.
Spiderman was Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee's answer to Superman. In creating Spiderman, Lee gave us the first of the angst-ridden superheros that was to become a fixture in Marvel Comics.
Orphaned teen Peter Parker is a social outcast - the prototypical dork - weak and submissive to bullys. Then one day he is bitten by a mutant spider (in the 1950's-era comics, it was a "radioactive" spider - radioactivity being the source of all monsters in the horror movies of the day) which turns him into a man-spider with the proportional strength of the insect and other special powers. He longs for the attention of a pretty girl - Mary Jane Watson, but even after loosing his reputation as a dork when he decks the school villain, he never seems to get over his adolescent awkwardness around girls.
The movie tells the tale of Spiderman's first foray into crime-fighting. He battles the super-villan The Green Goblin - the alter-ego of a Dr. Jeykle scientist who drinks his secret formula only to have it turn him into an evil superhuman Mr. Hyde.
It's all a bit too rote for me. We barely get to know Peter, and the other characters are shallow even for the screen incarnation of comic book characters. There's no denying the splended special effects, which are done with a delicate touch, but the story - Stan Lee's strength - was entirely missing for me. The movie was a box office bonanza and the home video sales are already setting records, but I can't get enthusiastic about this movie. I didn't even watch the second DVD filled with the documentary and art gallery because I felt so blase' about the whole thing. Kids will love it, though. Re-released for 2002 in this special widescreen edition DVD.
Oh yeah, its shmaltzy and critics dismissed it as fluff, but its one of those movies you can watch with your kids and not feel like you're making a sacrifice. In fact, I bet you have a great time.
Scott Carpenter's marriage is over. Not only does he have to share custody of their son Charlie, but his ex is hooked up with a smarmy new-age psychologist who never stops preaching including lectures on why it's not healthy to let children believe in Santa Claus.
But it's the Christmas season and Charlie is staying with Scott over the holidays. On Christmas Eve, after a bedside discussion about Santa with Scott, Charlie is awakened in the middle of the night by - you guessed it! - hoofbeats on the roof. He wakes his father to have him investigate. Tim Allen as Scott, climbs to the roof in his underwear and pulls a Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor and knocks Santa off the roof - killing him. He looks
through "Santa's" pockets for identification - not knowing he's looking at the real McCoy laying in the snowbank. Shivering in the winter cold, Scott puts on the Santa Suit and discovers he has become a victim of The Santa Clause. Much like "The Sword In The Stone," Santa's business card has a tiny inscription that says something like "whomsoever puts on this Santa suit is henceforth the one and only Santa Claus." He and Charlie are subsequently whisked away to Santa's Workshop at the North Pole by the reindeer where they learn the truth behind the legend. They face the fact that with the old Santa dead, millions of children are now dependent on Scott to save Christmas!
Okay, I'm a sucker for these. I still watch "Miracle on 34th Street" with Maureen O'Sullivan, Natalie Wood, and Edwin Guinn, and "The Bishop's Wife" with Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. But this movie is charming without being sticky sweet, and Tim Allen makes the comedy work for kids and adults. You'll love Comet, the animatronic reindeer! Buy this video and I bet you watch it every year. The sequel, The Santa Clause 2, is excellent, too!
Be sure to visit us again next month when we'll
review more entertaining and enlightening DVDs and home videos. Our
DVD reviews are written by our Editor, Richard L. Trethewey.
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