DVD Releases: November 17, 2004

The Andy Griffith Show | Bridget Jones's Diary | Chronicles Of Riddick | Croupier | Dr. Strangelove: 40th Anniversary | Elf | Falling From Grace | Gone With The Wind | The Iron Giant | The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection | Ragtime | Spanish Fly |

Trailer	Elf US/Canada Gross: $173.4 million MCN Review - Len Klady: Like A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, Elf is about regaining the spirit of the season but told from the vantage point of the Ghost of Christmas Past or Angel-in-training Clarence. That's the crippling flaw of David Berenbaum's script. To truly give this type of tale impact, one has to focus on the character who's lost it and whose faith in humanity is renewed by some means or circumstance. MCN Review - David Poland: And then there is Elf… ah, Elf. I can just imagine in my mind, sitting down to watch Elf and looking over at my grandkids and telling them about the first time I saw their favorite Christmas movie. Elf is a great Jerry Lewis film for the holidays. It has a big heart… a bigger heart than you can imagine. In Who-ville they knew, that a viewer’s small heart would grow three sizes each view!

	The Iron Giant: Special Edition US/Canada Gross: $23.2 million Anyone who came away from The Incredibles wondering how to extend the joyous experience need look no further than the newly released The Iron Giant: Special Edition. The victim of an unenthusiastic marketing effort on Warner’s part -- actually, its publicists were exhausted by the campaigns for Eyes Wide Shut, Wild Wild West, The Matrix and Deep Blue Sea -- writer-director Brad Bird’s no-frills animation of Ted Hughes' novella was quite literally lost in the shuffle. It was a huge blunder. The Iron Giant told the story of a Maine boy, Hogarth, who befriends a giant metal-eating robot he discovered in the woods near his home. Because the film was set in the Cold War, the Iron Giant’s sudden ominous presence -- and all the hysteria it prompted -- could safely be interpreted as a commentary on the Red Scare perpetrated by nearly everyone in the government. Or, not. More than anything else, The Iron Giant is delightful escapist fun. And, its fans aren’t at all surprised by Bird’s subsequent success with The Incredibles. -- Gary Dretzka

	I'll Sleep When I'm Dead US/Canada Gross: $6.2 million Mike Hodges and Clive Owen, director and star of Croupier, re-teamed earlier this year for the edgy and atmospheric Brit crime-thriller, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. This time around, Owen plays a gangster-turned-drifter, Will Graham, whose return to London coincides with the suicide of his brother, a penny-ante cocaine dealer and petty thief. No one in the old crowd can provide an adequate explanation for the brother’s death, but viewers know that he had been brutally raped by a sadistic businessman (Malcolm McDowell) on the night before he bled out in the bathtub of his flat. This fact was ignored in the official autopsy, but discovered in an independent examination, commissioned by Will. Once he adjusts to this new development, Graham takes it upon himself to find the rapist and exact his own form of old-school Cockney justice. His former underworld rivals, meanwhile, fear Graham is back to stay, which sets off a completely different dynamic. Far less Croupier than Hodge’s original Get Carter, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead is dark, brooding and introspective, in roughly the same measures that Croupier was stylish, sexy and clever. It’s also far less linear. An early confusion of characters and motives demands a great deal of patience from viewers. The rewards, however, are well worth the wait. -- Gary Dretzka

The Trailer	The Chronicles of Riddick US/Canada Gross: $23.2 million The PG-13-rated theatrical version of The Chronicles of Riddick, which opened simultaneously on 2,700 screens last June, provided yet another perfect example of Hollywood math gone bad. The CGI-larded squeal to 2000’s surprise hit, Pitch Black, was awarded a budget somewhere north of $100 million, compared to the R-rated original’s stake of $23 million. Vin Diesel’s estimable presence notwithstanding, Chronicles returned only half of Universal’s investment in domestic box-office, compared with an earlier return of twice the original budget of Pitch Black, sans ancillary income. Hopes were extremely high that Chronicles would be successful enough to inspire further adventures of the universe’s most wanted and deadly escaped prisoner (don‘t ask). To this end, the studio built around the premiere of Chronicles the nearly simultaneous release of a director’s cut of Pitch Black, a hyper-violent video game and an animated “bridge” feature, “Dark Fury.” I’m guessing that somewhere along the line, someone made enough money to feel as if the whole venture was worth it, but it’s difficult to imagine the story will extend beyond some direct-to-DVD sequels to the sequel and additional video games. Then, there’s the matter of the title, which was every bit as off-putting as the overly convoluted plot -- storylines should take less than 10 minutes to explain -- which practically required the participation of a translator. Neither, it seems, did the decision to release Chronicles PG-13 help attract fresh audiences. One of the primary reasons that Pitch Black was so successful among a core group of sci-fi fans was that it was violent enough to justify its R-rating. (Similarly, much of the popularity of The Whole Nine Yards could be attributed directly to Amanda Peet’s generously displayed body, which was decidedly not on view in the sequel, The Whole Ten Yards. We’re all still waiting for the unrated director’s cut of that turkey.) -- Gary Dretzka

	Ragtime Boiling down Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow's sprawling novel of turn-of-the-century America, into even a 2½-hour movie was no easy task. Its many intertwined characters and stories defied normal cinematic structure, and any dilution of the book’s content would have brought down the wrath of the novel’s many admirers. Instead, Milos Forman elected to focus on the saga of pianist-turned-revolutionary Coalhouse Walker Jr., and sublimate the contributions of Doctorow’s other compelling characters, without ignoring their links to the impending clash of wills between the radical and police. The creators of the Broadway musical approached the source material in similar fashion. Foreman’s Ragtime is marked by a wonderfully authentic period feel, as well as some dynamic performances, including those of Howard Rollins Jr., Brad Dourif, James Cagney (who came out of retirement to play the New York police commissioner) and Pat O’Brien. Randy Newman supplied the music, which had nothing to do with that heard in the musical. Definitely worth another look. -- Gary Dretzka

	First released in 1969, Paul Mazursky’s then-topical comedy Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice remains a highly entertaining commentary on male-female relations among urban trendoids, in the early years of America’s sexual revolution. Like Shampoo, it captured a moment in time when well-to-do young Californians were torn between the increased social consciousness of the times and a need to accumulate enough personal wealth to live like rock stars. The fun begins after Bob and Carol (Robert Culp, Natalie Wood) attend an Esalen-like retreat, where they’re introduced to such concepts as open marriage and guiltless sex. Efforts to convert their more uptight friends, Ted and Alice (Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon), result in a comically inept attempt at unburdened hedonism. A still-sharp period piece, and a sad reminder of how terrific Natalie Wood could be in the right role. -- Gary Dretzka

	The Andy Griffith Show Forty-four years after The Andy Griffith Show first aired on CBS -- as a spinoff from Make Room for Daddy -- how many baby boomers continue to solve their ethical dilemmas by asking one simple question: “What would Andy Taylor do?”? I guessing, plenty. It probably would be a mistake to read too much into the show’s amazing eight-year run -- plus three more, as Mayberry, R.F.D” -- but, the fact remain, it was during this same period that America was evolving from being a largely rural society to one dominated by urban economics and suburban dreams. Mayberry seemed to exist a million miles away from Watts, the Haight-Ashbury and Saigon. Worst-case scenarios were limited to Opie's report cards, and Barney locking himself out of his police car. This boxed set contains the show’s first 32 out of 249 episodes, but not much in the way of extras. For most fans, that will be enough. -- Gary Dretzka

	The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection For those who fell in love with the timeless anarchy of the Marx Brothers during midnight screenings in the basements of their college dorms, watching comparatively pristine copies of Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, Animal Crackers and The Cocoanuts will be like seeing them again, for the first time. These titles, at the heart of Universal’s The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection, represent the Marxes’ earliest and best collaborations. The bonus material includes Today Show interviews with Groucho and Harpo, as well as home movies. A Night at the Opera, which was made at MGM, sans straight-brother Zeppo, was included earlier this year in Warner’s The Marx Brothers Collection, with such lesser lights as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, A Night in Casablanca, Room Service, At the Circus, Go West and The Big Store. Also available this week is Uni’s similarly essential W.C. Fields Comedy Collection. with The Bank Dick, My Little Chickadee, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, It's a Gift and International House. There’s not much in the way of bonus features, except trailers and a profile of the famously cranky comic. (Much of Paramount’s catalogue of Fields’ titles, including The Man on the Flying Trapeze and many splendid shorts, remains unavailable in video.) -- Gary Dretzka

	Gone With The Wind US/Canada Gross: $198.7 million David O. Selznick’s epic adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s beloved Civil War drama has been restored, re-mastered, upgraded and re-released so often, it’s difficult to imagine any movie buff who doesn’t already possess an encyclopedic knowledge of the facts and legends behind Gone with the Wind. Still, what better test of that newly purchased super-duper wide-screen high-def home-theater unit than Gone with the Wind: Four-Disc Collector's Edition, the latest DVD incarnation of the Technicolor classic? The difference between the “Collector’s Edition” and previous packages is the inclusion of new commentary, newsreel footage from the premieres, several documentaries, interviews and profiles of the stars of Gone with the Wind. -- Gary Dretzka

Bridget Jones Trailer Edge of Reason Trailer	Bridget Jones's Diary US/Canada Gross: $24 million About the only thing missing from the bonus-laden Bridget Jones’s Diary: Collector's Edition is a souvenir pair of Renee Zellweger’s plus-size bloomers, from the movie. Every other conceivable video extra is here, including a “Portrait of the Makeup Artist,” “A Guide to Bridget Britishisms” and select reviews. As such, it is the perfect primer for those poor guys who will be expected to stand in line with their dates to see Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, as they are likely to be quizzed later.

	Falling From Grace It’s the rare rock-star vanity project that works as well as John Mellencamp’s acting and directorial debut, Falling From Grace. Most of the credit goes to Larry McMurtry, whose pre-Lonesome Dove novels often revolved around tightly knit groups of talented young adults suddenly forced to swim in the mainstream, or forever buck the tide of conformity. Here, Mellencamp plays a hell-bent country-music singer who elects to return to his Indiana hometown in a desperate effort to regain his equilibrium. Once there, he discovers several equally destructive ways to make himself miserable. Mellencamp certainly doesn’t embarrass himself, on either side of the camera, and he’s ably supported by Mariel Hemingway and Kay Lenz, as his wife and lover. -- Gary Dretzka

	Dr. Strangelove: 40th Anniversary Edition The two-disc Dr. Strangelove: 40th Anniversary Edition represents the third re-incarnation of Stanley Kubrick’s inky black Cold War comedy on DVD in five years. Was it coincidence that the latest version was released into the marketplace last week, on Election Day, or an opportunity to milk a few more bucks from the anti-Bush crowd? After all, how many other 40-year-old movies could offer nearly as much insight into our current quagmire (even if Peter Sellers doesn’t look a bit like Dick Cheney, in any of his three guises). The new bonus material includes the documentary, "No Fighting in the War Room or: Dr. Strangelove and the Nuclear Threat," with interviews with Bob Woodward, Robert McNamara, Roger Ebert, and Spike Lee; a separate chat with McNamara, Secretary of Defense at the time of the movie’s theatrical release; and "Best Sellers: Peter Sellers Remembered."-- Gary Dretzka

	Falling From Grace It’s the rare rock-star vanity project that works as well as John Mellencamp’s acting and directorial debut, Falling From Grace. Most of the credit goes to Larry McMurtry, whose pre-Lonesome Dove novels often revolved around tightly knit groups of talented young adults suddenly forced to swim in the mainstream, or forever buck the tide of conformity. Here, Mellencamp plays a hell-bent country-music singer who elects to return to his Indiana hometown in a desperate effort to regain his equilibrium. Once there, he discovers several equally destructive ways to make himself miserable. Mellencamp certainly doesn’t embarrass himself, on either side of the camera, and he’s ably supported by Mariel Hemingway and Kay Lenz, as his wife and lover. -- Gary Dretzka

Spanish Fly Spanish Fly, an unconvincing portrait of a woman desperately struggling to find love and happiness, while researching a book on “machismo” in Madrid, has been gathering dust on Miramax’s shelves for more than five years. It’s easy to see why. While the cover blurbs compare writer-director Daphna Kastner’s angst-filled romance to Under the Tuscan Sun and Sex and the City, it’s more closely related to such cloying exercises in post-feminist neuroses as Kissing Jessica Stein (minus the faux lesbianism), Amy’s Orgasm and Next Stop Wonderland. It would have helped mightily if Kastner had resisted the urge to cast herself as the distressed heroine, and, instead, hired someone whose emotional range extended beyond “hopelessly uptight.” The Spanish settings are nice, though. -- Gary Dretzka