DVD Releases: January 25, 2005


	Grizzly Man Let's hope that Grizzly Man being left off the short list of documentaries under consideration for an Oscar doesn't sway anyone from sampling one of the most compelling films of 2005. In it, Werner Herzog attempted to replicate the final months, days and hours in the lives of Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed and eaten by the very bears they had dedicated themselves to protect. Herzog was given access to more than 100 hours of consistently fascinating video shot by the off-the-wall naturalist, who had spent 13 summers in Alaska's magnificent Katmai National Park living among the resident bruins. There's no doubt that Treadwell knowingly was tempting fate and the natural impulses of bears, and Herzog demands that we consider his motives and eccentricities, as well as our own place in the food chain. As such, Grizzly Man is at once beautiful and terrifying. .-- Gary Dretzka The Hot Button: Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog never knew the subject of his documentary, Timothy Treadwell. But with hundreds of hours of video footage shot by Treadwell himself, a one-of-a-kind student of wildlife, who lived with grizzly bears every summer until the summer when one ate him, Herzog honors Treadwell while shaping a narrative that speaks to his own feelings. Treadwell was intrigued by man vs. nature. Herzog is all about man vs himself. The result is the most compelling and easily the funniest film about a man who gets himself and his girlfriend eaten alive by a bear you will ever see. And as Herzog listens to the audio - the video cap couldn't be removed in time - of the attack that took these two lives, his reaction, sitting right with Treadwell's mother, makes for one of the great scenes of all time, without a visual element to be found. -- David Poland

	The Aristocrats A guy walks into his agent's office, see, and says, "Ya wouldn't believe dis show I just seen… to which, the agent says, "I'll bite … the guy says, "a hunderd comedians walk onto da stage, and, one afta da udder, tell da same story about dis fam'ly act they'd seen one time … each of 'em doing something obscene to da udder one, pets and all … one t'ing worse than da udder … and each of da comedians, see, describe da act a diff'rent way, one more disgustin' dan de udder … 'cept de all end at da same place … wit' da name of the group … da same name … as if de all seen da the same act, but on dif'rent days. … to which, the agent says, "OK, so, what did these comedians say was the name of the act? … to which, the guy replies, The Aristocrats. It's out now on DVD, with longer riffs on the gag and new interviews. (Badda-boom!)-- Gary Dretzka The Hot Button: It may be the worst shot great documentary ever, but the idea is powerful, even if the filmmakers didn't quite know what they had stumbled onto, aside from it being funny. Like prayer, the repetition of the one joke, in different voices, in different incarnations, with different attitudes about the joke itself, is breathtaking after a while. There are hills and valleys in the film, but they are a different for every person. As aggressively as the film gets in your face, it also demands that you participate. -- David Poland

	Junebug It isn't often that so much heat is drawn to an independent movie as intellectually challenging and commercially fragile as "Junebug. While almost all of the attention derives from the astounding performance by newcomer Amy Adams, Phil Morrison's film offers several more delights, as well. Like "Five Easy Pieces, "Junebug describes what happens when a prodigal son, George, returns to his rural hometown in the company of a woman so foreign, she might as well be from Mars. Here, the woman is a big-city gallery owner, possibly Jewish, whose unforced sophistication makes her a stranger in her in-laws' strange land. It isn't that George's family is comprised of rustic grotesques straight out of the "Li'l Abner sketchbook, as much as they could be the poster family for Red State values and dubious piousness. Adams portrays the pregnant wife of George's brother – a sullen underachiever played by Benjamin McKenzie, of "The O.C. – with such brightness, wonder and pep that she steals every scene in which she appears. She's the only welcoming member of the family, all of whom are vividly drawn and well considered. Embeth Davidtz is perfectly cast as the intellectual whose passion for outsider art attracts her to a place where her ideals and personality make her the ultimate outsider. As heart-warming as it is heart-breaking, "Junebug is a movie that deserves a shot at commercial success in DVD. -- Gary Dretzka Mutiny City News: Little did I know when the day began that this time I would get a taste of my own venom. And that revenge came in the form of a precocious redhead named Amy Adams. - Jamie Stuart The Hot Button: I must say this movie has grown on me, starting even as I watched it. Amy Adams gives a home run performance that stays just this side of impossibly cloying. (If she is willing to do the film of Hairspray, as Penny, she would score big.) She has jumped out in the underrated Drop Dead Gorgeous and in Catch Me If You Can and she is ready for her close-up. Junebug is, amazingly, a cousin to Laurel Canyon, which also co-starred Alessandro Nivolo in pretty much the opposite of the role he plays here. In this film, he is a guy who has gotten away from his roots, living in the big city, even marrying without introducing his new, skinny, ethnic-looking, cell-dependent wife to his family - simply put - a bunch of hicks. But hicks can be smarter than they like, even while director Phil Morrison and writer Angus MacLachlan don't fall into stereotypes… well not too far. There is something about Celia Weston's ass and the way Morrison doesn't avoid it that tells you a lot about this film. And little things, like Embeth Davitz and Nivola repeatedly having sex in the house, even when they both must know they can be heard, that at first grates and then, in time, feels like a fair and honest representation of the urban ability to deny. This is far from a perfect film. But I liked it quite a bit. -- David Poland

	Lord of War One certainly could learn about more about the international arms trade from reading Frederick Forsyth's "The Dogs of War, than watching from Andrew Niccol's intermittently fascinating Lord of War. But, the information proffered in the novel would be 30 years old, and reading it would require a much greater investment in time. Fans of the Nic Cage will enjoy the narrative-heavy "Lord of War more than those who can't get past his manic antics. It's worth the effort, though, to watch his character, Ukrainian immigrant Yuri Orlov, attempt to convince those close to him that dealing weapons to despots is no less ethical than selling booze or cigarettes to teenagers in convenience stores. The bonus disc in the optional "special edition offers much evidence that this Gordon Gekko of the arms trade is mistaken on that point. -- Gary Dretzka

	Flightplan The casting of Jodie Foster in this claustrophobic airborne psychodrama begged comparisons to her last closed-door thriller, Panic Room, as well as to the film's more obvious source, Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes. It's suspenseful, all right, but in a much different way than was Panic Room. Here, Foster plays a propulsion engineer and recent widow who, naturally, freaks out when her 6-year-old daughter goes missing on a trans-Atlantic flight home, coincidentally, aboard a jumbo jet she helped design. The search for her absent daughter raises all sorts of questions, not the least of which involves her sanity. Mom's knowledge of the plane's architecture opens the story up, a bit, while a case of post-9/11 nerves adds a strong dose of paranoia to the tension. The bonus material offers a backstage look at the aerodynamics of Hollywood. -- Gary Dretzka

	Oliver Twist Critics were mostly kind to Roman Polanski's faithful adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, Oliver Twist, although almost all agreed it was in no need of contemporary interpretation. Polanski, himself a street urchin in the Nazi-occupied ghettos of Poland during World War II, must have seen a great deal of himself in the aspiring pickpocket, thus justifying another stab at the book. And a very good version it is. The cinematography, acting, set and costume design all are top drawer, and future generations of students needn't fear cribbing freely from it for book reviews and essays on Dickens' work. The extras could be more generous, but that shouldn't prevent anyone from enjoying Polanski's Oliver Twist.-- Gary Dretzka

Two for the Money Few actors chew the scenery with as much gusto as Al Pacino. At his most voracious, as he was in The Devil's Advocate, he might as well have been performing a monologue. In D.J. Caruso's convoluted drama about the temptations of high-stakes sports wagering, Pacino almost manages to make Matthew McConaughey and Rene Russo disappear, but pulls back long enough to avoid a union grievance. Just as in The Devil's Advocate, Pacino plays a Satan-like mentor to a young man whose soul comes with a price tag attached to it, in this case a former football star played by McConaughey. Russo plays both men's conscience. The bonus material includes an interview with the gambler who informed Pacino's portrayal.-- Gary Dretzka

Sueno At 41, prolific actor-comedian John Leguizamo is getting a bit too long in the tooth to play young immigrant musicians with dreams of making it big in Los Angeles. Sadly, due to the scarcity of bankable Hispanic stars (in studio eyes, anyway), it's entirely possible that having someone of his visibility attached to the project was the only way to get Sueno green-lit, in the first place. Leguizamo plays Antonio, an amiable, if moderately talented, singer-guitarist who has a gift for making everyone around him better as musicians and people. Among them are the characters played by Elizabeth Peña and Ana Claudia Talancón, women from different generations who lack the self-confidence necessary to wrestle their own dreams, fantasies and frustrations to the ground. In true Hollywood fashion, all of their fates are tied to Antonio's participation in the "Chance of a Lifetime Mystery Musician Contest," which just happens to be auditioning acts in East L.A. The movie doesn't really come alive until the competition begins, and freshman director Renee Chabria showcases a cross-section of contemporary and traditional Latino music.-- Gary Dretzka

Partner(s) Dave Diamond's appealing workplace comedy, Partner(s), represents the dilemma faced by movies that are too smart for most network and cable television outlets, yet lack the heft to justify the $20 million marketing campaign required to find an audience. Populated with fresh and attractive faces, and blessed with a narrative that avoids most of the clichés associated with yuppie comedies, Partner(s) imagines a law firm in which former lovers are vying for a single opening for full-partnership. All things being equal, Katherine (Julie Bowen, of "Boston Legal") appears to have the edge over Dave (Jay Harrington, of "The Inside"), if only because she'd be the only woman partner. Dave levels the playing field by declaring he's gay, and, as such, would better represent a major client in a discrimination suit. Katherine knows it's a ruse but has a difficult time convincing anyone, even former his girlfriends, of George's duplicity. George enlists the assistance of gay friends, but suddenly can't avoid meeting women he would have killed to date, a month earlier. The set-up is corny, to be sure, but it works for the same reason most good sitcoms succeed: the casting of appealing supporting actors, so the leads don't have to carry the show by themselves. Certainly, as an example of gay-for-straights entertainment, it's no worse than the average episode of "Will & Grace." If only the average Lifetime or Oxygen movie was as good. -- Gary Dretzka

My Date with Drew With the $1,100 he won on a quiz show, Brian Herzlinger was able to afford a vanity documentary, in which he records his struggles to finagle a date with actress Drew Barrymore. He's given himself a fixed deadline, which coincides with the period of time afforded him by Circuit City for a camera rental. Cute idea, but one that sort of feels like a couple dozen other reality-based dating shows and genre pioneer Myles Berkowitz's 20 Dates. The 27-year-old aspiring filmmaker has had a crush on Barrymore ever since he was 10, but harbors no illusions of securing a longterm relationship (perhaps because he's gay, and won't admit it). This is what separates Herzlinger's quest from that of your run-of-the-mill Hollywood stalker. My Date with Drew is best when it documents the frustrations encountered by any aspiring artist who merely wants to connect with someone who'll listen to a pitch. Making contact is the hardest task faced by most actors, writers and - yes - stalkers. The film also demonstrates exactly how creepy it must be for celebrities when confronted by obsessive personalities of all stripes.-- Gary Dretzka

Puppetmaster vs. Demonic Toys All Souls Day Even given the abundance of awards shows, career tributes and celebrity roosts, it's unlikely that Corey Feldman will ever be honored for perseverance in the face of imminent obscurity. Puppetmaster vs. Demonic Toys, which the SciFi Channel debuted a couple of years ago, attempts to rekindle the dying embers under two enduring horror franchises. In it, Feldman plays the great-nephew of original Puppetmaster. Andre Toulon, a evil genius who discovered a way to bring puppets to life (if only to show how nasty the little buggers can be). By dusting off his reanimation formula, Toulon the Younger and his teenage daughter become the target of a sinister toy-making cabal led by the estimable Vanessa Angel. The movie sucks, as does Feldman's barely-there performance. But, hey, they can't all be "Bordello of Blood. Jeremy Kasten's All Souls Day also arrives on DVD directly from its debut on SciFi, where it reportedly was trimmed of a good deal of gore and some T&A. Thank goodness that's back, anyway. Otherwise, the film would hardly be worth releasing at all. The zombie action coincides with Mexico's All Souls Day holiday, natch, in the isolated town of Santa Bonita It was here, in 1892, that a murderous thug named Vargas Diaz stashed treasures looted from an Aztec tomb. The town now is populated with ghouls and the undead remains of tourists who wandered unawares into the quiet burg. Even so, only zombie completists will avoid the temptation to fast-forward through All Souls Day. What's astonishing is the treasure trove of bonus material that accompanies the film, including a booklet and features on the stunt work, makeup effects, DVD-ROM access to the screenplay, deleted scenes and making-of material. If only the same amount of care was afforded the film, itself. -- Gary Dretzka

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman The Tomorrow Show: Punk & New Wave Dallas: The Complete Fourth Season Missing: Season 2 Thin pickings in the TV-to-DVD arena this week: Younger fans of Desperate Housewives may not realize that Teri Hatcher once played Lois Lane to Dean Cain's Clark Kent. For a while there, the hopes for post-Lois & Clark careers for both appeared to be limited to appearances in made-for-cable movies or as answers in DVD versions of "Trivial Pursuit: Pop Culture." Hatcher had far more exposure in the celebrity skin mags and websites – for her sultry performance in the virtually unseen Heaven's Prisoners -- than she got from almost any other subsequent project, until Desperate Housewives. Meanwhile, Cain's still waiting for his second brush with fame. The second season of the often very entertaining Lois & Clark was all about the build-up to their first kiss and a wedding proposal. Long before Carson Daly, Conan O'Brien, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Kilborn -- even before Dave, Jay, Arsenio and Ted Koppel -- there was late-night talk-show host Tom Snyder, who came on after Johnny and simply conversed with interesting people, most without a product to pimp. No couch, no band. The diversity of the guests who engaged in these smoky one-on-ones with the somewhat jaded Snyder could be dizzying, and his interviewing style was ripe for parody. Compared with today's hypefests, however, The Tomorrow Show was Shakespeare in the Park. Appearing in this collection are Paul Weller, John Lydon, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, the Plasmatics, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Kim Fowley and Joan Jett. Some performed, others didn't. The shooting of J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) by an unknown assailant, at the conclusion of the third season of Dallas, kept fans of the prime-time soap paralyzed from anxiety throughout the summer of 1981. The media did its part to pump up CBS' ratings with endless musings on "Who shoot J.R.?" Cleverly, the show's writers had used much of the third season to develop scenarios in which any one of a dozen characters might have been justified in taking the fateful shot. When the fourth season finally launched, they also managed to keep viewers guessing for four additional weeks. Meanwhile, brother Bobby (Patrick Duffy) was handed the reins of Ewing Oil by his father, Jock. From there, the maneuverings, machinations and mayhem at the ranch only got crazier. Given its TV home, Lifetime Network, no one could be surprised by the feminist spin given 1-800-Missing. What differentiated this police drama from most of the others was the addition of a resident psychic, who helped solve cases for FBI agent Brooke Haslett (Gloria Reuben). Jess Mastriani (Caterina Scorsone), unlike the hacks working the phones at the Psychic Friends Network, was that she came upon her gift after being struck by lightning. The series was based on a series of novels by Meg Cabot.-- Gary Dretzka

Thumbsucker Mike Mills' sensitive and ironic teen melodrama comes to us by way of Sundance, the cradle for such suburban-teen angst fare as The Chumscrubber, Donnie Darko, Welcome to the Dollhouse and Thirteen. For the last 50 years, at least, films of this ilk have been made to fit such pigeonholes as "yuppie angst," "boomer blues" "brat pack" and "teen rebel" (as in Rebel Without a Cause). Thumbsucker describes the travails of 17-year-old Justin (Lou Pucci), who, yes, still sucks his thumb. Why? Well, for some of the same reasons James Dean pouted. Wrongly diagnosed with ADD, Justin is prescribed Ritalin. Soon after, just as Tom Cruise promised, even crazier things start to happen. Fine performances by Vincent D'Onofrio, Tilda Swinton, Vince Vaughn, Keanu Reeves, Benjamin Bratt and Kelli Garner keep Thumbsucker moving in the right direction, giving fans of kooky coming-of-age flicks a reason to smile..-- Gary Dretzka

Oldies but goodies Chan Is Missing Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart Cisco Pike Educating Rita Chan Is Missing and Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart established then-unknown director Wayne Wang as a filmmaker to be reckoned with, as well a likely interpreter of stories about Asian-Americans for Hollywood. In Chan Is Missing, two cabbies search San Francisco's Chinatown for a friend who has disappeared with their $4,000. Dim Sum dealt with the generation gap that separated immigrant parents from their assimilated children and grandchildren, especially as it pertained to longheld traditions and marriage. The films' appeal crossed ethnic borders, by tugging at many of the same heartstrings as those controlling the emotions of other first-generation immigrants. Kris Kristofferson demonstrated in Cisco Pike (1972) that he had the potential to act every bit as well as he could sing and write songs, which is to say, very well. In it, he plays a strung-out musician forced to sell marijuana for a corrupt cop. A strict deadline adds a tick-tock element to the film's appeal, as well as appearances by Karen Black, Gene Hackman, Harry Dean Stanton, Viva, Roscoe Lee Brown and Howard Hesseman. Educating Rita (1983) tells the familiar story of a student-teacher relationship that leads both to fulfillment and conflict. The best reason to re-visit Lewis Gilbert's adaptation of Willy Russell's play is to watch the wonderful work of Michael Caine and newcomer Julie Waters, who would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She plays a 26-year-old housewife who returns to school to complete her education, and falls under the influence of the alcoholic professor who challenges her to aspire to something other than mediocrity. -- Gary Dretzka