DVD Releases: February 10, 2006


	Elizabethtown Copies of the Elizabethtown DVD should come with a special sticker, warning diabetics that the contents could be dangerous to their health. It would be difficult to find another big-budget Hollywood production that wore its heart so openly on its sleeve. As such, Cameron Crowe's very slight romantic comedy is heavy on sugar and short on spice. Heartthrob Orlando Bloom plays a young Oregon sports-shoe designer forced to endure the nearly simultaneous death of his father and the revelation of his culpability in the disintegration of his employer's business. Naturally, he reacts by finding a funny, if impractical way to commit suicide. On his way to his dad's Kentucky home, he encounters the chirpiest flight attendant this side of Annette Funicello (kids, ask your parents). Kirsten Dunst was the perfect choice to play the kind of woman who could lead any depressed young man out of his emotional darkness, if that's, in fact, where he wanted to go. She's relentless … but in a very charming way. If Elizabethtown weren't so damned earnest and predictable – and if it had made some money in its theatrical run -- it might have been the chick-flick against which all others would be measured. Instead, the DVD will sit there on the new-release racks, doing an imitation of the sad-eyed puppy in the pet-shop window, begging to be taken home. Even Crowe's consistently reliable ability to pick the right pop song for every possible situation occasionally fails him here. If this movie finds its natural audience, it's likely to be among teenage girls who would be thunderstruck if Bloom actually was sighted within a half-mile of their cell-phone camera. (And, by the way, when did Bloom start taking acting lessons from Jeremy Davies?)-- Gary Dretzka MCN Review: The film misfires in virtually every way. It opens with a faux Jerry Maguire section that feels like we’ve seen it before – complete with company girlfriend who leaves when things go bad – that sets up a whole story about a terrible public humiliation to come... which is neither explained nor examined nor much referred to after the first 20 minutes.

	The Cary Grant Box Set Tom Hanks could easily pass as this generation's Jimmy Stewart, but there's hardly anyone looming on the horizon, capable of filling the shoes of Cary Grant. Handsome, urbane and blessed with a wicked sense of humor, Grant made acting look easy … which, of course, it's not. There simply isn't much call these days for impossibly cool middle-age dudes in tuxedoes, unless they're playing James Bond (a role Grant reportedly turned down). Consequently, not many young adults have seen his work. This set, which is comprised of films made during the actor's years at Columbia, offers a convenient excuse for them to make his acquaintance. Holiday is the only new-to-video title in the box, and it's one Grant's fans have long been anticipating. In it, free-thinking Johnny Case (Grant) finds himself betrothed to a millionaire's daughter, but he isn't keen about settling into the family business just yet. Katharine Hepburn plays the bride-to-be's more down-to-earth sister, who seemingly would make a better match for Case. It was directed by George Cukor. Grant played opposite Jean Arthur in Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings and George Stevens' The Talk of the Town. In the former, the blond comedienne (a term no longer in vogue) played a stranded showgirl who falls for a daring pilot (Grant) of planes that fly over the dangerously steep cliffs of the Andes to deliver the mail. In the latter, Arthur is a teacher who agrees to hide the town radical (Grant, again), after he's falsely accused of arson and murder. Despite the description, it's a romantic farce. (I wonder how singer Gwen Stefani, who was so good in The Aviator, would do in roles once played by Arthur.) Hawks also directed Grant in His Girl Friday, one of several remakes of Charles MacArthur-Ben Hecht's great newspaper farce. In this version, Rosalind Russell played reporter Hildy Johnson, to Grant's conniving editor and ex-husband, Walter Burns. In the screwball comedy The Awful Truth, Irene Dunne and Cary Grant play a formerly married couple, who conspire to ruin each other's chances at remarriage to new spouses. The set includes commentary, interviews and souvenir postcards, but nothing particularly new or out of the ordinary. The movies, however, are terrific.-- Gary Dretzka

	Doom: Unrated Widescreen Edition Hollywood studios have wasted lots of money attempting to duplicate the masturbatory thrills that come with a video-game addiction. Doom is just the latest in a long line of action-adventures/sci-fi/horror flicks that have borrowed the architecture, punch, velocity and ferociousness of the super-characters who populate video games, but without adding more to the adaptations' narratives than flesh-and-blood actors. Here, The Rock plays Sarge, the commander of a squad of Marines sent to investigate and quell a disturbance at a scientific research facility on Mars. In the course of the film's 100-minute length – add 13 more for the director's cut – an uncountable number of creatures get wasted, and anentire trailer park's worth of doors are blown to smithereens. Clearly, most gamers in the intended audience preferred causing their own mayhem to watching someone else get credit for the kills. That, of course, is the rub. While gamers are far too kinetic to sit still during these sorts of movies, less-engaged consumers simply can't take the non-stop violence, noise and lack of coherent plot. The Lara Croft movies succeeded primarily because there was no attempt to replicate the digital architecture and amped-up tempo. That said, Doom likely will find an audience in the DVD marketplace, even considering that the scale will be reduced to the size of, well, a video game. The bonus material should please gamers, too, as it documents the translation from video game to cinema. And, no, I can't imagine what would cause this version of Doom to require unrated status, when the original R provided sufficient warning.-- David Poland

	Bambi II Disney probably was tempted to attempt a theatrical release for Bambi II, if only to clear the path for this DVD-original sequel, which, as it turns out, is quite entertaining. Brian Pimental's charming 70-minute adventure is fresh enough to have justified a limited run, at least, but it would have required adding another $20 million to the marketing budget. And, why wave a red flag in front of critics so enamored with the original Bambi they might have rewarded Disney's hubris with scathing reviews? After re-invigorating the straight-to-DVD category with its sequels to Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, it certainly didn't need the aggravation. So, why bother? It is true, however, that genuine classics have to be treated far more gingerly than video-age blockbusters, or instant classics, as the quote whores say. Wisely, Disney elected not to extend the beloved coming-of-age saga beyond Bambi's trial by forest fire. Instead, it focuses on the missing years, the period before the precocious fawn earned his spikes. All of his animal friends are back from the original, as are the animals' human enemies. The animation has an old-fashioned, non-CGI look to it, and Martina McBride and Alison Krauss lend their voices to some very pleasant songs, as well. Bambi II isn't as frightening as Bambi I. But the more dramatic moments will scare the youngest viewers, and parental guidance certainly is advised (Disney always gets a pass, when it comes to knee-jerk G ratings). The DVD's bonus material includes a making-of featurette, Bambi trivia, and a mini-tutorial on Disney animation. -- David Poland

The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Two-Disc Special Edition Philip Kaufman may not be the most prolific of writer-directors, but few others have been able to match his ability to avoid being pigeon-holed and his determination to treat adult audiences as, well, adults. The most remarkable thing about Warners' re-release of Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being is that it actually manages to trump the Criterion Collection version released in 1999. Usually, it's the other way around. Based on a Milan Kundera novel many felt would defy adaptation, the Cold War drama describes how the exuberance and optimism generated during the Prague Spring was crushed by the Soviet tanks that rumbled through Czechoslovakia, in 1968. The invasion's impact on the young people who were enjoying the fruits of socialism with a human face is mirrored in the romance shared by the free-spirited characters played by Daniel Day-Lewis, Lena Olin and Juliette Binoche. Few movies have depicted the narcotic joy of erotic love as well as The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and it loses none of it's intensity on the small screen. The bonus commentary has already been heard on the Criterion edition, but the making-of material elevates this edition a notch above that one.-- David Poland

Extreme Dating You Stupid Man It isn't difficult to imagine who the intended audience for these straight-to-DVD romantic comedies is supposed to be: Baby Boomlets attempting to come to grips with life and love away from the shadow of their over-protective parents. Anyone who's seen such reality shows as Blind Date, The Bachelor and Elimindate will recognize the characters immediately. They're narcissistic young adults with lots of money to spend on designer clothes and cocktails that taste like apricots and watermelons. They live in loft apartments and learned the facts of life from the cast of Friends. They're maddeningly vapid, surprisingly inarticulate and unnaturally attractive. DVDs spun off of movies about the shared experiences Boomlets, however unexceptional, tend to find their way into remainder bins minutes only a week or so after they street. In the rather lame Extreme Dating – which has an R-rating, but none of the sex promised on the cover -- the central event is a kidnapping staged to bring one nerdy young man within the orbit of a dreamy young woman (Jamie-Lynn DiScala, of The Sopranos) he's afraid to approach on his own. Naturally, things don't work out as planned, as the kidnapers decide to drop the cupid charade and demand real money to free their captives. Slapstick ensues, and it involves Meat Loaf. Enough said. The jacket for You Stupid Man places hotties Mila Jovovich and Denise Richards front and center, but the effect is spoiled by adding nebbishy David Krumholtz (Numb3rs) to the composite photograph. This alerts us to the fact that one or both of these beautiful young women will attempt to make us believe their male co-star has a chance to click with them romantically. Only in the movies, right? Krumholtz' character is no genius. Given the choice between a kind and caring 10 and a self-centered and dishonest 10, naturally, he's drawn to the latter. You Stupid Man is the better of the two films, if only because Richards and Jovovich are better comic actors than anyone in Extreme Dating and the script is better. Finally, though, it's yet another indictment of twentysomething males, a demographic group so inept they continually manage to screw up their wet dreams.-- Gary Dretzka

Pizza, Beer and Smokes While nowhere near as gritty and hyper-violent as City of God or Our Lady of the Assassins – which it resembles -- this Argentine export paints every bit as grim a portrait of street life in most South American metropolises. Gangs of desperate youths roam Buenos Aires in search of easy targets for their anti-establishment wrath. These include unsuspecting men and women on their way to the airport in easy-to-hijack taxis, fellow dope dealers and the occasional paraplegic street vendor. Not surprisingly, fate steps in just as the most likeable thug decides to give up the game and take responsibility for the child being carried by his girlfriend. The writing-directing team of Adrián Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro employs a quasi-documentary style to infuse a stiff dose of reality into Pizza, Beer and Smokes, which went undistributed here despite being a hit back home. In a way, it also reminded me of Angels with Dirty Faces, in which Pat O'Brien tried to steer the Dead End Kids in the right direction, before they bought a one-way ticket to Death Row. In those days, the streets of New York were every bit as mean as the ones today in Rio and Caracas. Also from Facets Video come Jerzy Kawalerowicz's Austeria, Semyon Aranovich and Alexander Sokurov's Sonata for Viola and Waldemar Krzystek's Dismissed From Life, none of which received a theatrical release here, either. Austeria is set in an rural inn in eastern Poland, at the onset of World War I. The proprietor opens his doors to an oddball mix of refugees, hoping to escape an invading army of Cossacks. Sonata for Viola documents the life and times of Russian composer and pianist Dmitri Shostakovich, who was turned into a pariah by Stalin. The film was begun by documentarian Semyon Aranovich, but underwent serious re-shaping by Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark). Upon its completion in 1981, the film was banned by Soviet authorities and buried to keep it from being destroyed. Dismissed From Life tells the story of a man who's left an amnesiac after being beat up by a pair of former policemen. Left to his own devices, Marek finds shelter from the elements – and his pursuers – in the home of bag lady. -- Gary Dretzka

A Slightly Pregnant Man This French soufflé is noteworthy less for its story – which is summed up in its title – than for the coupling of the great stars, Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni. A Slightly Pregnant Man was made at the same time that these iconic actors where engaged in a love affair, which resulted in the 1972 debut of actor-to-be Chiara. Mastroianni plays a Parisian driving-school owner whose life is turned upside-down when he learns from his doctor he's pregnant (don't ask). It was written and directed by Jacques Demy, who had worked previously with Deneuve on The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Young Girls of Rochefort and Donkey Skin. It probably inspired Joan Rivers to write and direct Rabbit Test, in which Billy Crystal is preggers. But, no one in their right mind would want to take credit for that fiasco. -- Gary Dretzka

Ryan's Daughter: Two-Disc Special Edition It's taken quite a while for this epic World War I-era romance to make it to the small screen, but the excellent remounting and bonus materials make the wait worthwhile. Shot on location on Ireland's Dingle peninsula, it describes what happens when love and politics meet at the crossroads of history. Sarah Miles plays the married barmaid who falls for a handsome British officer at about the same time a group of Irish revolutionaries arrives in town to collect a shipment of smuggled guns. Their plan is discovered, and someone has to pay for ratting it out … but who? That's about it, really, but Lean manages to mine 3½ hours of sturm und drang from such a seemingly simple premise. As critic Richard Schickel explains in the commentary, critics were generally underwhelmed by the whole thing – thinking the intimate romance was out of scale with the lavishness of the production -- and their negative response caused Lean to go into a 14-year snit. He needn't have bothered. Mainstream audiences always have been more forgiving of excess than critics, and since when do directors care what critics think, anyway. Thirty-five years later, Ryan's Daughter is fun to watch – even in miniature – and the performances by such venerable actors Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Leo McKern, Barry Miles and Sarah Miles, combined with the magnificent cinematography, make the hours pass quickly enough. Besides commentary by those still around to share their recollections, the package offers several old and new docu-features. -- Gary Dretzka

When a Stranger Calls Demon Hunter Dungeons and Dragons 2 - Wrath of the Dragon God Oktober Live Freaky! Die Freaky! Was anyone surprised that the re-make of When a Stranger Calls topped the box-office charts last weekend? Probably not. In its original incarnation, available in a new widescreen DVD edition, Fred Walton's thiller grossed more than 20 times its production budget, and creeped out at least one generation of babysitters. In addition to a sub-par sequel, it also inspired several popular spoofs of the claustrophobic, teenager-in-jeopardy genre. Purists will only acknowledge the first third of the movie as being truly scary, but 25 minutes of thrills is more than most movies muster these days. Far less noteworthy are several other thrillers arriving on DVD for the first time. Fans of the goofy cult favorite, The Boondock Saints, may want to check out Sean Patrick Flanery in Demon Hunter. He plays a dogged demon hunter – hence the title – in the employ of the Church. His mission: stop Satan from impregnating L.A. hookers with his evil seed. Guess who wins. Meanwhile, the new sequel to the 2000 bomb, Dungeons & Dragons, has found its way into video stores, minus the benefit of a domestic theatrical release. (Can you blame them?) Wrath of the Dragon God should please gamers a bit more than original, even minus such stars as Jeremy Irons (?!?), Thora Birch and Marlon Wayans, as it adheres closer to the fantasy game that sucked the soul out of so many young people in the '80s. Oktober is a none-too-exciting thriller originally slated for TV viewing in Europe. It involves a young man who's being hunted by hired thugs intent on keeping him from exposing the illegal dealings of a giant pharmaceutical firm. Oh, yeah, he's carrying within him an enzyme that could threaten the world. Live Freaky! Die Freaky! is about as crazy as it gets. John Roecker's stop-motion-animation musical comedy relies on the voicing talents of rockers Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) and Tim Armstrong (Rancid/Operation Ivy). They tell a story about a futuristic nomad who accidentally discovers a copy of the true-crime book, Helter Skelter, and interprets it as a biblical tome with Charles Manson as the Messiah. A bad acid trip brings him back 1969 California, where he joins the Manson Family's mission to change the world through music, murder and mayhem. Ah, those were the days. Also joining the fun are actress Asia Argento, Lunachick's Theo Kogan, AFI's Davey Havoc, X's John Doe, the Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin, Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, and other members of Green Day, Rancid and Blink 182. The bonus features include commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, rehearsal and recording-session footage and storyboards. - Gary Dretzka

TV-to-DVD The Best of the Electric Company Growing Pains: The Complete First Season The Batman: The Complete First Season Teen Titans - The Complete First Season Poltergeist: The Legacy - The Complete First Season Grounded for Life - Season One Kids who learned how to read with the help of PBS' The Electric Company, between the years 1971-85, now can use DVDs comprised of the show's best episodes to help their own children learn their ABC's. The hip and happy series made learning fun for children already in school – a novel concept back in the day – in the same way Sesame Street prepared kids for kindergarten. Among the teachers were Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Spider-Man, Road Runner and a host of whimsical characters. Most of all, the learning was accompanied by music, comedy, animated shorts and some primitive video treats. The material was culled from the 780 episodes that were broadcast over the course of six seasons, before going into reruns. ABC's Growing Pains was one of those family sitcoms in which mom and dad are smart and patient, if occasionally perplexed by the wacky shenanigans of their otherwise perfect brood. The hook here was that mom (Joanna Kerns) was re-joining the workforce, as a journalist, which meant that dad (Alan Thicke) would move his head-shrinking practice into the home. Other than that, it might as well have been a Long Island version of Leave It to Beaver. Tracey Gold, Kirk Cameron and Jeremy Miller were the younger Seavers. (Leo DiCaprio would come later in the show's run.) The extras include scenes from the original unaired pilot, with Elizabeth Ward in the role later played by Gold; a gag reel; and the new documentary, Seaver Family Reunion: S'mores and More. The children in the Fox sitcom, Grounded for Life, also live outside New York with their harried parents, and are similarly mischievous. The difference is that their shenanigans could land the Finnerty clan in family court. Most of the episodes play out in flashback form, allowing the parents to unravel the havoc wracked by their children. As such it was cut from the same cloth as Grounded for Life, That '70s Show and Titus. Donal Logue and Megan Pryce do a nice job as the parents, while indie-mainstay Kevin Corrigan plays Uncle Eddie, the kids' partner in crime. The Batman: and Teen Titans are part of the DC Comics Kids Collection, which recently debuted on the Cartoon Network and WB Kids. Each puts a decidedly more Japanese accent to previous animated superhero sagas, of which there were millions, at last count. The Batman hues closer to the Bruce Wayne canon, while Teen Titans exudes a more contemporary, we-are-family vibe. The interactive extras in both packages are plentiful and entertaining. Poltergeist: The Legacy resembles a para-psychological A-Team more than the 1982 haunted-house thriller written by Stephen Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper. In this case, the Legacy is an ancient secret society that archives information about evil forces in the world. The team is based on Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, over which pass tens of thousands of commuters each day. It includes a doctor, a psychiatrist, a priest, ex-Navy SEAL and a researcher/psychic. They'd kick the Ghostbusters' ass in any throw-down. - Gary Dretzka