LATEST ADDITIONS

The Squid and the Whale Special Edition—Sony Pictures
Ryan Vincent  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Extras: 4
A friend’s mom had told him to see writer-director Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale, which is about a family splitting apart with two boys that are years apart. I thought her recommendation very odd since this situation mirrored my friend’s family in high school. But now it makes perfect sense, as no other film encapsulates as well the black comedy that is divorce.
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Serenity—Universal
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
Fox bungled the short run of Firefly by showing the episodes out of sequence—and in the worst possible time slot it could find. What a surprise—they canceled it. On the strength of word of mouth, the DVD set of the series sold so well that a movie was green-lit. Would the movie be as good as the TV show? Would it work on the big screen? Would anyone see it? Well, yes, yes, and no.
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Lady and the Tramp 50th Anniversary Edition—Buena Vista
Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 5
Audio: 4
Extras: 3
Disney’s love letter to dogs everywhere, Lady and the Tramp remains a sweet, funny adventure. This new 50th Anniversary Edition replaces the 1999 movie-only release, extensively restored, remixed, and remastered.
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Crash Two-Disc Director’s Cut Edition—Lionsgate
Tony DeCarlo  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 3
This is a special one. The newly minted Academy Award winner for Best Motion Picture is set in L.A., but it could be about all of America, warts and all. Paul Haggis’ script (he also directed) has such depth and insight into thoughts that we have—sometimes fleeting, sometimes ones that are ingrained about race, stereotypes, and prejudice—that it makes you question yourself. The performances are superb. The cast turns in Oscar-worthy performances all around.
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The Dukes of Hazzard Unrated Edition—Warner Brothers
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
I have a pretty low opinion of remakes of classic TV shows. But I loved The Dukes of Hazzard when I was a kid, and the cast and crew on this one seemed like they could reproduce the stupid fun of the TV show. Well, I think they did a great job. That’s right—I think this movie is fun and funny. To anyone expecting more, I have to ask, “Did you ever see the TV show?” It stars Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott, who have made careers of having fun in bad movies, and Jessica Simpson, who allegedly has a career doing something. The plot revolves around the Duke boys needing to save Uncle Jesse’s farm (duh). An oddly cast Burt Reynolds is pretty good as Boss Hogg, and a simply odd Willie Nelson is surprisingly funny.
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Two-Disc Special Edition—Warner Brothers
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 5
Extras: 5
I was so unimpressed with the first two Harry Potter movies that I didn’t bother to see the third or this one in theaters. Boy, did I miss out. This and Prisoner of Azkaban are excellent. In this episode of the Harry Potter serials, Hogwarts is playing host to the Triwizard Tournament. Somehow, Harry’s name gets entered, even though he’s too young. From the little touches of the teenagers’ growing pains to the significant plot developments in the Potter canon, you shouldn’t miss this one. Oh, and there’s a bunch of action, too.
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Proof—Buena Vista
Tony DeCarlo  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 1
A well-known, brilliant yet mentally unstable mathematician dies and leaves behind two daughters and a lot of filled notebooks in Proof. It’s an adaptation by David Auburn and Rebecca Miller from Auburn’s own Pulitzer Prize–winning play that works on every level. Live-in caretaker and daughter Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow, who reprises her role from the London stage) is a gifted mathematician, too, but lives in fear that her father’s instability may be a gene she inherits. Then there’s the professor’s protg Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is interested in Catherine. He’s obsessed with going through her father’s notebooks and then finds one that is astounding: a proof, a groundbreaking mathematical discovery. The problem is, it’s Catherine’s finding. Or so she claims.
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Fun with Dick and Jane—Sony Pictures
Aaron Dalton  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 2
Extras: 5
Married yuppies Jane (Ta Leoni) and Dick (Jim Carrey) try to keep up appearances after Dick’s fraudulent company implodes in this frequently hilarious romp. Laced with underlying righteous anger at the corporate shenanigans of recent years, the film still holds plenty of laughs in the physical comedy and strong rapport between Carrey and Leoni. The two characters become partners in crime to pay the bills and hold onto their house. Watching Carrey try and fail repeatedly to draw his gun while robbing a convenience store will have you in stitches, and Leoni more than holds her own with scenes like the one where she bluffs her way through teaching a gymnastic-fighting class.
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Bambi II—Buena Vista
Gary Frisch  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 1
“Your mother can’t be with you anymore,” intones the Great Prince, a regal buck, to young Bambi, thus setting into motion the events of this modern-day follow-up to the timeless classic. Voiced by Patrick Stewart, the Great Prince breaks with tradition by taking everyone’s favorite fawn under hoof, teaching Bambi the ways of the forest, while bonding with his son. Consider this Bambi: The Formative Year.
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The Chumscrubber—DreamWorks
Mike Prince  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  First Published: May 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 3
Suburban angst and dysfunction are prime fodder for films and TV, whether it be housewives that seem desperate or disaffected teens too heavily medicated to even communicate with each other. The Chumscrubber falls into the latter category and presents a world all too familiar, while retaining its individuality in the genre.
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