Audio Video News

Carlos Franzetti—The Jazz Kamerata (Chesky) [SACD]
By mere coincidence (or perhaps not), I sat down to review this new hybrid SACD on the rare rainy day in Los Angeles (although not quite as rare this winter). The two were a perfect fit. The Jazz Kamerata has a comfortable warmth about it, inviting you to wrap yourself in it and settle in for a lazy afternoon.

DVD: 12 Monkeys Special Edition—Universal
Based on the short French film La Jetée, 12 Monkeys follows poor, hapless convict and time traveler Cole. He is tasked with preventing a plague that wiped out most of humanity. Time travel not being an exact sport, he is tossed around a bit, and everybody thinks he's insane. Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam directs one of the best science fiction movies of the 1990s. Bruce Willis plays poor Cole, while Brad Pitt is truly incredible as nutcase Jeffrey Goines.

DVD: Be Cool:
I am a big Get Shorty fan. The dialogue, the acting, and the plot all just exude a coolness that is never struggled for, just achieved. The thought of a sequel seemed a little odd, but knowing that it is based on the Elmore Leonard sequel novel, I had high hopes. The end result was admittedly funny but nowhere near the quality of the original. The story takes place a few years after Get Shorty, and Chili Palmer is deciding to get out of the movie business. After a friend gets murdered, he decides to get into the music business instead. Far too many jokes are rehashed, but that in itself isn't the problem. Whereas the original was an effortless cool, this movie tries too hard to be cool—and rarely succeeds. Far too much time is spent on the (admittedly excellent) secondary characters, with Chili himself just kind of showing up to drive the plot along. The effect, though, highlights two of the best aspects of this movie: the Rock and André 3000. These two absolutely steal the movie, and this disc is worth a rental just for them. There are many musician cameos, but, unlike in Get Shorty, where actor cameos are natural (as in, they can act), the musician cameos are often awkward and distracting.

DVD: Schindler's List—Universal
Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 4
The excitement I felt when I heard that Schindler's List was finally coming to DVD was quickly replaced by a sense of dread when I realized that, in order to review the disc, I'd have to watch the film. Don't misunderstand. I have nothing but the highest regard for this cinematic masterpiece, but it's not exactly a casual, fun evening in front of the tele. Schindler's List is meant to devastate you, to break your heart by putting a human face on so many of the faceless victims of the Holocaust. Devastate you it will, but you're better off for having witnessed it.

DVD: Dirty Pretty Things—Buena Vista
Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 2
A London hotel houses the dirty secrets of a black-market, organ-trading operation in Dirty Pretty Things, starring Audrey Tautou and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Academy Award–nominated screenplay follows an immigrant hotel worker who stumbles upon a human heart clogging the toilet of a recently occupied room, thus beginning a fast-paced thriller that is completely satisfying in its surprising resolution.

DVD: Good Boy!—MGM/UA
Video: 2
Audio: 3
Extras: 3
What if dogs really came from another world and were sent on a mission to Earth to domesticate humans and assert their superiority? That's the premise of this fetching family film, whose writers never met a canine joke they didn't like. The gimmick of talking dogs—especially when the voice talent includes Carl Reiner and Cheech Marin—carries the movie up to a point, but it runs out of steam about the time the Greater Dane arrives from the planet Sirius to inspect her minions. Still, the visual jokes and awwww-inspiring moments will engage most young viewers and their parents.