HT Staff

DVD: Time Bandits DiViMax Special Edition—Anchor Bay
Audio: 2
Video: 3
Extras: 4
This is the third DVD release of Terry Gilliam's 1981 fantasy about a British schoolboy and his adventures with a motley band of time-traveling thieves, assorted historical figures (including John Cleese as Robin Hood and Sean Connery as Agamemnon), a tech-obsessed Evil, and a not-so-wrathful Supreme Being. Anchor Bay's release includes several special features not previously available on disc. There's a funny and revealing interview with Gilliam and co-writer Michael Palin about the production of the film, an AFI-produced documentary on Gilliam's filmography (up to 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), and a DVD-ROM copy of the screenplay. The specials are well done, but a commentary track would have been a welcome addition. A 1999 Criterion release includes such a track from Gilliam, Palin, Cleese, and others.

DVD: Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London—MGM/UA
Audio: 4
Video: 4
Extras: 2
If your kids are fans of the first Cody Banks movie, do yourselves a favor and just keep popping that puppy into the player. Steer clear of this strained and largely humorless sequel. What's the problem? Cody 2 has too much "spy" and not enough "kids." CIA operative Banks, now 16, is acting like a grown-up secret agent, which robs this film of the charm that Frankie Muniz displayed while learning the ropes in the first movie. There's zero chemistry between him and his female counterpart/love interest, Hannah Spearritt; and all the dads out there would probably agree that we'd rather watch statuesque Angie Harmon play Banks' "handler" than pudgy Anthony Anderson (even though Anderson tries to be funnier).

DVD: National Lampoon's Senior Trip—New Line
Video: 2
Audio: 2
Extras: 1
The longest road trip you've ever taken won't feel so bad after sitting through this 90-minute "high schoolers-hit-the-road" piece of dreck. The jokes aren't funny, every character is an overdrawn cliché, and there's absolutely no one to hold our interest, let alone root for.

DVD: Vanity Fair—Universal
In Mira Nair's (Monsoon Wedding) adaptation 19th-century Europe meets the cultural vibrancy of India. Reese Witherspoon stars as the ambitious heroine, Becky Sharp, one of literature's most intriguing and complex female characters. With nothing but wit, beauty, and sensuality at her disposal, Sharp travels on her scheme-filled journey to the height of society, only to find that the destination is as morally low as the gutter from which she came. Gabriel Bryne joins the cast as the devious Marquess of Steyne, along with James Purefoy as Rawdon Crawley. Witherspoon's performance is short of convincing, lacking a smooth transition from coyish girl to brazen coquette.