DVD `CARS' REVS ITS ANIMATED ENGINE.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor In a race with Pixar's ``Toy Story'' and ``Finding Nemo,'' ``Cars'' -- the studio's latest animation feature -- would finish a distant third. Oh, it's still better than most children's entertainment, but it basically purrs along in third for most of the film before kicking into high gear toward the end. (Growing weary of automotive allusions yet?) In a world that is all autos, Owen Wilson is the voice of a hip red race car named Lightning McQueen, who is all ego. He sees no need for a pit crew and likes to go it alone, although he's ultimately lonely. While being trucked to a big race, he is accidently ejected from the big rig and, in an attempt to catch up, takes a wrong turn down a dark road, ending up in a small, isolated desert town. There, after causing some damage in the dark, Lightning is sentence to road work, with only enough gasoline to get him through the day -- thwarting any escape attempts from the lonesome lone·some adj. 1. a. Dejected because of a lack of companionship. See Synonyms at alone. b. Producing such dejection: a lonesome hour at the bar. 2. town. He's not finding much love there, either. A sleek Porsche named Sally (Bonnie Hunt) is the one who has insisted on the sentence, although Doc, a classic 1951 Hudson Hornet (Paul Newman), wants to see his tailgate A conversion layer that lets IDE devices connect to the IEEE 1394 Firewire interface. . As you might expect, there are lessons to be learned and a race to be won, and all that is very nice. Surprisingly, there is even an emotional kick, with Doc having a past he's trying to hide and Newman managing to convey his character's pain just with his voice. ``Cars'' is slickly done, as you'd expect from Pixar, particularly the racing scenes, which are spectacular. But the world it creates is a bit weird, especially for those of us who think NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. is a waste of gas. Odder still is its nostalgia for the wide-open spaces of America, especially when cars need more roads to be paved. And the cars are stereotypes -- Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) is a crazy yellow Italian-accented Fiat, Cheech Marin voices a low-rider, and George Carlin car·line or car·lin n. Scots A woman, especially an old one. [Middle English kerling, from Old Norse, from karl, man.] gives us a space-cadet VW van. I'm sure I'm nitpicking nit·pick·ing n. Minute, trivial, unnecessary, and unjustified criticism or faultfinding. nitpicking nit (inf) n → Kleinigkeitskrämerei f here, and kids probably won't notice, although their parents may get bored. The new DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. has only a few extras: a new animated short, ``Mater and the Ghostlight''; the Oscar-nominated animated short ``One Man Band''; and deleted scenes. NEW FILMS On Sundays, I look forward to doing The New York Times crossword puzzle that runs in this paper. I plod along, compared to real puzzlers, but I believe it keeps my brain sharp and helps me, as a writer, to see connections and see things in different ways. A clue can be interpreted many different ways, and the first thing you learn when doing a puzzle is not to get caught up in one meaning. (I've also noticed that both my parents, who are in their 80s, now do puzzles. It has been shown that doing puzzles helps the elderly with mental acuity, and my parents seem to be living proof of that.) You may already know The New York Times' puzzle editor, Will Shortz; he's a regular on NPR NPR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Nepal Rupee. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. on Sunday mornings. He's at the center of the fascinating documentary ``Wordplay,'' which looks at the history of the NYT NYT New York Times NYT National Youth Theatre (UK) NYT New York Transit (New York, USA) NYT New York Tribune puzzle as well as introduce you to some famous people who are puzzlers, including Bill Clinton and John Stewart. Now, as I said, I'm not a puzzle fanatic; so some of these people seem a bit obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. . Still, ``Wordplay'' is fun to watch, and the DVD has five puzzles as extras. TELEVISION If the film ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' is to be believed, Edward R. Murrow Noun 1. Edward R. Murrow - United States broadcast journalist remembered for his reports from London during World War II (1908-1965) Edward Roscoe Murrow, Murrow didn't regard his ``Person to Person'' celebrity interviews very highly. The journalist lived for hard news, but, as a celebrity interviewer, he is so much more interesting than what passes for that today. ``Edward R. Murrow -- The Best of Person to Person'' includes interviews with John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in , Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Sammy Davis Jr., Milton Berle and Sophia Loren -- fascinating people all. Speaking of fascinating people, ``Inside the Actors Studio Inside the Actors Studio is the Emmy-nominated, longest-running original series on the Bravo cable television channel, hosted by James Lipton. It is produced and directed by Jeff Wurtz. -- Icons'' has some. The host of the show, James Lipton, got to sit down for in-depth interviews with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand and Clint Eastwood, who prove more open, loose and willing to talk than they do on other shows. The box sets for the holidays are starting to appear. You can now pick up the seventh and final season of the venerable ``The West Wing'' or the ``The Complete Series Collection.'' (That's probably for someone special.) OLDER FILMS Sir Ralph Richardson is superb as the subject of Carol Reed's 1948 classic but too-little-seen ``The Fallen Idol.'' It's a thriller involving a small boy at a London embassy and the butler (Richardson) whose care he's left in and who he idolizes. When the butler's wife dies mysteriously, the boy is put in an uncomfortable position. As actors, Gary Cooper and Marlon Brando had nothing in common. Cooper had a likable screen presence he mined, while Brando was, well, Brando. The collections this week point out one similarity -- they starred in a fair amount of middling films. Perhaps only Brando's ``The Formula'' needs to be avoided -- it even boasted another Oscar winner, George C. Scott Noun 1. George C. Scott - award-winning United States film actor (1928-1999) Scott -- but none of the films are great, although Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ``Julius Caesar'' is close. As Marc Antony, though, Brando is brilliant. To pump up the hype for ``Casino Royale,'' there are new box sets of the James Bond film. The ``Rodgers and Hammerstein Box Set Collection'' as well as ``Flower Drum Song'' will make fans of musicals happy. Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman@dailynews.com NEW FILMS ``Cars'' (Disney; $29.99) ``Wordplay'' (Wordplay; $24.95) ``Shadowboxer'' (Code Black; $26.98) ``Pusher pusher Drug slang 1. A person who sells drugs, especially the 'heavies'–eg, heroin 2. A metal hanger or umbrella rod used to scrape residue in crack stems Trilogy'' (Magnolia; $39.98) ``The Souler Opposite'' (Warner; $14.98) TELEVISION ``Edward R. Murrow --The Best of Person to Person'' (Koch; $39.98) ``The West Wing -- The Complete Seventh Season'' (Warner; $59.98) ``The Sopranos -- Season 6, Part 1'' (HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy ; $99.98) ``M*A*S*H -- Season Eleven (Collector's Edition)'' (Fox; $39.98) ``Arrested Development - Seasons 1-3'' (Fox; $109.98) ``Beverly Hills, 90210 -- The Complete First Season'' (Paramount; $54.99) ``JAG -- The Complete Second Season'' (Paramount; $64.99) ``Police Squad! The Complete Series'' (Paramount; $19.99) ``The Christmas Shoes'' (Goodtimes; $14.98) ``M*A*S*H: Martinis and Medicine Collection'' (Fox; $199.98) ``The West Wing -- The Complete Series Collection'' (Warner; $299.98) ``Melrose Place -- The Complete First Season'' (Paramount; $54.99) ``The Best of Donny and Marie, Volume 1'' (ESI (Edge Side Includes) A markup language for Web pages that enables elements of a Web page to be dynamically assembled in servers distributed throughout the Internet. ; $29.99) ``The Best of Carson, Volume 1'' (ESI; $39.99) ``Inside the Actors Studio -- Icons (Paul Newman, Robert Redford, ``Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood) (``Shout; $39.98) OLDER FILMS ``Gary Cooper -- The Signature Collection (includes ``Sergeant York,'' ``The Fountainhead foun·tain·head n. 1. A spring that is the source or head of a stream. 2. A chief and copious source; an originator: "the intellectual fountainhead of the black conservatives" ,'' ``Dallas,'' ``Springfield Rifle,'' ``The Wreck of the Mary Deare'') (Warner; $49.98) ``The Marlon Brando Collection'' (includes ``Julius Caesar,'' ``Mutiny on the Bounty Mutiny on the Bounty activities of mutineers, Captain Bligh, island wanderings (1789). [Am. Lit.: Mutiny on the Bounty] See : Rebellion 1962,'' ``Reflections in a Golden Eye Reflections in a Golden Eye is a 1941 novel by Carson McCullers that deals with the theme of repressed homosexuality. It is a tale of six central characters, their failures, obsessions and darkest desires. ,'' ``The Teahouse of the August Moon,'' ``The Formula) (Warner; $59.98) ``James Bond Ultimate Collection -- Vol. 1'' (includes ``The Man With the Golden Gun,'' ``Goldfinger,'' ``The World Is Not Enough,'' ``Diamonds Are Forever,'' ``The Living Daylights'') (MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. ; $89.98) ``James Bond Ultimate Collection Vol. 2'' (includes ``A View to a Kill,'' ``Thunderball,'' ``Die Another Day,'' ``The Spy Who Loved Me,'' ``License to Kill'') (MGM; $89.98) ``The Fallen Idol'' (Criterion; $29.95) ``Cinema Paradiso (Weinstein, $24.95 and $39.99 for the collector's edition) ``Rodgers and Hammerstein Box Set Collection'' (``The King and I,'' ``Oklahoma!,'' ``The Sound of Music,'' ``South Pacific,'' ``Carousel,'' ``State Fair'') (Fox, $99.98) ``Flower Drum Song'' ( Universal; $26.98) ``The King and I'' (Fox; $26.98) ``Carousel -- 50th Anniversary Edition'' (Fox; $26.98) ``South Pacific -- Collector's Edition'' (Fox; $26.98) `Oh! What a Lovely War'' (Paramount; $14.99) (Fox; $99.98) ``The Transformers -- The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition)'' (Sony; $21.98) CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) Doc (Paul Newman), left, and Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) hit the straightaway in ``Cars.'' (2) no caption ("Wordplay") (3) no caption ("Edward R. Murrow - The Best of Person to Person") |
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