DVD 'LOVE,' BACK IN THE DAY.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor Even if you disliked those early-'60s Doris Day-Rock Hudson battle-of- the-sexes films, there is much to like about Peyton Reed's clever take on them called ``Down With Love,' which stars Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger. Actually Day and Hudson were only in three such films together, but everyone seems to remember them best from the genre. In ``Down With Love,'' though, McGregor's ladies man, the prize-wining journalist Catcher Block, is not the befuddled All-American Hudson played, but comes off more like the sophisticated sly James Bond of Sean Connery - without all that spying stuff, even if there is some undercover or under-the-covers work. (The film is appropriately set in the Kennedy era.) And while Day's feigned feigned adj. 1. Not real; pretended: a feigned modesty. 2. Made-up; fictitious. Adj. 1. outrage might sell audiences on her supposed virginal virginal, musical instrument: see spinet. virginal or virginals Small rectangular harpsichord with a single set of strings and a single manual. The derivation of its name is uncertain. status (she doth doth v. Archaic A third person singular present tense of do1. protest a bit too much), the suggestive pout Zellweger gives Barbara Novak - the author of the women's sexual liberation treatise ``Down With Love'' - lets you know she's not an innocent. And that's where the fun comes in, as male chauvinist male chauvinist n. A man whose behavior and attitude toward women indicate a belief that they are innately inferior to men. male chauvinism n. Noun 1. Catcher and the feminist Barbara find themselves at odds but as expected end up doing the dance of the sexes around the mores of the time. Reed and writers Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake push and tweak the old format. Double entendres are naughtier and more explicit without being overt. There are even clever visual jokes, including a split screen of Barbara and Catcher separately exercising that implies sexual activities. And unlike the earlier films, there are also references to premarital sex and homosexuality. ``Down With Love'' strives for the artificiality and bright style that marked the Day-Hudson films. There are the dazzling colors of the wardrobes of Barbara and chain-smoking book editor Vicki Hiller (well-played by Sarah Paulson Sarah Paulson (born December 17 ,1974 in Tampa, Florida) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress. Career Paulson was a series regular on the cult television show American Gothic and the WB series Jack & Jill ), and the shimmering shim·mer intr.v. shim·mered, shim·mer·ing, shim·mers 1. To shine with a subdued flickering light. See Synonyms at flash. 2. but obviously fake panoramas of the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. skyline. One of the nice touches of the film is having David Hyde Pierce David Hyde Pierce (born April 3, 1959) is a Screen Actors Guild, Tony and Emmy Award-winning American actor, best known for his co-starring role as psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier alongside Kelsey Grammer. , who plays Catcher's boss at the men's magazine where he works, take the role that was usually reserved for Tony Randall Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American comic actor. Early life He was born as Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer, and his wife, Julia Finston. in the Day-Hudson films. If anyone can do fussy like Randall, it's Hyde Pierce, and an added pleasure was seeing Randall himself appear in a small part as a publishing magnate. Another bonus was at the end of the film where we see Zellweger and McGregor - who help champion musicals with ``Chicago'' and ``Moulin Rouge,'' respectively - strut their stuff in a song-and-dance number. In the end, ``Down With Love'' does not have the resonance of ``Far From Heaven,'' another reworking of a bygone genre (the weepy melodrama). But it does have the pleasure of an innocent - or maybe not so innocent - flirtation. ``Down With Love'' (Fox; $27.90) includes commentary by Reed, ``Here's to Love'' music video, lead actors' screen test, bloopers, an HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy special and seven featurettes. Can't wait to buy 'King' Disney probably feels that it's about time It's About Time may refer to:
meerkat or suricate Colonial species (Suricata suricatta) of the mongoose family (Herpestidae). It is a burrowing carnivore found in southwestern Africa that differs from mongooses in having four (rather than , Timon (Nathan Lane), before returning home as a young lion to try to reclaim the throne. The animation in ``the Lion King,'' particularly the Africa vistas, is impressively gorgeous, and the Tim Rice-Elton John songs such as ``The Circle of Life'' are catchy without being too sappy. The wit is punny and funny, and in the end the lesson of the circle of life is a good one for kids. ``The Lion King - Special Platinum Edition'' (Disney; $29.99). The two- disc set includes the original theatrical release digitally restored and remastered, a new song, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, a sing-along track, two music videos, five featurettes and games. Small wonders You have to admire anyone driving a Mini-Cooper around Southern California, the land of giant SUVs, overbuff pickups and massive semis. Built for darting through the narrow streets of European cities, the Mini- Coop always looks like a gnat one second away from being squashed. Yet the tiny car is really the big star of this year's remake of the crime caper caper, common name for members of the Capparidaceae, a family of tropical plants found chiefly in the Old World and closely related to the family Cruciferae (mustard family). ``The Italian Job.'' (Both the new version and the 1969 original, starring Michael Caine, are out on 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. today.) And despite the title, the major chase scene is through Los Angeles, though not always in the streets, thanks to the auto's diminutive size. Instead it fits very nicely in drain and subway tunnels, but this only helps to ramp up Ramp Up To increase a company's operations in anticipation of increased demand. Notes: A company might 'ramp up' operations if they just signed a contract creating substantially more demand for their product. See also: Demand, Economies of Scale the excitement. Directed by F. Gary Gray, the new ``Italian Job'' also puts its engaging cast - Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland - to good use. Sutherland plays John Bridger, a master thief looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. one last big score. His team pulls off a daring robbery of $35 million in gold from a safe in Venice (Italy, that is), that is capped by a fantastic speedboat chase through the city's canals. But before the team can divvy up the loot, Norton's Steve double-crosses them, killing Bridger, and leaving the rest, he believes, dead. Not so. Led by Wahlberg's Charlie, the team regroups, locates Steve in L.A. and recruits Bridger's reluctant daughter, Stella (Theron), to recover the gold. Gray and writers Donna and Wayne Powers have fun with the story and quirky characters. Green's techno-geek Lyle, who keeps claiming he invented Napster, Statham's smooth Handsome Rob and Mos Def's acerbic demolition's expert known as Left Ear are all drawn with enough firmness to give them some depth. Even bad guy Steve's lack of imagination becomes a plot point, letting Norton's blandness serves him well. Wahlberg is fine as far as he goes; he's not asked to play the suave leading man as he did in ``The Truth About Charlie.'' Theron carries some heat as the tough but, of course, vulnerable eye-candy. None of the stars, though, outshine out·shine v. out·shone , out·shin·ing, out·shines v.tr. 1. a. To shine brighter than. b. To be more beautiful, splendid, or flamboyant than. 2. the minis they drive, and Gray knows what to feature. ``The Italian Job'' was an unexpected hit this summer, mostly because unlike many other films that failed at large aspirations, audiences took to its small but entertaining goals, which it accomplished so well. And as you might expect, one of the featurettes on the DVD is on the little mighty cars. ``The Italian Job'' (Paramount; $29.99) includes featurettes on making-of, driving school, stunts, ``The Mighty Minis'' and six deleted scenes. ``The Italian Job'' - the 1969 version also on DVD (Paramount $ 19.99). File under funny You might at first mistake ``The Office'' for a reality show. The BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. ``comedy'' takes place at a British paper distribution company. Filmed like a reality show - since the joke is that the office is being filmed for a documentary - the characters are as deadly right-on and as deathly death·ly adj. 1. Of, resembling, or characteristic of death: a deathly silence. 2. Causing death; fatal. adv. 1. In the manner of death. 2. banal and stereotypical as any you might encounter (or have) in a real office, including the overbearing office manager David Brent, played by co-director and co-writer Ricky Gervais. There are, of course, the usual back-stabbing and petty politics and stupid power plays usually found in offices, which are easy for all of us who have been there to recognize. The question might be whether you identify with the decent but uninspired victimish Tim (Martin Freeman) or one of the predators like salesman Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson). This might make ``The Office'' almost too familiar to be funny, and you just may want to escape being reminded of your own office (is that another word for hell?). On the other hand, if you can get past that, ``The Office'' has moments of brilliance. ``The Office - The Complete first Season'' (BBC; $29.90) includes all six episodes, the documentary ``How I Made the Office'' and deleted scenes. Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1) EWAN McGREGOR and RENEE ZELLWEGER in ``Down With Love'' (2) no caption (``The Lion King'') (3) no caption (``The Italian Job'') (4) RICKY GERVAIS in ``The Office.'' |
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