DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor This collection is in like Flynn They don't make them like Errol Flynn anymore, but if you believe the legend, nobody made them like Flynn. ``He was one hell of a beautiful man,'' Bette Davis said about the dashing actor. Davis starred with him in ``The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.'' The 1938 costume drama is the least memorable part of ``The Errol Flynn Signature Collection.'' The rest of the collection consists of ``Captain Blood,'' ``The Sea Hawks,'' ``They Died With Their Boots On,'' ``Dodge City'' and ``The Adventures of Errol Flynn,'' a Turner Classics documentary on the Australian actor who was recently ranked 24th on Premiere magazine's list of greatest movie stars. There is no question that Flynn, who was known as much for his off- screen escapades as for his swashbuckling swash·buck·le intr.v. swash·buck·led, swash·buck·ling, swash·buck·les To act as a swashbuckler, as in a movie or play. [Back-formation from swashbuckler. action films, had star power. The phrase ``In like Flynn'' was coined when the actor faced statutory rape Sexual intercourse by an adult with a person below a statutorily designated age. The criminal offense of statutory rape is committed when an adult sexually penetrates a person who, under the law, is incapable of consenting to sex. charges (he was acquitted) in 1942, and rumors about his private life were legion - everything from having Nazi sympathies to watching girls leave class at Hollywood High School
All that aside, I can't think of a better-looking movie star. No one today matches his on-screen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. grace. Acting ability - well, that's another question. This collection represents Hollywood hokum at its best. Four of the films were directed by Michael Curtiz, one of Warner's great craftsmen/entertainers, who also helmed Flynn in ``The Adventures of Robin Hood Robin Hood, legendary hero of 12th-century England who robbed the rich to help the poor. Chivalrous, manly, fair, and always ready for a joke, Robin Hood reflected many of the ideals of the English yeoman. .'' Tough-guy director Raoul Walsh was behind ``Boots,'' a telling of the last days of Gen. Custer that tries to make the vainglorious, reckless soldier a saintly saint·ly adj. saint·li·er, saint·li·est Of, relating to, resembling, or befitting a saint. saint  li·ness n. hero rather than an ambitious madman. It almost succeeds - except for history, of course. As in ``Dodge City Dodge City, city (1990 pop. 21,129), seat of Ford co., SW Kans., on the Arkansas River; inc. 1875. The distribution center for a wheat and livestock producing area, it also packs meat and makes agricultural implements. ,'' the idea of Manifest Destiny manifest destiny, belief held by many Americans in the 1840s that the United States was destined to expand across the continent, by force, as used against Native Americans, if necessary. can be found in most Hollywood films of the time, and the politics of the period are reflected in some grating stereotypes - not to mention outright falsehoods. Sometimes the films were stand-ins for current events. The 1940 ``Sea Hawks'' was clearly aimed at rallying the troops against the Nazi menace, which Britain was battling at the time. In the film, Spain's global ambitions are substituted for the Germans'. To drive home the point, Curtiz has the Spanish king's shadow loom over a map of the world. And there's a rousing score by Erich Korngold to accompany the British sailors as they cheerfully go off to die for their queen. To help you get a sense of Flynn's era, the five films include World War II newsreels, cartoons, shorts, movie trailers and features on the films themselves. Despite my grumblings, the Flynn collection represents some of the best films of Hollywood's popcorn factory. And in the enigmatic Flynn, who could exude ex·ude v. To ooze or pass gradually out of a body structure or tissue. charm with a simple half-smile, you see what a movie star really is. ``The Errol Flynn Signature Collection'' (Warner; $59.92). 'House of Flying Daggers,' 'Birth,' 'Primer,' 'A Love Song for Bobby Long,' 'Meet the Fockers' ``House of Flying Daggers,'' director Zhang Yimou's follow-up to ``Hero,'' has a stunning visual style equal to ``Hero,'' but its story - a love triangle A love triangle is a romantic relationship involving three people (known as a triad). While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. of sorts set against intrigue and martial arts This is a list of martial arts, broken down by region and style. African martial arts Eritrea
Ziyi Zhang plays a blind courtesan cour·te·san n. A woman prostitute, especially one whose clients are members of a royal court or men of high social standing. [French courtisane, from Old French, from Old Italian cortigiana , Mei, who is a secret member of the Flying Daggers, a squad of assassins fighting the corrupt government. After being captured, Mei is allowed to escape as part of an elaborate scheme by two government lawmen, Leo Leo, in astronomy Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to flush out the Flying Daggers. But who is who and who is loyal to whom are at the heart of this complicated story. Even if ``Daggers' '' plotting is a bit convoluted, its hard not to be entranced by Ziyi Zhang, who lights a fire every time she's on screen, and director Zhang pulls off one cinematic tour de force after another in his staging of battle scenes, particularly the fight in the bamboo forest. Even walks in fields of flowers are visually stunning. Not even a solid performance by Nicole Kidman can make you overlook the preposterousness of ``Birth,'' the story of a well-to-do Manhattan widow who, just before she is to remarry remarry Verb [-ries, -rying, -ried] to marry again following a divorce or the death of one's previous spouse remarriage n Verb 1. , is confronted by a 10-year-old boy who claims to be her husband who died a decade before. It's not the premise that sends this mystery off-track, but its telling, which depends on everyone acting like all reason has been tossed aside. By the time the twists are revealed at the end, you only want to get away from these people. A clever score by Alexandre Desplat is not only wasted but also badly employed. Every once in a while, a low-budget film really does display ingenuity and intelligence far beyond its modest beginnings. ``Primer,'' reportedly made for some $7,000 by Shane Carruth, is about two inventors who develop a sort of time machine. Moral and ethical questions arise, especially after some experiments go awry. Carruth has cleverly made the film about those questions and what it all means while still retaining the mystery. (A big-budget film would make it all about the special effects.) As puzzling as ``Primer,'' the 2004 Sundance winner for best drama, is, it is also a triumph of inventiveness that keeps you thinking. ``A Love Song for Bobby Long'' is meant to allow John Travolta a chance to stretch his acting chops as a boozy Southern English professor. It's nice that Travolta's Long gets to spout lines from poets like T.S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas (April is national poetry month, after all), but the downward spiral of the New Orleans teacher is an arc we've pretty much seen before. Scarlett Johansson plays Pursy Pur´sy a. 1. Fat and short-breathed; fat, short, and thick; swelled with pampering; as, pursy insolence s>. Pursy important he sat him down. - Sir W. Scot. Adj. 1. , the daughter of a friend of Long who has died. Pursy has returned to the city expecting to inherit her mother's house, but Long and his teaching assistant (Gabriel Macht) have been living there and have no intention of leaving. ``A Love Song for Bobby Long'' seems more like a literary conceit than something that feels organic, despite its gritty Southern ambience. Universal did not send copies of ``Meet the Fockers'' out to reviewers to watch before today's release. Instead, they sent a disc of the extras. Apparently, this was done so those of us who hadn't seen it wouldn't disparage dis·par·age tr.v. dis·par·aged, dis·par·ag·ing, dis·par·ag·es 1. To speak of in a slighting or disrespectful way; belittle. See Synonyms at decry. 2. To reduce in esteem or rank. it the way many critics did when it was released. Not that it mattered. The film was a box-office smash. ``Cheap fun'' was the way The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times described it, and part of the cheap fun will be in watching the bloopers and deleted scenes that involve Dustin Hoffman. He clearly understood that the whole thing was a goof. ``The House of Flying Daggers'' (Columbia; $28.95) includes featurettes. ``Birth'' (New Line; $27.95). ``Primer'' (New Line; $27.95) includes commentary. ``A Love Song for Bobby Long'' (Columbia; $26.98). ``Meet the Fockers'' (Universal; $29.98) includes 65 bloopers and over 20 deleted scenes, commentary and featurettes. 'Dynasty' and more TV The prime-time soap opera ``Dynasty,'' with John Forsythe as the powerful oil magnate Blake Carrington, debuted in 1981 and lasted for seven seasons. There is something about the nasty machinations of the filthy rich that inspires people. Since the first of these types of shows, ``Dallas,'' was set in the Texas city, ``Dynasty'' used Denver as its Wild West setting for betrayal, infidelity and generally bad behavior. The first season, out today, parades a slew of unsavory types, who will be replaced by more unsavory types in upcoming seasons. All of this can be taken as good fun, but compared to the assassinations, orgies and backstabbing back·stab tr.v. back·stabbed, back·stab·bing, back·stabs To attack (someone) unfairly, especially in an underhand, deceitful manner: in the British miniseries ``I, Claudius,'' which ran at about the same time on PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, , the characters on ``Dynasty'' looked like Boy Scouts. Other TV shows out this week are listed below. ``Dynasty - Season 1'' (Fox; $39.98) includes 13 episodes, commentary and featurettes. ``Miracles - The Complete Series'' (Sony; $49.98) includes 13 episodes, commentary, deleted scenes and an interview with creator Richard Hatem. ``The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 7'' (Warner; $59.95). ``That '70s Show That '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenagers living in Point Place, Wisconsin, a fictional suburb of either Kenosha or Green Bay<ref name="That'70sShowFAQs"/> from May 17, 1976 to December 31, 1979. - Season Two'' (Fox; $49.98) includes 26 episodes, commentary and featurettes. Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: ERROL FLYNN |
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