DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor Penguins charm in 'Madagascar' Ben Stiller's Alex the lion is amusing, Chris Rock's Marty the zebra gets off some jokes, but the zany penguins steal the show in the animated ``Madagascar.'' (Don't miss the penguins' commentaries on the disc.) The other hilarious character is Sacha Baron Cohen's King Julien the lemur lemur (lē`mər), name for prosimians, or lower primates, of two related families, found only on Madagascar and adjacent islands. Lemurs have monkeylike bodies and limbs, and most have bushy tails about as long as the body. . The filmmakers let Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. improvise and incorporated what was family-friendly into ``Madagascar.'' The movie is about four Central Park Zoo The Central Park Zoo is located in Central Park in New York City and run by the Wildlife Conservation Society. A redesign of the zoo in 1983–88 executed by the architectural firm of Kevin Roche, Dinkeloo abandoned the old-fashioned menagerie cages for more natural exhibits. animals who, while headed for the San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo One of the world's largest collections of mammals, birds, and reptiles, located in San Diego, Calif., and administered by the Zoological Society of San Diego. The 100-acre (40. , are shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar. The city animals - which also include Melman the giraffe giraffe, African ruminant mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, living in open savanna S of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, giraffes browse in treetops at heights inaccessible to other leaf-eaters. A male may be 18 ft (5.5 m) from hoof to crown. (David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 12, 1966) in Astoria, New York) is an Emmy-nominated American actor and director, who gained popularity when playing Dr. Ross Geller on the American sitcom Friends. ) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett) - then learn it's literally a jungle out there. As with other DreamWorks animated features, ``Madagascar'' is filled with pop references. It not up to the level of ``Shrek,'' but it's fun for kids and adults. The disc is chock-full of bonus material - much of it centered on those crazy penguins. < Don Roos' ironically titled ``Happy Endings'' is essentially a series of interconnected stories dealing with families and complications. The dramas are less sharp than in one of Roos' earlier films, ``The Opposite of Sex,'' but the strength of the acting - particularly Lisa Kudrow Lisa Marie Diane Kudrow (born July 30, 1963) is an Emmy Award- and SAG-winning American actress best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the hugely popular sitcom Friends. as a woman working at an abortion clinic An abortion clinic is a medical facility that performs or specializes in abortions. Such clinics may be public medical centers or private medical practices. Planned Parenthood, whose clinics offer abortions as well as other reproductive care and counseling, is the largest , Tom Arnold Tom Arnold is the name of:
< The fact that ``Stealth'' tanked this summer probably has to do with the fact that teens - its targeted audience - might have figured it was easier to watch a video game at home. Now that it's 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. and there's no need to get off the couch, whether they will even bother to watch this mindless action flick - about a computerized fighter jet that gets a mind of its own - remains to be seen. Even the cast of Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and babe Jessica Biel couldn't turn up the heat. < ``Put Kate Hudson in a spooky old Southern house and watch her squirm'' seems to be the premise behind ``The Skeleton Key.'' Hudson can squirm pretty well, and the film has a lot of eerie atmosphere. The plot, on the other hand, about a nurse (Hudson) who - despondent de·spon·dent adj. Feeling or expressing despondency; dejected. de·spon  dent·ly adv. over her parents' deaths - takes a job caring for
an elderly woman (Gena Rowlands) in a decaying Louisiana home, is full
of holes. In the end, it collapses under the weight of its illogic il·log·ic n. A lack of logic. Noun 1. illogic - invalid or incorrect reasoning illogicality, illogicalness, inconsequence . ``Madagascar'' (DreamWorks; $29.99) ``Happy Endings'' (Lions Gate; $27.98) ``Stealth'' (Columbia; $28.95) ``The Skeleton Key'' (Universal; $29.98) 'The Sound of Music,' 'Oklahoma!' 'State Fair,' 'U2 - Vertigo 2005' The 40th anniversary edition of ``The Sound of Music'' made me look fondly on a musical I was never fond of. On re-examination, it's not as schmaltzy schmaltz·y also schmalz·y adj. schmaltz·i·er, schmaltz·i·est Informal Of, relating to, or marked by excessive or maudlin sentimentality. See Synonyms at sentimental. as I thought - and more charming, if manipulative, than I'd believed possible. The Oscar-winning film, directed by the late Robert Wise, does boast some genuinely enjoyable moments and a super performance by Julie Andrews. The extras on the discs are really interesting for fans of musicals, with sections on composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, as well as writers Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. There are also memories of the making of the film from Andrews and the now very grown and even old kids who played the von Trapp children Biography Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and Justin von Trapp are the decedents of the famous Trapp Family Singers. They are the grandchildren of Werner von Trapp (1915-2007) and great-grand children of Georg Ritter von Trapp and Maria von Trapp. . And there are two other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals to take note of - the 1955 ``Oklahoma!'' which is uneven but has some wonderful moments and, of course, great music, and the 1945 ``State Fair,'' (the best of the three film versions. If you still haven't found what you're 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. , there's ``U2 - Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago.'' ``The Sound of Music - 40th Anniversary Edition'' (Fox; $26.98) `Oklahoma!- 50th Anniversary Edition'' (Fox; $26.98) includes the 70mm version. ``State Fair - 60th Anniversary Edition'' (Fox; $26.98) also includes the 1962 version featuring Pat Boone. ``U2 - Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago'' (Universal; $19.98; deluxe edition is $32.98) 'The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection' Silent comedian Harold Lloyd is often forgotten when compared to the giants of the era - Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. The bespectacled Lloyd often played a timid personality who ended up in perilous situations. He once said, ``Comedy comes from the inside. It comes from the face. It comes from the body.'' His career faded with the coming of sound. This three-set disc includes 13 of his shorts and 15 of his features, and it shows why he deserves to be remembered. ``The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vols. 1-3'' (New Line; $89.85; available separately at $29.95 each) 'Oprah,' 'Friends,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' 'Stargate Atlantis,' 'Fantasy Island' and more TV You want to see Tom Cruise jump on Oprah's sofa? Then pick up ``The Oprah Winfrey Show - 20th Anniversary DVD Collection'' It also includes scenes from the big ``O's'' early years as well as her favorite moments on this six-disc set. You can finally put ``Friends'' to rest with the release of the 10th season, and if you've got the bucks, you can take home the 10-season boxed set. Speaking of pricey boxed sets, you can also bite into ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Chosen Collection,'' a 40-disc DVD set covering seasons 1-7. ``Stargate Atlantis'' doesn't have the chemistry of ``Stargate SG-1,'' but here and there, it has its moments. And speaking of fantasy fiction, there's Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalban), his assistant Tattoo (Herve Villechaize) and their guests - including Bill Bixby, Don Knotts, Juliet Mills, Leslie Nielsen, Ray Bolger and Sandra Dee - on ``Fantasy Island - The Complete First Season.'' ``Friends - The Complete 10th Season'' (Warner; $44.98) ``Friends - The One With All 10 Seasons'' (Warner; $299.98) ``The Oprah Winfrey Show - 20th Anniversary DVD Collection'' (Paramount; $54.99) ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Chosen Collection'' (Fox; $199.98) ``Stargate Atlantis - The Complete First Season'' (Columbia; $59.95) ``Fantasy Island - The Complete First Season'' (Columbia; $49.95) ``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 3'' (Fox; $49.98) ``Tru Calling - The Complete Second Season'' (Fox; $26.98) ``Cheers - The Complete Seventh Season'' (Paramount; $38.99) The Flintstones - The Complete Fourth Season (Warner; $44.98) ``Ed Sullivan's Rock 'n' Roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. Classics'' (Ventura; $39.99) ``Frasier - The Complete Seventh Season'' (Paramount; $38.99) ``Home Movies - Season Three'' (Columbia; $34.98) ``Three's Company - Season Five'' (Anchor Bay; $39.98) ``Charmed - The Complete Third Season'' (Paramount; $49.99) ``Scrubs - Season Two'' (Buena Vista; $39.99) Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) no caption (Madagascar) (2) ``THE SOUND OF MUSIC'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion