DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor 'Wallace & Gromit' breaks the mold ``Claymation is the future. These computers will never last long. It's the age of clay.'' Nick Park and Steve Box, the co-directors of ``Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit,'' are chuckling - and for good reason. The Claymation feature has just gotten a nomination for an animation Oscar in a year when no computer-generated films made the final cut. Park first introduced the lovable oddball duo of the cheese-loving Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his silent dog Gromit in Park's film-school final project, ``A Grand Day Out,'' in 1989. Since then, Park has won three Oscars for his ``W&G'' short features, but taking it to full feature length proved a different challenge. It was only after they came up with the idea for a spoof of horror movies that they felt they had enough to make a feature. ``But there was no way it could be all blood and guts and people getting injured,'' says Box. Wallace and Gromit are fairly naive in their own way. So we came up with idea of the were-rabbit instead of a werewolf werewolf: see lycanthropy. werewolf In European folklore, a man who changes into a wolf at night and devours animals, people, or corpses, returning to human form by day. . Then the victims were naturally vegetables instead of people. But the people in the film really take vegetables seriously like they are people. And vegetables are funny, especially big ones.'' Though DreamWorks produces hip CGI CGI in full Common Gateway Interface. Specification by which a Web server passes data between itself and an application program. Typically, a Web user will make a request of the Web server, which in turn passes the request to a CGI application program. animation films like ``Shrek,'' Park says for the most part, the studio left them alone. ``We just wanted to make a film that was funny, says Park. ``It was very much our own brand of humor.'' ``Because we're British, we kind of had to tell the story in our own way,'' adds Box. ``But we were really careful if something wasn't really understood (by American audiences), we would really take that seriously.'' Park says that rather than opt for pop-culture references, they wanted to make ``W&G'' ``timeless and classical. ... We just wanted to keep the charm of the old movies.'' And in the smarter-than-his-master Gromit, you certainly see a great silent comedian. ``We're very big fans of ... silent comedians like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd,'' says Box. ``And we're big Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy, American film comedy team. The duo consisted of Stan Laurel, 1890–1965, b. Ulverson, England, whose real name was Arthur Stanley Jefferson; and Oliver Hardy, 1892–1957, b. Atlanta, Ga. fans. The visual humor was really important to us. And Gromit is really universal in that way.'' The film also boasts the vocal talents of high-powered actors Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter - who were actually given ``screen tests'' - but ``W&G'' owes much to Sallis, the veteran actor who turned 85 last week. ``He was my first choice at college,'' says Park. ``And when it came time to do more, he stuck with it. He's got such a wonderful, warm quality to his voice. Somebody recently described his voice as 'a pair of warm slippers in an unsettling un·set·tle v. un·set·tled, un·set·tling, un·set·tles v.tr. 1. To displace from a settled condition; disrupt. 2. To make uneasy; disturb. v.intr. world.' '' Sallis, speaking by phone from London, says creating the voice of Wallace was a natural. ``When I first met Nick and we sat down to make his short film, 'A Grand Day Out,' I didn't think about it. I saw what the lines were, and it just came out. And we just sort of did it. ... We never discussed the voice. I think, to put it crudely, I just hit it in one. If Nick had asked me to do it differently, I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if I could have.'' The acting bug hit Sallis when he was teaching in the RAF during World War II and a student asked him to be the lead in a production of Noel Coward's ``Hayfever'' at the local YMCA YMCA in full Young Men's Christian Association Nonsectarian, nonpolitical Christian lay movement that aims to develop high standards of Christian character among its members. . After the war, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in Bloomsbury, London, is considered to be one of the most prestigious drama schools in the world. History 1904 Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, the leading actor manager of the day, famous for his spectacular Shakespeare . Throughout his more than 50-year career, Sallis did ``scads'' of television and stage and a few films, but never expected that when he first did Wallace's voice in the late '80s that `W&G'' ``would climb to such dizzy heights.'' Would Sallis like to go to the Oscars? ``I'd love to come to the Oscars, but I haven't been asked. ... I tape it every year. I think it's a great show.'' Hey, somebody, having Wallace at the Oscars would make it a cracking good show. ``Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' (DreamWorks; $29.99) 'Just Like Heaven,' 'Elizabethtown,' 'Eros,' 'Doom,' 'Waiting ...' Reese Witherspoon's spirited performance helps give the better-than-average romantic comedy ``Just Like Heaven'' an edge. Witherspoon plays Elizabeth, a San Francisco doctor, who after a long emergency-room shift, is involved in a car accident. Her spirit later shows up at her apartment, now inhibited by a rather morose mo·rose adj. Sullenly melancholy; gloomy. [Latin m  r fellow named David (Mark Ruffalo). She's wondering what he's doing in her apartment, and though it takes a while, it becomes apparent who the corporeal Possessing a physical nature; having an objective, tangible existence; being capable of perception by touch and sight.Under Common Law, corporeal hereditaments are physical objects encompassed in land, including the land itself and any tangible object on it, that can be one is. The two then try to figure out who she is. As you might guess, perky perk·y adj. perk·i·er, perk·i·est 1. Having a buoyant or self-confident air; briskly cheerful. 2. Jaunty; sprightly. perk Elizabeth soon clashes with emotionally wounded David, but affection is bound to follow. Directed by Mark Waters (``Mean Girls'' and ``Freaky freak·y adj. freak·i·er, freak·i·est 1. Strange or unusual; freakish. 2. Slang Frightening. freak Friday''), ``Heaven'' manages the difficult task of working drama and serious issues - think the Terri Schiavo case - into the story without sacrificing lightness or comedy or falling into sentimentality. Casting helped. Donal Logue is welcome as David's friend and adviser, and while Ruffalo is almost too much of a downer down·er n. A depressant or sedative drug, such as a barbiturate or tranquilizer. early on, eventually he proves a smart counterpoint to Witherspoon, whose film it is all along. Cameron Crowe's ``Elizabethtown'' pairs another mismatched couple. Orlando Bloom plays Drew, a failure in the corporate world, where he has designed a shoe that will lose millions of dollars. But before he can actually kill himself over it, he finds out his father has died, and he must return home to Kentucky for the funeral. Aboard a near-empty red-eye, he is pampered pam·per tr.v. pam·pered, pam·per·ing, pam·pers 1. To treat with excessive indulgence: pampered their child. 2. by a perky flight attendant named Claire (Kirsten Dunst). (Are guys always the morose ones?) Claire and Drew obviously hook up, but not before Drew learns a lot about himself and the family he had left. Had ``Elizabethtown'' been from someone other then Crowe and expectations were more modest, it might have been done better with critics and audiences. At two hours, it's too long, and you sense Crowe never got a handle on the story. But while it's nowhere near as appealing as ``Almost Famous,'' there is a pleasant insistence to it at times, much like its heroine. ``Eros'' consists of three short films by Michelangelo Antonioni, Wong Kar-Wai and Steven Soderbergh on the subject of sex. Each film bears the style of its director, and while each is interesting in its own way, they also seem like slight exercises. Wong's ``The Hand'' works best. Like his recent ``2046,'' it is a stylized styl·ize tr.v. styl·ized, styl·iz·ing, styl·iz·es 1. To restrict or make conform to a particular style. 2. To represent conventionally; conventionalize. tale about a tailor learning what it takes to dress a woman. And it is in the color and framing that the story is told. Soderbergh, known for his breakthrough film ``sex, lies, and videotape,'' offers a talky talk·y adj. talk·i·er, talk·i·est 1. Talkative; loquacious. 2. Containing or given to too much talk: a talky, boring play. story about a jumpy 1950s ad exec (Robert Downey Jr.), bouncing his sexual insecurities off his psychiatrist (Alan Arkin), who doesn't seem much interested. Soderbergh jazzes it up with some arty-looking shots, but the short never gets beyond its jokey jok·ey also jok·y adj. jok·i·er, jok·i·est Characterized by joking or jokes, especially stale or clumsy jokes: jokey bumper stickers. premise. The Antonioni short is bewildering be·wil·der tr.v. be·wil·dered, be·wil·der·ing, be·wil·ders 1. To confuse or befuddle, especially with numerous conflicting situations, objects, or statements. See Synonyms at puzzle. 2. . Now in his 90s, the Italian director was known for his enigmatic films, but the way they played off perception vs. reality and reflected modern alienation made them interesting, even important. But in ``The Dangerous Thread of Things,'' about a couple who meet a young girl who the husband has sex with, all you seem to get is a lot of nudity. It could have used a tailor. Knowing it's based on a video-game, ``Doom'' doesn't offer much hope that you're in store for a good film. At least there was truth in advertising in this case, although The Rock-starring film, with its bizarre, grotesque moments - is hardly the worst translation to big screen from the video arcade. ``Waiting ...'' is a small comic film about working at a chain restaurant. Wait a sec, hold the comedy and taste, which leaves you with the equivalent of a soggy piece of white bread. ``Elizabethtown'' (Paramount; $29.98) ``Just Like Heaven'' (DreamWorks; $29.99) ``Eros'' (Warner; $27.98) ``Doom'' (Universal; $29.98) ``Waiting ...'' (Artisan; $28.98) 'The Cary Grant Box Set,' 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being,' 'Ryan's Daughter,' 'Last American Hero' What made Cary Grant special as a leading man was the range of characters he could play. ``The Cary Grant Box Set'' shows you how the actor was wonderful as the suave urbanite ur·ban·ite n. A city dweller. that he is most remembered for in films like George Cukor's 1938 ``Holiday'' with Katharine Hepburn, or 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. McCarey's 1937 ``The Awful Truth,'' but still was perfect in tough-guy director Howard Hawks' 1939 ``Only Angels Have Wings,'' with Jean Arthur and Rita Hayworth, as the hard-edged pilot delivering mail in the wilds of South America. In George Stevens' 1942 comedy ``Talk of the Town'' Grant plays a wrongly accused radical worker and political anarchist on the lam in a love triangle with a schoolteacher (Arthur) and a law professor and possible Supreme Court nominee (Ronald Colman). The film cleverly laces its romantic comedy with doses of questions about how the law is applied. (Interestingly, two endings were filmed, and preview audiences decided which guy got Arthur.) Last - but hardly least - in this gem of a collection is Hawks' delightful screwball screw·ball n. 1. Baseball A pitched ball that curves in the direction opposite to that of a normal curve ball. 2. Slang An eccentric, impulsively whimsical, or irrational person. adj. comedy ``His Girl Friday,'' a battle-of-the-sexes reworking of ``The Front Page'' with Rosalind Russell as an ace reporter trying to quit her job at the paper run by her ex-husband and editor played by Grant. The dialogue is rapid-fire (reportedly clocked at times as 240 words per minute Noun 1. words per minute - the rate at which words are produced (as in speaking or typing) wpm rate - a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit; "they traveled at a rate of 55 miles per hour"; "the rate of change was faster than expected" ) - and so are the laughs. And Grant is as hot as a pistol. The new edition of Blake Edwards' 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's beloved novella novella: see novel. novella Story with a compact and pointed plot, often realistic and satiric in tone. Originating in Italy during the Middle Ages, it was often based on local events; individual tales often were gathered into collections. ``Breakfast at Tiffany's'' features new commentary by the director. Highly romantic, the film will always be loved for Henry Mancini's timeless song ``Moon River'' and Audrey Hepburn as the captivating cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. Holly Golightly. Philip Kaufman's 1988 adaptation of Milan Kundera's novel ``The Unbearable Lightness of Being'' never found its own vision. Set against the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia that crushed the freedom movement developing in that country, ``Lightness'' involves the attractive triangle of the womanizing wom·an·ize v. woman·ized, woman·iz·ing, woman·iz·es v.intr. To pursue women lecherously. v.tr. To give female characteristics to; feminize. Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis), the sexy, free-spirited Sabrina (Lena Olin) and the shy Tereza (Juliette Binoche), who Tomas falls for. The film boasts Sven Nykvist's moody cinematography cinematography: see motion picture photography. cinematography Art and technology of motion-picture photography. It involves the composition of a scene, lighting of the set and actors, choice of cameras, camera angle, and integration of special , some memorable erotic moments and good performances, but unfortunately it never is able to juggle all the ideas it throws in the air. When didn't a film by David Lean (``Lawrence of Arabia Lawrence of Arabia: see Lawrence, T. E. Lawrence of Arabia T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935), legendary hero, led Arab revolt against Turkey. [Br. Hist.: Benét, 572] See : Adventurousness ,'' ``Dr. Zhivago'') look spectacular? The 1970 ``Ryan's Daughter,'' with the Oscar-winning cinematography from Freddie Young, is no exception. It is, alas, not one of Lean's better films. Long and windy, the illicit romance of a woman (Sarah Miles) in a loveless marriage who has an affair with a British officer (Christopher Jones) sent to uncover IRA Ira, in the Bible Ira (ī`rə), in the Bible. 1 Chief officer of David. 2, 3 Two of David's guard. IRA, abbreviation IRA. collaborations with the Germans during World War I simmers but never boils. Jeff Bridges has, simply, been one of the best actors for the past 35 years, since he made his mark with the 1971 ``The Last Picture Show.'' Another early role, as true-life stock car racer Junior Johnson in Lamont Johnson's 1973 ``The Last American Hero,'' showcases Bridges' ability to create a character that feels like flesh and blood. Honorary Oscar, anyone? ``The Cary Grant Box Set'' (Columbia; $49.95) ``The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Two-Disc Special Edition'' (Warner; $26.98) ``Breakfast at Tiffany's - Anniversary Edition'' (Paramount; $19.99) ``Ryan's Daughter - Two-Disc Special Edition'' (Warner; $26.98) ``The Last American Hero'' (Fox; $14.98) 'Moonlighting' and more TV It was the sexual tension between Dave (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) that kept things around the Blue Moon Detective agency and ``Moonlighting'' hot. In fact, most of the show's audience spent all of season three waiting for the bickering detectives to sleep together, despite Maddie being wooed by anther anther, pollen-bearing structure of the stamen of a flower, usually borne on a slender stalk called the filament. Each anther generally consists of two pollen sacs, which open when the pollen is mature. man, Sam (Mark Harmon). The show was also one of TV first dramedies, which allowed it to take some amusing risks, like the ``Atomic Shakespeare'' episode in which - through the daydream of a schoolboy forced to study the Bard - the show's cast perform a takeoff of ``The Taming of the Shrew shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding the tail, and the largest are about 6 in. (15 cm) long. ,'' with Dave as Petruchio and Maddie as the shrewish Kate, complete with fractured iambic pentameter. And, yes, at the end of the season, in the episode ``I Am Curious ... Maddie,'' the pair do sleep together. Alas, as in some relationships, it was downhill after that. Or at least audiences thought so. But season three of ``Moonlighting'' was a fun ride. Other TV-related discs are listed below. ``Moonlighting: Season 3'' (Lionsgate; $39.98) ``Touched by an Angel - The Third Season, Vol. 1'' (Paramount; $38.99) ``Growing Pains grow·ing pains pl.n. Pains in the limbs and joints of children or adolescents, frequently occurring at night and often attributed to rapid growth but arising from various unrelated causes. - The Complete First Season'' (Warner; $29.98) ``Emergency - Season Two'' (Universal; $39.98) Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) ``WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT' (3) KIRSTEN DUNST and ORLANDO BLOOM in ``ELIZABETHTOWN'' (4) AUDREY HEPBURN in ``BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S'' |
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