DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor 'MirrorMask,' 'Zathura' whisk kids into fantasy worlds This is a partial list of fictional fantasy worlds, according to the medium they appear in: Novels and short stories
Two films aimed at younger audiences but holding some interest for the older crowd are Jon Favreau's ``Zathura'' and Dave McKean's ``MirrorMask,'' the latter based on a script by fantasy writer Neil Gainman. ``MirrorMask'' is a dreamscape dream·scape n. A dreamlike scene or picture having surreal qualities. [dream + (land)scape.] that a 15-year-old girl, Helena (Stephanie Leonidas Stephanie Leonidas (born February 14 1984) is a British actress of Greek Cypriot ancestry. Notable credits include the television drama Daddy's Girl, soap opera Night and Day. ), falls into after her mother is hospitalized. Helena finds herself searching for an object that will bring a balance between the Dark Lands and the City of Light in this fantasy land. Along the way, she encounters various versions of herself, as the journey is a reflection of a young girl trying to find herself. ``MirrorMask'' has a number of weirdly interesting moments, is visually clever and probably deserves more than one viewing, but it's for the more adventurous when it comes to films for kids. ``Zathura,'' like ``Jumanji'' - both based on award-winning Chris Van Allsburg books - involves board games This is a list of board games. This page classifies board games according to the concerns which might be uppermost for someone organizing a gaming event or party. See the article on game classification for other alternatives, or see for a list of board game articles. that send their kid players into strange worlds. In the case of ``Zathura,'' two brothers, a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old, are sent into some alternative outer-space universe. ``Zathura'' is more benign than ``Jumanji,'' which had a darker, even dangerous edge. Favreau (``Elf'') makes the film likable, although he doesn't reach the zaniness factor of his previous film. The bottom line, though, is that it's a solid movie for the kids. ``Proof'' plays the ``crazy or genius?'' game. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Auburn David Auburn (born 1969) is an American playwright. He was born in Chicago, and raised in Ohio and Arkansas. He attended the University of Chicago and got a degree in English literature. , John Madden's claustrophobic film makes you wonder what worked on the stage that doesn't here. Perhaps it's too Gwyneth Paltrow-centric. The actress combined with Madden before, for the winning ``Shakespeare in Love.'' In ``Proof,'' she plays Catherine, the daughter of brilliant mathematician Robert (Anthony Hopkins Noun 1. Anthony Hopkins - Welsh film actor (born in 1937) Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Anthony Philip Hopkins, Hopkins ), who has fallen into the beginnings of dementia and who she's playing nursemaid for. The film (and play presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. ) never lets you forget how artful and intelligent it is as Catherine, a mathematician herself, and Robert spar. Catherine's closed world is broached by a young mathematician (Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal[1] (born December 19 1980) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at 11 years old. ) who wants to look through her father's papers, and her sister, Claire (Hope Davis), who she's at odds with. At its heart, ``Proof'' is an elegant family drama, but a lot of it depends on how much you care about the characters. Despite its powerhouse cast, ``Proof'' doesn't always add up. Rodrigo Garcia's ``Nine Lives'' is an episodic film, with pieces of about 12 minutes each. It's a mixed bag. The son of novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gar·cí·a Már·quez , Gabriel Born 1928. Colombian-born writer known especially for his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967). He won the 1982 Nobel Prize for literature. , the filmmaker shows promise. One story tells of a prisoner who can't talk to his daughter on visitors day because the phone doesn't work and the glass is between them; another involves a couple who had broken up, meeting by accident in a supermarket and wondering if they made the right choice. They are small moments, but some of them resonate bigger. It seems that every week, another horror film horror film n → película de terror or miedo horror film horror n → film m d'épouvante horror film horror n is at the top or near the top of the box office. There should be a study of those who make up the audience. Either fans of the genre (mostly young) need the films as a release in the face of an uncertain world, or they're simply depraved de·praved adj. Morally corrupt; perverted. de·prav  ed·ly adv. . Admittedly some of these films are clever, but few are of real value. The cutup cut·up n. Informal A mischievous person; a prankster. of the week is ``Saw II,'' the sequel to the first unpleasant hit. This one is more distasteful - unless, of course, you like this sort of gruesome endeavor. ``Zathura'' (Columbia; $28.95) ``MirrorMask'' (Columbia; $26.98) ``Proof'' (Miramax; $29.99) ``Nine Lives'' (Columbia; $26.96) ``Saw II'' (Lionsgate; $29.98) `Metropolitan,' 'La Bete Humaine,' 'Ju Dou,' Raise the Red Lantern Raise the Red Lantern (Simplified Chinese: 大红灯笼高高挂; Traditional Chinese: 大紅燈籠高高掛; pinyin: Dà Hóng Dēnglóng Gāogāo Guà; literally ,' 'The Frisco Kid' Writer-director Whit Stillman Whit Stillman (born John Whitney Stillman in Washington, D.C. on January 25, 1952 [1][2]) is an Academy Award-nominated American writer-director known for his sly depictions of the "urban haute bourgeoisie" (as he terms the upper-class WASPs of the U.S. hasn't released a movie in eight years. His first, the 1990 film ``Metropolitan,'' was done on a shoestring but was a fascinating look at the Gatsby-esque society of Manhattan. The gritty city is never really seen, as the 20-something upper-crusters seem to float - from penthouse to penthouse - insulated from it, exchanging droll droll adj. droll·er, droll·est Amusingly odd or whimsically comical. n. Archaic A buffoon. [French drôle, buffoon, droll, from Old French drolle banter. But Stillman goes beyond merely satirizing the rich by bringing in middle-class Tom (Edward Clements), whose mildly hostile resentment proves a catalyst in creating a dialogue, in essence a way for the privileged to explore their lives. The newly remastered disc of the film by Criterion includes a commentary by Stillman and some cast members that is like the film - a few cuts above the usual. Another Criterion release is French director Jean Renoir's ``La Bete Humaine,'' starring Jean Gabin and Simone Simon. Based on an Emile Zola novel, the 1930s movie has a film noir quality (actually, it foreshadowed the genre). It tells the story of a train engineer (Gabin, who excelled in such working-class roles) who falls for a stationmaster's wife (Simon). They then plot to kill her husband. It's a very good and dark film - but not one of the elite ones from the legendary director. The new disc includes an interview with director Peter Bogdanovich and archival interviews with Renoir. Two of Zhang Yimou's early films - ``Ju Dou'' (1990) and ``Raise the Red Lantern'' (1991), which stars the dazzling Gong Li - that helped to establish his reputation are out. Both are visually beautiful, set in China in the 1920s, and have sensual elements as well as dark ones wrapped in melodramas, and neither should be missed. The 1979 movie ``The Frisco Kid'' was director Robert Aldrich's penultimate film. The comic Western was an odd choice for Aldrich, whose best films - from ``Kiss Me Deadly'' to ``Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'' to ``The Dirty Dozen'' - are on the dark side. ``The Frisco Kid'' stars Gene Wilder as a lowly regarded Polish rabbinical rab·bin·i·cal also rab·bin·ic adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of rabbis. [From obsolete rabbin, rabbi, from French, from Old French rabain, probably from Aramaic student who is sent to serve a far-flung Jewish community. That means making his way through the wild West, where he is befriended by a bank robber (Harrison Ford) who helps him survive. The comedy is supposed to come from the fish-out-of-water elements and the contrast between the two, but never really works. But because ``The Frisco Kid'' is a bit of an oddity, it might be of mild interest to film buffs. ``Metropolitan'' (Criterion; $39.95) ``La Bete Humaine'' (Criterion; $29.99) ``Ju Dou'' (Razor; $19.99) ``Raise the Red Lantern'' (Razor; $19.99) ``The Frisco Kid'' (Warner; $14.98) 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'The Newsroom' In many ways, the ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. hit ``Grey's Anatomy'' is a WB show skewing to a slightly older age group. The fictional Seattle Grace Hospital is filled with attractive staffers, like ``Roswell's'' Katherine Heigl, who's one of the interns at the facility (I never ever have gotten a doctor that looked nearly as good); then there's Golden Globe- and SAG-winning Sandra Oh, Don Juan-type Justin Chambers, Ellen Pompeo (who plays the show's title character) and Patrick Dempsey playing a sexy surgeon. Any hospital that had this many good-looking people would be under investigation for gene manipulation. The writing for the show is more on the cute than substantial side. So you have cute people saying cute lines with a hip soundtrack. It's obviously a winning combination, but not compelling. The two-disc first-season 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. contains only nine episodes, since ``Grey's Anatomy'' came on at midseason. There are some extras, including a feature of how the show was put together, as well as commentaries. 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, is releasing a number of its usually excellent documentaries on American leaders, including three Roosevelts - Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor - and Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. The second season of Ken Finkleman's revival of the brilliant satire ``The Newsroom'' is also out this week. The original 1996-97 Canadian show was a landmark; the new version continues, although it's not as obviously fresh. Other TV-related discs are listed below. ``Grey's Anatomy - Season 1'' (Buena Vista; $29.99) ``Golden Girls - The Complete Fourth Season'' (Touchstone; $39.99) ``The Pretender - The Complete Third Season'' (Fox; $39.98) ``The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Fifth Season'' (Paramount; $38.99) ``American Experience: Jimmy Carter'' (PBS; $24.98) ``American Experience: LBJ'' (PBS; $24.98) ``Truman'' (PBS; $24.98) ``TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt'' (PBS; $24.98) ``FDR'' (PBS; $24.98) ``American Experience: Eleanor Roosevelt'' (PBS; $24.98) ``The Newsroom - The Complete Second Season'' (Goldhil Home Media; $24.98) ``The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - The Complete Third Season'' (Warner; $29.98) ``Charles in Charge Charles in Charge is an American sitcom series broadcast on CBS which starred Scott Baio as Charles, a 19-year-old college student working as a live-in babysitter in New Brunswick, New Jersey. : The Complete First Season (Universal; $34.98) ``Ballykissangel - Complete Series Four'' (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. ; $49.98) ``Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson Uncensored!'' (Paramount; $19.98) Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) JONAH BOBO, DAX SHEPARD and JOSH HUTCHERSON in ``ZATHURA'' (2) ``GREY'S ANATOMY'' |
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