DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor 'Corpse Bride' is dead on It might be a peculiar family - perhaps the Addamses - who enjoys ``Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'' together, but the director's latest stop-motion animation The original technique used to create an animated sequence. Each frame is created and photographed (or digitized) independently. Contrast with computer animation. See claymation. effort is loaded with ghoulishly delightful pleasures. The story, based on a Russian-Jewish folk tale, is set in some bizarre Victorian world and involves an arranged marriage The purpose of an arranged marriage is to form a new family unit by marriage while respecting the chastity of all people involved. As suggested by the term, an arranged marriage is typically arranged by someone other than the persons getting married, curtailing or avoiding the between a clunky but musical young man, Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II[1] (born June 9 1963) is an American actor. Biography Early life Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, to John Christopher Depp Sr., a city engineer, and Betty Sue (Wells), a waitress. ), of ambitious and rich upwardly mobile parents and the shy, nearly cloistered daughter, Victoria (Emily Watson), of an upper-class family needing money. The parents - the bride's voiced by Albert Finney and Joanna Lumley Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress and former model who is best known for her roles in The New Avengers, Absolutely Fabulous, Sapphire and Steel and Sensitive Skin. , the groom's by Tracey Ullman and Paul Whitehouse - have their motives, but the youngsters want to breathe and experience love. Victor and Victoria click upon meeting, but the pressure for the socially unsure groom proves too much. Fleeing into the woods to practice his vows, he accidentally unearths some magic in form of a young woman murdered and betrayed by her groom on what she thought was to be her wedding day. Vowing to wait until someone else came along, she emerges from the ground when Victor makes a practice proposal, placing a ring on a small branch. Curvaceous cur·va·ceous adj. Having the curves of a full or voluptuous figure. cur·va  ceous·ly adv. and alluring - except for those places where her body has decayed to bone and a right eye that pops out now and then - the Bride (Helena Bonham Carter) takes Victor back to her underworld, which is much livelier than the gray atmosphere above. In this colorful world below, which resembles the art and grave wit of a Mexican Day of the Dead celebration, bone men and cadavers with missing parts - or, in the case of the French ``head'' waiter, all of his body - dance and sing to Danny Elfman's manic songs. This being a fairy tale A Fairy Tale (AKA A Magic Tale) - Fantastic ballet in 1 Act, with choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by (?) Richter. First presented by students of the Imperial Ballet School on April 4/16 (Julian/Gregorian calendar dates), 1891 in the , things are righted in the end, but not before the dead have their night above ground and Burton once again gives us an amusing, macabre specter with a lot of heart. Curtis Hanson has made some interesting zig-zags in his career, from the norish thriller ``L.A. Confidential'' to the loopy, comic ``Wonder Boys'' to gritty rap tale ``8 Mile.'' Now he has taken Jennifer Weiner's novel ``In Her Shoes'' as source material for what is a trip into chick-flick land. Sisters Maggie (Cameron Diaz) and rose (Toni Collette) are opposites in every way - Maggie is jobless, seductive, promiscuous but insecure; Rose is a lawyer, frumpy frump n. 1. A girl or woman regarded as dull, plain, or unfashionable. 2. A person regarded as colorless and primly sedate. and lonely, who buys herself sexy shoes when she's depressed. When Rose catches house-guest Maggie in bed with her temporary boyfriend and her stilettos, she throws her sister out of the apartment. After being tossed out, Maggie looks for her grandmother (Shirley MacLaine), who she didn't know even existed until she discovered some letters by accident. As Maggie begins to find herself in her thorny relationship with her grandmother, Rose begins, in fits and starts, to learn about herself while finding a man who appreciates her. Diaz and Collette create some chemistry as mismatched sisters, and MacLaine is always a welcome presence. While ``In Her Shoes'' has some formulaic stuff, Hanson steers clear - as much as he can, anyway - of obvious sentimentality and has come up with a chick flick that most guys won't mind seeing. ``The Legend of Zorro'' reunites Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and director Martin Campbell in the pallid pal·lid adj. 1. Having an abnormally pale or wan complexion: the pallid face of the invalid. 2. Lacking intensity of color or luminousness. 3. sequel to the 1998 ``The Mask of Zorro zorro: see fox. Zorro masked swordsman, defender of weak and oppressed. [Am. Lit.: comic strip (1919); Am. Cinema: Halliwell, 794; TV: Terrace, II, 461–462] See : Disguise .'' The fire between Banderas (Alejandro/Zorro) and Zeta-Jones (Elena), who became a star after the first film, has been replaced by a smoke-and-mirrors plot about European intrigues to take over California in 1850, just before it was to enter the Union. Like many sequels, ``Legend'' suffers from being put together for no other reason than a quick buck for everyone with no clear idea of what to do. It is not unwatchable, thanks to Banderas and Zeta-Jones, but it's sldo not very enjoyable. Early on, Elena urges Alejandro to retire as Zorro - quit while he's ahead. Everyone involved in ``Legend'' should have heeded that advice. Steven Soderbergh's multimedia release ``Bubble'' is out today. I suggest you read last week's review from our film critic Bob Strauss, online at dailynews.com, which gave it three stars. The mystery film, about a murder in a toy factory - and performed by a cast of amateurs actors - has drawn a mostly positive response. The disc includes commentary by Soderbergh. Other new releases include ``Supercross,'' the noisy and rather inane story of extreme competitive motorcycle racing; the Japanese film ``Tony Takitani,'' about a 37-year-old man, born a couple of years after the bombing of Hiroshima, discovering himself during Japan's economic boom in the '80s; and ``The War Within,'' about a Pakistani-born engineer who becomes radicalized by his brutal imprisonment Imprisonment See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. and seeks revenge on the West. ``Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'' (Warner; $28.98) ``Bubble'' (Magnolia; $29.98) ``In Her Shoes'' (Fox; $29.99) ``The Legend of Zorro'' (Columbia; $28.98) ``Supercross'' (Fox; $27.98) ``Tony Takitani'' (Strand; $24.99) ``The War Within'' (Magnolia; $28.98) `Marjoe,' 'Thoth,' 'Dune,' 'Four Weddings and a Funeral,' 'Captains Courageous,' 'The Champ,' 'The Good Earth,' 'Lust for Life' Sarah Kernochan and Howard Smith's 1972 Oscar-winning documentary ``Marjoe'' seems like a portal to another world. Pentecostals then did not wield as much influence in the culture. In the late '40s, Marjoe Gortner had been ``ordained'' as a 4-year-old (trained by his overbearing mother) as the world's youngest minister. By the time of the documentary, Marjoe (taken from Mary and Joseph) no longer believed but was a supreme actor looking to get out of the ``business,'' but still fleecing money from his flocks of believers. (Gortner went on to be a B-movie actor, by the way.) The exposure of his ministry then was less shocking than you might think (shady evangelists had been the subject of fictions like ``Elmer Gantry''). But you wonder how ``Marjoe'' would play today in an America with a large Christian-right population. ``Marjoe'' is paired on the 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. with Kernochan's 2002 short doc ``Thoth,'' about a strange New Age San Francisco street musician. The new special two-disc edition of ``Dune,'' David Lynch's weird but sometime compelling 1984 adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel, contains both the messy theatrical release film and the expanded director's cut, some 40 minutes longer. The director's cut is much better, simply because the story makes more sense, though Lynch seems no less enigmatic. The extras, as usual, do not include commentary from Lynch (who apparently doesn't like to explain himself) but does have a few nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
For the romantically inclined, there is the special edition of Mike Newell's 1994 ``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' one of the more charming romantic comedies of the past couple of decades. Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . is releasing some classics that had received Oscar nominations and wins, including the 1937 ``Captains Courageous'' with Spencer Tracy, the 1931 ``The Champ'' with Wallace Beery beer·y adj. beer·i·er, beer·i·est 1. Smelling or tasting of beer: beery breath. 2. Affected or produced by beer: beery humor. and Jackie Cooper, the 1937 ``The Good Earth''' (yes, we all had to read Pearl Buck's novel) with Paul Muni and Luise Rainer, and Vincent Minnelli's 1956 ``Lust for Life'' in which Vincent van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) finds his starry, starry nights, and Anthony Quinn won a best supporting actor award as Paul Gauguin. ``Marjoe/Thoth'' (New Video; $26.98) ``Dune'' (Extended Edition) (Universal; $27.98) ``Four Weddings and a Funeral (Deluxe Edition)'' (MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. ; $19.94) ``Captains Courageous'' (Warner; $19.98) ``The Champ'' (Warner; $19.98) ``The Good Earth'' (Warner; $19.98) ``Lust for Life'' (Warner; $19.98) 'Hill Street Blues,' 'Sexual Intelligence,' 'MI-5,' more TV In its first season in 1981, Steven Bochco's ``Hill Street Blues'' signaled a new type of police drama, with a story arc that followed the characters through different episodes while trying to be more gritty. Bochco's subsequent ``NYPD NYPD New York City Police Department (since 1845; New York City, NY, USA) NYPD New York Play Development Blue'' took the ideas even further, but at the time, ``Hill Street'' seemed a revelation. Looking back at it now, though, the show doesn't have the same impact, but the characters, including Daniel J. Travanti Daniel J. Travanti (born Danielo Giovanni Travanti on March 7, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as Frank Furillo in the television drama Hill Street Blues. as the besieged be·siege tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in. 3. police captain dealing with bureaucracy, his oddball crew and his affair with a public defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was (Veronica Hamel), remain somewhat fond memories. Who else but ``Sex and the City's'' Samantha (Kim Cattrall) would you want telling you what makes you hot? Cattrall narrates and appears in the occasionally amusing and informative documentary ``Sexual Intelligence,'' which looks at the origins and social effect of lust and romance. The third season of the BBC-produced ``MI-5'' is one of the best thrillers on TV. (It has aired in an edited form on A&E.) Involving the British equivalent of our Homeland Security department There were gaps in the U.S. system for detecting and deterring terrorist acts in the homeland. That became clear September 11, 2001. The Department of Homeland Security is the george w. bush administration's plug for those gaps. , ``MI-5'' tackles some thorny issues involving terrorism and human rights in a more believable manner than its American counterparts. Unfortunately, during the third season, Matthew MacFadyen - ``Pride & Prejudice's'' terrific Mr. Darcy - who starred in the first two seasons, is gone. Other TV-related discs: ``Hill Street Blues - Season 1'' (Fox; $39.98) ``Sexual Intelligence'' (New Video; $26.95) ``MI-5, Volume 3'' (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. ; $79.98) ``Gastineau Girls - The Complete ``First Season (Hart Sharp Video; $24.99) ``Magnum, P.I. - The Complete Third Season'' (Universal; $49.98) ``Knight Rider - Season Three'' (Universal; $49.98) ``The A-Team - Season 3'' (Universal; $49.98) `` Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated un·a·dul·ter·at·ed adj. 1. Not mingled or diluted with extraneous matter; pure. See Synonyms at pure. 2. Out-and-out; utter: the unadulterated truth. - The Hill's Angels Years, Set Four (1978-1981) (A&E; $49.95) ``X-Files - The Complete Third Season'' (Collector's Edition) (Fox; $49.98) ``X-Files - The Complete Second Season (Collector's Edition)'' (Fox; $49.98) ``X-Files - The Complete First Season (Collector's Edition)'' (Fox; $49.98) ``Archie Bunker's Place Archie Bunker's Place is an American sitcom originally broadcast on the CBS network, conceived in 1979 as a continuation of All in the Family. While not as popular, the show maintained a large enough audience to last four seasons, ending its run in 1983. - The Complete First Season'' (Columbia; $29.95) ``Da Vinci da Vinci Surgery A surgical robot for performing certain surgeries–eg, mitral valve repair and laparoscopic procedures–eg, cholecystectomy and gastric ulcer repair. See Laparoscopic surgery, Robotics, Surgical robot. and the Code He Lived By'' (A&E; $24.95) ``Diff'rent Strokes - The Complete Second Season'' (Columbia; $29.95) Rob Lowman, (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) JOHNNY DEPP and HELENA BONHAM CARTER voice ``The Corpse Bride.'' (2) MARJOE GORTNER (3) ANDIE MacDOWELL and HUGH GRANT in ``Four Weddings and a Funeral'' |
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