DVDs.Byline: Rob Lowman, Staff Writer 'Transformers' dumb but stylish and fun Young children - boys especially, not to be too obvious - like to smash things up. Give them a pile of blocks and they'll send some toy, if not fist, crashing into them. Some of these kids grow up to be filmmakers and make movies like "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." At times, the action sequences from director Michael Bay remind you of watching your kids jumping around in those colored-ball pools at Chuck E. Cheese. And it's almost as loud - although I'm not sure even a "Transformers" movie is as deafening as a Saturday afternoon birthday bash (being the operative word) at CEC (Central Electronic Complex) The set of hardware that defines a mainframe, which includes the CPU(s), memory, channels, controllers and power supplies included in the box. Some CECs, such as IBM's Multiprise 2000 and 3000, include data storage devices as well. with young ones on sugar highs. Give Bay credit, though. There are lots of people who look down on his work, but he does dumbness with panache and a certain sense of fun. And there is something to be said for that, considering how many soul-less vehicles Hollywood produces. "Revenge" brings back Shia LeBeouf as the awkward Sam, who has gone off to college but before he can even get to his first kegger he and his improbably hot girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox - new Armani underwear model) are off to save the world aided by the Autobots (those cool-looking robots that turn into cool-looking trucks, autos and planes). Considering the product placement, we wonder how much GM invested in this movie as they were going bankrupt. Their foes are the Decepticons, which are sort of the same thing except with some kind of grudge. (I'm sure the filmmakers understand this silly mythology.) But don't worry, nobody is watching "Revenge," which did massively well at the box office, for the plot. You either like watching things get smashed up or you like watching Fox run around - acting doesn't come into it - or both. For those who care about the "Transformers" and Bay worlds, the two-disc set and Blu-ray edition supplies a number of added features, which I haven't seen, meant to amuse and enlighten, including a featurette called "Deconstructing Visual Bayhem," which sounds pretty self-explanatory. An education on the ways of love Michelle Pfeiffer's charms seem ageless, and so it would go in "Cheri," Stephen Frears' languid adaptation of Colette's 1920 novel. In it the actress - now in her 50s but looking a decade younger - plays Lea, a worldly retired 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 who has been given the task of manning up 19-year-old Cheri (Rupert Friend Rupert Friend (born October of 1981[1] ) is an English actor. Friend trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His most famous role is notably as Mr. Wickham in the 2005 remake of Pride & Prejudice. ), the son of another former woman of the night, Charlotte (Kathy Bates) in order to prepare him for marriage. Cheri is - as the expression goes - like a moth to a flame, drawn both to Lea's sexuality and maternal instincts. And she sees him as a bauble, an object of desire. A few years later, Charlotte finds a suitable match with an ample dowry dowry (dou`rē), the property that a woman brings to her husband at the time of the marriage. The dowry apparently originated in the giving of a marriage gift by the family of the bridegroom to the bride and the bestowal of money upon the bride by for Cheri in Edmee (Felicity Jones Felicity Alice Jones [1] (born 19 January 1984) is a British actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the series The Worst Witch and its spin-off Weirdsister College. ). And with that Lea, now a bit older, is faced with being alone with diminishing prospects. From a script by Christopher Hampton, who combines with Frears on "Dangerous Liaisons," "Cheri" has a poignancy and gives Pfeiffer a chance to shine, but it might have done better if it showed a bit more of the toughness of Lea. Also out Criterion has a remastered special edition of "Monsoon Wedding" from Indian director Mira Nair (the upcoming "Amelia"). This pleasant 2002 dramedy with a dash of Bollywood examines the Indian caste system Noun 1. caste system - a social structure in which classes are determined by heredity class structure - the organization of classes within a society and social differences as an elaborate wedding is about to take place. The film is entertaining but sometimes at the expense of going deeper. The new disc includes Nair's short films as well as audio commentary by the director. There is a collection of films from 1960s schlock-shockmeister William Castle, including the original "13 Ghosts" and "Strait-Jacket," which starred Joan Crawford. The final season of "The L Word" also makes its an appearance as well as "It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series." The 16-disc box set of this great sitcom that originally aired on Showtime in the 1980s includes featurettes, commentaries and outtakes. OUT TUESDAY New films "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" $29.98 / two-disc special edition $34.98/ Blu-ray $39.99 "Cheri" $29.99 "Blood: The Last Vampire" $24.96 Blu-ray $34.95 "Love N' Dancing" $24.98 Blu-ray $29.98 Television "The L Word: Final Season" $59.99 "It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series" $159.99 "Hawaii Five-O: The Seventh Season" $49.99 "Numbers: The Complete Fifth Season" $60.90 "Fawlty Towers Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom made by the BBC and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Only twelve episodes were produced, but the series has had a lasting and powerful influence on later shows. : The Complete Collection Remastered" $49.98 "Vega$: The First Season, Vol. 1" $36.98 "Peanuts: 1970s Collection, Vol. 1" $29.98 "Just for Laughs: Stand Up, Vol. 3" $14.98 "Saturday Night Live This article is about the American television series. For the show related to Big Brother (UK), see Saturday Night Live (UK). Saturday Night Live (SNL : The Best of Amy Poehler" $19.98 "The Elephant King" $24.98 On Blu-ray "Easy Rider" $38.96 "Waterworld" $26.98 Boxsets "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is multi-Emmy Award winning western/dramatic television series in the United States, created by Beth Sullivan. It ran on CBS for six seasons, from January 1st, 1993 to May 16th, 1998. : The Complete Series" $149.95 "Homicide: Life on the Street - The Complete Series" $149.95 Older films "Monsoon Wedding The Criterion Collection" $39.95/ Blu-ray $39.95 "The William Castle Film Collection" $80.95 "Summer Storm" $14.99 Music "More Than This The Story of Roxy Music" $14.98 "Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis Play the Music of Ray Charles" $19.95 Blu-ray $29.95 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," above. Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend in "Cheri," right. |
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