DVD Recent Picks

September 2006

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The legend of Zorro.
"The Zorro brand of hot-blooded derring-do returns with The Legend of Zorro, starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the roles that brought them stardom with The Mask of Zorro. Now married for ten years and parents to young rascal Joaquim (charming Adrian Alonso, perhaps being set up for a future Son of Zorro), dashing swordsman Alejandro (Banderas, a Spaniard playing a Mexican) and sultry spitfire Elena De La Vega (Zeta-Jones, a Welshwoman playing a Spaniard) abruptly divorce, sending Alejandro on a drunken binge--which only gets worse when he learns Elena is being wooed by the mysterious Armand (Rufus Sewell, a Brit playing a Frenchman). Little does Alejandro know that Elena has ulterior motives, and that a worldwide conspiracy and a secret weapon will soon threaten the integrity of the U.S." (Amazon.com)

Inside man.
"Spike Lee scored his biggest hit to date with Inside Man, an unconventional thriller with fascinating details in the margins of its convoluted plot. The screenplay (by first-timer Russell Gerwitz) could've used a few more rewrites; it moves at a brisk pace but in hindsight a lot of it doesn't make sense. That makes Inside Man more fun to watch than to think about afterwards (when you discover plot holes big enough to drive a truck through), but it's curiously involving, especially as NYPD Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) struggles to outsmart a high-stakes bank robber (Clive Owen) who, along with a well-trained crew of accomplices, has seized control of a Wall Street bank, turning what initially looks like a hostage crisis into a personal crusade to expose some mysterious evil secrets." (Amazon.com)

Bad news Bears.
"In a fitting follow-up to Bad Santa and Friday Night Lights, Billy Bob Thornton makes the most of the remake trend in Bad News Bears. He's just the right guy to inherit Walter Matthau's role from the original 1976 version about a lousy Little League team baseball team coached by a curmudgeonly drunk, and the original team of misfits has been updated (but not upgraded) to an ethnic mix that includes an Indian math whiz, a pair of Latino twins, and a paraplegic kid who doesn't play until the final championship game. It's a little sad to see a talented director like Richard Linklater doing an unnecessary remake, but his experience on School of Rock made him the obvious choice to mine comedy gold from the collision of Thornton and a batch of unruly, prepubescent kids (including Sammi Kraft, an all-star Little Leaguer in the role originated by Tatum O'Neal). With Marcia Gay Harden and Greg Kinnear in supporting roles, this isn't family fare (the potty-mouthed kids deservedly earned a PG-13 rating), but Thornton's easygoing presence makes it worthwhile for anyone who's not too attached to the original version." (Amazon.com)

Extras. The complete first series.
"Extras, Ricky Gervais' much-anticipated follow-up to The Office, is a quieter affair, and a little less accessible than its award-laden predecessor. But across the six episodes on this first season DVD set are several episodes that will richly reward repeated viewings. Gervais plays Andy Millman, an actor whose roster of jobs seems to consistently consist of extras work. Each episode follows him on a different production, and also brings in a notable guest star. Lining up throughout the series are the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller. And while their presence undoubtedly adds something to each carefully crafted episode, it’s perhaps those with the lesser names that show the programme on top form--certainly the appearance of Les Dennis makes for an excellent half hour of comedy-drama. At the core though is Gervais’ Millman--a far easier character to warm to than David Brent--and Ashley Jensen’s marvellous Maggie Jacobs. It’s these two who consistently provide the show’s highlights, and while the headlines have been generated by the all-star roster of names attracted to appear in Extras, it’s the two less showy characters who work the best." (Amazon.co.uk)

The L word. The complete first season.
"Four years after Showtime made gay men the focus of its original series Queer as Folk, it was time for a little turnabout with The L Word (bad title, great show). Centering around a tight-knit group of lesbians in Los Angeles, this drama was far removed from its working-class male counterpart in both style and content. While the men of QAF enjoyed a fabulous if melodramatic life on the middle-class streets of Pittsburgh, the women of The L Word lived it up in sunny California, with gorgeous houses, glamorous careers, and sexy wardrobes. Ironically, though, The L Word adhered more to the everyday drama of ensemble shows like thirtysomething than the soap opera antics of QAF, and the results were surprisingly heartfelt and effective, appropriately stylish but never over the top." (Amazon.com)

Murderball.
"Murderball, Winner of the Documentary Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, is a film about tough, highly competitive rugby players. Quadriplegic rugby players. Whether by car wreck, fist fight, gun shot, or rogue bacteria, these men were forced to live life sitting down. In their own version of the full-contact sport, they smash the hell out of each other in custom-made gladiator-like wheelchairs. And no, they don't wear helmets. From the gyms of middle America to the Olympic arena in Athens, Greece, Murderball tells the story of a group of world-class athletes unlike any ever shown on screen. In addition to smashing chairs, it will smash every stereotype you ever had about the disabled. It is a film about family, revenge, honour, sex (yes, they can) and the triumph of love over loss. But most of all, it is a film about standing up, even after your spirit - and your spine - has been crushed." (Real Groovy)

Doctor Who [2005]. Volume 1 Series 2.
"David Tennant ably steps into the shoes of the famous Timelord, as the first couple of episodes of the 'second' series of the reborn Doctor Who make it to DVD. In fact, that's not quite true. The first of the two is actually the excellent 2005 Christmas special, The Christmas Invasion, which not only marked Tennant's first full story in the role, but also proved to be an excellent way to spend an hour. Taking place during the festive season, the story finds Earth under imminent threat of invasion, at a time when the Doctor is still getting over his regeneration. That means extra pressure for Billie Piper's Rose Tyler, but also offers a welcome return to the series for the terrific Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones. Yet it's the witty script and Tennant's confident performance that define the episode. The 'proper' start of the 'second' series was the slightly uneven New Earth, which scores well again in the humour stakes, but struggles a little more with the story itself." (Amazon.co.uk)

Goal! : the movie.
"You'd have to be a heartless curmudgeon to dislike a movie as enjoyably sincere as Goal! The Dream Begins. Yes, the corny title tells you all you need to know about this rags-to-riches soccer tale, but like Hoosiers and Rudy, this conventional sports drama rises above its familiar plot with an engaging cast and some pleasant surprises along the way. The first in a proposed trilogy that will follow young Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) as he rises to prominence in the competitive world of British soccer, this one begins by showing how Santiago, an undocumented immigrant in Los Angeles, attracts the attention of a talent scout (Stephen Dillane), who arranges a tryout for England's prestigious team, Newcastle United. It's rough going for a beleaguered trainee who suffers from asthma, but soon Santiago is befriended by a hard-partying soccer star (Alessandro Nivola) and he's on his way to reaching his... Goal! It's all very inevitable, but director Danny Cannon makes the most of this inspiring story by exploiting the unexpected subtleties in an otherwise predictable screenplay: Santigo's relationship with his seemingly unsupportive father (Tony Plana) gains additional resonance as the story unfolds; a local nurse (Anna Friel) turns out to be more than a routine love interest; and Newcastle's German manager (Marcel Iures) is a wry, colorful character who works miracles with his unruly squad of players. Add some obligatory cameo appearances by real-life soccer stars including (of course) the great David Beckham, and you've got a modest, likable hit that delivers exactly what it promises, and a little bit more." (Amazon.com)

Casanova.
"A light farce dressed up as a lush 18th century costume drama, Casanova gives a fictional spin to the exploits of history's most rakish seducer of women. As played by Heath Ledger, this Casanova bears no resemblance to Donald Sutherland's unrepentant portrayal in Fellini's Casanova, filmed 30 years earlier. Instead, the great ladies' man of Venice is just biding time by bedding women, waiting for true love (and the return his long-absent mother) to settle down into blissful monogamy. He finds true love in Francesca (Sienna Miller), a feminist who initially resists Casanova's affections while director Lasse Hallstrom serves up a variety of lightweight subplots including Casanova's flight from the Vatican's inquisitor (Jeremy Irons); a host of mistaken identities involving, among others, the portly "Lard King of Genoa" (played with scene-stealing perfection by Oliver Platt in a blubbery fat suit); and the romantic negotiations of Francesca's mother (played by Hallstrom's wife, Lena Olin) and a young bumbler named Giovanni with his own promising future as a lover of women." (Amazon.com)

River Queen.
"An intimate story set during the 1860s in which a young Irish woman Sarah (Samantha Morton) and her family find themselves on both sides of the turbulent wars between British and Maori during the British colonisation of New Zealand. Starring Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis." (Real Groovy).

AEon Flux.
"Like the animated series it's based on, Aeon Flux is the kind of sci-fi that's best appreciated by the MTV generation. It's a serious attempt at stylized, futuristic action/adventure (the title character, played by Charlize Theron, is essentially a female James Bond for the cyberpunk era) and taken for what it is, it's not all that bad. The action takes place in the year 2415, four centuries after a virus nearly decimated the human race, leaving only five million survivors in a utopian city called Bregna. Aeon belongs to the Monicans, a secret rebel resistance force that is struggling to destroy the Goodchild regime led by its namesake, Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas), the ruler of Bregna and a descendant of the man who found a cure for the deadly virus. As instructed by the Handler (Frances McDormand, gamely playing along in ridiculous sci-fi regalia), Aeon is assigned to assassinate Goodchild, but there are deeper secrets to be discovered, and conspiracies to be foiled." (Amazon.com)

I am Colin McCahon.
"Colin McCahon 'I Am' follows the evolution of his work from his early paintings, which placed well known Christian events, such as the crucifixion, into a New Zealand context, to his final paintings which used words to spell out a message to his audience." (Real Groovy).

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