Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 3
What’s Dreamer got that the similarly themed, highly acclaimed Seabiscuit didn’t? How about the emoting of Dakota Fanning, playing the daughter of a distant father and broken-down horse trainer seeking redemption? Combine her heart-melting appeal with a broken-down horse, and you’ve got the family charmer of the year. That sound you hear isn’t galloping—it’s a family bonding.
Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 0
Angsty teenagers and other assorted characters end up in a desolate, New Mexico trailer park called Dreamland—some are living there, while some are just passing through. It’s an earnest film that tries hard but misses. John Corbett of Sex and the City heads the cast and shines as a long-suffering widower who finds at least a little bit of solace inside of a bottle. He’s also the father of Audrey (Agnes Bruckner), who receives college acceptance letters yet hides them so she can stay and care for her dad. Then there’s her friend (Kelli Garner), who’s stricken with multiple sclerosis and gets involved with a newcomer to the area: a rehabbing basketball player (Justin Long from Dodgeball), who also likes Audrey.
Video: 4
Audio: 5
Extras: 2
While some fans lament the seemingly imploding film career of the latest prettier half of "Bennifer," what's really sad is that Hollywood has managed to take Elektra, the dark, driven creation of the great Frank Miller, and reinvent her as just another melodramatic heroine. As portrayed by the lithe, earnest Jennifer Garner, "E" is a conflicted killer with quirky habits (obsessive-compulsive disorder for a few quick laughs!), who squares off against a slew of overdone computer-generated special effects. Oh, and did I mention the precocious young sidekick and the hunky single dad next door? Had the filmmakers gone for gritty action and an R rating instead of the flashy fantasy nonsense, this movie could have been great instead of just OK. Even at a mere 96 minutes, it's a tad sluggish.
By and large, dragons have had a tough time of it in Hollywood. Past attempts from Pete’s Dragon, to Dragonslayer, to Dragonheart—heck, even Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story—have failed to set the world on fire. Enter Eragon (based upon the popular book by Christopher Paolini), the latest cinematic tale of winged, flame-belching lizards and the humans who befriend them. There’s nothing really new in this sequel-ready fantasy/adventure: an evil king and his minions; the brave underdog resistance; a young hero who loses everything before coming of age. It all borrows a lot from the original Star Wars trilogy, while looking much like Lord of the Rings.
In the simplest possible terms, Steve McQueen had "It." Truly, women wanted him, and men wanted to be him. Maybe it was the eyes, the sense of intensity he conjured, or the impression that he knew something we didn't. Or perhaps it was his physicality, the grace with which he performed his own stunts, combined with his ease and outright glee with props. Warner has assembled some hard evidence of the actor's elusive mystique in their recent Essential Steve McQueen Collection, a grouping of souped-up reissues and new-to-DVD titles.
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Extras: 3
Films like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Dazed and Confused come along about once every 10 years. Both manage to cut through the sexual hijinks and drug jokes inherent in all so-called "teen flicks" to really capture what it was like to grow up in a particular time and place. I can watch both of these movies over and over, and that's why I love them: I get older, and they stay the same age.
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Extras: 1
When a slew of his cronies are arrested, already imprisoned and now newly indicted mobster Jackie DiNorscio (Vin Diesel) is given a proposition—testify for the government and get your 30-year sentence reduced. He says no, and, not only that, he will defend himself against these new charges.
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 2
If you think this is a story about a horse, you’re only halfway there. On the surface, Flicka is a film about a wild horse that is accidentally found by Katy (Alison Lohman), a headstrong, horse-loving teenager, while she tries to escape the confines of her father’s expectations—and a mountain lion. The parallel between the struggles of Katy and Flicka—man trying to contain nature—is typical at best. But, for this horse enthusiast, it works.
Video: 4
Audio: 5
Extras: 3
Director John Moore had a lot going for him when he helmed this 2004 remake of the 1965 original. He used CGI and other effects barely dreamed of 40 years ago to create the harrowing plane crash that sets the plot in motion. Can the survivors escape the desert that threatens to kill them? Moore also effectively filmed his African location using aerial photography and wide-angle lenses to portray its vastness, eliminating much of the original film's stage-play feel. What Moore didn't have, though, were actors like Jimmy Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, and the rest of the original cast. The new players are good (Giovanni Ribisi is a stand-out), but they tend to lean on the special effects to create the suspense and drama that the original actors could muster alone.
Video: 5
Audio: 5
Extras: 4
I don't like to sleep on airplanes. Something about the idea of napping among hundreds of strangers condemns me to wakefulness from takeoff to landing. Getting some shut-eye won't be any easier now that I've seen Flightplan, director Robert Schwentke's taut thriller in which a little girl appears to have vanished in the midst of a trans-Atlantic flight.
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
A 1950s sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet is a futuristic spin on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Fifty years later, it remains a fun and frightening cautionary tale of fathers, daughters, and hubris, replete with flying saucers, ray guns, and other technology far beyond our own.
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and, in John Singleton's Four Brothers, it's taken rather literally. Set in the icy tundra of Detroit in the wintertime, the film follows four foster brothers who return home to exact vengeance upon the killer of their mother. Led by tough brother (although they're all tough) Mark Wahlberg, the brothers hunt down those responsible. After one of the weakest expository scenes in recent memory, the movie picks up steam and delivers a solid experience.
Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 4
It's almost summertime, and, for you die-hard football fans who can't wait until pigskin season, here's the movie to get you through the interim. Friday Night Lights is the true story of Permian High School's football team and their road to the Texas state championship game. If you're from Texas (or anywhere that lauds high school football Fridays), then you're no doubt familiar with just how important high school football is in these towns.
Video: 4
Audio: 2
Extras: 5
Married yuppies Jane (Ta Leoni) and Dick (Jim Carrey) try to keep up appearances after Dick’s fraudulent company implodes in this frequently hilarious romp. Laced with underlying righteous anger at the corporate shenanigans of recent years, the film still holds plenty of laughs in the physical comedy and strong rapport between Carrey and Leoni. The two characters become partners in crime to pay the bills and hold onto their house. Watching Carrey try and fail repeatedly to draw his gun while robbing a convenience store will have you in stitches, and Leoni more than holds her own with scenes like the one where she bluffs her way through teaching a gymnastic-fighting class.
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