Somewhere at my mom's house, I still have a Planet of the Apes action figure or two and possibly a 45-record with a storybook. Prior to Star Wars, POTA was the movie-marketing phenomenon.
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 1
A well-known, brilliant yet mentally unstable mathematician dies and leaves behind two daughters and a lot of filled notebooks in Proof. It’s an adaptation by David Auburn and Rebecca Miller from Auburn’s own Pulitzer Prize–winning play that works on every level. Live-in caretaker and daughter Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow, who reprises her role from the London stage) is a gifted mathematician, too, but lives in fear that her father’s instability may be a gene she inherits. Then there’s the professor’s protg Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is interested in Catherine. He’s obsessed with going through her father’s notebooks and then finds one that is astounding: a proof, a groundbreaking mathematical discovery. The problem is, it’s Catherine’s finding. Or so she claims.
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
Let’s do a little math. If a film comes out in 1992, and its 10th-anniversary Special Edition DVD arrives in 2002, what year should the 15th Anniversary Edition DVD be released? Granted, I was an English major, but even I can count to five—something Lionsgate apparently cannot do. How else do you explain the October 2006 release of this two-disc set? Perhaps the more relevant question is, do we need a 15th-anniversary DVD of Reservoir Dogs?
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
Forget the two-dimensional superhero that Rocky became in the sequels. The guy we meet in this first installment is
a highly sympathetic character—an aging, likable loner with nothing going for him. He gets a title shot out of the blue and, in a touching moment, ultimately decides that all he can hope to do is go the distance. Then there’s the great supporting cast, highlighted by Burgess Meredith’s inimitable Mickey the trainer, Talia Shire’s sensitive Adrian, and the always underrated Carl Weathers as the larger-than-life but self-absorbed champ, Action Jackson...er, Apollo Creed.
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Extras: 4
Originally devised as a Broadway-caliber musical for CBS in 1957, Cinderella is making its very first appearance on home video since it aired live on the network to a record-breaking audience.
Starring a youthful Julie Andrews as the girl who marries a prince, this musical looks and sounds surprisingly good for a television program that was thought to be lost for nearly 60 years. While the 1.33:1 black-and-white picture lacks detail and is marred by dust and dirt, it has a decent amount of contrast throughout. Meanwhile, the single-channel Dolby Digital soundtrack, though lacking a lot of dynamic range, still delivers the classic songs with aplomb.
Video: 4
Audio: 5
Extras: 4
To blast off his 1970s roller-boogie film, director Malcolm D. Lee (Undercover Brother) chose R&B hits like Parliament's "Flashlight," Bill Withers' "Lovely Day," and Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "Superman Lover." But that is early in Roll Bounce, when our heroes are rulers of the South-side Chicago roller rink that they call home. As that arena has closed, Xavier aka "X" (Bow Wow) and his friends travel to the cool kids' rink, Sweetwater, where disco reigns. While hormones rage, X and his crew of underprivileged adolescent misfits try to make Sweetwater their own. The jarring musical shift into disco reflects the boys' alienation, but the South-siders keep on moving, which is what this coming-of-age/roller-disco/dance-off spectacular will make you want to do.
Video: 5
Audio: 4
Extras: 3
Although Hollywood has been mixing genres and tinkering with styles since film began, few movies as adeptly combine action, romance, and comedy as 1984’s Romancing the Stone. And, while its 1985 sequel fails to re-create the same magic, both films have a carefree approach that holds up 20 years later on DVD—albeit one that seems almost quaint in such an age of political correctness.
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Extras: 1
An engaged gal comes home to Pasadena for her sister’s wedding and suspects that her family may be the one the book and movie The Graduate is based on in this comedy that has tons of talent associated with it but never takes off. Sarah (Jennifer Aniston) finds out that the week before Mom married Dad, Mom got freaked out, ran off to Mexico, and had a quickie affair with a high-school big man on campus Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner). With that info and in doing the math, she realizes it’s conceivable that her dad…well, isn’t. She seeks out and finds the wealthy tech magnate Beau, whom she has a one-nighter with and gets some answers from.
Video: 3
Audio: 2
Extras: 2
Augusten Burroughs’ memoir Running With Scissors (the memoir that Oprah didn’t put on her book club, then rip the author a new one after learning it was fake) finally makes its way to the screen courtesy of Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy. For those unfamiliar, Burroughs had quite a bizarre upbringing. His mother (wonderfully played by Annette Bening) is a narcissistic, delusional dreamer who thinks her poetry is amazing and that she is someone important. Sadly, she neglects her son (Joseph Cross) to pursue her dreams, leaving him under the care of her eccentric therapist, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), and his twisted family (including Jill Clayburgh and Gwyneth Paltrow) in a house packed to the gills with knickknacks, clutter, and junk. To call this boy’s upbringing dysfunctional is an understatement.
Video: 3
Audio: 2
Extras: 3 RV had good potential, but even Robin Williams’ presence fails to turn this retread into anything more than a forgettable evening’s rental. Everything about this story of a man dragging his family on a road trip in a rented recreational vehicle—from the overly enthusiastic but bumbling dad, to the resentful kids and the family bond forged on four wheels—was done better in National Lampoon’s Vacation. That doesn’t mean RV is devoid of laughs. There are enough chuckles to keep nondiscriminating viewers reasonably entertained, and the overly long waste-disposal sequence should evoke gales of laughter from the kids. But you’ll be left with a “been there, done that” feeling.
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 3
Thanks to gangsta rappers and the white suburban kids who worship them, we are blessed with yet another version of Brian De Palma’s bloody, operatic masterpiece. The story hasn’t changed since the last edition was released three years ago—only the sound effects have. The “all new” Platinum Edition comes complete with all new digitally remastered sound and picture that only seems like more of the same. Granted, it’s a better option than going the Lucas route and adding unnecessary robots or the sound of a vacuum when Pacino snorts mountains of coke. However, if you already own Scarface, this edition is needless.
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Extras: 4
Usually, shows that take place in a hospital fall into the hour-long drama category, with a few comedic moments thrown in to dilute the sad stuff. Scrubs has achieved something we haven't seen since M.A.S.H.—it's a hospital-based sitcom that is truly funny, with a few sad moments thrown in to dilute the happy stuff. OK, M.A.S.H. also dealt with war and managed to be funny, so it wins. But Scrubs' excellent melding of bizarre slapstick, wonderfully flawed but lovable characters, and genuine sentiment has made it one of the best sitcoms on TV right now.
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