DVD Releases: August 31, 2005


	The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary US/Canada Gross - $2.3 million Put The Blue Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition in a time capsule with Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Untouchables, and future generations will possess enough of Chicago's cultural DNA to create virtual versions of the Windy City in solar systems yet to be discovered. This two-disc anniversary package is valuable primarily for what it adds to the legend behind the creation of The Blues Brothers, which, at one time, held the record for most cars destroyed in a movie, and, possibly, most substances abused in the course of making a movie. Although much of the mayhem feels a bit over-familiar 25 years later, the many wonderful music-and-dance sequences -- featuring such giant R&B talents as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway, and James Brown -- continue to delight. It serves, too, as a reminder of how much John Belushi is missed. The bonus material is heavy on the Blues Brothers' musical legacy -- or, gimmick, take your pick -- and musings on the creation of the movie, which challenged Chicago-area bartenders and dealers to keep up with the appetites of the notoriously ravenous cast and crew. -- Gary Dretzka

	Monster-In-Law US/Canada Gross - $89.3 million The Hot Button: I want to be really clear. This movie is very, very funny. It is very, very broad. It is, in many ways, very very silly. But it is light summer entertainment that should be hugely successful because it speaks to a relationship that has been an evergreen in the comedy repertoire forever. If Adam had a mother, no doubt she would be complaining about that woman who took his rib. Just because it is an old riff does not mean that these conflicts aren't real... on a much smaller scale.

	Sahara Worldwide Gross - $108 million Breck Eisner's action-adventure, Sahara, is built on so unlikely a narrative foundation that it's difficult to imagine even the combined skills of Harrison Ford, Steve Spielberg and George Lucas being able to salvage it … unless, of course, another $100 million were thrown into the mix and Matthew McConaughey could channel Humphrey Bogart. McConaughey is a likable enough guy -- for a professional Texan, anyway -- but he simply lacks the heft necessary to carry a save-the-world thriller. Adapted from a Clive Cussler novel, Sahara wants us to believe that a Confederate ironclad, loaded with gold dubloons, could have survived a journey from war-torn Dixie, across a storm-whipped Atlantic, and up an African river. Moreover, we're asked to accept that the very same ship now lies buried in a sand dune within spitting distance of a massive solar-energy plant, whose toxic byproducts threaten the world's eco-system. Mark Wahlberg's Dirk Digler might have had a better chance of saving humanity, had he been offered the role of Dirk Pitt, a character that Cussler also enlisted to raise the Titanic a quarter-century ago. McConaughey was simply given too much of a load to carry, in Eisner's theatrical debut. Sahara doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind as to whether it wanted to be a movie or a proving ground for a series of theme-park rides. That said, the desert scenery is nice and Eisner was able to maintain a suitably frantic pace throughout the most of the film's 124-minute course. Although Steve Zahn provided some strategically time comic relief, Penelope Cruz was wasted as the damsel in distress. -- Gary Dretzka

	Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch Things used to be so simple in Disney's cartoon factory. You had talking animals, whose parodies of human behavior were so dead-on that audiences found themselves relating to the characters as if they were their own children. Recently, though, things have gotten complicated. In the emerging Lilo & Stitch video franchise, as near as I can figure, Lilo is a Hawaiian girl whose passion for saving abused animals led her to Stitch, a poorly engineered genetic experiment from outer space, with an ability to impersonate Elvis Presley. Now, that's a long way from Chip & Dale. In the DVD-original movie, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, it's revealed that the extraterrestrial -- who Lilo thought was an abandoned dog -- might soon malfunction in a way that threatens himself and his new family. Sure, it's complicated, but today's pre-teens are far more used to dealing with glitches -- computer and otherwise -- than their parents were, and they shouldn't have any trouble making sense of this tuneful sequel. -- Gary Dretzka

TV-to-DVD Roseanne The David Steinberg Show House Nip/Tuck Faith of Our Fathers The genius behind the success of Roseanne was its ability to capture all the wild mood swings of American family life, while also convincing audiences that everything was going to turn out all right after 30 minutes of shouts and insults. Since more homes in TV-land resembled the Conners -- than, say, the Huxtables or the Cleavers -- the conceit struck a chord. (Any clan that identified more with the Bundys than the Conners was beyond any sitcom writer's ability to save.) Although the stocky John Goodman bore a certain resemblance to such TV dads as William Bendix (The Life of Riley) and Jackie Gleason, Roseanne Barr resembled no other TV mom. She was real … or, at least, seemed a far more valid character than two generations of sitcom housewives who appeared to have been cast for their ability to blend in with the kitchen appliances. The show became a huge success, even as the domestic goddess morphed into full-blown diva-hood, and began firing her writers and producers. The new four-disc package includes all 23 episodes from Season One, a blooper reel and interviews with the former Ms. Barr and Goodman. David Steinberg was at the height of his stand-up career when he was offered an opportunity to star in a sitcom. The David Steinberg Show imagined the comic as protagonist of his own talk-show, where funny things happen backstage and in front of the camera, with celebrities who were famous 33 years ago. If this sounds suspiciously like The Larry Sanders Show, well, then, so be it. It also resembled another, earlier, export from the Great White North, SCTV. This shouldn't surprise anyone, as several members of that delightful Second City spin-off project also were regulars in Steinberg's. They included Martin Short (as singer Johnny Del Bravo) and John Candy (as hippie musician Spider Reichman), as well as Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin and Dave Thomas. Second City completists will definitely want this vintage collection. Medical dramas have a better chance than most new series to find an audience, if only because most of us can associate with the dread associated with most trips to the doctor, and our willingness to let doctors play God … even when we know better. In House, M.D, Fox presented us with a doctor who was every bit as menacing as the diseases that threatened the lives of his patients. Veteran Brit actor Hugh Laurie starred as the suspiciously brilliant Dr. Gregory House, who popped Vicodin tablets as if they were M&M and exhibited a bedside manner only slightly less reassuring than that of Dr. Josef Mengele. Despite all of the complicated science and cranky doctors, the audience bought into it, much as they have done with the science-heavy CSI shows. If you missed the first season, and the many re-runs on Fox, here's a way to catch up before the sophomore stanza begins. Another medical series that continually challenged its viewers, and was rewarded with a second and third season, is FX's provocative Nip/Tuck. Not all of the sharp cuts were administered in the operating room of the McNamara-Troy plastic-surgery clinic. Many of the deepest came in the slashing exchanges between the doctors, their families and their respective lovers. Each new episode seemingly brought with it a more bizarre surgical challenge for the doctors, and fresh dramas away from the office. The setting being Miami, there always was a lot of money and impossibly attractive patients floating around the clinic. Last season's roster of guest stars included Jill Clayburgh, Famke Janssen, Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Paulson and Joan Rivers, who has come to represent all of the horrors of modern plastic surgery. The third season begins in September. Originally shown over the Memorial Day weekend on A&E, Faith of Our Fathers is a by-the-book retelling of the story of John McCain's journey from Annapolis to an extended stay in the Hanoi Hilton, as a P.O.W. The fine young actor, Shawn Hatosy, played the future senator from Arizona, while Scott Glenn portrayed his demanding admiral father. The story is familiar by now, but it remains inspirational. Funny, though, how McCain's heroics weren't enough sufficient-enough evidence of his ability to lead the country than, say, the credentials brought to the job by George W. Bush. I'm sure McCain's often wondered the same thing. Faith of Our Fathers also inadvertently prompted me to wonder what McCain thinks about what's going on in our very own version of the Hanoi Hilton, the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay.-- Gary Dretzka

Tommy Boy: Holy Schnike Edition As a standout performer with Second City and Saturday Night Live, it would have been difficult for Chris Farley to escape entirely from John Belushi's long shadow, even if he had tried to do so. Having witnessed first-hand the effects on an over-stressed heart from obscene amounts of booze, dope and strenuous physicality, Farley would have been forgiven had he simply sought to take it easy, doing the occasional silly genre comedy, while really focusing on losing weight. But, it wasn't to be. The two-disc Tommy Boy: Holy Schnike Edition DVD provides ample evidence of Farley's ability to coax sympathy from an audience, even as he proves what can happen if a bull ever were to get loose in a china shop. It also suggests how durable a team he and fellow SNL alumnus David Spade might have made if he had lived. For those so inclined, the extras include four featurettes, more than 20 deleted or extended scenes, a gag reel and, only God knows why, 19 television spots. -- Gary Dretzka

Suicide Girls: The First Tour That sexy soft-core Internet phenomenon, Suicide Girls, has expanded its extensively pierced and elaborately tattooed digital empire into live performance, retail (of course) and the DVD, Suicide Girls: The First Tour. Motivated as much by Cyndi Lauper's sweetly subversive anthem, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, as any punk or Riott Grrrls sensibility, this self-proclaimed community of outsiders is merely the latest entity to embrace burlesque as a marketing tool. In person or on the web, these New Age pin-ups are far less interested in burlesque's tease element -- especially when used to titillate men -- than the sheer joy that comes from self-expression. (Indeed, the models seem far more obsessed with their breasts than any of the spiky-haired guys and gals in the audience.) The extras include some nicely shot fantasy videos and kooky profiles. -- Gary Dretzka

Schultze Gets the Blues The German cinema isn't known for its offbeat and quirky comedies. And, 30 minutes into Michael Schorr's deadpan portrait of a barrel-shaped accordionist, Schultze Gets the Blues, it might be difficult to predict exactly when the yawns will stop and the laughter will begin. Patience is rewarded, though, after the retired salt miner (no kidding), Schultze, becomes enchanted with the zydeco music he hears on a faraway radio station, and is accorded an opportunity to represent his hometown in a pageant in America's bayou country. Schorr seems to have been influenced greatly by Jim Jarmusch, whose minimalist style perfectly suits Schultze's lonely pursuit of personal fulfillment. -- Gary Dretzka

MCN's 2004 DVD Year In Review
Doug Pratt's Ten Best - Multiplatter And Single Platter
Digital Nation: Gary Dretzka's Best DVDs of the Year
Ray Pride's Five Best DVDs And Five Best Boxed Sets