DVD Releases: January 13, 2005


	Wedding Crashers: Uncorked Not having seen the R-rated edition of Wedding Crashers, I'd be hard-pressed to explain exactly distinguishes the original from the unrated, Uncorked version, now available on DVD. I'm guessing that inclusion of several fleeting booby flashes, along with some extended sexual gyrations and potty-mouthing, warranted the upgrade. But, in fact, it's still pretty tame stuff, compared even to the T&A available on Cinemax on any given night. The success of this surprise summer blockbuster still rests on the shoulders of a pair of divorce mediators, John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey (Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, respectively), whose favorite pastime is crashing wedding parties, where hooking up is like shooting fish in a barrel. Their shtick is wildly effective, and quite funny, as long as it lasts. The movie is less successful after novice director David Dobkina allows sentimentality to overtake the anarchic humor that endured the lads to us, in the first place. Nevertheless, it still has a few good moments left, thanks to a cameo by funeral-crasher Will Ferrell. The extra material, compared with that in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and, even, American Pie: Band Camp, is pretty anemic.-- Gary Dretzka

	The Constant Gardener One of the most honored films of 2005, The Constant Gardner was as provocative as it was exciting to watch … unusual for a picture grounded in the dramatization of such a complex socio-economic issue as unethical pharmaceutical research. Director Fernando Meirelles elected to give the thriller a documentary feel, by employing the same in-your-face camera style that made his City of God so urgent. The fragmented storyline exists in direct contrast to the source material, a deliberately paced -- if unabashedly angry -- novel by John le Carre. Filmed largely in Kenya, The Constant Gardener describes how multinational corporations are allowed to test new and often quite risky drug treatments on desperate peasants, while under the protection of corrupted African despots and compliant governments back home. Rachel Weisz plays a British activist, whose investigation into a particularly controversial experiment likely led to her death in a mysterious attack, which is blamed on her black African partner. Ralph Fiennes plays her husband, a soft-spoken career diplomat who mistrusts the official story and uncharacteristically decides to investigate the murder himself. In his exhaustive journey, the diplomat not only discovers the truth behind his wife's work, but also the machinations of his employers. No one who watches this movie will be able to pop any new miracle pill, without also seeing in the mirror the eyes of the victims of unfettered research, as captured by Meirelles' cameras. The extras are pretty typical. I'd expect to see a more complete collector's edition come along in the wake of any success, come Oscar night.-- Gary Dretzka The Hot Button: The Constant Gardner is two movies. It is a mystery/thriller, set in Kenya. It is also a powerful love story. And the genius of Meirelles, now confirmed beyond doubt, is that he blends the two stories, he blends time, he blends the weight with which we carry our love… our notions of truth…. both our guilt and our sympathy over the poverty and desperations of others… and the dignity of people we rarely see on film into a artistic masterpiece. It isn't hard to pull apart all the pieces, but very view directors have ever had the skill and vision to bring it all together with such skill. Talking About Constant Gardener: Breakfast with Fernando Meirelles… a chat with Rachel Weisz… word from Jim Sheridan… it was a bit like a perfect Oreo with genius cookies and a lovely English crème in the middle.

	Hustle & Flow Very few actors have had more productive years than the one recently wrapped by Terrence Howard. Having distinguished himself recently in Ray, Crash, Four Brothers, Lackawanna Blues, Get Rich or Die Tryin', and Their Eyes Were Watching God, the 36-year-old Cleveland native finally was accorded the respect he deserved long ago for his work in such movies as The Best Man and Dead Presidents. He was terrific in all of those projects, but his so-called breakthrough role came last summer in John Singleton's Hustle & Flow, a gritty urban fairy tale about a blue-collar pimp trying to make ends meet in Memphis. Backed by a motley crew of aspiring record producers and prostitutes, the manipulative DJay hopes to use hip-hop as his ticket out of obscurity in the 'hood. As such, the movie occasionally feels like an R-rated Andy Hardy movie, with Howard channeling Mickey Rooney … but, in a very good way.-- Gary Dretzka The Hot Button: Manohla Dargis may hate this film and think we were all brainwashed into liking it so much, but I still admire Craig Brewster's writing and directing here and, most of all, the lead performance from Terrence Howard. To different degrees, eight of the films on this Top Ten list engage clear stereotypes and then overcome the limitations of them. That is a great source of power. Here, you could break it down to the pimp with the heart of gold… but that's not what this film is. For me, it is a good story wonderfully told, about someone who realizes that his life has hit a brick wall… and does something about it. He uses every resource he has, which is not always much to work with. But the human spirit, even the spirit of pimps and whores, can keep fighting to find a way. -- David Poland Pride, Unprejudiced: Terrence Howard is a marvel, a wondrous presence, a splendid performer, a man who will continue to do increasingly important work in movies, regardless of how Hustle & Flow (* ½) is received by audiences; his searing habitation of DJay [sic], a Memphis pimp who seeks redemption through rap songs about the daily interaction between himself and his prostitutes almost, almost, but not quite, elevates Craig Brewer's "Rocky" road.

	Sarband It's been a long time since anyone's been inspired to rush out and see a movie by Ingmar Bergman -- who actually retired from making theatrical films in 1982, with Fanny & Alexander -- but that all changed last summer, when the reviews started rolling in for Saraband. Made originally for Swedish television, the punishing drama re-unites Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson), whose marriage we watched dissolve 30 years ago, in Scenes From a Marriage. Marianne goes to great lengths to explain to us why she feels a need to visit her grumpy ex-husband at his rural retreat. Also in residence are Johan's son, Henrik, and his cello-playing daughter, Karin -- both of whom are right out of the Bergman sketchbook -- and the ghost of Henrik's recently deceased second wife. Saraband is a very demanding entertainment, but that's to be expected from the maestro. -- Gary Dretzka

	Broken Flowers In Jim Jarmusch's typically offbeat dramedy, Bill Murray plays yet another emotionally detached middle-aged American male, not unlike those he portrayed in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Lost in Translation and The Royal Tennenbaums. Existing uneasily in an inert state of semi-retirement, Don Johnstone has filled his suburban home with the kinds of toys (including a young, soon-to-be-former girlfriend) one would expect to find in the bachelor pad of a one-time computer wiz. None seems to give him much pleasure, though. It takes an anonymous letter from a long-discarded ex-lover, alerting Johnstone to the imminent arrival at his doorstep of a son he didn't know existed, to shake him out of his near-comatose existence. With the help of the amateur sleuth who lives next-door, Johnstone endeavors to identify the old flame who sent the letter, and better prepare himself for delayed fatherhood. While not conclusive, his search reveals much about the man Johnstone once was, has since become and, possibly, will be. The extras offer few clues either way. -- Gary Dretzka

Sam Peckinpah's Legendary Westerns Collection The Magnificent Seven: Two-Disc Collector's Edition Although hyper-realistic violence has become a staple ingredient of contemporary Westerns – rare, though they are – it wasn't until the release of The Wild Bunch, in 1969, that genre filmmakers were given license to depict the effects of bullets, knives and arrows on human flesh. And, as Peckinpah once said," to dramatize what happens when killers go to Mexico." All of the classic titles included in this bonus-filled set – Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Ride the High Country, The Ballad of Cable Hogue – comment, as well, on the closing of the frontier and how it impacted the men and women who lived on the fringes of polite society. The biographical material and reminiscences included in the commentary tracks paint a portrait of a larger-than-life filmmaker, who, like his protagonists, chafed at the yoke of authority and conformity. Peckinpah's opus has been interpreted as a corrective to The Magnificent Seven, which was released in 1960 and returns on DVD in a bonus-filled Collector's Edition. The mercenaries represented in John Sturges' immensely popular westernization of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai harkened back to the Knights of the Round Table, as well as the swordsmen of Japan's warrior class. Of course, the overwhelming majority of the American audience for The Magnificent Seven failed to make the connection to Kurosawa's masterful action-adventure. For them, the heroics of the characters played by Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Horst Buchholz -- accompanied by Elmer Bernstein's unforgettable score -- were quite enough to recommend to movie. This DVD edition includes commentary with film historian Christopher Frayling, a featurette on Berstein's contribution "other making-of mini-docs."-- Gary Dretzka

Dead Poets Society: Special Edition Good Morning Vietnam: Special Edition Released in 1987 and 1989, respectively, Good Morning, Vietnam and Dead Poets Society spun Robin Williams' already promising Hollywood career into high gear. They made lots of money, and Williams' was recognized by the Motion Picture Academy as a legitimate star, worthy of Best Actor nominations. Laugh-out-loud comedies set during the Vietnam War were considered highly suspect ventures, but William's frenetic wordplay felt authentic coming from the mouth of an unorthodox Saigon-based disc jockey, and director Barry Levinson found ways for the character to appeal to audiences who could put politics aside for a couple of hours. In Dead Poets Society, a constrained Williams plays the more familiar role of a high school English teacher whose offbeat methodology appeals to a select group of preppies, but not necessarily the administration. The Special Edition packages are loaded with behind-the-scenes featurettes, interviews and background pieces.-- Gary Dretzka

Secuestro Express The Venezuelan thriller is another terrific film that became a victim in the hostilities between Miramax and Disney, last year. In his feature debut, Jonathan Jakubowicz imagines what transpires during the course of one of the many kidnappings that have plagued Latin America over the last decade. After a dance at a Caracas country club, a couple is kidnapped by a trio of thugs whose chief source of income is extorting money from the families of their wealthy captives. Such crimes are commonplace in a city where the division between the wealthy and impoverished is as pronounced as it is in Caracas, and the police are as corrupt and ruthless as the criminals. Like such fast-paced films as Snatch, Layer Cake and City of God, Secuestro Express is an intense experience. Explosive action can be followed immediately by moments of quirky humor, and sympathies will shift as the characters evolve. Rising international star, Mia Maestro (Frida, Alias), is terrific as the damsel in distress.-- Gary Dretzka

Café Lumiere The respected Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien commemorated the centenary of Yasujiro Ozu's birth by revisiting in Café Lumiere many of the themes addressed in the Japanese master's Tokyo Story. The story follows a pregnant young writer, Yoko (Japanese pop star Yo Hitoto), and her bookseller friend, Hajime (Tadanobu Asano, Zatôichi), who helps her in her research. Not much happens that's out of the ordinary, but that's sort of the point. Virtually unseen outside of New York, Café Lumiere will reward adventurous viewers and lovers of Asian cinema.-- Gary Dretzka

Missing in America For years, rumors circulated about a veterans encampment -- perhaps supported by the government -- situated in the wilds of Washington's Olympic Peninsula. It was supposed to have been populated by veterans who were so traumatized by their Vietnam War experiences that they didn‘t trust themselves to interact with regular citizens. Perhaps, that story inspired Gabrielle Savage Dockterman's film about a haunted Vietnam vet (Danny Glover), who is forced to confront his past after a visit by a former platoon member (David Strathairn) and his Amer-Asian daughter (Zoe Weizenbaum).-- Gary Dretzka

Strong Medicine: The Complete First Season All in the Family: The Complete Fifth Season Gunsmoke: 50th Anniversary Edition, Volumes 1 & 2 Now in its sixth season on the Lifetime cable network, Strong Medicine has been as quietly successful as any drama on television. In Season One, Janine Turner played the head of women's medicine in a Philadelphia hospital afflicted with the same kinds of medical and emotional traumas found on most other TV hospitals. Here, however, the dilemmas are predominantly of the female persuasion. Hottie Rosi Blasi -- her character runs a women's clinic -- has been a constant throughout the life of the series, which is exec-produced by Whoopi Goldberg. Among the epochal events recorded on the latest collection of All in the Family episodes is George and Louise Jefferson's move to their dee-luxe apartment in the sky. The pilot for the spin-off series, "The Jeffersons," is included in this package. By this time in the sitcom's life, it was a perennial No. 1 series and its characters were becoming as familiar as any in the history of television. The show's popularity would start to tail off in 1977, eventually leading to another spin-off, Archie Bunker's Place. A collection of that show's first-season episodes arrives later in January. Paramount salutes the 50th anniversary Gunsmoke -- among the most enduring series in television history -- with a pair of boxed sets, representing 30 select episodes, with commentary by many of its familiar guest stars and other memorabilia. It also includes clips from talk shows on which James Arness, Amanda Blake and Dennis Weaver appeared. The episodes have been given a new sheen.-- Gary Dretzka

Rebus The Pale Horse: Agatha Christie Hands of a Murderer John Hannah's face will be instantly recognizable to fans of the mysteries shown on cable's BBC America. In Rebus, Hannah plays Detective Inspector John Rebus, the central figure in the series of dramas based on the novels of Ian Rankin. Like many other TV cops on British TV, Rebus has as many personal problems as some of the criminals he's asked to track down and incarcerate. The episodes included in this package are: Black and Blue, Dead Souls, Mortal Causes and The Hanging Garden. Also from Koch are re-issues of The Pale Horse: Agatha Christie, an exploration of the occult, with Colin Buchanan playing the wrongly accused sculptor Mark Easterbrook; and Hands of a Murderer, a Sherlock Holmes mystery, starring John Hillerman and Edward Woodward. In Crime Broker, Jacqueline Bisset plays an Aussie magistrate who uses her spare time to plot robberies. There was a time when any new film by French New Wave master Eric Rohmer was greeted with great anticipation by arthouse audiences here. His latest, Triple Agent, arrives first on DVD, with only a brief stop at the 2004 New York Film Festival. The period drama is based on the story of a White Russian Army general who worked for and against the Marxists, Soviets and fascists in pre-World War II France. Meanwhile, he's also running a game against his French wife.-- Gary Dretzka

Cartoon Adventures Starring Gerald McBoing Boing In the history of television, there have been few more endearing characters -- animated, or otherwise -- than Gerald McBoing Boing, a boy who spoke in sound effects instead of words. A creation of the revered UPA studios, which also gave us Mr. Magoo, Gerald was introduced in 1951 in an Oscar-winning cartoon short. Adapted by Bill Scott (Rocky & Bullwinkle) and Phil Eastman (The Family Circus) from a Dr. Seuss recording, Gerald McBoing Boing began a short stint on television in 1956. Sadly, it was more memorable for its deceptively simple animation and infectious whimsy, than the meager ratings it garnered. The shorts included in the DVD package are from the TV series. -- Gary Dretzka

Cabin in the Sky Stormy Weather Hallelujah Green Pastures In the Golden Age of Hollywood, few studio-made productions bothered to depict African-Americans as anything other than nightclub entertainers, flamboyant preachers, stylish hoodlums, compliant maids and butlers, and nervous bag-toters for bwana. Movies with all-black casts, other than those adaptations of Broadway musicals, were rarely intended for viewing by white audiences. And, while Cabin in the Sky, Stormy Weather, Hallelujah and Green Pastures, provide ample evidence of Hollywood's role in furthering unctuous stereotypes, the storylines didn't beat viewers over the head with them. Instead, they helped introduce mainstream audiences – outside the South, anyway -- to such marvelous entertainers as Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, Eddie Anderson, Bill Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller. Handing over control of the pictures to black writers and directors probably would have been too much to expect from the studios, but, wisely, the films were entrusted to such complementary talents as Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor, Irving Berlin and Harold Arlen. The commentaries, vintage shorts and bonus featurettes all add greatly to the enjoyment of these landmark movies.-- Gary Dretzka

A Great Day in Harlem Jean Bach's fascinating re-creation of the serendipitous day in August, 1958, when a rookie photographer for Esquire assembled nearly 60 great jazz musicians in front of a Harlem brownstone, makes a second appearance on DVD. This time, however, its appeal has been expanded by the addition of interviews with several of the artists -- Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Marian McPartland, among them -- captured in Art Kane‘s historic photograph. It also adds home movies, shot that day by Milt and Mona Hinton, and vintage performance footage. A second-disc offers video profiles of all the participants, as well as musings about such legendary figures as Thelonious Monk, Willie The Lion Smith, Charles Mingus, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. A must-have for anyone who loves American music.-- Gary Dretzka

The Gospel: Special Edition Rob Hardy's updating of the parable of The Prodigal Son benefits from an attractive cast and some excellent gospel singing. Otherwise, this story of a rising R&B singer (Let Me Undress You), who returns to the fold of his late father's congregation, is marked by predictable plotting and a overly generic look. Still, for those who find inspiration in stories of redemption, The Gospel will be a rewarding experience.-- Gary Dretzka

Snatch: Deluxe Edition The Mob Box Set Football Box Set Sony has already released Guy Ritchie's Snatch in nearly a half-dozen different DVD versions, including this new Deluxe Edition, which comes complete with a poker kit and scrapbook. No, I don't get it, either. Snatch also is included in the studio's The Mob Box set, alongside Donnie Brasco, Bugsy, a documentary, The American Gangster, and a scrapbook of mob memorabilia. Another themed package from Sony, Football Collection, teams Radio, Jerry Maguire and Rudy. This represents repurposing with a vengeance. -- Gary Dretzka