Monthly Archives: October 2008

The release of the fourth Indiana Jones film is the big DVD news this week, but those who aren’t interested in the exploits of the aging adventure can tap into a couple independent efforts.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2 1/2 stars (out of four)
Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images
Paramount
Available Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray

It’s easy to get excited when Harrison Ford dons a fedora and starts swinging a whip because Indiana Jones is one of his greatest characters. Alas, this fourth entry in the franchise is also the weakest.

Set 20 years after Indy’s last big-screen adventure, “Crystal Skull” finds the adventurous archeologist living at the height of the Red Scare. Even he has the FBI looking into his background, but this doesn’t much matter because he isn’t in the U.S. for long.

After a quick introduction, Indy and a young protégé named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) take off on a mission to locate a missing professor (John Hurt). This quest not only brings the adventurer together with his old love Marion (Karen Allen), it finds him battling a group of evil Russians led by Cate Blanchett.

The first few acts of “Crystal Skull” are well staged and entertaining but the movie gets increasingly silly as it wears on. Because Indy is such a well-loved character we’re able to put up with the goofiness, but director Steven Spielberg has done far better work.

The movie is available in single-disc and two-disc versions, and extra features vary.

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan
3 1/2 stars
Rated R for sequences of bloody warfare
New Line Cinema
Available Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray

This excellent biopic about Genghis Khan’s transition from put-upon youth to leader of men received a nomination for best foreign language film at last year’s Academy Awards. It didn’t win the category, but it’s still worth watching.

Shown in Mongolian, with English subtitles, the movie starts with Genghis as a young man named Temudjin. He was supposed to inherit the role of khan of his tribe, but his father’s untimely death instead caused the tribe to abandon him.

The movie depicts how these events, and other hardships, strengthened Temudjin (Tadanobu Asano) and prepared him to unite all the tribes of Mongolia. The film also details his relationship with his wife, Borte (Khulan Chuluun).

“Mongol” is heavily romanticized and fictionalized, with director Sergei Bodrov choosing to portray Temudjin as a brave and idealistic leader rather than the brutal warrior of legend. The movie also covers a vast time, forcing Bodrov to skip past important moments in Temudjin’s career. This is frustrating but it doesn’t change the fact that the picture is gorgeously shot and emotionally powerful.

The DVD has no significant extra features.

War, Inc.
2 stars
Rated R for violence, language and brief sexual material
First Look Studios
Available Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray

War is not an easy topic to satirize, which is one reason “Dr. Strangelove” is such a classic. Unfortunately, “War, Inc.” isn’t “Strangelove” no matter how badly it wants to be.

John Cusack stars as Brand Hauser, a highly trained hitman plying is trade in a not-so-distant future where America is controlled by big business. Corporate America has become so immersed in government, in fact, that a private business has been allowed to wage war on a Middle Eastern nation.

Hauser, as an agent of the company, is sent to the occupation zone to eliminate a foreign oil minister. His cover? Trade show producer.

Already questioning his profession, Hauser tries to plan his hit while babysitting a Central Asian pop star (Hilary Duff) and sparring with a beautiful journalist (Marisa Tomei). It’s enough to drive an assassin batty.

“War, Inc.” has moments, and its attack on corporate greed is welcome. But satires are supposed to be funny and there’s nary a laugh. What’s more, Joshua Seftel’s presentation is too over the top, even for a supposed comedy.

The DVD has no significant extra features.

ALSO OUT TUESDAY

“The Universe” — The Complete Season Two: Science buffs are sure to enjoy this five-disc collection dedicated to the place that we live. Of course, the Milky Way Galaxy is only a small part of what’s covered, as the show looks at the entire cosmos using computer visualizations of everything from exoplanets to cosmic collisions.

Ghost House Underground: It wouldn’t be October without a host of horror films making their ways into local video outlets. Ghost House Underground is an eight movie set featuring titles from around the world selected for inclusion by director Sam Raimi (“Army of Darkness,” “Spider-Man) and producer Rob Tapert (“The Evil Dead,” “The Grudge”). The titles are “The Last House in the Woods,” “No Man’s Land: The Rise of Reeker,” “Dark Floors,” “Room 205,” “Dance of the Dead,” “Trackman,” “Brotherhood of Blood” and “The Substitute.” The movies are available individually for $19.98 or in the set for $159.98.

A VeggieTales Movie — The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: The Veggie gang is back playing three characters who lack the confidence, drive and courage to fulfill their dreams. When a mysterious artifact whisks them back in time and into a pirate adventure, everything changes.

“Nash Bridges” — The First Season: Every season-one episode of this 1990s drama starring Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as San Francisco Bay area detectives.

“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” — The Eighth Season: More crime scenes and more investigations from everyone’s favorite forensic scientists. Particularly noteworthy this season? William Friedkin (“The Excorcist”) directed an episode.

“SpongeBob SquarePants — Who Bob What Pants”: Six episodes of the “SpongeBob” television series available on DVD for the first time.

“Fighter Pilot — Operation Red Flag”: Blu-ray release of the large-format film originally shown in IMAX theaters. Viewers find themselves in the cockpit of a high-tech fighter, as a young pilot goes through the Red Flag combat training exercise.

“Holiday Inn”: Universal offers a 3-disc treatment of the Irving Berlin holiday film featuring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as two guys competing for the same gal. This set includes the original, black-and-white film plus a colorized version.

This week’s home video crop is led by an Adam Sandler comedy, a thriller by the director of “The Sixth Sense” and the re-release of a classic Disney picture.

Adam Sandler offers his take on Middle East politics by playing a Mossad agent named Zohan who tires of killing Palestinian terrorists, fakes his death, and moves to the U.S. to become a hair stylist. He is heartened to see that Palestinians and Jews work side by side in the States, and he even takes a job at a salon owned by a Palestinian-American.

Alas, Zohan’s past comes back to haunt him when a man that he wronged (Rob Schneider) discovers that he’s still alive. Soon enough, Zohan is forced into a showdown with a top Palestinian operative known as The Phantom (John Turturro). At stake? Peace between Arabs and Israelis … and Zohan’s career as a stylist.

Like every Sandler comedy, “Zohan” has good moments. Trouble is, there’s not enough of them. The film is poorly written, dull and predictable, and those aren’t qualities you find in a good comedy.

The movie is available on single-disc and two-disc releases, some featuring an unrated cut of the film. Extra features vary by version.

The Happening
2 stars
Rated R for violent and disturbing images
20th Century Fox
Available on: DVD and Blu-ray

It’s looking more and more like writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s career won’t regain the luster it had from 1999 to 2004, when he released “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable” and “Signs.” The first and last of that group were among the best movies released during their period, and “Unbreakable” was a lightweight-yet-likable thriller.

Since, Shyamalan’s work has been on a downward spiral. “The Village” (2004) was a passable suspense film, but “Lady in the Water” (2006) was nearly unwatchable and “The Happening” isn’t much better.

The story is built around the creepy premise that an unknown toxin is making its way through the airstreams of eastern U.S. cities causing everyone exposed to instantaneously commit suicide. When high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) learns of the problem, he gathers his wife (Zooey Deschanel) and makes plans to get out of Philadelphia. Joining the Moores on their journey is Elliot’s friend Julian (John Leguizamo) and his daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez). As the group flees toward what they hope is a safer area, the suicide epidemic spreads until Elliot and company find themselves at the center of the outbreak zone with no idea what’s going on.

The premise is scary and many parts of the story are nicely presented, but Shyamalan’s work is inconsistent. As the characters attempt to make their way to safety, they — and the audience — learn more about the toxin and the way it spreads. But the rules of the outbreak are nonsensical, and there are plot holes everywhere. Beyond that, “The Happening” doesn’t seem to have a point. It could be interpreted as a plea for environmental awareness, but it certainly isn’t a well-reasoned one.

Sleeping Beauty
3 stars
Rated G
Disney
Available on: DVD and Blu-ray

When released in theaters, “Sleeping Beauty” didn’t make nearly enough money to cover its $6 million budget, and the results were disastrous for Walt Disney Productions. But with time, the 1959 film gained a large following, and it is now considered a classic.

The story tells of a beautiful princess cursed to remain unconscious until true love’s kiss sets her free. The storytelling is on the slow side, but the visuals are spectacular, particularly considering when the movie was made. “Sleeping Beauty” is also the ultimate “princess movie.” It features a group of benevolent fairies, an evil dark fairy, a strapping prince and, of course, a radiant and lovable heroine.

The film also has an excellent score, as it was based partially on Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” ballet and features much of the composer’s music.

Disney has released “Sleeping Beauty” in the past, but this 50th anniversary edition has been beautifully digitally restored. What’s more, the Blu-ray version is the first ever high-definition release of a Disney animated classic. As with most of Disney’s animated films, it will only be sold for a limited time.

DVD extras include a documentary on the making of “Sleeping Beauty,” deleted songs, deleted scenes, an alternate open and more.

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK

“Touch of Evil”: This re-release of director Orson Welles’ 1958, film noir effort features three versions of the film. The first is the theatrical cut, which was tampered with by Universal executives. The second, is a re-edited version restored to Welles’ original vision. The third is Welles’ 1957 rough cut.

“The Munsters: The Complete Series”: With Halloween around the corner, Universal decided it was time to roll out all 70 episodes of this vintage television comedy about a family of lovable monsters. Also included in the set are the two feature-length “Munsters” movies. People who don’t want to spring for the entire series, can purchase the “Family Portrait” episode (colorized and in the original black-and-white) on a separate DVD.

“30 Rock” — Season 2: The NBC comedy series about the behind-the-scenes operations on a television show gets the full DVD treatment. Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Tracy Jordan and Jenna Maroney star.

“Feast II — Sloppy Seconds”: A sequel to the original “Feast,” which was made by winners of the reality television show “Project Greenlight.” As with the first picture, “Sloppy Seconds” is about bloodthirsty monsters that go on a killing spree.

“Joy Ride 2 — Dead Ahead”: Direct-to-DVD sequel to “Joy Ride.” Once again, a psychopathic big rig driver terrorizes a group of young people.

Classic Christmas Favorites: This Warner Brothers DVD set features 10 animated holiday films, including “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland,” “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” and “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July.”

“Robot Chicken” — Season III: Twenty recent episodes of the offbeat, stop-motion animated comedy series that airs on Cartoon Network.

“The Smurfs” — Season 1, Vol. 2: Who doesn’t love the animated blue pixies who live in Smurf Village and battle the evil Gargamel? This two-disc set includes 20 episodes of the animated television series.

“You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown”: If the current presidential race has overwhelmed your political sensibilities, this Peanuts video may help you loosen up. Charlie Brown decides to back Linus in his run for student body president, but a skeleton in the closet may come back to haunt them.

Hitchcock classics: Three of director Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpieces — “Psycho,” “Vertigo” and “Rear Window” — have been re-released on two-disc, special edition DVDs with numerous extra features.

“Keeping Up With the Kardashians”– Season One: First season of the reality television series detailing the lives of Hollywood’s Kardashian/Jenner family.