New videos, DVDs hit store shelves for holiday season
A comedy smash (“Austin Powers in Goldmember”), a futuristic thriller (“Minority Report”), an animated romp (“Lilo & Stitch”), a family favorite (“Stuart Little 2”), an action hit (“XXX”), a contemporary comedy (“About A Boy”) and an adult melodrama (“Unfaithful”) are some of the top titles arriving on VHS and DVD for the last month of 2002. The following capsule reviews, listed alphabetically, will give you an idea of the caliber of films coming soon to a video store near you. The films are graded as follows: Very Good, (A); Good, (B); Fair, (C); Poor, (D); Turkey (F). Those with (NP) have not been previewed.
ABOUT A BOY (Universal; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Dec. 24; B): A happily self-centered London single (Hugh Grant of “Notting Hill’) pretends to have a son so that he can meet more women and then finds himself becoming attached to a 12-year-old boy who comes into the man’s shallow life. Toni Collette (“The Sixth Sense’) and Rachel Weisz (“The Mummy’) co-star in the feel-good comedy, which is based on the novel by Nick Hornby and allows Grant to play another charming cad. Harsh four-letter profanity, adult themes. (PG-13)
THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH (Warner; $22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Dec. 24; C-): Set in 2087, this misguided $90 million sci-fi comedy stars Eddie Murphy (“Doctor Dolittle’) as a businessman who opens a nightclub on the moon and then must defend his investment from mobsters. Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown’), Rosario Dawson (“Men in Black II”) and Randy Quaid (“Independence Day’) co-star and get lost in space along with the talented Murphy. Violence, sexual humor, profanity. (PG-13)
AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER (New Line; $22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; now available; B-): Comic-actor Mike Myers returns for the third time as Austin Powers, the sexually charged British photographer/spy, in this uneven spoof of “Goldfinger.’ Michael Caine (“The Ipcress File’) co-stars as Powers’ secret-agent father during the follow-up, which is really a picture about the bonds between fathers and sons and family values. The colorful production also features the return of Michael York, Seth Green and – as Mini-Me – Verne J. Troyer. Beyonce Knowles of Destiny’s Child co-stars as Powers’ love interest, Foxxy Cleopatra. Jay Roach, who helmed the previous two installments, directed and convinced some major stars to make very funny cameo appearances. Non-stop sexual innuendo and gross gags. (PG-13)
BALLISTIC: ECKS VS. SEVER (Warner; $22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Dec. 24; D+): A former FBI agent (Antonio Banderas of “Femme Fatale’) uses his detective skills to track down an international assassin (Lucy Liu of “Charlie’s Angels’) and then discovers that they’re fighting a common enemy. The bland and pointless action comedy was directed with neither style nor energy by Thai filmmaker Wych “Kaos’ Kaosayananda.. Strong violence. (R)
BLOOD WORK (Warner; $22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Dec. 24; B): Screen favorite Clint Eastwood may have stopped playing tough cop “Dirty Harry’ Callahan, but that doesn’t mean he’s over the hill. In this low-key thriller, he plays a former FBI agent who retires after a heart-transplant operation and then risks his life to pursue a serial killer who had previously eluded him. Jeff Daniels (“Terms of Endearment’) and Anjelica Huston (“The Royal Tenenbaums’) co-star in the intermittently intriguing tale that opens strong but contains the type of by-the-numbers conclusion found in a TV movie. Brian Helgeland (“Payback’) penned the screenplay and Eastwood directed. Violence and harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE (MGM; $22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Dec. 17; B): Australian TV favorite Steve Irwin, better known as The Crocodile Hunter from the “Animal Planet’ series, and his wife, Terri, battle to save a feisty croc from some unusual poachers. This comedy offers some strong and timely messages about the importance of the environment. John Stainton, who produces and directs the TV show, made his big-screen filmmaking debut. Some intense moments for younger children. (PG)
ELLING (First Look; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; now available; B): Two former mental patients (Per Christian Ellefsen and Sven Nordin) bond as friends, agree to share an apartment and then try to adjust to new things, such as phone-sex lines and poetry readings.
Based on a hit stage play, the touching import from Norway received an Oscar nomination as best foreign film. (Kevin Spacey is currently preparing to star in an American motion-picture version.) Petter Naes directed. Strong sex elements, harsh four-letter profanity, brief nudity. (R)
HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (Dimension; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Dec. 10; C+): Although seemingly decapitated at the end of “Halloween: H20,’ maniac Michael Myers appears on the screen once again during a live Internet broadcast from the madman’s childhood home. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode, his armed-and-dangerous sister, in the flat follow-up, which co-stars rapper Busta Rhymes, Sean Patrick Thomas (“Save the Last Dance’), Thomas Ian Nicholas (“American Pie’) and model-turned-actress Tyra Banks. Director Rick Rosenthal (“Halloween II’) creates some mild tension, though no one seems to have put much thought into this effort. Sex, violence, harsh four-letter profanity, drug use. (R)
K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER (Paramount; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Dec. 10; C+): Based on a true story, this slow-moving military thriller is set at the height of the Cold War and follows a Russian captain (Harrison Ford of “Air Force One’) who’s ordered by the Soviet government to prepare a nuclear-missile submarine for duty. The officer then discovers that his actions may be causing a core meltdown that will lead to an explosion and perhaps start World War III. Ford earned $25 million for working 20 days on the $100 million production. Liam Neeson (“Rob Roy’) co-stars in the potentially involving tale that never gets under the skin of the characters to make us care about them. Kathryn Bigelow (“Strange Days’) directed. Disturbing disaster violence, brief nudity. (PG-13)
LILO & STITCH (Disney; $24.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; now available; B): In this fast-moving family tale, a lonely Hawaiian girl named Lilo mistakenly assumes that an energetic extraterrestrial is a dog, adopts him and then finds the creature constantly getting her into trouble. The colorful animated fantasy from Walt Disney Pictures features the voices of Tia Carrere (“True Lies’), Ving Rhames (“Undisputed’) and Jason Scott Lee (“Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story’) and spotlights songs by Elvis Presley. It offers a nice message about the importance of family but suffers due to needlessly violent images that seem more suitable for a Vince McMahon’s WWE offering than a Disney film. Violence, very intense moments for younger children. (PG)
MINORITY REPORT (Fox; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; Dec. 17; A-): Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, this compelling 2054-set thriller, directed by Steven Spielberg, stars Tom Cruise as a cop who uses psychic technology to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes. When it’s predicted that Cruise’s character will be the next person to kill someone, he goes on the run to uncover those responsible for his lethal predicament. Colin Farrell (“Hart’s War’), Max von Sydow (“The Exorcist’) and British actress Samantha Morton (“Sweet and Lowdown’) co-star. The $100 million epic raises a topical theme about how far the legal system should go in the investigation of criminal behavior and a timely caution about surrendering our personal freedom in the name of being safe. Strong violence, sexual elements, drug use, harsh four-letter profanity. (PG-13)
STUART LITTLE 2 (Columbia TriStar; $24.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; Dec. 10; B+): Screen favorite Michael J. Fox (“Back to the Future’) and stage star Nathan Lane (Broadway’s “The Producers’) again provide the voices of Stuart the mouse and Snowbell the cat, respectively, in this wildly entertaining sequel. In the uplifting follow-up, the two former enemies team to save a defenseless creature from a hungry falcon. The $294 million global success of the original – featuring a mouse creature via computer-generated imagery – guaranteed that family audiences would get a second installment. The human family (played by Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and Jonathan Lipnicki) also come back. Rob Minkoff, who helmed the original, directed. Some intense moments for younger children, mild language. (PG)
UNFAITHFUL (Fox; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; Dec. 17; B): An attractive suburban couple (Richard Gere and Diane Lane) seem to have the perfect married life. That changes when the wife – on what appears to be a whim – begins an obsessive affair with a younger lover (Oliver Martinez of “Before Night Falls’) and then finds her world spinning out of control. British Filmmaker Adrian Lyne, who enjoyed success with the cheating-spouse chiller “Fatal Attraction,’ directed the erotically charged tale, which never points fingers as it provides no easy answers and raises some truly uncomfortable questions. It’s based on Claude Chabrol’s 1968 French film, “La Femme Infidel.’ Very strong sexual content, nudity, harsh four-letter profanity, violence, adult themes. (R)
XXX (Universal; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Dec. 31; B-): A veteran government agent (Samuel L. Jackson of “Pulp Fiction’) agrees to teach athlete (Vin Diesel of “Pitch Black’) all of the deadly tricks of the espionage trade and transforms him into a new-age James Bond.
Italian actress Asia Argento (“Scarlet Diva’) co-stars. The outlandish action thriller re-teams Diesel and Rob Cohen, who previously directed the hot actor in the rapid-paced hit “The Fast and the Furious.’ Sexist elements damage some of its mood, but most of the time, the slick picture is breezy fun. Violence, sexual elements, drug content, profanity. (PG-13)