Filmmaker sparks movie magic, touches viewers’ hearts with ‘Signs’
In the PG-13 picture, which grossed more than $225 million at the box office, Mel Gibson stars as a former minister who has lost his faith after the accidental death of his wife. The depressed widower lives on a farm in Bucks County (where it was filmed) with his two young children (Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin) and grown brother (Joaquin Phoenix). Life drastically changes for the family members after they find 400-foot crop circles in their cornfield. Soon, space creatures are using such markings around the globe as a guidance system for their invasion, and Gibson’s character must reconsider his belief system and ultimately draw strength from it.
During the course of “Signs,” we witness this man being reborn. Through a horrific attack on our planet (seen from the confines of a farmhouse), Gibson’s character comes to understand that all of mankind shares a connection and even the worst tragedies imaginable often happen for a reason we cannot immediately comprehend.
In Shyamalan’s hands, the tale masterfully unfolds as he uses faulty flashlights, shifting shadows and dark nights to suggest the dread felt by the two children and brother, who look to Gibson’s former minister for comfort and at first find he has no answers.
The real beauty in “Signs” comes from watching the former man of the cloth slowly change as he realizes he had the answers all the time and, due to intense grief, allowed himself to forget them.
Gibson at war
The DVD of “We Were Soldiers” contains numerous extras, including: commentary by Wallace; 10 deleted scenes and a making-of documentary (“Getting It Right”).
A collection of ‘Classics’
Titles celebrate black history
In anticipation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 20), Showtime Entertainment will reduce the prices of five diverse titles featuring African-American characters on Tuesday.
In “Bojangles” ($9.99, tape; $19.99, DVD), tap dancer Gregory Hines brings to life Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in a melodrama based on the book “Mr. Bojangles – Biography of Bill Robinson.”
The made-for-cable movie co-stars famed Broadway dancer Savion Glover.
Vanessa Williams hosts “It’s Black Entertainment,” which features musical performances by artists over a 70-year period. They include Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross and Snoop Dogg. “The Wishing Tree” stars Alfre Woodard (“Down in the Delta”) and Blair Underwood (TV’s “L.A. Law”) in a tale about a lawyer and a mysterious woodsman.
Each title retails for $9.99 on tape and $14.99 on DVD.
Also arriving will be “Love Songs,” Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Charles Fuller’s trilogy of stories about the healing power of love with Andre Braugher (“Get on the Bus”) and Louis Gossett Jr. (“An Officer and a Gentleman”). “3 A.M.,” starring Danny Glover (“Lethal Weapon”) and Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown”) in a thriller about a killer stalking cab drivers, will round out the titles. Each will retail for $9.99 on tape and $19.99 on DVD.