Children’s favorite contemporary comedy to light up silver screen
Editor’s note: Near the beginning of each month, Video View looks at the tapes and DVDs to be released in the next four weeks.A children’s favorite (“Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”), a caper picture (“Ocean’s Twelve”), a contemporary comedy (“Sideways”), an acclaimed drama (“Hotel Rwanda”), a thrilling sequel (“Blade: Trinity”), an outlandish work (“Team America: World Police”) and a rousing import (“House of Flying Daggers”) will provide some cinematic sparks during April. 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.
THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON: (New Line; $27.99, DVD; April 26; B): Oscar-winner Sean Penn (“Dead Man Walking’) is at his intense best in this unsettling fact-based drama, set in the early 1970s. The story concerns a mentally unbalanced salesman who is failing at work, suffering through a divorce and battling unsuccessfully for a piece of the American dream. He reacts to the personal setbacks by blaming President Nixon for being involved in the Watergate conspiracy and then attempts to hijack a jet aircraft and crash it into the White House. Penn’s extreme work leaves one chilled to the bone. (95 minutes) Violence, harsh four-letter profanity, strong adult themes. (R)
BAD EDUCATION (Sony; $26.99, DVD; April 12; A-): International favorite Gael Garcia Bernal (“The Motorcycle Diaries’) stars in Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s emotionally powerful import that mixes obsessive romance and high drama into a film-noir-like motion picture. The moviemaker’s brilliantly realized tale concerns a predator priest whose advances are rejected by a male student and the fallout that occurs many years later due to that action. Almodovar, whose credits include “Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down!’ (1989), “All About My Mother’ (1999) and “Talk to Her’ (2001), inserted autobiographical elements based on his abusive Catholic-school experiences into the narrative. An R-rated version will also be available. (104 minutes) Very strong sexual elements, nudity, harsh four-letter profanity, drug use, adult themes. (NC-17)
BIRTH (New Line; $27.99, DVD; April 19; B-): Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman (“The Hours’) stars in this moody melodrama, directed by Jonathan Glazer (“Sexy Beast’), about a woman who learns that her beloved late husband may have been reincarnated as a 10-year-old boy. The picture has generated plenty of controversy – including boos at the Venice International Film Festival – due to a scene in which Kidman’s emotionally delicate character takes a bath with the youngster (11-year-old Canadian actor Cameron Bright) who claims to be her deceased spouse. The intriguing but flawed picture proves an often-insightful meditation on grief. (98 minutes) Strong sexual elements, nudity, adult themes. (R)
BLADE: TRINITY (New Line; $29.99, DVD; April 26; B): Laughs come before scares in this wildly over-the-top chiller with Wesley Snipes, who snarls his lines, back for the third time as the half-human/half-vampire superhero from the Marvel Comic. Kris Kristofferson briefly returns as Whistler and is replaced later in the film by Jessica Biel (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’) and scene-stealing Ryan Reynolds (“Van Wilder’) as two young warriors who battle the living dead. World Wrestling Entertainment favorite Triple H co-stars in the picture, which has Blade challenging bloodsuckers with plans of world domination and ultimately facing the original Dracula. (103 minutes) Strong violence, harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
CRIMINAL: (Warner; $27.99, DVD; April 12; B-) In this thriller, a hustler attempts to con his family members out of an inheritance. John C. Reilly (“Chicago’), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Secretary’) and Diego Luna (“Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights’) star in this American remake of 2000’s “Nine Queens,’ a box-office hit from Argentina. Quality rating courtesy of Web and wire-service reports. (87 minutes) Harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
ELEKTRA: (Fox; $29.99, DVD; April 5; C+): Teen favorite Jennifer Garner took a break from her deadly duties on the TV hit “Alias’ to become an assassin familiar with flying daggers, crouching tigers and hidden dragons in this “Daredevil’ spin-off. In the lightweight fantasy, her lethal character is dispatched on a dangerous assignment, learns some secrets and turns against those who dispatched her. Terence Stamp (“The Limey’), Will Yun Lee (“Die Another Day’) and Goran Visnjic (TV’s “ER’) co-star. Rob Bowman (“Reign of Fire’)’ directed, and famed writer Frank Miller, who created the Batman “Dark Knight’ and “Sin City’ series of graphic novels, contributed to the screenplay. Quality rating based on Web and wire-service reports. (105 minutes) Violence. (PG-13)
HOTEL RWANDA (MGM; $26.99, DVD; April 12; A-): In this intense fact-based picture, the gifted Don Cheadle (“Ocean’s Twelve’) plays hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, a caring and quick-thinking man who saved more than 1,200 people by keeping them safe in a four-star hotel during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Irish filmmaker Terry George (“Some Mother’s Son’) directed the picture, which is riveting from beginning to end and co-stars Nick Nolte (“Affliction’), Joaquin Phoenix (“The Village’) and British actress Sophia Okonedo (“Dirty Pretty Things’). Cheadle and Okonedo received Oscar nominations for their work, and the film was nominated for best picture. (120 minutes) Strong violence, adult themes. (PG-13)
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (Sony; $28.99, DVD; April 19; A-): Director Zhang Yimou (“Raise the Red Lantern’) created this visually stunning martial arts epic, which is set in 859 A.D. China when rebel armies – including the House of Flying Daggers warriors – fight to protest governmental corruption. (119 minutes) Violence, sexuality. (PG-13)
LEMONY SNICKET’S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (Paramount; $29.99, DVD; April 26; B-): This decidedly dark fantasy, starring Jim Carrey (“Bruce Almighty’) and Meryl Streep (“The Manchurian Candidate’), is based on Daniel Handler’s first three novellas about a trio of orphans dealing with a frightening caretaker, Count Olaf. He plots to murder the children in order to inherit their family fortune. Brad Silberling (“Moonlight Mile’) directed the visually impressive $140 million production that borrows atmospheric touches from the motion pictures of Tim Burton and the threatening tone from the art works of Edward Gorey. (110 minutes) Frightening situations, intense moments, brief language. (PG)
A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG (Sony; $26.99, DVD; April 19; C-): In this snail-paced, New Orleans-set drama, a teenage girl (Scarlett Johansson of “Lost in Translation’) travels to New Orleans after her mother’s death. She then forms an extended family with the emotionally damaged people living in her late parent’s crumbling home. John Travolta (“Pulp Fiction’) struggles to add some weight to the picture as he plays an alcoholic literature professor living a lie and manipulating the girl until a secret from the past upends his world. It’s based on the novel “Off East Magazine St.’ by Ronald Everett Capps. (119 minutes) Harsh four-letter profanity, sexual elements, adult themes. (R)
MEET THE FOCKERS (Universal; $23.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; April 19; B-): Returning stars Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo from “Meet the Parents’ are joined by the dream team of Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman. In this awaited sequel, Stiller’s extremely offbeat sex-therapist mom and ex-lawyer dad (Streisand and Hoffman) are introduced and their strange mannerisms drive De Niro’s uptight character bonkers. (115 minutes) Excessive crude toilet humor, sexual jokes, profanity, drug reference. (PG-13)
OCEAN’S TWELVE (Warner; $27.99, DVD; April 12; B): The all-star cast – including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac and Andy Garcia – from the original returns in a sequel that’s plenty of fun despite a plot that never makes much sense. Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Chicago’) joins the ensemble in a follow-up that has the cool-as-ice crooks traveling to Europe with plans to pull robberies to help them repay the revenge-hungry casino kingpin whom they fleeced in the first film, also directed by Steven Soderbergh. It’s the perfect picture for people who just want to sit back, watch stars and go along with the breezy tale. (130 minutes) Harsh four-letter profanity, adult themes. (PG-13)
PRIMER (New Line; $27.99, April 19; B): Newcomers Shane Carruth and Carrie Crawford star in this extremely modest thriller about some young adults who invent a time machine, use it to change history and then must deal with the consequences. The independent picture was filmed for just $7,000. Quality rating based on wire-service reports. (80 minutes) Profanity. (PG-13)
SIDEWAYS (Fox; $29.99, DVD; April 5; A-): Two guys – one recovering from a divorce and distancing himself from joy; the other preparing to walk down the aisle and embracing selfish pleasures – plan to sow some wild oats in California’s wine country before a wedding ceremony. The terrific cast of the slice-of-life comedy includes Paul Giamatti (“American Splendor’), Thomas Haden Church (TV’s “Wings’), scene-stealing Virginia Madsen (“The Hot Spot’), and Sandra Oh (HBO’s “Arli$$’). Gifted Alexander Payne, whose credits include “Election’ and “About Schmidt,’ directed the picture, which uses wine as a metaphor for the richness of life and creates an insightful tale about the healing nature of love. It was nominated for an Oscar as best picture. (123 minutes) Sex, nudity, harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
SPANGLISH (Columbia; $27.99, DVD; April 5; B-): In this well-intentioned but uneven comedy drama, a Mexican woman (Paz Vega of “Sex and Lucia’) accepts a job in a wealthy household, and her passion for life intrigues a chef (Adam Sandler of “Punch Drunk Love’) who’s the unhappy head of the household. James L. Brooks (“Terms of Endearment’) directed the politically correct tale that touches upon themes involving parenthood, happiness, love and commitment. The filmmaker goes over the top in painting a frightening picture of a tightly wound suburban wife/mother (Tea Leoni of “The Family Man’) who’s closer in spirit to the Wicked Witch of the West than June Cleaver. (140 minutes) Very strong sexual elements, harsh four-letter profanity, adult themes. (PG-13)
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE (Paramount; $29.99, DVD; April 5; B): This outrageous $32 million comedy features the voices of “South Park’ creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Like the previous theatrical hit “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut’ by Parker and Stone, this purposely offensive picture is an adult-oriented satire, one that features marionettes wearing futuristic police garb, getting physical with each other and blasting terrorists with an intensity that would impress John Rambo. Expect liberal celebrities such as Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn and Janeane Garofalo and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il to be savagely ridiculed. This politically incorrect comedy was designed as a spoof of over-the top action pictures by hugely successful producer Jerry Bruckheimer (“The Rock’) and a tribute to the vintage puppet show “Thunderbirds.’ To avoid an NC-17 rating, the co-directors had to make 10 revisions to a sex scene involving marionettes. (95 minutes) Non-stop harsh four-letter profanity, gross gags, sexual references, violent images. (R)
THE WOODSMAN (Columbia TriStar; $26.99, April 12; B-): The creators of this disturbing drama ask viewers to have sympathy for the devil, a child molester who has been released from prison, seeks a low-profile existence and then again becomes a predator sexually drawn to young girls. Kevin Bacon (“Mystic River’) stars in the title role and delivers a truly unsettling performance, but it’s hard to imagine that many people will want to sit through this creepy and controversial melodrama. Kyra Sedgwick (“Phenomenon’), scene-stealing Mos Def (“The Italian Job’), Eve (“Barbershop’), and Benjamin Bratt (“Traffic’) co-star. (87 minutes) Strong sexual elements, unsettling themes, brief violence, harsh four-letter profanity. (R)