‘Fun with Dick and Jane’ debuts on DVD in time for Easter
When “Fun With Dick and Jane” opened on Dec. 21, the PG-13 comedy faced a box-office battle with two mega-budget titles, “King Kong” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.” Although not in a league with those two hits, the picture prospered due to Jim Carrey’s loyal fans, who supported the glossy production over the holiday season and helped it to gross an impressive $110,332,737.
“Fun With Dick and Jane” (Sony; $28.99, DVD) debuts on April 11 just in time for Easter and Passover and promises to keep home viewers smiling during this holiday period.
In the remake of the 1977 satire about a couple (George Segal and Jane Fonda) who fall on hard times and turn to robbery, Carrey and Tea Leoni (“Spanglish”) play an upper-middle-class couple whose materialistic lifestyle grinds to a halt when the husband’s Enron-like company crashes and burns. That happens due to financial mismanagement by a corporate swindler (Alec Baldwin of “The Cooler”).
The two turn to nighttime robberies to make ends meet before setting their sights on getting even with Baldwin’s character.
Along the way, they learn some lessons about the downside of conspicuous consumption and the importance of focusing on the really important things in life.
In the production notes for “Fun With Dick and Jane,” Leoni talks about her favorite scene being the one in which the couple plan a robbery while disguised as Sonny and Cher.
“Originally, I was going to be Cher,” Leoni says, “but since Jim is 6-foot-2, it made sense for him to be Cher.
“What was somewhat disturbing was that we got the costumes from Bob Mackie (the designer of many Sonny and Cher outfits). I fit into Sonny’s costume perfectly -no alterations were needed.”
The extras on the “Fun With Dick and Jane” DVD include a gag reel, deleted scenes and audio commentary by director Dean Parisot (“Galaxy Quest”).
Spring cooled by chillers on DVD
Spring may have sprung, but there will still be a decided chill in DVD outlets this week.
On April 11, four fright films will hit store shelves, with the unnerving Australian import “Wolf Creek” (Genius; $29.99, DVD) leading the pack.
The lean-and-mean import, which will be available in the R-rated theatrical version and an unrated cut with five minutes of additional footage, is loosely based on actual murders in the Outback. In “Wolf Creek,” two young British women (Cassandra Magrath and Kestie Morassi) and a Sydney guy (Nathan Phillips) go hiking in a deserted area, get lost and meet an outdoorsman (John Jarratt) who seems more jovial than Crocodile Dundee.
The deadly stranger ends up being more sadistic than Hannibal Lecter.
Writer-director Greg McLean, who shot the grisly film on high-definition video, pulls no punches during this unsettling picture.
The DVD extras include a production featurette (“Making of Wolf Creek”), a deleted scene and audio commentary from McLean, Magrath, Morassi and executive producer Matt Hearn.
Director Tobe Hooper, whose credits include “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Poltergeist,” “Lifeforce” and the remake of “The Tool Box Murders,” returns to his evil ways with “Mortuary” (Echo Bridge; $26.99, DVD).
The R-rated film stars Denise Crosby (TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) as a single mom who moves to a remote California town, buys an abandoned funeral home/cemetery that’s rumored to be haunted and discovers something lurks beneath the estate.
The extras on “Mortuary” include commentary by Hooper and a behind-the-scenes featurette (“Inside the Graveyard”) with the veteran filmmaker.
Maria Bello, who should have received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress for her outstanding work in David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence,” stars as a single mother whose daughter disappears during a trip to Wales in “The Dark” (Sony; $24.99, DVD).
Canadian filmmaker John Fawcett, who created the popular cult series “Ginger Snaps,” directed the R-rated picture in which the missing girl communicates with her mother from a land of the dead that’s known as the Dark and is part of an ancient Celtic myth. The emotionally shattered parent must enter that world to rescue her child.
Sean Bean (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) co-stars as the child’s father, and an alternate ending of “The Dark” is the only extra.
Fans of reality TV shows might be intrigued by “The Scorned: Special Edition 2-Disc DVD” (Anchor Bay; $24.99), an unrated horror film about a cycle of violence that begins among some twentysomethings after an infidelity occurs in the abandoned house they share.
The cast consists of reality-TV personalities Steven Hill (“The Real World You Never Saw: Las Vegas”), Jenna Lewis (“Survivor”), Bob Guiney (“The Bachelor”), Tonya Cooley (“MTV’s Real World: Chicago”) and Trishelle Cannatella (“The Surreal Life”). The casting and filming of “The Scorned” was documented in the E! Entertainment reality series “Kill Reality.”
The extras include uncensored outtakes, fights between the cast members, a tour of the set, audition footage and an interview with director Robert Kubilos.
By the way, the big chill in DVD stores doesn’t end with the release of these four titles.
On April 18, Eli Roth’s horror hit, “Hostel” (Sony; $28.99, DVD and PSP), arrives in stores in R-rated and unrated versions.
Now Playing!
The following titles are coming soon or have arrived at a video store near you.
If your local outlet doesn’t stock them, the DVD and VHS offerings can be mail ordered by calling (800) 523-0823 or going to the Web site moviesunlimited.com or amazon.com, unless otherwise noted.
Movies
– “Attack of the Saber-tooth” (Lionsgate; $26.99, DVD; April 11) with Robert Carradine (“Ghosts of Mars”) in an R-rated thriller about a mutant saber-tooth tiger seeking to turn some college students into meals after they discover an out-of-control cloning experiment.
– “Category 7: The End of the World” (Echo Bridge; $24.99, DVD; now available) with Shannen Doherty (TV’s “Charmed”), Randy Quaid (“Brokeback Mountain”), James Brolin (“The Reagans”) and Gina Gershon (“Showgirls”) in an unrated disaster picture about extreme weather conditions caused by simultaneous hurricanes and tornados.
– “Dirty” (Sony; $24.99, DVD; now available) with Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Jerry Maguire”) in an R-rated crime melodrama about a former gang member who becomes a policeman and then struggles to leave his past behind.
– “Ellie Parker” (Strand; $24.99, DVD; April 11) with Naomi Watts (“King Kong”), Chevy Chase (“National Lampoon’s Vacation”) and Keanu Reeves (“The Matrix”) in an R-rated comedy about an ambitious actress trying to achieve success in Hollywood.
– “Greenaway: The Early Films” (Zeitgeist; $39.99, DVD; April 11) with British director Peter Greenaway presenting his first feature film, “The Falls,” and the seven short films he created in a double-disc set.
– “The Greatest Game Ever Played” (Buena Vista; $29.99, DVD; April 11) with Shia LaBeouf (“Constantine”) in a fact-based sports tale about a 20-year-old nonprofessional golfer who challenged the best players in the world at the 1913 U.S. Open.
– “Mission: Impossible: Special Collector’s Edition” (Paramount; $19.99, DVD; April 11) with Tom Cruise in a remastered version of the first installment of the franchise based on the popular vintage TV show of the same name.
– “Nine to Five 5: Sexist, Egotistical, Lying, Hypocritical Bigot Edition” (Fox; $19.99, DVD; now available) with Jane Fonda (“Klute”), Lily Tomlin (“Nashville”) and Dolly Parton (“Rhinestone”) in a 25th-anniversary offering of the PG-rated comedy smash about three women workers getting even with their sexist boss. The extras include deleted scenes, commentary by Fonda, Parton and Tomlin, a gag reel, a “Nine to Five” karaoke feature, a making-of featurette (“Nine @ 25”) and a featurette (“Remembering Collin Higgins”) on the film’s late director.
– “An Unfinished Life” (Miramax; $29.99, DVD; April 11) with Jennifer Lopez (“Maid in Manhattan”), Robert Redford (“The Horse Whisperer”), Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) and Josh Lucas (“Glory Road”) in a PG-13 drama about a single mother who must turn to her bitter ex-father-in-law after an abusive boyfriend drives the woman and her 11-year-old daughter into hiding.
Documentary
– “The Big Question” (TH!NKFilm; $9.99, DVD; now available) with Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci and Maia Morgenstern in a documentary that asks the stars of “The Passion of the Christ” about their concepts of spirituality.
– “Deep Blue” (Buena Vista; $29.99, DVD; April 11), with Alastair Fothergill and Andy Byatt directing a G-rated underwater exploration of aquatic creatures living far below the ocean surface.
– “New York Doll” (Visual Entertainment; $19.99, DVD; now available) with director Greg Whiteley providing a look at the glam rock group the New York Dolls and those influenced by their work. Iggy Pop, Bob Geldof, Chrissy Hynde and Mick Jones of the Clash are interviewed, and the PG-13 project is told through the eyes of the Dolls’ mild-mannered bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane, who became a Mormon after leaving the group.
– “Shaquille O’Neal: Like No Other” (Warner; $24.99, DVD; April 11), with a look at the NBA superstar on and off the basketball court.
– Two titles – “Opus Dei and the Da Vinci Code” and “The Da Vinci Code: Where It All Began” (BFS; $19.99 each, DVD; April 11) – offering insights into elements of Dan Brown’s bestseller, “The Da Vinci Code.” The titles will also be available in a two pack ($34.99).
Concert/Performance
– “Corteo” (Sony; $24.99, DVD; April 11) with the performing artists in Cirque du Soleil doing dance and acrobatic moves during a festive parade imagined by a clown. The extras include a making-of featurette (“Through the Curtain: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Corteo”) and a photo gallery.
– “Liza With a ‘Z’: Collector’s Edition” (Showtime; $29.99, DVD; now available) with Liza Minnelli performing in an Emmy Award-winning 1972 TV special directed by Bob Fosse. The vintage show has been digitally restored and remastered and is packaged with the CD soundtrack from the show.
Television
– “The Merv Griffin Show: 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time” (Alpha Home Entertainment; $29.99, DVD; April 11) with almost nine hours of the talk-show host speaking with talents such as Orson Welles, John Wayne, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Grace Kelly, Rose Kennedy, Christopher Reeve, Lee Marvin and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Children/Family
– “Bailey’s Billions” (Echo Bridge; $24.99, DVD; now available) with Dean Caine (“Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”) and Tim Curry (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”) in a G-rated picture about a talking golden retriever who inherits a fortune from his devoted owner and then becomes the object of a dognap scheme.
– “Bratz Genie Magic” (Fox; $19.99, DVD; April 11), a computer-generated tale with hip, fashionable friends Yasmin, Cloe, Sasha and Jade who meet a teenage genie able to grant wishes.
– “Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin” (Disney; $29.99, DVD; April 11) with Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl and Eeyore in an animated title based on one of A.A. Milne’s original stories about how the creatures in the Hundred Acre Wood look for Christopher after he goes off to school for the first time. The extras include a game (“Adventures in The Hundred Acre Wood”) and a featurette (“Pooh’s Symphony”) on the music of Winnie The Pooh.
– “Spymate” (Buena Vista; $26.99, DVD; April 11) with Emma Roberts (TV’s “Unfabulous”) and the late Pat Morita (“The Karate Kid”) in a PG-rated family movie about a chimpanzee out to thwart the plans of an evil scientist and save a kidnapped child inventor.
– Three titles – “Mickey and Minnie,” “Donald and Daisy” and “Mickey and Pluto” (Disney; $14.99 each, DVD; April 11) – in the “Best Pals” classic cartoon favorites that celebrate friendship.