howthegrinchstolechristmas

Actors: Ade,Bordello Gogol,Fedoro Olegar,Graham Stephen,Grant Richard E.,Hutz Eugene,Keeler George,Levey Elliot,Manocha Inder,Wallers Tim,Comedy,Drama,Music,Romance,

Disney Animation Collection 7: Mickey’s Christmas Carol
07.10.09
Disney Animation Collection 7: Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Of
all the jewels in Walt Disney ’s
crown, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs may have been the most valuable. As the first animated
feature created by an American studio, it was essential
for Snow White to be a box-office success, if
only to silence the many Hollywood naysayers.

By hitting the jackpot, the film not only encouraged Disney to invest in other long-form projects – many adapted from the folk tales collected by the Brother Grimm – but also to exploit such ancillary markets as soundtracks, storybooks and branded toys and clothing lines. Since the titles were in the Public Domain, Disney wasn’t required to share revenues with copyright holders or ask their permission to alter characters or plot elements, as would be the case today for any original image or story originated by Disney.

What the studio’s creative team brought to the
hair-raising story of envy and revenge in a medieval
kingdom, of course, was a determination to dilute the
truly scary elements with a potent mixture of songs,
humor and romance. The formula would work time and again,
in such movies as Cinderella , Sleeping
Beauty and Bambi , all of which
now carry deceptively benign “G” ratings.
(It’s been reported that the velvet-covered seats
at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall had to be replaced
at the end of the initial engagement of Snow White because young children often wet their pants during
certain scenes.) While Snow White had been re-released
theatrically eight times since its debut in 1938, it
was among the last of the early classics to be sent
out in VHS, in 1994.

The new “Diamond Edition” arrives with Blu-ray
and DVD discs, as well as BD-Live capability. In hi-def, Snow White reflects the state of the art. The images
literally pop off the screen and there’s nary
a blemish or blip with which to contend. Few 70-year-old
movie stars have looked as beautiful as Snow White or as frightening as the Queen. If the Prince remains
vaguely handsome, at best, it’s only because this
wasn’t his show to steal. That privilege belonged
to the seven dwarves (or, dwarfs, to be imprecise).
Otherwise, the story remains the same as when it was
re-interpreted from its original, even more frightful
Grimm forebear.

Adults will be impressed by the pristine 7.1 audio and enhanced visual quality, but their kids will stick around for the bonus features. They include such goodies as a new music video, performed by Tiffany Thornton ; a pair of songs that didn’t make the final cut; a hi-def sneak peek at The Princess and the Frog ; BD Live interactive games; a “Heigh-Ho” karaoke sing-along; and Dopey’s Wild Ride . Among the longer featurettes are Snow White Returns , which uses newly discovered storyboards to suggest Disney might have intended a sequel; The One That Started it All , which demonstrates how Snow White influenced the movie industry; and a tour of Disney’s original Hyperion Studios.

The seventh volume of the Walt Disney Animation Collection collects a quartet of shorts related to Christmas and starring some of the most familiar characters from the studio’s stable, including Donald and Daisy Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Goofy, Jiminy Cricket, Ratty and Mole ( Wind in the Willows ) and Willy the Giant ( Mickey and the Beanstalk ). Adding to the fun was Mickey’s first big-screen appearance in 30 years. Adapted from the Charles Dickens holiday classic – also in the Public Domain – Mickey’s Christmas Carol was directed, co-written and produced by Burny Mattinson , who would co-write several of the movies that propelled the studio’s resurgence in the 1990s under Jeffrey Katzenberg . Also contributing were “animation consultant” Eric Larson , one of the original “Nine Old Men”; Clarence Nash , the original voice of Donald Duck; and John Lasseter , who would go on to write and direct Toy Story and other Pixar hits. Also included in the package are Pluto’s Christmas Tree , The Small One and Santa’s Workshop .

Another enduring Disney franchise is represented by Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving . The 1999 set, which was released as a straight-to-video feature, is comprised of bits and pieces from various Pooh TV shows and specials. New to DVD are The Magic Earmuffs and The Wishing Bear .

Little Spirit: Christmas in New York debuted last December on NBC as a Macy’s-sponsored holiday special. It concerns a new arrival to Manhattan, who, after losing his dog in Central Park, is given a tour of the borough by the fantasy character, Little Spirit. The voices of Danny DeVito, Lucy Liu, Freddy Rodriguez, Brenda Song and Brian Williams are featured, along with original songs by Duncan Sheik. Year One

In Groundhog Day , Harold Ramis repeatedly re-created a day in the life of a jaded TV w eatherman, until the character got the ending he wanted. Ramis should have stopped at yesterday. Like almost every other director who’s attempted to re-trace the biblical trajectory from the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane, with brief layovers at various landmark events along the way, Ramis needn’t have bothered.

If Mel Brooks and John Huston couldn’t pull it off in The History of the World Part I and The Bible , how could Ramis have expected to do any better? Like too many other comedies churned out by the folks at Apatow Productions, Year One feels less like a fully realized film than a way to keep the brand visible between more accomplished works, including Pineapple Express and Superbad . Calling it half-baked assumes Year One saw the inside of an oven before being rushed into theaters. Certainly, the ingredients weren’t given sufficient time to congeal.

Publicity material featuring Jack Black and Michael Cera in caveman drag assured teens that Year One would contain enough scatological and prurient humor to keep them amused for most of the film’s 97-minute length. Conversely, anyone savvy enough to be put off by the self-censorship implied by a PG-13 rating would intuitively know to wait for the inevitable “unrated edition” on DVD. And, of course, it does. Black and Cera play a pair of cavemen – a hunter and a gatherer – w ho, after being evicted from their village, somehow are able to straddle the line separating two conflicting histories: the one forwarded by Darwin and the other, accepted as fact by Creationists … Sodom being the common denominator.

Among the extras are deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, an alternate ending, lots of commentary (rated and unrated) and several making-of pieces involving the Sodomite themes. Anvil! The Story of Anvil

I wasn’t paying attention earlier this year when Anvil! The Story of Anvil was released into theaters to the glee of graying metal-heads and movie critics whose exposure to industrial-strength rock might have been limited to watching Ozzy Osbourne stumble around his home on MTV. I wasn’t sure if “Anvil” was a rock-doc or extension of the “This Is Spinal Tap” franchise. The publicity machine was already grinding out hype for the summer release of the Blu-ray edition of that beloved parody, so it was easy to confuse them.

Moreover, my mind couldn’t parse Anvil drummer Robb Reiner from Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner . Imagine my surprise, then, when I finally received the DVD and discovered to my delight that Anvil effectively distilled the rock-’n’-roll experience of tens of thousands of garage bands and wanna-be’s who limited their singing to showers and dancing to mirrors. Canadians Reiner and singer-guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow enjoyed a short burst of glory in 1980s, sharing stages with more well known hair bands and touring the world. Although the band definitely rocked, its members weren’t as charismatic or photogenic as the competition, and they hadn’t embraced the demented gimmickry that extended the careers of other rockers. Their primary reason for waking up each morning had devolved into little more than an expensive hobby, which had to be financed by actual jobs.

Even then, however, Anvil never stopped living the dream. Former drummer and fellow Canadian Sacha Gervasi caught up with the still-hairy gents, now in their 50s, living what might be considered mundane lives in Toronto. When they weren’t punching a time clock, Robb and Lips put together another album, their 13th, which they were sending to potential bookers and A&R execs. As luck would have it, Gervasi was there to capture the moment when they were asked to open a day-long metal festival in Tokyo. Surprisingly, because Anvil flourished at a time when North American metal bands were starting to catch up with their European peers, the band’s music would influence several future superstars.

Gervasi was able to elicit the heart-felt testimony of such familiar musicians as Lemmy ( Motorhead ), Slash ( Guns N’Roses ) and Lars Ulrich ( Metallica ), along with Anvil members who long ago retired. Anvil is just as significant a rock-doc as any featuring the Rolling Stones , in that it demonstrates how much the music matters to performers who have no hope of making the Hall of Fame or attracting groupies a third their age. The extras include commentary, an extended interview with Ulrich, deleted scenes and concert material. Assassination of a High School President

Given another polish or two, Brett Simon ’s teen-noir mystery, Assassination of a High School President , might have found itself mentioned in the same breath as the brilliant teen noir Brick and darkly comic, Heathers . Like Brick , it harkens back to period when reporters in movies solved crimes police couldn’t and blond molls knew all the secrets. Like Heathers , the high-school community was divided into cliques ruled by characters who would give Count Dracula a run for his money. Here, however, the stakes aren’t nearly as high as they were in those two films.

The centerpiece crime involves the theft of a stack of SAT tests from the office of the stern new principal, played with military precision by Bruce Willis . A nerdy reporter ( Reece Daniel Thompson ) for the school newspaper investigates the theft, which the principal takes far more seriously than he should, and pins the blame on one of the elite student-athletes. The plot thickens after the accused student suffers a nervous breakdown and his hottie girlfriend ( Mischa Barton ) invites the reporter to enter her lair.

It isn’t until the reporter begins to question the evidence he used to incriminate the boy that the full extent of the conspiracy reveals itself, causing the principal and everyone else in the vicinity to suffer a meltdown. Along the way, several neat plot devices are introduced and the dialogue takes on a wicked edge. Finally, though, Assassination gets mired in its own devices and fails to deliver on its early promise. Even so, Simon and his fellow first-timers, writers Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski , have created a film teen audiences should enjoy, and this entitles them to a second chance. Filth and Wisdom

At an age, 51, when most other seemingly inexhaustible entertainers are beginning to show signs of slowing down, Madonna is adding even more hyphens to the titles already affixed to her name. In addition to singer-dancer-choreographer- actor-producer-model-ex-wife-mother-icon, Madonna now can take credit for being director-writer-“creator” of the cinematic train wreck, Filth and Wisdom .

Her first feature film asks the musical question: “Is it possible to attain wisdom without first slogging through a veritable ocean of filth?” Even if Madonna’s concept of filth hardly corresponds to most other people’s definition of the term, she emphatically demands we believe her when she says, “No!” Her evidence includes a Ukrainian immigrant, A.K. ( Eugene Hutz ), who hopes to finance his musical aspirations with money made by servicing tricks as a cross-dressing dominatrix; an aspiring ballerina ( Holly Weston ) moonlighting as a stripper; and their roommate, a woman ( Vicky McClure ) who dreams of saving starving African children, but can’t resist stealing drugs from the pharmacy in which she works.

Among the things wrong with this premise is the notion that any of these sidelight endeavors resemble anyone else’s definitions of filth, or that any of the characters actually attain anything resembling wisdom, because they don’t. Instead, Madonna treats viewers with a tour of the London fetish scene, as it might have been interpreted by a fashion photographer. The women look beautiful, the musician is authentically exotic and the layouts have an undeniably sensual appeal. The depictions, however, are paper-thin.

Hutz, whose personality might have inspired Sasha Baron
Cohen to make Borat, adds some heft to the production,
but only when his band, Gogol Bordelllo , performs
on stage. Indeed, anyone familiar with Hutz from the documentary, The Pied Piper of Hutzovina , likely will enjoy Filth and Wisdom more than anyone else.

Sam Kinison: Wild Child

Mill Creek Entertainment has added to the growing inventory of material available to fans of the late, great Sam Kinison . Unlike most of the young stand-up comedians of his day, Kinison eschewed the kind of observational shtick that carried Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld to the heights of fame, preferring instead to share his primal screams with the world. When the former boy-preacher did offer his opinions on such hot-button issues as AIDS, corrupt evangelists and starvation in Africa, he cut to the chase almost immediately, delivering blistering screeds designed as much to provoke as disturb.

The material collected in the extremely generous Wild Child set is taken mostly from HBO specials and other live performances recorded during his rock-‘n’-roll phase. Much also was recorded after he sobered up from years of drug and alcohol abuse. The videos also give credence to the theory that televised concerts drained the pool of fresh material available to them when they went on tour. By the time some comedians reached the clubs in the boonies, audiences had memorized the bits and would blurt out requests as if they were at a Barry Manilow concert.

Kinison was better than most stand-ups at making the material seem fresh, at least, but, when observed back-to-back, any spontaneity is reserved for the riffing and ad-libs. Nevertheless, Wild Child is a valuable addition, if only because the production values are higher than on some earlier collections, and the comic definitely is “on.” His recollections of debauched behavior are delivered as cautionary tales, instead of mere boasting, making his accidental death that much more tragic. Rage

The closest writer-director Sally Potter has ever gotten to mainstream acceptance was in 1993, when Orlando was nominated for a pair of Oscars for art/set design and costume design. More significantly, perhaps, it was the film that introduced Tilda Swinton to arthouse audiences here and academy voters everywhere. In Potter’s adaptation of the Virginia Woolf novel, Tilden played a nobleman granted eternal life by Queen Elizabeth I , played by Quentin Crisp . During the course of 400 years, Orlando not only is an eye witness to a great deal of history, but he also changes genders when being male becomes a drag … literally.

The only thing the oppressively experimental Rage has in common with Orlando is the transvestite model played by Jude Law . The film is set during New York’s fashion week, but at a distance from the runway. Fourteen people involved in the fashion industry, in one way or another, agree to be interviewed head-on by a teenager, Michelangelo, using a cellphone camera. Fortuitously, Michelangelo is on hand to record the reactions of the participants when a runway accident prompts a murder investigation.

If only Potter allowed the teen to take his camera to the scene of the crime, and continue the interviews from there, the conceit might have had some validity. As it is, the characters are about as interesting as most of the people who inhabit that industry, which is to say, not at all. On the other hand, one could hardly fault the readings by the all-star cast, which, besides Law, includes Dianne Wiest, Judi Dench, Steve Buscemi, Eddie Izzard, Bob Balaban and John Leguizamo . The bonus material adds outtakes and an interview with Potter. My Life in Ruins

Nia Vardalos is a very likeable actor and she plays Greek as well as anyone since Anthony Quinn … OK, Melina Mercouri . Even the creator of My Big Fat Greek Wedding , however, couldn’t save My Life in Ruins from being a warmed-over version of If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium , which, at least, had the benefit of a better roster of B- and C-list actors. (A very tired-looking Richard Dreyfuss gives it his best shot as a wise-cracking widower.)

Vardalos plays a dour Greek-American educator, who, after being laid off at Athens University, takes a job with cut-rate tour company. Although she enjoys showing off the country’s monuments and historic sites, Georgia receives poor evaluations from customers, who prefer shopping to lectures. Her frustration is shared by the handsome Greek bus driver, who shows his admiration by shaving off his unkempt beard. The tourists in her charge are a motley crew of clichés, ranging from kooky geezers to bored teens. Naturally, both sides win the other over, using their hatred for a rival tour guide as an equalizer.

After her charges determine that all Georgia needs to be happy
is a good lay, My Life in Ruins turns into
an elongated episode of Love, American Style or The Love Boat . Given Vardalos’ prior
success, I thought the producers might have entrusted her with
writing My Life in Ruins . Instead, that honor
went to TV gag-meister Mike Reiss , with an
assist from veteran rom-com director Don Petrie .
There’s much nice scenery — not all of which was shot
in Greece — so there’s always something pleasant to watch
when the dialogue lags. (In a rare move, the Greek government
opened up the Parthenon to the production.) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: Blu-ray
Children of the Corn: Blu-ray
The Gate: Monstrous Edition

If, back in 1986, someone had told John McNaughton that Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer would someday be named one of the 20 scariest movies of all time by a magazine, Entertainment Weekly, which had yet to publish its first issue, he probably would have shook his head in disbelief. Likewise, if someone had prophesized that this micro-budgeted thriller would someday be accorded a high-profile release on a state-of-the-art video platform, McNaughton would have questioned that person’s sanity.

Back then, the Chicago-based writer-director was concerned mostly with the likelihood that Henry might never leave the shelves of his employers, Waleed and Malik B. Ali . It took another three years for that to happen and, by that time, Henry had made the rounds of several private screening rooms in Hollywood and insiders were encouraging the Ali brothers to give it a shot on the film-festival circuit. The rest, of course, is cult-movie history.

Henry, which was shot on 16mm film, this week is being made available on Blu-ray. It includes previously recorded interviews; making-of documentaries; a profile of Henry Lee Lucas , the serial killer who served as the model for Michael Rooker ’s character; deleted scenes and outtakes; storyboards; stills; and a trailer. And, yes, it’s still scary as hell.

Another horror classic, Children of the Corn , is celebrating an unlikely anniversary with a Blu-ray edition. Based on a Stephen King novel – as were nearly all horror movies shot in the last 25 years of the 20th Century – the film described the mass murder of every adult in one Nebraska town. The hi-def version adds 40 more minutes of bonus features to those included in previous editions. Among them are, a discussion with star Linda Hamilton ; Stephen King on a Shoestring , with producer Donald Borchers ; and Welcome to Gatlin: The Sights and Sounds of Children of the Corn , an interview with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias .

Another cult favorite, The Gate , has been given a welcome wide-screen makeover. In his feature debut, Stephen Dorff played one of three children who dig a hole in their suburban backyard and unwittingly unleash a horde of tiny demons.

Anything’s possible, but it isn’t likely any of this week’s direct-to-DVD titles will be accorded anniversary salutes. This isn’t to say people involved with them won’t go on to bigger and better projects, of course, just that video originals tend to be forgotten two weeks after they’re released. Set in 1969, Staunton Hill describes what happens to a group of peaceniks who visit the wrong farm on the way to a rally in the nation’s capital. Originally intended to be seen in 3-D, Dark Country marks the directorial debut of Hung star’s Thomas Jane in the horror genre.

Lionsgate extends its Horror House Underground line with a quartet of DVD and Blu-ray titles hand-picked by Sam Raimi . All arrive in attractive packages and include plenty of extras. In The Children , a Christmas trip is spoiled by a virus that turns the kids into monsters. Adapted from a Jack Ketchum novel, Offspring describes what happens when police don’t make sure the flesh-eaters they kill are dead … really dead. In Seventh Moon , Amy Smart plays a newlywed in China for a honeymoon that turns into a nightmare. In The Thaw , Val Kilmer leads a group of scientists on a mission to discover unexpected consequences of global warming. Murphy’s Law: Series 1
Van der Valk Mysteries
The Helen West Casebook
The Diary of a Nobody

For my money, there’s been no better crime series on television – anywhere – than Murphy’s Law , which was introduced to audiences here via BBC America. James Nesbitt played Tommy Murphy, a hard-drinking Irish cop in London to work undercover in the gang and terrorism units. Murphy’s one of those cops who, under different circumstances, might have made a solid living working the other side of the law. As such, Murphy was allowed by the show’s writers to infiltrate the underground hierarchy with surprising ease and escape their clutches with his street cred intact. Nesbitt, who also starred in Cold Feet , got better as the series progressed and the violent storylines hit closer to home. The first-season set is comprised of five 90-minute stand-alone episodes, while the ensuing four years featured story arcs.

Set in swinging, stoned Amsterdam of the early 1970s, The Van der Valk Mysteries featured the handsome British leading man, Barry Foster , as a jaded police detective. In Amsterdam, it occasionally was difficult to tell the vices that were legal from the ones still unsanctioned. Given that the city was a magnet for criminals from all corners of the world, though, there was plenty of illicit activity to keep the cops busy. It helps that the character Foster plays is every bit as compelling as the cases he works. The set includes a biography of his creator, novelist Nicolas Freeling .

In The Helen West Casebook , another British export, Amanda Burton played a prominent prosecutor who straddled both sides of the legal fence after failing in love with a police official. The series, which was launched in 2002, was based on the crime novels of Frances Fyfield . This set includes three 90-minute episodes.

Andrew Davies , the big kahuna of British mini-series writers, adapted the much-admired 1892 comic novel, The Diary of a Nobody , for the BBC. No less an authority than Evelyn Waugh proclaimed the source material to be "the funniest book in the world." Hugh Bonneville gives a wonderful portrayal of Mr. Charles Pooter, a non-extraordinary city clerk in late Victorian England who chronicles his rather ordinary daily affairs in a diary. What Pooter considers to be intrinsically “interesting” viewers will find hilarious.

Agatha Christie fans will be happy to learn that Marple: Series 4 has been released, this season with Julia MacKenzie in the title role. Purists might notice that two of the feature-length episodes, "Murder Is Easy" and "Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?," weren’t originally written as vehicles for Our Heroine. But, who’s counting?

Also new to the TV-to-DVD arena are The Shape of the World and Edge of Existence , PBS series from the early 1990s that literally went to the ends of the Earth to document the human experience in extremis. The former uses maps ancient and contemporary to demonstrate how man’s concept of our planet evolved. The latter follows Donal MacIntyre as he tries to understand how people can exist under conditions that would test the mettle of 90 percent of the world’s population. The locations include the intensely hot Rub‘al Khali Desert, the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, the oxygen-starved Bolivian Andes and boat communities in the Celebes Sea. The sets come with study guides, interviews, maps, regional facts and photos.

Scare Tactics: Season 3, Part 1 is comprised of an unfiltered collection of reality-based vignettes, in which unsuspecting amateurs are placed in situations inspired by Sci-Fi Channel programming. The Unit: Season Four represents the final go-round for the David Mamet -produced series that gave citizens an opportunity to eavesdrop not only top-secret military operations, but the soap-opera life of their family back home. How I Met Your Mother: Season Four provides visual evidence for the television academy’s decision to nominate the breezy sitcom for an Emmy.

The Hills: Season Five, Part One is for viewers who measure their own mundane lives against the insignificance of those being wasted by some of the most horrible young adults in America.

The Hallmark Channel movie, Mail Order Bride , starred Daphne Zuniga as woman who attempts to escape the life of crime she was forced to live by her grifter boyfriend. She finds the opportunity when she moves west and assumes the identity of a terminally ill friend who was anticipating the bride of a rancher she never met.
Cagney & Lacey: The Menopause Years
Ally McBeal: The Complete Series

In a video
genre that rarely gives viewers credit for possessing a functioning
sense of humor, it’s likely that the addition of The Menopause
Years to the title of a set comprised of reunion specials for
the Cagney & Lacey gang paid handsome dividends.
It’s fitting that C&L be the direct-to-TV set that
sets a playful tone up front, as the series was among the first
to embrace its characters feminist sensibilities and often unladylike
dialogue. Neither did Sharon Gless and Tyne
Daly bear a resemblance to the stars of “Charlie’s
Angels.” These films were broadcast in the 1990s, several
years after the seven-year run of the series. It includes commentary
by the films’ director.

Fox has compiled more than 5,000 minutes’ worth of Ally McBeal episodes in the gift-worthy Complete Series set. The real highlight for rabid fans, however, will be the inclusion of all of the show’s original music and the cross-over episode, "Axe Murderer," with characters from The Practice .

Also newly collected are Tall Tales & Legends: The Complete Series , from the fertile imagination of video visionary, Shelley Duvall ; Ultraman: The Complete Series , the ’60s sci-fi series from Japan that was created by the special-effects designer of Mothra and Godzilla ; and the 2002 edition of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete Series , which focused on the early adventures of Prince Adam. It comes with plenty of extras.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Power Squad Bod!

With Halloween right around the corner, the release of this trio of workout DVDs couldn’t be more timely. Women, girls and drag queens in need of a costume guaranteed to turn heads and get tongues wagging need only pick up one or all three Power Squad Bod! titles to discover what it takes to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader .

Among the many necessary credentials is to be physically fit. (And, you thought all it took was to look hot in go-go boots?) The disciplines include, “Calorie Blasting Dance,” “Hard Body Boot Camp” and “Body Slimming Yoga.” Football fans of the male persuasion aren’t required to actually work out while watching their favorite pep squad shake their booties.