Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - (Page 14) REVIEWS I MR. BELVEDERE: SEASONS ONE & TWO Street 3/17 Shout! Factory, Comedy, $44.99 five-DVD set, NR. Stars Christopher Hewett, Bob Uecker, Ilene Graff, Brice Beckham, Tracy Wells, Rob Stone. www.homemediamagazine.com Stone, Tracy Wells and Brice Beckham as their children, causing all sorts of headaches for the prim and proper Belvedere. This DVD set, licensed from Fox, includes seven episodes from the first season, and 22 episodes from the second season, spanning 1985 to 1986. The set is surprisingly light on extras for a Shout! Factory release. It includes a brief retrospective featuring interviews with Uecker, Graff, Stone and Beckham (all grown up). They pay brief tribute to Hewett, who died in 2001. While he was best known for his role on the show, his distinguished career included a stint on “Fantasy Island” and as the dandy director in the original The Producers movie. Also included is a bland 1992 “Saturday Night Live” sketch about a “Mr. Belvedere” fan club meeting, starring Tom Hanks. I would have liked to see something about the history of the Lynn Belvedere character, which was created by author Gwen Davenport in the 1947 novel Belvedere. Clifton Webb played the role in the 1948 film Sitting Pretty and its two sequels, and the 1950s and 1960s saw three failed TV pilots based on the premise. Nevertheless, this DVD set should have longsuffering fans jumping for joy. – John Latchem © 20th Century Fox Television T he sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” may not have been the most popular show from the 1980s, but it has left an enduring memory. The show starred Christopher Hewett as the proper Englishman who moves in with the Owens family in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Penn. The hilarious Bob Uecker played George Owens, with Ilene Graff as his wife, and Rob I GOING DOWN UNDER Prebook 3/13; Street 4/14 Maverick, Comedy, $16.98 DVD, NR. Stars Hyland Kavalee, Sandy Gutman, Austen Tayshus, Johnny Boxer, Paul W. He, Jo Ashton, Gabby Millgate. W ithin the first five minutes of this Australian import, young Jono (Hyland Kavalee) is shown having sex with a restaurant meat slicer, leading to an inevitable and quite sensitive accident. This splits the story into two plots. In one, a snooty professor sues the restaurant, called “Meat Pie for the Straight Guy,” claiming he tasted the severed appendage in one of their concoctions. Since he can’t prove it, he cooks up a plan to expose the eatery to the public. In the main story, Jono restores his manhood after receiving a transplant from a porn star who drops dead filming a scene. The box art evokes a comparison with American Pie (its original title was Meat Pie, and it’s also known as Australian Pie), but it’s more like Australia’s answer to Orgazmo. Going Down Under is crude, vile and disgusting, but with that title, how could it not be? The film is such a celebration of bad taste it could hardly be considered shocking. That alone should up the curiosity factor among fans of the sex-comedy genre, especially those who have stuck with the “American Pie” franchise through its three directto-video sequels. – John Latchem I THE POPE’S TOILET Prebook 3/10; Street 4/7 a huge crowd from Brazil and are stocking up on food they plan to sell to the visitors, as if the Pope represents Film Movement, Drama, $24.95 DVD, NR. God lifting them from their destitution. In Spanish with English subtitles. Beto hopes to send his daughter to college to pursue Stars Cesar Troncoso, Virginia Mendez, Mario Silva, Virginia Ruiz, Nelson Lence. her dreams of becoming a journalist, but an incident with a checkpoint officer sullies his reputation with the local shop owners. Desperate for a quick he effects of poverty on the human peso, Beto hits upon the idea to build a spirit are on display in The Pope’s public toilet in front of his house, and Toilet, a wonderful little film cocharge the tourists for its use. produced by Fernando Meirelles (City of Troncoso delivers a terrific performance, God, The Constant Gardener.) likeable yet pitiable in a way that really inCesar Troncoso (XXY) stars as Beto, a petty spires the viewer to cheer for him. This is smuggler living in Melo, Uruguay. Each day, he the kind of film that sheds light on issues and his pals bike 40 miles across the Brazilian facing blighted communities around the border to purchase cheap supplies, which they world, while at the same time helping transport back to their village. On occasion they those of us fortunate to live in America are hassled by customs agents who are more interested in lin- appreciate how good we actually have it. ing their own pockets than actually stopping contraband. The film has won several awards on the festival circuit Business is picking up, for it is 1988, and Pope John and was an official selection of the Cannes and Toronto Paul II is about to visit the area. The residents anticipate film festivals, among others. – John Latchem T I MR. BLUE SKY Street 3/17 Drummond & Smith, Drama, B.O. $0.006 million, $19.99 DVD. Stars Richard Karn, Mary Kate Schellhardt. M 14 r. Blue Sky is truly a different kind of love story. Three childhood friends — Greg, Bonnie and Andra — grow up together in the same neighborhood. Bonnie and Greg are protective of Andra, who has Down syn- drome and often falls prey to other kids’ and even adults’ inexplicable abuse. The film flash-forwards to the three in their mid-20s. Bonnie has landed a job at a law firm and has found new friends and left Andra behind. Greg is an elementary-school teacher and has recently started dating Bonnie when he starts to tutor Andra, who is trying to complete her AA degree. All too quickly, Greg falls in love with Andra and wants to marry her. He does so, much to the shock of his alcoholic father (Richard Karn of “Home Improvement”) and the parents at the school where he teaches. Meanwhile, broken-hearted Bonnie is questioning her superficial friends. And rather than be mad at the woman her boyfriend left her for, she becomes Andra’s best friend again. While I’d really like to believe that an intelligent, attractive man could easily ignore that a woman has Down syndrome and want to marry her as if it’s no big deal, it just wasn’t believable here. Andra was sweet and charming but very child-like. There was no chemistry between the two characters, and the relationship developed too fast to believe. The film seemed to try too hard to touch on serious topics such as alcoholism, suicide and struggling with a disability. Mr. Blue Sky — titled after what Andra calls a sunny day — is a sweet, heartwarming film. But some of the plot elements and characters were convenient, far-fetched or just too rosey. However, the film is touching and could be inspirational to its intended audience. – Angelique Flores Home Media Magazine Month 00–00, 2009 Home Media Magazine March 9–15, http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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