Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - (Page 16) REVIEWS I BATTLE IN SEATTLE Prebook 2/10; Street 3/10 Universal/Screen Media, Drama, B.O. $0.2 million, $14.98 DVD, $29.98 Blu-ray, ‘R’ for language and some violence. Stars Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta, Michelle Rodriguez, André Benjamin, Martin Henderson, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Carpenter. www.homemediamagazine.com events that begin peacefully before turning into a full-scale riot. The Seattle mayor (Ray Liotta) is faced with the dilemma of calling in the National Guard after promising protest organizers he wouldn’t. A SWAT officer (Woody Harrelson) and his pregnant wife (Charlize Theron) discover the pitfalls of being on the front line by happenstance and duty (undoubtedly, the film’s strongest plot line). Protesters Lou (Michelle Rodriguez from the upcoming Fast & Furious), Jay (Martin Henderson), Sam (Jennifer Carpenter of “Dexter”) and Django (Outkast’s André Benjamin) quickly become caught up in the crossfire while also tackling personal and political demons. Human foibles juxtaposed against international history (Doctor Zhivago) or race relations (Crash) work best if the viewer is enticed enough to care. Battle in Seattle is somewhat lacking in this department, but it does sport a superb soundtrack. When a climatic scene revolves around whether arrested protesters will be released from jail (they always are), Battle has the feel of a made-for-TV movie. Home video extras include commentary with Townsend, the making-of featurette “The Making of Battle in Seattle,” and the featurette “The Real World Trade Leaders.” – Erik Gruenwedel I n 1999, the World Trade Organization held its biennial ministerial meetings in Seattle. Tens of thousands of demonstrators and anarchists descended upon the city to protest the 153-member-country group, alleging it to be nothing more than a shill for international conglomerates and corporations at the expense of the poor, indigenous and small businesses and traditions. Against this backdrop, including actual news footage, actor Stuart Townsend in his first directorial effort attempts to weave the fictional lives of six disparate people caught up in the I IMPS* Street 2/10 Monterey, Comedy, $24.95 DVD, Unrated. Stars Linda Blair, Barbara Bosson, Georg Stanford Brown, Colleen Camp, Marilyn Chambers, Julia Duffy, Sybil Danning, Erika Eleniak, Rich Hall, Deborah Harmon, Audrey Landers, Meadowlark Lemon, Michael McKean, Ed Marinaro, Diana Muldaur, William Sanderson, Peter Scolari, James B. Sikking, P.J. Soles, Wendie Jo Sperber, Jennifer Tilly, Jimmie Walker, Fred Willard, George Wyner, Keenan Wynn. I AMERICA’S HANGAR Prebook 2/10; Street 3/17 Infinity, Documentary, $14.98 DVD, NR. S T his artifact from the 1980s serves as a nice time capsule of popular culture from 25 years ago. IMPS*, which stands for the Immoral Minority Picture Show, is a sketch-comedy film in the mold of Kentucky Fried Movie. It was produced in 1983 and apparently sat on a shelf without a wide release despite a cast that includes a huge roster of 1970s and early 1980s pop-culture icons. Linda Blair (The Exorcist), for example, spoofs her horror-film background in a fake trailer in which she plays a girl who gets mad at the announcer for pointing out her clichéd dumb moves. As a collection of pop-culture gags, IMPS* offers some good laughs, but the film hits a lull in the middle with a slasher parody called Hanukkah Horror that runs for way too long. Some of the funnier sketches include a man kicked out of a bar for telling jokes during “unhappy hour,” and a mission controller having trouble communicating with the first black man (Jimmie Walker of “Good Times”) on the moon. Extras include three deleted sketches of varying quality; a “Whatever Happened To …” series in which still photos of actors from the film are shown with trivia bubbles about their careers; and a “What Should Never Have Happened To …” segment that updates viewers on the lives of the different characters from the movie. – John Latchem tepping through the main hall of the National Air and Space Museum at The Mall in Washington D.C., one can’t help but be awed by the snapshot of human accomplishment in that one room, from machines that launched the era of powered flight in 1903, to vessels that took mankind to the moon less than 70 years later, and beyond. I A SECRET Prebook 2/12; Street 3/10 Strand, Drama, B.O. $0.6 million, $27.99 DVD, Unrated. In French with English subtitles. Stars Mathieu Amalric, Ludivine Sagnier, Cécile de France, Patrick Bruel, Julie Depardieu. A Secret is the kind of film that reminds viewers of what is great about French cinema, exploring family tragedy and the power of memory and denial through the lens of a FrenchJewish family during World War II. Based on a book by Philippe Grimbert, the film tells of young François, a sweet and quiet Jewish boy who succeeds in school yet evades his father’s approval, lacking the physical prowess his father possesses. To make matters worse, François invents an imaginary brother who does everything he does, except better. François (played as an adult by Quantum of Solace villain Mathieu Amalric) eventually discovers there’s a reason behind his father’s reluctance to accept his son. It’s not always an easy film to watch. Like many great French films before it, A Secret can be unrelentingly sullen and is more concerned with delving steadily into stories and characters without pause for comic relief or extraneous subplot. Unfortunately, the film can also be a bit lacking in suspense, and some tonal shifts are noticeable, which is sometimes appropriate in a film that confidently crosses between time, memory and imagination to tell its story. High Tension’s Cécile De France is excellent as François’ mother, Tania, expressing ambiguous emotional states as much in her eyes as by her actions. The pride she feels as she climbs the high dive while onlookers admire her skill and physique is tangible, while the looks she shoots her husband (Patrick Bruel) convey a certain mixture of pain, sexual longing and patience. Julie Depardieu (daughter of Gerard) is wonderfully sympathetic as a family friend and nurse Louise, who has no children and cares for François as her own. But the main draw here is how Grimbert and writer-director Claude Miller arrange pieces of the film into a snaking trail that will have you rewatching just to see how they fit. – Billy Gil America’s Hangar takes viewers through the different hallways of the main museum, but also the larger Udvar-Hazy annex at Dulles Airport. It also takes us places we don’t usually get to see, such as a complex in Maryland where planes and artifacts are preserved and restored. The show traces the history of the museum from a small wing of the Smithsonian in the early 20th century that was made into a separate branch in 1946. It’s now among the mostvisited museums in the world. Such legendary aircraft on display there include the Wright flyer, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, John Glenn’s Friendship 7 Mercury capsule and the Apollo 11 capsule. Larger ships at Udvar-Hazy, which will be featured in this summer’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, include the Space Shuttle Enterprise and an SR-71 Blackbird. The program provides a great overview of what to expect from a visit to the museum, but it’s just not quite the same as being there. – John Latchem 16 Home Media Magazine February 9–15, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 Contents News Family Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Family (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Family (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Cine Mercado (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Cine Mercado (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Reviews (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Reviews (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Reviews (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Pipeline (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Pipeline (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Top 20 Sellers (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - February 9-15, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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