Home Media Magazine - May 18-24, 2008 - (Page 15)

www.homemediamagazine.com REVIEWS I VALENTINA’S TANGO Street 5/27 MTI, Thriller, $24.95 DVD, ‘R’ for sexual content, language and brief violence. Stars Hugo del Carril, Guillermina Quiroga, George Perez, Jordi Caballero, Dianna Miranda. alentina’s Tango, a dark drama that aspires to the operatic, is the story of one family’s journey spanning two generations, as they move from the innocence of the old country to the cynicism and corruption that infects the family like a virus as they establish themselves in America. As a young couple in Spain, the love that Valentina and Eduardo feel for each other is exceeded only by their intense physical attracI CRANFORD deaths of loved ones, have their lives turned tion. Forced to marry when her family finds upside down by unstable finances and must them naked and entangled, they move to Street 5/20 navigate the unforgiving divisions of social America where they open a club that features BBC Video, Drama, $34.98 two-DVD set, NR. the pair dancing the tango with the same class. Stars Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton, Simon Yet, there is also much joy and levity in white-hot intensity they enjoy in bed. Woods, Julia Sawalha. Cranford. Mixed up Valentine’s Day cards, a hairless cow in flannel underwear and a laceans of period dramas will no doubt eating cat are just some of the entertaining enjoy Cranford, a five-part miniseries absurdities that make Cranford so enjoyable. from the BBC that is based on three As with most BBC productions, Cranford’s novels by Elizabeth Gaskell. cast is outstanding, and the performances Set in the 1840s, Cranford centers on a small English village that is perched just beyond the unproven doctor uses the latest in medical are flawless. Silver screen greats such as reach of the railway. It is a town with an unusu- practices; and the shortage of men means the Dench and Gambon give their usual best as ally high population of spinsters and widows, women must take on nontraditional roles as do a host of other familiar faces: Woods (of HBO’s “Rome”), Staunton (of Vera Drake) and and these women amuse, endear and enter- entrepreneurs and heads of households. tain as they experience a town in transition. Over the five episodes, the women learn Sawalha (of “Absolutely Fabulous”) to name The nearby railway threatens to bring city to trust change and, true to the hardships of just a few. modernity into their small town; a new and the time, they also endure the sad, untimely – Amanda McCorquodale The club is successful and the couple’s two sons enjoy everything the new world has to ing with hiccups, the perils of playing with an iron, offer, eventually finding themselves on very I LOOPDIDOO traveling to the end of the world and much more. different paths. One is about to enter the Prebook 5/21; Street 6/24 Other equally cute and perky characters include priesthood, and one is poised to become a PorchLight, Animated, $14.98 DVD, NR. Basil, who is the boy next door and Petunia’s crime boss. But a woman stands between the classmate; Oodles the cat; Mrs. Mole; and the Flea pair, complicating everything. ased on Alexis Nesme’s “Grabouillon” Family, who come along for each ride — literally, Quiroga, a Penelope Cruz look-alike, is afcomic books, Loopdidoo is a French import fecting as Valentina, a woman whose deep that was first acquired by London’s Cake since they are affixed to Loopdidoo’s back. Loopdidoo also is scheduled to premiere on highand abiding love for her husband is eventually Distribution then passed her undoing. Also very good are Caballero and along to PorchLight def provider Voom HD’s AnimaPerez as father and son, both trying, in their Entertainment for its nia Network. While the animation would certainly pop in high-defiown ways, to keep their family intact. DVD release. As a multigenerational saga, Valentina’s The animated adven- nition, it would have no problem Tango dips its toes into the fertile soil tures of 5-year-old Pe- fitting into Noggin, Nickelodeon, that has produced many cinematic mastunia and her mischievous Disney Channel or any of the many terpieces. Although it does not rise to that mutt Loopdidoo translate very standard-def kiddie networks. Although very few lessons can level, it is an interesting look at a family’s well to a U.S. audience, especially assimilation and eventual destruction. fans of the animation style seen on Nickelodeon’s be learned here, Loopdidoo’s fun, short format, coupled with It also features some very exciting scenes “Back at the Barnyard.” of tango, which will appeal to fans of shows Perfectly designed for preschoolers, there are 13 3-D animation and camera angles, such as “Dancing With the Stars” and “So You very short shorts in this cartoon collection. The duo’s should keep short-attention Think You Can Dance.” daily adventures include baking a cake, seeing how spans very entertained. paint fares in the rain, finding a four-leaf clover, deal– Rachel Cericola – Anne Sherber V F B The actors do their best with the flat dialogue they are given, and as it is straight drama, Allen is absent from the cast as are his signature witticisms, irony and humor. Yet, there are traces of Allen’s usual motifs in the directing and writing. There is the play within a play, the auteur fascination of a sensual female character as well as the heavy-handed references to Greek tragedies to underscore the film’s tragic themes. Match Point provides what this film lacks: the heavy psychological torment that accompanies immoral acts. Cassandra’s Dream merely plunks the moral down on the table without the entertainment of characters who wrestle with their hearts and minds. Audiences who are familiar with Allen’s catalog will realize that he has done this “Tell-Tale Heart” thriller better before. For those unfamiliar with his previous work, Cassandra’s Dream will amuse for its 109 minutes, but it will be forgotten soon thereafter. – Amanda McCorquodale May 18–24, 2008 Home Media Magazine 15 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - May 18-24, 2008

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