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Video/DVD: New releases
An unexpected friendship
An egotistical bachelor played by Hugh Grant befriends a 12-year-old boy in a film filled with comedy and angst.
By PHILIP BOOTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 16, 2003
About a Boy (PG-13)
[Photo: Universal Studios]
Hugh Grant, a callous thirtysomething bachelor, meets an eccentric 12-year-old boy played by Nicholas Hoult in About a Boy, an adaptation of a Nick Hornby novel.
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Hugh Grant, shucking his fumbling nice-guy routine and most of his mannerisms, is pitch perfect as an aimless, callous, wealthy thirtysomething bachelor in this sharp, entertaining adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel.
Grant is Will, a well-dressed, self-consciously hip London resident, certain that his acquisition of a pretend toddler will result in an endless variety of satisfying dating experiences. Instead, he stumbles into an awkward friendship with an eccentric 12-year-old (Nicholas Hoult) and his depressed mom (Toni Collette).
Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz, best known as the guys behind the crass if entertaining American Pie, weren't Hornby's first choice to direct and work on the screenplay. The siblings nevertheless pulled it off, with an abundance of style and smarts, handily capturing the comedy and angst so palpable in the book. It's funny stuff, with a little bit of heart.
DVD extras: The brothers Weitz, novelist and executive producer Hornby, Grant and others are interviewed in a behind-the-scenes feature. Also included are a commentary by the sibling directors; deleted scenes; and a spotlight on Badly Drawn Boy, a.k.a. singer and songwriter Damon Gough.
Rent it if you enjoy: Hornby's novels, Stephen Frears' 2000 film adaptation of High Fidelity, Grant's other movies.
Blue Crush (PG-13)
[Photo: Universal Studios]
Kate Bosworth as Anne Marie surfs the Bonzai Pipeline in Blue Crush, a forgettable tale that nonetheless has excellent surfing footage.
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Terrific surfing footage, photographed in Oahu, alone makes Blue Crush worth the cost of admission for fans of tasty waves. The story line is forgettable, a soapy tale about three cute surfer girls living together in a beach shack, enjoying an endless summer.
Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) is bent on triumphing in a major competition on the dangerous Bonzai Pipeline, but she has to stare down past disappointments, pull herself away from a distracting new boyfriend and get back into the good graces of her formerly loyal friends (Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake).
Yes, it's all about girl power, but director John Stockwell hedges his bets by rarely allowing his tanned young stars to wear anything more cumbersome than bikinis. The DVD includes a commentary by Stockwell and cast members; features on surfing techniques and history; and a behind-the-scenes look at the filmmakers' methods of capturing the wave action.
Our Song (R)
Jim McKay so effectively taps into the private world of teenage girls played by Melissa Martinez (Lantana), Anna Simpson and Kerry Washington (Save the Last Dance) in Our Song that viewers may feel guilty of eavesdropping. That's a good thing. McKay's characters, brought to life via the young actors' beautifully naturalistic performances, walk, talk, flirt and bicker with boys and negotiate difficult life decisions in and around their low-income apartments in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The milieu is expertly captured in the writer-director's sophomore feature film, released three years ago.
The story, like the new Drumline, revolves around a marching band's preparation for a big performance, and the real-life Jackie Robinson Steppers are prominently featured. Unfortunately, no extras are included on the DVD.
Fear Dot Com (R)
[Photo: Warner Bros.]
Stephen Dorff stars in Fear Dot Com, a gory horror throwaway about a Web site that kills all its visitors.
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Anyone ever annoyed by pop-up ads on the Internet and spam e-mail -- and just about everybody else -- should avoid this violent, gory, misogynistic horror throwaway about a Web site that kills all its visitors. It's a cross between a ghost story and a slasher flick, with the otherwise redeemable Stephen Rea (The Musketeer) wasted as a video freak specializing in the torture and murder of young women, live and online. Natascha McElhone (Solaris) and Stephen Dorff (Blade) also took the money and ran. Extras include a commentary by director William Malone, a pointless promo piece and a single deleted scene.
The Donner Party (not rated)
Ansel Adams (not rated)
Ric Burns, like his famous brother Ken, has a real knack for bringing the past to life, and nowhere is that more evident than on these two documentaries, originally aired as part of PBS's American Experience series.
The Donner Party, made in 1992, may be one of the most gripping history lessons ever made for the small screen, a deeply moving retelling of a shocking chapter in the history of U.S. western expansion. Trapped in the snowy Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846-47, the group of emigrants to California reluctantly turned to cannibalism for survival; 46 people survived, and 41 died. Burns carefully avoids the sensationalistic aspects of the story, effectively using close-ups of old photographs, new video of the terrain covered by the travelers, interviews with novelist Wallace Stegner and several historians, and readings of journal entries penned by members of the Donner and Reed families.
The myth and reality of the American West also informs Ansel Adams, an insightful examination of the life of the revered San Francisco-born nature photographer and environmentalist who died in 1984. Burns aptly gets at the shape of Adams' early life, his passion for his art, his love for the piano and his obsession with the beauty of the Yosemite Valley.
Classics on DVD
Life imitated art's imitation of life in All About Eve, as related in the AMC Backstory included in the DVD for the Oscar-showered 1950 drama about backstage duplicity on Broadway. An aging New York stage actress (Bette Davis, at her most potent) and a rising Hollywood film actor (George Sanders) fight to keep their relationship together, in the face of complications caused in part by a seemingly sweet ingenue (Celeste Holm) with a wicked hidden agenda. Davis, whose career was on the decline before Eve, and Sanders fell in love on the set, tied the knot shortly later and stayed married for a decade.
All About Eve, which won 14 Oscars including best picture, best supporting actor (Sanders) and writing and directing honors for Joseph Mankiewicz, is one of three impressively packaged, Academy Award-winning titles in the "Studio Classics" series from Fox. Eve, Gentleman's Agreement and How Green Was My Valley variously offer attractive extras, including audio commentaries, interviews with the films' participants, newsreels and trailers.
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