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Video / DVD

New releases

A look at what is hitting the shelves.

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 27, 2005

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

DIRECTOR: Kerry Conran

CAST: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Laurence Olivier

SYNOPSIS: A dashing pilot (Law) and an intrepid reporter (Paltrow) must stop giant robots to save the world. It's movie popcorn gilded with superb cinematography and sets created entirely on computer.

WHAT WE SAID: St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall gave the film an A. He wrote, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a perfect blend of excitement and artistry. I can't imagine anyone of any age who won't swoon or gape at something on display. This is what great filmmaking is all about: movies that thrill in populist ways, yet raise the standards of everyone who sees them. Conran, in his first time out of the gate, reminds us that it's possible."

MPAA RATING: PG; sci-fi violence, mild profanity

RUNNING TIME: 107 min.

DIRECTORS: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky

CAST: Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Jason Newsted, Bob Rock, Phil Towle, Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich, Torben Ulrich

SYNOPSIS: Filmmakers Berlinger and Sinofsky trace two tumultuous years in the life of heavy metal rock's greatest band. Personal demons, professional rivalry and a $40,000-a-month group therapist keep the headbangers butting heads.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall also gave this film an A. "Take the intentional laughs out of This is Spinal Tap and you have this excellent documentary about a year in the life, and possibly death, of the greatest heavy metal rock 'n' roll band. The fans bang their heads while the band members butt theirs," he wrote. "There are plenty of musical segments to satisfy Metallica's fans and enough background detail about the creative process - no matter how dysfunctional - to lend meaning to the noise for the uninitiated. Some Kind of Monster is some kind of movie."

MPAA RATING: R; harsh profanity, substance abuse references

RUNNING TIME: 135 min.

DIRECTOR: Paul W.S. Anderson

CAST: Lance Henriksen, Ewen Bremner, Raoul Bova, Sanaa Lathan

SYNOPSIS: A showdown between two of the best creature species ever, although tamed to less grisly standards.

WHAT WE SAID: The Times did not review this movie. Glenn Lovell of the San Jose Mercury News wrote that the pairing of the two creatures "proves every bit as profit-driven as that used for the last Tyson fight. . . . (Fans) will report slavishly to duty to discover which, in close combat, is mightier, the pneumatic jaw or the shoulder-mounted cannon. And when not watching the big guys scuffle, they'll delight in the chest births and human cocoons, which all these years later act more like punch lines than shock highlights."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; violence, language, horror images, slime, gore

RUNNING TIME: 100 min.

DIRECTOR: Forest Whitaker

CAST: Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas, Michael Keaton, Amerie Rogers, Margaret Colin, Lela Rochon

SYNOPSIS: The offspring (Holmes) of a U.S. president (Keaton) enrolls at college, where romance and celebrity hassles await.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the movie a C+. "First Daughter is a Cinderella story spotlighting a woman who's already royalty. None of this would matter much if Whitaker didn't sell his movie as an insider's view. He poses one ideal and delivers another, a tactic that works in politics but not the cinema," he wrote.

MPAA RATING: PG; brief profanity and sexual references, teen alcohol abuse

RUNNING TIME: 104 min.

DIRECTOR: John Duigan

CAST: Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz, Stuart Townsend, Thomas Kretschmann, Daniel Gillies, Elizabeth Chouvalidze, David La Haye

SYNOPSIS: Several wars get in the way of a love triangle involving Theron, Cruz and Townsend.

WHAT WE SAID: The Times did not review this movie. Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "The film aims for the Euro-eroticism of The Unbearable Lightness of Being (and misses, although Theron dons a hat and doffs her clothes, a la Lena Olin), but Head in the Clouds is catastrophically overdone."

MPAA RATING: R; sexuality, nudity and some violence

RUNNING TIME: 132 min.

DIRECTOR: Jacob Aaron Estes

CAST: Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan, Josh Peck, Carly Schroeder

SYNOPSIS: Teenage revenge on a bully (Peck) goes too far.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the movie a B. "The first film by Jacob Aaron Estes resembles several other movies about teenagers feeding upon each other, with one difference: The bully doesn't get what he deserves. In fact, with only one exception, the bully is the film's most sympathetic character, a risky move that doesn't completely pay off," he wrote. "Mean Creek floats a lot of intriguing ideas but follows up on few of them. We mostly learn about these troubled teens through heated exposition, arguments that almost stop the movie in its tracks (except for George's final outburst, which is almost too harsh to handle). As such, Mean Creek is a worthwhile showcase for promising young actors, Peck in particular."

MPAA RATING: R; language, sexual references, teen drug and alcohol use

RUNNING TIME: 88 min.

DIRECTOR: Christian Johnston

CAST: George Calil, Wali Razaqi

SYNOPSIS: American documentary filmmaker (Calil) goes to Afghanistan to locate Osama bin Laden; filmed in the you-are-there style of The Blair Witch Project.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the film a C. There's something vaguely unsavory about Christian Johnston's film, despite its strengths," Persall wrote. "Like The Blair Witch Project, the movie blurs the distinction between fiction and documentary filmmaking. But Johnston toys with a serious subject, the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, turning it into a Rambo fantasy."

MPAA RATING: R; language and violent images

RUNNING TIME: 95 min.

[Last modified January 26, 2005, 10:44:03]