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Video / DVD

New releases

A look at what's hitting the shleves

By Times Staff
Published December 8, 2005

Cinderella Man

DIRECTOR: Ron Howard

CAST: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Connor Price, Paddy Considine

SYNOPSIS: Depression-era boxer James J. Braddock (Crowe) inspires Americans with his underdog success.

WHAT WE SAID: St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall gave the movie a B. "Cinderella Man is practically a sequel to Seabiscuit, with an unlikely sports hero rallying Americans during the Great Depression. . . . Reuniting Howard and Russell Crowe for a fact-based biography can't avoid comparisons to their Oscar-winning collaboration, A Beautiful Mind," he wrote. "That's the problem with Cinderella Man. Everything is familiar and calculated for maximum awards potential. Beneath its sincere veneer, the movie possesses a vaguely cynical tone; this underdog stuff works on audiences and reaps Academy Awards, so let's pile it on."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; boxing violence, profanity, mature themes

RUNNING TIME: 144 min.

DIRECTOR: Tim Story

CAST: Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington

SYNOPSIS: Marvel Comics' durable superheroes get a fun, frisky big-screen treatment, co-written by St. Pete Beach resident Michael France.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the movie a B. "Somewhere between Tim Burton's Batman and Christopher Nolan's version of where Batman began, superhero movies misplaced a key element in comic books: The ones we cherished 30 years ago never took themselves too seriously. Filmmakers, even those raised on Marvel and DC comics, are so determined to make superheroes mythic that most of the fun gets squeezed out, unless "fun" is determined by how many things blow up," he wrote. "Fantastic Four leaves its fair share of rubble behind, deals with potentially crippling character flaws and is agreeably silly about doing it. That's refreshing after so many dark sides and so much melodramatic fantasy have flashed before our eyes.

MPAA RATING: PG-13; sci-fi violence, brief profanity

RUNNING TIME: 105 min.

DIRECTOR: Jay Chandrasekhar

CAST: Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Willie Nelson, Burt Reynolds, M.C. Gainey, Joe Don Baker

SYNOPSIS: Remake of the TV series, with Knoxville and Scott stepping into the Duke cousins' boots, and Simpson squeezing into Daisy Duke's skimpy wardrobe.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the movie a C. "The Dukes of Hazzard was, and still is in its new form, nothing but yahoo entertainment built upon fast cars, rebel yells and precariously cut-off jeans sported by a statuesque woman," he wrote. "It's the realization of every Yankee's nightmare of what life in the Deep South is like, except the short shorts, of course. Cheesecake is a preferred taste in any region of the country."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; profanity, sexual situations, drug references, action violence

RUNNING TIME: 106 min.

DIRECTOR: Charles Dance

CAST: Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Daniel Bruhl, Natascha McElhone, Miriam Margolyes, David Warner, Toby Jones

SYNOPSIS: British spinsters (Oscar winners Smith, Dench) are intrigued by a strapping young man (Bruhl), who's attracted to a local woman (McElhone).

WHAT WE SAID: Times reviewer Philip Booth gave the film an A-. "Regret, heartbreak, melancholy and an exceedingly genteel way of life are on the rather plainly set table in Ladies in Lavender, a period charmer bolstered by the fine performances of two Dames of British cinema, Judi Dench as spinster Ursula, and Maggie Smith as her sister Janet, a rather haughty widow," he wrote. "This material might have turned sappy and sentimental in lesser hands, but Charles Dance, a veteran actor (Gosford Park) making his directorial debut, elicits tough, smart work from Dench and Smith, who turn in the dramatic equivalent of an affecting extended duet."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; brief strong language

RUNNING TIME: 102 min.

DIRECTOR: John Mallory Asher

CAST: Jenny McCarthy, Carmen Electra, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Victor Webster, Kathy Griffin, Kam Heskin, Sum 41

SYNOPSIS: McCarthy's character embarks on an outrageous journey looking for true love.

WHAT WE SAID: The Times did not review this movie.

MPAA RATING: R; strong sexuality, crude humor, language and some drug use

RUNNING TIME: 90 min.

[Last modified December 7, 2005, 11:01:06]