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Video / DVD

New releases

A look at what's coming to the video shelves

By Times Staff
Published December 15, 2005

40-Year-Old Virgin

DIRECTOR: Judd Apatow

CAST: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Jane Lynch

SYNOPSIS: Carell plays the title character, a nebbish trying to break his scoreless streak with the dubious help of piggish co-workers.

WHAT WE SAID: St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall gave the movie an A-. "I could watch Carell for hours. He's an everyman without much in common with anyone, his blank expression suggesting he's taking in everything and comprehending none of it. Few comedians can make a hesitating delivery so appealing, or locate the pathos underneath the jokes so easily," he wrote. "By the end of the movie, we're not only watching Andy losing his virginity, but Carell losing his identity as merely the funny guy in the background."

MPAA RATING: R; strong profanity, sexual situations, brief nudity, crude humor

RUNNING TIME: 115 min.

DIRECTOR: Gary Chapman

CAST: Voices of Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry, Jim Broadbent, John Cleese, Hugh Laurie, John Hurt

SYNOPSIS: Scrawny pigeon (voice of McGregor) wants to join the Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during World War II in a Disney animated effort.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the movie a D. "If you're expecting a cracking war movie spoof along the lines of Chicken Run, you're placing too much confidence in this movie. Valiant piles on the obvious ornithology puns and sight gags . . . The only compliment Valiant earns is for its short running time.

MPAA RATING: G; crude humor

RUNNING TIME: 76 min.

DIRECTOR: Malcolm D. Lee

CAST: Bow Wow, Wesley Jonathan, Chi McBride, Mike Epps, Jurnee Smollett

SYNOPSIS: Best friends take their roller skating and romancing skills to another rink during the disco 1970s.

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

MPAA RATING: PG-13, some strong language

RUNNING TIME: 107 min.

DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater

CAST: Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden, Sammi Kraft, Timmy Deters, Brandon Craggs, Jeff Davies, Tyler Patrick Jones, Troy Gentile

SYNOPSIS: Remake of the 1976 comedy; an alcoholic (Thornton) coaches a youth baseball team with a roster of misfits.

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the movie a C. "The Bears are more culturally diverse now, with Hispanic and Indian players, even a paraplegic, allowing Thornton a few more politically incorrect zingers," he wrote. "But too much of the film's humor is based on the bumbling play. How many different ways are there to miss a fly ball or boot a grounder? Not many, as it turns out."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; strong profanity, brief sexual situations, alcohol abuse

RUNNING TIME: 116 min.

DIRECTOR: Hans Petter Molland

CAST: Bai Ling, Tim Roth, Nick Nolte, Damien Nguyen, Temuera Morrison, Thu Anh, Glen Bradford, Thi Kim Xuan Chau, Xuan Phuc Dins

SYNOPSIS: A Vietnamese war child (Nguyen) searches Saigon for his mother, then America for his G.I. father (Nolte).

WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave the film a B. "The film is lushly photographed, even in its ugliest settings, and the performances are commendable. The Beautiful Country is another film, like Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth and Three Seasons, that doesn't quite do justice to its subject. Maybe our simple awareness that things like this happened to people like Binh is enough, or will have to suffice.

MPAA RATING: R; some language and a crude sexual reference

RUNNING TIME: 125 min.

DIRECTOR: Michael Bay

CAST: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan

SYNOPSIS: Futuristic refugees (McGregor, Johansson) track down a cloning conspiracy in a Utopian society.

WHAT WE SAID: Times reviewer Marty Clear gave the movie a B-. "The Island gives the impression that it wants to be a thinking person's action film. Its dizzying chase scenes alternate with philosophical discussions about ethics and the essence of human existence, and its underlying themes make heady statements about humans acting as gods," he wrote. "But people looking for thought-provoking discourse shouldn't rejoice, and action fans needn't despair. The ideas presented are moderately intriguing, but they're hardly profound. And though they bog down the proceedings annoyingly, the socio-philosophical elements don't stop The Island from developing into a decent futuristic thriller."

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality and language

RUNNING TIME: 127 min.

DIRECTOR: Michael McGowan

CAST: Adam Butcher, Campbell Scott, Gordon Pinsent, Jennifer Tilly, Shauna MacDonald, Michael Kanev, Tamara Hope, Miranda Black, Frank Crudele, Chris Ploszczansky

SYNOPSIS: Catholic schoolboy (Butcher) turns punishment into success as a Boston Marathon competitor.

WHAT WE SAID: Times reviewer Philip Booth gave the film a B. "What's a girl-crazy (if inexperienced) red-blooded Canadian teenager to do when his sexual obsession leads to an embarrassing incident in the swimming pool at his Catholic school, circa 1954? Why, become a surprisingly competitive runner and land a shot at winning the Boston Marathon," he wrote. "That's the fate of the title character (Butcher) in Saint Ralph, an offbeat period piece that handily fulfills its modest ambitions as a diverting blend of comedy and drama."

MPAA RATING: PG-13; some sexual content and partial nudity

RUNNING TIME: 98 min.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 11:41:06]