Interiors (DVD)
After the tremendous success of ANNIE HALL, Woody Allen took a huge risk and turned serious with INTERIORS, his Bergmanesque masterpiece--a dark, intense look at a family suffocating itself in thoughts of failure and death. Geraldine Page is extraordinary as Eve, a troubled woman who cannot face reality. When Eve`s husband, Arthur (E.G. Marshall), announces that he`s moving out of the house, their three daughters (Diane Keaton, Mary Beth Hurt, and Kristin Griffith) gather around the mother, attempting to help her through this crisis, but they have been raised with such coldness and aloofness that they are helpless.
The first movie that Allen wrote and directed but did not appear in, INTERIORS is about closed spaces, both physical and psychological. Most of the scenes feature the intense cast standing by windows, looking out at the world that is going on outside without them. The opening shot of Renata (Keaton) reaching out to the window, spreading her fingers, is mesmerizing. Gordon Willis`s photography washes the film in shades of black, white, and gray--the only color comes from Pearl (Maureen Stapleton), Arthur`s new lover, who is vibrant and impulsive, everything Eve`s family is not. The film also has no background music whatsoever; in fact, aside from one scene in which Pearl plays a jazz record, the only background sounds that can be heard are the quiet call of the ocean and the sisters` careful breathing. Slow-paced, bleak, and marvelously insightful, INTERIORS is a poignant film that should not be missed.PG"
Director: Woody Allen
Beetlejuice (DVD) Standard and Letterbox In the surreal, wonderfully cartoon-like comedy BEETLEJUICE, a childless couple, Barbara and Adam (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin), move to the country only to be killed in a car accident while passing over a quain...
In the surreal, wonderfully cartoon-like comedy BEETLEJUICE, a childless couple, Barbara and Adam (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin), move to the country only to be killed in a car accident while passing over a quaint covered bridge. Their ghosts return to their beloved Victorian home, and find the HANDBOOK FOR THE RECENTLY DECEASED, which not only lets them know they`re dead, but comes in handy when they learn that they can continue to live in their house, even though a new family--from the land of the living--is moving in. The new owners, fresh from the city, are quite a strange group themselves, and include the overpowering hipster mom Delia (Catherine O`Hara), her pompous SoHo interior designer Otho (Glenn Shadix), her meek husband Charles (Jeffrey Jones), and their morose teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder), who befriends the ghostly couple. Though the threesome attempt to scare Delia from ruining the house with redecoration and her unpleasant personality, their attempts fail. As a last resort, they call upon the services of the demented, terrifying, but hilarious bioexorcist, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton). Director Tim Burton scores big with witty site gags, incredible special effects and sets, and a unique ensemble of characters. BEETLEJUICE is a visually inventive and imaginative comedy taken to a uniquely grotesque and funny level by the manic performance of Michael Keaton in the title role.
PG"
Director: Tim Burton
VeggieTales - Stand Up, Stand Tall, Stand Strong (DVD)
Three more short stories from the computer-animated kids` Christian series:
The Story of Flibber-O-Loo : a heartwarming and hilarious take on the theme of love-thy-neighbor.
Rack, Shack & Benny : a humorous look at the story of Nebuchadnezzar.
Josh and the Big Wall : The Walls of Jericho, the promised land and Joshua, all told using cucumbers and peas.NR"
The Hurricane (DVD)
The inspirational true story of boxer Rubin The Hurricane Carter, who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1966. Told in a series of flashbacks, Washington immerses himself in the role of Carter with a charged, intense passion. The story jumps around in time, from Carter`s troubled childhood, to his arrest in 1966, to his fruitless appeals, settling in 1983, when a group of three white adults and a black teenager dedicate their lives to freeing him. Jewison`s assured direction keeps these stories from getting jumbled and blurring together. Even in flashbacks, the plot moves forward dramatically, to its eventual rousing conclusion. Based on the novels THE 16TH ROUND by Carter and LAZARUS AND THE HURRICANE by Chaiton and Swinton.R"
Director: Norman Jewison
ACTORS: Denzel Washington, Dan Hedaya, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber
Tommy & Tuppence - Partners in Crime: Set 1 (DVD) 2 Disc Boxed Set Set in the 1920`s, this popular detective series features the original feature-length first episode, alongside four other installments from the show. Tommy and Tuppence are two upper-class, eccentric detectives who del...
Set in the 1920`s, this popular detective series features the original feature-length first episode, alongside four other installments from the show. Tommy and Tuppence are two upper-class, eccentric detectives who delight in solving any case that comes their way. Written by crime novelist Agatha Christie, and having aired to great success on PBS, TOMMY & TUPPENCE is a real treat for any serious fan of quirky British crime dramas.
NR"
