DVD/VIDEO REVIEWS week of July 6, 2009
This week's DVD and Blu-ray releases
The following are capsule reviews of new and recent DVD and Blu-ray releases from the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Theatrical movies have a USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification and Motion Picture Association of America rating. These classifications refer only to the theatrical version of the films below, and do not take into account the discs' extra content.
Broadcast News
News producer (Holly Hunter) in the Washington bureau of a TV network finds herself drawn away from a hard-working reporter whom she admires (Albert Brooks) by an off-again, on-again attraction to a handsome but unprofessional reporter (William Hurt) being groomed as network news anchor. Written, produced and directed by James L. Brooks, the romantic comedy is often quite funny and also worthwhile in its satiric portrait of television news being more concerned with image and packaging than with the news story itself. Permissive attitude toward casual sex, several explicit sexual references and some rough language. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (R) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) 1987
Beau Geste
Dandy adventure classic from the P.C. Wren story about three brothers, two of whom (Ray Milland and Robert Preston) follow the eldest (Gary Cooper) into the French Foreign Legion where they wind up in a Saharan outpost besieged by rebel Arabs and commanded by a sadistic sergeant (Brian Donlevy). Directed by William Wellman, this remake of the 1926 original retains the visual gusto of the silent's action scenes while getting strong performances from a fine cast, making the talkie version a success in its own right. Stylized violence. Spanish titles option. A-I -- general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Universal Studios Home Video) 1939
Knowing
A Boston astrophysicist (Nicolas Cage) discovers that a time-capsule document buried 50 years ago at his son's (Chandler Canterbury) school accurately predicted all the major disasters of the intervening decades, and sets out to prevent the three calamities, one of them potentially global, it warns will transpire in the near future, eventually aided by the daughter (Rose Byrne) of the woman who wrote it as a schoolgirl (Lara Robinson). Director Alex Proyas' vastly ambitious, genre-melding drama begins as a horror tale but becomes, by its spectacular though sobering climax, a haunting meditation on faith, sacrifice and family unity. Disturbingly realistic catastrophe scenes, brief sexual humor and a few instances of crude language. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG-13)
(Summit Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray) 2009
Lonely Are the Brave
Thoughtful contemporary Western in which a free-spirited cowboy (Kirk Douglas) tries to break a pal out of jail, then gallops off for the protective wilderness of the mountains as a police manhunt (led by Walter Matthau) closes in. Director David Miller's engrossing narrative provides a penetrating character study of a nonconformist who has to pay the penalty for his refusal to adapt to changing times. Stylized violence. A-II -- adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Universal Studios Home Video) 1962
The Pagemaster
Bland, mostly animated tale starts with a fearful boy (Macaulay Culkin) wandering into a library where the librarian (Christopher Lloyd) magically turns into a wizard providing the young worrywart with experiences of adventure, horror and fantasy which leave him a braver lad for having faced up to his fears. Director Maurice Hunt’s animated effort is a tame affair which preaches the value of reading without offering young viewers much in the way of wonder or imagination. A-I -- general patronage. (G) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) 1994
Push
Dreary action adventure tale about a telekinetic American (Chris Evans) living in Hong Kong who teams with his similarly paranormal ex-girlfriend (Camilla Belle) and a tough-talking psychic 13-year-old girl (Dakota Fanning) to thwart the mind-controlling agent (Djimon Hounsou) of a secret and sinister government department. Director Paul McGuigan's wearingly overcomplicated film traces its main character's transformation from loner to protector, but otherwise meanders from one armed confrontation to the next. Considerable action violence, implied premarital sexual activity, underage drinking, at least one use of the F-word, half a dozen crude terms and a couple of uses of profanity. Spanish titles option. A-III --adults. (PG-13) (Summit Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray) 2009
The Unborn
Relatively restrained but mediocre chill fest in which a suburban Chicago college student (Odette Yustman) seeks the aid of a Holocaust survivor (Jane Alexander) and a rabbi (Gary Oldman) to battle the evil spirit that threatens her, her boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) and her best pal (Meagan Good). Though it eventually highlights the power of Scripture-based faith, writer-director David S. Goyer's often predictable thriller dabbles in the kabbalah and other aspects of the occult along the way. A premarital situation, a few crude words and sexual references, a suicide theme and brief skimpy costuming. Spanish language and titles options.
A-III --adults. (PG-13) (Universal Studios Home Video; also available on Blu-ray)
2009
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.