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.

Detective Story

Powerful adaptation of Sidney Kingsley's play about a day in a New York City police station beginning with the arrest of a shoplifter (Lee Grant) and ending with a dying cop's Act of Contrition. At the center of events is an idealistic but overbearing detective (Kirk Douglas) who brings in a petty thief (Craig Hill), slaps around an abortionist (George Macready), breaks up with his wife (Eleanor Parker) and stops an escaping crook (Joseph Wiseman). Director William Wyler keeps the set piece humming with finely honed character types including the weary precinct captain (Horace MacMahon) and a sympathetic cop (William Bendix). Veiled references to abortion and stylized violence. A-II -- adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Paramount Home Entertainment) 1951

A Dog of Flanders

In a turn-of-the-century Antwerp suburb, an old man (Donald Crisp) and his small grandson (David Ladd) rescue a dog left to die at the roadside. Produced by Robert B. Radnitz and directed by James B. Clark, the movie shows how unselfish love and understanding bring happiness even under conditions of dire poverty. Fine family fare. A-I -- general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (E1 Entertainment Distribution) 1959

Dude, Where’s My Car?

Idiotic comedy about a pair of twenty-something potheads (Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott) who wake up hung over one morning, unable to remember where their car is. With a story line based on alcohol abuse and topped with lame jokes and bad performances, it is no wonder director Danny Leiner's film is a loser. Some sex and drug related humor, minimal jokey menace and a few crude words and expressions. A-III --adults. (PG-13) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) 2000

For All Mankind

Original footage and audio from NASA's nine manned lunar flights (1968-72) are edited together to create a composite lunar mission from lift-off to landing. Filmmaker Al Reinert provides glorious visuals and new astronaut interviews but viewers will be confounded by his unidentified mix and melding of Apollo astronauts and launches into one mission. With clarifying introductory remarks, it may benefit young students of space exploration as well as interest veteran space buffs. A-I -- general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. (Image Entertainment, Inc.; also available on Blu-ray) 1990

A Hand of Peace: Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust

Well-crafted historical documentary refuting the “black legend” of Pius XII’s supposed indifference toward the fate of the Jewish people under Nazism’s genocidal oppression. Filmmaker David Naglieri uses archival footage and interviews with Father Peter Gumpel, S.J., the postulator of Pope Pius’ cause for canonization, scholar Sister Margherita Marchione, M.P.F. and, most significantly, famed British-Jewish historian Sir Martin Gilbert to vindicate Pius’ policy, which emphasized concrete, behind-the-scenes actions over public denunciations that, as the pontiff had good reason to believe, might only have resulted in intensified persecution. (Ignatius’ Press) (www.ignatius.com/1-800-651-1531) 2009

The Haunting in Connecticut

Reasonably effective, allegedly fact-based chiller about a Catholic couple (Virginia Madsen and Martin Donovan) who rent a former funeral home near the hospital where their teenage son (Kyle Gallner) is being treated for cancer, only to find themselves in a specter-ridden maelstrom, eventually turning for help to a clergyman (Elias Koteas) versed in the occult. While its efforts to place these supernatural goings-on within a larger spiritual and religious context may draw mixed reactions, director Peter Cornwell's old-fashioned spook story is understated and, though at times unsettling, largely free of bloodletting. Disturbing images, including charred and gory corpses, and a couple of profanities. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG-13) (Lions Gate Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray) 2009

Hello Down There

An Ivan Tors production with plenty of marine life to entertain the kiddies, the adventure yarn situates a family with three teenagers complete with guitars in an experimental undersea house to sample living on the ocean floor and save their father's job. Plot centers around how the youngsters will get their music published while down under. A-I -- general patronage. (G) (Paramount Home Entertainment) 1969

The Molly Maguires

Fact-based, hard-hitting drama set in the Pennsylvania coal mining fields during the 1880s when the mine owners hire an undercover agent (Richard Harris) to ferret out the leaders (Sean Connery and Anthony Zerbe) of a secret band of miners known as the Molly Maguires who resort to terrorist tactics to force better pay and working conditions. Director Martin Ritt has made a thoughtful movie about the futility of using violence to redress injustices. More menace than bloodshed. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) (Paramount Home Entertainment) 1970

PCU

Witless, brain-dead comedy about a politically correct university whose shrewish president (Jessica Walter) overlooks protesting radical groups while seeking to expel a party-minded pack of students (led by Jeremy Piven) plotting her downfall. Instead of topical satire, director Hart Bochner has little to offer but a feeble collection of sophomoric students and their lame shenanigans. Fleeting violence, some sexual references, brief recreational drug use and an instance of rough language. Spanish titles option. A-III --adults. (PG-13) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) 1994

Planet of the Apes

Dark sci-fi fantasy in which an astronaut (Mark Wahlberg) crash lands on a planet ruled by simians and is aided in his escape by a sympathetic ape (Helena Bonham Carte). Director Tim Burton's reinvention excels in its make-up and visual effects, but lacks narrative depth with self-conscious dialogue and a sly cynicism toward religious beliefs. Intermittent action violence and menace with a few instances of profanity. A-III --adults. (PG-13) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray) 2001

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

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.
  

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