More About DVD Releases • New Releases • Best DVDs by Month • Top New DVD Releases - December, 2005

by Ivana Redwine

Here's a selection of new movies on DVD for December, 2005.

December 6, 2005

"Cinderella Man"
Russell Crowe stars in the title role of this biopic about boxing great James J. Braddock. The movie reunites Crowe with key members of the "A Beautiful Mind" team, notably director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. Renée Zellweger portrays Braddock's wife, and Paul Giamatti plays his manager. Set during the Great Depression, the story is about how the down-on-his-luck Braddock managed to fight his way to a heavyweight title bout, becoming a symbol of hope for working-class Americans.

"The Dukes of Hazzard"
Based on the 1979-85 TV series, this action comedy stars Seann William Scott and Johnny Knoxville. Bo Duke (Scott) and Luke Duke (Knoxville) are cousins who live in Hazzard County, where they rip around in a Dodge Charger called General Lee. With their cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson) and Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), Bo and Luke run a moonshine business. But a problem arises when Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) hatches a plot to strip-mine the county, and the Dukes decide they can't let that happen.

"Fantastic Four"
This is yet another action-adventure movie based on Marvel Comics superheroes. Five people go on a space mission and get a high dose of cosmic radiation that alters their DNA, giving them superpowers. Four of them (Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba and Chris Evans) use their superpowers for good and are dubbed the Fantastic Four. But the fifth, Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon), becomes a supervillain. When Dr. Doom sets out to achieve world domination, it's up to the Fantastic Four to stop him.

"Ladies in Lavender"
Two of Britain's greatest actresses, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, star in this low-keyed drama set in 1936. They play elderly sisters who find an unconscious man washed ashore near their Cornwall home. They nurse him back to health, discovering he's a Pole who speaks German and a gifted violinist. One of the sisters (Dench) gets jealous when the man spends time with a young painter (Natascha McElhone) who is also fluent in German. With the storm clouds of World War II gathering, the sisters feel uneasy.

December 13, 2005

"The 40 Year-Old Virgin"
Steve Carell plays the likable main character in this laugh-out-loud-funny comedy. Andy (Carell) is a 40-year-old guy who is employed at an electronics store, where his work buddies get on his case about still being a virgin. Andy's coworkers try to arrange ways for him to lose his virginity, but all turn out to be comically unsuitable. Eventually, Andy gets to know the sympathetic Trish (Catherine Keener), who runs a shop where she sells people's stuff on eBay, and he gradually comes to feel comfortable with her.

"Bad News Bears"
Directed by Richard Linklater, this comedy is a remake of a 1976 film, and Billy Bob Thornton plays the role in the 2005 movie that Walter Matthau played in the original. The story remains essentially the same. Morris Buttermaker (Thornton) is an alcoholic pest control man who takes on the job of coaching a hapless little league team. But after recruiting a rebel who can hit and a girl who can pitch, Buttermaker turns the team into a contender. Greg Kinnear and Marcia Gay Harden also appear in the movie.

"The Island"
Michael Bay directed this sci-fi actioner that stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Johansson) reside in a regimented, sealed environment because of an ecological disaster. But Lincoln and Jordan come to doubt what they've been told about the outside world and escape into it. There they encounter a plethora of gunfire, chases and explosions. Also in the movie are Steve Buscemi, Sean Bean, Michael Clarke Duncan and Djimon Hounsou.

"Roll Bounce"
Bow Wow (who has removed the prefix Li'l from his name) and Chi McBride star in this drama set against the backdrop of jam skating, a form of dancing on roller skates to disco music. In 1978 Chicago, Xavier ("X") Smith (Bow Wow) is mourning the recent death of his mom, and his grieving dad (McBride) has his own problems. Much of the movie is about X and his South Side buddies preparing for and competing in a big skate-off, but there are also issues between X and his dad that must be addressed.

"Valiant"
This is a British computer-animated comedy set during World War II as the Allies are preparing for D-Day, June 6, 1944. Valiant (voice of Ewan McGregor) is a young, undersized, patriotic pigeon who encounters Bugsy (voice of Ricky Gervais), and they both enlist in the Royal Homing Pigeon Service. After training by a drill sergeant (voice of Jim Broadbent), Valiant and Bugsy fly a mission involving the French Resistance. John Cleese voices a captured carrier pigeon, and Tim Curry voices a German falcon.

December 20, 2005

"The Brothers Grimm"
Directed by Terry Gilliam, this drama stars Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. Set in the early 19th century, the film invents fictional lives for Wilhelm "Will" Grimm (Damon) and Jakob "Jake" Grimm (Ledger), and it alludes to some of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Will and Jake are con artists who travel around Napoleon-ruled Germany. The brothers run afoul of the French leader Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce), but he spares their lives, provided they solve the mystery of a haunted forest where children disappear.

"The Exorcism of Emily Rose"
Laura Linney plays an attorney who defends a Catholic priest (Tom Wilkinson) in this drama based on a true story. The priest is accused of committing a crime when 19-year-old Emily Rose died while he was performing an exorcism on her. The prosecution claims the decedent had a psychotic disorder requiring treatment with drugs, while the defense contends she was possessed by demons. The film explores some of the issues raised when the justice system deals with matters of religious belief.

"Four Brothers"
John Singleton directed this action revenge drama that stars Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund as the title characters. They aren't blood brothers, but they were adopted by the same woman, and when she is murdered in a Detroit convenience store robbery, they vow to mete out their own brand of justice. They soon figure out that a local mobster (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is probably involved. The story seems to have been inspired by the 1965 Western "The Sons of Katie Elder."

"The Great Raid"
Starring Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Connie Nielsen and Joseph Fiennes, this movie dramatizes a World War II story that deserves to be told. In early 1945, many Allied POW's were still held by the Japanese in the Philippines. As the Allies proceeded with their massive push to retake the Philippines, Japanese policy was to kill the POW's in each camp before abandoning it. This film weaves a tale around the daring rescue by American and Filipino forces of POW's at the Cabanatuan camp, many miles behind enemy lines.

"Must Love Dogs"
Diane Lane and John Cusack are paired in this romantic comedy. Sarah (Lane) is a fortyish woman who gets divorced and starts dating again. Her sister submits Sarah's information to an online dating service, specifying respondents must love dogs. Some bad dates result, although she eventually meets recently divorced Jake (Cusack) at a dog park. But they don't hit it off right away, and she hooks up with a separated man (Dermot Mulroney). Stockard Channing and Christopher Plummer also appear in the movie.

"Rebound"
Martin Lawrence stars in this comedy aimed primarily at kids. Roy (Lawrence) is a big-time college basketball coach whose angry outbursts almost get him banned for life. He gets one more chance, but first he must redeem himself by coaching the inept Mt. Vernon Junior High Smelters. (Megan Mullally plays the principal, which tells us something about the school.) Initially the boys on the Smelters don't work together, but Roy recruits an awkward six-footer and a tomboy, and molds them into winners.

"Serenity"
Joss Whedon's TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ran for several seasons, but his "Firefly" got canceled before it finished even one. "Serenity," which was written and directed by Whedon, is a feature-length sci-fi movie based on "Firefly" with most of the key actors reprising their roles. It's about a ragtag group of rebels who roam around in a beat-up old spaceship named Serenity. When they rescue a psychic from the clutches of the Alliance, they are pursued by the Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

December 26, 2005

"2046"
Wong Kar Wai directed this beautiful, moody Chinese-language art-house drama. It's Wong's follow-up to "In the Mood for Love" (2000) and continues the story of Chow Mo Wan (again played by Tony Leung) from that earlier film. This time around, Chow gets involved romantically with three women (Gong Li, Ziyi Zhang and Faye Wong), and he's writing a novel about a Japanese adventurer taking a train ride to the future. "2046" is difficult to interpret, but it captures the feeling of yearning for the past.

"Dark Water"
Jennifer Connelly stars in and Walter Salles directed this English-language remake of a 2002 Japanese horror movie. When Dahlia (Connelly) splits up with her husband, she has difficulty finding affordable housing for herself and her young daughter that will permit the girl to attend a good school. Dahlia rents a decaying apartment on Roosevelt Island, which is connected by public transportation to Manhattan's affluent Upper East Side. Soon creepy things happen, including flooding by foul-looking water.

"Grizzly Man"
Werner Herzog directed "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" and "Fitzcarraldo," both movies about obsessive adventurers, and his documentary "Grizzly Man" about Timothy Treadwell is in the same vein. Treadwell lived for 13 summers among brown bears (grizzlies) in Alaska's Kitmai National Park, where in 2003 he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by a grizzly. Herzog mixes interviews with footage shot by Treadwell to present a compelling character study of a troubled man.

"Into the Blue"
Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Scott Caan and Ashley Scott are good-looking actors who spend a lot of time wearing swimsuits in and on the waters off the Bahamas in this adventure film. They portray amateur treasure hunters who get involved with sharks and drug dealers. There's also a sleazy rival treasure hunter (Josh Brolin) to deal with. Although the movie relies on the sexiness of the stars and the beauty of the setting to carry it through its first half, it eventually turns into a thriller with a violent climax.

December 27, 2005

"The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill"
This documentary is a portrait of a middle-aged bohemian guy named Mark Bittner and his relationship with a flock of birds in San Francisco. The green-bodied, red-headed birds are cherry-headed conures, also known as red-masked parakeets. Presumably they were imported from South America, escaped captivity and established a colony. They roost near Embarcadero Center and fly around to various city locations, including Telegraph Hill. But the film is more about Bittner, who's a sort of modern-day St. Francis.