August
3, 2004 - Recommended DVD Releases
"13 Going on 30" DVD
This body-switch comedy stars
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. In 1987 a 13-year-old girl named Jenna wishes
to be grown up and is transformed into a woman. The adult Jenna (Garner) now finds
herself in the year 2004 as a 30-year-old magazine editor with the brain of a
teenager. As she tries to find out what happened during the intervening 17 years,
Jenna gets reacquainted with childhood friend Matt, now also grown up and played
by Ruffalo.
August
10, 2004 - Recommended
DVD Releases
"Good Bye, Lenin!" DVD
This offbeat German-language
comedy is set in Berlin around 1989. A dedicated pro-Communist East Berlin woman
is in a coma at the time the Wall comes down. Then when she regains consciousness,
the doctors tell her adult son Alex that the slightest shock could kill her. To
keep his beloved mother alive, Alex embarks on an elaborate ruse to try to prevent
her from learning that Communism in Germany is in a state of collapse.
"Kill
Bill: Vol. 2" DVD
In Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill:
Vol. 1," the Bride (Uma Thurman) tracked down and killed two members of the
Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. As the story continues in "Vol. 2,"
she pursues the two remaining Deadly Vipers (Daryl Hannah and Michael Madsen),
as well as Bill (David Carradine). We watch the Bride proceeding with her roaring
rampage of revenge, and we also see her train with martial-arts master Pai Mei
(Gordon Liu).
August
17, 2004 - Recommended
DVD Releases
"Bon Voyage" DVD
Set in 1940, this French-language
comedy stars Isabelle Adjani. When the Nazis approach Paris, many upper-crust
residents flee to Bordeaux. A number of characters are caught up in this, including
a pampered movie star (Adjani). She is pursued by three suitors, one of whom went
to jail for her when she killed someone. Another suitor is a government official
(Gérard Depardieu), while a third (played by Peter Coyote) may be a German
agent.
August
24, 2004 - Recommended
DVD Releases
"Dogville" DVD
Written and directed by Lars von Trier,
this is a provocative film starring Nicole Kidman. The story takes place in an
imaginary Rocky Mountains town, represented by a stage with chalk markings and
a few props. During the Great Depression, a stranger named Grace (Kidman), who's
on the run from gangsters, arrives in the hamlet. The townspeople, several of
whom are played by well-known actors, take Grace in, but they eventually treat
her horribly.
August
31, 2004 - Recommended
DVD Releases
"The Passion of the Christ" DVD
This is Mel Gibson's
provocative dramatization of the final hours of Jesus' life and his Crucifixion.
In its theatrical release, the controversial film did huge box office, but critics
were divided. People who praise the movie generally find it powerful and beautiful,
while those who dislike it usually cite its graphic violence and their concern
that it may fuel anti-Semitism. The intense film evoked strong reactions from
most who saw it in theaters.
