| Recommended January Video and DVD Releases | ||||||||||||||||||||
| The Best New Movies on Video/DVD for January, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The best new movie releases on video and DVD slated for January, 2003, include "Barbershop," "The Good Girl," "Signs," "About a Boy," "Blue Crush," "Undercover Brother," "The Bourne Identity," "One Week," and "Tadpole." Let's take a look at these recommended new releases on video and DVD. January 1 - Video and DVD Releases"Barbershop"
(2002)
This warmhearted comedy stars Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer. The movie centers around a Chicago barbershop where seven barbers work—six are African American (five men, one woman) and the seventh is a white male. The barbershop is owned by Calvin (Ice Cube), who inherited it from his father. But Calvin has big dreams and sells the marginally profitable shop to a loan shark. Then Calvin changes his mind, only to discover that getting his shop back won't be easy. Meanwhile, a pair of bumbling thieves grapple with an ATM machine they stole from a nearby store. Eventually, Calvin learns some important life lessons. But the film is at its best during the rambling barbershop conversations, particularly those involving the older barber named Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer). Selected
Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. January 7 - Video and DVD Releases
This offbeat indie drama is sometimes funny and features a fine performance by Jennifer Aniston (from "Friends"). Aniston plays Justine, a thirtyish clerk at Retail Rodeo, a discount department store. Justine is married to a house painter, but her husband mostly ignores her, preferring to get stoned with his buddy. Feeling needy, she gets into a sexual relationship with another Retail Rodeo clerk, a man in his early twenties who calls himself Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal). But soon things take a surprising turn, and when Justine finds herself facing a crisis involving Holden, her husband, and her husband's buddy, she deals with it any way she can. "The Good Girl" has much the same strange sensibility as "Chuck & Buck" (2000) because both films had the same director and the same writer. Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS.
Mel Gibson stars in this suspense thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense," "Unbreakable"). Gibson plays Graham Hess, a single father who lives on a Pennsylvania farm with his two kids and his adult younger brother. Hess was formerly a Christian clergyman, but he has lost his faith. One day the Hess family finds large, unexplained crop circles in their farm's vast cornfields. Then they see television news reports of other seemingly supernatural events elsewhere in the world. Strange things happen that suggest the possibility that extraterrestrial aliens may be preparing for some sort of an invasion. The Hess family comes to fear for its safety, and Graham Hess goes through a moral crisis. Shyamalan's genius lies in his ability to evoke an atmosphere of ominous dread. Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. January
14 -
Video and DVD Releases
This satisfying comedy stars Hugh Grant in the role of Will Lightman, a shallow 38-year-old playboy. Will lives on royalties from a Christmas song his father wrote and has never had a job. He's dated many attractive women, but he deliberately keeps his romantic relationships brief. During the course of his dating, Will comes to know a 12-year-old social misfit named Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), whose hippie mom (Toni Collette) suffers from depression. A tentative friendship develops between Will and Marcus, and Marcus hopes he can somehow get his mom and Will together. However, Will starts dating another single mother (Rachel Weisz). Nevertheless, the bond between Will and Marcus gradually strengthens, and the man and the boy learn important lessons from each other. Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. "Blue Crush" (2002)
The story and characters are surprisingly good in this drama, which features Hawaii, surfing, and young women who look good in bathing suits. Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth), Eden (Michelle Rodriguez), and Lena (Sanoe Lake) work as hotel maids and live together in near-poverty. Their jobs leave them little time to pursue their passion, which is surfing. Although Anne Marie nearly drowned while surfing three years earlier, she goes into training for a surfing competition famous for how dangerous it is. Then Anne Marie gets fired from her job, and she becomes conflicted over whether or not to risk giving her heart to Matt (Matthew Davis), a professional football quarterback who is visiting Hawaii. As the date for the big competition approaches, Anne Marie finds herself battling doubt and distraction. Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. "Undercover Brother" (2002)
This silly but funny comedy spoofs 1970s blaxploitation movies. According to this film, African-American culture has been steadily declining since the 1970s, and its erosion is attributed to The Man, an actual person who directs a worldwide operation. One of The Man's nefarious schemes results in a black war hero and possible presidential candidate abandoning politics and opening fried chicken outlets. However, The Man is opposed by the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., an underground organization that includes Smart Brother, Conspiracy Brother, and Sistah Girl, as well as a white intern (brought in for affirmative action purposes). To infiltrate The Man's operation, the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. recruits Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffin), who wears 1970s clothes, sideburns, and an afro. Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. January 21 - Video and DVD Releases"The
Bourne Identity" (2002)
Matt Damon stars in this slick action movie about spies. Damon plays a man with two bullet wounds who is pulled out of the Mediterranean Sea. He suffers from amnesia, but there's a Swiss bank account number on him. In Zurich, he accesses a safe deposit box containing money and a passport in the name of Jason Bourne, a Paris resident. Using the Bourne identity, he hires an adventurous woman named Marie (Franka Potente) to drive him to Paris, and they start to fall for each other. Meanwhile, at CIA headquarters in Virginia, agents work up a plan to deal with Bourne, who is one of their trained assassins. As Bourne and Marie try to figure out what is going on, the CIA dispatches a team to kill him. Bourne must avoid the killers any way he can, resulting in martial arts and chase sequences. Selected
Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. "One Week" (2000)
Set in Chicago, this low-budget indie drama tells a cautionary tale about young African Americans and AIDS. Varon Thomas (Kenny Young) is a few days away from marrying Kiya (Saadiqa Muhammad) when he is told that someone who tested positive for HIV has listed him as a recent sex partner. Varon's blood is taken for an HIV test, but his results won't be available until a couple of days after his wedding is scheduled to take place. It turns out that Varon's close friend Tyco (Eric Lane) is on the same partner notification list, and the two young men try to figure out which woman exposed them to HIV. Meanwhile, Varon wrestles with the problem of how to discuss the situation with his bride-to-be. "One Week" is earnest, offers good dialogue, and manages to leaven its seriousness with humor. Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. "Tadpole" (2002)
This low-budget comedy was an audience favorite at Sundance. The story centers around Oscar (Aaron Stanford), a precocious 15-year-old who attends prep school and quotes Voltaire a lot. Over Thanksgiving break, Oscar returns to his home on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It turns out that Oscar is infatuated with his forty-something stepmother Eve (Sigourney Weaver), yet he seems to be on good terms with his father (John Ritter). Then Oscar gets drunk and has sex with Eve's best friend Diane (Bebe Neuwirth), who is also in her forties. Far from being happy about having made love with the good-looking older woman, the sensitive Oscar feels terrible because it's his stepmother he's smitten with. The humor in the film revolves around how Oscar, his dad, Eve, and Diane deal with the situation. Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD. Check for availability on VHS. More New Video/DVD Releases for January, 2003
New Video/DVD Releases - January Week One New Video/DVD Releases - January Week Two New Video/DVD Releases - January Week Three New Video/DVD Releases - January Week Four
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