| Home Video/DVD: Recommended Releases | |
| Recommended Movies on Video and DVD - August, 2002 |
Wondering what new videos and DVDs to watch? Here's some recommended video and DVD movie releases for August, 2002.
August 6
"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001)
Based on the much-loved nerdy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, this film is essentially a sword-and-sorcery epic. The story takes place in a fantasy world called Middle Earth, which has stunning landscapes and wondrous creatures and is sparsely populated by various humanoids, including wizards, hobbits, dwarfs, elves, and humans. The central character is the young hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) who, with the aid of the good wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a small band of humanoid beings, sets out on a heroic journey to destroy an evil wizard's powerful ring and has exciting adventures along the way. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is basically a special-effects action movie. It was nominated for 13 Oscars (winning four), and 95 percent of the Rotten Tomatoes critics liked the film.
Please Note: The information above is for the theatrical version of this movie which will be released on August 6, 2002. On November 12, 2002, an extended cut of this film will also be released. The extended cut is a collector's edition DVD, and this DVD has additional film footage along with added special features on the DVD.
"In
the Bedroom" (2001)
This hard-hitting drama was a Best Picture Oscar nominee, and three actors—Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, and Marisa Tomei—received Oscar nominations for their performances in it. Matt Fowler (Wilkinson) is a doctor in a small Maine town, where he lives with his wife Ruth (Spacek), a high school teacher. Their son Frank (Nick Stahl) has just graduated college and is home for the summer. He's involved in a romance with the thirty-something Natalie (Tomei), a working class mother of two who is estranged from her abusive husband. Then one of the characters is killed, and the film becomes a closely observed study of Ruth and Matt and how the married couple deals with the aftermath of the death. Ninety-two percent of the Rotten Tomatoes critics liked "In the Bedroom."
"The
Cat's Meow" (2002)
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, this entertaining movie is a conjectural interpretation of a 1924 scandal involving publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Among the stars in the film are Kirsten Dunst, Edward Herrmann, Cary Elwes, Eddie Izzard, and Jennifer Tilly. In the movie, Hearst (Herrmann) takes a party of notables out on his yacht, including starlet Marion Davies (Dunst), Charlie Chaplin (Izzard), movie producer Thomas Ince (Elwes), gossip columnist Louella Parsons (Tilly), and witty author Elinor Glyn (Joanna Lumley). One of the characters on board may be having an affair with another, leading to the fatal shooting of one of the characters by a jealous lover. But the charm of the film lies in its depiction of the lives of 1920s celebrities who moved in Hollywood circles.
"Iris"
(2001)
Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, and Jim Broadbent were all nominated for Oscars for their performances in "Iris," and Broadbent won in the Supporting Actor category. The film is a biopic about the great British novelist Iris Murdoch, and Dench portrays Iris as an older woman, while Winslet plays her as a younger woman. Broadbent portrays Iris' supportive husband John Bayley as an older man, and Hugh Bonneville plays John as a younger man. One thread of the story shows Iris and John after they have been married for decades, and Iris is sinking into Alzheimer's while John does what he can to help her. The other thread shows John's memories of when he and Iris were younger adults, and how much he was in love with her, even as he struggled to deal with her high spirits and sexual adventures.
"We Were Soldiers" (2002)
Mel Gibson stars in this war movie based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once … and Young" by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway. The first part of the film is set in 1964 Fort Benning, Georgia, where Lt. Col. Moore (Gibson) has come with his wife (Madeleine Stowe) and children. Moore heads up an air cavalry unit, which he is assisted in training by the seasoned Sgt. Maj. Plumley (Sam Elliott) and helicopter pilot Maj. Crandall (Greg Kinnear). In the second part of the film these men and others, including photojournalist Joe Galloway (Barry Pepper), go in November, 1965, to the Ia Drang Valley ("The Valley of Death"), where they are involved in a grim battle against North Vietnamese troops. The outnumbered Americans acquit themselves well, but suffer heavy losses.
August 27
"The
Rookie" (2002)
Based on a true story, this movie is a well-crafted baseball drama starring Dennis Quaid. Jim Morris (Quaid) is a high school baseball coach and science teacher in a small West Texas town. Now thirty-something, happily married, and the father of three, Jim has long since given up his dream of pitching in the major leagues. But kids on Jim's high school team strike a deal with him: if they make it to the state playoffs, he must again try out for professional baseball. When the high schoolers fulfill their part of the bargain, Jim winds up in the minor leagues, where he's years older than any other player. Every day becomes a struggle for Jim, his wife (Rachel Griffiths) is not entirely happy, and neither is his stern father (Brian Cox). Eighty-two percent of the Rotten Tomatoes critics liked "The Rookie."
More
2002 Movie Releases on Video and DVD: Movies
on Video/DVD - January, 2002 to the Present
| Important product disclaimer information about this About site. |
Free Newsletter About Movies
Sign up and stay up-to-date!
