New Videos Coming Out This Week
Let's take a quick look at some of the videos and DVDs scheduled to be released April 17, 2001.
Bamboozled
Length: 135 minutesMPAA Rating: R for strong language and some violence
Written and directed by Spike Lee, Bamboozled is a satire on the way television uses African American images. Damon Wayans portrays Pierre Delacroix, a black Harvard-educated executive at a failing cable TV network who’s fed up with his job and how he’s being treated at work. In desperation Delacroix develops a blatantly racist minstrel show, starring two blackface performers called Mantan and Sleep ‘n’ Eat. But to Delacroix’s consternation, the new show turns out to be a big hit!
Billy Elliot
Length: 110 minutesMPAA Rating: R for language
Set in a coal mining town in 1984 England, Billy Elliot is a warm-hearted drama about an 11-year-old boy who wants to become a ballet dancer. Charmingly played by Jamie Bell, Billy must overcome the strong objections of his father, a miner who fears his son’s interest in dance will influence him toward a homosexual orientation. But with the encouragement of his ballet teacher (Julie Walters), Billy works hard at achieving his dream of one day auditioning for the Royal Ballet School in London.
Hamlet
Length: 128 minutesMPAA Rating: R for some violence
Filmmaker Michael Almereyda’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet sets the story in modern-day Manhattan. Something is still rotten in Denmark, only now it is in the Denmark Corporation, where treachery reigns. Claudius (Kyle MacLachlan) has murdered his way to the top, replacing Hamlet’s father as the head of the corporation and becoming the new husband of Hamlet’s mother Gertrude (Diane Venora). There are many intriguing touches, such as having Hamlet (Ethan Hawke) deliver the immortal "To be or not to be" soliloquy in a Blockbuster video store.
The Ladies Man
Tagline: "He's cool. He's clean. He's a love machine."
Length: 84 minutesMPAA Rating: R for sexual content and language
Tim Meadows stars in and coscripted the feature-length comedy The Ladies Man, based on a series of skits he performed on the Saturday Night Live television program. Meadows plays Leon Phelps, a radio talk-show host who, in spite of his 1970s wardrobe and hairdo, has seduced many married women. But things get complicated for Phelps when he gets fired from his job and struggles to find another, while trying to avoid a group of cuckolded husbands who are after him.
Space Cowboys
Tagline: "Boys will be boys."
Length: 130 minutesMPAA Rating: PG-13 for language
Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner, and Donald Sutherland star in this action/adventure movie about four former U.S. Air Force test pilots who are called out of retirement to go into space and deal with a problem onboard a Russian satellite. Many doubt that men their age can do the job, and the tough NASA physical training is not easy for the oldsters, but they eventually carry out their mission with wisdom and humor. In addition to his acting duties, Eastwood directed this highly entertaining film.
Tigerland
Tagline: "The system wanted them to become soldiers. One soldier just wanted to be human."
Length: 100 minutesMPAA Rating: R for violence, pervasive language, a scene of strong sexuality and some drug use
Before being shipped off to fight in the Vietnam War, a platoon of young men is prepared for combat at a Louisiana Army facility called Tigerland, which is designed to simulate conditions in Southeast Asia. The movie tells the stories of six of these recruits, but its center of gravity is the rebellious Bozz (Colin Ferrell), a troublesome young man who is determined to defy his superiors. Director Joel Schumacher is known for slick movies like Batman Forever, St. Elmo’s Fire, and The Lost Boys, but in Tigerland he used 16 mm film and hand-held cameras to capture the gritty feel of tough military training. Schumacher has said that the style of Tigerland was inspired by the Dogma 95 filmmakers.
The Yards
Tagline: "There's nothing more dangerous than an innocent man."
Length: 115 minutesMPAA Rating: R for language, violence and a scene of sexuality
This nuanced crime drama boasts an impressive cast, including James Caan and Mark Wahlberg. Leo (Wahlberg) goes to work for his uncle (Caan), who runs the yards that maintain New York City’s subways. This business, which requires bribes and kickbacks, supports Leo’s ailing mom, her sister, and Leo’s best friend. Soon Leo is wrongly accused of murder, and he must try to avoid bringing down his uncle’s business while protecting himself.
