New Videos Coming Out This Week
Here's what you need to know to plan your next trip to the video store. There are some interesting releases slated for October 23, 2001, including "Dr. Dolittle 2," "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," and "Freddy Got Fingered." Let's take a look at these films, along with a few additional releases of interest, and take a sneak peek at next week.
"Dr. Dolittle 2"
Tagline: "Dolittle Is Back."
Length: 87 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG for language and crude humor
This sequel to the 1998 movie "Dr. Dolittle" is a comedy aimed at youngsters, and Eddie Murphy again plays the title role of the physician who can talk with animals. Joey the Raccoon (voice of Michael Rapaport) and Possum (voice of Isaac Hayes) tell Dr. Dolittle that Beaver, a Godfather-like figure, is concerned that a lumber company plans to cut down a forest, depriving many animals of their homes. Soon Dr. Dolittle discovers that living in the forest is Ava (voice of Lisa Kudrow), a female bear whose species is endangered, and he tries to prevent the deforestation on ecological grounds. When Dr. Dolittle learns that he has no case unless Ava reproduces, he recruits a reluctant circus bear named Archie (voice of Steve Zahn) to go into the forest and mate with her. But things don’t go smoothly for Archie, and at one point in the movie all the animals in the world go on strike!
Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within"
Tagline: "Unleash a new reality."
Length: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.
This science-fiction movie, named after a video game, features computer-generated characters that look and behave almost, but not quite, like real live actors. Sometime in the future, strange aliens who defeat humans by absorbing their spirits have invaded Earth and taken much of it over. However, enclaves of humans remain, and they must seek a way to combat the aliens. Dr. Aki Ross (voice of Ming-Na), supported by her teacher Dr. Sid (voice of Donald Sutherland), sets out to counteract the aliens using a combination of eight spirits. Meanwhile, General Hein (voice of James Wood) wants to use an orbiting space cannon to annihilate the aliens, but this approach risks destroying all life on the planet. Other celebrity voices heard in the movie include Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, and Peri Gilpin.
Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"Freddy Got Fingered"
Tagline: "This time you can't change the channel."
Length: 87 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for crude sexual and bizarre humor, and for strong language
Tom Green of MTV fame cowrote, directed, and stars in this bizarre comedy. Green plays Gord Brody, a 28-year-old jobless man who lives with his father (Rip Torn) and his mother (Julie Hagerty). Gord has a younger brother named Freddy (Eddie Kaye Thomas), and the movie’s title comes from Gord falsely accusing his father of sexually molesting Freddy. Gord is shown as becoming involved in a series of outrageous incidents, one of which involves a horse penis and another centers around an elephant penis. Also, Gord has a romantic relationship with a paraplegic nurse who has some peculiar sexual interests. The most shocking scene is where Gord delivers a baby, then swings it around by its umbilical cord, splattering blood everywhere. Ninety percent of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes found "Freddy Got Fingered" to be rotten.
Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"Songcatcher"
Length: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content and an intense scene of childbirth
Starring Janet McTeer and Aidan Quinn, "Songcatcher" is an art-house drama that is written and directed by Maggie Greenwald. In 1907, musicologist Dr. Lily Penleric (McTeer) travels to the North Carolina hill country to visit her sister, who runs a school there. When Lily hears the local folk music, she decides to document and record on Edison cylinders as much of it as possible. While in North Carolina, Lily has a sexual relationship with a mountain man (Quinn), and she has to help deliver a baby in the backwoods. Also, the locals become upset when they discover Lily’s sister’s lesbian relationship, and there’s a coal company that wants to put strip mines in the area. The modern feminist viewpoint of the movie sometimes seems inconsistent with the 1907 setting, but most critics think that the music makes this film well worth seeing.
Selected Special DVD Features:
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"With a Friend Like Harry"
Length: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for language, some violence and a scene of nudity
In this French-language comic thriller, Michel (Laurent Lucas) takes an automobile trip with his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) and their three young daughters. He pauses at a roadside rest stop, where a man (Sergi Lopez) he doesn’t recognize strikes up a conversation with him. The man says his name is Harry and that he used to be a classmate of Michel’s. Michel and Claire are on their way to their run-down country house, and they acquiesce to having Harry and his girlfriend Plum (Sophie Guillemin) join them there. Harry has lots of money, and he buys Michel a new S.U.V., but soon Harry’s strange behavior starts to alarm Michel and Claire. Eventually, Harry’s obsessiveness in helping Michel becomes frightening, and Michel must take drastic action.
Selected Special DVD Features:
· Widescreen Format
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
Additional Releases of Interest
"Barbie in The Nutcracker" (2001)
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"Dumbo" - 60th Anniversary Edition (1941)
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"From Here to Eternity" - (1953)
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"Funny Girl" (1968)
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" - Special Edition (1975)
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"On the Waterfront" (1954)
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
"Ultimate Jordan"
Formats Available: The above information refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.
Next page A Sneak Peek at Next Week Page1, 2
