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Less filling than our full-length reviews but still informative, our DVD capsule reviews offer technical and supplemental information for each release, along with a quick look at whether the title is any good and/or entertaining or enjoyable.


MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING
[My Length: 105 minutes
Screen Formats: 2.35:1, 16x9
Languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Sides: 1
Extras:
  • Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
  • Unveiled: My Best Friend's Wedding - 15+ minute look at the film, including behind the scenes footage and interviews with various people associated with the film.
  • Wedding Do's and Don'ts - Helpful Hints for the Soon to Be Wed - 4+ minutes of advice accompanied by archival film footage.
  • "Say A Little Prayer" Sing-A-Long - The scene from the film with follow along words on the bottom of the screen.
  • HBO Making-Of: "On the Set" - 19+ minute look at the film, including clips from it, behind the scenes footage and interviews with various cast and crew members.
  • Trailers for this film and "It Could Happen To You" and "About Last Night."
  • Filmographies for select cast and crew members.
  • My Best Friend's Wedding Album: Behind-the-Scenes Facts and Trivia - 7+ minutes of facts and trivia about the film, including scenes from it.
  • DVD-ROM: The Wedding Screensaver.
  • DVD-ROM: Who's the One For Me? - A text-based personality test.
  • Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts), a food critic, and Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney), a sportswriter, are longtime friends who briefly had a romantic fling years ago. At that time, they agreed that if they hadn't married someone else by the time they were twenty-eight, they'd marry each other. When Jules gets an urgent message from Michael, she thinks he's calling to propose. Instead, he's calling to inform her that he's engaged to wealthy socialite Kimmy Wallace (Cameron Diaz), and is getting married in four days.

    Jules can't believe the news or the fact that Kimmy wants her to be her maid of honor. Asking for help from her gay editor, George Downes (Rupert Everett), Julianne decides she has to break up the marriage, no matter the consequences. As she proceeds with her many plans, including one where she and George act like they're engaged, she begins to wonder if she's doing the right thing and whether she really loves Michael.

    Julia Roberts returned to the genre that made her famous with this 1997 effort. Like "Pretty Woman," the 1990 hit that made Julia a household name, this film showcases her strength in playing the romantic lead. After disappointing turns in "Mary Reilly" and "Michael Collins," it was nice - not to mention entertaining -- to see her back again playing her strongest hand. While this film isn't as enjoyable as her earlier hit, it's still a pleasantly enjoyable, and occasionally quirky production.

    Roberts is rather good in her role, although it could have been beefed up a bit. Nevertheless, her natural charisma overrides any problems in the way her character was written. Less successful is Mulroney as her love interest and best friend. Playing a rather bland character and not giving his all to the performance, it's hard to see why we're supposed to root for the two to get together. Even harder to swallow is why Julianne was ever attracted to him in the first place and their resulting chemistry together never works and comes off as mediocre.

    Far more successful and fun to watch is Julianne's relationship with her gay editor friend, George. Perhaps it's the far-fetched belief that they'll end up in each other's arms, but these are the two who really make this movie fly. Everett steals every scene he's in, but unfortunately disappears after a hilariously rousing sequence posing as Julianne's fiancé. During a terrifically fun sing-along scene, you feel that the movie has turned the corner and will be this way for the duration, but alas, that's not to be.

    Diaz is competent in her role, but it's the scenes where Roberts and Mulroney are alone together that drag the movie to a halt. Part of that is due to the low voltage emitted from their mundane chemistry, but also from the flat dialogue that fills so many of these serious romantic scenes. Fortunately, the movie survives these moments, mainly because of their brevity, but also due to the movie's lighthearted approach to sabotaging an upcoming marriage.

    Sure to appeal to fans of Roberts and the romantic comedy genre, one only wishes this production had a few funnier moments and a stronger plot with some more solid writing. Still, from the quirky but fun opening credits sequence to Robert's various plans backfiring on her, you just can't help but like this film.

    My Best Friend's Wedding (Special Edition) is now available for purchase by clicking here.


    A PLACE IN THE SUN
    [A Length: 121 minutes
    Screen Formats: Full Screen
    Languages: English
    Subtitles: English
    Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
    Sides: 1
    Extras:
  • Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
  • Running audio commentary by George Stevens Jr. (son of the director/producer) and associate producer Ivan Moffat.
  • George Stevens and His Place in the Sun - 22+ minute retrospective with commentary by Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Ivan Moffat and George Stevens Jr. including archival stills and footage.
  • George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him - 45+ minute segment featuring 8 directors, including Warren Beatty, Frank Capra and Robert Wise, discussing Stevens and his work (includes archival stills and footage).
  • Theatrical trailer.
  • Based on Theodore Dreiser's novel, "An American Tragedy" and Patrick Kearney's play adaptation of it, the film stars Montgomery Clift ("From Here to Eternity") as George Eastman, a poor young factory worker determined to win a respectable place in society and the heart of the beautiful socialite, Angela Vickers - played by Elizabeth Taylor ("Cleopatra").

    Dreaming of making it big one day, George continues to work in his uncle's factory and spends his spare time with fellow worker Alice Tripp -- Shelley Winters ("The Great Gatsby") -- although it is strictly forbidden. As the relationship grows between George and Alice, an opportunity presents itself for George to interact with the object of his obsession, Angela.

    Directed by George Stevens ("Giant") and released in 1951, the film garnered six Academy Awards (for Best Direction, Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, Editing and Costume Design) and was the second adaptation of Dreiser's novel to hit the big screen (the other being 1931's "An American Tragedy").

    A bit dated in look, character portrayals and behavior, the film's story is nevertheless still quite powerful and intriguing. Helping matters are the strong performances from the leads and the palatable chemistry between Clift and Taylor (still a teenager at the time), an element that no doubt was helped by their off-screen romance that stemmed from their working together on this film.

    A Place in the Sun is now available for purchase by clicking here.


    GANDHI
    [Gandhi]</TD Length: 190 minutes
    Screen Formats: 2.35:1, 16x9
    Languages: English, French, Spanish
    Subtitles: English, French, Spanish,Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
    Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
    Sides: 1
    Extras:
  • Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
  • Ben Kingsley Talks About Gandhi - 19+ minute interview with the actor discussing the man and the film.
  • The Making of Gandhi Photo Montage - 5+ minute series of photos related to the film.
  • The Words of Mahatma Gandhi - Nearly 2 minutes of quotes (onscreen text) from Gandhi.
  • Original Newsreel Footage: Gandhi Goes to England (3+ minutes) / Gandhi's Farewell Talk in Europe (1+ minutes) / Mahatma Gandhi Begins Death Fast (less than 1 minute) / Gandhi Talks: First Talking Picture Ever Made by India's Famous Leader (4+ minutes).
  • Theatrical Trailer.
  • Filmographies for select cast and crew members.
  • Brief Production Notes on glossy case insert.
  • Gandhi was not a ruler of nations, nor did he have scientific gifts. Yet, this small, modest man did what others before him could not. He led an entire country to freedom - he gave his people hope. Gandhi, the man of the century, is explored in this breathtaking, unforgettable motion picture.

    After 20 years in the making, this masterful epic garnered nine 1982 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. In stirring detail, Gandhi's life, principles and power explode on the screen with vivid scenes such as the horrific massacre at Armristar, where the British opened fire on 15,000 unarmed men, women and children, and the dramatic march to the sea where Gandhi led thousands of his fellow Indians to prove that sea salt belonged to all and was not just a British commodity.

    A distinguished cast of characters surround Academy Award winning Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, including Candace Bergen, Martin Sheen, John Gielgud and Trevor Howard. A vision of the heart and soul of a man, Gandhi is a classic epic as timeless as Gandhi himself.

    Gandhi is now available for purchase by clicking here .


    WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
    [Willy Length: 100 minutes
    Screen Formats:Full Screen (Pan & Scan)
    Languages: English, French,
    Spanish, Portuguese
    Subtitles: English, French,
    Spanish, Portuguese
    Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
    Sides: 1 (dual layer)
    Extras:
  • Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
  • Running audio commentary by the performers who played the various Wonka kids.
  • Pure Imagination: The Story of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - 30+ minute look at the film, including clips from it, behind the scenes footage and interviews with various people associated with the film.
  • Theatrical trailer.
  • Still Gallery - 18 B&W photos and publicity stills.
  • Original 4 minute featurette about the film including clips from it and behind the scenes footage.
  • 4 Sing-Along Wonka Songs (with follow-along onscreen text).
  • Brief Cast and Crew list with "bio" information for certain characters.
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is now available for purchase by clicking here.


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