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OnVideo OCTOBER Video Reviews

ANGEL EYES A romantic drama disguised as a cop suspenser, with Jennifer Lopez as a beautiful and intelligent Chicago cop who likes to hang with her male pals at restaurants and bars but has some difficulties with family matters (an abusive father and brother) and affairs of the heart (her trysts with civilian men leave her cold). Enter a strange man, Catch, played by Jim Caviezel, who comes to the policewoman's rescue when a thug almost kills her. He's a child-like wanderer of the city, but the woman is oddly drawn to him. What follows, then, is the story of their romance, told in a leisurely, emotional way. Forget violence and explosions, this is a lush of love. Director: Luis Mandoki. Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Jim Caviezel, Terrence Howard, Jeremy Sisto, Sonia Braga, Victor Argo, Shirley Knight. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 103 min.), Drama, 2001, Box office gross: $23.021 million, (Warner), No VHS SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 10/23, DVD: Day & Date. ANIMAL, THE Gross-out comedy has Rob Schneider starring as an inept property room cop in a small town police department who ends up killing himself (by driving off a cliff) when he get's his first opportunity to prove his mettle. Bought back to life by a mysterious vet (and stitched up with parts from various denizens of the animal kingdom), Schneider becomes a super-human cop, with extraordinary animal powers (running, swimming, jumping and even, yes, sexual) that constantly allow him to save the day and in the end, win the woman of his dreams. At times crude and, with a slightly ghoulish ending, this animal is definitely aimed at those adolescents more fond of bodily functions than intelligence. Director: Luke Greenfield. Stars: Rob Schneider, Colleen Haskell, John C. McGinley, Edward Asner, Michael Caton, Louis Lombardi, Guy Torry. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 83 min.), Comedy, 2001, Box office gross: $55.000 million, (Columbia TriStar), VHS SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 10/30, DVD: Day & Date. BRIDGET JONE'S DIARY Delightful, warm, witty filmization of the best-selling book, about an overweight thirtysomething young woman searching for career and love in London. American Renee Zellweger raised eyebrows when she was cast as the lead but she pulls off the role with zeal and aplomb. Bridget Jones has simple goals in life: to lose weight, cut back on her drinking, and find true love. She's a publicist for a British publisher and has a habit of striking out with men, including a set-up date with the son (Colin Firth) of a neighbor, who snubs her. She eventually has an affair with her boss (Hugh Grant), but that too goes sour when she finds he's having another affair. When both men have a change of heart, so to speak, and come after her, she has to make a romantic decision. What's a post-feminist to do? Director: Sharon Maguire. Stars: Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson, Sally Phillips, Embeth Davidtz, James Callis. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 94 min.), Romantic Comedy, 2001, Box office gross: $70.366 million, (Miramax), No VHS SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 10/9, DVD: Day & Date. CATS & DOGS Delightful family-friendly live action/animatronic/computer assisted comedy about the age-old battle between cats and dogs. Except here the dogs -- fitted with enough super high-tech gadgets to make James Bond envious -- are the centuries long protectors of human kind against a world takeover by cats. Enter Mr. Tinkles, a white Persian on his own mission, who wants to thwart human professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum) from perfecting an antidote for human allergies to dogs. To stop this evil gambit, the dogs send in a green-behind-the-ears beagle puppy to protect the family, and the action begins. This one belongs to the special effects, as the humans are here strictly for window dressing for the special-effected cat and dog antics. Director: Lawrence Guterman. Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, Alexander Pollock, voices of Tobey Maguire, Alec Baldwin, Sean Hayes, Susan Sarandon, Joe Pantoliano. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 88 min.), Family, 2001, Box office gross: $93.000 million, (Warner), $22.98 VHS SRP, Available: 10/16, DVD: Day & Date. DR. DOLITTLE 2 The good doctor who talks to animals is back, and this time out he's making house calls -- or should we say forest calls. Doctor Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) is called upon by the furry denizens of the wilderness to help save a forest about to be strip-cut by a nasty developer. It turns out that a judge will prevent the destruction, if it can be proved that there's an endangered species living there. So it's up to Dolittle to persuade a city-dwelling circus bear to head out to the wilds to woo the last remaining female of his species and prevent the destruction. That's pretty much the story line, though there are side trips with Dolittle's daughter (Raven-Symone) who's embarrassed by dad's animalistic conversations. There's plenty of cute animal jokes (including a standing gag about a chameleon who has trouble blending in) and lots of animal potty humor, but in the long run its just for the kids. Director: Steve Carr. Stars: Eddie Murphy, Kristen Wilson, Raven-Symone, Kyla Pratt, Lil' Zane, Kevin Pollak, Jeffrey Jones. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 88 min.), Comedy, 2001, Box office gross: $114.000 million, (Fox), $22.98 VHS SRP, Available: 10/23, DVD: Day & Date. FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN Produced and directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, who created the video game series that the movie is based upon, this hyperReal CGI animated feast for the eyes is still a comic book struggling to become a big screen event. The story line revolves around an adventure team of space travelers who have to reclaim the Earth from human spirit cannibalizing aliens. May hold up better on the small screen. Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi. Voices of Ming-Na, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Peri Gilpin, Donald Sutherland, James Woods. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 106 min.), Animated, 2001, Box office gross: $32.000 million, (Columbia TriStar), No VHS SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 10/23, DVD: Day & Date. FREDDY GOT FINGERED Repulsive Tom Green outing about an aspiring animator who leaves his folks' basement, heads for Hollywood, fails at a job at a cheese sandwich factory, and returns home to his basement. In between there's all sorts of the sick humor -- with cows, horses, and a paraplegic girlfriend -- that Green has become known for. Director: Tom Green. Stars: Tom Green, Rip Torn, Harland Williams, Julie Hagerty, Marisa Coughlan, Anthony Michael Hall. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 87 min.), Comedy, 2001, Box office gross: $14.249 million, (Fox), No VHS SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 10/23, DVD: Day & Date. MUMMY RETURNS, THE The cast and crew of 1999's "The Mummy" return for a smash sequel that keeps viewers on the edges of their seats. As in the original, there's plenty of action-adventure scenes, irreverent humor, PG-13 violence (lots of killings but no blood) and romance, though this time adventurer Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) are married. It's 10 years after the action in "The Mummy," and the pair lead a quiet life with 9-year-old son Alex. But hold on to your seats. There's evil forces afoot -- some new bad guys want to resurrect mummy Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) so he can take over the (reincarnated) invincible army of the Scorpion King (The Rock) to conquer the world. There's reincarnation flashbacks, scarabs, a jungle journey, more creepy monsters and a host of plot lines that keep this supercharged action adventure on a non-stop roller coaster ride from beginning to end. And the special effects push the genre up one more notch. Director: Stephen Sommers. Stars: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velasquez, Freddie Boath, The Rock. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 129 min.), Action-Adventure, 2001, Box office gross: $202.000 million, (Universal), $22.98 VHS SRP, Available: 10/02, DVD: Day & Date. SWORDFISH Complicated but explosive techno thriller about a reclusive rich villain (John Travolta in an especially nasty role reminiscent of "Face/Off") who enlists a superhacker (Hugh Jackman) to crack a secret code to get access to a billion-dollar bank account that once belonged to a now defunct secret government project. Throw in plenty of hostages, an SUV chase, a cybercrime federal agent (Don Cheadle), a covert right-wing patriot Senator (Sam Shepard), a sexy assistant (Halle Berry), tons of plot twists and twisting characters, plenty of explosions, and a finale with a bus hoisted through the streets of downtown L.A. by a helicopter, and you have non-stop, breathtaking action and excitement. Director: Dominic Sena. Stars: John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Vinnie Jones, Sam Shepard, Camryn Grimes. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 99 min.), Thriller, 2001, Box office gross: $40.000 million, (Warner), $22.98 VHS SRP, Available: 10/30, DVD: Day & Date. TOWN & COUNTRY You wonder what was on everyone's minds when this dud was greenlighted. Apparently it took three years for this baby to come to the big screen, and it'll take at least that long for everyone involved here to live it down. This film of marital infidelities, neurotic behavior, midlife crises and men acting like boys is so clumsy that it's embarrassing to contemplate. Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton, and Goldie Hawn and Garry Shandling are married couples. Shandling cheats on Hawn, she files for divorce. Keaton sends Beatty to comfort Hawn; they sleep together (it's not his first extramarital affair). Soon they're all divorced, and Beatty and Shandling head to Sun Valley with Elfman. There's attempts at slapstick and farce but few real laughs. Director: Peter Chelsom. Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Garry Shandling, Andie MacDowell, Charlton Heston, Marian Seldes, Josh Hartnett, Jenna Elfman, Natassja Kinski, Katherine Towne. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 104 min.), Comedy, 2001, Box office gross: $6.712 million, (New Line), No VHS SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 10/16, DVD: Day & Date. All DVDs are screened on a reference system consisting of a Rotel RDV-1080 DVD Audio/Video Player, a Rotel RSX-972 Surround Sound Receiver, and Phase Technology 1.1 (front), 33.1 (center), and 50 (rear) speakers and Power 10 subwoofer. | Contents/Site Map | Home | Resources | VidNews | KidVid | Calendar | Sell-Through | DVD | Reviews | E-mail: mail@onvideo.org © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 OnVideo. All rights reserved September 25, 2001