USCCB - (Film & Broadcasting) - DVD/VIDEO REVIEWS week of February 22, 2010

DVD/VIDEO REVIEWS week of February 22, 2010

This week's DVD and Blu-ray releases

The following are capsule reviews of new and recent DVD and Blu-ray releases from the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Theatrical movies have a USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification and Motion Picture Association of America rating. These classifications refer only to the theatrical version of the films below, and do not take into account the discs' extra content.

The Box

In 1976 Richmond, Va., a cash-strapped suburban couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) find themselves in a moral dilemma when a mysterious, disfigured stranger (a haunting Frank Langella) presents them with a device that, if they choose to activate it, will kill someone unknown to them but will also gain them a $1 million payment. Spiritually well-grounded adult viewers willing to overlook some improbabilities in writer-director Richard Kelly's intelligently challenging, if over-elaborate, screen version of Richard Matheson's 1970 short story "Button, Button" may be intrigued by this reflection on ethical choices and consequences, but the evolving parable includes actions that would be blatantly unacceptable in a more realistic context. Mature themes, complex moral issues, a few uses of profanity, a couple of sexual references. Spanish language and titles options. L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (PG-13) (Warner Home Video; also available on Blu-ray.) (2009)

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

A straitlaced high school student (Chris Massoglia) and his rebellious best friend (Josh Hutcherson) get mixed up in a centuries-old conflict between a race of human-friendly vampires (led by John C. Reilly) and a group of homicidal bloodsuckers known as the Vampaneze. Director and co-writer Paul Weitz's unfocused adaptation of three novels in Darren Shan's "Cirque du Freak" series of children's books, which gets off to a stylish start but bogs down in a meandering plot and overlong fight scenes, offers such a bleak outlook on conventional family life that joining the community of the undead and being adopted by the traveling sideshow of the title -- populated by a beard-sprouting lady (Salma Hayek), a Japanese giant (Ken Watanabe) and the like -- is presented as an inviting alternative. Considerable hand-to-hand and knife violence, some crude and crass language, and a pornography reference. Spanish language and titles options. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) (Universal Studios Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray.) 2009

The Crazies

Backwoods Pennsylvanians go wild when their water supply is contaminated by Army chemicals and they react viciously when troops are sent in to pacify them. Directed by George A. Romero, the title belongs to the moviegoers who would sit through this frantic, inconclusive, blood-spurting exercise in silly mayhem. A-III --adults. (R)
(Blue Underground; also available on Blu-ray.) 1973

Howards End

Exquisitely done drama based on E.M. Forster's novel about an aristocratic widower (Anthony Hopkins) in turn-of-the-century England who cheats a young woman (Emma Thompson) out of property left her by his wife (Vanessa Redgrave) but then falls in love with her, much to the dismay of her egalitarian younger sister (Helena Bonham Carter). Enhanced by the ensemble cast's splendid performances, the sensitive collaboration of director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala does justice to Forster's ironic and witty story of class distinctions and their sometimes tragic outcomes. Discreet sexual innuendo and fleeting violence. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) (Criterion Collection; also available on Blu-ray.) 1992

The Informant!

Diverting fact-based comedy about an up-and-coming agribusiness executive (Matt Damon) who suddenly turns whistle-blower, revealing his company's role in an international price-fixing scheme to the FBI, but his undercover collaboration with two special agents (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) is continually complicated by his eccentric delusions and by his reluctance to tell the whole truth. Director Steven Soderbergh's offbeat adaptation of journalist Kurt Eichenwald's book recounting the case, which also features Melanie Lynskey as the mole's long-suffering wife, benefits from Damon's intense performance as a curiously sympathetic egomaniac, though its treatment of both corporate and individual misdeeds may strike some as frivolous. A few uses of profanity and some rough and crude language. Spanish language and titles options. A-III -- adults. (R) (Warner Home Video; also available on Blu-ray.) 2009

The Last Grenade

British agent Stanley Baker tramps up and down the hills bordering Hong Kong in pursuit of Alex Cord, a grinning sadist working for the other side. Director Gordon Flemyng's chase story, in which an adulterous affair plays a part, doesn't make much sense and the movie is a dud. A-III -- adults. (PG) (Scorpion Releasing) 1970

These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

A-I -- general patronage;
A-II -- adults and adolescents;
A-III -- adults;
L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
O -- morally offensive.

Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.