DVD/VIDEO REVIEWS week of August 17, 2009
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.
Hannah Montana the Movie
Breezy romance with music in which a teen singer (Miley Cyrus), who has gained fame under the pseudonym Hannah Montana, is forced by her concerned father (Billy Ray Cyrus) to retreat temporarily from her hectic career and spend time with him and her grandmother (Margo Martindale) on the Tennessee farm where she grew up. There she falls for a local farmhand (Lucas Till) while fending off a British paparazzo (Peter Gunn) out to reveal the secret of her persona. Director Peter Chelsom's delightfully innocent country idyll emphasizes humility, simplicity and the primacy of family obligations over professional goals. Multidisc versions have Spanish language and titles options. A-I -- general patronage. (G) (Walt Disney Pictures; also available on Blu-ray) 2009
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Deluxe Edition)
Drawn-out romantic comedy in which an ad exec (Matthew McConaughey) boasts he can make a magazine columnist (Kate Hudson) fall for him in 10 days, unaware that for her next advice column she intends to make him dump her in the same time frame. Donald Petrie directs a contrived and unconvincing battle-of-the-sexes comedy that lacks sparkling dialogue. Sexual references, fleeting violence, some rude slang expressions and occasional profanity. Spanish language and titles options. A-III --adults. (PG-13)
(Paramount Home Entertainment; also available on Blu-ray) 2003
Husbands
Long Island commuters (John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk) attend the burial of a mutual friend suddenly carried off by a coronary, and their own sense of mortality becomes both the catalyst and context for the drunken antics, middle-aged frustrations and inarticulate revelations that follow. For all of its excesses, from a lavatory vomiting scene to a crude sex romp in a London hotel, director John Cassavetes injects a compassion for his male misfits that redeems many of the glaring faults in his treatment of the proceedings. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) 1970
The Last Starfighter (25th Anniversary Edition)
High school senior (Lance Guest), a whiz at electronic games, finds himself defending the frontiers of the universe against ruthless space invaders in a touching, romantic, humorous fantasy from director Nick Castle. Some of the violence might be too much for younger viewers. Spanish titles option. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) (Universal Studios Home Video) 1984
Pete's Dragon (High-Flying Edition)
Pete, a young orphan (Sean Marshall), and Elliot, an amiable dragon, are befriended by the daughter (Helen Reddy) of a lighthouse keeper in a small Maine fishing village at the turn of the century. Disney musical fantasy, directed by Don Chaffey, combines live action with animation. The dragon's ability to become invisible is the chief source of humor in a slow-moving picture that also features Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons and Shelley Winters. A-I -- general patronage. (G) (Buena Vista Home Entertainment) 1977
Ride a Wild Pony
Colorful Disney adventure set in the Australian Outback before World War I, in which a poor lad attempts to recover his pony after it has come into the possession of a spoiled, crippled girl, the little daughter of the town's wealthiest family. It is up to the horse, in the satisfying conclusion, to decide on one child or the other. Better than average children's movie directed by Don Chaffey with some good touches of reality and a solid theme of human selflessness. A-I -- general patronage. (G) (Buena Vista Home Entertainment) 1976
The Swan Princess (Special Edition)
Animated children's tale of a beautiful princess (voice of Michele Nicastro) changed into a swan by an evil sorcerer (voice of Jack Palance) while a valiant prince (voice of Howard McGillin) attempts to find her and break the spell. Directed by Richard Rich, the lovely graphics are animated in the style of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," with the heavily romantic story paced by some lighthearted humor supplied by a frog-puffin-turtle trio assisting in the rescue of the bewitched princess.
A-I -- general patronage. (G) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
1994
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB 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;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.