The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Heath Ledger’s last film comes from the mind of Terry Gilliam and is about a man named Doctor Parnassus who makes a “deal with the devil”. The deal made will cause him to lose his daughter when she turns 16. A man named Tony enters the Imaginarium in the hopes of winning five souls, which will make the doctor’s daughter free. Gilliam films are always visually amusing and mentally challenging. Even though Ledger died during filming, the way the film was reconstructed to have Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell continue to play the character of Tony (which was the Ledger character) was quite inventive and worked well from what I have read. This is the highest profile new release of the week.
District 13: Ultimatum – This French action film continues to follow the events that surround the neighbourhood of District 13. The man who cleaned up District 13 is framed with drugs and arrested, which causes a chain reaction of events that lead to a violent conclusion. People lying, people “flying” (ok not really, but parkour always impresses me), and people dying is the name of the game with this film. Luc Besson is the screenwriter, so for fans of his work they will definitely want to pick this film up.
The Tooth Fairy – Dwayne Johnson stars in the story of a hockey player who is sentenced to be a tooth fairy, when he discourages a kid from following his dreams. The hockey player who is known as the tooth fairy because when he hits you, your teeth fall out, becomes an actual tooth fairy. He is helped out by Julie Andrews and Billy Crystal in training and learning to be nice to people. The film was not a huge hit at the box office, and I have a feeling that kids will see this at home more than they did in theatres. I like Dwayne Johnson, but I keep waiting for him to have his breakout movie. The Tooth Fairy is not that breakout film.
Leap Year – Amy Adams stars in the romantic comedy where she goes to Ireland to track down her boyfriend. It is said that on February 29th, a women can ask a man to marry her, and her good intentions soon get sidetracked when she arrives in Ireland. She meets another man who offers to help her get to see her boyfriend, and through a series of comic misadventures, she ends up getting to her boyfriend. Unfortunately, Amy Adams has fallen in love with the Irish man, so who will she choose? You’ll have to watch to find out.
Nine – This was the Weinstein Company’s big Oscar hope, and in that regard it was a major disappointment. The musical is based on the Fellini film 8½ and follows a film director who has lost his inspiration and fears his new film that is about to go into production will be as bad as his previous two films. He ends up escaping to a seaside town for a few days to get his thoughts together, which causes him to reflect on the many women in his life and how they have shaped him to be the man he is today. Penelope Cruz received the most glowing notices for the film, and it definitely has an all-star pedigree with Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Fergie, Kate Hudson, and Judy Dench rounding out the cast. The Weinstein’s were obviously hoping to have the same success that they had with Chicago when they ran Miramax as they even hired the same director to do Nine in Rob Marshall, but it just didn’t come together in the end.
Doctor Zhivago – The classic David Lean film comes to Blu-Ray for the first time in an anniversary edition. The film follows the life and love between Zhivago and his muse Lara in the time of the Bolshevik revolution. The performances by Omar Sharif and Julie Christie are outstanding, but the real star is the amazing cinematography. Winter never looked so good. If you don’t have this film in your collection, now is a perfect time to pick it up.
TV ON DVD
According to Jim: The Complete Second Season – The Jim Belushi led series starts its second season with a fight between Jim and Dana, as Jim buys a new digital camera from one of Dana’s ex-boyfriends, which had some pictures of a woman Jim used to date. Jim deletes them before Dana can see his ex, which causes them to get into a fight. This was a show that lasted eight seasons, but I can honestly say that I don’t know anyone who used to watch it.
Dirt: Season Two – This is actually the last season of the series that starred Courteney Cox. This season starts off with Cox’s character Lucy surviving her violent attack, and going on the warpath to reclaim her position as the gossip queen of Dirt Now magazine.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Complete Fifth Season – “Now, this is the story all about how // Will Smith’s life got flipped-turned upside down.” This is the penultimate season of the popular series, and the season starts off with Uncle Phil opening a record store, which leads Will to get into the music business, but not as a singer. It’s a fun show, and definitely a nostalgia purchase.
Until Next Tuesday!
