http://www.kentucky.com/124/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com Videos and DVDs 60 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:19:21 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/496523.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/496523.html Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:03 EDT
1. "Smart People"

2. "The Bucket List"

3. "21"

4. "The Bank Job" ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/496188.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/496188.html Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:03 EDT
1. Nim's Island (Fox)

2. 21 (Sony)

3. Smart People (Disney)

4. Harold . Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (New Line)]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/496521.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/496521.html Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:03 EDT
When the fully titled "Hannah Montana . Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" arrives on DVD this week, the package will include both the 3-D version and the more common 2-D format. It also has four pairs of 3-D glasses for your viewing. (The title, by the way, refers to Cyrus' singing both as her TV character, Hannah Montana, and as herself.)

Having two formats in the package is a good thing, since the 3-D version is not as appealing as you might think. Since I wear glasses, I can have problems making 3-D lenses work over them, so the 3-D didn't look great to me. I also tried them out on some co-workers without glasses, who could make the 3-D work but were not all that impressed. They were more likely to watch the 2-D version. Your visual impressions may vary.

Other extras include an optional "sing along with the movie" feature posting the lyrics to the songs onscreen - although what true Hannah/Miley fan doesn't already know the words to all these songs? And it is kind of amusing to see the "sing along" captions include things like the "whoa, oh, oh" at the end of "Rock Star." Because you wouldn't want to sing "whoa, oh" instead.

The "Best of Both Worlds Concert" retails for $34.99 in a two-disc, standard DVD, and $35.99 in high-definition Blu-ray.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/494921.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/494921.html Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:12 EDT
Answer: There are a couple of DVD sets, "The Adventures of Ma . Pa Kettle, Volumes 1 and 2," which together have eight movies, starting with "The Egg and I," a Fred MacMurray-Claudette Colbert comedy that introduced the Kettles to moviegoers. (There are also two other Kettles movies, but without the original Ma and Pa team of Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride). If your local retailer does not have the DVDs or cannot order them, the two sets are on sale at Amazon.com for about $15 each.

By the way, while the Kettles had a lot of children, "Cheaper by the Dozen" - whether the 1950 version with Clifton Webb or more recent updates with Steve Martin - did not involve the Kettles. But the "Cheaper" movies are also on DVD.

Q: I think the first movie I went to with my dad was called "The Fighting Lady." It was a dramatic story from World War II and carrier war in the Pacific. I remember one of the heroes was called Smokey. I saw a movie recently on TCM called "Men of the Fighting Lady" but it was listed for 1954 and the movie I saw was no later than 1945. And I'm certain the TCM movie was not the one I saw. If you have any information, I would be deeply grateful.

A: While "The Men of the Fighting Lady" is a well-regarded film, it's not the one you saw as a child. (For one thing, "Men" involves the Korean War.) There is in fact a film called "The Fighting Lady," from 1944, which was called a "newsdrama of the Pacific." It won an Academy Award for best documentary, and one of the people in it was a young lieutenant known as "Smokey" Stover. (Smokey Stover was the star of a newspaper comic strip, so people named Stover tended to get tagged "Smokey.")]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/495141.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/495141.html Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:32 EDT
"The Life Before Her Eyes" is the story of Diana - both as a seemingly invincible high school student (Evan Rachel Wood) who can't wait for the rest of her life to begin, and as a considerably more vulnerable adult (Uma Thurman) who, 15 years later, remains haunted by an event that permanently altered the course of that life. What that event is won't be spoiled here, even if the film's marketing materials give it away too freely. The impact is that much more pronounced if you know nothing going in, but either way, "Eyes" offers a powerful new perspective on a storytelling device that has become increasingly formulaic over recent time. "Eyes" illustrates Diana's story on three separate chronological tracks, jumping rather sensibly between her life before the event, her life beyond it, and, most infrequently, the few long moments in which the event is actually happening. The device works beautifully, even if "Eyes" feels excessively and almost cruelly downbeat during some of Thurman's scenes. That moodiness is validated once the complete truth of story reveals itself, and it never overstays its welcome before the film jerks you back into the present and continues the dark, scary march toward that single scene's conclusion. When that moment finally reaches its end, the payoff is immense. "Eyes'" final wrinkle is brilliant even if you see it coming, and it ranks among the best of the year if you don't - especially when you realize the answer was in front of you the entire time.

Extras: Director/production designer commentary, deleted scenes, alternate ending, audition footage, two behind-the-scenes features (that'll make sense after you see the movie ... maybe).

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season" (NR, 2007, Warner Bros.)

Apprehensive? That's understandable. Because really, who needs an entire television series based on a franchise that already overstayed its welcome by the end of its third film? Fortunately, "Terminator's" fascination with time travel gives it the freedom it needs to freshen itself back up, and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" takes full advantage of the gift and does exactly that. Artistically, "Chronicles" goes the "Battlestar Galactica" route - a little self-serious and borderline pretentious at times, but gifted with a contemporary vision, surprisingly good character reinvention and development, and a story that both goes places and connects all those dots we'd mostly only heard about in the films. Whether "Chronicles" has legs for a long run remain somewhat questionable, and the show isn't immune to problem spots, including some "robot in the real world" humor that even Vicki the Robot from "Small Wonder" would find lame. But given how messy "Chronicles" could have been - see "Terminator 3" and imagine a whole lot more of that - these are minor nitpicks more than real problems. Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), Thomas Dekker (John Connor) and Summer Glau (you'll see) star.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/494924.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/494924.html Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:12 EDT
AUGUST

26: A.K.A. Tommy Chong - Infinity

26: The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning - Disney

26: Redbelt - Sony]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/494925.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/494925.html Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:12 EDT
These are the Top 10 renting DVD titles at U.S. BLOCKBUSTER stores for the week that ended Aug. 17.

1.
SMART PEOPLE

2.
21

3.
NIM'S ISLAND]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/491321.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/491321.html Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:39 EDT
Johnson is certainly in a position to know of what he speaks about the HBO series that concluded its fifth and final season earlier this year. The actor- director was a regular on NBC's 1980s Baltimore-set drama "Homicide: Life on the Street," which was based on a book by former Baltimore Sun police reporter David Simon. And on "The Wire," which Simon also created and set in Baltimore, Johnson directed the very first episode in 2002 and the series finale, and also starred during the final season as Gus Haynes, city editor of the Sun.

Johnson's point is that "The Wire" had transcended the crime genre to become an accurate, passionate, depressing and powerful portrait of the decline of Baltimore - and by extension, the decline of the American city. His remarks are made on an audio commentary for the second episode of the series' final season, which has been released on DVD this week - "The Wire: The Complete Fifth Season" (four discs, HBO Video, $59.99, rated TV-MA).

The conclusion of "The Wire" has brought to an end what many observers, including this critic, view as the finest dramatic series in television history. Over five seasons featuring some of the best writing and acting on TV - the well-known journalist Joe Klein says in an interview on the DVD that "The Wire" "deserves the Nobel Prize for literature" - the series provided a fascinating look at the seamy underside of urban America.

At the core of "The Wire" is the battle between The Law, as represented by assorted Baltimore Police Department detectives and higher-ups, and The Street, the various gangs that control the city's illegal drug trade. In each successive season, Simon and his creative partner Ed Burns, a former Baltimore police detective and middle-school teacher, maintained the focus on the cops and the criminals while expanding the series' scope.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/489111.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/489111.html Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:13 EDT
In separate interviews, each has praised the show, which brilliantly created memorable characters and examined various aspects of urban despair in the bleak landscape of modern Baltimore.

It was widely but not universally acclaimed. Emmy nominators, for one thing, have given it a total of two nominations in its five seasons. That's the same number as "According to Jim." But it was for the most part remarkable; you should see the first four seasons, and pick up the final one when it lands on DVD this week.

"The Wire: The Complete Fifth Season" (HBO Video, 10 episodes, four discs, $59.99) not only wraps up the show, it tackles the issue of how newspapers work in an era of cutbacks, marketing focus and the occasional reporter who puts ambition ahead of ethics.

There was considerable controversy over its rendition of newspaper work - even though series creator David Simon is a former newspaperman. But after more than 30 years in the business, and with friends at papers around the country, I can tell you that Simon nailed it.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/489113.html http://www.kentucky.com/493/story/489113.html Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:13 EDT
1. "The Bucket List"

2. "Vantage Point"

3. "21"

4. "Definitely, Maybe" ]]>