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DVD & Video Selections
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The
Lord of the Rings -
The
Two Towers
(Widescreen
Edition)
(2002)
DVD
Fantastic creatures, astounding
visual effects, and a climactic battle at the fortress of Helm's Deep make
The Two Towers a worthy successor to The
Fellowship of the Ring, grander in scale but retaining the story's
emotional intimacy. These two films are perhaps the greatest fantasy films
ever made, but they're merely a prelude to the cataclysmic events of The
Return of the King.
--David Horiuchi
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Harry
Potter and The
Chamber
of Secrets (Widescreen Edition)
(2002)
DVD
First sequels are the true test
of an enduring movie franchise, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
passes with flying colors. Expanding upon the lavish sets, special effects,
and grand adventure of Harry
Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry's second year at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry involves a darker, more malevolent tale
(parents with younger children beware), beginning with the petrified bodies
of several Hogwarts students and magical clues leading Harry (Daniel Radcliffe),
Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) to a 50-year-old mystery
in the monster-laden Chamber of Secrets.
--Jeff Shannon
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The
Pianist
(Widescreen
Edition)
(2003)
DVD
Winner of the prestigious Golden
Palm award at the 2002 Cannes film festival, The Pianist is the film that
Roman Polanski was born to direct. A childhood survivor of Nazi occupied
Poland, Polanski was uniquely suited to tell the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman,
a Polish Jew and concert pianist (played by Adrien Brody) who witnessed
the Nazi invasion of Warsaw, miraculously eluded the Nazi death camps,
and survived throughout World War II by hiding among the ruins of the Warsaw
ghetto. Unlike any previous dramatization of the Nazi holocaust, The Pianist
steadfastly maintains its protagonist's singular point of view, allowing
Polanski to create an intimate odyssey on an epic wartime scale, drawing
a direct parallel between Szpilman's tenacious, primitive existence and
the wholesale destruction of the city he refuses to abandon. Uncompromising
in its physical and emotional authenticity, The Pianist strikes an ultimate
note of hope and soulful purity. As with Schindler's
List, it's one of the greatest films ever made about humanity's
darkest chapter.
--Jeff Shannon
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Bruce
Almighty
(2003)
DVD
Bruce Almighty, undoubtedly Jim
Carey's greatest achievement and one of the best comedy movies.
A remarkable film that
brilliantly combines humor and a morally uplifting tale of accepting responsibility
and of discovering what truly maters in life. |
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