DVD Corner

“Chicago – The Razzle-Dazzle Edition”: Overlook the cheesy title. Newly released in a special edition two-disc set filled with extras (Rehearsals, anyone? New camera angles?), Rob Marshall’s Academy Award-winning “Chicago” remains a show-stopping smash. -uch of its element of surprise comes from the selection of its cast. Who knew that Renee Zellweger had it in her to become the pouty-lipped pixie Roxie Hart, a murdering diva with a rotten heart and a voice of gold? Or that Catherine Zeta-Jones had a soaring voice that somehow reached higher than her legs? Or that Richard Gere, of all people, would loosen up to belt out Kander and Ebb’s famous show tunes as if he were born to do it? With Queen Latifah in a wicked supporting turn as “the keeper of the keys, the countess of the clink, the mistress of murders’ row, Matron Mama Morton,” this new release of “Chicago” gets the full treatment it deserves. Rated PG-13. Grade: A

“E.R.: The Complete Fourth Season”: Contained chaos. Pages the original cast to the ER for a season that finds the series nearing its peak. In its fourth season, “E.R.” earned 16 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama, a good deal of which were won thanks the terrific live episode that begins the collection, “Ambush.” What you don’t sense in this season is the jittery fatigue that has seeped into the later seasons; the actors (George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, Noah Wyle and Eriq La Salle) were apparently still having as much fun as the writers. Among the 22 episodes included in this six-disc set are deleted scenes and a gag reel, neither of which is reason to buy. The episodes are enough. Grade: B+

“Full House: The Complete Second Season”: The Olsen twins – before the drama, the tabloids, the scandals, the rehab. And before they were billionaires. Here, in the second season of this popular series, the sitcom grind chugs away, with the San Francisco Tanner family going through the motions after the death of Danny Tanner’s wife, who was killed by a drunk driver. That’s a serious subject to explore and the series occasionally uses it to its benefit, particularly in scenes in which the Tanner girls long for their mother. But mostly, the series keeps it light, with Bob Saget, John Stamos and Dave Coulier balancing the mild mayhem that accompanies raising three girls. Includes all 22 episodes, an appearance by the Beach Boys but no commentary from the cast. Grade: C+

“Into the Blue”: “You wanna keep trickin’? Or you wanna start pimpin’?” These words, spoken with unapologetic verve by the young actress Ashley Scott in “Into the Blue,” get to the vibe of the picture, which uses a wealth of pseudohip street slang to help it connect, in theory, with its intended audience of teens and twentysomethings. Thing is, whenever Scott and the other actors start talking trash in an effort to keep it real, it’s difficult to contain a bubble of low laughter. This absurd buried-treasure adventure, a dumbed-down version of “The Deep,” is essentially soft-core porn for the PG-13 set. Set in the Bahamas, the film stars Paul Walker as Jared Cole, a down-on-his-luck diving instructor seeking bigger things and a brighter future in a better tomorrow with his girlfriend, Sam (Jessica Alba), who works at a local aquarium handling sharks when she’s not handling Jared in bed. When Jared’s buddy, Bryce (Scott Caan), arrives with his trouble-causing trick Amanda (Scott), they get the bright idea to smuggle drugs off the sunken plane they find while snorkeling. None of it goes well, the movie in particular. Rated: PG-13. Grade: C-

“The Magnificent Seven: The Complete First Season”: Annie get your DVD. Yet another cancelled television show available on DVD, this one a Western inspired by the movie series from the 1960s and ’70s, with CBS apparently undaunted by the fact that the actors they fired all were carrying guns and more than happy to shoot them. “The Magnificent Seven: The Complete First Season” features only nine episodes. As such, it presents a dilemma for the potential buyer – once you get into the series, which is relatively quickly since it’s rather good, it suddenly ends, with several storylines left hanging in the balance because the season ended so abruptly. The good news is that when fans demanded more, CBS caved in for a second season, which will likely be released in 2006 and which will wrap up the loose ends. Michael Biehn, Ron Perlman and Eric Close star. Grade: B

“Toy Story 2: Two-Disc Special Edition”: To infinity and beyond, indeed. This excellent film, just re-released, not only holds up to the 1995 original, it sometimes surpasses it in ingenuity and wit. Besting themselves, the Pixar-Disney team have created in “Toy Story 2” a film so seamless in design and so rich in detail, even the most jaded of audiences will be struck by the film’s high level of invention. This is no shameless sequel, but a fully realized film that stands on its own. Filled with action, superb new characters, a terrific parody of “Star Wars” and a clear understanding of human nature, “Toy Story 2” proves, without a doubt, that toys are not only for kids, but toys, in fact, are us. Rated: G. Grade: A

“Undiscovered”: A movie about model-musician love – always dangerous territory – where characters of no substance demand to be taken seriously or else. Or else what, you ask? Or else they’ll have a bad hair day seems to be the answer. Problem is, you can’t take any of this seriously. Tossed into this mix are skateboarding dogs, plenty of music video montages, and Ashlee Simpson as Ashlee Simpson – sorry, as Clea-who appears to be saying her lines just fine without any technical assistance. Good for her. Here, she’s an aspiring actress who likes to sing her heart out, so much so that some might long for a hook to tear her away from the mike. To be fair to Simpson, she’s not as bad as the rest of the cast (Steven Strait, Pell James), but that’s faint praise considering the talent involved. Still, all isn’t lost. Unlike her older sister, Jessica, Ashlee won’t ever be the Simpson who spent of the summer of 2005 squeezed into a padded pair of Daisy Dukes. Rated: PG-13. Grade: D-