DVD Corner

Each week, BDN film critic Christopher Smith contributes reviews to DVD Corner.

“All-American Girl – Complete Series”: Margaret Cho, trademark sneer in place, in a series too neutered to allow the notorious Cho to come through. This 1994 sitcom, all 19 episodes of which are included here, homogenized and marginalized Cho’s sharper edges, thus missing the point of what makes her so special. For those who know her blistering stand-up work, which draws upon her life growing up Korean in the States, you watch the show waiting for flashes of the Cho you know, not the Cho Hollywood wanted her to be. “All-American Girl” has its moments, but the situations are too forced to suit and the laughs aren’t as frequent as they could have been. For Cho’s fans, even 12 years after this series’ brief run, it’s the real Cho that’s the one that they want. Grade: C+

“C.O.P.S.: The Animated Series”: From 1988, an animated throwback set in the future. It’s the year 2020, crime is rampant in Empire City and the Central Organization of Police Specialists – all cops with special powers – are on the case, fighting crime against the crime boss, Big Boss, with messy results. The series gets its kick by infusing its derivative storylines with noirish undertones. The animation is crude, oddly flat, but the themes hold up, particularly if you’re a young viewer with a taste for something retro. Grade: B-

“Good Night, and Good Luck”: From George Clooney, a movie you watch with admiration for its subject, its technical achievements and its excellent performances. The caveat is that the movie is so ensconced in the time it evokes, the mid-1950s, that it demands viewers know a good deal about the events it explores in order to follow it with ease. Younger audiences unaware of the showdown that took place between CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Sen. Joseph McCarthy (played in news footage by himself) might initially find themselves scrambling to keep pace, as several readers have expressed through email. That said, the film’s larger issues of censorship and big government, journalism and the tricky relationship between news corporations and the advertisers who help bring us our news, are as timely as ever. Rated R. Grade: A-

“A History of Violence”: From David Cronenberg, one of 2005’s best, with Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris and the Academy Award-nominated William Hurt doing some fine work indeed. This lean, expertly conceived thriller is the story of Tom Stall (Mortensen), owner of a small-town diner in Millbrook, Ind., who is just minding his own business when into his business come two murderers eager for a little trouble. What they don’t understand is what they’re up against – Tom, an otherwise gentle, easygoing man who displays the sort of violent heroics that tend to raise their share of eyebrows. And questions. This is particularly true when the media get involved, and then the mafia, and then Tom’s family, who now look at him with new eyes as his circumspect history comes into new light. A terrific movie. Rated R. Grade: A

“Lady and the Tramp: 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition”: Purebred. From Disney, the 1955 classic, digitally restored in a two-disc, 50th anniversary platinum edition that’s filled with enough extras to make this the DVD bargain of the year – particularly since most of the extras are actually worthwhile. Standouts include the 1943 original storyboard version of the film, which details how the movie could have taken another course, as well as the featurette, “Lady’s Pedigree: The Making of ‘Lady and the Tramp,'” which offers insight into why the movie went the way it did. Viewing this beautifully drawn, unwaveringly romantic movie about two dogs from different sides of the tracks who fall in love, shows exactly how such contemporary movies such as “Chicken Little” and “Robots” have lost their way. There isn’t a trace of subtlety in any of them – and not one trusts its audience the way this “Lady” does. Rated G. Grade: A

“Simpsons: Kiss and Tell”: Plenty of tongue, though planted firmly in cheek. Four episodes from seasons 9, 14 and 15, all with romantic themes – “Three Gays of the Condo,” “Large Marge,” “Natural Born Kissers” and “The Way We Weren’t.” Not the best of the lot, but peppered with enough funny highlights to make it a satisfying, reasonably priced addition to an enthusiast’s collection. Best moments include Marge receiving the colossally wrong size of breast implants in “Large Marge,” Marge and Homer making nice on a miniature golf course (and getting caught naked in the process) in “Kissers,” and Homer moving in briefly with two gay men in “Condo,” with their lifestyle initially suiting a newly groomed Homer just fine. Grade: B-

“Waiting …”: Boogers in the burgers, waiters flashing patrons, meat on the floor and then on the plate – this is the state of the restaurant industry? It is in “Waiting …” This gross-out comedy from writer/director Rob McKittrick skewers the industry with such verve, you have to wonder whether McKittrick now is a bit worried about what restaurants currently are serving him. (My guess is that he avoids the clam chowder). Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Justin Long star as waiters and cooks at the chain restaurant ShenaniganZ, which lives up to its name in ways certain to steal your appetite. Some jokes hit their mark, but mostly in “Waiting …,” audiences wait and wait and wait for inspiration. Rated R. Grade: C-

“Wildfire: Season One”: A horse opera, of sorts, with former thief Kris (Genevieve Cortese) finding work at a ranch upon her release from a juvenile detention facility. Almost immediately, she makes a fast friend in Wildfire, a horse she saves from the auction block. She also receives the attention of two other bucks – Matt Ritter (Micah Alberti) and Junior Davis (Ryan Sypek) – who take a shine to her in ways that naturally cause its share of problems. Toss in gambling, backbiting, love triangles, the conniving Danielle Davis (Nicole Tubiola), who will stop at nothing to give Kris grief, and the fact that the ranch is nearly bankrupt, and you’re left with modestly satisfying soap. Grade: C+