DVD Corner

“Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut”: How many times is somebody going to allow Oliver Stone to recut his 2004 film, “Alexander,” before they break the news to him that it just isn’t working out? In a matter of three years, the movie has undergone the original theatrical cut, which Stone hated, the 2005 “Director’s Cut,” which you’d assume he liked, and now “The Final Cut,” which ironically adds an additional 40 minutes to the already bloated running time. Still, no matter which way you slice it, it’s melodrama – not greatness – that drives the movie. Based on the tumultuous life of Alexander the Great, Stone retools his movie in an effort to whip it into a higher, sudsier froth. The film is bigger, grander, messier. In its stampede of excess, depth is lost in favor of satisfying the necessities of a big budget blockbuster. Violence, sex and action take precedence over substance. This is camp filmmaking that exists on the surface. If you come to it again expecting a better biopic, you might be seriously disappointed. But if you enjoy a nice slice of Hollywood miscalculation every now and then (and who doesn’t, even a third time around?), you might have a good time. With Colin Farrell in a dishwater blond mullet as Alexander and Val Kilmer as his controlling father Philip, it’s Angelina Jolie as Alexander’s mother, Olympias, who really startles. She doesn’t speak with a Greek accent, as you’d expect. Instead, bizarrely, she sounds as if she’s channeling Kate Beckinsale’s Transylvanian trick from “Van Helsing.” Individual scenes are compelling, such as the well-conceived battle sequences and Alexander’s relationship with his horse, Bucephalus. A bond is achieved between them that is real and touching. It transcends the ongoing silliness and says plenty about the movie’s real shortcoming. Cut and tweak as he may, Stone still is unable to make you care for any character, including Alexander, more than he makes you care for that horse. Unrated. Grade: C

“Alien vs. Predator: Blu-ray”: From Fox, a reasonably well-crafted B-movie that moves briskly and has style. If you’re up for this sort of thing – and if you’re willing to roll with its illogical punches – the movie provides a visceral ride, featuring a lively pairing of two infamous screen monsters – the aliens from the “Alien” franchise and the predatory beasts from the “Predator” franchise. In this way, it evokes the days when Universal, for better or worse, merged its classic horror franchises. What unfolds is just what you expect – overblown and ripe, with everyone here given so little to work with, the performances are almost pantomime. Still, the movie does surpass expectations, particularly toward the end, when the mother of all aliens takes flight after one unfortunate character through a graveyard of whale bones. Rated PG-13. Grade: B-

“The Alice Faye Collection”: Features four films – 1937’s “On the Avenue” with Faye and her co-stars, Dick Powell and Madeleine Carroll, fueled by Irving Berlin’s masterful songs (Faye is near her best when she sings “This Year’s Kisses”); 1940’s “Lillian Russell” with Faye backed by Don Ameche and Henry Fonda; 1941’s “That Night in Rio” with Carmen Miranda easily stealing the show from Faye; and 1943’s “The Gang’s All Here,” which was directed by Busby Berkeley and is considered his best movie. Miranda also makes an appearance here to sing the iconic “The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat” (and to play the banana xylophone, natch) but Faye won’t be outdone this time. Berkeley gives her the huge set piece “Polka-Dot Polka,” as well as “No Love, No Nothing.” Faye sings it as if she means it, and that sells it. It’s this wonderful, bizarre film that makes the collection as desirable as it is. Grade: A-

“Ballykissangel: Complete Series Five”: From the BBC, a quirky drama set in the Irish town of Ballykissangel, which houses a large cast of characters with a motherlode of problems. The fifth season begins with one character’s untimely death and ends with a marriage, with Father Aiden (Don Wycherley) left to sort through most of it. Colin Farrell, a key figure in the fourth season, is back as farmer Danny Byrne, but his role is greatly diminished, likely because of the actor’s then-rising star in Hollywood. Grade: B+

“Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children”: Tetsuya Nomura’s film is a paradox – it’s exhilarating yet exhausting, thrilling yet boring. Based on the popular video game series, nothing here is as important as the animation, and it shows. Its apocalyptic story of a world threatened by disease hardly is new, but since “Fantasy” features such superb computer animation, it’s impossible to stop watching it even though it would be a pleasure to stop listening to it – the dialogue might as well be code. The Limited Edition Collector’s Set includes two discs, 10 postcards, a 116-page script and, most helpful, a booklet on the side story of each character. Any novice to this convoluted series will do best to read that first. Rated PG-13. Grade: C+

“Flight of the Phoenix: Blu-ray”: A remake of the 1965 classic starring Jimmy Stewart and Richard Attenborough, the film finds Dennis Quaid and Giovanni Ribisi stranded in a Mongolian desert with a group of other stereotypes after their plane suddenly crashes. From the wreckage, they must build a new plane. But will they be able to do so in spite of the relentless sandstorms and the lack of water that plague them? The giveaway title reveals the answer – and this slight movie, from director John Moore, joins the cast in dehydrating onscreen. Rated PG-13. Grade: C-