DVD Corner

“Children of Men” DVD and HD DVD: From P.D. James’ novel, Alfonso Cuaron’s harrowing, hellish sink into dystopia makes for one unforgettable movie, indeed. As the film opens, it’s the year 2027, we’re in London and the situation is chaos, though hardly only in Britain. The world has collapsed into ruin and the human race is facing its end. Women no longer are able to conceive children – for the past 18 years, they’ve been infertile. So, when one woman (Claire-Hope Ashitey) reveals that she is pregnant, an explosive situation ignites, with several special interest groups wanting control of her. Early scenes favor a caustic, biting sense of humor before the movie gives itself over to the darkness of its story, which is formidable since a good deal of it has overtones of the Nazi Holocaust. Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor and a fantastic Michael Caine star. Rated R. Grade: A

“Eragon” DVD and Blu-ray: Tolkien lite. This mediocre fantasy movie based on Christopher Paolini’s best-selling novel encourages comparisons to the “Lord of the Rings” series, which is part of its problem. Too much of it is derivative. The dialogue is SPAM. That said, the film is technically accomplished, with excellence achieved in the digital creation of the dragon Saphira (voice of Rachel Weisz) – she’s a beauty and her flights with Eragon (Edward Speleers), the boy who found her, are the movie at its best. With John Malkovich, Robert Carlyle, Edward Speleers and Jeremy Irons. Directed, rather fittingly, by Stefan Fangmeir. Rated PG. Grade: C

“Full House” Complete Sixth Season: Time to remodel. This sixth season of the popular series finds the sitcom grind chugging away, with the San Francisco Tanner family still finding their way in the wake of 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, including the Olsen twins. Grade: C+

“Happy Feet” DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray: Its rushed ending aside, this otherwise excellent, Academy Award-winning computer-animated movie seamlessly interweaves moments of entertaining song-and-dance numbers and expertly conceived action sequences with themes of isolation, rejection, bullying and the need for self-acceptance. The movie’s focus is Mumble (Elijah Wood), a penguin who can dance but not sing, which is what all penguins must do in order to find a mate and, it turns out, in order to fit in. Ostracized by his family and his peers, Mumble wanders alone into the world at large. There, he meets a group of Latino penguins (Robin Williams among them) who likes him just the way he is while the story takes a darker turn into the waters around them. Within that watery deep are no fish. Killer whales and ferocious seals abound (and attack), but the fish have disappeared. When Mumble and his punchy posse decide to find out why with the help of another penguin, Lovelace (Williams again), it sets the movie on an unpredictable, ecological course that works. This is that rare children’s movie that isn’t dumbed down for its intended audience of tots. Rated PG. Grade: A-

“The Holiday” DVD and Blu-ray: About as far removed from burning your bra as you can get. Too much of this chick flick feels like work, with the unfortunately long running time sandbagging it with a kind of cinematic jet lag. Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet are Amanda and Iris, who meet on the Internet and decide to swap homes over the Christmas holiday in an effort to shake up their lives and lose their man problems. Predictably, they get sidetracked by men, with Jude Law and Jack Black on hand to do the sidetracking. The movie’s manufactured charm can be punishing, particularly since two of its stars – Winslet and Law – deserve so much better than this. Rated PG-13. Grade: C+

“The Jeffersons” Complete Sixth Season: Dirty laundry. This sixth season finds George and Louise mixing it up more than usual, which goes hand-in-hand with a television show that, at this point in the series, had long since shaken the dew from its lily. The focus turned to the extended family, which sapped some of its zip, though not all of it – this is, after all, the season in which George and Louise become grandparents, with the indispensable Marla Gibbs as maid Florence never letting them forget it. Grade: B

“NewsRadio” Complete Fifth Season: The series’ tagline was “50,000 watts of pure comedy,” but it often felt like more. What “NewsRadio” got right in previous seasons was the behind-the-scenes bickering that takes place in the newsroom, the dramas and melodramas blooming in every nook, the backbiting, the egos, as well as the traces of affection. This fifth and final season picks up after Phil Hartman’s murder, with Jon Lovitz taking the lead to a play a version of himself as WXNY’s new anchor. It’s a failed effort, with the show unable to recover in the wake of Hartman’s death. Grade: C-

“The Pursuit of Happyness” DVD and Blu-ray: Hokey title, but sometimes the movie is good. Will Smith earned an Academy Award nomination by portraying the real-life Chris Gardner, a down-on-his-luck man who lost his shirt, his wife (Thandie Newton) and his home after a string of bad luck. The movie is about his long fight back, with its best scenes culled from the streets of San Francisco, where Gardner and his young son, Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith), try to carve out an existence. For Chris, a way out comes thanks to his pluck, his gift with numbers and a gig at Dean Witter. For the viewer, the way through is driven almost entirely by formula. Rated PG-13. Grade: B-