DVD Corner

“Blades of Glory”: A figure skating satire in which somebody naturally gets knee-capped. Will Ferrell is the alcohol-soaked, oversexed figure skater Chazz Michael Michaels, a man whose claim to fame are the flames that shoot out of his hands at the end of each routine (nice touch) and the alleged heat he packs in the bedroom (no comment). He’s on the downside of his career, but he still has a way with the ladies and especially a way with the blade. Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”) is uptight Jimmy MacElroy, a curious young man who was trained from childhood to be a force on the rink. He and Chazz are archenemies, but when they’re banned for life from the sport after coming to fisticuffs, they decide to become what the scene never has seen – a male couple who enter the pairs competition thanks to a loophole. The laughs are inspired and big, and while you wish the movie was as cruel as you know the figure skating world is, at least it isn’t afraid to be silly. Supporting turns from Will Arnett and Amy Poehler underscore that notion. As the evil brother-and-sister skating team of Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg, they are the death spiral in this entertaining cinematic Salchow. Rated PG-13. Grade: B+

“The Brigitte Bardot Collection”: Features five films from one of cinema’s most notorious sex kittens – 1956’s “Naughty Girl,” 1959’s “Come Dance with Me,” 1962’s “Love on a Pillow,” 1967’s “Two Weeks in September” and 1969’s “The Vixen,” the latter of which neatly sums up the reason Bardot caused such a sensation when she first hit the screen in 1952. Over the course of her career, the actress made 50 movies, a good deal of them middling efforts, which proves true for many of the films collected here, with the exception being “September,” a good movie in which Bardot’s character, a model in swinging London, is torn between her older husband and a younger man. Missing is the actress’s most notorious film, 1956’s “And God Created Woman,” in which she danced barefoot on a table – and turned herself into a phenomenon. But this collection, which is packaged in a white padded boxed set meant to resemble a pillow, nevertheless makes its point – even at Bardot’s worst, it was impossible to look away from her. Grade: B-

“Dawn of the Dead (2004)”: HD DVD – Zack Snyder’s excellent, often darkly hilarious remake of George Romero’s 1978 classic is exactly the movie it should it have been. It respects the first film, it builds upon what was there, it takes elements of the story and makes them its own. It works so well, it stands – or, in this case, it slithers, bleeds and crawls – as one of the best horror films in years. Now on HD DVD, the movie strikes just the right seriocomic tone. Snyder has fun with his homage, but he also takes it seriously enough to make sharp observations on our own zombie culture, which Romero himself skewered by taking note of the blank-faced, shuffling herd mentality associated with consumerism at shopping malls. Snyder follows suit and the good news is that his movie isn’t the joke it could have been in less-careful hands. It’s spot-on, well-crafted and brisk, absurdly gory but cartoonishly so. As the movie unfolds, so do the entrails, which spill in such great red tonnage, the mall in this film never will see another white sale. Rated R. Grade: A-

“Heroes: Season One”: DVD and HD DVD – The battle between Blu-ray disc and HD DVD heats up this week with the HD DVD release of “Heroes: Season One,” which is Universal’s first high-definition title released with Web-connectivity features, all of which allow the series’ fan to connect free via their HD DVD player’s network connection and mine exclusive content online. “Character Connections,” for instance, allows the viewer to follow their favorite heroes, while “Picture-in-Picture” offers cast and crew commentaries from the set. Set up is relatively simple and fast – even for those of us saddled with the clunky, first-generation Toshiba player. While the standard DVD release doesn’t offer many of the HD DVD features, it does follow suit in that it includes the never-aired, 73-minute premiere episode, the featurette “The Making of Heroes,” 50 deleted scenes, and the major draw, which of course is the show itself. This series about a group of men and women who discover they have supernatural powers was one of last year’s best. Grade: A-

“House: Season Three”: Is there an abrasive, egomaniacal doctor in the house? There is in this third season of “House,” with Hugh Laurie back as Dr. Gregory House, an infectious disease specialist at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital who is about as sullen and as caustic as they come. Perhaps too much so. The show is an acquired taste, with each episode pushing the envelope on what’s believable – and what isn’t – to such a degree, the show courts the absurd in ways that can be as rousing as it is off-putting. And yet Laurie, former star of the BBC series “A Bit of Fry & Laurie,” does grow on you, probably because, in a crunch, his character usually tends to do the right thing. Grade: B-

“Notting Hill”: HD DVD – Features Julia Roberts as one of the world’s most famous women. That’s quite a stretch for Roberts, one of the world’s most famous women, and yet director Roger Mitchell doesn’t stop there. In an effort to complete the thin illusion he creates here, he puts Roberts’ face on the rear end of city buses and prints untrue stories about her character in the tabloids. And then he does something that gives his film unexpected appeal and depth – he allows audiences to draw their own conclusions and parallels between Roberts and Anna Scott, a moody, unloved megastar who itches to ditch her career and get away from the media to find happiness with a regular guy. Hugh Grant is that regular guy. But before you start to snicker, know this: The film, now on HD DVD, works. There is real chemistry between Roberts and Grant, the supporting cast is superb, and Richard Curtis’ script trumps his script for “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” Rated PG-13. Grade: B+

“Serenity: Collector’s Edition”: Joss Whedon’s sci-fi powerhouse takes stock Asian, sci-fi and Wild West elements and twists them into an intergalactic space adventure that somehow escaped being tweaked to serve the masses. It’s for hardcore sci-fi fans and, as such, the movie became an underground hit. Those interested in this new 2-disc collector’s edition will find several new bonus features, the best of which is the featurette “A Filmmaker’s Journey,” in which Whedon explores the film’s journey from script to screen. But really, the extras are just another reason to re-release the movie. If you own the DVD, skip this version. But if you don’t, the humor, pathos, wit, action and fear that roil seamlessly in the caldron of Whedon’s imagination is a treat to behold. Rated PG-13. Grade: A-

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.