DVD corner

“Cast Away” Blu-ray – A harrowing adventure film of a modern-day Robinson Crusoe stuck on a remote island in the Pacific. Throughout much of the movie, director Robert Zemeckis’ proves a master of nuance, shading and control, only faltering at the end when his populist instincts take over and he presents an ending awash in suds. Now available on high-definition Blu-ray disc, this 2000 film stars Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland, a chubby Everyman and Federal Express manager who leaves behind his girlfriend (Helen Hunt) to take a flight abroad on Christmas Eve. But when Chuck’s plane smashes into the Pacific, he narrowly escapes with his life only to drift ashore to a deserted island – where his real fight for survival begins. Without much use for words or any use for a musical score, Zemeckis relies solely on Hanks’ painstaking efforts to stay alive and the raw beauty of the island to carry the bulk of the film. It works beautifully. If the movie reaffirms nature’s power over modern man, then it’s also about how modern man’s primitive instincts are still a formidable foe against whatever Mother Nature has up her sleeve. As the years pass and Chuck’s once fleshy body becomes a steel rod of determination (Hanks lost 50 pounds for the role), “Cast Away” underscores the sheer power of the human spirit with a formidable exclamation point. Rated PG-13. Grade: A-

“The Graduate: Decades Collection” – Few movies compare with “The Graduate” when it comes to communicating the anxiety, dark hilarity and potential misery of one’s first sexual experience. In 1967, just as the sexual revolution was nearing its bed-shaking peak, the sexually naive Benjamin Braddock brought all of his angst, confusion and bumbling humanity to the screen. For Dustin Hoffman, it was a career-making performance. For our culture, his character defined two separate eras as he grew out of the repression of the past and into a man reflecting a more sexually free and aggressive time. While the movie features a great performance by Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, the older woman who seduces Benjamin, “The Graduate” itself isn’t a great film. It’s enjoyable and it’s entertaining, but director Mike Nichols has nothing profound to say. Consider his main character. Does anyone really care about Benjamin? He is a dull, self-centered cur who is going nowhere, and he has nothing interesting to offer. Still, it’s easy to like him because of his naive charm. It’s easy to relate to him because we see in him ghosts of our younger selves – that’s the point of the movie, the reason it works. His faults rest in youth, which can be forgiven. Thus, when you watch him onscreen, you have faith that he will emerge into the better, more interesting person he needs to become – if only for the sake of all those people who will enter his life in the future. Rated PG. Grade: B+

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” Blu-ray – Flashy, predictable and empty, with a trash plot driving it, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” finds that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie do have something that transcends performance and goes deeper than chemistry; they’re the real deal. As rote as their roles are in this comedic espionage thriller, it’s clear from the first moment we see them as John and Jane Smith – a bored, supernaturally sexy husband and wife in the bickering throes of marriage counseling – that they like each other plenty and have come to have fun. When it was released in 2005, the film, with these two on board, was the biggest screen orgasm of the year. Now that the movie is available on Blu-ray, audiences can enjoy it as its stars and its director obviously intended for it to be viewed – in the privacy of their bedrooms, with improved picture and sound quality, and naturally with the shades pulled. Rated PG-13. Grade: B

“The Nanny Diaries” – Who encouraged her to write? Scarlett Johansson is Annie, a recent college grad who longs to leave behind her tepid life in New Jersey with her mother (Donna Murphy) for the bright lights and excitement of Manhattan. Her mother sees Annie’s career flourishing in the business world, but Annie, who prefers anthropology to accounting, isn’t so sure about that or anything in her life, least of all herself. So, when fate intervenes in the guise of a polished, Upper East Side mother named Mrs. X (Laura Linney) who offers to hire Annie as her child’s nanny, Annie accepts. Mrs. X, however, turns out to be a bitter control freak, who makes Annie’s life a living hell. For romantic relief, the movie coughs up a Harvard hottie (Chris Evans), who takes to Annie regardless of how rude she is to him. For hard-core street advice about life, Alicia Keys shows up in a surprise role as Annie’s best friend. She turns out to be the most authentic part of a movie that should have been made for television, preferably with actors whose talents were better-suited for the slight material. Here’s a dream list – Kelly Rippa as Annie, Kathie Lee Gifford as Mrs. X, Kevin James as her husband and Verne Troyer (yes, Mini Me) as their little boy. Just imagine the Emmys. Rated PG-13. Grade: D+

“Superbad” DVD, Blu-ray – Actually, quite good. The story hinges on three nebbish high school seniors invited to a party at which they agree to bring the alcohol. All of the alcohol. Though nerdy Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) has scored a fake ID, the idea that these three teens offer to get the booze for scores of people proves the colossal mistake of their young lives. The trouble with the ID is that it states that Fogell is 25 years old and that he apparently has just one name – McLovin. Let’s be clear here. There is nothing about this slight reed of a boy that suggests he’s anywhere near the age of 25, and there certainly is nothing that hints that he ever could earn the name McLovin. But that’s what the ID says and so, thrown for a loop, lifelong best friends Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) decide to follow through with their promise to get the hooch. The idea isn’t just that they’ll at last be accepted by a student body that has shunned them for years, but that they also might catch the eye of a pretty girl or two. And wouldn’t that be a sweet way to end their senior year? In spite of the film’s deluge of raunchy dialogue and sight gags, tender notes are struck, with the movie proving very good at examining a lifelong friendship at a crossroads. Seth and Evan are two unpopular kids who grew up to become two unpopular individuals. They always promised they’d go to the same college together, but Evan recently has been accepted into Dartmouth and he’s going. As for Seth, who favors the occasional display of mock masturbation, he isn’t exactly Dartmouth material, which causes a rift between the two that leads to a drunken revelation best left for the surprise of the screen. Rated R. Grade: B+

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of BDN 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.