DVD Corner

“Beverly Hills 90210: Sixth Season”: Shannen Doherty’s Brenda Walsh was sent out to pasture at the end of the fourth season, so it was up to the producers to find a new bad girl. They did so in Tiffani-Amber Thiessen’s Valerie Malone, who didn’t take humanity to the amusing lows achieved by the wrecking ball that was Brenda, but you have to give it to Thiessen – she had her moments, which continue to spark this sixth season. Once again, more turmoil boils in Beverly Hills, particularly in such episodes as “Home is Where the Tart Is,” “Gypsies, Cramps and Fleas” and “Breast Side Up,” and also because Tori Spelling’s face and body continue to morph in ways that have zip to do with leaving adolescence’s grasp. In between, there’s more gossip to fill a week’s worth of posts at perezhilton.com, which is just how fans want it. On those terms, the sixth season succeeds. Grade: B

“Fred Claus” DVD, Blu-ray: Reindeer roadkill, with long stretches of silence passing before a good laugh hits. Vince Vaughn is Fred Claus, brother to Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), aka Santa, whose fame and stature in the worldwide community have turned Fred into something of a grinch. When Fred finds himself in a pinch, he goes to the North Pole to help out the big guy for the big night of gift-giving. This displeases his girlfriend (Rachel Weisz) and Mrs. Claus (Miranda Richardson), allows for his mother (Kathy Bates) to belittle him, smooths the way for Kevin Spacey’s mean-spirited efficiency expert, Clyde, to try to undo him, and also allows for the two brothers to come to terms. This is, after all, a family movie with redemption on its mind, which it unleashes while piling on a big slop of forced sentiment at the end. There is one sly scene that hints at the sharp, inspired movie “Fred Claus” could have been. It involves appearances by Roger Clinton, Stephen Baldwin and Frank Stallone all bemoaning their fates at being siblings to more famous brothers. The scene has an edge, it’s funny and it comes close to the dark truth about brotherly rivalry that “Fred Claus” courts, but which it doesn’t have the guts to fully skewer and explore. Rated PG-13. Grade: C-

“Hancock” DVD, Blu-ray: One of the most abrasive, crass “family” movies to hit theaters this year. Can a studio purchase a PG-13 rating? Publicly, they’d laugh at the idea. But given this film’s sheer amount of blood violence, graphic dismemberments, adult themes and liberal use of colorful language – not to mention its unfortunate streak of homophobia and obvious issues with race – you have to wonder whether that’s the case. Will Smith is Hancock, a sexist, booze-swilling buffoon saddled with superhuman powers whose life is going nowhere. People are sick of him, but when into his life comes Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman, good as always), a PR man with a heart of gold, Hancock finds himself faced with the opportunity to turn his life around and become the respected superhero Ray believes he can be. It won’t be easy, but it works. And so does the movie in these early scenes, especially since Smith has enough weight as an actor to make us feel the isolation that comes from Hancock’s addiction. Soon, he does pull himself together, only to be faced with his greatest challenge of all – a twist involving another character that’s such a stretch, it rattles the movie off its rails. Rated PG-13. Grade: C-

“Jarhead” Blu-ray: Takes us back to a past that feels oddly like the present. There’s good reason for that. In the film, we’re in the Middle East, Bush is in office, and we’re fighting a war that few understand. The difference? The Bush in question is the senior Bush, Saddam Hussein is in power and the war being fought is the Gulf War. Jake Gyllenhaal is Swofford, who is recruited by Sykes (Jamie Foxx) to become a sniper along with Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), his sketchy partner with the unfavorable past, and a group of other men. With no action to be had on the ground in Saudi Arabia, the men find themselves fighting the war unraveling in their heads. It’s the mounting frustration that comes with the dawning realization that their time in the desert may have been for nothing that gives “Jarhead” its greatest, ugliest complexity in ways that won’t be revealed here. Rated R. Grade: B

“The Kingdom” Blu-ray: After American oil workers and their families are slaughtered by terrorists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) goes against the government’s wishes and leads three colleagues (Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman) in a covert trip overseas to find out what happened. There, they are met with opposition, which they eventually work around thanks to the Saudi colonel (Ashraf Barhom) assigned to protect them. Initially, he does so with gruff assertiveness. But then, as he comes to question his country because, you know, these Americans have gleaned in 48 hours the sort of critical insights he himself hasn’t been able to do in a lifetime, he starts to listen to them and help. If that carries with it a whiff of condescension, “The Kingdom” is filled with it. The movie is so manipulative and obvious, you quickly see it for what it is – purely opportunistic, trading off our war in the Middle East and the fears surrounding it while offering audiences a pro and con look at the Arab community that grates with simplicity. Rated R. Grade: D+

“Tropic Thunder” DVD, Blu-ray: From Ben Stiller, a movie whose hilarious opening establishes its main characters in ways that are so rich, it won’t be revealed here. But it is ingenious. What can be said is that it cleverly introduces audiences to a group of famous actors struggling to find themselves midcareer by starring in what they hope will be a hit. Those men include Tugg Speedman (Stiller), a muscled action-adventure type on the downside of fame; Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), a rap star best known for his popular soft drink; Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a heroin addict beloved the world over for starring in comedies; and Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), an Academy Award-winning thespian who takes his craft so seriously, he undergoes a controversial pigment transformation to become a black man for his latest role in the Vietnam War movie all are appearing in now. What springs from this is an unwieldy plot that relies so heavily on surprise to sell its laughs that revealing more would ruin the adolescent pleasures laced throughout the script. This isn’t a consistently funny movie, but when the laughs do hit (Tom Cruise helps), it’s as if you’ve been rocketed to the moon. Rated R. Grade: B

Weekinrewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, DVD giveaways and archive of movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at christopher@week

inrewind.com.