Advertisement

Movies & TV

Blu-Ray/DVD Reviews

Rating: NNNNN


New releases

dracula 2000 (2000, Dimension), dir. Patrick Lussier w/ Justine Waddell, Jonny Lee Miller. An average episode of Buffy outsmarts this horror flick. Count Dracula (Gerard Butler) awakes and searches for his soulmate, the daughter (Waddell) of vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer). The genre has been sucked dry, and Lussier lacks the creative juices to revitalize it. The up-and-coming performers — Waddell, Miller, Jennifer Esposito and Omar Epps — come across as eye candy and not much more. NN

Big-screen rating: A limp takeoff on Bram Stoker’s inadvertent ode to sexuality. N (KL)

varian’s war (2000, Alliance Atlantis), dir. Lionel Chetwynd w/ William Hurt, Julia Ormond. In this made-for-TV movie, Hurt stars as Varian Fry, an American intellectual who helped more than 2,000 Jewish artists escape from occupied France to America during the second world war. Real-life heroes don’t make compelling movie subjects, especially if their stories are spun into a boring, pedantic script and dull actors like Hurt are cast as the do-gooders. NN

Big-screen rating: N/A

the wedding planner (2001, Columbia), dir. Adam Shankman w/ Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey. Lopez plays a San Francisco wedding planner who falls in love with the groom (McConaughey) at one of her weddings. A carefully constructed romantic comedy, it benefits from Lopez and McConaughey’s easy-going chemistry. All told, it’s pretty hard to hate — especially since it gives us the chance to re-evaluate the elusive McConaughey, who disappeared off the Hollywood grid after making a splash years ago. The guy’s got matinee-idol appeal and makes Lopez look good. NNN

Big-screen rating: It aims for the dry zing of 40s comedies, but the whole thing is sopping wet. NN (CB)

INGRID RANDOJA

Also this week

Attraction The Body Gormenghast

Upcoming

July 10

The Claim, Malèna, Monkeybone, 13 Days

July 17

The Caveman’s Valentine, The Gift, The Family Man, Saving Silverman

DVD pick of the week

snatch: special edition (2001, Columbia Tri-Star), dir. Guy Ritchie w/ Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina. Ritchie’s command of the crime genre vernacular, his explosive sense of humour and his short attention span have made his films into supremely addictive visual caffeine. Snatch is no more than a goosed-up remake of Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, but it’s still a wicked ride. The plot is a carnival of double-crosses over a massive diamond and a fixed fight. But Snatch’s chief pleasure is its gleeful, macho performances. Extras: Columbia Tri-Star’s two-disc DVD comes fully tricked out with an audio commentary from director Ritchie, a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, storyboards, trailers, TV commercials and subtitles for Brad Pitt’s dialogue. 103 minutes. NNNCAMERON BAILEY

video&dvd

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted