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Movies & TV

Video & DVD

Rating: NNNNN


New releases

beautiful joe (2000, Lions Gate), dir. Stephen Metcalfe w/ Sharon Stone, Billy Connolly. Connolly stars as a florist diagnosed with a brian tumour who goes on a road trip and meets single mom and gambling fiend Stone. Connolly is charming as the easy-going leading man, which makes Stone’s over-the-top performance all the more annoying. The one-time box-office queen has been choosing roles in small projects — Simpatico, If These Walls Could Talk 2 — instead of seeking the limelight in high-profile films. Too bad, since we could use a bold and brassy 40-something sex symbol. NN

Big-screen rating: Never released

the contaminated man (2000, Equinox), dir. Anthony Hickox w/ William Hurt, Peter Weller. A biohazards specialist (Hurt) is pursuing the highly toxic Weller, who survived an explosion in a chemical lab. The premise keeps us on the hook, waiting for Weller to touch somebody and turn him or her into a foaming carcass. The problem is Hurt — he’s so-o-o boring. The older he gets, the more internal a performer he becomes, and it’s hard to read any emotions in that placid face. NN

Big-screen rating: Never released

crouching tiger, hidden dragon (2000,Columbia Tri-Star), dir. Ang Lee w/ Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh. Last year’s best movie loses its grandeur with this pan-and-scan video transfer, but that shouldn’t stop you from seeing it. Lee brings poetic beauty to this martial arts drama starring Yeoh and Chow as reluctant lovers searching for Chow’s stolen sword and the mysterious bandit who’s taken it. The DVD extras include commentary tracks by Lee and screenwriter James Schamus, a featurette on the making of the movie and a 13-minute interview with Yeoh. NNNN

Big-screen rating: Great romantic melodrama with high-flying martial arts. Best film of 2000. NNNNN (JH)

Also this week:

Warden Of Red Rock

Upcoming

June 12: Cast Away, There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble, Waydowntown

June 19: The Pledge, Proof Of Life, Save The Last Dance, State And Main

DVD pick of the week

l’avventura: special edition (1960,Criterion), dir. Michelangelo Antonioni w/ Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti. Antonioni made himself forever the poet of ennui with L’Avventura. A group of beautiful people numbed by wealth yacht to an island. One of them disappears, which affects the others as might a passing cloud. L’Avventura is a brilliant chorale of stunning blank surfaces, with all the pleasures and frustrations that implies. Extras: a 58-minute documentary titled Antonioni: Documents And Testimonials, audio commentary by film scholar Gene Youngblood, trailer, Antonioni’s statements on the film published after its stormy premiere at Cannes. 145 minutes. NNNNN

CAMERON BAILEY

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