thePULSEPulse DVDs
February 2
ALLEGRO NON TROPPO [PG]
Bruno Bozzetto’s 1977 “Italian Fantasia” is finally on DVD, and it looks better than it ever did.
AMERICAN SPLENDOR [R]
Paul Giamatti’s brilliant turn as unconventional comics’ icon Harvey Pekar, makes this clever and engaging docudrama a must-see.
LOST IN TRANSLATION [R]
Bill Murray delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as an American junk movie star alone in Tokyo while he shills for a Japanese whiskey company in Sofia Coppola’s exquisite comedic drama, which also stars Scarlett Johansson. One of the best films of 2003.
PLANET OF THE APES: 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION [PG]
Get your hands on this, you damn dirty ape! Not only is this nifty 2-disc edition replete with commentary and behind-the-scenes footage, but also includes the two-hour documentary Behind The Planet Of The Apes, hosted by the late Roddy McDowall.
SECONDHAND LIONS [PG]
Iron Giant writer Tim McCanlies pens and helms this sweet and simple story about a boy (Haley Joel Osment) who spends a summer with his ornery old uncles (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine).
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN [PG-13]
Unfaithful star Diane Lane’s trip as a successful New York publisher whose divorce sends her on a soul-searching trip to Tuscany is a captivating, ready-made hit right out of the gate.
February 10
IN THE CUT [R/NR]
The Piano director Jane Campion’s dreadful psychosexual drama stars a very naked Meg Ryan as a writing teacher who becomes involved in a murder investigation. Available in the original R and unrated versions (as if).
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY [PG-13]
The latest from the Coen Brothers, producer Ethan and director Joel, is an aloof comedy with intentions a la Trading Places, The War Of The Roses and The First Wives Club. It is transparent and pandering and tanks quite miserably, starring George Clooney as Beverly Hills’ most relentless divorce attorney, who is, naturally, twitterpated when seemingly unattainable black widow Catherine Zeta-Jones wiggles on by.
PARTY MONSTER [R]
A fictionalized rehash of the events covered in the previous documentary of the same name, this essentially pointless ode to excess stars Macaulay Culkin as legendary New York party promoter Michael Alig, presently in jail for life for the murder of one of his drug dealers. With Seth Green and Chlöe Sevigny.
RETURNER [R]
While this Japanese special effects extravaganza may rip off everything from The Terminator to The Matrix, it is beyond cool to watch a jet plane transform into a giant robot in the film’s finale.
SYLVIA [R]
No need to stick your head in an oven if you missed this Sylvia Plath biopic starring Gwyneth Paltrow, as it is available on disc today (though it is a completely bare-bones release.)
TOGETHER [PG]
Chinese director Kaige Chen tells this touching story of a violin prodigy and his father as they travel to Beijing to secure the boy’s future.
WONDERLAND [R]
Chameleonic Val Kilmer plays porn legend John Holmes in this grimy look at the 1981 quadruple L.A. homicide that Holmes may or may not have played a direct part in.
February 17
CAMP [PG-13]
Way campy but very sweet, this Fame play-alike is worth watching just for its chutzpah.
CITY OF GOD [R]
This blistering tale of two friends growing up abjectly poor on the streets of Rio is unforgettable.
DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR [PG-13]
David Spade may have been on the fast track to becoming an ironic punch line to one of his many vicious “Hollywood Minute” barbs, but with his latest comedy, the former “SNL” staple staves off the Grin Reaper with a self-effacing sweetness that replaces his smarm with charm.
MAMBO ITALIANO [R]
Much better than My Big Fat Greek Wedding is this gay Canadian farce about Angelo (Luke Kirby), a closeted, Italian man whose reunion with a childhood friend leads to romance.
MASKED AND ANONYMOUS [PG-13]
A great reason for improv to be outlawed is Larry Charles’s clunky “what if” starring Bob Dylan as a desperado in an alternate America.
RUNAWAY JURY [PG-13]
The cast of this serviceable John Grisham-penned courtroom thriller includes slumming Oscar winners Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, as well as John Cusack, Rachel Weisz and a host of other familiar faces.
February 24
MATCHSTICK MEN [PG-13]
Gladiator director Ridley Scott’s darkly comic crime thriller stars a manic Nicolas Cage, as well as whirlwind Alison Lohman (White Oleander) and the unpredictable Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind).
THE MISSING [R]
Ron Howard may have taken us to the moon and back in Apollo 13, but his trip to the American frontier starring Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones as her estranged, drop-out father is a real snoozer.
PIECES OF APRIL [R]
Director Peter Hedges’s incredibly simple story of April (Katie Holmes), a black sheep hosting her estranged family for Thanksgiving dinner, is remarkably vivid and incredibly human, and features an incredible turn by Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent) as her ailing mother.
