- ARIA is that history-making film. Sexy, violent, thought-provoking and funny, here is the movie critics raved about, audiences flocked to see, and no one could stop talking about.Running Time: 90 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:Â DRAMA Rating:Â R Age:Â 883929009497 UPC:Â 883929009497 Manufacturer No:Â LIT-DV-00037
WEIGHT OF WATER - DVD MovieThis complicated mystery, directed with passionate intensity by Katherine Bigelow (
Near Dark), deserves better than the paltry distribution it received in theaters. Granted, it's a tough sell: a contrast between the emotional unrest in a group of modern travelers and a hundred-year-old murder case on a desolate New England island. A photographer (Catherine McCormack) is researching the old case, and we flip back and forth between time periods as she uncovers new clues. The parallel-story structure is often tricky to pull off in movies, and Bigelow, wo! rking from the Anita Shreve novel, doesn't entirely solve it here. But the old mystery, set in a strict Norwegian community, is compelling, and the cast is stronger than the material: Sarah Polley and the late Katrin Cartlidge are stand-outs in the 1873 scenes, and Sean Penn (believably insufferable) and Elizabeth Hurley flirt naughtily in the modern.
--Robert HortonThe Devil's never been so hot or hilarious! Brendan Fraser is a hapless, love-starved computer technician who falls prey to sinfully sexy Elizabeth Hurley when he agress to sell her his soul in exchange for seven wishes. But the sly Princess of Darkness has more than a few tricks up her... sleeve. And before you can say Fire and Brimstone, Elliot's life becomes a hysterical hell on earth.Brendan Fraser stars in
Bedazzled as Elliot, a dweebish office worker who yearns for Alison (played by Frances O'Connor from
Mansfield Park), a coworker who barely knows he exists. When he blithely say! s he'd give his soul for Alison, the Devil appears (Elizabeth! Hurley,
Austin Powers) and says she'll give him seven wishes in exchange. Elliot is dubious at first, but agrees out of desperation. Unfortunately, his every wish always leaves the Devil a little wiggle room. When he asks to be rich and powerful, the Devil turns him into a drug lord beset on all sides. When he asks to be a successful, well-endowed writer, the Devil adds a male lover to the mix. The setup and situations are clever, though
Bedazzled doesn't delve into any real moral or theological questions and has a little less bite than the original it's based on (from 1968, starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook). But it does provide some better comic substance than Fraser has had in most of his previous roles (
George of the Jungle,
Encino Man). Fraser demonstrated in
Gods and Monsters that he could hold his own dramatically with the likes of Brit thespian Ian McKellen, and he's consistently been a charming presence in movies enjoyable! (
The Mummy) and not so enjoyable (
Dudley Do Right).
Bedazzled may not give him any more movie-making clout, but it does give his fans something to enjoy. O'Connor is entirely pleasant in her largely straight role, and Hurley fills out her part by delectably filling out a number of revealing outfits. An enjoyable bit of froth.
--Bret FetzerA PROCESS SERVER WITH A NO HOLDS BARRED APPROACH TO CARRYINGOUT HIS DUTIES, ISN'T PREPARED FOR SARA THE STUNNING,SOON TO BE EX-WIFE OF A PLAYBOY CATTLE BARON. NOTHING HEATS UP ROMANCE LIKE RICHES & REVENGE.Matthew Perry is a gifted comic actor whose style works nicely on TV but somehow hasn't translated into movie success. To change the formula a bit,
Serving Sara puts Perry in a slightly scruffier mode, and pairs him with an actress whose sexiness and comic aplomb should be a good counterpart to his wonderfully shticky style: Elizabeth Hurley. And it still doesn't work. This one is set in the e! xciting world of process-serving, where Perry teams up with j! ilted wi fe Hurley to sting her rich husband (reliable goof Bruce Campbell). This screwball plot might have worked if the two stars evinced any chemistry together, and if director Reginald Hudlin knew how to set up a scene. Bright spot: Cedric the Entertainer, as Perry's boss, gets laughs just from doing the tiniest bits of business while seated behind his desk. No small thing in a movie that otherwise labors.
--Robert HortonA popular movie star, known for her method acting, takes on the characteristics of her current role as a turn of the century murderess-both on and off camera.ARIA is that history-making film. Sexy, violent, thought-provoking and funny, here is the movie critics raved about, audiences flocked to see, and no one could stop talking about.This omnibus directors fest brings together 10 different filmmakers making 10 different films based on operatic arias. Jean-Luc Godard is stylistically the boldest, Robert Altman possibly the most imaginative, Franc Rodd! am celebrates American glitz, and Bruce Beresford is the most sentimental. Nearly all the other filmmakers involved--including Nicolas Roeg, Ken Russell, Julien Temple, Charles Sturridge, Derek Jarman, and Bill Bryden--are (or were, in the case of the late Jarman) world-class talents, but you wouldn't know that from their murky participation here.
--Tom Keogh 
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