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SPECIAL FEATURE
DVD & VIDEO REVIEWS
by Veronica Mixon July 2003
	Gangs of New York Miramax Home Entertainment - This is a monumental achievement by Martin Scorsese! The film is beautifully rendered on DVD because the power and excitement has not been lost. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a young man determined to avenge his father's murder by killing Daniel Day-Lewis, a brass turn-of-the-century thug who controlled lower Manhattan. Day-Lewis should have won an Academy Award for this performance of Bill-the Butcher, a native American who spews racism and hatred to all who cross his path! He struts around the rowdy, gritty streets teaming with immigrant humanity for all corners of the earth and Bill's callousness reflects an on-going American problem. Cameron Diaz plays the woman both men share. The two-disc DVD is stuff with incredible features including a behind-the scenes short, commentary with Scorsese, U2 music video, set design & costume features, a history of the gangs and a Discovery Channel special about the film. The viewer can totally emerse themselves into this turbelent fascinating period in America's history. You will not be disappointed.
	The Hours Paramount Pictures - This Academy Award winner for Best Actress Nicole Kidman is a poignant story about a writer, reader and a character whose lives evolve around a Virginia Wolf novel. The major themes of women's depression and conflicts over life choices that chiefly center around love connect these three stories in three different time settings. Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep each deliver incredibly gentle performances of inner turmoil and intense suffocation that often exists in the lives of women who want to please the people they love. This marvelous DVD includes commentary by each of the actresses and the director, Stephen Daldry and novelist Michael Cunningham; four featurettes about Virigina Woolf, the music and the lives of Mrs. Dalloway; the theatrical trailer and subtitles. Fans of Woolf and Cunningham's novel will enjoy this illustrated look at the world created by the novels and the film. It's sad and touching!
	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: Paramount Home Entertainment - A ditzy cute comedy about two people who make bets about love and learn a valuable lesson. Kate Hudson stars as the "how to" columnist at a popular women's magazine. She decides to meet a guy and get him to dump her in 10 days so that she can write about the dumb things women do in relationships. Meanwhile, across town Matthew McConaughey is an ad executive competing for a big diamond account. He bets another team that he can make a woman fall in love in ten days. The team, having met Kate earlier that day, pick her as McConaguhey's target and the fun begins. Fifteen minutes into this film, I realized that McConaughey has great chemistry with Hudson and they click even when the jokes don't. There best scenes happen during a visit to his parents house. Extras on the DVD include intriguing Manhattan locations from the movie, delected scenes, director's commentary and a music video.

	Daredevil Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - A daring, blind super hero who is often mistaken for a villian makes his film debut! Ben Affleck stars as Matt Murdock, a lawyer by day and a kick-ass action hero called Daredevil by night. The son of a boxer who was murder by ruthless crime boss called Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), Daredevil stumbles upon his tangled web after meeting the beautiful Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner). When her father is killed by Kingpin's henchman Bullseye (Colin Farrell), Elektra mistakely blames Daredevil. Evenutally the blind warrior must face defeat these forces of evil before Elektra can believe in him. Ben Affleck ("Pearl Harbor") seems uncomfortable as Daredevil but I think he'll grow into the part. The sexy Jennifer Garner is fantastic but her death seems a mistake. Maybe she should have been introducted in a later sequel. Nevertheless, both Clarke and Farrell are brilliant as Daredevil's opponents. You loved watching them duel and spar! The two-disc DVD is stuff with loads of extras. For the uninformed there is a brilliant comic book history of Daredevil, the villians and the women in his life. There are six featurettes, 3 music videos, 2 hour-long documentaries that will thrill the fans, Jennifer Garner's Screen test, Kingpin featurette and much, much more! This DVD is definitely a collector's gem.
	Narc Paramount Home Entertainment - A gritty, violent tale of a suspended narc, Nick (Jason Patric) who is investigating the murder of another undercover officer. Henry Oak (Ray Liotta) is the hot-headed friend of the dead cop who is determined to exact revenge. As Nick and Oak follow the clues in the murky drug underworld, the lines start to blur and it becomes harder to determine who are to bad guys. This is a clever, intense and raw portrait of urban cops and crime. Both Patric and Liotta are superb! The disc includes several featurettes are operating as a Narc, a director/writer commentary, trailer and documentary called 'The Friedkin Connection.' Fans of gritty action will love this film!
	Heaven Miramax Home Entertainment - If A startling political thriller than blossems into a romance. Cate Blanchette stars as Phillippa, British teacher living in Turin, Italy who strikes out against a high level drug trafficker with a violent act of terrorizm. Unfortunately, Phillippa misses her target with horrific consequences. Although the police, who are clearly complicit with her target, ignore her explicit tips, suddenly she has an allie in the department (Giovanni Ribisi). What will she do and how will she live with her actions? This is not your typical thriller and yet, it is strangely compelling. Blanchette and Ribisi are intense and sensual together. The disc has a director's commentuary, deleted scenes, a "Heaven" featurette and a space cam fly by.
	Love is A Many Splendid Thing Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - A classic love story from the golden age of Hollywood, this is the story of an American journalist (William Holden) and a Eurasian doctor (Jennifer Jones) in 1949 Hong Kong. It's an old-fashioned romance that challenges traditional racial and moral rules. It's rather corny and quaint with a lot of chest thumping by Jones who tells everyone that she's proud to be Eurasian. The Chinese are portrayed as supersituous and as rigid as the British but fans of William Holden will adore this film. He's charming and gracious opposite Jones who is gentle. The disc includes a wonderful documentary about William Holden and his career, highlight clips, theatrical trailer, commentary and a look at other classic films of the era.
	Once Upon A Time in America Warner Video - The epic tale of Jewish gangsters who rose from the teeming streets of the immigrant neighborhoods of New York City. Sergio Leone, who adored American cowboys, creates a modern cowboy saga about a group of friends whose trust is betrayed by the most ambitious leader. Robert DeNiro and James Woods stars as best friends who relie on each others brains and brawn. Sergio Leone tells the story in two parts using a gifted young cast including an adolescent Jennifer Connelly and DeNiro, Woods, Joe Pesci, Treat Williams, Elizabeth McGovern and Tuesday Weld in the adult parts. This is an exciting, poignant drama with an intriguing mystery at its center. The two-disc DVD includes a new digital transfer of the film, audio commentary by Richard Schickel, an except from a documentary about Leone and a behind the scenes featurette plus much more. This is truly remarkable package for an outstanding masterpiece.
	Edited by Veronica Mixon images courtesy of Miramax, Paramount Collection, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Video to TOP