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Musicals DVDs

Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)

Sales Rank:4430
List Price: $12.98
Lowest New Price: $5.79
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)

Format:

Anamorphic
Closed-captioned
Collector's Edition
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Special Edition
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Kevin Bacon
Lori Singer
John Lithgow
Dianne Wiest
Chris Penn

Director Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) pulled a winning movie out of this almost self-consciously archetypal tale of teenage rock rebellion. Kevin Bacon stars as a hip city kid who ends up in a Bible-belt town after his parents divorce. An ill fit for a conservative community where rock is frowned upon and dancing is forbidden, Bacon's character rallies the kids and takes on the establishment. Between a good cast really embracing the drama of Dean Pitchford's screenplay, and Ross's imaginative, highly charged way of shooting the dance numbers, you can get lost in this all-ages confection, and you won't even mind Kenny Loggins's bubbly pop. Bonuses include one of John Lithgow's best performances (a bit reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart), and Christopher Penn (who sure doesn't look the same anymore) as a good-natured hick who learns to boogie. --Tom Keogh

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Flower Drum Song

Sales Rank:4117
List Price: $14.98
Lowest New Price: $7.26
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Special Edition
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Nancy Kwan
James Shigeta
Benson Fong
Jack Soo
Juanita Hall

Rodgers and Hammerstein made BIG musicals--sweeping song and dance numbers, elaborate stagings, sweet heroines, and love struck but confused heroes. Flower Drum Song has all these elements, so why is it so little known? Perhaps because it had the misfortune to be released the same year (1961) as West Side Story, or maybe because at 133 minutes it's overlong, or did the audience have trouble accepting an all-Asian cast in an Asian-themed musical? Whatever the reasons, it's time to recognize Flower Drum Song for the gem it is.

Picture bride Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki) and her father arrive in San Francisco, having smuggled themselves into the country so Mei Li can marry nightclub owner Sammy Fong (whose mother arranged the whole deal). Mei Li is fascinated by the city and immediately charms its denizens with a delicate rendition of "One Hundred Million Miracles." Fong (Jack Soo), who is having an affair with his star singer, the sexy and scheming Linda Low (Nancy Kwan), pawns Mei Li off on the Wang family, whose eldest son, Ta (James Shigeta), needs a wife (at least that's what his father has decided). Old Chinese culture and new American ideals clash at every turn, with the elders struggling to understand their Americanized children and the children struggling to accept and honor their heritage. Though the movie is dated in some respects, the theme of assimilation vs. separation holds up remarkably well and rings true. "The Other Generation" beautifully illustrates the generation gap.

As this is a romantic musical, you know from the beginning which couples will end up together. The most famous song is "I Enjoy Being a Girl," sung by Linda Low as she dresses to seduce Wang Ta. Though too many triangulations and misunderstandings prolong the inevitable conclusion, Flower Drum Song is a very enjoyable and often funny ride. --Dana Van Nest

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Diana Krall - Live in Paris

Sales Rank:5610
List Price: $14.98
Lowest New Price: $9.78
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Anamorphic
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Live
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Diana Krall
John Clayton
Paulinho Da Costa
Jeff Hamilton
John Pisano

Does it get any better than this? Canadian torch singer and pianist Diana Krall is in perfect form in this two-hour Paris concert, recorded in December 2001 shortly after the release of her CD The Look of Love. In her band, guitarist Anthony Wilson and bassist John Clayton get the lion's share of attention, but the entire ensemble (including lush strings from the Paris Symphony Orchestra) provides flawless support for Krall, whose skill on a Steinway is as impressive as her smoky interpretations of vintage standards and ballads. Inspired by guest conductor-arranger Claus Ogerman, Krall can surprise with subtleties (like a delicious hint of the Beatles' "Day Tripper" in her closing of "All or Nothing"), or glide into solos with a master's flair. Matching the music beat for beat, the camera coverage and editing are intimate without being obtrusive, making this a bit of jazz heaven here on earth. --Jeff Shannon

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Gypsy

Sales Rank:3363
List Price: $14.98
Lowest New Price: $8.02
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MPAA Rating: Unrated

Format:

Closed-captioned
Color
DVD-Video
Letterboxed
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Rosalind Russell
Natalie Wood
Karl Malden
Paul Wallace
Betty Bruce

Widely considered, top to bottom, one of the finest musicals in Broadway history, Gypsy got lucky in its film version. Granted, Rosalind Russell doesn't have the bell-ringing voice one craves for in "Everything's Coming Up Roses," but as a domineering stage mom, she's truly fearsome. Trouping through vaudeville with her is her daughter, the future celebrity stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, played by Natalie Wood in all her youthful lusciousness. The production is studio-bound, but this actually fits the unreal show-biz world depicted. The Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim score has no weak spots, and some of the burlesque numbers ("Let Me Entertain You" and the riotous "You Gotta Get a Gimmick") are so authentic, you'd swear they were at least 100 years old. Gypsy is one of those big, somewhat stately musicals that does satisfying credit to its stage origins; no cinematic ground-breaking here, but a swell way to spend a rainy afternoon. --Robert Horton

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The Chorus (Les Choristes)

Sales Rank:2221
List Price: $14.99
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Gérard Jugnot
François Berléand
Jean-Baptiste Maunier
Kad Merad
Jean-Paul Bonnaire

By getting nominated for Academy Awards in both the Foreign Language Film and Best Song categories, Les Choristes (The Chorus) made a rare (for a European film) double impression at the 2004 Oscars. This sentimental tale follows the arrival of a new teacher at a remote boys school in 1949 France (the war is a largely unspoken but ghostly presence). With disciplinary problems rampant, and the policies of the old-fashioned headmaster not helping, Monsieur Mathieu decides to introduce choral singing as a way to bridge the gap with his students. You don't need a crystal ball to figure out where this will go, although the movie uses its atmospheric location and lush vocal arrangements well. Bald, dumpy Gerard Jugnot provides a refreshingly offbeat hero (though securely in the traditions of the My Most Memorable Teacher movie); he's sort of a younger Philippe Noiret. Director Christophe Barratier works in the winsome-cute mode that makes a certain kind of French movie into an overly sweet bon bon, although at least this bon bon sings. --Robert Horton

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The Prince of Egypt

Sales Rank:2559
List Price: $12.99
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

Anamorphic
Animated
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Brenda Chapman
Simon Wells
Steve Hickner

Actor(s):

Val Kilmer
Ralph Fiennes
Michelle Pfeiffer
Sandra Bullock
Jeff Goldblum

Nearly every biblical film is ambitious, creating pictures to go with some of the most famous and sacred stories in the Western world. DreamWorks' first animated film was the vision of executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg after his ugly split from Disney, where he had been acknowledged as a key architect in that studio's rebirth (The Little Mermaid, etc.). His first film for the company he helped create was a huge, challenging project without a single toy or merchandising tie-in, the backbone du jour of family entertainment in the 1990s.

Three directors and 16 writers succeed in carrying out much of Katzenberg's vision. The linear story of Moses is crisply told, and the look of the film is stunning; indeed, no animated film has looked so ready to be placed in the Louvre since Fantasia. Here is an Egypt alive with energetic bustle and pristine buildings. Born a slave and set adrift in the river, Moses (voiced by Val Kilmer) is raised as the son of Pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart) and is a fitting rival for his stepbrother Rameses (Ralph Fiennes). When he learns of his roots--in a knockout sequence in which hieroglyphics come alive--he flees to the desert, where he finds his roots and heeds God's calling to free the slaves from Egypt.

Katzenberg and his artists are careful to tread lightly on religious boundaries. The film stops at the parting of the Red Sea, only showing the Ten Commandments--without commentary--as the film's coda. Music is a big part (there were three CDs released) and Hans Zimmer's score and Stephen Schwartz's songs work well--in fact the pop-ready, Oscar-winning "When You Believe" is one of the weakest songs. Kids ages 5 and up should be able to handle the referenced violence; the film doesn't shy away from what Egyptians did to their slaves. Perhaps Katzenberg could have aimed lower and made a more successful animated film, but then again, what's a heaven for? --Doug Thomas

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In the Good Old Summertime

Sales Rank:4046
List Price: $19.98
Lowest New Price: $5.78
Lowest Used Price: $5.78
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Color
DVD-Video
Subtitled
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Lillian Bronson
Spring Byington
Chester Clute
William Forrest
Judy Garland

Musical remake of "Shop Around the Corner" involving two feuding store employees who are unknowingly engaged in a romantic relationship as anonymous pen pals.

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Walk the Line (Widescreen Edition)

Sales Rank:4096
List Price: $29.99
Lowest New Price: $8.93
Lowest Used Price: $3.26
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Format:

AC-3
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DTS Surround Sound
Dubbed
DVD-Video
Subtitled
Widescreen
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

Joaquin Phoenix
Reese Witherspoon
Ginnifer Goodwin
Robert Patrick
Dallas Roberts

A solid and entertaining biopic, Walk the Line works less as a movie than an actors' showcase for its stars. Joaquin Phoenix's total immersion into the skin of singer Johnny Cash is startling--watching it, you can't believe this is the same guy who whined about being "vexed" in Gladiator. As he evolves from a farm boy to gospel croonin' plunker to the Man in Black, Phoenix disappears into Cash's deep baritone, his way of slinging the guitar onto his back, and his hunched-up style of strumming. But it's more than just picking up mannerisms: Phoenix also sings as Johnny Cash, and it's quite impressive.

The story of how Johnny Cash became Johnny Cash traces from his childhood under a distant father (Robert Patrick) to his early attempts at a music career, during which he married his girlfriend Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin). During a tour with the likes of Elvis (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Malloy Payne), he encounters singer June Carter (Reese Witherspoon), and his love for her--and her rejection of him through the years--spurs him into drugs, drinking, and depression. As with most movies based on real-life singers, as his popularity grows, the women come a-flockin', and the childhood demons surface. Witherspoon, who matches Phoenix drawl for drawl, plays June both as a sassy spitfire whose charm breaks your heart, and as a sympathetic friend who tries to help Cash get over--well, her. The love story is what endures, but the movie comes most alive during its musical numbers, and even if you're not a country fan, it may just get you to run out and buy a Johnny Cash album.--Ellen A. Kim

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New York City Ballet: Bringing Balanchine Back

Sales Rank:2808
List Price: $19.98
Lowest New Price: $11.13
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Color
DVD-Video
NTSC

Director(s):

Actor(s):

'New York City Ballet: Bringing Ballachine Back' follows the New York City Ballet, lead by Master in Chief Peter Martins to the Mariinsky theater in St. Petersburg, where ballet legend and NYC Ballet co-founder George Ballachine, along with other greats, took their first ballet steps. The eagerly anticipated trip is the first for the company since 1972 and is gracefully illustrated with both behind-the-scenes and performance footage.

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The Michael Flatley Collection (Lord of the Dance/Feet of Flames/Michael Flatley Gold)

Sales Rank:2150
List Price: $19.98
Lowest New Price: $11.94
Lowest Used Price: $13.63
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Format:

Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
NTSC

Director(s):

Michael Flatley
David Mallet

Actor(s):

Michael Flatley
Bernadette Flynn
Daire Nolan
Gillian Norris
Helen Egan

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 06/01/2004 Rating: Nr

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