Categories
DVD

I hate to admit this, but “Two Weeks Notice” is pretty good.

Today’s Biggest Releases
Counting re-releases and kiddie fare, there are over two hundred titles coming out today, TUesday, April 29th, 2003, on DVD and Video. In order to save you the time, I have perused the list and here’s a look at the ones worth noting.
TWO WEEKS NOTICE – It’s a credit to Sandra Bullock’s beauty, and Hugh Grant’s growing skills as an actor, that you can actually watch this by the books romantic comedy about a caddish billionaire and a lefty activist lawyer falling in love.
“MR. BEAN”: THE WHOLE BEAN – Rowan Atkinson’s “Mr. Bean” is a few notches below Keaton and Chaplin in the (mostly) silent comic sweepstakes, but every episode of his foolish antics is guaranteed to leave you giggling helplessly at least once or twice.
“XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS”: SEASON ONE/”SON OF THE BEACH”: VOLUME ONE/”AMERICAN FAMILY”: FIRST SEASON
“Xena” is that rare TV spin-off that is better than the original. Why? Bad-girl gone (sort of) good Xena is more complicated than “Hercules,” (the campy show it was launched from) and Lucy Lawless is a better actress than Kevin Sorbo. Besides, it’s more fun to watch girls kick butt. “Son of the Beach” tries to lampoon “Baywatch,” an attempt that is both unnecessary and harder than you think. At least producer Howard Stern knew enough to keep babes in bikinis front and center. You could call Gregory Nava’s “American Family” a labor of love, but that would damn this network-worthy show (seen on PBS in 2001) with faint praise.
TREASURE PLANET/TREASURE ISLAND – Disney’s latest animated flick was a bust at the box office, but it isn’t all bad. It takes a rip-roaring tale and adds a moody teenager, some bland pop songs, and jarring comic relief via Martin Short in misguided attempts to hip it up. Disney has also released the fine – if rather broad – live-action version from 1950.
NAPOLEON – A lavish, eight-hour miniseries featuring Isabella Rossellini, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu, and a cast of thousands. Still, it comes up short.
OUT NEXT TUESDAY:The frothy caper “Catch Me If You Can,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Kline’s “The Emperor’s Club,” a Jack Ryan boxed set, and a slew of Jimmy Stewart Westerns, including the classics “Destry Rides Again” and “Winchester 73.”