New on DVD: May 4 (2004/05/06)- Tickets to Movies in Theaters, Broadway Shows, London Theatre & More

New DVD’s This Week: May 4

As a mercenary for hire, Civil War hero Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) heads to Japan to train the newly formed Imperial Army and usher it into the burgeoning age of modern Western culture–a shift that will put Japan’s ancient customs and values in jeopardy, including the traditions of the fierce and highly respected samurai warriors. Led by the powerful Katsumoto (Oscar-nominated Ken Watanabe), the Samurai eventually capture Algren and take him to their village, where the reluctant prisoner slowly learns to respect the Samurai’s nobility. But the foreseeable battle between the old and the new looms in the near future

What’s Cool:

Commentary by director Edward Zwick
Deleted scenes: “The Beheading (Behind the Beheading)”
Documentaries: “History vs. Hollywood: The Last Samurai”–from the History Channel
Featurette: “Tom Cruise: A Warrior’s Journey”; “Making an Epic: A Conversation with Edward Zwick”

	From Our Review:
	Although the story and Tom Cruise’s performance lack punch, The Last Samurai makes up for its shortcomings in its grand scope, immersing the audience in another time and re-creating the ancient world of the Japanese samurai. More. . .

Calendar Girls

In this film, based on a true story, the Women’s Institute in Great Britain encourages the ancient skills of jam-making, flower pressing, knitting and baking. When the group of extraordinary women (lead by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters) start looking for a new way to raise money, they decide to take the annual W.I. calendar, which normally features landscapes or flowers, and create something a little non-conventional instead–behind the baked goods, the apple pressing and the flower arranging, the women are completely nude.

What’s Cool:

Featurettes: “Creating the Calendar”–an inside look at what the cast and crew went through to recreate the real calendar; “The Naked Truth”–meet the original Calendar Girls who were the inspiration for the film.
Deleted scenes

	From Our Review:
	Disappointing more for what it tries–and fails–to be than for what it actually is, Calendar Girls is a decent movie whose few failings are made obvious in a field of quality pre-Oscar releases. More. . .

Girl With a Pearl Earring

In 17th century Holland, 16-year-old girl Griet (Scarlett Johansson) is employed by famed painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) as a housemaid to care for his six children, his jealous pregnant wife and his uncommunicative mother-in-law. Tensions arise when Vermeer’s wife suspects intimacy between her husband and the girl–and then come to a head when the wife discovers that Griet borrowed her precious pearl earrings to sit for Vermeer’s famous portrait of a “Girl With a Pearl Earring.”

What’s Cool:

Commentary by director Peter Webber
“Anatomy of a scene”–behind-the-scenes look at the making of Girl With a Pearl Earring

	From Our Review:
	With superb performances and exquisite cinematography lifting a contrived story about a 17th-century Dutch artist and his muse, this film is not just for art lovers, it’s for anyone who appreciates gorgeous filmmaking. More. . .

Chasing Liberty

Charming and irreverent, 18-year-old Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) just wants to have fun. But as the only child of the president of the United States (Mark Harmon), every detail of Anna’s life is constantly monitored. While on a diplomatic trip to Europe with her parents, Anna decides to take things into her own hands by going incognito and escaping into the unknown. She meets mysterious stranger Ben Calder (Matthew Goode), who reluctantly aids her in her European getaway. As the madcap adventure takes her farther from her family and brings her closer to Ben, she’s dreading the day her holiday will come to an end–and reality hits home.

What’s Cool:

Commentary by stars Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode
“Passport to Europe”–behind the scenes with Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode
Additional scenes
Gag reel
Music video : “The Seed” by The Roots in concert

	From Our Review:
	Watching pretty people cavort in beautiful locales can sometimes be enough to make a movie palatable, but in the end Chasing Liberty is just another coming-of-age flick showcasing the eternal teenager Mandy Moore. More. . .

Peter Pan

In stifling Edwardian London, Wendy Darling (Rachel Hurd Wood) mesmerizes her brothers every night with bedtime tales of swordplay, swashbuckling and the fearsome Captain Hook (Jason Issacs). But the children become the heroes of an even greater story, when Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter) flies into their nursery one night and leads them over moonlit rooftops through a galaxy of stars and to the lush jungles of Neverland. Wendy and her brothers join Peter and the Lost Boys in an exhilarating life–free of grown-up rules–while also facing the inevitable showdown with Hook and his bloodthirsty pirates.

What’s Cool:

Alternate ending–visit the Darling House and see what happens when Wendy is all grown up
Deleted scenes
Featurettes: “Board the Pirate Ship: Through the Eyes of Captain Hook”–Jason Isaac’s behind-the-scenes home video footage; “Explore the Neverland Forest: Tinkerbell: Behind the Fairy Dust”; “I Do Believe in Fairies”–inside the magical world of the fairies; “Enter the Black Castle: Learning to Fly”–go on set to the “Flying School” training camp; “Mermaids Tale”–behind-the-scenes with these mysterious mermaids; “Dig into the Home Under the Ground: The Legacy of Pan”–narrated by Duchess Sarah Ferguson
“The Lost Pirate Song”–the swashbucklers sing a deleted tune

	From Our Review:
	If you have to sit through another adaptation of Peter Pan, this version is serviceable, if not original, with enough eye candy and enjoyable performances to make it worthwhile. More. . .

Still Hot

Big Fish

Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) is well known as a teller of tall tales about his colorful life as a less than ordinary young man (Ewan McGregor) whose wanderlust took him around the world and back again. Bloom’s fabled stories charm everyone he encounters except his son Will (Billy Crudup), who left home as a young man too–but mainly to get out from under his father’s considerable shadow. When Edward becomes ill and his wife, Sandra (Jessica Lange), tries to reconcile them, Will embarks on his own personal journey trying to separate the myth from the reality of his father’s life and come to terms with the man’s giant feats and great failings

What’s Cool:

Commentary by director Tim Burton
Featurettes: “Edward Bloom at Large”; “Amos at the Circus”; “Fathers and Sons”
Featurettes: “Tim Burton: The Storyteller”; “A Fairytale World”; “Creature Features: Exploring the Magic of Stan Winston Studios”
“The Author’s Journey: Bringing Big Fish From the Page to the Screen”–author Daniel Wallace and screenwriter John August discuss the origins and inspirations for Big Fish.
Trivia quiz: “The Finer Points”

	From Our Review:
	A highly original story–part fantasy, part family drama–and very high production values, courtesy of one of cinema’s most original directors and his team, makes Tim Burton’s Big Fish a good catch. More. . .

Compiled by Anne Reiman

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