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 Kurt Russell struggles to keep his career afloat as the disaster remake Poseidon sinks. |
Spoiler alert: The cruise ship flips upside down and sinks in Poseidon. Okay, that's a joke, because everybody already knows that.
But the movie is also a bit of a joke because it tries hard to be something it's not -- a monumental adventure epic.
The original version, The Poseidon Adventure (1972), worked because it combined thrills and tragedy with camp comedy, especially when Shelley Winters was yowling.
Wolfgang Petersen's 2006 remake is just too serious. But it is slick, polished and pure Hollywood. So the DVD presentation is big news as it arrives tomorrow in the single-disc version in separate full and widescreen editions, or the superiour two-disc Special Edition.
Neither has a commentary. The difference is in the other bonus materials. The one-disc wonder gives us a 23-minute documentary, Poseidon: A Ship On A Soundstage. Self-congratulatory, it does offer tidbits such as the origin of the idea: Novelist Paul Gallico wrote The Poseidon Adventure after experiencing a rogue wave at sea during a 1937 voyage on the Queen Mary.
The second disc, which actually makes the Special Edition special, offers three more docs. One shows the controlled chaos of shooting on a soundstage, one is a unique video diary by production assistant Maloha P. Voight, and the other is the 29-minute Rogue Wars, from The History Channel, documenting the phenomenon of single killer waves.
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IDIOT'S DELIGHT: Party girl Lindsay Lohan has established herself as a bona fide flake, but, in the fairytale romantic comedy Just My Luck, she plays a nice girl. So maybe she can act! The DVD is out tomorrow in a single-disc edition that contains the full and widescreen versions on flip sides. A doc on the movie's featured band, McFly, unveils how filmmaker Donald Petrie gets the most out of a concert setup so he can please himself as well as the invited audience.
BIG, BEAUTIFUL, SASSY: In contrast to Lohan, comedienne Mo'nique garners nothing but good will for her engaging personality. Too bad the tone of her romantic comedy, Phat Girls, falls short.
The DVD, with full or widescreen on flip sides of the same disc, is out tomorrow. The unrated option offers two-and-a-half minutes of footage missing from the theatrical cut. The disc is fully loaded, including a commentary by director Nnegest Likke. Check out Likke's video diary, Super Size Dreams, for a butally honest depiction of the trials of an emerging filmmaker.
FUN WITH HOMOPHOBIA: The eighth season depicting North America's favourite cartoon family is a classic. So last week's release of a four-disc box set, The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season, cannot go unheralded.
Among many terrific episodes, it features Homer's Phobia, as Homer gets all Archie Bunker and objects that a witty gay guy played by John Waters is not flamboyant enough: "You know me, Marge. I like my beer cold, my TV loud and my homosexuals flaming!"
The extras include a commentary led by Waters. He says his only proviso was looking cool. He say he warned producers, "If I look like Richard Simmons, I'll have you killed!"
MISSING IN ACTION: I overlooked a DVD earlier this month you might want to know about, Wim Wenders' Don't Come Knocking, his first collaboration with Sam Shepard since their classic Paris, Texas (1984). Shepard co-stars with a strong ensemble that includes Jessica Lange, Tim Roth and Sarah Polley.
The movie is uneven, but the film has traces of the Paris, Texas DNA. The DVD is quality, offering Wenders' commentary, two filmfest featurettes and a chat with Wenders and Eva Marie Saint, who plays Shepard's mom.