Bovie Movie

A young man finds that the moves he learned on the street may help him make a better life for himself in this youth-oriented musical drama. DJ Williams (Columbus Short) is a 19-year-old growing up in Los Angeles; while DJ is at heart a good kid and a gifted street dancer, he runs with a dangerous crowd, and one night an underground dance competition turns into a brawl and DJ ends up in jail. DJ’s younger brother has already died a violent death, and his mother, hoping to put him back on the straight and narrow, sends DJ off to Truth University, a historically African-American college in Atlanta. At first, DJ feels like a misfit at Truth, but when he gets a chance to show off his dancing skills, he attracts the attention of two campus fraternities. Greek life is a major presence at Truth, and each year the fraternities take part in a “stepping” competition, in which the members show off their synchronized dance moves. DJ joins the ONO house, and is eager to help them take the championship away from their campus rivals, but in time he also comes to understand the brotherhood and community service that’s a key part of his fraternity’s background. DJ also has more on his mind than dancing and studying when he meets April (Meagan Good), a beautiful coed. Produced under the title Steppin’, Stomp the Yard also stars Ne-Yo, Brian J. White, and Jermaine Williams.

White Christmas, Paramount’s belated follow-up to the 1942 hit Holiday Inn, was the studio’s first VistaVision production. A veritable warehouse full of oldie-but-goodie Irving Berlin tunes are woven into the film’s simplistic plotline, along with a handful of new songs, of which “What Can You Do With a General?” is the least memorable. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (replacing an ailing Donald O’Connor) play nightclub entertainers Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, while Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen are cast as singing-sister act Betty and Judy. The foursome travel to Vermont to visit Bob and Phil’s WII commanding officer, General Waverly (Dean Jagger, who looks and sounds like Dwight D. Eisenhower!), who now runs a rustic old inn. Discovering that the general is in dire financial straits, the four entertainers secretly make plans to bail the old guy out with a big musical show, enlisting the aid of Bob and Phil’s army buddies. Corny in the extreme, White Christmas evidently struck a responsive note with film fans; it was the high-grossing picture of 1954, and a decade later proved to be a ratings bonanza when it was given its network-TV premiere. Of the four stars, Crosby comes off best, especially when singing the title song at the beginning and end of the film; Kaye is a bit overshadowed this time out, though he’s quite funny camping it up in a “drag” version of Irving Berlin’s “Sisters.” Still a big favorite on the home-video circuit, White Christmas may not be the best Bing Crosby musical on the market, but it’s certainly one of the most heartwarming.

Here’s the basic “schtick” of Bugsy Malone: it’s a gangster picture enacted by children. Acted out before scaled-down sets, the film details the career of Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio), who rises to the top of the criminal ladder in 1920s New York. Whenever gunfire is called for, the kiddie crooks substitute whipped cream for bullets. Paul Williams contributes several good songs, which are performed by adult singers and lip-synched by the pint-sized actors. The cast includes John Cassisi as diminutive Capone clone Fat Sam, and then-13-year-old Jodie Foster as the sultry nightclub thrush Tallulah.

This film adaptation of the Broadway musical based loosely on Puccini’s opera La Boh?me features many members of the original cast. It follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing Bohemian lifestyle in New York’s East Village. AIDS and both its physical and emotional complications pervade the lives of Roger (Adam Pascal), Mimi (Rosario Dawson), Tom (Jesse L. Martin), and Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia); Maureen (Idina Menzel) deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne (Tracie Thoms), wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble; Benjamin (Taye Diggs) has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends; and Mark (Anthony Rapp), an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general, always behind the camera recording the events but never playing a part.

Although a deluxe two-disc set is available, this one-disc edition of Moulin Rouge will do for those who want just the film. This DVD boasts a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original broadcast aspect ratio of 2.35:1. English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround, and a French soundtrack has also been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by director Baz Luhrmann and co-screenwriter Craig Pearce, and a second commentary track recorded by Luhrmann, costume director Catherine Martin, and cinematographer Donald McAlpine. A behind-the-scenes featurette rounds out this strong release.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid was the first in a series of blockbusters that restored the venerable firm’s reputation as the world’s premiere animated-feature factory. The title character is a precocious teenager named Ariel, the daughter of Triton, king of the Sea. Against her dad’s wishes, Ariel journeys beyond her own world to the surface, where she falls in love with Prince Eric, a handsome human. Foolishly, the little mermaid enters into an agreement with evil sea witch Ursula in order to become human herself. The wistfully melancholy ending of the original Hans Christian Andersen story is dispensed with in favor of a joyously happy ending-but not before a spectacular climactic confrontation between Ursula and Triton. The obligatory Disney comic relief is handled by such freshly minted characters as Sebastian the Crab, who, courtesy of voiceover artist Samuel E. Wright, sings the film’s Oscar-winning “Under the Sea.” Other voices are provided by Broadway star Jodi Benson (as Ariel) and such Hollywood reliables as Buddy Hackett, Pat Carroll, Kenneth Mars, and Rene Auberjonois. The enormous box-office take of The Little Mermaid made possible such future Disney cartoon ventures as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Inspired by a familiar Chinese folk tale, this $90 million animated Disney drama follows the adventures of a young woman in ancient China. Character animator Tony Bancroft and 17-year Disney veteran Barry Cook (Captain EO, Tron, Trail Mix-Up) formed the directing team with production design by Hans Bacher (Balto), and work on the film began 2 January 1995 under the working title The Legend of Mulan. While the merciless Shan-Yu (Miguel Ferrer) leads invading Huns over the Great Wall, young Mulan (Ming-Na Wen, with singing by Lea Salonga) sees a matchmaker about her matrimonial future. Mulan’s views on accepted marriage traditions prompt the ballad, “Reflection,” as she hopes for a recognition of her true self. To repel the Huns, a man from each family is required to join the Imperial Army. When Mulan’s elderly father Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh) volunteers, she objects. He warns, “I know my place. It is time you learned yours.” Mulan, however, cuts her hair, dresses as a man, and is ready for military camp, prompting the concern of her First Ancestor (George Takei), who converts an inanimate incense burner into the 18-inch high comedic dragon Mushu (Eddie Murphy). With Mushu hidden in her clothing, she joins a group of raw recruits under the command of Captain Shang (B.D. Wong, singing by Donny Osmond). During an ambush by the Huns in a mountain pass, Mulan steps in to turn defeat into a victory. Mulan was the first Disney feature from the company’s 200,000-square-foot Orlando facility (now known as Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida).

Tim Burton returns to the dark but fanciful animated style of The Nightmare Before Christmas with this stop-motion black comedy. Victor (voice of Johnny Depp) lives in a small European village in the 19th century, where he is pledged to marry Victoria (voice of Emily Watson), a partnership arranged by their parents. The two only meet the day before their scheduled nuptials, and Victor performs disastrously in the wedding rehearsal. Later that evening, while he is walking through the woods and hopelessly practicing his vows, he puts Victoria’s wedding band on what looks like a branch. Victor quickly discovers this was a big mistake; as it happens, he has put the ring on the skeletal finger of the enchanted Corpse Bride (voice of Helena Bonham Carter), who then whisks him off to a dark and mysterious netherworld where they are now married. Victor is frightened in the land of the dead, and even realizes that he has fallen in love with his true fiancée Victoria, so he searches for a way back to his own world. Directed by Tim Burton in collaboration with animator Mike Johnson, Corpse Bride features a stellar voice cast, including Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Richard E. Grant, Joanna Lumley, and Danny Elfman (who also composed the film’s musical score).