Little Screen
Published Friday September 5th, 2008
This week's new releases, by Jay Bobbin of Zap2it, are rated on a scale of one to four, with * equivalent to a poor rating and **** meaning excellent.
BABY MAMA
***
Two veterans of "Saturday Night Live" reunite, to very humourous effect, in this comedy about surrogate parenthood. Tina Fey plays a business-minded woman who wants to have a child, though she's biologically unable to. The apparent solution is a decidedly different, rough-around-the-edges lady (Amy Poehler) who moves in, making it anyone's guess if the duo will be able to endure each other until the baby is born. The top-notch supporting cast includes Steve Martin, Sigourney Weaver, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco and Maura Tierney. DVD extras: audio commentary by Fey, Poehler, writer-director Michael McCullers and executive producer Lorne Michaels; deleted scenes; alternate ending.
THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
***
Sending up the martial-arts genre while also being entrenched in it, this enjoyable adventure takes a movie-loving teenager (Michael Angarano) back to ancient China after he finds a weapon that once belonged to a fabled warrior. The youth encounters helpful kung fu experts -- played, aptly enough, by Jackie Chan and Jet Li -- as he tries to get the weapon back to its owner, who just happens to be imprisoned in stone. Needless to say, the mission won't be easy.
THEN SHE FOUND ME
***
She literally called the shots on several episodes of her sitcom "Mad About You," but Oscar winner Helen Hunt made the leap into feature-film directing with this well-performed drama. She also has the central role of a teacher whose life is upended in almost every way imaginable, from desertion by her husband (Matthew Broderick, who had worked with Hunt years earlier in "Project X") to the unexpected arrival of her coarse birth mother (Bette Midler). Colin Firth also stars as the potential new man in the Hunt character's life. DVD extras: theatrical trailer; audio commentary by Hunt; behind-the-scenes footage; cast interviews.
GREY'S ANATOMY: SEASON FOUR -- EXPANDED
***
The doctors of Seattle Grace didn't have as long a fourth round as originally anticipated, due to the writers strike, but the ABC series still got a lot accomplished in the episodes it had. Foremost among the developments: realizations by both Meredith and McDreamy (Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey) about their places in each other's lives. Kate Walsh, who went on to the spinoff "Private Practice," returns for one story in her role as Addison. Continuing regulars also include Katherine Heigl, T.R. Knight, Sandra Oh, Justin Chambers and Chandra Wilson. DVD extras: two "making-of" documentaries; deleted scenes; outtakes.
WIMBLEDON: THE 2008 MEN'S FINAL -- NADAL VS. FEDERER
***
Anyone who watched the tennis match at the time it was played in July knows it was one of the all-time great sessions, with the mounting suspense over the outcome prolonged by rain delays that pushed the championship into the evening hours in England. The rivalry between Rafael Nadal and five-time Wimbledon king Roger Federer continued to thrill those on site, as well as the untold numbers who watched on television around the world.
SARAH LANDON AND THE PARANORMAL HOUR
**
In that hour, which starts at midnight, spooky doings await the title teenager (played by Rissa Walters) while she's visiting a late friend's grandmother in this tale. The guest house where Sarah is staying seems to be haunted, and she takes it upon herself to get to the bottom of the unusual happenings, taking very big risks in the process. The picture is largely a family affair, since director Lisa Comrie, producers Fred and John Comrie, and co-stars Brian and Dan Comrie are (surprise!) all related. DVD extra: "Frida's Psychic Readings Game."
Coming soon:
88 MINUTES
Sept. 16
A professor and criminologist (Al Pacino) races the clock to find out who is targeting him after an unknown caller warns him he has only the title duration left to live.
THE LOVE GURU
Sept. 16
An Eastern provider of alleged wisdom (Mike Myers) helps a slumping hockey star. Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake also appear.
MADE OF HONOR
Sept. 16
A man (Patrick Dempsey) realizes his best friend (Michelle Monaghan) is the woman he truly loves -- just as she's about to marry someone else.
HOW THE WEST WAS WON
1962
***
A Hollywood who's-who, from John Wayne to Gregory Peck, is featured in a new "Special
n Little Screen appears in Life & Times each Friday.
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