Mother’s Day bytes

The Latest

Dreamgirls

Outstanding performances, seamless direction, dynamic music and a powerhouse debut by Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson ignite this big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical. With Supreme influence from the Motown sound, Dreamgirls follows the meteoric rise of the Dreams, three best friends looking for a break. When the break comes, they quickly learn that with success comes sacrifice, forcing the women to examine their personal and romantic relationships. Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Danny Glover and Eddie Murphy anchor the impressive cast. Two-disc DVD includes additional and extended songs, a finely tuned documentary and production featurettes. Paramount Home Entertainment complements the release of Dreamgirls with the DVD debut of Mahogany, starring original Supreme Diana Ross as a secretary-turned-fashion model and designer, whose affection for a Chicago politician (Billy Dee Williams) erupts a rage of jealousy in fashion photographer Anthony Perkins.

Because I Said So

Meddling mom Diane Keaton is delightfully daffy as she tries to find Mr. Right for her youngest daughter in this chick flick with lots of laughs and heart. Mandy Moore, Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo play the daughters, hoping mom finds her own Mr. Right and gets out of their hair. Gabriel Macht is a doll as a musician with a heart of gold. Trust me, mom will love this movie. (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Catch & Release

After her fiance dies during his bachelor party, bride-to-be Gray (Jennifer Garner) is left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. With the help of her fiance’s friends, Gray slowly emerges from her funk, hoping to embrace life and all its possibilities. Unexpected emotional depth layers this romantic comedy co-starring Kevin Smith, Sam Jaeger and Timothy Olyphant as Gray’s guardian angels. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

Music & Lyrics

Absolutely adorable romantic comedy stars Hugh Grant as a former ’80s pop icon given one last shot at redemption. Hired to write a new song for a super-hot diva, Alex Fletcher (Grant) turns to plant babysitter Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) to pen the lyrics. What begins as an assignment develops into romance as Alex and Sophie discover the best way to write a love song is to fall in love. Brad Garrett and Kristen Johnston are hilarious as Alex’s manager and Sophie’s older sister, while Grant delivers his trademark grin-and-wink with surprising vocal range. Fun, sweet blast from the past includes additional scenes, gag reel, featurette and kitschy music video. (Warner Home Entertainment)

Freedom Writers

Inner city teacher Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) seizes the day in this inspirational tale based on the best seller. In a world filled with violence and uncertainty, Erin tries to give her students a voice through writing. Battling an uncaring administration and social barriers, Erin struggles to reach her students before they become victims. Swank fuels this pedestrian drama, co-starring Patrick Dempsey as her sympathetic boyfriend. DVD continues the educational experience with commentary, deleted scenes, featurette and trailer. (PHE)

Little Children

The suburbs get chilly in Todd Field’s dark and disturbing morality tale about young married couples looking to fix their lives by making wrong choices. Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson stand out as lovers who turn their small town into Peyton Place, while Jackie Earle Haley steals the film as a pedophile looking for a second chance, unaware he’s damaged goods. Powerful and haunting, but ultimately hopeful. (New Line Home Entertainment)

The Painted Veil

Beautifully realized adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s novel stars Edward Norton as an English doctor in 1920s Shanghai who punishes his wife’s infidelity by accepting a hazardous position in a remote village crippled by plague. Norton is strong and defiant as Dr. Walter Fane, while Naomi Watts is luminous as wife Kitty, whose punishment turns into a life-changing event for the couple. Gorgeous, touching and emotionally charged. (WHE)

Breaking & Entering

Jude Law stars as Will, an architect looking to construct a better life. When he moves his firm to King’s Cross, his office is burglarized. An-xious to capture the culprit, and resigned to escape his dreary home life, Will stakes out the building. When he catches a young immigrant boy in the act, he follows him home and is intrigued by the boy’s mother (Juliette Binoche). As he infiltrates the woman’s life while juggling his 10 year relationship, Will quickly learns crimes of the heart are just as serious. Written and directed by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), the film co-stars Robin Wright Penn as Will’s longtime companion. DVD unlocks feature commentary, production documentary and deleted scenes. (Weinstein/Genius)

Volver

Director-writer Pedro Almodóvar celebrates relationships between mothers and daughters in this wonderfully engaging ghost story. Penélope Cruz stars as Raimunda, who with her sister Sole lost their parents in a fire five years earlier. When her aunt claims mother Irene has been haunting her home, Raimunda is skeptical, but upon investigation learns she is telling the truth. Back from the beyond to help her daughters and clear up family business, Irene (Carmen Maura) proves the bond between women extends beyond life. Funny, revealing and totally unexpected. In Spanish with English subtitles, DVD includes frisky commentary with the director and star, featurette and interviews. (SPHE)

The Greatest

All That Jazz

Bob Fosse’s thinly veiled alter ego Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) lives life to the fullest, balancing women, drugs and self-destructive behavior in his pursuit of perfection. Jessica Lange co-stars as the Angel of Death, waiting patiently for Joe to blow. Special Music Edition includes music-only soundtrack, featurettes, commentary and a Music Machine feature allowing the viewer to jump directly to a musical number. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Dirty Dancing: 20th Anniversary

K.C. and the Sunshine Band summed it up: Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight. Hey, no one puts Baby in a corner. (Lionsgate)

Parenthood: Special Edition

Steve Martin attempts to be the perfect father in this warm and winning ensemble comedy directed by Ron Howard and featuring a stellar cast of co-stars. New bonus features include nostalgic recollections, casting director stories and a musical featurette. (USHE)

Shirley Valentine

Life affirming comedy-drama stars an irrepressible Pauline Collins as Shirley Valentine, an English housewife who leaves her humdrum life for a wild fling in Greece. Tom Conti co-stars as Costas, the man who makes all her dreams come true. Another exercise in female empowerment from the team behind Educating Rita. (PHE)

Collectible Collections

The Robert Mitchum Collection

My mother used to swoon every time Bob Mitchum walked on the screen, so imagine how she would feel when presented with this collection of films. Working with some of the best directors and starring opposite a cavalcade of Hollywood notables, Mitchum was the essential cool cat, a man’s man who could walk both sides of the track with conviction. This collection includes Angel Face, co-starring Jean Simmons, and Macao, with Jane Russell, both released in 1952; director Vincent Minnelli’s melodramatic 1959 western Home from the Hill; the Oscar-nominated 1960 Australian drama The Sundowners, with Deborah Kerr and Peter Ustinov; the raucous 1969 western The Good Guys & The Bad Guys; and Sydney Pollack’s riveting 1975 crime thriller The Yakuza. Bonus features include commentaries, featurettes and trailers. (WHE)

Cinema Classics Collection

Fox expands their Cinema Classics Collection with three new handsomely bound titles. Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson command the screen in the 1948 version of Anna Karenina, including featurettes; Charlotte Bronte’s haunting gothic romance Jane Ayre stars Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Agnes Moorehead and Elizabeth Taylor, and arrives on DVD with digital restoration, audio commentaries, isolated score, featurettes, story boards and more. Two versions of Victor Hugo’s classic are included on Les Miserables — from 1935, starring Charles Laughton and Frederic March, and from 1952 with Michael Rennie — plus a vintage featurette. (Fox)

Literary Classics Collection

Ripped from the pages of classic literature, these six films from Warner Home Video are the perfect gift for Mom. Herman Melville’s Billy Budd stars Robert Ryan, Peter Ustinov and Terence Stamp, while the film adaptation of C.S. Forester’s Captain Horatio Hornblower features Gregory Peck as the titular 18th century seafaring hero. Jennifer Jones stars as Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Gene Kelly tackles Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, while Ronald Colman and Stewart Granger star in the 1937 and 1952 versions of Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda. Classic bonus features include commentaries, featurettes, shorts, cartoons and radio programs. Forget books on tape; Mom will love these books on DVD. (WHE)

Tyrone Power Collection

Swashbuckling collection of five films featuring matinee idol Power, who plays a legendary toreador in the romantic Blood and Sand; an aristocrat on the run from the Inquisition in Captain from Castile; an unscrupulous henchman in the political spy-drama Prince of Foxes, co-starring Orson Welles; a penniless man look for revenge in Son of Fury; and a traveler who falls in love with Kubla Khan’s woman in The Black Rose. Handsome box set includes poster reproductions, collectible lobby cards, featurettes, commentaries and trailers. (Fox)

The Doris Day Collection, Vol. 2

America’s girl next door is featured in six new-to-DVD films, including her debut Romance on the High Seas, co-starring Jack Carson and Janis Paige. Box set also features My Dream is Yours; I’ll See You In My Dreams, with Danny Thomas; the World War I Americana musical On Moonlight Bay and By The Light of the Silvery Moon, both co-starring Gordon MacRae; and the “let’s put on a show” musical Lucky Me. New digital transfers complimented by vintage shorts, classic cartoons and trailers. (WHE)

The Alice Faye Collection

The incomparable Faye sparkles in four films, including her favorite, Lillian Russell, where Faye plays the outrageous stage actress; the Broadway comedy On The Avenue; the South American musical That Night in Rio featuring Don Ameche; and the World War II romantic comedy The Gang’s All Here. Each DVD comes in a beautiful sleeve, and includes deleted scenes, documentaries, radio shows and more. (Fox)