Family Comedies: 4 Film Favorites [2 Discs]

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Screen: Color
• Audio: Dolby Digital Surround
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Finster - Dodger
       Alan Cumming - Loki
       Harvey Keitel - Shorty
       Alice Krige - Freda
       Christopher McDonald - Tom
       John Wood - Lord McAshton
       Bob Hoskins - Odin
       Andy Bear - Otis
       Elizabeth Berrington
       Jake D'Arcy
       Aaron Lustig - Store Manager

• Director:

  Steven Barron, Uli Edel, Franco Amurri, Lawrence Guterman

• Producer:

  Raju Patel, Jeffrey M. Sneller, Richard Claus, Mimi Polk, Ridley Scott, Mimi Polk Sotela, Heidi Rufus Isaacs, Scott Kroopf, Erica Huggins

• Screenwriter:

  Steven Barron, Tom Benedek, Barry Berman, Sherry Mills

• Book Author:

  Carlo Collodi

• Screenwriter:

  Karey Kirkpatrick, Larry Wilson

• Book Author:

  Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

• Screenwriter:

  Franco Amurri, Stu Krieger, Lance Khazei

• Cinematographer:

  Juan Ruiz-Anchia, Bernd Heinl, Luciano Tovoli, Greg Gardiner

• Composer (Music Score):

  Lee Holdridge, Rachel Portman

• Songwriter:

  Rachel Portman

• Composer (Music Score):

  Stevie Wonder, Spencer Proffer, Brian May

• Musical Arrangement:

  Lawrence Ashmore

• Composer (Music Score):

  Nigel Clarke, Michael Csanyi-Wills, Mark Mancina

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Charles Kelly

• Composer (Music Score):

  Randy Edelman

• Editor:

  Sean Barton, Peter R. Adam, Ray Lovejoy, Chris Peppe, Malcolm Campbell, Debra Neil-Fisher

• Production Designer:

  Allan Cameron, Joseph C. Nemec III, Leslie Dilley

• Art Director:

  Nick Palmer, Nathan Crowley

• Supervising Art Director:

  Michelle McGahey, Bill Booth

• Co-producer:

  Dieter Geissler, Tim Hampton, Michael MacDonald, Edward Simons, Samuel Hadida, Carsten H.W. Lorenz, Klaus Bauschulte, John C. Broderick, Christian Halsey Solomon, Stephen Jones

• Associate Producer:

  Sean Gorman

• Executive Producer:

  Donald Kushner, Peter Locke, Sharad Patel, Robert N. Fried, Lawrence Mortorff, Larry Wilson, Anthony Waller, Alexander Buchman, Beau Marks, Mike Richardson, Toby Emmerich, Michele Weiss, Kent Alterman

• Set Designer:

  Denise Pizzini

• Costume Designer:

  Maurizio Millenotti, Jim Acheson, Eileen Kennedy, Mary Vogt

• Set Decorator:

  Rebecca Cohen

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Jean-Philippe LeRoux, Roberto van Eijden, Michael Evje, Danetracks, Inc.

• Makeup:

  Michelle Buhler

• Special Effects:

  J.D. Street IV

• First Assistant Director:

  Chris Carreras, Marc van der Bijl, Toby Pease

• Camera Operator:

  Mike Brewster, Andy Jeffery

• Casting:

  Irene Lamb, Annette Benson

• Production Manager:

  Courtney Vanderslice-Law

• Casting:

  Joyce Nettles, Karen Rea, Roger Mussenden, Christine King

• Title Design:

  Magic Camera Co.

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Angus Bickerton

• ADR Loop Group:

  Lyps Inc.

• Digital Effects:

  Cheryl Willcocks

• Second Unit Director:

  John Stephenson

• Puppeteer:

  Sylvain Allard, Craig Crane, Tamar Baruch, Pascal Mesnier

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  John Grower

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Glenn Boswell

• Second Unit Director:

  James E. Price

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  James E. Price

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Brian Cox

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Greg Hedgepath

• Makeup Special Effects:

  Brian Sipe

• Visual Effects Producer:

  Susan MacLeod

REVIEWS:

• Carlo Collodi's classic children's tale is brought to the screen in a faithful live-action version by Steve Barron in this delightful fantasy. Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the wonderful animatronic effects, but neither the high-tech production nor the involvement of five nations (USA, England, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic) detract from the film's simple, low-key pleasures, which are a bit of a surprise coming from the director of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Martin Landau is a sympathetic Geppetto, Jonathan Taylor Thomas shows up as Pinocchio's "real boy" incarnation, and Bebe Neuwirth is marvelously wicked as the scheming Felinet. Adults will enjoy seeing Udo Kier and Genevieve Bujold among the cast, although Rob Schneider's cliched turn as Volpe contains more than a hint of Disneyesque pandering. Overall, however, this is a rare treat for kids and parents alike, and highly recommended. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
• There was a reason The Mask went 11 years without a sequel. It's one of Jim Carrey's lesser efforts, more fondly remembered for introducing Cameron Diaz than for Carrey's zany acrobatics. The zany acrobatics are what remain in Son of the Mask, and they're divided between a dog, a baby, a Carrey stand-in (Jamie Kennedy), and Alan Cumming, in the welcome if not unfamiliar role of a mischievous villain. It would be easy to write this movie off as something that should have gone straight to video, but that would ignore how much genuine creative effort they pumped into it. The obvious place to start is the funhouse look of the film, a memorable collaboration of seasoned art directors (Michelle McGahey worked on The Matrix), production designers, and CG artists, which often recalls a Spy Kids movie. Even more captivating is the camerawork, virtual or otherwise; cinematographer Greg Gardiner and his CG backers have put their camera on a veritable roller-coaster track, charting the sibling-rivalry skirmishes between the baby and the dog with tracking and dolly shots that should only be possible in Bugs Bunny cartoons. When the dog and Cumming's Loki compete in an elastic game of Twister -- left ear red, right pinky blue -- it's the winning realization of a concept that even the original never fully nailed. Kennedy and Traylor Howard are certainly only a poor man's version of Carrey and Diaz, but they bring the right cuteness and gusto to blend into this manic world. Son of the Mask can't shake its hammy silliness and almost total lack of relevance, but it's enjoyable enough to make a viewer glad some New Line bigwig was desperate enough to greenlight it. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi