New and current DVD releases:
Burn After Reading
The Coen brothers, working in a minor and cartoonish key, offer a misanthropic comedy that has some elements of a spy thriller but is finally more of a bedroom farce. The story involves the mislaid memoirs of a disgruntled ex-spy, and there's lots of philandering; the characters are vain, selfish and, mostly, out-and-out stupid. Not a pretty picture of the human race, but the film is fast and funny, and the big-name cast -- George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Brad Pitt -- is having a fine time. Rated R. 91 minutes. -- Walter Addiego
Death Race
Hiring Joan Allen to play an ice queen prison warden was the only demonstration of good sense by the makers of this ill-advised and severely wussified remake of the exploitation film "Death Race 2000," about a race-to-the-death futuristic reality show. The combination of good actors and terrible dialogue might have allowed the movie a chance at "Roadhouse"-style cult status, if it weren't for the frustratingly inept action scenes. Rated R. 104 minutes. -- Peter Hartlaub
The Duchess
As costume dramas go, this is one of the more accessible. It tells the amazing but true story of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, who made an indelible mark on English society in the late 18th century. Between setting the standard for fashion with elaborately layered gowns and wigs 3 feet high, Georgiana carried on an illicit affair with a future prime minister. Keira Knightley gives her most sensuous performance to date. Ralph Fiennes is captivating as her husband, the Duke. Rated PG-13. 105 minutes. -- Ruthe Stein
Eagle Eye
This movie doesn't have three brain cells to rub together, but it has a great premise and is a lot of fun, for the most part. What keeps it just shy of a flat-out recommendation is that it drags in the second half. It's the story of two people who are commandeered and coerced into becoming terrorists by an unseen voice on a telephone, which knows and sees all. Rated PG-13. 120 minutes. -- Mick LaSalle
Ghost Town
This romantic comedy about the living and the dead coming to terms with each other is both very funny and a bit of a tearjerker, with an on-the-money performance from Ricky Gervais and a sense of New York in fall that's straight out of a Woody Allen picture. Gervais plays a misanthropic Manhattan dentist who acquires the power to see ghosts, with Greg Kinnear as a newly deceased cad who wants to break up the impending marriage of his widow (an outstanding Tea Leoni). Rated PG-13. 102 minutes. -- Walter Addiego
Hamlet 2
British comedy star Steve Coogan chose this vehicle to be his first lead role in a Hollywood movie. Although the material is uneven, Coogan displays his funny bone to great effect. He's a really bad actor relegated to teaching acting at a high school in Arizona. Bullied by his wife (Catherine Keener) and school administrators, he reacts by taxing his imagination to come up with a sequel to "Hamlet" for his drama class. Written by Pam Brady and Andrew Fleming, who also directed, the movie has an edge and degree of sophistication not seen in most summer comedies. Rated R. 94 minutes. -- Ruthe Stein
The Women
You can't really blame Diane English for thinking George Cukor's 1939 film "The Women" could be remade for the 21st century. But the truth is, the film is a product of a bygone sensibility where women sacrificed everything for their men while fending off their supposed friends who have no reservations about making things even worse. What works in the new film is that Mary Haines (Meg Ryan) finds she can stand on her own two feet, but the remake just isn't as much fun as the oversaturated original. There are some nice performances here and some outright stinkers. Rated PG-13. 114 minutes. -- David Wiegand
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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