Oliver James and Hilary Duff in "Raise Your Voice"
courtesy of New Line Home Video
"Hilary Keeps It Clean"

In this day of sex kittens such as Lindsay and Brittney, it is nice to have one teen-age girl who wants to keep her career respectable. That girl is Hilary Duff. She makes movies like "A Cinderella Story" and "Raise Your Voice." The latter is her latest movie available on video.

In this film she plays a young girl who wants to go to a music conservatory. Her father does not want her to be that far away from home. He has lost one child in a car accident and he doesn't want to risk losing the only one left.

David Keith and Rita Wilson, two excellent actors, play Duff's parents. Rebecca DeMornay plays her aunt. Oliver James plays her love interest while John Corbett plays a sympathetic teacher.

This is a fun film the family can enjoy together. Duff is a bright new star and one you can let your children admire. "Raise Your Voice" is another good step on Hilary's career path.

"National Lampoon's Blackball" is a film much like "Dodgeball." Vince Vaughn also stars in this feature. This time out the sport is Lawn Bowling and the antics that take place are wild and wooly. So watch this film and expect wacky humor. After all it is a "National Lampoon" show.

Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, and Mía Maestro star in "The Motorcycle Diaries." This movie, now on DVD, is based on the inspiring real-life story of two young men, Ernesto Guevara de la Serna and Alberto Granado, who make a brave trip across a continent on a motorcycle. The movie follows their thrilling and life-changing journey, all across Latin America. 

The song from this film won the Academy Award as Best Song from a motion picture and it was the first time an all Spanish song has won this award.

Steven Seagal has a new film out on video. It is titled "Into the Sun" and in this film he plays an ex-CIA agent who investigates the death of the Governor of Tokyo. Not only does he run up against the terrorists who got the Governor but he also finds out about other nefarious plots.

Seagal is still making action movies as only he can. Now they go directly to video but they still are fun to watch. Try this one and see if I am not telling the truth.

One of last year's quirkiest movies was "I (heart) Huckabees." This film was difficult to follow and harder to understand, but it did feature Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin at their best and a superior performance by Mark Wahlberg.

Naomi Watts, Isabelle Huppert and Jude Law are also members of the cast of this film about searching for the meaning of life. This search is sometimes sidetracked by sex, violence and other matters.

On DVD this is an easier film to enjoy because you can always rewind and relook at the parts which are confusing. And believe me some parts are confusing.

"Frostbite" has been called "Porky's On Ice" and that is not a bad description of this new to video film. The movie deals with a guy who doesn't want to face the hard cruel world and get a job. Instead he opts to go to snowboarding school. And lucky man is he! He finds the snowbunnies are quite accommodating to the "students."

Traci Lords, Suzanne Stokes and Buffy Tyler are some of the beauties who the slacker student (Peter Jason) meets and greets. He is more than willing to risk frostbite for the pleasure of their company.

This is a sexy film romp that should and could melt the ice. Get it today.

A few years ago an animated film titled "Spirited Away" won the Academy Award as Best Animated Feature Film. This was a film created by Japanese animation and was breathtakingly beautiful and pure of line. Now Disney has three more anime films it is releasing on DVD. They are titled "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind," " Porco Rosso," and "The Cat Returns." Each features Japanese animation, as well as English dubbed voices.

Actors such as Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Brad Garrett and Tim Curry are featured as the voices of the characters in the three movies. Each story is a fanciful tale with a moral message. All are suitable for the family and must be seen and enjoyed.

The DVD's have behind the scenes featurettes about the making of the movies and other extras that will entertain and inform. So get all three of these fine anime movies today. They are each sure to become classics.

A new Pokemon adventure is available this week and it is titled "Pokemon: Destiny Deoxys." Ash and Pikachu are involved in the story as well as Deoxys, a new member of the Pokemon group. Ash must challenge Deoxys in order to bring him into the new Pokemon gang. Can it be done? See the movie and find out.

"The Disney Princess Collection" proved to be a big winner with young girls. Now there is a "Disney Princess Collection, Volume Two." Once again such Disney "princesses as Mulan, Ariel, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine and Pocahontas appear and bring song and stories to your own "princess." 

This is a DVD collection that is a real treat and will wile away hours for your child as she goes into the magic world of the princesses. They will keep her entertained in the way only Disney can do.

 

 

 

 

 

©2005 Jackie K. Cooper

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