New DVDs: ‘Mr. Bean’s Holiday,’ ‘Waitress’

REVIEWS

By David Germain

updated 5:04 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2007

“Mr. Bean’s Holiday”
Rowan Atkinson’s man-child takes his havoc-wreaking ways on the road in what is expected to be the final bow of the nearly silent character he created for British television. In his second big-screen adventure, Atkinson’s Bean wins a camcorder and a trip to the sunny French Riviera beaches at Cannes, so the lovable idiot sets out to create a video diary of his journey. Along the way, Bean crosses paths with a beautiful actress, the lost son of a famous filmmaker and a megalomaniacal director (Willem Dafoe) who’s premiering his latest work of self-indulgence at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie comes in standard DVD format or a disc with both standard DVD and high-definition HD DVD versions. Among the extras are deleted scenes and several featurettes. DVD, $29.98; HD DVD combo disc, $39.98. (Universal) Read the review

“Waitress”
One of the year’s top independent film successes, this little charmer stars Keri Russell as a pregnant waitress with a creep for a husband, a complicated new romantic relationship and a skill for baking pies that could be her ticket to a new life. The film co-stars Andy Griffith, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines and writer-director Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered last year, two months before “Waitress” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The DVD features a tribute to Shelly and a message from Russell about a foundation established in Shelly’s name to help female filmmakers. Other extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes and commentary by Russell and producer Michael Roiff. DVD, $29.98. (20th Century Fox) Read the review

“Drunken Angel”
This early film from Japanese master Akira Kurosawa was the first he directed to star longtime collaborator Toshiro Mifune, who went on to appear in most of the filmmaker’s greatest works. The 1948 crime saga features Mifune as a Tokyo gangster befriended by a boozy doctor who treats the crook for tuberculosis, their unusual camaraderie eventually interrupted when our mob anti-hero is thrust into a showdown with rival hoodlums. The DVD includes two half-hour documentary segments, one on the making of “Drunken Angel,” the other on issues Kurosawa faced with censors in creating the film. There’s also commentary from Japanese film expert Donald Richie and a booklet featuring excerpts from Kurosawa’s memoirs. DVD, $39.95. (Criterion)

“Futurama: Bender’s Big Score”
Matt Groening’s “The Simpsons” scored a hit on the big screen with last summer’s feature film. Now his lesser-known animated creation “Futurama” goes the feature-length route with the first of four planned straight-to-DVD movies set in the goofy world of the 31st century, where modern-day slacker Fry has journeyed by way of suspended animation. The defunct cartoon sitcom returns with an adventure in which alien nudist Internet scammers take over Earth and send Fry’s obnoxious robot buddy Bender back in time to swipe history’s treasures. Along with regular voice stars Billy West, John DiMaggio and Katey Sagal, guests include Al Gore, who used a segment from a “Futurama” episode in the global-warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Gore also contributes an animated promo for the documentary, and other DVD extras include deleted scenes plus commentary with Groening, West, DiMaggio and other collaborators. DVD, $29.98. (20th Century Fox)

“World Series ’07: Colorado Rockies vs. Boston Red Sox”
The Boston Red Sox snapped their 86-year championship drought in 2004 and followed up with another World Series win this fall, breezing past the Colorado Rockies in a four-game sweep. Boston fan Matt Damon narrates this documentary chronicling the team’s road to victory, whose dramatic high-point came in the American League championship series when the Red Sox rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to win the last three games over the Cleveland Indians. DVD, $19.99. (Shout)

TV on DVD:

“The O.C.: The Complete Series” — The primetime soap set among the rich and beautiful of Southern California arrives in its entirety with a 28-disc set packing all 92 episodes from the show’s four-year run. The set includes deleted scenes, cast and crew commentary and background featurettes. DVD set, $179.92. (Warner Bros.)

“Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “Mork & Mindy” — The third seasons of three related sitcoms arrive in a batch of four-disc sets. “Happy Days,” the 1950s nostalgia fest starring Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, sired the spinoffs “Laverne & Shirley,” featuring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as roommates working in a Milwaukee brewery, and “Mork & Mindy,” with Robin Williams as a goofy alien befriended by a music store clerk (Pam Dawber). DVD sets, $42.99 each. (Paramount)

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