Pick up ‘Lemony Snicket’ on DVD

REVIEWS

By David Germain

updated 3:19 p.m. ET April 25, 2005

“Lemony Snicket’s a Series of Unfortunate Events”
Jim Carrey’s dark-tinged family hit, adapted from the children’s books by Daniel Handler, comes to DVD in two varieties, a single disc with a fair amount of extras and a rather pricey two-disc set that piles on more background materials. Carrey puts on multiple disguises as Count Olaf, a conniver out to bump off three resourceful orphans so he can swipe their inheritance. Both DVD versions have commentary with director Brad Silberling, who also joins with Handler in his Lemony Snicket persona for an amusingly self-deprecating second commentary track, plus deleted scenes and three featurettes. The two-disc set adds a dozen more featurettes examining costumes, music, special effects and other behind-the-scenes topics. Single DVD, $29.99; two-disc set, $38.99. (Paramount) Original theatrical review

“The Doris Day Collection”
With a dramatic aside or two, this set is the bright and bonny home-video choice of the week, packaging eight of Day’s films from the 1950s and ’60s, six of them making their DVD debuts. Highlighting the new releases are “Love Me Or Leave Me,” co-starring James Cagney,” and “Young Man With a Horn,” with Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall. The set also contains “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Billy Rose’s Jumbo,” “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” and “The Glass Bottom Boat,” plus the previously released DVDs “Calamity Jane” and “The Pajama Game.” The films also are available separately. Single DVDs, $19.97 each; DVD set, $88.92. (Warner Bros.)

“Blade: Trinity”

New Line Cinema Ryan Reynolds plays Night Stalker Hannibal King in "Blade: Trinity."

Wesley Snipes’ part-man, part-vampire hunter of the undead is back for his third go-round, this time paired with a couple of high-tech deputies (Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds) as he takes on the king of the bloodsuckers, Dracula. The DVD comes in the R-rated theatrical version or an unrated edition with 10 minutes more footage. Both two-disc sets include an alternate ending and a thorough behind-the-scenes feature, plus a conversation with writer-director David S. Goyer. Biel, Reynolds, Goyer and other collaborators provide two commentary tracks for the unrated version. DVD set, $29.95. (New Line) Original theatrical review

“Intervista”
The ultimate Federico Fellini inside joke is a touching, rollicking portrait of his career and the Italian studio Cinecitta, where he shot his masterpieces. Incorporating fact, fiction and fantasy, Fellini’s 1987 mock documentary presents a Japanese film crew interviewing the director and trailing him on a make-believe movie shoot. The film reunites Fellini with his “La Dolce Vita” stars Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg, and offers a re-creation of Fellini’s first visit to Cinecitta as a young man. DVD, $29.98. (Koch Lorber)

Criterion titles:

“Andrzej Wajda: Three War Films” — The master of Polish cinema established himself with a trilogy of 1950s films — “A Generation,” “Kanal” and “Ashes and Diamonds” — set amid the Resistance that fought the Nazis. The three-disc set has interviews with Wajda and associates, a short film from his student days, and his conversation with a participant in the Warsaw ghetto uprising. DVD set, $79.95. (Criterion)

“Divorce Italian Style” — Pietro Germi’s hysterical 1961 romp stars Marcello Mastroianni as a man scheming to trick his annoying wife into another man’s arms so he can do away with her and marry his sexy cousin. Extras on the two-disc set include a documentary on Germi and interviews with his actors and other collaborators. DVD set, $39.95. (Criterion)

“F for Fake” — Sleight-of-hand maestro Orson Welles presents a whimsical glimpse into fakes and phonies of all sorts, among them art forger Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving, who wrote a bogus biography of Howard Hughes. Released in a two-disc set, the 1972 film has an introduction by Peter Bogdanovich and a documentary about Welles’ unfinished projects. DVD set, $39.95. (Criterion)

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