- Bawdy comedy Bridesmaids was poo-pooed by detractors who loved The Hangover but were squeamish about watching females get down and dirty and air their girl stuff on the big screen. No girl stuff, I promise, just the type of good ol fashioned bodily fluids youd see present at any Whistler stagette.
SNLs Kristen Wiig plays Annie, whose childhood friend (Maya Rudolph) has just announced that shes getting married. Annie is the maid of honour, but then she gets introduced to the wedding party, which includes a timid newlywed, a ready-to-party mother of three, a chubby alpha female, and the perfect new BFF of the bride (Ellie Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne respectively). Annies jealousy gets in the way of the wedding planning, and everything goes horribly and hysterically wrong. The most famous scene is, of course, the scene in the couture bridal shop where the women get food poisoning and all hell breaks loose, from both ends. But some of the funniest scenes feature Wiig (who co-wrote the film) playing her dorky, neurotic self to full effect.
Special features on standard disc include a gag reel and a very funny Line-O-Rama, wherein the actors ad-lib all sorts of weird and disgusting lines before lighting on the right one.
- It holds up, even after 70 years, and never fails to bring a tear to a mothers eye: the story of the outcast baby elephant and his friend, Timothy Mouse. The newly restored, 70th anniversary edition of Dumbo is released on DVD and Blu-ray this week, with never-before-seen deleted scenes and songs, trivia and kids games, animated shorts, audio commentary, a fascinating making-of extra, plus a look at Disneys favourite kids ride, and more.
- Every time one of my British relatives came to Vancouver, theyd be accosted by ex-pats wanting to know what was happening on Coronation Street, since we in Canada lagged woefully behind. We, in turn, could tell them who shot JR. (This was that quaint age before internet spoilers, remember.) You can re-live all the working-class drama of the Rovers Return Inn with your favourite episodes, packaged in two-disc sets. Best of the 70s, for example, starts with Ann Walkers secret admirer and a third marriage for Elsie Tanner. The show with the iconic theme song, which first aired in 1960, is the worlds longest-running soap opera still in production, and spawned a stage show that condensed 50 years of Coronation Street drama115 deaths, 37 births and 86 marriagesinto two hours.
- Part Greys Anatomy (same creators), part Lost, Off The Map was about rookie doctors learning the ropes of jungle triage in a remote, South American clinic. Problem one is the DVDs front cover: these guys are dead ringers for Sawyer, Kate, Jack et al, and its too soon after Lost to try and convince us otherwise. Next problem? Some of the impoverished locals visiting the clinic and handing out chickens for payment look like theyve walked out of an LL Bean catalogue. How remote is this place, if there are zip-lining tourists and German babes fresh off a cruise ship? Off The Map offered some decent acting (Mamie Gummer, in particular) but failed to resonate with viewers. Set tours, behind-the-scenes interviews with cast, creators and crew, deleted scenes and outtakes comprise the complete series DVD extras.
