One is blonde, the other brunette. One radiates as an earth mother, the other is everyone's favorite big sister. But when the chips are down, each babe is a trained killing machine who can kick terrorist ass.
Alfred HitchcockThe Masterpiece Collection (Universal, 15 DVDs, $120) Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, Family P
An edgy update, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (Warner; Movie •••½, Picture/Sound ••••, Extras ••••) takes several liberties with Roald Dahl's classic book, but it also manages to convey the story's dark humor.
It's amazing how many ways a story can be told. Byron Haskin's 1953 version of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (Warner; Movie ••••, Picture/Sound ••••, Extras ••••) has a completely different focus and tone than Steven Spielberg's gloomy take on the H. G. Wells fantasy.
Do clones deserve the same rights as their human progenitors? That's the ethical dilemma that director Michael Bay grapples with in the sci-fi foray The Island (DreamWorks; Movie •••, Picture/Sound ••••½, Extras ••).
If something scared an audience the first time, it should work again, right? And the third, fourth, and fifth times, yes? Well, House of Wax (Warner; Movie •½, Picture/Sound ••••, Extras ••) steals its title from a Vincent Price vehicle, but it's little more than an amateurish excuse to slice and dice attractive teens.
