ARTS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 2, 2003 - 11 By Adam A Daily Arts Wi How m a scene w Bugs Bu "Who Fra bit?" Zen help of S made a I 1988 tha effects to entertain young and later, "R( filled spec A filmn live side-b focuses o detectivel Mario Bro Roger (vo serves as vivid work Jessica Ra walks that tion and a from Baby laughs and The DV WASCALLY WABBIT 'ROGER RABBIT' DVD OUTDOES MOVIE Rottenberg an example of what a great DVD release should Vriter be. The picture is clear and the colors are vivid on both discs. The first, labeled "family friendly," features the full-screen version, while the second disc, labeled "for the enthusiast," has the wide- any movies can boast that they feature screen edition. ith Mickey Mouse cracking jokes with The Dolby Digital sound is available in several nny? Only one, Robert Zemeckis' languages and multiple commentary tracks, which amed Roger Rab- are interesting considering the effects and those meckis, with the involved, are included. The "family friendly" disc teven Spielberg, Who Framed has the "Roger Rabbit" short cartoons that were andmark film in Roger featured before a few Disney movies back in the t brought visual Rabbit? DVD late '80s. Disc two has an hour-long documentary a new level and behind the making of the film, which thrives ed audiences both Warner Bros. because of the intricacies of the special effects in d old. Fifteen years 1988, done without any computer animation. oger Rabbit" hits DVD in a feature While some DVDs provide a plethora of delet- cial edition. ed scenes, "Roger Rabbit" features only one, but noir story set in a 1950s where humans it is a fully done sequence that is interesting, but by-side with cartoons, "Roger Rabbit" enhances the film with its deletion. Also present is n the relationship between private running trivia boxes similar to those on the VH1 Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins, "Super show "Pop-up Video." os.") and the framed titular character "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" still stands as iced by Charles Fleischer). The plot one of the most visually stunning films of the a device to enable the ludicrous and past 20 years. The special edition DVD set is a d of cartoons into a real world setting. great way to watch "Roger Rabbit" and to abbit (voiced by Kathleen Turner) still understand the incredible work that went into fine line between reality and anima- making this revolutionary film. By Brian Stephens Daily Arts Writer Brian McKnight's U Turn isn't a turn at all from his Anytime album released in 1999. While there are a few upbeat songs dashed with a touch of rap and hip-hop flavor, U Turn is smothered with love ballads, sultry grooves and spicy lyrics. Tracks like "U Turn" and "Shoulda, McKnight's 'U Turn' overcomes triteness Coulda, Woulda" use the hip-hop and R&B mixing formula with near flawless precision. Unfortunately, many of the Brian McKnight U Turn Universal tracks have the same underlying theme: love, lust, and heartbreak. The album partially makes up for its triteness with McKnight's rich vocals and mellow beats. The song- writing in this album, unlike his previous release, contain strong imagery backed up with smooth instrumentals. He effortlessly peels lyrics like, "Trying to count your tears would be like standing in the rain." With so many musical genres blending into one another, it often seems like pure, unadultured R&B is lost to the annals of time. McK- night successfully captures it in U Turn and shows the industry what pure R&B should sound like. In the end, it boils down to one question: How do you define good music? Does it include popping in a CD, dimming the lights and kicking back with the ones who you love? If so, you might want to add U Turn to your collection. 11 of the characters in Roger's universe, y Herman to Bennie the Cab, provide I originality. D is loaded with extras and stands as Movie: **** Picture/Sound: **** Features: ***** courtesy of warner Bros. Draw your own conclusions. Everclear in top form on energetic 'Slow Motion' DVD well represents the West Side' By Ryan Lewis Daily Film Editor . DVD R EVIEW By Daniel Yowell Daily Arts Writer Mui EIEW* Art Alexakis has shaped Everclear into a reliable band - a band that deliv- ers grunge-tinged modern rock infused with nostalgia and sentimentality on every album, not to mention suspicious- ly familiar-sounding chord progressions and lots of "ohs" _____________ and "yeahs." But Everclear no matter how guilty they are of Slow Motion recycling songs, Daydream Everclear has a dis- Capitol Records tinct sound that, it would seem, can't be produced by any- one else. Alexakis' production gets even slicker and his American culture critique even more pronounced on their latest, Slow Motion Daydream. Don't expect any big surprises after pressing play. The glossy production, string arrangements and quirky sound bytes of American Movie Pt. I make a return. Almost as an added bonus, songs like "Blackjack" and "I Want to Die a Beautiful Death" hark back to the Ever- clear of four albums ago, fusing gritty, subversive garage rock with Alexakis' current, studio-savvy style. Daydream is just as thematically cohesive as the American Movie discs, and it's armed to the teeth with songs about getting away from it all. This is the mother of all recurring themes for Everclear (check out "Santa Monica," "Summerland," "I Will Buy You a New Life"), but it still works like a charm because Alexakis sells it so well. It's hard not to believe it when he sings, "I just want to be / where the sun shines down / on a beautiful life" because his earnest tone exudes such a passionate yearning for just one decent roll of the dice. Alexakis sings like a stray dog begging for scraps, admitting that if he can't have a good life, he'll settle for going out with a bang ("I don't want to live forever / I just want to die a beauti- ful death"). This stuff should probably sound ridiculous, but somehow, even after all these records, Art Alexakis still makes it sound sincere. The album also succeeds with the catchy and tongue-in-cheek single, "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom," which pokes fun at reformed teenage rebels, and "TV Show," the unofficial sequel to "Wonderful," in which Alexakis dreams, "I wish I could come home / to a life that looks / like a TV show." For the most part, Everclear sticks to what they think works and, incidentally, it works pretty well. The bright tones and high energy of Slow Motion Day- dream show that the Everclear formula is still holding up nicely. The finest Broadway musical adap- tation ever to grace the silver screen returns to the DVD racks this week in a deluxe, two-disc special edition box. "West Side Story" remains one of the most successful West Side reworkings of Story DVD Shakespeare's MGM "Romeo and Juli- _ et," and still one of the finest movie musicals and films, in general, ever created. Trans- ported to Manhattan amid the fury of gang wars between whites and Puerto Ricans in the 1950s, it garnered 10 Academy Awards in 1962, a record that stood until "Titanic's" reign over 30 years later. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' artful, poetic ballet, accompanied by Leonard Bernstein's unforgettable score, has been repackaged in an edi- tion that is almost as memorable as the film itself. While the restoration avail- able on the original DVD is the same format as the special edition, the pic- ture remains close to perfection with colors that put "Moulin Rouge" to shame. A " Dolby Digital 5.1 audio transfer compliments the cinematography with crisp sound that greatly enhances viewing quality. What makes the pack- age worthwhile, especial- ly since the transfer is basically the same, is the one-hour featurette, origi- nal intermission music and other features on disc two, as well as the accompanying col- lectible scrapbook. The second disc in the set includes "West Side Memo- ries," an unforgettable retrospective documentary complete with original recordings by Natalie Wood, inter- views with cast members and a look back at the journey from stage to screen that shows the painstaking process that the cast and crew endured for the sake of art. Musical lovers, "West Side Story" aficionados and everyone else will enjoy the featurette, finding letdown only in the fact that it doesn't go beyond its hour length. Most impressive in the entire package is the col- lectible scrapbook. Con- tained in the book are the entire working screen- play, a reproduction of the original lobby brochure, behind-the- scenes memos and film reviews dating back to its release. Finally, a Special Edi- tion DVD has been creat- ed that compliments the quality and mastery contained in the original film. "West Side. Story" can now be enjoyed more than ever on this anamorphic widescreen format that provides its fans with almost every- thing they could ask for, and every- thing the film deserves. Movie: ***** Picture/Sound: ***** Features: ***** THE EFFECT OF ABED A-BASAT UDA'S MARCH 27TH SUICIDE ATTACK ON HIS PALESTINIAN FAMILY: $25,000 IN CASH I. FURNISHED APARTMENT PENSION FOR LIFE CELEBRITY STATUS 0 a0 c a 0 i" III (TIME, APRIL 15, 2002 AND FOX NEWS APRIL 4, 2002) m