DVD SCENE
Sandler's better 2nd time around

By Terry Lawson
Knight Ridder News Service

One of the questions most frequently asked of movie critics is, "Do you ever see a movie more than once before reviewing it?" The answer is inevitably, "Almost never, and only rarely would it make any difference in my opinion."

Yet in writing this column, I've revisited a number of films only a few months after having seen them in theaters and have found reasons to wish I did have the time and opportunity to see some films again before judgment was passed.

A perfect example is Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love," which I reviewed favorably after seeing it last fall. The movie turned the consensus opinion of Adam Sandler, playing a lonely guy with a coupon addiction who somehow stumbles on a real relationship, on its pointed head: His fans avoided it, finding it too low-key and quirky; those whose opinion of Sandler had been low saw him in a new light.

Seen again, "Punch-Drunk Love," released as a two-DVD Special Edition (Columbia TriStar), is revealed to be more than a novelty; it's a romantic comedy of uncommon and uncontrived sweetness and true originality. Sandler's performance is not so much reserved as it is contained; when he boils over, the film has enough menace to spook us and Emily Watson, playing the woman who senses the longing and goodness beneath the turtle shell of his electric-blue suit.

It's also fabulous-looking, and the DVD faithfully reproduces its visual vibrancy. The color scheme is showcased in the 12-minute montage of images and the brief "Scopitone" interludes designed by art director Jeremy Blake that highlight the supplementary material on Disc 2.

"The Hours" (Paramount), Stephen Daldry's artful adaptation of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer-winning novel weaving together the lives of three women from different generations, benefits greatly from the insights of several of the principals. Daldry and Cunningham are featured on one track and the film's stars, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman — who won the Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf — on another.

The disc also contains a featurette with Cunningham and Daldry discussing "Mrs. Dalloway," the Woolf novel that inspired the book and film, and another focusing on the work and life of Woolf.

One caveat: The soundtrack is presented in Dolby 5.0 instead of 5.1, doing no justice to Philip Glass' score, which is so prominent it becomes a character.

Documentaries on DVD

Making a film has been compared to waging a war, in which case "Lost in La Mancha" (Docurama) would have to be considered the document of a defeat. It recounts the attempt by maverick director Terry Gilliam ("Brazil") to make a film of "Don Quixote" starring the great French actor Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp, doomed by a combination of poor planning, lack of communication, hubris and acts of God. The sad, funny spectacle of a film falling apart makes for fascinating viewing, and this two-disc set adds even more footage, interviews and a making-of look at the film's unmaking.

Distributor Docurama is also responsible for "John Lee Hooker: That's My Story," a 90-minute look at the long life of the bluesman who cut his first hit, "Boogie Chillun," in Detroit and went on to influence two generations of musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana, all of whom appear to pay tribute. But the meat and potatoes is a solo performance by a foot-stompin' Hooker, sounding as raw and nearly as dangerous in his 80s as he did in his 20s.

Also out

• "Dark Blue" (MGM), with Kurt Russell as a corrupt cop looking for redemption against the backdrop of the L.A. riots.
• "Kangaroo Jack" (Warner), a family film starring a computer-animated marsupial.
• "Cowboy Bebop — The Movie" (Columbia TriStar), an R-rated feature-length version of the Japanese anime action series.
• "Soul Food — The Complete First Season" (Paramount), all 20 episodes of the Showtime series about an black extended family, on five discs.
• "Dark Shadows Collection Six" (MPI), four more discs' worth of episodes from the 1975 season of the vampire soap opera.
• "Dangerous Moves" (Home Vision Entertainment), a Cold-War thriller set during an international chess match that won the 1984 foreign-language Oscar.