Hairspray (Two-Disc Shake & Shimmy Edition)

Those who know me best will know that there's no way I could review a movie with John Travolta (Grease) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Grease 2), without borrowing the theme song.

Essentially a musical with a message, this version takes the original 1988 John Waters film and the Broadway musical, and combines them with a new style and a fresh application of Ultra Clutch hairspray to get out any kinks.

The time is 1962, and segregation still exists in Baltimore, especially at the local TV station managed by Velma von Tussle. Tracy Turnblad is a plus sized teenager of sunshiny disposition and big heart, and her dream is to appear on the popular teen show "The Corny Collins Show" and maybe one day to win the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant.

(To the tune of "Grease")

She sees no difference between black & white
She's just a teenage girl
With a good appetite
There ain't no danger she can go too far
She just believes right now that she can become a star

Hairspray's the word

They think her dream is just a growing pain
They just don't understand
Though it's so very plain
Her hips are moving
Tracy's so surreal
She starts the fight right now
The segregation appeal

Hairspray's the word.
(is the word, is the word, that you heard)
It's got groove.
It's got meaning.
Hairspray's the time,
It's the cast,
It's the dancing
Hairspray's the way we are feeling.

She took the pressure and she threw away
Discrimination should belong to yesterday
She never knew that she could make it that far
By just believing that
People should be who they are

Hairspray's the word.
(is the word, is the word, is the word....)

Nikki Blonsky completely steals the show from her famous co-stars, and that's not for the want of them trying. Everybody was excellent in this movie, which effectively uses music and dance to send a message against racism and prejudice. An excellent choice, and one I'll definitely be buying on DVD. If you love musicals, you just HAVE to get this one. -- Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana)

Release Date: 11/20/2007

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Amazon Price: $22.99 (as of 10/16/2008)
List Price: $26.98

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Hairspray (Full-Screen Edition)

It's 1962 and change is in the air in Baltimore. Tracy Turnblad, a girl with big hair and big dreams, has only one passion in life - to dance on "The Corny Collins Show." When her chance arrives, she grooves her way into instant stardom and the eyes of teen-dream Link Larkin (Zac Efron). But with the program's scheming stage manager (Michelle Pfeiffer) against her, trend-setting Tracy will need the help of her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes), her bighearted mother (John Travolta) and sassy co-host Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) to show the world that all it takes to make a dream come true is a toe-tappin' beat and a little Hairspray!

Release Date: 11/20/2007

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Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 10/16/2008)
List Price: $19.98

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I am Sam (New Line Platinum Series)

From the first moment I AM SAM began, I realized I was in for a rare movie treat. As part of a movie class I was fortunate to recently preview I AM SAM and find now, several weeks later that I am still as enthusiastic about this film as I was when I first saw it.

Sean Penn, and I cannot say enough about his performance, plays Sam, a mentally challenged adult with the mental capacity of a 7 year old. We first see him working at Starbucks while he puts out sugar packets in an obsessive manner, calling out orders over and over and endearing himself to customers in his charming Sam manner. Suddenly, Sam is called away and we watch him enter a hospital and witness the birth of his daughter. Elated and awestruck, Sam names the baby girl Lucy, after the Beatle song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Unfortunately Lucy's mother isn't intersted in either Sam or Lucy and as they leave the hospital, with Lucy in Sam's arms, simply runs away from them. Ill prepared and ill equipped to raise a child, Sam somehow managaes to bring up Lucy with the help of a kindly and eccentric neighbor played to perfection by Dianne Weist. As the years go by, we see glimpses of Lucy growing up as she plays with Sam, as they read Green Eggs and Ham together before bedtime, as Sam buys shoes with Lucy aided by his friends who are also mentally challenged and finally when Lucy begins school. And while I know realistically that Sam being capable of raising Lucy mostly on his own till she reaches grade school might be unlikely, Sean Penn as Sam is so loving and good with Lucy, that I truly wanted to believe this could happen.

While it isn't firmly established how Sam and Lucy manage to evade child welfare agencies all of this time, eventually these beauracratic agencies do become aware of Lucy's situation and challenge Sam's ability to care for her. Sam now must fight for Lucy as he never has had to do before. Confused and heartbroken, Sam initially finds a high powered lawyer played by Michelle Pfeiffer. But she wants no part of the case. Beset by a career which takes over her life, Michelle Pfeiffer's character has a sullen young son at home and little to say to her husband. Eventually, though, she does take the case, is almost shamed into it by other lawyers in her firm. But in a remarkable twist of fate and and while helping Sam, she learns a great deal from him about parenting and unconditional love. What happens to Sam and Lucy as they are separated and the case is argued in court are memorable scenes filled with tremendous poignancy and deep emotions. For after all, who is truly fit to be a parent. Is love enough? Who does make a good parent? And most of all, what is in the best interest of Sam's daughter, Lucy

As an addition and complementing the tremendous perfomances of Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer,Dianne Weist and Laura Dern Lucy played by Dakota Fanning, the movie inclues as background music many of the songs of the Beatles. And at various times the screenplay includes relevant lines and quotes which are fitting to the scenes. It was particualrly eerie watching this movie a few days after the death of George Harrison to hear Sam talk about the success of Harrison's song, "Here Comes the Sun," from the Abbey Road album. But what an appropriate comment I thought as the sun shined down on both Lucy and Sam as Sam ran around the soccer field with Lucy in his arms.

I cannot praise this movie enough. While at times one couldn't help but think of the movies Rainman and Kramer vs. Kramer, I AM SAM stands on its own as being a truly wonderful movie. I fully expect that Sean Penn will be nominated for many awards for his magnificent performance. I certainly hope he is acknowledged for this, a performance of a lifetime. If not I am confident that viewers like myself will never forget Sean Penn as Sam or this finely drawn character. -- Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ)

Amazon Price: $7.49 (as of 10/16/2008)