Michelle Trachtenberg stars as Casey, a misfit teen who becomes a skating champion, in "Ice Princess."
Associated Press
"Ice Princess" (Disney, 2005, G, $29.99). Michelle Trachtenberg is cute and effective in this tween comedy-drama about a misfit teenager who, against the odds, becomes a champion figure skater, thanks to help from a very tough coach (Kim Catrall) and despite objections from her own stern mother (Joan Cusack).
This is for the "Princess Diaries" crowd, and it does nothing to defy expectations. But it's pleasant enough that adults looking for a nice, clean, uplifting movie should also be satisfied.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, audio commentary, alternate opening, deleted scenes, music videos, language and subtitle options (English, French), chapters.
"Up and Down" (Sony, 2004; R for language, sex, brief violence; $29.95). This Czech comedy-drama is a variation on "Three Men and a Baby" an abandoned baby is found by a pair of black-market dolts who sell it to a woman who wants terribly to be a mother, though her soccer-playing husband is less enthused.
It's a hit-and-miss affair, loaded with dysfunctional characters, but it's also more ambitious than one might expect. The result is uneven but has some surprising twists and turns.
Extras: Widescreen, in Czech with English subtitles, making-of featurette, music video, trailer, chapters.
"Space Station" (Warner, 2002, not rated, $19.98). This 45-minute IMAX documentary chronicles the uniting of 16 nations to build a laboratory in outer space, a space station for study of long-range exposure to zero gravity. Originally shown in 3-D on the large-format screen, the film loses a bit of its impact on the smaller TV screen but still maintains interest. Tom Cruise narrates.
Extras: Full frame, audio commentary (by filmmaker Toni Myers and astronaut Marsha Ivins), making-of featurettes, photo gallery, language options (English, French), subtitle options (English, French, Spanish), chapters.
"Fright Pack: Campy Classics" (Anchor Bay, 1983-88; rated PG to R for violence, sex, nudity, language; $34.98). This is a goofy repackaging of six previously released 1980s horror/comedy flicks in a "six-pack" box "Sleepaway Camp," "Vamp," "Transylvania 6-5000," "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" and two that feature young George Clooney in his earliest film appearances, "Return to Horror High" and "Return of the Killer Tomatoes."
Extras: Widescreen (except "Tomatoes"), audio commentaries (on "Sleepaway," "Vamp" and "Transylvania"), trailers, optional English subtitles, chapters. (Also available is "Fright Pack: The Devil Made Me Do It" with "The Antichrist," "Fear No Evil," "Hell Night," "Curse the Devil," "To the Devil a Daughter" and "The Church.")
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com
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