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Dream House

1 star
Dream House
Entertainment One
Available Now
    
Remember Mike Figgis’ Cold Creek Manor with Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone from 2003?  No, of course not — and nine years from now, you’ll forget this similar haunted house snoozefest featuring an A-list cast and respectable director ever existed.
    
Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz star in Jim Sheridan’s (In The Name of The Father) first outing into the thriller world and the results are an unfortunate mess. Craig plays an editor who retires from his publishing house to spend more time with his wife, Weisz (the pair actually wed in real life after filming) and two young daughters in their new suburban dwelling.  Once the family settles in, it becomes apparent that the last owners were horribly murdered, and their unknown killer may still be around. 
    
While that sounds like an OK idea, and the movie slowly reveals clues to what’s really going on, it abruptly switches gears in the second act, and the deliberate pace gives way to rapid plot twists that leave the viewer's head spinning.  Apparently, the film was taken away from Sheridan by the studio who were unsatisfied with his direction.
    
The interviews with Sheridan, cast, and famed cinematographer Caleb Deschanel included as extras were clearly conducted before the film was finished.  All interviewees speak eloquently about the project, and based on their insightful comments, it’s clear they signed up for a psychological drama of a little more depth than what ended up on screen.
    
Unluckily for Craig, this is his third boring movie this year following Cowboys and Aliens and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, so his days as a star may be numbered.
 
5 stars
Spellbound; Rebecca; Notorious
MGM
Available now on Blu-ray
    
There’s nothing more you can really say about this collection — sold separately — of Alfred Hitchcock-directed titles other than how amazing they are. All three of these works made under producer David O. Selznick are so brilliantly conceived and executed that their upgrade to high definition is just an extra cherry on top. 
   
Ingrid Bergman is radiant in both Spellbound and Notorious, and it’s hard to pick who she has better chemistry with: Gregory Peck’s troubled doctor of Spellbound or Cary Grant’s government agent.  In Rebecca, Hitchcock’s only best picture Oscar winner, Joan Fontaine fears she can not live up to her husband's (Laurence Olivier) first wife, whose presence is still felt from beyond the grave.
    
All discs come with informative commentaries, documentaries and isolated scores that have been ported over from previous DVD releases.
 
Upcoming Releases
   
Feb.  11 — The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn
   
Feb. 14 — The Rum Diary; Take Shelter; Beavis and Butt-Head: Volume 4; Woody Allen: A Documentary.

   
Amanda Stefaniuk is a freelance writer who literally grew up in a video store.