Keanu Reeves is completely wooden in this romantic misfire by Alfonso Arau (Like Water for Chocolate). Reeves plays a World War II vet who hits the road as a travelling salesman and agrees to help a desperate, pregnant woman (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon)--who is afraid to let her father (Giancarlo Giannini) see her condition--by pretending to be her husband. Most of the story takes place in the old man's vineyard, and Arau makes a life of swollen fruit, grape-stomping, sunlight and tan flesh that looks amazingly erotic. But there are plenty of sillier distractions, such as the sight of farm hands chasing insects with flapping gossamer wings attached to their arms. Reeves is terribly self-conscious, while stalwart Anthony Quinn is memorable as the damsel's benevolent grandfather. --Tom Keogh

A provocative and sensual story! It's the summer of 1969 and Pearl is spending yet another vacation with her family when she realizes that the freedom of the times is passing her.

With refreshing intelligence, A Walk to Remember offers welcome relief from the recent onslaught of teen-movie crudeness. Adapted from the novel by Nicholas Sparks and transplanted from 1958 to the present day, this admirable teen romance recognises that two 18-year-olds--Landon (Shane West) and Jamie (pop singer Mandy Moore)--can be smart, mature and sensible about the very real love they share. He's a popular kid in the cool crowd. She's got a goody-goody reputation as the dowdy daughter of a local minister (Peter Coyote); her values and priorities aren't rooted in peer pressure, and Landon feels blessed by her self-assured nobility. Their mutual affection inevitably heads into Love Story territory, but the movie is honest enough to survive its own schmaltz, and its attractive cast (including Daryl Hannah as Landon's mum) embraces a tone of sincerity and mutual respect. Finally, a teen movie with teens you can admire. --Jeff Shannon

A Year in the Life of charts the incredible rise of British boy band Blue. Hitting the UK Top Five for the first time in May 2001, Antony, Duncan, Simon and Lee followed "All Rise" with two UK No. 1 singles ("Too Close" and "If You Come Back"). From the signing of their record deal to their first visit to Australasia, this "access all areas" release documents the guys' gruelling schedule.

Keen at first to highlight the authenticity of Blue in comparison to other more manufactured boy bands, the feature instead unintentionally exposes how superficial their success is; owing just as much to PR and image management as talent. The visual material is also inconsistent throughout, with a glut of footage from the first few months but a severe lack of more recent material, ending with shots of the group starting work on their second album in early 2002. There is no mention of the band winning the "Best Newcomer" award at the Brits 2002.

On the DVD: the flashy menus on the disc are attractive and easy to use, with the 70-minute documentary divided into chapters. The band's first four videos are available to view separately or as part of the whole feature. Incongruously labelled as "Blue on Tour", one section of the bonus material includes behind-the-scenes footage of the band's promotional visit to Singapore. There's also the Director's Cut of "If You Come Back", which is only slightly different from the official video. Opening with Duncan slapping his girlfriend it soon becomes obvious why this version of the video was never used. Footage of the band recording the track (labelled as the "Early Studio Version") provides an interesting insight into how songs rapidly change shape in post-production. --John Galilee