Like a pumpkin that transforms into a carriage, some very shrewd casting (and the charisma of Julia Roberts, in particular) morphed this story of a Hollywood whore into a Disneyfied Cinderella story--and a mainstream megahit. This is the movie that made Roberts a star, her charms helping tremendously to carry viewers over the rough spots in the script (which was originally to be a cynical tale about prostitution called 3000--after the amount of money Richard Gere's character pays the prostitute to stay with him for the week). Gere is the silver-haired Wall Street knight who sweeps streetwalker Roberts into a fantasy world of room service at the Regent Beverly Wiltshire Hotel and fashion boutique shopping on Rodeo Drive. The supporting cast is also appealing, including Laura San Giacomo as Roberts's hooker pal, Hector Elizondo as the hotel manager, Jason Alexander, Ralph Bellamy and Hank Azaria. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com

On the DVD: With a beautiful bubble effect offering a touch of fantasy to the special features menu, the viewer might expect a disc packed with lavish offerings. Unfortunately the extras are a little more spartan than the menu would have us believe, consisting of a theatrical trailer and a cringe-worthy pop video of "Wild Women Do", complete with a bouncing camera and "arty" black-and-white shots. The worst of these features comes in the form of the "production trailer", a useless addition which attempts to briefly summarise the film's underlying themes with inter-cut comments from the actors and directors on the original trailer (already featured in its pure form on the disc) and which offers little additional information of any merit. The disc does, however, come into its own when Gary Marshall takes the helm for the director's commentary: he has an entertaining and amusing narrative style, which is upbeat and direct like his film, and his comments really bring to life the fairy-tale narrative. Add to this a widescreen 1.85:1 presentation, which will make you feel as if Richard Gere has just swept you off your feet. --Nikki Disney

André Previn's first opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, is an intelligent adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play, written to be performed by two very strong principals. Renée Fleming's performance as Blanche Dubois is one of the best things she has done, full of a dangerous bravado and a vulnerability that wins us despite our irritation. The role is one which gives her voice ample opportunity both for extended displays of controlled, passionate singing and for those moments when singing by itself is enough and the voice has to break off in sorrow or madness. Rodney Gilfrey as Stanley Kowalski is equally fine--his voice has the right dangerous energy. In the important subsidiary roles of Stella and Mitch, Elizabeth Futral and Anthony Dean Griffey are also remarkable. Futral in particular gives a total performance in which we forget to make a distinction between her acting and her singing. The opera itself is, as you would expect, one of the most accessible new scores to arrive on the opera stage for some years, drawing heavily on the legacy of jazz and with that nervous musical intensity we associate with the play. Previn conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra effectively. A complete CD recording with the same cast is also available.

On the DVD: The DVD comes with menus in English, French, German and Spanish and sub-titles in French and German. It is presented in 4:3 ratio and with PCM stereo sound. The booklet gives a moderately interesting account of the opera's genesis. --Roz Kaveney

In Price of Glory a promising young boxer is knocked out of contention thanks to a sleazy manager who cashed out on his potential by pushing him into a big-money fight before he was ready. Thirteen years later that very same boxer, Arturo Ortega (Jimmy Smits), has three sons whom he's training to be boxers too. His schoolteacher wife wants to make sure they get good grades, but Arturo is sure that boxing is their best chance to get out of the barrio. Flash-forward another 10 years, and the training is paying off. The three boys, Jimmy (Clifton Collins Jr.), Sonny (Jon Seda), and especially Johnny (Ernesto Hernández) have grown into smart and talented boxers. Obviously, Arturo is a good and a tough trainer, but the question of whether he's got his own or his sons' best interests at heart arises when a slick promoter (Ron Perlman) offers him big money first for his sons' contracts and then for a series of title fights. Price of Glory does an admirable job of riding that conundrum throughout, offering no easy answers. There is solid acting throughout and it's nice to see such a Latino-heavy cast, but at just over two hours the pace lags and the central themes are repeated one or two too many times. Aside from a late subplot about corruption and violence that comes across as a bit contrived, this is a good family film about boxing. --Andy Spletzer, Amazon.com

This five-hour adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was a massive success, getting the nation's ladies very excited by Colin Firth's Mr Darcy, no more so than when he appeared, in a scene not in the novel, in a wet shirt. To be fair, Jennifer Ehle, who makes an excellent Elizabeth Bennett, had already raised male temperatures wearing considerably less in The Camomile Lawn (1992). The result is certainly a colourful, vibrant romantic drama, which, though adored by millions, was not without its critics. Some argued it was unnecessarily sensational, or, given that the BBC had already made a fine Pride and Prejudice (1979) from a script by Fay (The Life and Loves of a She Devil) Weldon, simply unnecessary. Writer Andrew Davis has since scripted Moll Flanders (1996), Emma (1997), Vanity Fair (1998), Wives and Daughters (1999), and returning to Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey (2000). --Gary S. Dalkin