Britney Spears

Crossroads

Pop idol Britney Spears stars in this sweet coming-of-age movie about three childhood friends who've grown apart, but find out they may still have a lot in common. After graduating from high school, Lucy (Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana), and Mimi (Taryn Manning) decide to take a road trip to L.A. to audition for a record label. Along the way, there's a lot of heartbreak and female bonding (not to mention a lot of midriff-baring--in her first scene, Spears jumps on her bed in her underwear, singing along to a Madonna song), as each of the three girls learns more about herself and life. Crossroads could have been trite schmaltz, but the script has some grit and the direction is fresh and relaxed--and, most significantly, Spears is far more sympathetic and engaging than you might expect. Also featuring Dan Aykroyd and Kim Cattrall. --Bret Fetzer

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Cheri Oteri

Cheri Oteri's peppy energetic style always made her characters on SNL hilarious to watch.From physical comedy (along side Will Ferrell) as the Cheerleader Arianna to impressions of Barbara Walters and Judge Judy to wacky characters like Rita Del Vecchio Nadeen or prescription drug junkie Collette Reardon Cheri made audiences laugh so hard they often needed time to "Simma Down."Now you can own the best of Cheri's performances on one DVD. Be sure check out the bonus features such as the audio commentary and get a first-hand account of SNL from Cheri herself as well as a sketch from a dress rehearsal that's never been seen until now!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 025193016928 Manufacturer No: 30169

Cheri Oteri breathed bracing fresh air into the seasons she appeared on Saturday Night Live, and created memorable characters both absurd and delightful. This 78-minute disc contains samples of some of her signature performances, including the preternaturally peppy cheerleader, Arianna, paired with a strapping Will Ferrell. (Ever tried to lead a cheer at the team's…swim meet? Arianna never met a challenge she couldn't conquer.) Oteri also takes on media icon Barbara Walters, satirized decades earlier by the incomparable Gilda Radner as Baba Wawa. Oteri's impersonation both pays homage to Radner's and takes it to a new level of absurdity; Oteri's Walters is a randy, name-dropping old coot who doesn't miss a beat--or an opportunity to aggrandize herself ("I was horseback riding the other day with Saddam Hussein…"). Don't miss the brief skit where Walters tries to have phone sex with a nonplussed Tom Brokaw. Other signature characters include Oteri's Judge Judy and the prescription hound Collette (appearing here in a priceless bit with John Goodman as a flummoxed pharmacist). And of course, the abusive Burger Castle counter chick Nadeen, who shoots down every customer request with a "Simma down, now!" Extras include audition and dress rehearsal footage, and an audio commentary by Oteri. --A.T. Hurley

Britney Spears - Greatest Hits - My Prerogative

Britney Spears - Live from Las Vegas

With a November 2001 Las Vegas performance that became an HBO special, Britney Spears headlines a visual spectacle that surpasses even Vegas's stage shows. From the opening "Oops! I Did It Again" to the closing "I'm a Slave 4 U," Spears and her dance troupe athletically romp through a live, life-size, 90-minute music video. There's no musical emphasis (usually the original recordings play while Spears nominally pays attention to what she's supposed to be singing), but that's not the point.

Soft-spoken offstage, Spears becomes someone else entirely in front of an audience: numerous costume changes, a plethora of filmed footage, awesome acrobatics, and a gigantic stage set create the ultimate triumph of visuals over music. During the encore, "Baby One More Time," rain drenches Spears, giving a born entertainer one final opportunity to leave her fans awestruck. The concert was broadcast live to four military bases, and Spears acknowledges the soldiers' service in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. --Kevin Filipski

Britney & Kevin: Chaotic... The DVD & More (Bonus CD)

No Description Available.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 27-SEP-2005
Media Type: DVD

Britney Spears - In the Zone (DVD with Bonus CD)

Britney Spears: In the Zone is a busy batch of Britney-mania, much of it featuring Spears in crisp dance numbers supplemented by behind-the-scenes glimpses and chatter. The heart of this DVD is an ABC television special featuring toned-down but still sexy performances of "Toxic," "Breathe on Me," and "I'm a Slave 4 U." A fun highlight is Spears's hip-hop collaboration with the Ying Yang Twins on "(I Got That) Boom Boom," one of the few numbers in the star's stage repertoire with a little room for spontaneity. Between songs one finds Spears gushing over her grandfather, praising her entourage, describing the emotional toll of being in the public eye, and, most interestingly, talking a little about writing songs. Also included here is footage from Spears's Times Square performance on MTV, a couple of videos and related featurettes, and a CD including alternative mixes of "Toxic" and "Me Against the Music." --Tom Keogh

Britney Spears - Live and More!

Watch teen-pop queen Britney Spears cavorting in the sun and surf in Live and More! Part concert video and part travelogue, it features eight songs performed live on Hawaii's Waikiki Beach, including of course hits from her smash album Oops!... I Did It Again, in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans, the youngest of whom can be spotted mouthing the words while perched on their big sisters' shoulders. These songs are interspersed with clips of her "down time" in Hawaii: learning to hula at the Polynesian Cultural Center, playing with a dolphin, holding a dance rehearsal at Waimea Falls, and parasailing. She also gives an impromptu pizza party at the home of her "No. 1 fan" and drops in on a classroom--photo ops, sure, but also a genuine thrill for the kids.

Completing this grab bag are three music videos ("Oops!... I Did It Again," "Stronger," "Lucky") and clips from when she hosted Saturday Night Live. Most of the sketches ("Woodrow the Homeless Man," "Britney Judges Dance Tryouts") require her to play herself, but she does stretch out (a little) as author Dawn Paslowski on the fictional talk show Morning Latte. She also performs "Oops!... I Did It Again" and "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know" on the show and pokes fun at gossipmongers by noticeably padding herself. While this helter-skelter programming may frustrate those longing for a straight concert video, the sheer variety of material collected here makes Live and More! a real screamfest for Britney-philes. --David Horiuchi

Britney Spears - Time Out With Britney Spears

Britney Spears - Britney: The Videos

At 30 minutes, Britney: The Videos is even shorter than Britney's outfits! It has only four videos and is padded with one live performance, two commercials, and a featurette about her first starring role, in the movie Crossroads. Her fans won't mind, of course. The videos for "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know," "I'm a Slave 4 U," and "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" show the star is a born performer, while "Overprotected" features Crossroads outtakes as Spears lip-synchs in character from that movie. Also included is the eye-opening performance of "Slave" from the 2001 MTV Video Awards (complete with live snake), her "Joy of Pepsi" commercial, a teaser for Spears's HBO special from Las Vegas, and a glimpse at a Vogue magazine photo shoot to the strains of the song "Anticipating." Spears's cover of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is heard during DVD chapter breaks. --Kevin Filipski

Crossroads

Pop idol Britney Spears stars in this sweet coming-of-age movie about three childhood friends who've grown apart, but find out they may still have a lot in common. After graduating from high school, Lucy (Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana), and Mimi (Taryn Manning) decide to take a road trip to L.A. to audition for a record label. Along the way, there's a lot of heartbreak and female bonding (not to mention a lot of midriff-baring--in her first scene, Spears jumps on her bed in her underwear, singing along to a Madonna song), as each of the three girls learns more about herself and life. Crossroads could have been trite schmaltz, but the script has some grit and the direction is fresh and relaxed--and, most significantly, Spears is far more sympathetic and engaging than you might expect. Also featuring Dan Aykroyd and Kim Cattrall. --Bret Fetzer