October 5, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 17 Academy Award-winning ‘Life Is Beautiful’ now available Italian Jews, including Guido and his son. Dora insists on going with them on the train to the work camp. To shield his son from the realities of the camp, Guido tries to turn hardships and horrors into games. Benigni won an Academy Award for this film, which stirred controversy because of the conceit of turning the Holocaust -even in fiction -- into a comedy, which had never been done before. But because viewers have already gotten to know Guido as a happy-go-lucky clown, the second half of the movie works. Like Chaplin, Benigni can create big laughs through slapstick and sight gags in one scene, while eliciting pathos in another. The balance gradually tips toward an escalating sense of the inevitable as Guido’s games become ever harder to pass off as frivolity. In addition to starring, Benigni co-wrote the screenplay and directed. Blu-ray bonus extras include a making-of featurette, Academy Awards TV commercials, and a theatrical trailer. “The Lion King” (Walt Disney Home Entertainment) joins the ranks of Blu-ray offerings from the Magic Factory. One of Disney’s most successful animated features, “The Lion King” is the story of Simba, a lion cub who is eager to be king. But his Uncle Scar has plans for his own ascent to the throne, and he forces Simba’s exile from the kingdom. Alone and adrift, Simba joins in the escapades of a meerkat named Timon and his warthog pal, Pumbaa. Adopting their carefree lifestyle of “Hakuna Matata,” Simba ignores his responsibilities until he realizes his destiny and returns to the pride to claim his place in the “Circle of Life.” Drawing upon historical films about royals battling over a kingdom and Disney’s earlier animated classics, “The Lion King” is a simple story with a rich soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Vocal talents include Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Ernie Sabella, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Cheech Marin. The movie, which has grossed over $800 million worldwide, inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. The four-disc combo pack includes Robert Benigni (center), Giorgio Cantarini, and Nicoletta Brashi in ‘Life Is Beautiful.’ Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray 2D, and DVD versions. A two-disc pack contains Blu-ray 2D and DVD versions. Bonuses on both editions include four never-before-seen deleted scenes, bloopers, a deleted song, an extended scene, sing-along mode, interactive Blu-ray gallery, and two behind-thescenes featurettes. Pee-Wee Herman is making his Bluray debut in two releases. “The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway” (Image Entertainment) is a filmed version of the stage show that Paul Reubens brought to the Great White Way last season. Based on Reubens’ original 1981 HBO special, “The Pee-Wee Herman Show,” and his Emmy Award-winning children’s television series, “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” this release (continued on Crossword page) by Dennis Seuling “Life Is Beautiful” (Lionsgate) is a film that dares to create laughs in the realistic setting of the Holocaust. It opens in Italy in 1939. Guido (Roberto Benigni), a carefree drifter with the modest dream of opening a bookstore, falls in love with Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni’s wife), who is engaged to a humorless fascist thug. Guido wins her heart by sheer persistence and his tireless sense of humor. Guido and Dora marry and have a son, but by now Italy has been overtaken by the Nazis, who soon begin rounding up all