people, places & things Edited by Sara Bonisteel including copper peptide, AHAs, aficionados swear it’s the last word in frustratingly silly scenes — especially retinoids, ceramides, and vitamins A, C, zombie horror. when Adrian Grenier hip hops in and E. It’s certainly the last word in zombie Coney Island with psychic Carol Kane MILES IS THE MAN ON He also adroitly summarizes the ev- gore, and the two-disc set’s accompa- — most of the set-ups are effective, idence, or lack thereof, of their effects. nying features tell (and show) more taking place in single locations, almost NEW JAMMING CD SET (The doctor is also a lawyer on the fac- than anyone needs to know about like one-act plays. The lavish five-CD set of Miles ulty of the Fordham University School how skillfully all that blood and guts With no extras on the DVD, it’s not Davis’s The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions of Law.) Goldberg’s discussion of laser got onscreen. But it never stacks up to worth buying, but rent it on a night (Columbia/Legacy) is especially valu- treatments, chemical peels, and Botox the scarier original Night of the Living you need to feel better about your own able because 34 of the 42 tracks have is up to the minute, and he doesn’t Dead and its shocking sequel, Dawn of love life. —Mark Rifkin never been released before. neglect rosacea, melasma, and spider the Dead. —Kevin Filipski The music was created as a sound- veins. track for a film about the champion If you are concerned about aging TAIWANESE MASTER DOES skin, this book may save you time and MANHATTAN MERRY-GO- money before you turn to luxury coun- MAMBO IN EAST VILLAGE ters for skin cream or the surgeon for ROUND OF LOVE & CASH Hou Hsiao Hsien (The Puppetmaster, more extreme procedures. You may “Love is never uncomplicated,” Flowers of Shanghai) is a Taiwanese di- well decide to spend the money any- playwright Peter Mattei said in de- rector who, though considered one of way; very effective treatments are out scribing his directorial debut, Love the great international filmmakers, has there, but you’ll be a much wiser con- in the Time of Money, now available not crossed over into any kind of pop- sumer after you’ve consulted Gold- on DVD from Buena Vista Home ular success here in the States, and berg’s book. —Ellen Scordato Entertainment. Millennium Mambo (Qianxi Manbo, millenniummambomovie.com), from 2001, is not likely to change that. APOCRYPHAL MOVIES Winner of the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes and a Silver Hugo from the SPOOK WAY INTO DVD Chicago International Film Festival, Fox Searchlight was smart tacking the film tells the story of Vicky (the lu- on an alternate ending to its sleeper hit minescent Shu Qi), a young clubgoing 28 Days Later to lure fans back into the- woman who likes hanging out with aters before its DVD release. her friends, drinking, and smoking an • N (212) 993-9410 • www.newyorkresident.com boxer, with whom the fiery Davis (an Although Fox co-opted its DVD’s endless supply of cigarettes. amateur fighter) identified. This was special features, we know true fans will Although she lives with Hao-Hao Davis in 1970, at the height of his still buy it anyway. And those fans will be (Tuan Chun-Hao), she starts a possibly controversial fusion period, mixing in rewarded: They get the “new” ending sexless relationship with older busi- rock and funk rhythms. they saw in the theater, plus two other nessman Jack (Jack Kao), who might be His young group contained alternate endings. more father figure than lover. among its shifting personnel the ris- Of course, Danny Boyle’s thriller ThinkFilm The opening segment, with Vicky ing stars Herbie Hancock, John isn’t the ultimate horror movie by a Love & Money: Buscemi & Macolm Gets get close waltzing in slow motion across a par- McLaughlin (the standout on the set, long shot. Its creepiness is often tak- tially covered walkway, is simply gor- along with the leader), Dave Hol- en from other movies and TV shows But it sure is costly. geous, and a scene set in the Japanese land, Jack DeJohnette, Chick Corea, such as George Romero’s zombie tril- Originally titled The End of Love, snow is unforgettable. and Keith Jarrett. ogy and The Twilight Zone. Even the Mattei’s cliché-ridden but entertaining There are only 16 pieces, but the mul- scarily quiet London of the early indie film is based on Arthur Schnitzler’s tiple takes never sound repetitious. This scenes is reminiscent of Vanilla Sky’s play Reigen and Max Ophuls’s cinema is because they are merely jumping-off empty Times Square. great La Ronde, in which one person points for the extended jam sessions There are clever scares, and genre enters a scene and meets a second that took place over a 16-week period. fans will enjoy the disc’s bonuses — person, who in turn leaves the scene Bill Milkowski’s liner notes tell the sto- the alternate endings are OK but and meets a third person in the next ry, and there are detailed notes of the unessential, and the “making-of” fea- scene, and so on. personnel on each selection as well as turette and Boyle and screenwriter But in Mattei’s world, unlike in wonderful photographs. Ophuls’s, life is not a circle; it’s a tri- —Barry Bassis angle, as exemplified by the corner where the film starts and ends as well as the geometric symbol that domi- ANTI-AGING BOOK FROM nates one character’s artwork (Martin Kunkel, played by Park Slope’s always EW MT. SINAI DOCTOR/LAWYER excellent Steve Buscemi). Y David J. Goldberg, the director of And, of course, as the characters en- ORK laser research in the dermatology de- ter new scenes, many of them become Palm Pictures partment at the Mt. Sinai School of the third figure in a preexisting union, R Medicine, has written a thorough and with sex and money exerting a stran- Breathtaking: Shu Qi dreams of better Millennium ESIDENT honest appraisal of the bewildering ar- glehold over everyone. ray of skin-care ingredients and proce- Executive-produced by Robert Red- In fact, the film looks and sounds dures on the market. ford at the Sundance Institute, the film beautiful, with bursts of color and a Light Years Younger: The Definitive was shot on digital video for less than thumping techno soundtrack, but the of December 29,Week 2003The 41 • Guide to Breakthrough Treatments for Searchlight Mountain/Fox Peter a million dollars in Queens, Brooklyn, lack of a central plot detracts from this Aging Care (written with Eva M. Quiet London: In creepy 28 Days and Manhattan, with city apartments visually and aurally breathtaking film. Herriott, Ph.D., Capital Books, $17.95) and landscapes an important back- However, Shu’s performance as a should be required reading before any Alex Garland’s commentary describe ground character. strong woman who doesn’t know what trip to the drugstore, department store, the physical production effectively — The impressive cast includes subtle she wants is mesmerizing, enhanced or dermatologist’s office. but 28 Days Later is too recycled to tru- and moving performances by Rosario by Hou’s long takes with a stagnant In clear, easy-to-understand lan- ly scare us. Dawson, Jill Hennessy, Vera Farmiga, camera and Mark Lee Ping-Bing’s re- guage that does not talk down to the Real scares are what Romero’s zom- Domenick Lombardozzi, and Michael markable cinematography. reader, Goldberg reviews the biology bies supplied, and 1985’s Day of the Dead Imperioli as some of the interconnect- Millennium Mambo opens at Cinema of skin and skin aging, suggests sensi- — which closed the trilogy — is out on ed lost souls seeking love and hope on Village (22 E. 12th St., 212-924-3363, ble and proven aging prevention strate- DVD from Anchor Bay. Although Day is the mean streets. cinemavillage.com) on Dec. 31. gies, and reviews common ingredients the least of Romero’s three thrillers, Although the film lapses into —Mark Rifkin.