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EW review: 'The Daily Show' at its best

By Mandi Bierly
Entertainment Weekly

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Christina Ricci
Vin Diesel

(Entertainment Weekly) -- The package claims that the three-disc set includes ''Our National Anthem sung in 4-correspondent harmony.''

As is often the case with this Emmy-winning purveyor of fake news, that statement is even funnier because it's true: That's how "The Daily Show" began eight tapings covering the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the main attractions on its first-ever DVD.

You may think "Indecision 2004" is too dated for your collection, but the beautiful, or sad, thing about commentary on the spectacle of politics is its timelessness. Come election time, Democrats will always parade their humble roots (see Colbert's historic ''I, the son of a turd miner, the grandson of a goat ball licker'' speech) and the GOP will always excel at negative campaigning (share Stewart's giddiness as he play-by-plays Sen. Zell Miller's RNC verbal assault on John Kerry and MSNBC's Chris Matthews).

The bonus material -- which, fortunately, does not include the host's softball interview with Kerry -- helps encapsulate the show at its finest. Stewart spin-checks Rudy Giuliani after the first presidential debate, and, on election night, notes that those most affected by 9/11 -- New Yorkers -- trusted Kerry with their safety. The correspondents flex their trademark wit and shamelessness in field reports like Steve Carell's classic ''Trail and Tribulations,'' when he interviews an unfazed Howard Dean aide while dancing to ''I Got You (I Feel Good).''

Given that the only original extras are a few gag commentaries and Colbert's comedic making-of, ''Requiem for a Show That Was Daily,'' Stewart and Co. clearly still fear being taken seriously. Should we feel guilty for wanting to see how they really work (outside of the restroom)? Pretty sure we'd still be laughing.

EW Grade: A-

'The Pacifier'

Reviewed by Mandi Bierly

Would "The Pacifier" have been better with Jackie Chan, for whom Vin Diesel's tough-guy-goes-soft role was written? Probably. But as a Navy SEAL assigned to protect five suddenly fatherless children, Diesel fulfills his orders to make kiddie viewers laugh with dirty-diaper jokes ... and to keep moms interested with a gratuitous towel scene.

The EXTRAS, meanwhile, are redeeming. Turns out Diesel, shown rocking a baby costar between takes, can connect with kids. And director Adam Shankman ("Bringing Down the House") hasn't lost his sadistic edge. In the commentary, he says the script wooed him with a Nazi armband (spoiler! The eldest son isn't a racist -- he's in "The Sound of Music") and the climactic Peter Panda dance. He also notes where he had to cut fart noises to keep the PG rating; which day demanded a quiet set (''Okay, guys, we've got big drama here to do now, on the Disney movie with a duck and the baby poo''); and that, perhaps, a juice box shouldn't debilitate a ninja.

EW Grade: B-

'Prozac Nation'

Reviewed by Alisa Cohen

After four years languishing in a studio vault (oh yeah, and a STARZ! airing in March), this beleaguered biopic is finally seeing the light of day. It should have stayed in the dark.

Based on Elizabeth Wurtzel's 1994 woe-is-me memoir, "Prozac Nation" trails Lizzie (Christina Ricci), a depressive Harvard princess who screws up royally at every turn (she hooks up with her roommate's boyfriend! She gets drunk at a family party!). Director Erik Skjoldbjaerg -- who never met a camera trick he didn't abuse -- lets his leading ladies go buck wild, as Ricci and Jessica Lange (playing Lizzie's arm-flailing mom) duke it out for the Most Shrill award.

Subtler supporting players Jason Biggs and Michelle Williams, however, help dilute the histrionics. As the title suggests, Lizzie does find some salvation in pills -- a quick resolution, but not even a medicine cabinet full of drugs could save this pseudo-Sylvia Plath exercise from plunging into tedium.

EXTRAS Only the lackluster featurette ''Anatomy of a Scene,'' in which the crew talks of drawing visual and dramatic inspiration from Ordinary People and Edvard Munch. Now, that's a real scream.

EW Grade: C-


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