DVD Review: Transformers Two-Disc Special Edition

Transfomers, arguably the most popular movie of the summer, is now out on DVD (as of this Tuesday), and it's safe to assume that the DVD (one-disc, two-disc and HD DVD two-disc) will be topping the charts for the coming weeks.

So, is the two-disc special edition worth the extra dollars? I'd have to say... yes.

The two-disc special edition is not the most jam-packed DVD you'll find on the shelves, but it still has a good two hours of honest, legitimate special features (vs. those editions that include a bunch of useless and seemingly filler bonuses).

The special features are split into three segments, each of which vary in length from 45 minutes to over an hour:

• Our World
  An in-depth look, broken into chapters, at the production, cast and stunts of Transformers. There's plenty of behind-the-scenes goodness here, including interviews with the cast (and not just promotional interviews where they're saying, "You'll see stuff here that's never been done before), on-set footage and more. The feature drills into several of the stunts of the movie, and it's surprising to see how many of them are not just special effects. Apparently, Michael Bay and his crew destroyed over 200 real cars in the movie...
• Their War
  This featurette looks at the creation of the Autobots, Decepticons and military vehicles used in the movie. This one will appeal to Transformers fans a lot as it discusses how the creators went from the original toys and cartoons to the robots found in the movie, and why changes were made. The in-depth look at how the production worked with the military is also pretty interesting.
• More Than Meets the Eye
  This one looks at the making of the desert attack sequence.
  

Other features include several of the film's trailers (which are quite cool) and conceptual art.

Overall, the Transfomers: Two-Disc Special Edition has a lot of honest, in-depth special features. There may not be a lot of features, but what lacks in quantity is made up for with quality. Fan boys should definitely invest the extra dollar or two into this more enhanced version. Also, you can read a Transformers movie review here.

DVD Review: Grindhouse presents Planet Terror (2007)

Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, the intentional B-grade zombie film that was the first half of the theatrical flop Grindhouse (I'm quite certain it will be a cult classic, though), arrives on DVD next Tuesday, October 16th.

Planet Terror is about several individuals, including a stripper (Rose McGowan) who has a machine gun as a leg and a mother who can't use her hands because her husband has injected her with a numbing agent, who have to face off against a horde of zombies and even more dangerous military personnel. The movie is camp, but done so quite specifically. The first time I watched it I liked it but didn't love it; the second time around, on DVD, I appreciated Planet Terror a bit more - the gore is great, the women scorching and the excitement non-stop. It's not a perfect movie, but that's okay - in reality, it was never meant to be. Read the full Planet Terror movie review here.

The 2-disc Special Edition version of Planet Terror is well worth it even if you are even a mild fan of the Grindhouse movies. Planet Terror is a great movie to watch with friends, and the special features are just as good:

10-Minute Film School With Robert Rodriguez
This is a very insightful little featurette with Rodriguez showing us "how easy" it is to make a movie such as Planet Terror. Of course, not anyone can just inject computer graphics and gore, Rodriguez does break down his film pretty well, showing how he did a lot of the snazzy things in the film, from the machine gun leg to heads blowing apart to explosions and a dozen other things.

The Badass Babes and Tough Guys Of Planet Terror
The great thing about the featurettes on this DVD are that they are insightful, short and too the point. There are some great 45-minute featurettes out there (see Pirates of the Caribbean), but it's tedious watching something so long. These two 12-or-so-minute featurettes look at the hot women in the movie and the reasoning for their casting and characters; and the men - I didn't really pay attention to that one too much.

Casting Rebel
Is Robert Rodriguez's son really called Rebel? Anyway, it's his son who's the kid in the movie, and Rodriguez talks about his decision to cast his son. Of course, the other stars praise the kid - not that there was anything wrong with him, but would they really say anything bad even if they thought he sucked?

Sickos, Bullets and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror
This one looks at the special effects and such in the movie. It's a fun one and delves into the behind-the-scenes workings of several of the big stunts in the movie. The big explosion scene at the end is certainly the highlight.

There are a few other special features, and don't forget that the movie itself is extended and unrated (I noticed a little more almost-nudity, among other things). The special features are quite good, as they provide a more detailed glimpse into the workings of the movie without spending too much time on any one thing. Recommended.

DVD review: Jericho, Season 1 (2006)

Is Jericho the most underrated television show on network TV? Many people have never heard of it, it only scraped by to manage a second season (which premieres in January 2008) and its subject matter isn't exactly cheerful, but Jericho, about a town that must come together after most of the United States is ravaged by nuclear war, is an effective drama-thriller that people should certainly check out on DVD (the first season was just recently released).

Jericho stars Skeet Ulrich, among others (including the very pretty Ashley Scott), as a young man who has returned to his hometown (where his father is mayor and brother is sheriff, and he has traditionally been on the wrong side of the law) just in time for a mushroom cloud to be seen over Denver, and reports of other explosions in Washington, D.C., Atlanta and San Diego as well as multiple other locations.

Immediately, the leaders of the town find themselves forced to act quickly to maintain order and control and, of course, figure out what has happened. Is the country under attack? Is the government still intact? Those questions linger throughout the season, as well as other mysteries in terms of where was Ulrich's character for five years, what is the true nature of the new guy in town and are loved ones in other cities really dead?

Jericho is the latest in a series of serial dramas trying to capitalize on what Lost managed to do: stick a bunch of characters in an isolated situation, have the mysteries surrounding their situation remain story arcs for the entire season or even the series, and offer individual stories for each episode. Of course, Jericho isn't supernatural and thus doesn't quite have the same intrigue as Lost, but you get the point.

I'm halfway through the third disc as of writing this review, but I'm certainly hooked. The first several episodes are hair tingling, as, of course, the first episode features a nuclear blast and lots of confusion. Subsequent episodes offer storylines revolving around nuclear fallout, escaped prisoners, stealing and looting, and so on and so forth. One especially eerie moment shows nuclear warheads being launched from the United States, presumably showing a counter attack. Other mysteries include who is in charge of the country, as so far there has been no live communication from the government, but broadcasts and food deliveries from China.

The show works to a large array for interesting characters, some intriguing relationships and relatively fast-paced stories. The acting is good, and you'll recognize several of the actors involve. The very premise of a show set in a post-nuclear America is enough to make me wet my pants.

That being said, Jericho could improve in a few parts. The show isn't quite as gritty as it probably should be to be realistic, as it's hard to believe that a month after the explosions no one would have branched out far enough to learn exactly what has happened. Even with several of the big cities destroyed, that would still leave hundreds of millions of people still alive, and it probably isn't too realistic that every resident would choose to just stay in town rather than figure out the truth. While people's lives don't go back to normal, they certainly try to maintain some normalcy; this is believable, but only to a point. If the country was under attack, I think most people would be on guard all the time until they knew everything was over.

Interestingly, the show most similar to Jericho is Battlestar Galactica, as that Sci-Fi Channel show carries the same themes: a small group of humans banding together after a nuclear holocaust, unsure of how many other survivors are out there, and having to deal with law and order in a new age. Unfortunately, Jericho isn't nearly as political, gritty or theme-based as Galactica, but for a network show set in modern day, it is quite good.

Overall, I would highly recommend Jericho!

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer DVD review

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer hit DVD this last week, and with it comes several special features. We'll get to the movie later, but first here's a quick DVD review:

The first of two discs contains two separate feature commentaries, one of which by director Tim Story and the other by the producers and writers of the film. While I don't have the patience to sit through the film two more times, it would be interesting to hear how they justify the embarrassing product placements and geographic inconsistencies in the film.

Also included in the 2-disc set are some deleted scenes (none of which are overly exciting, as you might expect), several production featurettes and one very long documentary about the pre-production and production aspects of the movie (conveniently split into two chapters). This documentary is one of the better ones I've seen, although I still set the Pirates of the Caribbean pre-production documentary as the standard. Fantastic Four 2 didn't have nearly as many problems involved (nor is it as complicated), but it's fun to see some of the elements that go into the film and see the actors off camera.

Overall, if you were a fan of the movie, there are some good special features here, but that requires you to be a fan of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - and those may be hard to come by. The movie was actually better than I expected and it was mildly entertainment (perhaps due to very, very low expectations after the disaster that was the first Fantastic Four), but it is so poorly done at times (and overdone at other times) that it is hard to thoroughly enjoy.

You can read my full Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie review here.

DVD review: Knocked Up

Knocked Up hit DVD on Tuesday, September 25th (yes, just the other day!) and this hilarious comedy - most likely the best comedy of the year (read the full Knocked Up movie review) - is now out in several new editions, including a 2-disc Collector's Edition. The cover art here implies Amazon.com may not have the latest info, as the DVD in my hands (well, not literally in my hands - how would I be able to type?) says "Extended & Unrated". Watch out!

The cover also boasts over three hours of bonus footage, and they aren't kidding. The DVD includes "Finding Ben Stone", which looks at other actors who were considered before settling on Seth Rogen, an inside look at the stripper scene (how horrible), some video diaries and several other things.

Of course, one of my favorites are the gag reels, and the DVD boasts two gag reels. The DVD also includes 50 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, not all of which I have watched quite yet. I may do another article next week when I get a chance to watch all of this extra footage.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter what the bonus features are like - this is a hilarious, well-written and sharp comedy that you have to buy, because you know that otherwise you're just going to end up renting it over and over and over again.

DVD review: Face/Off 2-disc Special Collector's Edition

Face/Off is one of my all-time favorite action movies. I saw it with my grandpa shortly before he passed away, and we certainly saw John Woo at the top of his American career - tons of explosions, great acting and a unique (if somewhat implausible) plot.

Ten years later, I've grown up a bit and don't find the action film quite as fascinating as I once did, but it's still a great non-stop thrill ride with plenty of over-the-top action. However, to no great surprise, Paramount Pictures has decided to release a 2-disc Special Collector's Edition DVD, a surprisingly good set that fans of Woo especially may want to pick up.

In addition to director commentary, there are seven deleted or alternate scenes that are some of the better deleted scenes you can find these days. They are most interesting with the optional commentary, as you can hear why the scenes were cut. The crew talks a bit about how some scenes (like one of Travolta crying) were cut after poor audience reactions. An alternate ending is also included, which is quite interesting as well.

The real strength of the 2-disc set are several featurettes, including an extremely interesting documentary called John Woo: A Life in Pictures. The mini-film basically has Mr. Woo talking about his struggles as a child to get out of poverty, what kinds of films inspired him (musicals!) and so on and so forth. This is one of the more interesting featurettes I've seen on the DVD.

The other big chunk of special features comes from several chapters of a making-of documentary for Face/Off, which goes fairly in depth and includes actor and crew interviews and other insight. The most interesting thing I learned was that Face/Off was originally planned to be set in the future, but due to budget cuts and a fear that some of the emotion would be sucked from the film, the story was rewritten to take place in modern day.

Read more information about Face/Off.

DVD review: The Number 23

Jim Carrey's The Number 23 is now out on DVD, and with it comes his so-so thriller. You can read The Number 23 movie review here, but proceed to explore the depths of the human mind... or at least the DVD special features that come along with this so-so thriller.

I am not one to review the video or audio quality of DVDs, as honestly, I really can't tell the difference nor do I have the time to examine how many lines of pixels are appearing on the screen. But I do have just enough intelligence to review the special features, and the box touts that it "includes both theatrical and unrated versions of the film, loaded with bonus material". This is pretty much bullshit.

Yes, the DVD has both rated and unrated versions, and yes, it has some special features, but "loaded" with special features? I think not. You can watch 16 deleted scenes (including an alternate ending) separately from watching the whole movie again (who in hell would want to do that again?), and if you didn't find the movie itself all that good, you won't find the deleted scenes all that interesting, either. There are a few moments worthwhile, but for the most part the deleted scenes were deleted for a reason.

The behind-the-scenes featurettes are decent and give some insight into the actors' views of their characters, but as with most of these semi-promotional behind-the-scenes featurettes, the actors mainly discuss how they find their characters so deep and challenging. When do they not say this? They'd say this if they were starring in a fluffy romantic comedy...

Basically, the special features are lacking in quality and quantity, though fans of the film will probably enjoy them more than I did.

The Number 23 DVD is already available, as it has been for weeks and weeks (I was so slow in reviewing this item).

DVD review: The Office, Season 3

The Office: Season Three hits DVD this Tuesday, and with it comes the buckets of laughs that this season delivered. As a huge fan of the show (and a defender that it is indeed better than the original British version), I've been highly awaiting this release, as it's one of the few shows that I can watch over and over again.

I'm not a huge comedy fan, and of everything I watch on television, The Office is the only comedy I watch religiously. With the occasional flat episode that still is better than most of the sitcoms out there, the season is full of punchy, water cooler comedy that often gets repeated at my real office the next day (and not always by me). As I traverse through these episodes once again, I am reminded of some of the highlights of the season, including Jim's expression after unleashing Dwight-competitor Andy upon Pam, an expression awkward heterosexual man-kiss between boss Michael and newly un-closeted Oscar, and a Michael improvisation of a prison convict. All of these highlights are from the first two discs (of the four-disc set) as I haven't gotten farther than that, but glancing over the summaries that are printed on the box (thank God, because how many times do box sets not include an episode summary?), other highlights include Michael's hiring of a stripper and Ben Franklin for his employees, an awkward speech at Phyllis' wedding and so on and so forth.

The DVD is full of special features that include episode commentaries, Toby wraparounds, a Dwight Schrute music video, an interview with Joss Whedon, videos from The Office "Make your own promo" contest and a blooper reel, but the real highlight, the highlight that makes the DVD worth it, are the deleted scenes. Deleted scenes have become overrated, but The Office's deleted scenes are excellent. Each episode has its own slew of deleted scenes, and many of them are hilarious and clearly removed due to time restraints.

Fans of The Office should be thrilled to get more of The Office with this DVD set, and non-fans should at least rent a disc or two to see what the craze is all about. The Office is a hilarious comedy with great acting, characters and writing.

The Office DVD hits stores September 4, 2007.

DVD review: Darkwing Duck, Volume 2

I, like many of my friends and colleagues, like to reminisce on the cartoons we loved as children. As most of us now agree (and probably our parents before us), the quality of cartoons have gone heavily downhill, as companies have resorted to cooler effects and other gizmos at the expense of quality stories and fun, memorable characters. That conclusion, of course, comes from seeing the occasional commercial for today's children programming.

But think back to the 1990's, and you may or may not remember "Darkwing Duck". About twice a year I get on the conversation of what television shows I loved as a kid, and as we list off dozens (how the heck did we manage to watch so much TV?), we get lost in the memories of yesteryear. Alas, not once has "Darkwing Duck" been mentioned... at least not until I received an email saying that Disney's "Darkwing Duck: Volume 2" was coming to DVD (since I'm sure Disney, who sent me the DVD, wants me to pitch the film a little bit, I'll mention it hits stores Tuesday, August 7th at 12:56am. Don't wait in line, because I made that last part up and all stores will be closed).

"Darkwing Duck" is as good as I remember it. Of course, now that I am 25, there is no possible way I'm ever going to watch all 27 episodes, let alone four or five, but parents should be taking full advantage of all these classic cartoons that are coming to DVD. "Darkwing" may not be as classic as some of the others, I'll admit, but how can you go wrong when you essentially turn Daffy Duck into a crime-fighting superhero, tack on a hot daughter (just kidding there) and a lovable sidekick named Launchpad McQuack? The show is funny, well-written and has an enjoyable, idiotic main character whose ego so gets in the way that often he boggles his crime fighting attempts. The show actually is a bit dynamic, as compared to the carbon copy shows of today.

I can't imagine that too many fans of the show are scooping these DVD sets up for the special features, which is probably why there are none (unless you count a French language track). So what you see on the cover is what you get, 27 episodes from the middle of the series.

Parents and children can enjoy "Darkwing Duck" together - why not let your kid watch some quality programming for a change?

Disturbia DVD review

Disturbia, the hit teen thriller from the early spring starring now-household name Shia LaBeouf, is coming to DVD August 7th, and we got our hands on a copy...

As you probably know, Disturbia is a rip-off of Rear Window, with LaBeouf playing a teenager who is sentenced to house arrest. In his fidgeting state, he resorts to voyeurism, and takes particular interest his next door neighbor, the extremely hot Sarah Roemer, who likes to spend her time near the pool. But after the two meet and strike up a (romantic?) friendship, they begin to suspect that another neighbor, played by David Morse, is actually a serial killer.

The movie is pretty entertaining but could have been a lot better; a few too many teen moments and a rather abrupt ending hurt its chances from becoming anything more than standard thriller fare. Of course, you can read my full movie review here, as I will devote the rest of this time to the DVD...

The DVD includes commentary by the director and the two young leads, but I didn't listen to it because I can't bring myself to sit through a whole movie listening to people talk. I instead migrated to the deleted scenes, which are pretty basic and not at all interesting, and the outtakes, which were equally unimpressive. A "Making-Of" featurette is the best part of the DVD, as it has interviews with most of the cast members and provides some insight into the film beyond a promotional level. A photo gallery (does anyone look at the photo galleries on these DVDs? What a waste), a music video and a pop-up quiz are other rather forgettable features.

Overall, in terms of quantity, Disturbia has enough DVD features to suffice, and fans of the film won't be too disappointed. The bonus features are about average in quality, and hey, if there aren't good deleted scenes, then there aren't good deleted scenes.

Disturbia is a good enough film that I'd recommend it, but it could have been so much better. The DVD is decent, but nothing spectacular. If you're a guy, watch it for Roemer, and if not, watch LaBeouf in one of his first starring roles of what is to be a long and illustrious career.

The Host DVD Review

The Host, the hugely popular critical success out of Korea, is coming to DVD on Tuesday. The movie, about a monster that kills bystanders along the Han River and causes a harsh reaction from the U.S. military, is a very entertaining and surprisingly "believable" monster movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and laughing, for most of the picture.

If you're a fan of the film, the 2-disc Collector's Edition is certainly something you should consider purchasing, as it is loaded with tons of great bonus features, most of which are interviews and featurettes about the making of the film. I didn't watch everything, but what I did see was quite interesting. There is an interview with the writers of the film, who provide some insight into what inspired them - this includes a real case about toxic chemicals being dumped into the Han River (the birth of the creature), the movie Signs (how the alien invasion was more about the family than the creatures) and one other movie I can't recall at this moment. Another focuses on the set design and shows how most locations in the movie, including the food stand, the bridges and even the creature's lair, all really exist.

Other featurettes include a look at the special effects, sound effects, creature design, creature animation and more, while there are also casting tapes, cast interviews, actor training, the Korean trailers, a director's commentary and, the only really disastrous part of the DVD, a blooper real that is about as funny as a dead relative.

All in all, a great movie packaged with a great DVD makes for an excellent purchase opportunity...

Read my Host movie review or learn more about The Host at: http://www.movie-source.com/movie_page.asp?movieID=2700

The Hills Have Eyes 2 DVD Review

See this picture? Those two women are the only highlight of The Hills Have Eyes 2, the disaster from director Martin Weisz. Who is Weisz you ask? He's a nobody. Never heard of him, [hopefully] will never hear of him again. Anyway, here's my movie review for the film:

I've started writing this review before the movie has even finished, but it doesn't matter. The Hills Have Eyes 2 is a poorly acted, poorly written piece of crap, full of stereotypical and unbelievable characters, lame action sequences and cheesy villains. If my buddy in China had bought the film like I asked him to, it still would have been a waste of a dollar.

The first Hills Have Eyes, and by that I mean the movie that came out last year, was pretty decent. It wasn't great by any means, but it was one f**ked up movie and gory beyond belief. Where some movies try to be good by just throwing in some random gore, Alexandre Aja, the director of the 2006 version, embraced blood, guts and other disgusting things and actually took his film above and beyond because of said things. It was the goriest movie I had seen in years, even decades, and aside from that, it offered up some pretty creepy yet slightly believable mutated hillbillies.

Jump ahead to The Hills Have Eyes 2 and everything has changed. We have a different director in the form of Martin Weisz, who clearly has no idea what he's doing, different writers, albeit in the form of the original writer/director Wes Craven, and a whole new cast. Nothing goes right in the movie, however, as the movie has very little gore compared to the first one, the hillbillies have been turned more into "monsters", and the writing is all over the place. The movie is about as exciting as amateur curling, and I blame Weisz for not carrying through and delivering us some much-needed gore. Don't get me wrong - the film does have its moments - but there is nothing gritty or believable about the film in any way.

Still, the real problem is the screenplay, and it's sort of surprising that Wes Craven destroyed his creation in such a fashion. The movie follows a group of soldiers who enter the desert on a training mission and end up falling victim to the radioactive people that live in the hills. Unfortunately, this is the lamest, dumbest and most pathetic group of soldiers you will ever see, as each and every one ends up arguing, whining, complaining or what not throughout the course of the film. Where there are a few good-looking women, none of the characters are believable, likeable nor memorable, and you really won't even notice which ones get picked off throughout the film. The dialogue is sad - especially that of the sergeant in charge - and nothing the soldiers do is remotely intelligent. I could have killed more mutants with a spork than these guys can with automatic weapons.

Thank God, the movie just ended. What a waste of an hour and a half. The highlight of the film is a hillbilly rape scene, and rape scenes are never pleasant. The final shot of the movie is extremely stupid, too.

Martin Weisz should never be allowed to direct a movie again. And I've lost all faith in Wes Craven - his time has come and past.

Apocalypto DVD Review

Apocalypto, the sensational action-drama from Mel Gibson, is coming to DVD on Tuesday, and I've grabbed an advance copy for your reviewing pleasure... or is it for my reviewing pleasure. Either way, Apocalypto did pretty decently at movie theaters considering it was directed by Mel Gibson, who has not exactly been Mr. Popular over the last year or two. Despite what you think of the man, he makes some incredibly exciting movies, and Apocalypto is no different. You can read my full Apocalypto movie review here.

As for the DVD, it's pretty lame. You can just smell a "Special 2-Disc Edition" looming in the darkness, just waiting for the right time, because this version is pretty slim on the special features. It does include an audio commentary by Mel Gibson, which is quite enjoyable, but it only has two other features, a single, 10-second deleted scene, which is actually pretty cool but still not worth the trouble of clicking on the play button, and a making-of featurette, which was clearing created before the movie was released to theaters and is intended for promotional use only. Whenever the interviews include "this film will..." you know they were made to promote the movie, not give us insight into it, and the interviews also contain quite a few "you're going to see things you've never seen before." Boring!

The behind-the-scenes featurette does have a few bits and pieces that are interesting, but for the most part, it's just disappointing and a waste of time.

Overall, Apocalypto DVD leaves little to be desired, but if you haven't seen the movie, it is certainly a recommended purchase/rental nonetheless.

Alpha Dog movie review

I just watched Alpha Dog, and while the DVD sucks, the movie isn't a complete waste. After all, Alpha Dog offers nudity from Olivia Wilde and plenty of other females, and has an intriguing story. Still, despite all that, there isn't much repeat value here, as it fails to be a powerful crime story and instead turns out more like a teen romp with drugs, sex and violence.

Read my full Alpha Dog movie review.

Dreamgirls Movie Review

Dreamgirls hits DVD on May 1st, and I managed to get my hands on an advanced copy. Dreamgirls was the one movie I wanted to see in theaters during award season, but never got a chance to, and so now, long after I have unleashed my Top Ten Movies of 2006 List, I have seen the final film that could have really made a dent.

But there's a reason why I never got around to watching Dreamgirls in theaters. It just didn't look that interesting. Dreamgirls looked like a blatant attempt to take advantage of recent films about famous musicians that have found success, either critically, financially or both (Ray and Walk the Line come to mind). And you know what? I was right. Dreamgirls, while not a bad movie by any means, is a film made solely to win the Golden Globes. I'm not surprised it won, as the Music and Comedy section is always partial to movies like this. I'm also not surprised it failed to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars because, frankly, it isn't nearly good enough.

With good acting all around, especially from newcomer Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls had a chance, but its lack of character development and too much glamour keep it from becoming anything monumental. Read my full Dreamgirls movie review.

Deja Vu DVD Review

I caught an advanced copy of the Deja Vu DVD, and so here are my thoughts:

Déjà Vu explodes onto DVD this April with a couple of bonus features and, of course, the Tony Scott film starring Denzel Washington.Déjà Vugot a lot of critical smackdown when it was released in theaters in November, but I'm a fan of the film - other than dealing with time travel, which is almost always asking for plot holes and implausibilities that the professional critics love to look for, the movie is exciting and violent (don't let the PG-13 rating fool you), and has an interesting premise. Those who didn't catch it in theaters should peruse over to the video store or your Netflix queue and putDéjà Vutoward the top.

As far as DVDs go,Déjà Vuisn't overly exciting. It does feature several deleted and extended scenes with optional director commentary. These scenes are pretty good, but seen on their own there isn't too much of interest. The most notable extended scene is that of the torture scene where Jesus... er, Jim Caviezel... covers Paula Patton in gasoline, hits her, etc. Interestingly, despite everything else in the movie, Scott had to remove some of the long shots of the gasoline being poured over Pattons' body to keep a PG-13 movie.

Other special features are several behind-the-scenes moments planted throughout the film and accessible via "The Surveillance Window." It's a neat way to tie in the movie's concept, but I'm not a big fan of embedded material while watching the movie. Maybe this is some people's cup of tea, but if I'm watching the movie, I want to watch the freaking movie - not sidetrack into bonus features along the way.

Overall,Déjà Vuis certainly a quality rental, but fans of the movie may be a bit disappointed with these features. I could see a "Special Edition" coming out at some point.

Blood Trails Movie Review

I watched Blood Trails because I thought it was one of the eight After Dark Horrorfest films of 2006, mainly because it ended up in a stack of DVDs. I even wrote this movie review assuming it was a part of Horrorfest. It actually isn't, but this is what I said originally: "Blood Trails is by far the worst of the bunch that I've seen so far. Of course, I still have two movies remaining, including one from the director of The Grudge which I am not looking forward to, but if either of those are worse than Blood Trails, heaven help us."

Blood Trails has a decent concept, in that it is about a woman who is stranded in the woods after a ruthless killer murders her boyfriend. I always like these one-on-one suspense thrillers, but they need the right elements to work: most notably, a good director, screenwriter and actors. Since the movie essentially focuses on a single person for the entire movie, those involved have an especially difficult task presented to them: how do you make a movie out of a story that offers very little dialogue and even less character interaction?

Sadly, Blood Trails massacres itself.

The movie stars Rebecca Palmer as Anne, a woman who has recently cheated on her boyfriend with someone who claimed he was a cop. She takes her boyfriend up to a mountain retreat to do some mountain biking and present him with the truth, but instead the guy she slept with follows her, kills her man and then pursues her through the woods.

Blood Trails really makes no sense. The way her boyfriend is killed is quite ludicrous, and everything else that follows is so stupid it is hard to comprehend that anyone thought this would make a good final product. Palmer is God-awful in the lead role; in a normal movie, she might be fine, but here, with no one around to support her, her acting ability is pushed to the limits, and then some. She spends most of her time screaming or shouting or crying or acting like a crazy person, even when she finds people to help her. Her rants and ravings led me to believe that the movie would have a twist where it turns out she actually is crazy, but no, nothing of the sort. I wonder what she thought when she watched herself on film.

Writer/director Robert Krause drags things on by making his lead character do all kinds of stupid things. At one point, she gets into a car with a friendly man with a rifle, but she acts so crazy that he grows to not believe her (although, granted, she is covered with a ton of blood that isn't hers, which should be convincing enough). He gets killed. She is still in the truck, but as the killer waits for her to make her move, she just turns away and starts walking back up the hill with her mountain bike. Why not just run him over with the truck? At another point, she runs into two lumberjacks, but instead of explaining herself coherently, she yells at them and they eventually get killed, too. And in another scene, she gets up to the top of a mountain under a Christian cross (completely failing to see that her dead boyfriend is strung there two feet above her head), calls the police and then runs away, rather than waiting for them to triangulate her position (or she could just tell them she is on a mountain top with a cross).

Ben Price, who plays the killer, doesn't help matters. He really doesn't make for a very creepy killer, though much is to blame on the film, not him. He walks slowly like Michael Myers, but is usually wearing a mountain biking outfit from REI and looks otherwise quite normal. Every time he kills someone, he just watches as Anne runs away, which comes off as more cheesy than anything else.

Ultimately, the blame falls on the director, as this film is so absurd and takes itself too seriously. Blood Trails is so inconsistent in its delivery and not nearly as unique as Krause clearly thinks it is that it is just frustrating. Rather than allowing Anne to bike all over the damned mountain and then having her randomly run into the killer time and time again, he should have concentrated the action together and made it a consistently tense thriller. This way, the weight of the movie wouldn't have been placed on Palmer's shoulders as much, and would have made Blood Trails much more exciting than it actually is.

Blood Trails is a complete waste of time. Avoid this stinker at all costs.

Open Water 2 DVD Review

Normally I post movie reviews at my movie website, Movie-Source.com, but since Open Water 2: Adrift is a direct-to-DVD release and thus not deserving of a database entry, I'm posting my thoughts here instead:

Open Water 2: Adrift is a pretty stupid idea for a movie. After all, the first movie, which hardly deserved a theatrical release, was about two people who eventually die floating in the ocean. Sequel fodder, I think not. Nevertheless, the sequel is here, and while it certainly deserves its direct-to-DVD release, it shows that given a slightly better screenplay and a completely different title, it could have been something.

This time around, the movie focuses on a group of three couples and a baby who go yachting in Mexico. On one pleasant day they all decide to go swimming, but forget to do one simple thing: drop the ladder. With the hull of the boat too high to climb, the six find themselves stranded only ten feet from safety but unable to attain it. As tempers flare and the blame game beginnings, they struggle to stay afloat.

Open Water 2 has a few things going for it. The concept is pretty good and believable at that. The women are pretty nice to look at. The acting isn't as horrific as you'd expect, and some of the actors are recognizable. Stretches of the movie are well paced, and the ending is also quite exciting. Overall, Open Water 2 was much better than I expected, even if that isn't saying much.

On the other hand, the movie could have benefited from a slightly better script. While there are stretches that are perfectly fine, there are moments where the characters just do stupid stuff, or react in a way that isn't very believable, or get on topics that seem rather cheesy. There's a scene where a girl freaks out and starts screaming the Lord's prayer, which seemed rather out of character and rather sudden, and another where a man manages to get his cell phone off the deck of the boat, but frustrated that the signal is nearly non-existent, he throws it away. Who in their right, fucking mind would do that? In another scene, a man starts stabbing at the hull of the boat trying to create a foothold, but the boat's owner fights with him to stop and the end result is one of the characters getting stabbed to death. Come on.

Also, I don't understand why the three men didn't attempt to combine their force to throw one of the women toward the deck. Perhaps that would have been an easy-out to this dilemma, which would have caused the movie to end abruptly.

Open Water 2 is not the disaster you'd expect it to be, but it isn't anything special, either. Compared to the original, the movie does offer some more interesting dynamics as there are more characters to share the weight of the story, but also lacks the tension that made the first one halfway watch-able. If you have nothing better to do, you could do worse, but of course this is not one you'll be flying to the video store to see.