Nicolas Cage and Diane Kruger return to the adventure franchise National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, a ludicrous, over-the-top but overall rather entertaining action-comedy. As people know, I feel the franchise – I call it a franchise because there is no denying that a third one will find its way to theaters at some point – is way overrated. The first movie, while not terrible, wasn’t nearly as exciting or smart as people think it is. I went into Book of Secrets with really low expectations and was, thankfully, pleasantly surprised, but I’m not kidding myself that it’s some glorious piece of work. You can read my full National Treasure 2 movie review here.

This blog post is about the 2-Disc Collector’s Edition version of National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, which arrives in stores on May 20th, conveniently right before the new Indiana Jones movie arrives in theaters.

The DVD contains a fair amount of interesting and honest special features:

• Audio commentary with Jon Turteltaub and Jon Voight. I didn’t listen to this – honestly, who has time to re-watch movies with the audio commentaries? I sure as hell don’t.
• Deleted scenes with introductions by Jon Turteltaub. The first bit of bonus material I went for was the deleted scenes, and there are some pretty good ones here. More interesting than the scenes themselves are Turteltaub, who delivers an introduction for each one. Turteltaub seems like a genuinely funny guy, and his discussions of the film seem honest and heartfelt.
• Bloopers and outtakes. Your typical blooper reel; there’s some funny stuff here, though nothing amazing.
• Secrets of a Sequel. One of the weaker featurettes on the DVD, this one talks about the challenges of making a sequel. Once again, things are pretty honest as they discuss that everyone assumes a sequel is easy work, but there’s still a lot of work and effort to deliver something unique. Still, it contains a fair amount of, “National Treasure 2 is going to be bigger and better,” kind of statements.
• On Location. This featurette looks at some of the sets around the country and world. Pretty interesting at times.
• Street Stunts: Creating the London Chase. This one is pretty entertaining. While the scene in the movie might be a little out of place (would Ed Harris and his crew really destroy a neighborhood in London so boldly?), it’s always fun to see a bus plow through parked cars and crowded street during a car chase. Seeing it from off camera is just as entertaining.
• Inside the Library of Congress. I don’t remember this featurette, so either I accidentally skipped over it or it instilled no lasting memory.
• Underground Action. This is a pretty interesting featurette that looks at the action that takes place in Mt. Rushmore, specifically the balancing stone tab that the characters find themselves on. There’s some insightful filmmaking stuff here.
• Cover Story: Crafting the President’s Book. This one takes a look at getting the conspiracies into a book, and includes some of the actors providing their viewpoint on whether such a book really exists. This one is pretty pointless, but oh well.
• Evolution of a Golden City. One of the better featurettes in the set, this one looks at the creation and planning that went into the underground city. Once again, the featurette doesn’t come off as promotional.
• Knights of the Golden Circle. Huh, don’t remember this one either. What the heck. I know I watched this one, but have no clue what it’s about…

The National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (wow, that’s a mouthful) is a pretty good disc with some nice bonus features. Turteltaub really makes the featurettes worth it, as he seems to be having fun with both the production and talking to the camera. None of the featurettes seem too promotional and as such provide some great insight into the creation of the film.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters on May 22nd, and shockingly, Paramount is releasing a new DVD set of the original Indiana Jones trilogy this Tuesday, May 13th. I mean, I am flabbergasted that Paramount would release a new DVD set so close to the release of their new Indiana Jones movie; it’s as if they want to milk some extra cash out of one of their most prized franchises. I just didn’t see it coming.

A few years ago, I picked up The Adventures of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection, which came with the three movies digitally remastered as well as a bonus disc (that I’ve never watched) that is, according to the box, “the ultimate anthology of Indiana Jones special features to accompany this classic DVD collection.” That’s interesting that that set was the “complete” and “ultimate” collection, when now we have Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection DVD set…

Anyway, this new Adventure Collection offers only three disc and doesn’t make any bold statements about being “the biggest and baddest,” but presumably that’s being put off until all four Indiana Jones movies are released in a single DVD set in the fall. Maybe then Steven Spielberg and George Lucas will actually provide commentary for the films.

Yes, this new DVD set still doesn’t offer director’s commentary for the films, which is a bit surprising. It does, however, have introductions by Spielberg and Lucas before each film, which, I guess, is meant to make up for the lack of six hours of commentary.

While the bonus disc from the previous edition is missing, there are bonus features offered on each movie disc. The features includes interviews with the Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Allison Doody), Spielberg, Lucas, Ford and the screenwriters; an examination of the famous “melting face scene” from Raiders of the Lost Ark; a featurette on the locations; and another featurette that covers the bugs, insects and other creatures found in the movies. The teaser trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie also plays at the beginning of each disc, cementing the fact that this box set is specifically intended to drive ticket sales.

Basically, the bonus features are pretty standard fare.

There are some interesting moments, but for those of you who already own the Indiana Jones movies, it doesn’t make sense to purchase this new set. The bonus features are not amazing, and unless you are so die-hard that you have to have every piece of material ever made on the subject, they aren’t worth shelling out an additional $35.

At the same time, the movies themselves have never looked better. I haven’t watched Temple of Doom yet, but Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade both look amazing. The picture is crystal clear and looks as brand new as movies filmed 20 years can look.

If you don’t have the movies and don’t care about bonus features, this new Indiana Jones box set offers the three movies in their finest form. However, if you don’t think that Paramount doesn’t have a box set due to be released in the fall with all four movies and a slew of special features, however, you’re kidding yourself.

Ah, there’s nothing like a toothy vagina. Especially one that bites off anything that disturbs it.

Such is the premise for Teeth, the new horror-comedy out on DVD that stars Jess Weixler as a sexy but naively innocent abstinence poster child who discovers that she’s not the same as other girls. She may look the same, she may feel the same, but she is definitely not the same. You see, her vagina has teeth, and when it gets angry, things aren’t pretty.

I’ve posted two movie reviews for Teeth on FilmJabber.com. The first one, by me, is pretty basic and to-the-point, whereas Robert Bell’s, I must admit, is a thousand times better. It’s definitely the funniest movie review you’ll read in a while, so read our Teeth movie reviews now.

Speed Racer is almost upon us, whether you like it or not. I, personally, am going to see it just to make sure it’s as bad as it looks. My friends feel the same way (though many won’t even go see it). Others, however, are actually looking forward to this Wachowski Brothers film, so it will be interesting to see fan reactions over the next few days. More interesting, however, will be to see how well it does in theaters… will it beat Iron Man in its second week? I’m not so sure.

Regardless, fellow movie reviewer Robert Bell has written a glorious Speed Racer movie review…

As cinema gradually evolves, it becomes increasingly clear that storytelling is becoming less of a priority. Glossy hyper-stylized images and hackneyed, insincere emotional catharsis are the wave of the future, as are indecipherable frenetic action sequences designed to overwhelm the senses with an almost orgasmic glee. Hollow excess and easily digested “wow” moments give a desensitized audience the homogenized escapist crap they so desperately seek; unwilling and unable to pause or reflect on anything with meaning. It’s only logical, given the rapid take-no-prisoners, pop-a-pill-to-stifle-unwelcome-feelings culture we have become. Everything we do is designed to escape from reality: our entertainment, dream vacations and misguided career focus are all just filler, despite the requirements of emotional development, which need downtime and personal reflection in order to find a personal purpose and reason. Then again, isn’t it that much easier to just quash away all of those feelings of confusion and inadequacy by accepting the ideologies and distorted moral codes of the majority? It is. And if we distract ourselves long enough while going through the motions of expectation, we may not even notice how utterly stupid and frivolous our surface driven lives are. Then again, happiness is defined by the individual, and maybe designer sneakers and a fancy new refrigerator is all one needs to feel satisfied in this world.

Read the full Speed Racer movie review…

I’m Not There, the acclaimed drama that stars Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett, Ben Whishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin all as Bob Dylan, arrives on DVD this Tuesday. Considering that Franklin is a young black kid, Gere plays a version of Billy the Kid and Blanchett is female, one can only imagine that the movie is not exactly a literal biopic, and in fact is one of the most unique and complicated movies I’ve ever seen.

Director Todd Haynes, amazingly, was not nominated for an Oscar for his masterful work here, and, almost equally shocking was the fact that Cate Blanchett, who turns in the best performance of her career, didn’t win for Best Supporting Actress.

You can read my full I’m Not There movie review here.

Regardless, for all of you who didn’t see I’m Not There in theaters, the Bob Dylan movie is now available on DVD. Here is my I’m Not There DVD review:

The DVD review is for the two-disc collector’s edition, a surprisingly weighty release for a movie such as this. The environmental side of me questions why this release is on two discs other than to market it as such; there are tons of special features, but quantity over quality is the name of the game.

The first disc contains I’m Not There along with a director’s commentary from Todd Haynes, along with some on-screen tie-ins to the songs.

The second disc is where the meat is, and contains such features as:

• Deleted scenes
• Alternate/extended scenes
• Outtakes
• Auditions
• A Conversation with Todd Haynes
• Making the Soundtrack
• The Red Carpet Premiere

The deleted scenes are what you’d expect, nothing too substantial or memorable. With this type of film, where the story is essentially organized chaos, it’s hard to watch a single scene and appreciate it on its own. The outtakes are humorous but nothing spectacular. The auditions are interesting; it’s always nice to see actors in raw format and how they went about landing the part. “A Conversation with Todd Haynes” is pretty good, and basically is about the co-writer/director talking about how the movie formed in his mind – and how he made sense of it all. At times, it sounds like he didn’t even know what he was doing. The “Making the Soundtrack” featurette is also pretty interesting and offers up some good Dylan songs for a second listening.

Included on the second disc is also a “Tribute to Heath Ledger,” though it looks like it was put together at the last minute.

Ultimately, the I’m Not There Two-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD has some decent features, though of the ones they list on the back of the box, only a couple are really noteworthy. Still, this is the kind of the movie that, due to its complexity, requires some further explanation, and there is just enough here to satisfy that requirement.

The DVD set is good, but not great. However, the movie itself makes up for any deficiencies on the DVD.

I just got back from Iron Man (a 10:15 Thursday showing), and it was pretty cool. Here’s my full Iron Man movie review. And, I can easily say, Iron Man is the best movie of the 2008 summer season. Yes, I know it’s 1am on May 2nd and no other summer movie has reached theaters yet… but I’m not lying!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters shortly, which means that Lucasfilm and Paramount are back at it releasing everything Indy in anticipation. With re-release DVDs of the original three Indiana Jones movies coming soon, April 29th brings The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Three: The Years of Change to DVD in a massive box set in vein with Volume One and Volume Two.

Like the previous two box sets, Volume 3 is packed with special features, movies and so on and so forth. George Lucas and the crew spared no expense making these box sets, even going as far as to re-edit the original television show, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, into feature-length films. Whether that’s a good thing, maybe not.

This final box set comes with 10 discs, seven Indiana Jones movies and, according to the box, over 15 hours of special features and over two dozen documentaries. Needless to say, I don’t have the time and willpower to watch everything before writing this review.

A fan of the show growing up, I always enjoyed the the stories involving teenage Indy (played by Sean Patrick Flannery) a lot more, for obvious reasons. The stories are more adventure-filled, a lot less sappy and generally more interesting. While the original TV show mixed together the stories of super-young Indy and teenage Indy on, generally, an episode-by-episode basis and earmarked those episodes to shots of a really old Indiana Jones, these box sets have recut the episodes, made them more chronological and removed the old Indy altogether. The result is several feature-length movies that, while able to focus a lot more on a specific plot line, aren’t nearly as cohesive as they should be.

To make hour-and-a-half-long movies, Lucas had to splice and dice two or three stories together to make one, and the result is often a meandering one. Take Tales of Innocence, for example (coincidentally the first movie I watched on this box set). The first half is about Indy trying to identify a traitor in his crew during World War I and his ultimately tragic love affair with a local woman. It’s pretty exciting and entertaining, aside from a few slow minutes. Then, suddenly, the story switches gear and Indy and several new characters travel to investigate the disappearance of a group of soldiers, only to find that one of the missing commanders has somehow turned into Lord Dracula. This story is fine, too – and also plays into the mystical element that is found in all of the theatrical releases more so than most of the World War I plots – but is clearly not a part of the same movie.

To save time, money and effort, and to appease fans, I would have just left the episodes as they originally were, but we’re stuck with these feature-length re-edits which are good enough. A lot of people had probably forgot that there were dozens of additional hours of Indiana Jones goodness available, and it’s nice to see this high quality show get some renewed attention.

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume III: The Years of Change is available to own on April 29th. Did I already say that?

I just received the Lars and the Real Girl DVD today in the mail. I got home from work at 5:30, went to my chiropractor’s from 6 to 7, watched the Seattle Mariners finally win a game (what is going on with their bullpen/offense?) and then squeezed in a trip to Costco. Got back at 8:40 with intentions of writing a bit on my new novel (I’m on chapter 2), and debated about watching the special features for Lars and the Real Girl before starting. It could eat up an hour of my time, I thought, but maybe I should pop in the DVD just to check things out…

First off, Lars and the Real Girl is a great movie. Seriously, it’s one of the best movies of 2007. Ryan Gosling is great, and the story is tragically uplifting and heartwarming without ever being sappy. It’ll make you laugh and even cry (well, if you’re into crying at movies, which I’m not), but more so it will just make you laugh. It’s also a lighthearted romantic drama, and works on that level as well. You can read my full Lars and the Real Girl movie review here.

However, the Lars and the Real Girl DVD sucks. My concern about wasting too much time watching the special features was not worth it, as the two movie trailers included on the DVD plus the time it is taking to write this DVD review more than account for the total number of minutes you should spend watching the special features.

The DVD includes a deleted scene that – I’m pretty sure – is only 1.3 seconds long. Wowzer, too bad that got cut!

There’s a small, 10-minute featurette about the movie, of which I only watched half of because I realized just how dull, uninformative and promotional it was.

There’s also a six-minute segment about the “real girl” in the movie (i.e. the sex doll) that is mildly amusing, as Gosling, in an interview, gets upset with her, tears off his mike and storms off, leaving the “real girl” to fend for herself. Still, is it really worth watching? No.

And that’s about it. 16 minutes of special features, only 0.76 minutes of which are worth your time. Lars and the Real Girl is a great movie, but if you’re into special features, the DVD is a waste of whatever material DVDs are made of.

Poor Mena Suvari. The actress, fairly attractive and a decent actress, started off her career about as good as anyone who isn’t named Jennifer Hudson can do: not only did she have a major part in one of the last great teen classics, American Pie, but she was the title character in one of the best movies of all time, American Beauty. She was 20 at the time both of those movies were released, and if that’s how her career begun, just imagine what she’d be doing in eight years.

The direct-to-DVD remake of George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead. Wow.

The movie really isn’t a remake of the Romero original, as it bears little resemblance to that film. The original was a continuation of Romero’s two classics and featured a bunch of characters tucked away in an underground bunker. This new Day of the Dead is your standard zombie flick; what starts off looking like an epidemic of the flu turns out to be a cannibalistic nightmare. Several unsuspecting characters find themselves at the center of a shit storm, and you know the rest. Why this movie is actually allowed to be marketed as “based on the motion picture from George A. Romero” is a bit astounding. Other than being a zombie movie, the two movies are far removed.

As one might expect from a direct-to-DVD release, the movie isn’t anything you should rush out to buy, rent or see. This is no theatrical Dawn of the Dead remake, let me tell you. Hell, it’s not even Land of the Dead. It’s your run-of-the-mill zombie film, with so-so writing, quasi-cheap special effects and so on and so forth.

That being said, it is a step above other direct-to-DVD releases, and I have to wonder if with a little more budget and a little more attention to detail this movie could have gone to theaters. It was clearly made with the intention to go straight to DVD, as the makeup, film quality and script aren’t good enough to take the film to the next level. Still, if you like zombie movies, Day of the Dead is tolerable. It has a lot of action, a fair amount of gore and, for the type of movie it is, surprisingly decent acting.

Suvari holds her own and the rest of the cast do what they’re supposed to. Nick Cannon isn’t particularly good, though he was clearly written with the badass token black guy in mind. Ving Rhames even is in the movie, obviously homage to the Dawn of the Dead remake.

The movie suffers from some unnecessary visual effects; I’m not a big fan of zombies being able to jump long distances through the air, climb on ceilings and so on and so forth. The zombies also sound like dinosaurs, another unnecessary move. Ultimately, Steve Miner, who has directed such quality B-grade films as Halloween H20 and Lake Placid, was given a low budget and tasked with making a direct-to-DVD feature. There is nothing here to suggest otherwise.

Sadly, I just looked on IMDB I see that the budget for the movie is $18 million. That’s not a lot these days, but considering that Shaun of the Dead was made for only $4 million, it actually is surprising that the movie looks a lot better. The decision to go with special effects over quality makeup was clearly a bad one.

The new Dawn of the Dead isn’t as bad as I was expecting, and in fact is moderately entertaining, but a few major but doable tweaks could have gone a long way. Fans of the original will be disappointed.

The Aristocats arrived on DVD in February. I was supposed to review it in February. I didn’t. It’s now March, and I finally got to the film. As much as I could watch anyway.

I don’t believe that, even in my childhood, I ever saw The Aristocats, and as such, my childhood sentiment for the film isn’t there. The movie, about four cats who try to make it back home to Paris after they are abandoned in the countryside by an evil butler, is a Disney classic, but it’s certainly a film that shows its age.

The Aristocats is moderately funny at times and has some quality entertainment; a scene where the butler hides in a haystack and carefully tries to steal a bunch of stuff from a couple of dogs is pretty amusing, and there are other highlights as well. The animation is good given that the film originally hit theaters 38 years ago (yes, 1970 was 38 years ago); actually, I miss this style of animation a lot. All the cartoons these days look so glossy; the roughness of The Aristocats really works in its favor.

I expect little kids will still find this movie entertaining, but I’d be curious to see if that’s the truth. The style of humor is certainly different than that found in modern movies, and I wonder if children are still able to appreciate calmer, more laid back cartoons like this film. Unlike most cartoons, The Aristocats really doesn’t have a prominent villain, and the film takes its time moving from sequence to sequence without any sense of excitement or tension. This isn’t bad – it’s just different.

Nevertheless, I found The Aristocats a little boring. Had I grown up on the film, I’d probably think differently, but since I didn’t, I didn’t see anything very spectacular here.  Little kids may still enjoy it, but the film certainly feels dated.

The DVD offers several games and activities, deleted scenes and some behind-the-scenes featurettes, none of which I bothered to watch.