Heroes: Season Two (Universal, $39.98)
After a phenomenal first season, NBC’s surprise hit Heroes went into its sophomore year riding high on a wave of fan love and record ratings. But like Lost before it, problems set in early on in the season as the writers struggled to find compelling storylines for the established ensemble, while also introducing a bunch of new characters into the mix, many of whom were…well, let’s just say kinda bland. The worst offenders on this front were the so-called Wonder Twins, Maya and Alejandro Herrera, a pair of Mexican teenagers who crossed the border into the U.S. seeking a cure to their frightening powers. It wasn’t just that these two characters were annoying—it was also unclear what purpose they served to the other, more interesting stories running through the season. But that wasn’t the only error the writers made as the season progressed: they also squandered the promising premise of transporting Hiro (the show’s breakout star) back to 16th century Japan, allowing that plot to drag on much longer than it should have. Elsewhere, poor Claire was saddled with a lame new love interest, Peter turned up in Ireland suffering from amnesia and Sylar popped up occasionally to glower and grimace. At least the show’s production values remained top-notch throughout the season, meaning that the effects were often able to distract from the clumsy storytelling. But here’s hoping that the writers have learned from their mistakes as they embark on the third year. After all, if Lost was able to bounce back, Heroes certainly can too.
Extras: The bonus feature sure to attract the most eyeballs is the 15-minute “alternate ending” to the season finale, which shows where the show would have gone had the strike not forced the writers to wrap the storyline up and start fresh in season three. The show’s producers discuss other abandoned story ideas in a ten-minute featurette that follows the alternate finale. Meanwhile, a season three teaser attempts to reassure the fanbase that the show is firing on all cylinders again. The usual array of deleted scenes, production featurettes and cast and crew commentaries round out the set.
Redbelt (Sony Pictures Classics, $27.96)
There’s a point in every David Mamet production where a character sums up the theme of the piece in one pithy (and often profanity-laden) line of dialogue. Glenglarry Glen Ross? “Always be closing.” The Edge? “I’m gonna kill the bear.” The key phrase of Mamet’s latest film Redbelt is uttered in the first five minutes: “There is always an escape.” It’s the life philosophy of main character Mike Terry, a jiu-jitsu instructor played by Chewitel Ejiofor. No matter how stormy things get, Mike remains cool and collected, secure in the knowledge that he’ll find a way out of every situation. Mamet would no doubt love for Redbelt to be the thinking man’s action flick. Poblem is, if you think about it too hard, the movie doesn’t make any damn sense. Redbelt‘s plot twists are blindingly obvious to anyone who has seen Mamet’s House of Games or The Spanish Prisoner. What holds it together is Ejiofor, who proves himself a genuine, grade-A movie star. Should Daniel Craig decide to hang up his monogrammed 007 tuxedos, the James Bond producers would be wise to recruit Ejiofor as his replacement.
Extras: Mamet chats with mixed martial arts champ Randy Couture on a commentary track and appears in a separate video Q&A that delves into his own martial-arts training. A behind-the-scenes documentary follows the film’s production and another featurette about the mixed martial arts industry sheds some light on how the controversial sports has evolved over the years.
What Happens in Vegas (Fox, $29.99)
Outside of the Judd Apatow movies, it’s hard to think of a good mainstream romantic comedy that’s been made in the past three or four years. Sadly, What Happens in Vegas doesn’t really do much to improve the genre’s prospects. This lame-brained rom-com casts Cameron Diaz as an uptight stockbroker and Ashton Kutcher as a goof-off furniture maker who meet cute while on vacation in Vegas and wind up getting hitched after an alcohol-fueled night out. Once they’ve sobered up, they immediately plan to divorce, but that changes when they hit the jackpot at the slot machines and can’t agree over who really “won” the money (see, it was Cameron’s quarter, but Ashton pulled the lever). Fed up with their squabbling, a New York City judge (Dennis Miller) forces them to live together for six months in order to give their marriage a real shot. Naturally, the apartment quickly turns into a war zone (he pees in the kitchen sink, she invites his parents over for dinner) but it isn’t long before they start to feel stirrings of what might just be love. If these characters weren’t so nasty to each other, we might actually root for them to get hitched for real, but so much of the humor in Vegas is unpleasant and uncomfortable and not in an Office-kind of way. Excuse the overused gambling pun, but What Happens in Vegas isn’t money.
Extras: Cameron and Ashton trade dumb quips in an eight-minute “Conversation With…” featurette and a gag reel contains more laughs than the actual movie.
Son of Rambow (Paramount Vantage, $19.99)
Son of Rambow is one of the wittiest, most enjoyable films of the year and I’d say that even if my name weren’t emblazoned on the cover of the DVD box. (“Wildly funny!” says Ethan Alter.) Granted, as a lifelong film buff, I’m more or less Rambow‘s target audience, as co-writer/director Garth Jennings is drawing on his own nostalgic love of being young and in love with movies. The story revolves around two young kids in suburban London circa 1983 who decide to make their home movie sequel to First Blood in the hopes of winning a local amateur filmmaking competition. A classic odd couple, these boys come from wildly different backgrounds but bond over their shared passion for Rambo. The young actors (neither of whom had acted in a movie before) are wonderful and Jennings’ affection for them and the material resonates throughout. Son of Rambow isn’t just a great film about filmmaking–it’s a great film about family.
Extras: A half-hour making-of documentary, a commentary track with the filmmakers and boys and Garth Jennings’ own childhood action film that inspired Rambow.
Also on DVD
Morgan Spurlock became an overnight celebrity after knocking back 30 days worth of Big Macs in the hit documentary Super Size Me, but lightning didn’t strike twice with his follow-up Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (Genius Products, $24.95), which finds the outspoken New Yorker heading off to the Middle East in pursuit of the world’s most wanted man. The movie’s premise casts Spurlock as a nervous daddy-to-be (his long-suffering wife is preggers) who decides to track down Osama bin Laden in order to put his mind at ease about bringing a child into this increasingly violent world. But that aspect of the movie is forced and awkward; Spurlock is on firmer ground when he attempts to lay out the region’s many social problems in a clear, easy-to-follow fashion. Even so, Where in the World…? can’t escape the dreaded curse of the sophomore slump. Better luck next time Morgan. In other documentary news, A/k/a Tommy Chong (DVD Masters, $24.98) takes an in-depth look at stoner icon Tommy Chong’s recent legal troubles, which all started when the government busted him for selling bongs on his website. Chong himself is interviewed at length in the film, which also touches on his early career and tempestuous partnership with Cheech Marin. Chicago 10 (Paramount, $29.99) takes an interesting approach to the usual historical documentary, mixing animation and live-action in its recounting of the violence that engulfed the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the subsequent trial of some of the peace movement’s leaders. The archival footage is more compelling than the animated recreations, but overall the film is a helpful primer for people first learning about the events of those tumultuous days.
If you’re doing some DVD shopping for your kids this week, you’ve got a trio of new releases to choose from, beginning with the smash hit Hanna Montana/Miley Cyrus concert movie Best of Both Worlds (Disney, $34.99), which arrives on disc in all its 3-D glory. Extras include songs not seen in the movie and lots of behind-the-scenes footage. The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning (Disney, $29.99) is a prequel to the Mouse House’s 1989 classic and follows the cute-as-a-button mermaid’s early years before she went to the sea witch Ursula to become part of a new world. The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (Disney, $32.99) wasn’t exactly a box-office hit when it arrived in theaters in 1993, but it’s become a genuine holiday classic over the years, thanks largely to its beautiful stop-motion animation and wonderful soundtrack. Available in both standard and Blu-ray versions, this two-disc set comes with a making-of documentary and, best of all, two early shorts by producer/mastermind Tim Burton, Frankenweenie and Vincent.
Hollywood has tried many times to revive The Lone Ranger for a new audience, most recently in an ill-fated pilot for the defunct WB network. Before that, the masked man and his companion Tonto rode onto the big screen in 1981′s The Legend of the Lone Ranger (Lionsgate, $14.98), which starred Klinton Spilsbury as the title character and Jason Robards as President Ulysses S. Grant. The NYC-set horror film Skinned Alive (Lionsgate, $26.98) sounds like a rejected teleplay for a Law & Order: SVU episode. A cannibalistic prostitute stalks the streets of Manhattan, leading three ordinary citizens to try and track her down French filmmakers Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet took the world by storm in 1991 with the release of their off-the-wall fantasy/comedy/horror hybrid Delicatessen (Lionsgate, $19.98), which takes place in an apocalyptic future and follows the residents of a crumbling apartment building where the meal of the day may be…themselves. Speaking of cult French movies, Christophe Gans’ 2001 martial-arts extravaganza Brotherhood of the Wolf gets a Director’s Cut (Universal, $19.98) which comes with new documentaries and 40 minutes of extra footage.
