Year-End DVD Review Round-Up

Okay, so it's after Christmas and you didn't get that DVD you wanted. Did you get a gift certif? Awesome, then take that puppy down to your mega-store and pick up one of these DVDs or if they'll let you trade in that Gosh-awful Aunt Marge sweater for some movie eye-candy you can enjoy with BFFs, then all the better. Or hey, school isn't back in session yet so go rent some DVDs for a last holiday party-hearty! Here are some currently available possibilities....

From DreamWorks Home Entertainment

Eagle Eye: 2-Disc Special Edition

Get your Shia LaBeouf action fix watching the hottie play Jerry Shaw, an ordinary, under-financed young guy working at a copy store when his hot-shot twin bro dies. Soon after seeing his estranged family at the funeral, Jerry returns home to have a huge, life-altering freak out! His usually empty bank account is suddenly beyond flush and his apartment is bursting with up-scale military weapons! A call tells him he's been "activated" and he'd better run quick like a super-charged bunny or the FBI will get him. Huh?

The FBI does haul Jerry in but he is mysteriously rescued. Meanwhile, ordinary (but hot) young mom Rachel (Michelle Monaghan) also gets the weird "activated" message and is told to cooperate or her young son, away on a school trip, will die. The fates (or some black ops agency) toss Jerry and Rachel together in a hot Porsche and they are on the run in a high tech, manipulated, controlled action-fest adventure to complete a mystery mission that they feel ill-equipped to survive.

Special Features: On this two-disc edition of the film we get a few extras...Disc one contains the film plus "Road Trip: On Location with the Cast and Crew" with comments by director D.J. Caruso, the producers and production designer and actors Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan focusing upon how many locations were very quickly used. This is a very brief "making of" with some press kit-style, "we had fun" stuff and a few on the set shots. Okay.

"Deleted Scenes" are interesting. "Wake" gives us a little more on Jerry's estranged family and "Minuteman" clarifies a bit about the complex plot. "Twins" is a scene extension but also gives you a little more character development on Jerry and his twin bro.

On Disc 2 we get "Asymmetrical Warfare: Making of Eagle Eye", a background piece on the film. You learn that Spielberg thought up the idea ten years ago! You see how director Caruso and Shia worked together etc. An okay making of piece. "Eagle Eye on Location" focuses upon shooting in Washington D.C. at the actual Library of Congress. Kinda interesting. I liked "Is My Cell Phone Spying on Me?," which tips you on the fact that Big Brother surveillance cameras are always watching us and we can be tracked everywhere we go by our cell phones. Creepy and fascinating! A real wake-up call.

"Shall We Play a Game" is kind of off subject but is a chat between director Caruso and his mentor, director John Badham who directed the classic 1980's computer snafu film War Games. Interesting but not really about this film so much. The "Alternate Ending" kind of makes things more open to a possible sequel. A "Gag Reel" is pretty funny with guys picking at Shia's hair while he yawns between shots and funny ad-libbed and blown lines.

Wrapping Up: Eagle Eye is a cautionary tale of our modern tech-heavy world and it's a very good actioner although the plot is hard to believe and a bit illogical at times. Well worth a buy or certainly a rental for Shia fans and action buffs.

From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

The House Bunny

This wacky comedy adventure featuring a Playboy bunny with a heart of gold stuck on campus as a house mother to a loser sorority, is a hoot! Shelley (Anna Faris of Scary Movie fame) practically grew up in the Playboy Mansion but is manipulated out of the house that Hugh Hefner built by a jealous younger Bunny and must face the real world with a ton of sex appeal but no coping skills. When Shelley meets the awkward members of Zeta Alpha Zeta, she guides the girls to use their sex appeal to attract quality pledges and the opposite sex. In turnabout, Shelley learns that what's inside is important as well if she wants to hook caring hottie/nice guy Oliver (Colin Hanks).

Special Features: Quite a lot of fun ones. There is no director commentary on the disc but you get ten "Deleted Scenes" and some are quite hilarious, especially those featuring Anna's comedy. There is also a sad "orphan" background for Anna's Bunny character that is interesting. In "I Know What Boys Like" you get American Idol singer Katherine McPhee doing a music video of the classic song along with some of the lead actresses in the film (although you get the same thing under the closing credits). Fun none-the-less.

"Anna Faris: House Mom," presents Anna and cast and crew members talking about the idea for the film and all about Anna's character Shelley. Pre-production and production challenges are discussed. The closest to a "making of" featurette you get on this DVD. Since Anna was an executive producer on the film, might have been nice for her to talk a little bit more about wearing two hats.

Under "Featurettes" there are a ton of short little pieces including "The Girls Upstairs" involving footage with the wacky reality stars of "The Girls Next Door", you know, the three ditzy blondes who live with Hef in the Mansion. Kinda amusing as these gals try to "act" and hang out on set. "Look Who Dropped By" gives us star athletes, friends of Adam Sandler and real bunnies visiting the birthday party set. "The Girls of Zeta" features actresses like Kat Dennings, Rumer Willis and Emma Stone goofing off on set and bonding.. funny, warm and very real and friendly. "Colin Hanks: Mr. Nice Guy" is just the understated nice guy actor doing his thing on set and throwing out a few comments.

In "From Song to Set: Katherine McPhee", the singer is profiled; how she got the role, her take on her character, her fake pregnant tummy (was the same one used once by Nicole Kidman), the karaoke scene etc. In "From Tour Bus to Trailer" features cute and dorky Tyson Ritter goofing off on set.

My fave featurettes concern the style, varied costumes and transformations of the actresses from dorks to hotties. These are: "House Bunny Style", "Zetas Transformed", "Getting Ready for a Party" and "Calendar Girls". Very enjoyable since these costumes are very creative and way out there. In "House Bunny Memories" each featured actress talks about her favorite scene in the film.

Wrapping Up: Anna Faris is hilarious and she's very cute here in this femmed up version of Revenge of the Nerds. Nothing original but the movie contains a nice message about the exterior vs. the interior woman and you get rookie actors like Katherine McPhee and Rumor Willis showing their stuff along with young, hot pros like Emma Stone and Kat Dennings. Definitely worth a laugh rental if not an "add" for your collection.

From Paramount Home Entertainment

American Teen

If you are in high school, about to enter high school or long out of school, you can relate to this feisty documentary because you'll find at least one student you either recognize as yourself, an enemy or BFF. Teens at Warsaw High in Indiana struggle through their Senior year. There's miss rich and perfect "everything" Megan Krizmanich, star jock Colin Clemens, band nerd Jake Tusing, artsy rebel Hannah Bailey and heartthrob Mitch Reinholt. All feel pressured by family or friends in varying degrees from annoyance to total mental freakout!

Special Features: "Deleted Scenes" are all involving. From a super painful date-end kiss to suspension from school and prom angst, there is something here for all. "Hannah Blogs" ran on the net and are outtakes for the doc offering Hannah's take on everything from how hot Rupert Grint is to her dog. Very real and cute. "Character Trailers" take the five main characters and focus on each.. kind of a "pick your avatar" thingie if this was a game. You learn more about Hannah, Mitch, Jake, Megan and Colin with footage from the film. "Pop Quiz: Cast Interviews" is pretty lame but does let the key cast answer Q's like "How did you learn about the project?" and "What did you learn from doing it?" etc.

Wrapping Up: American Teen is like a really involving and relatable reality TV show. We know some of the dialogue and scenes were staged and others seem more natural but the doc is certainly entertaining and will have you saying "Oh, I know that guy" or "She is just so like me". Well worth a rental at least.

The Duchess

Based upon a real-life ancestor of Princess Diana, this engrossing, femme-centric costume drama tells the story of the eighteenth-century Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley) who was very outgoing and a people's fave but was unhappy in a horrible marriage to the Duke (Ralph Fiennes) who thought of his bright young wife as just a baby-making machine. Her affair with hot politician Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper) is cruelly ended by Georgiana's controlling hubby and a friendship with another abused woman ends in betrayal.

Special Features: Although we don't get a director's commentary or a long making-of documentary, the DVD does provide some interesting background info on the real Duchess and the production with "How Far She Went ... Making The Duchess" containing some behind-the-scenes footage of the impressive actual historical buildings and fun interviews with cast and crew. Keira is especially intelligent and funny when speaking on her role. "Georgiana in Her Own Words" features author of the book Amanda Foreman and producer Gabrielle Tana talking about actual letters written by the Duchess both as a young teen bride and as a disillusioned older wife trying to keep up appearances. I could have used more of this really cool "insider" feature.

The costumes for this film are awesome and the "Costume Diary" presents costume designer Michael O'Connor discussing his decisions and attention to detail etc. Wish this were longer as well.

Wrapping Up: Although Keira has made the "Pirates" films and is obviously comfortable in period costumes, The Duchess is her chance to really sink her teeth into a great woman's role and she does a superb job. You'll cry and be outraged right along with her as she fights prejudice and abuse while trying to protect her kids and work some tiny bit of romance into her rather sad life. The special features need to be more in depth but are none-the-less very good and entertaining to watch. Very worth adding to your DVD collection.

From Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Mamma Mia: 2-Disc Special Edition

Based upon a very popular Broadway musical, Mamma Mia focuses on the upcoming wedding of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Sky (Dominic Cooper) a very hot young couple. Sophie's mom Donna (Meryl Streep.. yes, she sings) is a former chart-topping pop singer who now runs a B&B on a gorgeous Greek island. Sophie grew up fatherless but wants her dad to give her away. Problem is, mamma got around a bit back in the day and any of three guys could be Sophie's papa. Hedging her bets, the bride-to-be invites all three to the wedding hoping to learn dad's true i.d. Mom Donna is less than happy to face a trip down memory lane with Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Harry Bright (Colin Firth) and Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard) but, hey, maybe she and her two bandmate "sisters" will all find Mr. Right among the trio.

A very special feature of this musical DVD is that you can choose to watch it in "Sing-Along" mode with on-screen lyrics and get up and boogie like you are actually in the film. Hey, it's catchy and fun.

Special Features: Loads! On Disc One we get an audio commentary from director Phyllida Lloyd who gives us a really comprehensive description covering the cast, adaptation of the stage musical, sets, locations, music and dance, etc. a very informative and less-than-boring commentary. "Deleted Musical Number" "The Name of the Game" features Sophie and Bill's chat on his possible dad-hood. Nice number.

On Disc 2 we have several "Deleted Scenes and Outtakes" there are longer intros to the three "dads", a Sophie and Sky scene, more on the arrival of Donna's trio the Dynamos, a little more romance between Dynamo Rosie and Bill and a longer version of "Lay All Your Love On Me". Weirdly, a lot of these just run together like one big scene with no break. Odd. The "Outtakes" are super short and just the usual but fun goof ups.

Here come the featurettes: "The Making of Mamma Mia!" is a long-ish look at all aspects of production with director, composer, writers, choreographer, production designer, producers and actors all putting in their POV. You get some behind-the scenes footage and get a bit more info than in the director commentary. Worth a look. In "Anatomy of a Musical Number" we break down "Lay All Your Love On Me", with comments from Amanda and musicians. Nice little glimpse of how just one of the many numbers was put together.

In "Becoming a Singer" you see how some of the actors, who weren't really singers, were made the best they could be. You get recording sessions and background stuff that is really fun. In "Behind the Scenes with Amanda", lead actress Amanda Seyfried takes us around the set etc. A fluff piece but cute. The film's beautiful locations are explored in "On Location in Greece" and some actors and filmmakers talk about where scenes were shot.. kind of a travelogue but okay.

"A Look Inside Mamma Mia!" is a short promo piece with some of the actors, director and music folks "selling" how cool the movie is but you do see the real classic group ABBA whose songs pack the production and some of the original stage musical and that's cool. In "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" you see cute Amanda in the studio and on location and in clips but this isn't very well-executed as a music video. The "Bjorn Ulvaeus Cameo" explores a short clip of the real ABBA band member's brief cameo appearance in the movie. Nice little tribute. You also get a digital copy of the movie for computer, i-pod etc. Cool addition.

Wrapping Up: Some teens will think this movie is corny but the tunes are sooo singable and that makes it fun. Just watching Meryl Streep act while singing her way through "The Winner Takes It All" is pretty darn amazing. The film is just fun if you don't expect perfection. Well worth a rental or a buy to add to any collection of musical films.