The Godfather Part II and III (4 out of 5 stars)
Paramount/ May 24, 2005

Ah, HBO, how we love thee. Six Feet Under: The Complete Third Season is finally on DVD and the set is fantastic. The sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby Digital 2.0 and the video is crisp with the dark scenes coming through brilliantly on the screen. Never mind the great writing, compelling characters and complete originality of the show itself. This is a five disc set and extras include "A Birdseye View of the Third Season" : An in-depth interview with show creator Alan Ball including the original HBO trailer, 5 Audio commentaries w/ Alan Ball, writers and directors, Episodic Previews and Recaps, Season 2 Recap and Deleted scenes.

The Aviator (4 out of 5 stars)
Warner Bros/ May 24, 2005

New Fox Collector’s Editions (5 out of 5 stars)
Fox/ May 24, 2005

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (4 out of 5 stars)
Disney/ May 24, 2005

Who doesn't sneak a few minutes of The Golden Girls when the pass a rerun on television? We're all guilty and for good reason: it's darn funny. So rejoice, hidden fans, The Golden Girls: The Complete Second Season has arrived on DVD and you can watch it whenever you like without penalty. The whole thing. All 26 episodes. You can also take the Trivia Challenge and find out if you're as wise as Sophia or clueless as Rose? Three discs, full screen with Dolby Digital Mono Sound.

Scrubs: The Complete First Season (5 out of 5 stars)
Buena Vista/ May 17, 2005

Kinsey (4 out of 5 stars)
Fox Searchlight/ May 17, 2005

Entourage (4 out of 5 stars)
Warner Home Video/ May 10, 2005

The trend of old shows resurfacing on DVD continues and Quantum Leap: The Complete Third Season arrives on DVD. How cool was Scott Bakula travelling through time and taking on all these different personas. In this season he becomes a Navy SEAL, a bounty hunter, and beauty pageant contestant and a rock star. His holographic pal Al (Dean Stockwell) with an attitude is back as well and the entire season is surprisingly super-entertaining. We just wish they weren't double-sided DVDs, we hate those.

Joan of Arcadia: The First Season (5 out of 5 stars)
Paramount/ May 10, 2005

What It’s About: When the Girardi family moves to small town Arcadia from a big city, strange things start to happen. Middle child Joan is unhappy and getting into trouble at school. One day a cute boy tells her he’s God and wants her to do some favours for him. Frankly, we would have Maced him but Joan (after an initial hesitation) buys it and joins in God’s game (or plan or what not).
Surprisingly, this show isn’t as schmaltzy as it seems and each episode gets progressively more and more interesting. John Ritter’s son, Jason Ritter, does an amazing job as Joan’s older brother who is confined to a wheelchair.
How Does It Look? Great. The people at Paramount made this widescreen anamorphic 1.78:1, which is unusual for TV on DVD and an amazing thing. No blurriness or grainy picture. The colours are great and although the night scenes are a tad too dark the DVD transfer here is still superb. And no commercials is always a great thing.
How Does It Sound? Fine. The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, and since we’re not looking at an action movie, it’s enough.
Extras? A nice assortment that includes:
o Available Audio Tracks: English (PCM Mono)
o Deleted Scenes
o Audio commentaries
o Exclusive Featurettes
Final Verdict: A show you may have passed by when it first came out, Joan of Arcadia is definitely worth catching up with on DVD and this set is the perfect way to do so.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2 out of 5 stars)
Touchstone/ May 10, 2005

What It’s About: Bill Murray attempts to win the Oscar he lost for Lost in Translation in this Wes Anderson film. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite gel together. Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Murray) and his team are after the mysterious Jaguar Shark.
The shark killed Zissou’s partner while they were filming a documentary. An impressive cast exists here including Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchette, Angelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and more. Although there are some good laughs, the movie becomes a little bit of a snoozefest and not even Murray can save it.
How Does It Look? Incredible. This DVD boasts a new high-definition digital transfer that was approved by Wes Anderson himself and is enhanced for widescreen televisions and has a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The colour is spectacular and the underwater sequences jump off the screen. Amazing.
How Does It Sound? Stellar. Includes both Digital 5.1 and DTS sound. It’s crisp and clean and every underwater bubble comes through as perfection.
Extras? You bet. This two-disc special edition comes with a case that holds both discs and are they ever packed with stuff:
· Commentary by Wes Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach
· "This Is an Adventure," a documentary by Antonio Ferrera, Albert Maysles, and Matthew Prinzing chronicling the production of the movie
· "Mondo Monda," an Italian talk show featuring an interview with Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, with host Antonio Monda
· New video interview with composer and Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh
· Ten complete video performances of David Bowie songs in Portuguese by Brazilian recording artist and actor Seu Jorge (Pelé dos Santos)
· Intern video journal by actor and real-life intern Matthew Gray Gubler (Intern #1)
· Multiple interviews with the cast and crew with behind-the-scenes footage
· Ten deleted scenes
· Behind-the-scenes photos and original artwork from the film
· Theatrical trailer
· A fold-out insert featuring a cutaway of the Belafonte, with Eric Anderson's original illustrations, and a conversation with Wes and Eric conducted in 2005
Final Verdict: A so-so movie with a magnificent DVD presentation.

12 Monkeys: Special Edition (4 out of 5 stars)
Universal/ May 10, 2005

What It’s About: Brad Pitt actually looks unattractive in this sci-fi flick about a man (Bruce Willis) who is sent back in time to save human kind from a deadly virus that has forced them into soggy underground communities in the future. He comes across a mental patient (Pitt) and a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) who may hold the answers he needs. 12 Monkeys has become a bit of a classic now and one of the best things is Willis’ performance which is very understated and convincing. A little dark and a little weird, it’s still quite enjoyable.
How Does It Look? Great. Universal has digitally remastered the picture and all the underground and dark scenes look fantastic. 1.85:1 anamorphic Widescreen.
How Does It Sound? Quite good. We would have liked to have seen DTS sound with a special edition but the Dolby 5.1 holds its own with the booming sci-fi sound in the flick.
Extras? Not as many as you’d expect but the usual:
· Feature commentary with director Terry Gilliam & producer Charles Roven
· The hamster factor & other tales of 12 Monkeys
· Theatrical trailer
· 12 Monkeys archives
Final Verdict: A very cool movie classic with an improved DVD package.

It's nice to watch a show on occasion that is more uplifting than depressing, involves no Law or Order or any CSI members dissecting corpses. Touched by an Angel fits that bill perfectly and it gained a large following by bringing a message of hope and faith to its millions of viewers. The Second Season is now out on DVD and features Monica (Roma Downey) maturing as a caseworker and needing the supervision of Tess (Della Reese). John Dye is Andrew, the Angel of Death but not in the way we're used to. A great show to catch when you're feeling like the world is an awful place.

What It’s About: One of Disney’s movies that didn’t quite make it into the Lion King etc. legacy, Pocahontas is the semi-historical account of a Native woman who falls for English settler Captain John Smith. While the setting and spirit of the movie are accurate, it’s imposiible not to get sidetracked by the complete Disney-fying of the rest of the story.
Pocahontas and John Smith were not even remotely close to that attractive in real life; she was actually around 12 years old. Still, the movie succeeds on different levels and does bring some awareness to the plight of the Native people with the arrival of the English. This is the tenth anniversary edition so Disney has added a new song and loaded the set with special features.
How Does It Look? Disney always does an incredible job remastering and restoring their animated films and Pocahontas is no exception. Incredibly vibrant and clear, the images are perfection. It has also been enhanced for 16x9 televisions.
How Does It Sound? The sound was also restored and remastered and the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound makes you feel like you’re in the forest. Includes French and Spanish language tracks.

Extras? Holy-moly, this two-disc set is packed to the gills. There are two versions of the film: the original theatrical release and the new 10th Anniversary Edition which includes the song "If I Never Knew You", sung by Mel Gibson with all-new animation, Commentary by producer James Pentecost, directors Eric Goldberg & Mike Gabriel, "Follow your Heart" & "Art Project" Set-Top Games, and a music video. The second disc includes "The Making of Pocahontas" featurette, Production: Early Presentation Reels, Storyboards, Production Progression, Nine Deleted Scenes, "The Music of Pocahontas, The Release: The Premiere, Trailers, Multi-Language Reel, Pubicity Gallery, and The Design Galleries.
Final Verdict: Not one of Disney’s best but still a great animated movie, in an outstanding 10th Anniversary Edition with Extras galore!

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera (3 out of 5 stars)
Warner Brothers/ May 3, 2005

After nearly twenty years, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera makes the jump from stage to screen, courtesy of director Joel Schumacher. Fans of the opera, which has been playing around the world non-stop for nearly two decades, should be happy with the result, aside from the small but vocal contingent who still wanted Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford to reprise their roles on the big screen. This was unlikely given the split between Webber and Brightman and the fact that Crawford is nearing retirement age. Instead, Schumacher went the other route. Once he cast Emily Rossum as Christine, he made all the characters younger. Rossum, who sang at the Met when she was a child, wasn't even eighteen when Phantom was filmed. The younger stars actually make the story work better, given some of its naïve and cheesy character arcs.
Nobody has ever accused Schumacher of restraint, and he goes all out visually in the film. The look of the film is probably the best aspect of the entire movie. The sets are opulent, ornate, even gaudy to the point of excess. The entryway into the Paris Opera Populaire, with its sweeping staircase is magnificent. He vividly stages the dance numbers with dozens of people, all costumed elaborately. The singing is decent, with Rossum's good vocals offset by amateurish turns by Gerard Butler (who has no classical training) and Patrick Wilson. It's too bad that there is no sense of life given all the production value. The dancing is often reminiscent of a Vogue-era Madonna, and the story remains as it is, a tad on the cheesy side. Again, Schumacher bases the film primarily on Webber's musical, based on the novel by Gaston Leroux. Webber even wrote some original music for the film.
Christine grew up in the Opera, tutored by the Phantom (Butler), who desires her. When reigning diva Carlotta (a hammy Minnie Driver) storms out, Madame Giry (Natasha Richardson) suggests that Christine take her place. The audience loves her, as does the new owner, Raoul (Patrick Wilson), who was also a childhood friend. Much to the Phantom's dismay, Christine and Raoul fall in love. At its heart, Phantom is a love triangle between Christine, Raoul, and the Phantom, but it never works.
It's hard to believe that Raoul and Christine can fall in love so quickly (there is no chemistry between them), or that the Phantom seems so, well, dumb. Christine's young age explains her naivete, but otherwise, as a film, Phantom of the Opera does not work that well. The scale is grander and Schumacher takes advantage of a larger canvas, but he does not adapt the story well enough to the different genre. A bit of melodrama is fine on stage, but on screen it looks silly. Instead, Schumacher overcompensates by pouring forth a lot of energy into the settings and costumes, giving the movie an empty feeling.
The two-disc DVD set comes with Theatrical trailer, explore the Phantom's world in dazzling depth: Behind the Mask - The Story of The Phantom of the Opera, The Making of The Phantom of the Opera in 3 spellbinding acts: Preproduction, The Director, Production, No One Would Listen: additional scene, DVD-ROM PC weblink to the Phantom's online world.

National Treasure (2 out of 5 stars)
Walt Disney/ May 3, 2005

It's so easy to make fun of mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer. All his movies are basically the same. They are action extravaganzas with beautiful women, strapping men, explosions, car chases, one-liners, a score that mixes synthesizers and orchestral music (usually by Trevor Rabin or Hans Zimmer), and most importantly, utterly devoid of thought. Bruckheimer is setting out to entertain, not to make people think. And unfortunately, most people want big and stupid, instead of something worthwhile. National Treasure takes an interesting idea, and then gives it a lobotomy in order to Bruckheimer-ize it. It is a mixture of The Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones, with treasure hunter (or protector as he prefers) Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) searching for a legendary hidden treasure amassed over centuries and passed down from the Knights Templars to the Freemasons.
His family carried the secret of the treasure for generations, passing it from father to son. Each generation searched in vain, following clues left by the founding fathers, but only Gates is going anywhere with the clues. The endless search disillusioned his father Patrick (Jon Voight), and the two are now estranged. However, the beginning of National Treasure finds Gates, his quipping sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), and funder Ian Howe (Sean Bean) discovering a ship buried in the Arctic Circle, and discover a clue that leads them to believe a map is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. The process that Gates goes through to decipher this clue is indicative of National Treasure as a whole. It is completely unbelievable, and laughable at how simplistic everybody distills the material.
Gates and Howe part ways bitterly, and now Gates believes he needs to steal the Declaration in order to protect it from Howe, who only wants the treasure. This leads them to Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), who scoffs at their assertions. She later becomes suspicious, and gets caught up in the chase when Gates does manage the impossible. Now, since she's one of the hottest PhDs working for the government, her curiosity for the treasure will allow her to join Gates in his quest, and the two will conveniently fall in love. So National Treasure now turns into multiple chase scenes, with Gates going after the treasure, Howe going after Gates and the treasure, and FBI Agent Sadusky (Harvey Keitel) chasing after Howe, Gates, and the Declaration.
At its core, National Treasure should be a thinking film. It would succeed if these extremely smart people took the time to decipher the clues and actually discover the treasure. Why is there such a rush to get this treasure? It's been successfully hidden for over two centuries. Why is Howe in such a rush? He is already rich to begin with. The leaps that Gates (what an idiotic name) makes are astounding, and work only because the script says so. Nevertheless, National Treasure is entertaining in its own way, by creating a nice fantasy story and imbuing just enough thought behind the plot to make it plausible, and moves quickly enough so people don't have time to think.
The DVD features a multilevel treasure hunt: the more bonus material you find and watch, the more you uncover, Alternate ending with optional director's audio commentary, Deleted scenes with optional director's audio commentary, "National Treasure on Location" making-of featurette, "The Knights Templar" featurette, "Treasure Hunters Revealed" featurette, "Riley's Decode This!" featurette plus 3 puzzling challenges, opening scene animatic with optional director's audio commentary and a Verizon trailer and mobile phone games.

Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete First Season (4 out of 5 stars)
Paramount/ May 3, 2005

After Star Trek: The Next Generation, there seemed to be no real hope for Trekkies everywhere. All consequent spinoffs were mediocre and movies bombed. Then came Enterprise. This was a prequel series that predated the original by 150 years. Trekkies were nervous. It was a little different than what they were used to. But Enterprise proved to be a pleasant surprise.
I’m not a Trekkie by any means but I enjoyed watching this series very much. Episodes stayed true to the series and included Vulcans, Klingons Andorians and the Ferengi while also introducing new characters, plotlines and furthering established characters. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) was inherently likeable and his testy relationship with Vulcan Sub-Commander, T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) was very entertaining.
The new DVD set is truly impressive and completely justifies the higher price. Presented in a futuristic metal tin (you expected something different?) it includes seven discs including over two hours of special features. These include seven behind the scenes featurettes like Creating Enterprise, A profile of Scott Bakula: O Captain! My Captain!, Cast Impressions: Season One, Inside Shuttlepod One, Star Trek Time Travel: temporal cold wars and beyond, Enterprise secrets, Admiral Forrest takes centre stage, nearly nine minutes of incredibly funny outtakes and deleted scenes.
Enterprise won’t make it past season four but that’s not reflective of the quality of the show by any means. It’s simply a reflection of a society that would rather watch Extreme Makeover rather than an intelligently-written and original series.