What It’s About: Released around the same time as a bunch of other epics, Kingdom of Heaven stood out for being the best of the mediocre. Directed by Ridley Scott, it tells the tale of Balian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith in mourning that joins the crusades with his father Godfrey (Liam Neeson). We hate Bloom and find him whiny and annoying so that sort of got in the way of our enjoyment of the film. As it stands, Kingdom of Heaven is a nice, entertaining flick that doesn’t delve deep into anything, doesn’t make you think about anything and does seem to drag at times.
Technical Stuff: The film is supposed to be dark and the 2.35:1 widescreen transfer does the darkness justice with its rich black hues and shadows. The audio is terrific and includes both a Dolby 5.1 and DTS with zero issues whatsoever. This is what all new movies should sound like.
Extras? There is a solid selection here and many of them relate to the historical era and are quite interesting:
o The Pilgrim's Guide - A text commentary stream consisting of both production and historical notes, synchronous with film
o Interactive Production Grid - A simple to use navigation portal will ask viewers to choose the desired perspective and timeframe allowing them to tailor the "Making Of" material to their liking. There are no less than 16 different ways to experience The Grid. (approx 125 minutes)
o A&E's "Movie Real: Kingdom of Heaven" (approx 45 min)
o The History Chanel's "History vs Hollywood: Kingdom of Heaven" (approx 48 min)
o Behind-the-scenes featurettes: Ridley Scott - "Creating Worlds", Production Featurette, Wardrobe Featurette
o Theatrical trailer
Final Verdict: What could have been a spectacular film, ends up seeming like a second-rate little brother to Gladiator. A shame.

What It’s About: Based on a best-selling ‘tween novel, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants is a must-watch for pretty much every female. This story of four friends who set out to spend the summer apart and are only connected through a magical pair of pants that seems to fit each of them perfectly has it all—laughs, romance, and plenty of tears. We don’t want to say much more for fear of ruining the plot but everyone will find one girl they can completely relate to and end up rooting for. The film stars Amber Tamblyn ("Joan of Arcadia"), Alexis Bledel ("Gilmore Girls"), America Ferrara ("Real Women Have Curves") and Blake Lively (making her debut).
Technical Stuff: The movie looks quite nice and is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Warner Brothers. The picture is colourful and sharp with some occasional softness (put there intentionally for effect).
The soundtrack is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is dialogue driven. There are some pop songs throughout the movie, but thankfully aren’t there just to sell the movie cd but actually fit into the plot.
Extras? Stay away from the audio commentary by the four actresses because there is just waaay too much giggling for anyone except a 13-year-old girl to handle.
o Additional scenes with commentary by Ken Kwapis
o Fun on the set: behind-the-scenes gags and laughs
o Suckumentary: rough cut of Tibby and Bailey's documentary
o Sisters, Secrets, and the Traveling Pants: see and hear the gal pals as they watch selected scenes and talk about them
o A conversation with author Ann Brashares
o Theatrical trailer
Final Verdict: A charming and touching movie and a fine accompaniment to the novel. We loved it!

What It’s About: A political thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, The Interpreter is a highly intelligent film that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Sure it’s a little hard to follow and is sometimes slow, but it remains a great piece of entertainment. Kidman and Penn turn in solid performances in their roles as a United Nations interpreter and Secret Service agent who find themselves caught up in the middle of an assassination plot. What we liked the most about this film was the fact that it didn’t cheap out and make them love interests.
Technical Stuff: The DVD transfer here is fantastic! The colours are sharp and vivid, there are no scratches or spots and the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen is simply stunning.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 is also magnificent. Even though the movie is dialogue-driven which usually means no real attention paid to the audio, this soundtrack strikes you as perfect. The sounds is evenly mixed and the surround gets a nice workout. Technically, this movie is brilliant.
Extras? The big deal with this film is that they were allowed to film inside the United Nations making the movie very realistic and the extras do take advantage:
o Audio Commentary - Director Sydney Pollack
o Alternate Ending
o Deleted Scenes
o Sydney Pollack at Work: From Concept to Cutting Room
o Interpreting Pan & Scan vs. Widescreen
o A Day in the Life of Real Interpreters
o The Ultimate Movie Set: The United Nations
Final Verdict: A solid and entertaining film with a spectacular DVD presentation.

What It’s About: Most of us have read S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders at some point in school. It’s the story of Ponyboy (C.Thomas Howell), a wimpy guy who falls for Cherry, the popular girl. Ponyboy is being raised by his brothers, and together they are members of the Greasers, the kids from the rough side of town. Sherri (Diane Lane) is a Soc, one of the rich kids. Surprise, surprise, the Greasers and Socs don’t get along. The Outsiders is a classic, thanks in part to the future big star cast including Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Raloh Macchio, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez and Matt Dillon.
Technical Stuff: The movie appears only in widescreen and in a fantastic 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The picture is a little dark but perhaps that’s how the movie is meant to look. The colours are rich and the picture is sharp, especially compared to the previous release.
The sound is lovely with a Dolby Digital 5.1 track with no noise, clear music and voice.
Extras? The big deal here is the extra 22 minutes of the film that make it truer to the book. Coppola has included a new beginning and ending as well as a better soundtrack. The two-disc set is also jam-packed with goodies for fans including:
o Disc 1:
o New restored version with 22 minutes of new footage, including a new beginnning and ending, plus a new soundtrack score
o New introduction and commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola
o New introduction and commentary by Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, and Diane Lane
o Disc 2:
o 10 minutes of additional scenes
o Making-of documentary: Staying Gold: A Look Back at The Outsiders
o The Casting of The Outsiders, including never-before-seen screen tests and auditions
o Seven cast members read selections from the book
o S.E. Hinton on Location in Tulsa
o NBC News Today segment: The Outsiders Started by Student Petition
o 1983 & 2005 theatrical trailers
Final Verdict: The movie is a better fit with the novel which is always a great thing, it looks better, it sounds better and has a ton of extras. How can you go wrong?

What It’s About: When The Amityville Horror remake came out in theatres this past year, it got very mixed reviews. And we know you only care what one reviewer thinks—us. We liked it. It scared us. That’s really all we ever ask from a scary movie. Beautiful creepy house? Check. Bad things happened in it? Check. Those bad things are now happening to George and Kathy who bought the house? Bingo! So yes, these are definitely some clichés here, but if you look past them, you end up with a good, unadulterated scary movie.
Technical Stuff: While it’s not terrible, the video could use some improvement. The colours are nice and the 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is generally solid but there is some fairly heavy line shimmering and some mild compression artefacts. It’s quite noticeable in images of the house. Boo.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 is great and causes some scares and jumps when it creeps up behind you. The dialogue is clear, as are the sound effects and music.
Extras? Since it’s a special edition, you do get a nice selection of extras:
· audio commentary with Ryan Reynolds and producers
· deleted scenes
· "Supernatural Homicide" featurette (on the actual events!)
· "The Source of Evil" featurette
· photo gallery
· trailers
Final Verdict: A decent DVD presentation (not including the shimmer in the video) and a creepy movie make for a good choice for your Halloween night.