You loved the movie, what about the DVD?
Find out as we examine the extras on this week's best movie DVDs...
“MEN IN BLACK”
Stars: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld (“Get Shorty”)
Format: Blu-ray
What we say: One of the rare instances in which sci-fi and comedy peacefully (and hilariously) co-exist.
Extras:
Enhanced Telestrator commentary, in which Sonnenfeld and Jones comment
on the film while drawing on-screen like in a football game; online
trivia game “Intergalactic Pursuit”; “Ask Frank the Pug,” an
interactive game in which the pooch gets philosophical about health,
love, and money; alien subtitles; extended and alternate scenes;
“Metamorphosis of 'Men in Black'” documentary; making-of featurette;
scene editing workshop; visual effects deconstructions with commentary;
character animation featurettes; image galleries; original trailers;
Will Smith's “Men in Black” music video.
Worth watching: The “telestrator” commentary is both informative and hilarious, and not just because Sonnenfeld is no Madden.
Worth skipping: The alien subtitles, since we all know you don't speak alien…despite taking it for four years in high school.
Worth adding:
A making-of featurette on Smith's music video, especially because we
heard his extra-terrestrial co-star, Mikey, was a real diva on set.
Buy, rent, or ignore: Buy.
“FOOL'S GOLD”
Stars: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey
Director: Andy Tennant (“Sweet Home Alabama”)
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
What we said: "Nothing but a flimsy excuse for McConaughey to spend half of his screen time shirtless."
Extras: “Mutiny on the Hi-larious Seas,” a gag reel; “Flirting with Adventure,” a featurette on the chemistry between Hudson and McConaughey.
Worth watching: Well, with so much to choose from…the gag reel. At least it has a couple good chuckles in it.
Worth skipping: “Flirting with Adventure” because, let's be honest, who wouldn't have chemistry with Hudson or McConaughey?
Worth adding: “Fool's Paradise,” a featurette on some of the film's beautiful and exotic locations.
Buy, rent, or ignore: Rent.
“BE KIND REWIND”
Stars: Jack Black, Mos Def
Director: Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”)
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
What we said: "Intends to tell a story about people's relationships with movies but winds up saying films are impersonal just because they look professional and don't star you."
Extras: DVD: “Passaic Mosaic,” a tribute to Passaic, New Jersey, where the film was, er, filmed; the theatrical trailer.
Blu-ray: The DVD features plus behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes; a conversation with Black and Gondry; a musical tribute to Fats Waller; a complete Fats Waller biopic; Black and Def improvise “Sweded” theme songs.
Worth watching: “Passaic Mosaic,” which goes beyond behind-the-scenes and talks to residents about what the movie and its shoot meant to the community.
Worth skipping: The footage of Black and Def improvising—most of what they come up with isn't all that interesting.
Worth adding: Running commentary by Black, Def and Gondry, since these guys obviously got along off-screen as well as on.
Buy, rent, or ignore: Rent.
Other DVDs out this week:
- If Pedro Almodóvar made a movie about a Lebanese hair salon it might be something like "Caramel"
- Ryan Reynolds keeps fighting for a wider audience with "Chaos Theory"
- Freddie Prinze Jr. and…that's all you need to know about "Jack and Jill vs. the World"
- Clint Eastwood's daughter, Alison, directs Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden in "Rails & Ties"
- Don't tell Lou Dobbs about the heart-tugging illegal immigrant drama "Under the Same Moon"
- Martin Lawrence is actually not welcome in “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins”
- See why Disney should leave well enough alone with “The Jungle Book 2 (Special Edition)”
- Before you see the new “Get Smart” movie, check out the original one: “The Nude Bomb”
Also released:
"Alive or Dead"
"The Carmen Miranda Collection"
"Classe Tous Risques" (Criterion Collection)
"Fanny"
"It's a Boy Girl Thing"
"Joy Division" (The Miriam Collection)
"So I Married An Axe Murderer (Deluxe Edition)" (also on Blu-ray)
"The Sword in the Stone (45th Anniversary Special Edition)"
Buy, rent or ignore?
“Men in Black” debuts on Blu-ray; Plus, “Fool's Gold” and “Be Kind, Rewind”
By Paul Semel
Special to MetromixJune 17, 2008


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