Written and compiled by The Film Nest guest contributor “FightinIrish” (peep him in the Comments section)
January is typically the dumping ground for films in theaters. It appears the first Blu-ray week of the new year is taking the same approach. A small amount of titles, none being too enticing. There is a $100 million+ film in the bunch, however. Take a look and see if any suit you. Surprises lurk around ever corner.
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10 Things I Hate About You: Special Edition
The first film I saw Heath Ledger in. I knew more about Joseph Gordon-Levitt from his “3rd Rock” and Angels in the Outfield days. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the film. Of course it follows the formula of romantic comedies, even if it is based off of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew,” but if it works why go away from it? Three of the main stars have moved onto mainstream popularity and success, with J G-L coming on lately, and check a then 27-year-old Gabrielle Union playing a sophomore. That age difference rivals Stacey Dash in Clueless.
Supplements: 10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later, I Want You To Want Me: The 10 Things I Hate About You Screen Tests, Audio Commentary with co-writers Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and stars Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Larisa Oleynik and Susan May Pratt
The sequel to a film I’ve never seen. I doubt anything I say will sell you on it. If you happen to be a fan, then grab it on Blu.
Supplements: Feature Commentary by Director Adam Shankman, FOX Movie Channel Presents Casting Session, Camp Chaos, A Comedic Trio
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
As a kid, this story was always one of my favorites, living in a place where all kinds of great food just fell from the sky, as if it was a “Treehouse of Horror episode” (“oh, it’s raining again”). I found it hard to see how they could turn that short story into a feature length film, but if they could bring “The Polar Express” to the big screen, anything was possible. As with a good deal of the 3D films, the Blu-ray does not yet have that presentation, sticking with traditional 2D, but for a kids film it shouldn’t make much difference. Give it a spin.
Supplements: Directors’ commentary with Bill Hader, “Raining Sunshine” music video by iCarly’s Miranda Cosgrove, Interactive “Raining Sunshine” sing-a-long, Behind the scenes of Miranda Cosgrove’s “Raining Sunshine” music video, Make It Rain Food, A Recipe for Success: The Making of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Key Ingredients: The Voices of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Flint’s Food Fight Game – enhanced for Blu-ray, Extended scenes, Early development scenes, Progression reels with introductions by visual effects supervisor Rob Bredow, Interactive “Splat” button (throw food at the screen while you watch the movie!)
The first of two Stacy Peralta documentaries coming on Blu-ray this week. My preference was for the 80s era skating with guys like Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk and Rob Roskopp, but will be giving this a viewing one of these days.
Supplements: Multi-Angle Sequences, Lords of Dogtown: Webisodes, Tony Alva Art Show, The State of Pool Skating with Tony Alva and Bucky Lasek, Commentary with Director Stacy Peralta and Editor Paul Crowder, Alternate Ending, Deleted Scene, Extended Raw Skate Footage
An awesome documentary that spans over 40 years of big wave surfing, and surfing in general, from the origins in Hawaii, to So-Cal surfers taking on the big waves of Pipe Line and Waimea Bay, to the lone surfer at Mavericks and the thought of being towed into Jaws with Laird Hamilton is a lasting one. And if you didn’t know already, “Surfing’s the source man… swear to God.”
Supplements: Director and Editor’s Commentary, Writer and Surfers’ commentary, The Making of Riding Giants, Fuel TV’s Blue Carpet Special, Deleted Scenes
My only interest in this film was to finally see a live action film in the new digital 3D technology. The preview of the NASCAR tire flying at you piqued my interest. Well, I never ended up seeing it and any interest I had has been lost. This does come with the old school anaglyph 3D “technology,” which with everything I’ve ever seen for home release so far has been poor.
Supplements: Two alternate endings, Previsualization and Storyboards, Body Count: The Deaths on The Final Destination – Deconstructing Key Death Scenes, Additional Scenes
A classic release for you this week and with John Wayne no less. This was made back when we thought we could win the “war.” Well, if John Wayne couldn’t pull us through, even in movie form, nothing would. At least you can watch this and think the U.S. could have won.
Supplements: The Making of The Green Berets
