RA: Renters Anonymous - August 19th, 2008

Posted by Trevor

August 19, 2008

This Week: August 19th, 2008

This week I have a new feature for everyone, a calendar that will be updated for all future DVD/Blu-ray releases. You can find the calendar here which can be easily added to Google Calendar and here is an iCal link for those who might request it.

New Releases

Street Kings - 7.5/10 - Trailer
Starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Common, The Game
Tom Ludlow is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he’s been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.

Special Features:

2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with 5.1 Dolby Digital
Director commentary
15 deleted scenes, 10 alternate scenes, 10 vignettes
Featurettes (Street Rules: Rolling with David Ayer and Jaime FitzSimons, HBO First Look)

Blu-ray:

Same features as DVD release
Interactive Picture-in-Picture “Under Surveillance: Inside the World of Street Kings”

Recommendation: Rent

The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior
Starring Michael Copon, Karen David, Randy Couture
This is a straight to DVD sequel to the Mummy spinoff that starred Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson but this time we have a guy that was in Power Rangers and another guy that is a MMA fighter. All of this obviously means that the acting and script will be horrible and the only reason you’re going to watch this is for the action. For those who care the basic plot is: When young Mathayus witnesses his father’s death at the hands of an evil military commander, his quest for vengeance transforms him into the most feared warrior of the ancient world. The main reason this film got released is because of the new Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Special Features:

1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with 5.1 Dolby Digital
Deleted scenes and gag reel
Featurettes: Making of, Visual Effects, Fighting Like an Akkadian, Becoming Sargon, Beauty and Brawn, Creating a Whole New World

Blu-ray:

Same features as DVD release

Recommendation: Pass

Prom Night - 5.3/10 - Trailer
Starring Brittany Snow, Scott Porter, Jonathan Schaech, Jessica Stroup, Idris Elba
It is senior prom and three years ago a student witnesses the murder of her family by an obsessed teacher. Unbeknown to our leading lady, the murderer has escaped and has plans to finish what he started, killing anyone who gets in his way. With horrible reviews, this teen horror film is definitely one that you would want to skip. Also this film only made the PG-13 rating so don’t expect anything too frightening.

Special Features:

2.40:1 Widescreen with 5.1 Dolby Digital
Commentary from the director and lead characters
Deleted scenes, gag reel and an alternate ending
Featurettes: The Making of, Profile of a Killer, Creating the Pacific Grand Hotel, Prom Night Photo Album: Real Prom Stories from the Cast

Blu-ray:

Same features as the DVD release
Additional storyboard track

Recommendation: Pass

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour
Starring Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Kenny Ortega, Billy Ray Cyrus
The film shows Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers on her Best of Both Worlds Tour as Hannah Montana, with film clips taken from her performance in Salt Lake City, Utah. Behind-the-scenes clips are shown also. It is noted that there is no connection with the television series since this is a concert combined with documentary elements.

Special Features:

2-D and 3-D viewing modes
Fullscreen and Anamorphic Widescreen with 5.1 Dolby Digital
Sing Along Mode
Ultimate Personal Tour - Hang Out with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers during the tour
Additional Songs plus music videos

Blu-ray:

Same features as the DVD release
16×9 Widescreen only
optional Dolby Digital TrueHD 7.1 surround sound

Recommendation: Buy (if you have young ones into Hannah Montana) otherwise Pass

Re-Releases

Disney/Pixar Ultimate 8-Movie Collection

This is an 8 film collection of all of the Pixar films that have been released on DVD which includes: This is a great buy for family’s with young kids that have yet to purchase the Pixar films and any film buff that want’s some of the best animated films ever made. And for any of you Canadians out there, you may have noticed that this collection released last month in Canada.

Toy Story (1995)
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Monsters, Inc (2001)
Finding Nemo (2003)
The Incredibles (2004)
Cars (2006)
Ratatouille (2007)

Recommendation: Buy

The Unrated Blogger’s Cut

I’ll be renting Street Kings for some cheesey action and maybe some of the quality of Training Day (since it’s done by the same writer). I would have purchased the Pixar collection if I did not own all of the films already.

What do you guys plan on grabbing this week?

Coming up next week:
New: Redbelt*, Postal*, What Happens in Vegas*, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?
Re-releases: Brotherhood of the Wolf: Director’s Cut, The Nightmare Before Christmas (Collector’s Edition)*, U-571**
* denotes seperate DVD and Blu-ray releases
** denotes Blu-ray only release