What It’s About: Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the adopted son of the King of Persia who’s framed when his step-father is assassinated. On the run to prove his innocence, he meets a princess (Gemma Arterton) who guards a legendary dagger that contains The Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that allows the possessor to turn back time and, if so inclined, rule the world. Naturally, the pair must safeguard the dagger from the evil forces around them.It’s Kinda Like: ‘300’ meets ‘Lara Croft’
What We Say: Much was made of serious actor Gyllenhaal (‘Brokeback Mountain,’ ‘Zodiac’) flexing his pecs and “stooping” to take the lead in this lighter-than-air video game adaptation. But hey, guys just wantta have fun, and it’s clear that Gyllenhaal enjoyed his stint as a swashbuckling hero. I can’t think of a better way to spend two hours of guilty pleasure-viewing than by watching eye-candy Gyllenhaal and ‘Quantum of Solace’ Bond girl Arterton.
• Extras: The DVD includes a deleted scene but all the action is on the Blu-ray, which has behind-the-scene documentaries and an interactive feature that explores the film’s stunts, special effects and location shooting.
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What It’s About: By the book rom-com about a young American woman (Amanda Seyfried) who travels to Verona, Italy, home of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. There she comes across a group of volunteers who act as an Italian Dear Abby, responding to letters written to “Juliet” seeking advice about love. She comes across a lost letter from 1951, and answers it, inspiring its author (Vanessa Redgrave) to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love, giving everyone (Seyfried included) a new chance at romance.It’s Kinda Like: ‘An Affair to Remember’ meets ‘Three Coins in the Fountain’What We Say: Everything about this film is picture-perfect: Seyfried, Redgrave, love interests Christopher Egan, Gael García Bernal and Franco Nero, and particularly the gorgeous Italian countryside, where Seyfried and Redgrave go on a road trip to track down the latter’s lost love. But that said, the film is lightweight, with not much going on aside from the visual beauty; it’s like a well-coifed hairdo: nice to look at but don’t get too close.
• Extras: Both the DVD and Blu-ray have deleted scenes, extended scenes, commentary and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
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What It’s About: Leslie Wright (Queen Latifah) is a straight-shooting physical therapist who gets the gig of a lifetime working with NBA All-Star Scott McKnight (Common). Everything is going great until Leslie finds herself falling for him. Oblivious to her romantic overtures, McKnight is instead drawn to Leslie’s gorgeous childhood friend Morgan (Paula Patton), who has her sights set on being an NBA trophy wife.
It’s Kinda Like: ‘Bull Durham’ with a full-press court
What We Say: Predictable rom-com uses the NBA as a backdrop for a Cinderella story of sorts as good-hearted Latifah gets invited to the game but is brushed aside by an evil “sister” at the free-throw line, so to speak. There’s a great chemistry between Latifah and Common, so you just know that true love and caring will trump bling and status-seeking anytime. Don’t you?
• Extras: A behind-the-scenes featurette and a gag reel.
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Behind-the-scenes footage from ‘Just Wright’
Why the Re-Release? Warner Home Video decided to celebrate the 35th anniversary of ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ with a gorgeous Blu-ray rendering of the film, packed in an elaborate box with all kinds of goodies: A 52-page commemorative hard-bound book; reproductions of the original press book; 52 character-inspired playing cards; four mini-reproductions of theatrical posters; a “patient file” of cast/character photo cards. The set is also available in a standard DVD configuration.
Special Features: “Completely Cuckoo,” a feature-length documentary about the making of the film, in which producer Michael Douglas, Milos Forman and Ken Kesey describe how the movie was made with actors and patients on location in a working mental hospital; commentary by Forman and producers Douglas and Saul Zaentz; new interview with producer Michael Douglas; deleted scenes; original trailer; more.
Is It Worth Upgrading? Though Warner just released ‘Cuckoo’ two years ago in a Blu-ray book package, the market for high-def films then was a lot smaller; this version also ups the extras ante. Milos Forman’s film, of course, is a masterpiece, a visualization of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel that takes place in a mental institution that serves as a metaphor for the raging culture wars of the 1970s. With a great cast — Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, Danny DeVito, Scatman Crothers and Brad Dourif — and a plot that holds up 35 years later — this is must-own DVD.
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Other Blu-ray releases
‘Breathless’ (1960), Jean-Luc Godard’s New Wave masterpiece, remastered by The Criterion Collection
‘Se7en’ (1995), David Fincher’s harrowing morality tale about a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) hunted down by cops Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman
Other New September 14 DVD Releases:
‘My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done’
‘Princess Kaiulani’
‘Two Tickets to Paradise’