New Blu-rays and DVDs include 'Tinker Bell' and 'Hitchcock Premiere Collection'

“JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH”

Blu-ray, enhanced widescreen (for 3-D and 2-D versions) and full-screen, 2008, PG for intense adventure action and some scary moments

Best extra: Commentary with star Brendan Fraser and Director Eric Brevig

SURE, THIS FLICK didn’t make megabucks in the theaters, but it should make a good edition to your Blu-ray or DVD collection. Especially in 3-D, which literally propels objects off the screen and into your face.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much you can take with those antiquated, anaglyph (red/blue) 3-D glasses (the disc comes with four pair). Wearing them for an extended period of time can give you a headache. You may need to jump into the 2-D version to finish the film off.

Brevig doesn’t overuse the 3-D effect to make this adaptation of the classic Jules Verne novel, which finds Trevor Anderson (Fraser), Hannah Asgeirsson (Anita Briem) and Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) following in Trevor’s brother’s footsteps to the Earth’s core. To produce the 3-D experience, Pace Fusion 3-D Stereo Lens System was housed in front of two hi-def cameras to create the effect.

The extras are not in 3-D, but are worth a watch. Fraser makes the commentary, with one-liners and quips throughout. Brevig is the straight man.

All three documentaries on the disc are in hi-def: “A World Within a World,” giving some historical perspective to the Verne sci-fi novel; “Being Josh,” backstage with Hutcherson and sometimes his dog; and “How to Make Dinosaur Drool,” which could actually make you hurl if you really think about a big piece of T-Rex goober falling onto Hutcherson’s face at the center of the Earth.

Another bonus, as with most Blu-rays and DVDs coming out lately, is a digital copy.

“TINKER BELL”

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2008, G

Best extra: “Creating Pixie Hollow,” a fairy perspective from the filmmakers

IF YOU HAVE SOME fairy wannabes in your house, this straight-to-video Disney flick about Tinker Bell’s beginnings will sure be a hit, especially if you have a Blu-ray player. It’s a great-looking experience using flawless digital animation, and the story’s family friendly.

For those of us who remember the original “Peter Pan,” there’s always something to be said about the old-fashioned process of drawing your characters. Nonetheless, the computer-generated, digital animation is fetching in its own right, especially with the details of Pixie Hollow and the little creatures in it.

Bonus features, all of which are in hi-def including six deleted scenes, are typical Disney. They include a guide to Pixie Hollow, with Tinker Bell leading the tour; a short film of sorts that shows fairies making magic in real life, from rainbows to wind gusts; a Selena Gomez music video; and “Creating Pixie Hollow,” where filmmakers explain how imaginations soared when it came to making uses for little items in nature that the fairies could use to create their worlds, from acorns to dandelions. The perspective truly is amazing and will make you think.

The game ”Tinker Trainer” may be a bit complicated for little kids – you must hit certain buttons on the remote at key moments to match objects on the ground as Tinker zooms – way too fast, mind you – throughout the forest.

“KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL”

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2008, G

Best extra: You can’t even call trailers of other American Girl movies an extra, but the Blu-ray includes a digital copy for your computer and iPod.

YOU SIT WITH your 10-year-old daughter, who happens to own the Kit American Girl doll, and you’re entertained in a harkening-back-to-the-good-old-days way. After the movie has ended, you get excited about seeing what goes into making an 18-inch doll come to life on the big screen with actors like Abigail Breslin, Chris O’Donnell, Julia Ormond and Joan Cusack.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, there are no bonus features except trailers to three other "American Girl" movies, plus DVD-ROM bonus features to access through your PC.

What about a behind-the-scenes featurette showing what it was like to bring Depression-era America to life? How about a history lesson explaining the term "hobo," and why hobos got such a bad rap during the 1930s? What about Breslin, playing an aspiring journalist who, along with her friends, cracks a hard case?

The Blu-ray imagery revives film grain throughout, and maybe that’s intentional to give that oldie movie look. The hi-def picture still outperforms the DVD.

The lack of bonus features is a bummer, but the movie itself makes you think back on a rough time in American history when people pulled together and helped each other out. Maybe there’s some for modern-day Americans to learn.

“THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK PREMIERE COLLECTION”

Full-screen, 1927, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, unrated

Best extra: The 30-minute making of documentary for “Notorious,” my favorite Hitchcock.

FOX/MGM STUDIOS is giving the fine folks at The Criterion Collection a run for their money, producing the finest DVD collections in the business. Last year, “Ford at Fox: The Collection,” was crowned the “best collection of the year” by The Virginian-Pilot, bundling 24 movies, lobby cards, souvenir booklets and a gorgeous coffee-table book highlighting the career of America’s greatest director John Ford.

This year, Fox/MGM decided to salute master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. The handsome 60-plus page spiral notebook, with dozens of Hitchcock factoids, houses eight digitally remastered movies (they all look great, only wish we had the Blu-ray versions), with commentaries, radio adaptations, hundreds of photographs and the famous Hitchcock audio interviews with French director Francois Truffaut and director/film historian Peter Bogdanovich.

“The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog” is considered his Hitchcock’s first trademark film. Based on The Lodger,” a 1913 novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes’ following the tale of Jack the Ripper, a suspicious young man, Jonathan Drew takes residence in a London board house. Hitchcock quickly learns a hard lesson about the studio star system when producers cast matinee star Ivor Nevello as the lodger. British audiences couldn’t take Nevello as a cold-blooded killer. So, the 28-year old director developed the classic Hitchcock theme, the wrong man who’s falsely accused.

“The Lodger” also includes Hitchcock’s first cameo. He actually appears twice – first as a newspaper editor and during the climatic finale where an angry mob chases the handcuffed lodger atop an iron fence.

The disc includes a commentary with film historian Patrick McGilligan, making-of documentary which highlights Hitchcock’s first famous shot – showing the lodger’s hand continuously down four stories of a spiraling handrail. Also, the audio interviews with Bogdanovich and Truffaut, photo gallery and restoration comparison pinpointing the thousands of scratches, marks and other blemishes removed for this special DVD.

“Sabotage” doesn’t start with a murder, a screaming victim or a mysterious act – just words on the screen. “Sabotage – Willful destruction of building or machinery with the object of alarming a group of persons or inspiring public uneasiness.” Then, Hitchcock focuses his camera on a close up of a dimming light bulb. London goes dark. A terrorist has just hit a power plant. Hitchcock lets viewers into the secret life of Carl Verloc, a theater owner who’s sabotaging London. As the story unravels, his wife, played by American actress Sylvia Sidney, suspects her husband is keeping something from her.

The most shocking sequence is a planned bombing when Mrs. Verloc’s younger brother unknowingly carries a bomb given to him by Verloc. The movie generated a huge outcry from the British press, but moviegoers couldn’t get enough of it. “Sabotage” became the biggest movie of the year in England.

The disc includes a commentary by film historian Leonard Leff and an interview with Bogdanovich.

“Young and Innocent” is a delight, full of classic Hitchcock romance, humor, mystery and suspense similar to the British masterpiece “The 39 Steps.” Eighteen-year-old actress Nova Pilbeam plays the daughter of the chief constable who’s attracted to a young man played by Derrick De Marney, wrongly accused of murder. Somehow he escapes authorities and she helps the fugitive find the real culprit, a man with a noticeable eye twitch.

The movie features one of Hitchcock’s greatest shots – a 70 second crane shot from the hotel lobby, across the ballroom and straight to the eyes of Mr. Twitchy. Hitchcock gives a play-by-play account during the interview with Truffaut.

“Rebecca” has one distinction from all the rest: it’s the only movie for which Hitchcock snagged the Best Picture Oscar. His first American film, this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s bestselling novel, starts in fashionable Monte Carlo. A shy young woman, played by Joan Fontaine, falls for wealthy widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier). After a short courtship, they marry and return to his English estate, where memories of his first wife, Rebecca, overwhelm the household – particularly the wonderfully creepy Mrs. Danvers (Dame Judith Anderson).

The disc features a fabulous black-and-white picture. It even surpasses the Criterion DVD from seven years ago, one of the best that year.

“Rebecca” also includes a 30-minute making-of documentary with dozens of interviewers, highlighting the stormy relationship between producer David O. Selznick and his director. Selznick considered himself the author of his movies, even choosing which actress should be the leading lady. Check out the screen tests of Margaret Sullavan and Vivien Leigh. Selznick originally brought Hitchcock stateside to make a movie about the Titanic, but Hitch wasn’t interested. He just wanted to work in Hollywood, U.S.A.

Viewers will also find a featurette on the life of du Maurier. Hitchcock adapted her novel “Jamaica Inn” a year earlier. If that’s not enough, look for three radio versions from Orson Welles Mercury Theater in 1938 to the Lux Theater broadcast in 1950 with Laurence Olivier and wife Vivien Leigh.

“Lifeboat” had obvious challenges. The film is set in a 40-foot lifeboat with nine survivors. How would the director insert his trademark cameo without getting into the boat? Hitchcock went on a diet. Weighing nearly 300 pounds before shooting, he shed 100 pounds. Next, he created a fake advertisement for a miracle obesity potion and placed it on a newspaper with his before-and-after pictures. You guessed it; one of the survivors has the newspaper, BAM! There’s Hitch’s cameo.

The disc features a 15-minute documentary highlighting the World War II drama. Hitchcock recruited author John Steinbeck to write the story, inspired by heroic tales of Americans and Brits who survived German U-boat torpedoes in the Atlantic.

The all-star cast includes stage sensation Tallulah Bankhead as a sexy photojournalist, Hume Cronyn as the ship’s radio operator, William Bendix as a wounded seaman and Austrian actor Walter Slezak as the submarine captain. Endless hours shooting in a huge water tank with the wind machines blowing full speed caused most of the cast to get sick – including Bankhead, who suffered through pneumonia twice.

The disc includes an academic commentary with Dr. Drew Casper, Hitchcock professor at University of Southern California film school, who calls this technological marvel a “masterpiece.” He also details how Hitchcock avoided Fox’s studio, tycoon Darryl F. Zanuck, who was notorious for butting heads with his directors.

“Spellbound” began a credited collaboration between Hitchcock and writer Ben Hecht, the duo who also produced “Notorious,” “The Paradine Case” and “Rope.” The two visited mental hospitals in New York City to develop their script loosely based “The House of Dr. Edwardes,” a tale of a wild Swiss insane asylum. Selznick was constantly meddling, presenting possible stars to play the role of Dr. Constance Petersen. He originally wanted Dorothy McGuire and then hoped to lure Greta Garbo out of retirement for the movie. But Ingrid Bergman was hired and Gregory Peck played John Ballantine, aka Dr. Anthony Edwardes.

Hitchcock also recruited Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali to create the famed dream sequence. The disc features a documentary on their collaboration, a commentary with film historian Thomas Schatz and Charles Ramirez Berg, a radio version also directed Hitchcock, and interview with Bogdanovich.

“Notorious,” a masterpiece and clearly one of Hitchcock’s top three movies of all time, stars Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant and Claude Rains. It’s an unusual love/suspense tale at the end of World War II, when Nazis still loomed in South America hoping to develop their own nuke.

Bergman plays party girl Alicia, whose father has been sentenced for 20 years for supporting Nazi causes during the war. She’s recruited by American agents to infiltrate a community of Nazis in Brazil. Grant plays Devlin, her U.S. handler, who’s drawn to her and their onscreen kiss considered one of the hottest ever filmed – lasting over 2 minutes. It wasn’t a constant kiss; censorship ruled that out, but their nose to nose, kissing and moving from the balcony to the front door undulated like a ballet.

The disc includes two commentaries from University of Southern California professors. Rick Jewell details the RKO studio relationship with Hitchcock and other directors at the time, and Drew Casper gives a complete play-by-play account of the action on screen and behind-the-scenes tales. 

The disc also includes highlights from the American Film Institute salute to Hitchcock, where Bergman recounts the pivotal moment during the movie, when the camera moves from second floor balcony to the party below and tracks right up to Bergman’s hand holding a special key. That night she presented that same key to Hitchcock. It had been passed between the two stars for years and finally with Hitchcock. Also, there are audio interviews with Bogdanovich and Truffaut and the radio version starring Joseph Cotton and Bergman.

“The Paradine Case” is a talky soap opera-like courtroom drama. Its best performance is by Charles Laughton as the judge. It stars Gregory Peck, who wasn’t Hitchcock’s pick for the role as the English barrister defending the mysterious Mrs. Paradine (Alida Valli) for poisoning her blind husband. Falling for the defendant was a big no-no, especially since the character is married to the gorgeous Ann Todd. 

Selznick forced Hitchcock to work on the project, which had been on the shelf for years. Hitchcock and his wife Alma, a screenwriter and collaborator, took an initial stab at writing the script based on a novel by Robert Hichens. Even Ben Hecht and playwright James Bridie tried to whip the story into something good. Selznick still wasn’t satisfied with either treatment, so he became the writer. This marked the final Hitchcock/Selznick production.

The disc features the best restored picture. It is nearly hi-def quality with excellent contrast and deep blacks. It also includes a commentary from film historian Stephen Rebello and Bill Krohn, the 1949 radio version with Joseph Cotton, and an interview with Bogdanovich.

Hitchcock may be the best holiday gift for your special someone.

— Bill Kelley III

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2008, R for strong violence, sexual content including graphic nudity and dialogue, language and drug use

Best extra: Commentary by writer-director-producer Larry Bishop and Scott Kevan, director of photography. “The Choppers of ‘Hell Ride’” is also pretty entertaining, going into what went into the motorcycle aspect of this film.

MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT: “HELL RIDE” is supposed to be one bad-to-the-bone movie, with like-minded characters. And some great bikes, too. After all, it is a motorcycle movie. The cast includes Bishop (son of Rat Pack comedian Joey Bishop), Michael Madsen (“Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2), Eric Balfour (“24,” “Six Feet Under”) and Dennis Hopper (“Easy Rider,” “Blue Velvet”). David Carradine (“Kung Fu”) and Vinnie Jones (“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”) also turn in appearances. There’s also Michael Beach, Leonor Varela, Julia Jones and Pete Randall. And the whole project was produced by Bishop’s buddy Quentin Tarantino.

But here’s the real deal with films involving Quentin Tarantino: those he writes and directs are usually good, and those he produces are usually bad. “Hell Ride,” as it turns out, is a low-rent vanity project. Bishop is Pistolero, president of The Victors motorcycle gang. When a Victor is tortured and killed by Billy Wings (Jones) by rivals, Pistolero teams up with his two most trusted members, The Gent (Madsen) and Commanche (Balfour), and sets out for revenge.

It’s too bad that some of the film’s extras, namely “The Choppers of ‘Hell Ride’” and the film’s commentary, turn out to be more entertaining than the actual film. It’s like one of those drive-in movies that some of us can remember having to sit through back in the day before the feature presentation was shown. Only veterans Hopper and Carradine deliver decent performances and give this film a modicum of credibility.

Other extras include “The Making of ‘Hell Ride,’” “The Babes of ‘Hell Ride,’” “The Guys of ‘Hell Ride,’” “The Choppers of ‘Hell Ride,’” “Michael Madsen’s Video Diary” and a theatrical trailer.

The DVD and Blu-ray include the same extras; none are filmed hi-def, so nothing special here. When it comes to the hi-def imagery, one-man band Bishop jacks up the contrast to the max, giving “Hell Ride” a unique look — especially for a flick shot in just shy of three weeks. There's some visible grain, colors are vivid and the sharpness is top-notch in the world of Blu-ray.

“Hell Ride” may sound like one hell of a time, but it’s really quite lame — despite the film’s bikes, booze and booty packaging.

   — Cliff Redding

Blu-ray and enhanced widescreen, 2008, unrated, violence and gore, nudity, language

Best extra: The short making-of feature “The Champagne Room: Behind the Scenes of ‘Zombie Strippers’ ”

WHADDYA EXPECT from a flick called “Zombie Strippers,” Shakespeare?

Sorry. But you do get shout-outs to Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, jabs at the Bush White House and a meditation of sorts on our impersonal personal affairs.

Oh yeah, and lots of …  well, the flick is called “Zombie Strippers.”

Here’s the gist: A zombie virus gets out when a government experiment goes kablooey. The first place on the hit list is a strip joint run by Robert Englund (yes, Freddie Krueger). The first infectee is Kat, the star dancer played by porn poster girl Jenna Jameson.

How do philosophy and politics fit into all that? Awkwardly. But give writer/director Jay Lee props for trying to pull it off. In fact, he sometimes nails it, like when the Nietzche-quoting Kat says that he makes so much more sense now that she’s dead.

The extras aren’t too hot. A commentary with Lee, Englund, Jameson and co-star Joey Medina is too chatty to offer anything substantial. A big batch of deleted scenes comes with optional commentary.

That leaves a couple of features. The excellent makeup FX are the subject of “The Dressing Room: How to Glam a Zombie,” but it’s over before it gets rolling. “The Champagne Room” is OK, if only because the affable Lee is so upfront in spelling out his M.O.: “I hope it’s gratuitous in all respects.”

“NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE: 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION”

Enhanced widescreen, 1978, R for nudity, language, adult humor and crude scenes

Best extra: “Animal House: The Inside Story,” gives viewers 98 minutes of new, albeit some rehashed, material pertinent to the making of this comedy classic film

IF YOU KNOW A friend who doesn’t yet own a copy of this zany comedy classic, now might be the time to shell out some money for a holiday gift. The two-disc set not only features one of the funniest American movies made, it also features a new bonus feature worth taking a walk down Faber College memory lane: “Animal House: The Inside Story.”

Director John Landis, writers Harold Ramis and Chris Miller, producer Ivan Reitman and a slew of actors from the film reminisce about the ups and downs of making this movie, which almost didn’t happen. From a real fraternity fight at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where the film was made, to tales of John Belushi’s antics, this bonus captivates the viewer. For those putting together DVDs and thinking about bonus features for the films we love, this should set an example of what to do.

Another new bonus includes two “Scene It?” games, which is basically a trivia game asking questions about scenes, characters and dialogue. Some will stump you, so play close attention.

Others features that came out not so long ago on a previously released edition include “Where Are They Now? A Delta Alumni Update,” made in 2003, and “The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion.”

“THE OUTER LIMITS ORIGINAL SERIES: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION”

Full-screen, 1963-65, not rated

Best extra: No extras

TO THIS GENERATION, the short-lived 1960s television series "The Outer Limits" is perceived as merely the lesser, science fiction-oriented cousin of its predecessor, "The Twilight Zone." And yet, the show has influenced many successful forebears, including "Star Trek," James Cameron ("The Terminator"), and Stephen King -- which makes this 49-episode set something to take seriously.

Released in this edition for the first time as a complete set, "Outer Limits" has its share of repetitive alien-of-the-week threats. But at its best, it succeeded in getting viewers to think about seeing the world on a broader canvas. Despite hammy acting on a few of the episodes, stories such as Harlan Ellison's "Demon With A Glass Hand" still date relatively well, with plot twists that you'd have to keep your eyes open pretty wide to see coming. It almost makes the complete lack of extras an afterthought.

For a non-enhanced DVD treatment, the transfer is much better than you'd expect. Therefore, as the Control Voice says at the beginning of each episode, do not adjust your set.

“THE 4400: THE COMPLETE SERIES”

Enhanced widescreen, 2004-2007, not rated, contains scary images and adult concepts

Best extra: Hard to choose out of a plethora of goodies. Go with “The 4400: The Ghost Season,” where creator/executive producer Scott Peters talks about the series.

NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT, “The 4400” was excellent sci-fi series boasting a fine blend of concept and character. The pilot feels a bit like viewing Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” when, suddenly 4,400 people who have gone missing in the past century are sudden returned en masse. Are they alien abductees? Victims of a bizarre experiment?

Creator Scott Peters investigates throughout the four-season run, keeping the focus on his characters. We find that some have developed special abilities on their return. Some haven’t – and, as the series progresses, a special serum is developed that allows others to experience transformation. “The 4400” has more in common with “X-Men” and “Lost” than “Close Encounters.”

“The 4400” has been available in individual season sets. This one collects all four on 15 discs with 42 episodes. It holds up well, as good science fiction must. “The 4400” was filmed in high-def at a time when the technology was new. Director Yves Simoneau (“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”) achieves a motion picture look; it holds up beautifully in this format.

Peters explains how earlier DVD presentations appeared without any extras. Paramount has changed all that, providing a full disc of special features which includes an informative and entertaining “Pilot” commentary, a video introduction from Peters and deleted scenes from seasons 1, 2 and 3. There are highly entertaining and provocative sequences regarding the effects of the transforming drug as well.

Full-screen, 2008, not rated

Best extra: No extras

I REMEMBER THE DAY “Sister Sister debuted.” It was 1994 and I was about 13, almost the same age as the stars, identical twins Tia and Tamera Mowry. The series premiere starred the Mowry teens as twins separated at birth. Neither of the two knows they have a twin until they run into each other in the shopping mall. When the girls convince their adoptive single parents (Tim Reid and Jackee Harry) to move in together, the real fun begins.

This modern-day “Parent Trap” cemented a spot in ABC’s T.G.I.F. lineup until 1999 with about 120 episodes.

You can find the later episodes sprinkled all over syndication, but the early shows are hard to come by. That’s where this 12-episode release comes in. Here, the girls go through the growing pains of sharing a room for the first time, answering to a new parent and discovering all the joys and laughs the come with having an identical twin. On top of that, the ’90s fashion is hilarious to look back on.

Enhanced widescreen, 2008, unrated

Best extra: “Photo Stories” features famous subjects of the photographer’s best-known shots telling of their experiences.

LEIBOVITZ’S SISTER, Barbara, wrote and directed this documentary that was aired on PBS’ “American Masters” series. It is an entertaining, comprehensive biography of one of the world’s most famous commercial photographers, whose career officially began when she was hired by Rolling Stone magazine in the 1960s.

Her life intertwined with her subjects, sometimes leading to negative effect (substance abuse problems) and others to important artistic collaborations, as with the late Susan Sontag, with whom Leibovitz had an intimate relationship. In “Photo Stories,” rocker Patti Smith and Yoko Ono give moving testimony to Leibovitz’s artistry and sensitivity to the losses of their husbands; Demi Moore explains the evolution of her famous pregnant nude cover for Vanity Fair; and Whoopi Goldberg describes how it felt to sit in a bathtub full of milk. Other features look at Leibovitz’s work process, work ethic, fashion sense, and coping with her own celebrity.

“MONDAYS IN THE SUN”

Enhanced widescreen, 2002, R for language

Best extra: The making-of documentary reveals director Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s inspiration for the film.

THIS EXCELLENT, very timely, fictional account of five friends who have been laid off their jobs at a shipyard is set two years after an actual shipyard workers’ strike in Spain (about which Aranoa made a documentary), became violent and ended with arrests. Javier Bardem stars in what is really an ensemble piece about the strength of friendship in the face of adversity. Other extras include deleted scenes, storyboard-to-scene comparisons, and a lively commentary by Bardem and Aranoa.

Full-screen, 1974, unrated

Best extra: Henry James biography

THIS TWO-DISC SET features seven delightfully realized BBC television dramas based on stories by Henry James. Some of the various episodes’ stars will be recognizable to American audiences: Diana Rigg, Patricia Routledge, Jeremy Brett and Pamela Brown. Some of the stories will be familiar as well, such as “The Wings of the Dove,” “Washington Square,” and “The Aspern Papers.” But even for the previously unknown stories or actors, there is plenty to keep viewers interested and entertained – possibly even inspired – to read James’ own words. The biography included is text only, as are the cast filmographies.