Just getting caught up on a few DVDs that have been stacked in my office waiting for a review. ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ was released in several versions last year: Two-Disc Blu-ray with Digital Copy, Single Disc DVD, and Two-Disc Special Edition DVD with Digital Copy. The people who put these out must go nuts trying to keep up with all the new technologies. Glad I’m not them.

Let’s talk about the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD. This has a bunch of bonus features: 

• Trailers: Night At The Museum 2, The Marine 2, Family Guy Presents: Something Something Something Dark Side, X Men Trilogy Blu-ray Trailer, and Sons Of Anarchy Season 1
• Commentary by Director Gavin Hood
• Commentary by Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter
• The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with Stan Lee and Len Wein
• Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes
• Anti Smoking PSA

Disc 2: Digital Copy

When I saw this movie in theaters, people were actually getting up and walking out, but I didn’t think it was that bad. Not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but still not that bad.

More after the jump…

Read More – DVD Review: ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’

‘The Tiger’s Tail’ (2006) is a movie that you’ve probably never heard of, but was released on DVD Aug. 11, 2009 and is definitely worth checking out if you like crime thrillers.

It stars Brendan Gleeson (Prof. Alastor ‘MadEye’ Moody in the ‘Harry Potter’ series) as an Irish property developer of humble origins who has become rich and powerful as a result of the “Celtic Tiger,” a.k.a. Ireland’s economic boom. He’s involved in a scheme to build a national stadium, but a rival developer is planning on thwarting his plans.

Wildly over-extended, Liam finds himself struggling in a receding market, not to mention stressed out to the max. He seems on the verge of a mental breakdown when, to his horror, he sees his Double – yes, someone who looks and acts just like him.

As Liam searches for answers, his neglected wife, Jane (Kim Cattrall), and ignored son Connor (Briain Gleeson), distressed by his erratic behavior, think he’s probably hallucinating. Only Liam’s sister Oona (Sinead Cusack) and childhood friend Andy (Ciaran Hinds), a priest, believe him.

More after the jump, including a trailer…

Read More – ‘The Tiger’s Tail’ on DVD – An entertaining crime thriller

In case you need something to get revved up for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver (beginning Friday, Feb. 12), I suggest ‘Miracle,’ the movie starring Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, the determined Minnesota hockey coach who managed to assemble a once-in-a-lifetime team and whip them into a victorious frenzy over their Soviet champion opponents during the 1980 Olympic Games.

One of my favorite actors, Patricia Clarkson, plays his wife, and Noah Emmerich plays his long-suffering assistant. Director Gavin O’Connor (‘Tumbleweeds’) and the producers of the similar sports movies ‘Remember the Titans’ and ‘The Rookie’ help bring this story to life.

Aside from a great cast and production team, what I love about ‘Miracle’ is the attention to detail. Not a hairstyle or accessory was missed in capturing the era of 1980. The story was especially needed at that time because the country was in a bit of a depression after the whole Watergate debacle.

Buy ‘Miracle’ on Blu-ray or DVD. Here’s the trailer:

Image: Amazon.com

They’re still looking for a star for ‘Captain America,’ and director Joe Johnston says they’re starting to narrow the field.

One hopeful who’s read for the part and is ready and willing to slap that big A on his forehead is Ryan McPartlin, best known as “Captain Awesome” on NBC’s ‘Chuck.’

McPartlin told Moviehole, “It is in the casting process and like many other actors, I read for it, so we’ll wait and see what happens. Regardless, I’m pretty psyched to be Captain Awesome for the time being.”

Well, he is darn awesome on ‘Chuck,’ though I can see him as Captain America, too.

Other names being bandied about include Chad Michael Murray, Alexander Skarsgaard (Eric on ‘True Blood’ – can’t really see it), Jensen Ackles, Matt Damon, Cam Gigandet, Chris Pine, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bruce Campbell.

Hopefully, we’ll know who scores the big role in the next few weeks.

Image: © NBC Universal, Inc.

They’ve really mined everything they can out of these "Ice Age" movies, haven’t they? That’s not to say they’re not cute and fun and all that stuff. Just that maybe they’ve come to the end of the line on these particular characters and stories. Then again, they’ve added a few new characters in this movie, and let’s face it, they’re just at the dawn of the dinosaurs, which means this franchise could go on into infinity.

The first movie, 2002’s "Ice Age," was definitely the best. The second, 2006’s "Ice Age: The Meltdown," was cute, and this one is cute, too. They just seem to be losing their steam. But the animation continues to be fantastic, with every snowflake and furry animal popping off the screen at you. 

This third movie, released on DVD and Blu-ray Oct. 27, 2009, finds Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) preparing to have a baby Mammoth. Manny is nesting big-time, creating a beautiful little playground full of ice-figure mobiles, play structures, and teeter-totters.

It leaves Sid (John Leguizamo) wishing for a family of his own, and he gets just that when he stumbles upon a trio of large eggs. He doesn’t realize they’re dinosaur eggs, and their mom wants them back.

More after the jump…

Read More – DVD Review: ‘Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ – Cute with great animation

‘Frozen’ opens in limited release this weekend, and the tagline says it’s like ‘Jaws,’ only on a mountain with land-dwelling deadly creatures.

Here’s the scoop: Three snowboarders get stranded on a chairlift before their last run. As the ski patrol switches off the night lights, they realize with growing panic that they’ve been left behind dangling high off the ground with no way down.

The kicker is that the resort is closed until the following weekend, so they really have to take some action. But once they make their move, it’s clear there’s more to be afraid of than just the frigid cold.

This is why I stay away from snow sports. Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers star; directed by Adam Green. Check out the official movie site.

‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ is one of those completely predictable movies, but one I can watch over and over and not get bored with it.

Really, there’s not much you can do with the romantic comedy formula, so it all comes down to the chemistry of the two leads. Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey have plenty of it.

Ben (McConaughey) makes a bet with his boss that he can get a woman to fall in love with him in ten days to land a valuable advertising campaign. Andie Anderson (Hudson) is the "How To…" columnist for a women’s magazine, Composure. The topic of her next column is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, hence the title of the movie.

But Andie yearns to write more indepth, serious stories, so if she does a good job with this piece, her boss will give her complete freedom to write whatever she wants.

As luck would have it, Ben and Andie see each other at a bar and coincidentally choose each other as their “victims.” The rest is history.

Hudson, as usual, is completely adorable. And McConaughey plays the guy he usually plays in all his movies, but I’m fine with that because I love that sort of roguish character who gets the girl in the end.

Directed by Donald Petrie, ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ is rated PG-13 for some sex related material. The Deluxe Edition (buy it here) was released Aug. 25, 2009 and includes the following bonus features.

• How to Make a Movie in 2 Years
• Why the Sexes Battle
• Girls Night Out
• Commentary by director Donald Petrie
• Music Video: ‘Somebody Like You’ by Keith Urban
• Deleted Scenes with Director’s Commentary

Image: Amazon.com

I saw ‘Edge of Darkness’ this week, and found it to be a great crime-thriller. Does it matter when celebrities act like asses in real life? I’ve been pondering that question, because there’s never any shortage of celebs doing stupid things. Mel Gibson falls into that category. But I still think he’s a great actor.

Here he plays homicide detective Thomas Craven investigating the death of his daughter, whom he discovers worked for a corporation with ties to nuclear weapons. While she didn’t appear to have direct ties to any cover-ups, it’s clear that something is going down. Especially since other people close to her are dropping left and right under mysterious circumstances.

Danny Huston and Ray Winstone also star, and Winstone especially is a real scene stealer. Gibson has the chops to play a guy who’s grieving over the loss of his daughter and really has nothing left to lose, so goes after the bad guys with a vengeance. The kicker is that since he’s a cop, everyone thinks that her killer was actually going after him.

More after the jump…

Read More – Review: ‘Edge of Darkness’ – Secrets and Corporate Cover-Ups

Squeeeeeeeeeee!!! That’s the sound of me opening my mail yesterday and finding a review copy of ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000: XVII’ from Shout Factory! MSTies around the globe know what I’m talking about.

The latest installment of the MST3K library includes four classic B movies with plenty of snark and snuffling from Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo, Gypsy, Joel and Mike. Here’s the rundown:

‘The Crawling Eye’ – We saw this title and collectively decided to watch it as a family last night. It’s a 1958 film originally called ‘The Trollenberg Terror,’ which stars Forrest Tucker. The ‘F Troop’ references were rampant. It follows a weird tentacled alien creature menacing a small town high in the mountains of Switzerland. While the commentary isn’t as hilariously funny as later MST3K installments, there’s a reason for that. This is the very first network episode of MST3K made for the Comedy Channel, so it’s a cool look at the early development of the show. And of course the movie, along with a fat mountain climber, is darn funny.

More after the jump!

Read More – ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000: XVII’ – on DVD March 16, 2010!

New in theaters this weekend is a mix of movies – Action! Romance! Drama! Jackie Chan! Ok, there’s my little promo. Here are the actual movies.

‘Dear John’ (PG-13). I’m not totally sure I can bring myself to see this because it looks like a real tear-jerker, and Amanda Seyfried has said as much. It’s based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, so that tells you something right there. Channing Tatum stars as a soldier home on leave, who falls in love with an idealistic college student, played by Seyfried. Over the next seven years, they’re separated by John’s increasingly dangerous deployments and keep in touch by a stream of love letters — correspondence that eventually triggers fateful consequences. Official Site

‘District 13: Ultimatum’ (R). Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector that is controlled by five different gang bosses, before the city’s secret services take drastic measures to solve the problem. Never saw the original movie, so will have to check it out. Official Site

‘From Paris With Love’ (R). Bromance? Maybe, of sorts. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador who hooks up with an American spy (John Travolta) looking to stop a terrorist attack in the city. This movie looks like non-stop action fun. Official Site

More after the jump…

Read More – New Movie Friday – ‘Dear John,’ ‘From Paris with Love’