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You loved the movie, what about the DVD?
Find out as we examine the extras on this week's best movie DVDs...
“X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE”
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston
Director: Gavin Hood (“Tsotsi”)
Format: DVD, Blu-ray
What we said: "Want generic explosions, motorcycle stunts and lots of yelling? You got it. Want something that rivals The Dark Knight or Iron Man? Sorry."
Extras: DVD: Commentary by Hood; a second commentary by producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter; deleted and alternate scenes; “The Roots of ‘Wolverine’: A Conversation with ‘X-Men’ Creators Stan Lee and Len Wein” and “Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins” featurettes; alternate tag scene: Japan; anti-smoking PSA; digital copy.
Blu-ray: All of the above extras plus “The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Chase Sequence” and “X Connect and On Set with Gavin Hood” featurettes; “X-Facts: Trivia Track”; optional commentary on the deleted scenes by Hood; an alternate version of the “memory erase” sequence: “Fox Movie Channel Presents: World Premiere”; “Live Lookup” BD-Live functions.
Worth watching: “The Roots of ‘Wolverine’” is a good primer for anyone who only knows the character from the “X-Men” movies.
Worth skipping: Being able to look up someone on imdb.com via the “Live Lookup” function will stop any and all betting about where you’ve seen the guy who plays Gambit before. That can seriously mess with people's incomes.
Worth adding: A playable demo of the vastly superior “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” video game, one of the rare instances where a bad movie begat a good game.
Buy, rent or ignore: Rent.
“NEXT DAY AIR”
Stars: Mike Epps, Donald Faison, Mos Def
Director: Benny Boom
Formats: DVD
What we said: "The thing about a script comprising 60 percent words that rhyme with stitch, spit and mothertruckers is it doesn't allow for many jokes."
Extras: Commentary by Boom; outtakes.
Worth watching: Some of the outtakes are funny.
Worth skipping: While there’s some interesting stuff in the commentary, we always prefer them when the actors are involved. Especially when the actors are funny guys like Epps, Faison and Def.
Worth adding: A collection of Boom’s music videos.
Buy, rent or ignore: Rent.
“EASY VIRTUE”
Stars: Jessica Biel, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth
Director: Stephan Elliot (“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”)
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
What we said: "[Jessica Biel] really proves herself here, taking charge of the movie with a breakthrough performance that's charming, sexy and effortless."
Extras: Commentary by Elliot and writer Sheridan Jobbins; deleted scenes; bloopers.
Worth watching: Some of these bloopers are funny too. Or maybe I still just had the giggles from watching the “Next Day Air” outtakes.
Worth skipping: The deleted scenes should’ve stayed on the cutting room floor. They don’t add anything to the movie.
Worth adding: “You’re Such a Coward,” a featurette on playwright Noel Coward, who wrote the original play this movie is based on.
Buy, rent or ignore: Rent.
Other DVDs out this week:
— Midnight movie horror fans might want to make a double feature out of “Deadgirl: Unrated Director’s Cut” and "Grace" (also on Blu-ray)
— Fans of reading, the ’50s red scare and the first amendment should pick up “Trumbo”
— Fans of James Franco and Sienna Miller can find out why their romantic drama went straight to DVD with "Camille" (also on Blu-ray)
— Bruce Campbell fans will want “Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition” (also on Blu-ray)
— Anime fans will want “Escaflowne: The Movie” on Blu-ray
Also on Blu-ray:
"Amadeus"
“An American Werewolf in London: Full Moon Edition”
“The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi”
“Child’s Play”
“Deep Impact”
“The Hannibal Lecter Anthology”
“Iron Monkey”
“The Legend of Drunken Master”
“Misery”
“Ultimate Force of Four Box Set: Black Belt Collection”
"Van Helsing"
“Wrong Turn”
“Wrong Turn 2”
Also released:
“Criterion Collection: Essential Art House Volume 4”
“Hero” (also on Blu-ray)
“The Lost and Found Family”
“Nightmare”
“Nightwatching”
"Phantasm II"
“PVC-1”
“Triangle”
“White Night Wedding”
