The Golden Compass (Blu-ray) New Line Home Entertainment / 2007 / 113 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: April 29, 2008
Overall Grade 
Fully loaded extras. Superb effects. Get it for your kids indeed.
Genres: Action adventure, family
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig
Director: Chris WeitzPlot Synopsis: A fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the
Lord of the Rings and
Chronicles of Narnia film franchises,
The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate universe where each human's soul is embodied in a companion animal called a daemon. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who's lived most of her life among the scholars at Oxford, is intrigued when her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), announces his plans to travel north to investigate the source of some mysterious particles called Dust. Lyra has little hope of following her uncle until a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, at her most icily beautiful) asks Lyra to travel north as her personal assistant. All is not as it seems, however, and the disappearance of Lyra's friend Roger (Ben Walker) sets her on a dizzying adventure. She does have an alethiometer, or golden compass, that can help her see the truth, and a number of companions, including her shape-shifting daemon, Pantalaimion (voiced by Freddie Highmore of
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), polar-bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Craig's
Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green). Even before its release,
The Golden Compass was the subject of controversy over its perceived anti-religious themes. While it does involve an oppressive institution called the Magisterium, it's not overtly religious, particularly to a young viewer. The movie's PG-13 rating should be taken seriously, however. Suitable for an older audience than
Narnia (though younger than
The Lord of the Rings), it deals with complex concepts, violence (though largely bloodless) and implied death, children and animals in peril, and an unrelentingly ominous and unsettling mood. Despite a few changes and rearrangements, the overall plot of the movie is remarkably faithful to its source material, the first installment of Philip Pullman's
His Dark Materials trilogy. It doesn't finish the book, however, and--much like
The Fellowship of the Ring did--leaves the viewer hanging in anticipation of the next film,
The Subtle Knife, due in 2009. So even though
The Golden Compass is impressive--especially with its spot-on cast and terrific visual effects--we probably won't know its full emotional impact until the story is complete. [Amazon.com]
Disc Features: Considering the movie's box office failure, New Line has thrown together an impressive batch of supplements for this 2-disc edition, all arranged thoughtfully in the menus and presented in High Definition video. Not the usual EPK fluff, the numerous featurettes cover all the nuts and bolts of making a big-budget feature film in a fair amount of depth.
- Feature Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Chris Weitz – Weitz speaks intelligently about his intentions and choices, his love of the material, and the changes made for the adaptation. He's obviously a smart guy, and it's a shame that the movie didn't turn out as well as he thinks it did.
- The Novel: Author Philip Pullman and the Consequences of Curiosity (HD, 20 min.) – In this part interview / part bio piece, the author discusses the origins of the story and his concept of making a modern version of 'Paradise Lost'. Disappointingly, there's a little too much fawning praise for the writer and no discussion at all of his anti-religious views.
- The Adaptation of Writer/Director Chris Weitz (HD, 16 min.) – Recorded during pre-production for the movie, the director talks about his inspiration, how he was chosen for the job, and the incredible amount of pressure to not screw it up (whoops!). After seeing how the film overtook his life, I kind of feel bad for the guy.
- Finding Lyra Belacqua: Introducing Dakota Blue Richards (HD, 15 min.) – We're given a look at the open casting auditions for the lead role, and the reasons Richards finally won out. The adorable young actress reveals that she did the Snoopy dance when notified that she'd gotten the job.
- Daemons (HD, 20 min.) – Coverage of the concept, the visual effects, the choice and design of each animal, photography, puppeteering, and dialogue recording.
- The Alethiometer: Creating the Truth Measure (HD, 15 min.) – The design and making of the prop, from casting the bronze to building the gears and applying the graphics.
- Production Design: The Emotional Fabric of a Parallel World (HD, 26 min.) – Sets, props, vehicles, weapons, and the overall look and feel of the entire movie. The use of circles and ovals throughout the picture is analyzed.
- Costumes (HD, 12 min.) – Designer Ruth Myers demonstrates how costumes inform the characters' personalities.
- Oxford: Lyra's Jordan (HD, 8 min.) – Shooting on location to create the character's first home.
- Armoured Bears: The Panserbjørne of Svalbard (HD, 18 min.) – The climactic bear-on-bear fight scene is introduced with some very amusing pre-vis animatics. Also shown are the creation of the CGI, the bear design and scale, and recording of the voices.
- Music (HD, 12 min.) – Composer Alexandre Desplat and Executive Music Producer Paul Broucek showcase the various themes and ethnic elements in the score.
- The Launch: Releasing the Film (HD, 8 min.) – Young Ms. Richards composes herself admirably during the intensive press coverage of the movie's premiere.
- Trailers (HD, 7 min.) – Three trailers are provided, each with some small amount of footage not seen in the movie's final cut.
- Image Galleries (HD) – Several extensive galleries contain production art and behind-the-scenes photographs relating to the Alethiometer, the armored bears, costumes, daemons, production design, and posters.
27 Dresses (Blu-ray) Fox Home Entertainment / 2008 / 111 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: April 29, 2008
Genres: Romantic comedy
Starring: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Edward Burns
Director: Anne Fletcher
Plot Synopsis: Katherine Heigl (Knocked up, TV's Grey's Anatomy) lights up the screen in this charming romantic comedy from the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada." Heigl stars as Jane, a romantic, completely selfless woman who has been a bridesmaid in no less than 27 weddings. Unfortunately her own happy ending seems to be nowhere in sight. Until her younger sister Tess captures the heart of Jane's boss -- on whom Jane has a secret crush inspiring Jane to change her "always-a-bridesmaid" destiny.
Disc Features: The collection of supplements for '27 Dresses' is a largely a promotional package that continues the general mediocrity of this Blu-ray release. Don't expect much depth here (heck, there isn't even an audio commentary). Fox does present all of the extras in 1080 HD, and there are English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean subtitle options.
- Featurette: "The Wedding Party" (HD, 15 minutes) - The first of four featurettes, all total EPK material. This standard making-of gives us gee-whiz interviews with Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Judy Greer, Edward Burns, and director Anne Fletcher, plus the main crew. There's also tons of plot recap and film clips, making this another extended commercial for a movie you've already seen.
- Featurette: "You'll Never Wear That Again" (HD, 7 minutes) - A visit with costume designer Catherine Marie Thomas, who had to come up with -- I'll give you one guess! -- 27 differently dresses for Heigl to wear.
- Featurette: "The Running of the Brides" (HD, 5 minutes) - A brief, bizarre vignette on the retail chain Filene's Basement, which holds annual events where they put tons of wedding dresses on the racks at huge discounts. The way these women react gives new meaning to the term "Bridezillas."
- Featurette: "Jane's World " (HD, 5 minutes) - A look at the film's production design, and turning Rhode Island into a believable New York City.
- Deleted Scenes (SD, 4 minutes) - There are three clips here, each a legitimate cut scene featuring Heigl in a comedic situation, including having her cab stolen by another wedding-goer, and a subplot involving saving a dog from euthanasia.
- Theatrical Trailers - Fox includes trailers for 'Juno' and 'Devil Wears Prada'.
First Knight (Blu-ray) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / 1995 / 134 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: April 29, 2008
Genres: Adventure, Drama
Starring: Julia Ormond, Sean Connery, Richard Gere
Director: Jerry Zucker
Plot Synopsis: Together, Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Julia Ormond (Legends of the Fall, Sabrina) and Jerry Zucker, the director of Ghost, bring you a new vision of King Arthur's Camelot. A vision of breathtaking battles, of heart-pounding courage, of the undeniable love that brought an entire kingdom to its knees... and of the undying passion that made it live forever.
Disc Features: • Audio Commentary with Director Jerry Zucker and Producer Hunt Lowry
• Arthurian Legend Commentary
• Featurettes: "The Quest For Camelot," "In Shining Armor: Knights-in-Training," "The Creation of a Kingdom"
• Deleted Scenes and Outtakes
e of the blu-ray of:
