This week, come on, admit it; you watched a couple episodes of Forever Knight when you were young and experimental.
X-Men - The Last Stand (The Stan Lee Collector's Edition)
This presumably final episode in the X-Franchise brings things to an adequate, if not altogether worthy end. Brett Ratner, for all his skill with action scenes, can't bring the storytelling kung-fu of Bryan Singer (who directed the first two) to this fairly flat installment. That doesn't mean it's not worth watching; it just means that when you do watch it, if you loved the first two, you'll really wonder what Singer could have done with the same material.
Extras include two commentary tracks - one by Ratner and the screenwriters, one by the producers, deleted scenes, alternate endings and some of the best trailers of the year. The Stan Lee Collector's Edition is so dubbed because it includes a mini-comic from the man himself.
Thank You for Smoking
One of the best comedies of the year (and, as things are shaking out, maybe one of the best films of the year) shows us how satire is done. Aaron Eckhart plays a tobacco lobbyist in this slick, clever, sharp skewering of every side of the smoking controversy. The supporting cast, including Maria Bello, Sam Elliot, David Koechner, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, J.K. Simmons, Robert Duvall, and Todd Louiso, is priceless, though my favorite cameo may be Adam Brody as Rob Lowe's deliciously condescending personal assistant. Director Jason Reitman (who also adapted Christopher Buckley's popular novel) proves he's his father Ivan's son, even besting the old man's latest efforts.
Extras include director and cast commentary, deleted scenes, a Charlie Rose interview with Reitman, Eckhart, Buckley and producer David O. Sacks, plus a couple of featurettes.
Edmond
William H. Macy goes bat-shit crazy in this film from writer David Mamet and director Stuart Gordon, whom you might know as the guy who made Re-Animator. Critics were pretty much split on this one.
Extras include commentary from Mamet and Gordon, deleted scenes and a featurette.
Forever Knight - The Trilogy: Part 3
Before there was Angel, this bloodsucking crimefighter protected Toronto from the undead. This third and final season is notable for one of the most, shall we say, extreme endings to a series of all time.
Extras include three music videos — your guess is as good as mine.
Scarface (Platinum Edition)
I'll be honest, Scarface didn't blow me away like it supposedly did the rest of my generation, but it's still a great film and probably worthy of some tricking out. Some additions here include an F-bomb counter (which, honestly, could be just as useful for Midnight Run) and a bullet counter, 20 minutes of deleted scenes, the making of the video game, a retrospective on the history of Scarface going back to the first 1932 film and several other featurettes, including one which compares the network version to the original.
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