Buy, rent or ignore?

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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...

“SUPERHERO MOVIE: EXTENDED EDITION”
Stars: Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Leslie Nielsen
Director: Craig Mazin (“The Specials”)
Format: DVD
What we said: “Consistently, harmlessly stupid rather than soul-crushingly annoying.”

Extras: Both the theatrical cut and an extended version of the movie; commentary on the extended cut; deleted scenes; alternate ending; “Meet the Cast” and “The Art of Spoofing” featurettes.

Worth watching: “The Art of Spoofing,” since at the rate things are going, you'll be making one of these movies soon, and you need to know the basics.
Worth skipping: The theatrical version of the film, since the additions to the extended cut are slightly funnier.
Worth adding: A retrospective look at Nielsen's career, so you can see how funny it is that we now regard him as a comedian when he used to be regarded as a first-rate actor.

Buy, rent, or ignore: Rent.


“THE RUINS: UNRATED”
Stars: Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Shawn Ashmore
Director: Carter Smith (“Bugcrush”)
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
What we said: “Gratuitously and believably mines each cut and drop of blood for maximum discomfort, which is typically unpleasant to watch.”

Extras: Commentary by Smith and editor Jeff Betancourt; an alternate ending; deleted scenes with optional commentary by Smith and Betancourt; “The Making of 'The Ruins'” featurette; “Creeping Death,” a featurette on the special effects; “Building 'The Ruins',” a featurette on the sets; trailer.

Worth watching: “Building 'The Ruins',” since most DVDs don't talk about how the filmmakers built their cool sets. Plus it's also helpful if you're thinking of putting an addition onto your house…a really scary addition.
Worth skipping: “Creeping Death,” because Metallica's classic tune was not about deadly vines and other scary things, it's about the Plague of the Firstborn (Exodus 12:29).
Worth adding: The cast into the commentary. Having the actors involved always make commentaries more lively and less like sitting in a film school lecture. (And due respect to Smith, but he’s not quite ready for a film school lecture just yet.)

Buy, rent, or ignore: Rent.


“STOP-LOSS”
Stars: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum
Director: Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don't Cry”)
Format: DVD
What we said: “Plays like a homage to '70s and '80s-era Vietnam films, which only underlines how depressing it is that the same kind of human tragedy is still being explored today.”

Extras: Commentary by Peirce and co-writer Mark Richard; “The Making of 'Stop-Loss'” and “A Day in Boot Camp” featurettes; deleted scenes with commentary by Peirce.

Worth watching: The deleted scenes with the commentary. Peirce has some interesting things to say about the tough (or not so tough) decisions to cut certain scenes.
Worth skipping: “A Day in Boot Camp.” It will just make you feel bad about your physical inadequacies.
Worth adding: A featurette on the cast. The dreamy cast.

Buy, rent, or ignore: Buy.


Other DVDs out this week:
- American indie film keeps its good name with “Chop Shop”
- Zooey Deschanel in (surprise!) a quirky comedy: “Flakes”
- Study up on a punk rock legend with “Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten”
- Charlize Theron, Dennis Hopper and Woody Harrelson go “Sleepwalking” (also on Blu-ray)
- See Ellen Page pre-“Juno” in “The Tracey Fragments”
- The Dark Knight gets his start in “Batman Begins” on Blu-ray
- The Dark Knight also gets animated, er anime-ted, in “Batman - Gotham Knight” [check out photos from the DVD premiere movie]

Also released:
“Jet Li's Fearless: Director's Cut”
“Mon Oncle Antione” (Criterion Collection)
“The Mummy” (1999) (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)
“The Mummy” (1932) (Universal Legacy Series)
“The Mummy Returns” (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)
“Van Helsing” (Collector's Edition)