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Wolf Creek" Unrated Edition (2005)
Australian filmmaker Greg McLean's debut picture is a truly disturbing and realistic horror film in the oh-so-serious vein of Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes." Like "Chainsaw," "Wolf Creek" is purportedly based on true events, and the film does lift details from a criminal case involving the abduction, torture and eventual murder of young backpackers in the desolate Australian Outback by a deranged psychopath. Ben (Nathan Phillips), Lizzie (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy (Kestie Morassi) are three friends on a week-long camping trip to Wolf Creek National Park in Western Australia. Unfortunately, their fun in the sun is cut short, literally, by the arrival of Mick (John Jarratt), who drugs the trio and takes them to his cabin where the real fun begins.
The Weinstein Company has included the following extras:
* Commentary by director/writer Greg McLean, executive producer Matt Hearn and actors Cassandra Magrath and Kestie Morassi
* "Making of Wolf Creek" featurette
* Deleted scene
* Trailer
"Fun with Dick and Jane" (2005)
Dick (Jim Carrey) and Jane (Tea Leoni) are doing all right — a nice house in the suburbs, a pair of luxury cars — thanks to Dick's high-paying job. But when things get rough after an Enron-like debacle at Dick's company, they see no other choice but to turn to crime to support their lifestyle. An update of a 1977 film, "Fun with Dick and Jane" features funny and energetic performances from both leads and Alec Baldwin, who's been making a career out of playing bosses these days, appears here as Carrey's, just like he was Ben Stiller's in "Along Came Polly" and Orlando Bloom's in "Elizabethtown."
Sony Home Entertainment has included the following extras:
* Gag reel
* Deleted scenes
* Publicity campaign outtakes
* Commentary with director Dean Parisot and screenwriters Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller
"Pray" (2005)
For several years the Asian film community, and particularly Japan, has been the driving force behind the worldwide renaissance in quality horror pictures. First-time filmmaker Yuichi Sato's "Pray" was released as part of the "New Generation Thriller" film series which features the work of up-and-coming Japanese directors. Mitsuru (Tetsuji Tamayama) and Maki (Asami Mizukawa) are desperately in need of cash and have kidnapped a young girl in hopes of ransoming her back to her parents. Hiding out with their hostage in an abandoned school, the pair is quite surprised to learn from the girl's parents that their daughter died exactly one year to the day before. What follows is a heady blend of suspenseful ghost story and gripping psychological thriller, as predators become prey and nothing is what it seems.
Tartan Asia Extreme has included the following extras:
* "The Making of 'Pray' " featurette
* Interview with director and actors
"Grizzly" Special Edition (1976)
Low-budget auteur William Girdler's career was cut short by a fatal helicopter crash in 1978 while on location in the Philippines, but thankfully his nine films live on, including the Ed Gein-inspired "Three on a Meathook" and the eco-horror pictures "Day of the Animals" and "Grizzly." After Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" (1975) broke box-office records around the world, Girdler tapped into the man-versus-nature genre to create one of the first and most successful knock-offs of the shark saga, "Grizzly" (dubbed "Claws" by the film's fans). Moving the action from an island resort to the forest of a national park and transforming the killer from a 25-foot great white shark into an 18-foot-tall bear, "Grizzly" follows park ranger Mike Kelly (Christopher George) as he hunts down the bloodthirsty creature that's been mauling campers.
Media Blasters has included the following extras in this two-disc special edition:
* "Jaws with Claws" featurette about the making of the film
* Rare 1976 promo footage of William Girdler making "Grizzly"
* Gallery of promotional materials
* Commentary by David Sheldon and Joan McCall
* Radio spots
* 2005 theatrical screening footage
"The Greatest Game Ever Played" (2005)
The list of performers who have made the transition from Disney child stardom to adult careers is an impressive one — Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Kurt Russell to name a few. With 2003's "Holes" and last year's "The Greatest Game Ever Played" it looks like Shia LaBeouf hopes to continue the trend. In "The Greatest Game," LaBeouf plays Francis Ouimet, who in 1913 became the first amateur to compete in the U.S. Open. The film's director, meanwhile — actor Bill Paxton — had previously directed exactly one feature film, the largely ignored 2002 fundamentalist-Christian-axe-murder flick "Frailty." That Paxton and LaBeouf came together to make a moving, dramatic film about a golf match played nearly a century ago amounts to a championship achievement.
Walt Disney Video has included the following extras:
* Commentary by Bill Paxton and writer Mark Frost
* "A View From The Gallery: On the Set of 'The Greatest Game Ever Played' "
* "Two Legends and the Greatest Game" featurette
* "From Caddy to Champion: Francis Ouimet
"An Unfinished Life" (2005)
Ever since emerging (barely) from the cinematic train wreck that was 2003's "Gigli," Jennifer Lopez has been working hard to remind people that she's an actress worth watching. She took a step in the right direction with "An Unfinished Life," the latest film from Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "Chocolat"). The film stars Robert Redford as a rancher trying to pick up the pieces of his life, Morgan Freeman as his friend who has never recovered from a long-ago bear attack and Lopez as the widow of Redford's dead son who comes looking for protection from her abusive boyfriend. Not surprisingly, both the boyfriend and the bear return, and Redford's character must hold himself together long enough to help everyone to make it through.
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