This Week on DVD and Blu-ray - June 30th, 2009

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Tuesday again? You know what that means DVD Towners, it's new DVD day. Last week we were treated to a pair of highbrow arthouse classics in "Dinner with Andre" and "Last Year at Marienbad." This week, we hit the other extreme as we're treated to a pair of films that will probably never be considered exceptional cinema.

First up, Fox, in conjunction with WWE Films, brings up the Renny Harlin directed actioner, "12 Rounds," starring WWE superstar John Cena. Cena previously starred in a particularly dumb, explosion-filled movie called, "The Marine," and "12 Rounds" looks to top that in sheer mind-numbing nonsense. "12 Rounds" plays like "Die Hard with a Vengeance" on steroids as Cena is forced into a series of life and death games by a terrorist who has kidnapped his girlfriend. "12 Rounds" is available on DVD and Blu-Ray with both the theatrical cut and an unrated "Extreme Cut." The Blu-Ray release features exclusive extras and a digital copy of the film.

Muscle-bound meatheads aren't the only ones who can star in dumb action movies as the lovely Kristin Kreuk gets dirty and sweaty for "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li." The "Smallville" star plays the high-kicking video game character Chun-Li. "Street Fighter" is a "Batman Begins"-type realistic reboot of the video game franchise that ditches the trademark costumes of their pixilated counterparts. The movie focuses on Chun-Li while popular characters like Ken, Ryu, and Guile aren't mentioned at all. Game boss, M. Bison, is re-imagined as an Irish orphan born and raised in Thailand who ascends to crime lord status. He still speaks with an Irish accent despite living in Thailand his entire life. At least the Van Damme version had an over-the-top cheesy quality about it; "Legend of Chun-Li" takes its thin plot far too seriously. Perhaps, the only reason to see "Chun-Li" is for the confounding performance on the part of Chris Klein who appears to channel Keanu Reeves, Nicolas Cage, and Sonny Crockett all at the same time. As with "12 Rounds," "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" is available in DVD and Blu-Ray with each release containing the theatrical and unrated cuts.

Spike Lee's seminal film, "Do the Right Thing," sees a re-release from Universal in time for its 20th anniversary. Criterion previously released an excellent 2-disc edition back in 2001 and it appears this new version has a mix of old and new bonus features. It appears the commentary track and making-of documentary have been ported over from the Criterion DVD and are joined by an all-new commentary track from Spike Lee and a new retrospective. The "Do the Right Thing: 20th Anniversary Edition" is available on both DVD and Blu-Ray.

Magnolia releases the romantic melodrama "Two Lovers" starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, and Isabella Rossellini. This was Phoenix's last acting role before he retired from the movie business to become a crazy, bushy-bearded rapper.

Disney makes sure the younger set isn't left out this week with their most notable release being, "Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience." I have no idea who or what a Jonas Brother is, I'm an old fart after all, but they're apparently super-popular. This concert film is available in single-disc and 2-disc DVD editions as well as Blu-Ray which is the only one that features the 3D version. Disney also releases "Princess Protection Program" centering on a take of the tried-and-true fish out of water story about a princess living undercover in bayous of Louisiana. If you're thinking of either release for a family movie night, do yourself a favor and read Jim Plath's reviews of "Jonas Brothers" and "Princess Protection Program".

On the TV front, fans of "Entourage" can look forward to the further exploits of Vincent Chase, Johnny Drama, and Ari Gold in Season 5 of the HBO series. Fans have been clamoring for a DVD release of the cult classic comedy, "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," which lasted three seasons during the early years of Fox. Shout Factory has answered their requests by releasing the first season which contains several commentary tracks and a half-hour retrospective. Feel free to check out my review of the "Parker Lewis."

That's it for this release day. Tune in next week for more releases and hopefully I'll have thought of a clever sign-off by then.

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