This week: Jason Segal and Emily Blunt play a couple whose wedding date keeps getting postponed in "The Five-Year Engagement," a comedy brought to you by the people behind "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and "Get Him to the Greek."
Also new this week is the 3-D killer-fish sequel "Piranha 3DD," Jason Statham in the action flick "Safe," the stoner comedy "High School" and the limited edition "Harry Potter Wizard's Collection," packaged with all eight movies plus collectibles.
'The Five-Year Engagement'
Box Office: $29 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 63% Fresh
Storyline: Jason Segal and Emily Blunt star in this romantic comedy as a couple whose relationship becomes severely strained as circumstances keep postponing their wedding date. It is emphasized in the press materials that Nicholas Stoller, the writer-director-star of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," helms the movie that is produced by Judd Apatow ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin") and Rodney Rotham ("Get Him to the Greek") to let you know "The Five-Year Engagement" is gunning for your funny bone, dammit.
Extras! Exclusive to the Blu-ray are the intriguingly titled featurettes "Gonorrhea Trouble" and "Turkey: The Making of." Rather than explain away the fun, it's best you just check them and the other making-of extras on your own.
We Say: There is a warm chemistry between Segal and Blunt that makes this surprisingly intelligent rom-com work despite the fact that the movie goes on for over a too-long two hours.
'Piranha 3DD'
Box Office: $376,512 (does not include VOD)
Rotten Tomatoes: 14% Rotten
Storyline: The title to this sequel to "Piranha 3D" promises more boobs and blood as the prehistoric killer fish from Lake Victoria migrate to the grand reopening of the Big Wet Water Park to snack on mostly well-endowed swimmers. Good sport Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as the oddball piranha expert and David Hasselhoff plays himself as a celebrity lifeguard.
Extras! Need more of the Hoff? "The Hofftastic World of David Hasselhoff" should satisfy your needs. Also included on the DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D (the version of choice here) are bloopers by Gary Busey and the questionably titled "The Story Behind DD."
We Say: Critics panned this sequel, but if you grinned at the first movie's serving up of scantily clothed partiers to razor-toothed piranha, we can't imagine why you wouldn't be on board for seconds. With lines like "Josh cut off his penis because something came out of my vagina," "Piranha 3DD" is deliberately sillier than its predecessor. Everyone is in on the joke, including the self-skewering Hasselhoff.
'Safe'
Box Office: $17 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 57% Rotten
Storyline: Jason Statham plays Luke Wright, a former elite NYC detective, thrust into a life-or-death chase for Mei, a young Chinese math prodigy who has memorized a complex safe combination. Hunted by both a Triad boss and the Russian mob, Luke and Mei must outwit and outmaneuver their underworld enemies in this R-rated thriller.
Extras! Both the DVD and Blu-ray have three behind-the-scenes featurettes — including "The Art of the Gunfight" and "Criminal Battleground" — as well as commentary from writer/director Boaz Yakin.
We Say: Although Statham is in his element here and we appreciate a violent action film that isn't watered down for a PG-13 audience, there is nothing extraordinary on display that elevates "Safe" above dozens of other shoot-'em-ups that you've already seen.
'High School'
Box Office: $139,034
Rotten Tomatoes: 25% Rotten
Storyline: This R-rated stoner comedy is about valedictorian Henry Burke (Matt Bush) who takes his first hit of the chronic only to discover that his principal (Michael Chiklis) has instituted mandatory drug tests on all students. With his stoner pal Breaux (Sean Marquette), Henry cooks up a plan — literally — to have everyone fail the test by serving up pot brownies baked with stolen weed from a psycho drug dealer.
Extras! Both the DVD and Blu-ray have commentary by writer-director John Stalberg Jr. and deleted scenes.
We Say: "High School" doesn't come close to any "Harold and Kumar" adventure, which should tell you all you need to know. This ambitious drug comedy starts off with a promising premise and gets a few dumb laughs before it all goes up in smoke.
'Harry Potter Wizard's Collection'
Box Office: $2,390,100,000 (total, eight movies)
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
Storyline: This limited and numbered Blu-ray and DVD collection contains all eight "Harry Potter" movies encased in a compartmentalized wizard's box that holds 31 discs and collectibles.
Extras! All the special features from the individual releases are included here — including the eight-part documentary "Creating the World of Harry Potter" — as well as a new bonus disc with over five hours of never-before-seen special features. The Wizard's Collection also comes with keepsakes like a selection of prop labels for potions, a 48-page catalog of artifacts, a blueprint of Hogwarts Castle and maps of its surroundings, five-by-seven-inch sketch prints and a numbered certificate of authenticity with Hogwarts Express ticket design.
We Say: This set goes for about $345 on Amazon, so if you already own all the movies on Blu-ray, you have to ask yourself if it's worth that much money for some collectibles and more supplemental material. The Wizard's Collection makes the most sense for the "Harry Potter" fan who is ready to make his or her magical leap to Blu-ray.
Also New This Week:
"Titanic" Blu-ray 3D
"Re-Animator" Blu-ray
"Hocus Pocus" Blu-ray
"Mad Monster Party" Blu-ray
"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" Blu-ray
"Cold Creek Manor" Blu-ray
