DVD Releases - April 25

Some more winter releases make their way to DVD this week, featuring some critically acclaimed films mixed in with one of last year’s biggest critical and box office disappointments. Oscar-winner Charlize Theron in spandex? How do you screw that up? Well, here’s some of the noteworthy releases for April 25:

“Aeon Flux: Special Edition” (PG-13) - The aforementioned Theron stars as the title character, based on the animated series that aired on MTV in the 1990s. The cartoon had earned a fairly passionate and devoted following over the years, who must have stayed away from the movie in droves. Yet Theron would certainly seem to be well cast as an assassin working with a group of rebels to overthrow the government.
Extras: Commentary with Theron, producer Gale Anne Hurd and more, multiple featurettes focusing on various production aspects such as stunts, costume design and locations.
Official Web site

“Casanova” (R) - In a clear departure from his Oscar-nominated role in “Brokeback Mountain,” Heath Ledger plays the title character in director Lasse Hallstrom’s romantic comedy. In this, Ledger is definitely a ladies man, who falls for the one woman who wants nothing to do with him. Let the wooing begin!
Extras: Commentary with Hallstrom, featurettes focusing on costume design and recreating 18th century Venice.
Official Web site

“Match Point” (R) - Writer-director Woody Allen stepped into a bit of new territory with a thriller involving a social climber (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) falling into a passionate affair with his brother-in-law’s fiancée (Scarlett Johansson). Allen actually chose to film this one in England, away from his typical and trademark New York locations. It was also widely considered a return to form of the quality films he did earlier in his career.
Extras: Woody’s not a fan of DVD extras, so you’ll get a big heaping help of nothing with this movie.
Official Web site

“Shopgirl” (R) - Never mind the unnecessary resurrection of “The Pink Panther” series, good critical marks were given for Steve Martin’s adaptation of his own novella in last fall’s romantic comedy. The film primarily focuses on Mirabelle (Claire Danes), an aspiring artist who finds herself the object of affections between two very disparate people (Martin and Jason Schwartzman).
Extras: Commentary by director Anand Tucker, deleted scenes and a making of featurette.
Official Web site

“The Wedding Singer: Totally Awesome Edition” (PG-13) - This re-release of a what amounts to a pretty darn good Adam Sandler film doesn’t give you much new to enjoy (see below). But if you don’t already own a version of the movie that trades on a heavy 1980s music soundtrack, not to mention a very likable performance from Drew Barrymore, you could do a lot worse.
Extras: Well, there’s some karaoke here, a featurette about an upcoming “Wedding Singer on Broadway” production, and more than five minutes of never-before-seen footage. So what are we talking about? Six, seven minutes? Not quite totally awesome.
Official Web site