New on DVD
Terminator Salvation: Director’s Cut
Rated R for some violence and brief nudity
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Christian Bale is the adult John Connor, the leader of the resistance against the machines. When he discovers that the man he is supposed to send back in time to protect his mother and become his father is in trouble, he seeks to find him and bring him to safety. To complicate matters, his father is being escorted by an unpredictable terminator. This new director’s cut still has a lot of scratch-your-head fuzzy logic and some crumby writing, but it is a vast improvement from the theatrical release for one main reason – it’s not made for teenagers. I was so upset that the Terminator franchise was allowed to be PG-13 and this new version, while not as strong as the first three films, at least has a more similar tone. Also, if you are a blu-ray owner, you will love the special viewing mode Warner Brothers has built here, similar to what was seen in The Watchmen. B-
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Rated PG for mild action and brief language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In this sequel to the hit comedy, Ben Stiller discovers that Jebediah and Octavius have been shipped off to the Smithsonian and thus attempts a rescue. Unfortunately, the Smithsonian comes to life as well and chaos ensues. There are too many great adult comedians in this film (Steve Coogan, Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, etc…) to offer nothing for adults, but yet that is exactly what it does. The humor, the effects, the wit, and the tone are all family-based. They like to act clever when there is an occasional double entendre, but I just can’t see how anyone without kids and over the age 15 would appreciate this. Then again, that may be just fine for Twentieth Century Fox who made almost a half a billion dollars with the pic. Obviously there is an audience, but it’s not me and I’m OK with that. That being said, I still think there is smarter, more challenging material (such as anything made by Pixar) out there for children that won’t cause the adults to lose brain cells. C