New DVDs: Buy, rent or ignore?

This week: 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' and 'Julie & Julia'

By Paul Semel

Posted December 7, 2009

Special to Metromix

You loved the movie, what about the DVD?

Find out as we examine the extras on this week's best movie DVDs...

"HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE"
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
Director: David Yates ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
Format: DVD, DVD/Blu-ray Combo
What we said: "Already past the point when most film franchises would be wheezing their way toward irrelevancy, Potter keeps going strong with a sense of purpose and ambition that puts most of Hollywood to shame."

Extras: DVD: Deleted scenes; “Close-Up with the Cast and Crew of 'Harry Potter',” “J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life,” “What's on Your Mind?” and “Universal's 'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter' Sneak Peek” featurettes;“One Minute Drills”; digital copy.
DVD/Blu-ray: DVD extras plus “WB Maximum Movie Mode”; BD-Live functions that include My Commentary and a look at the other “Potter” Blu-rays.

Worth watching: The “One Minute Drills,” in which the cast members have 60 seconds to describe their characters, are interesting and sometimes rather funny.
Worth skipping: The “Maximum Movie Mode” has some interesting parts, but the picture-in-picture aspects and photo galleries make it far more distracting than a regular audio commentary.
Worth adding: Original trailers for this movie, the other “Potter” movies and, as a special treat, the next one.

Buy, rent or ignore: Buy.


"JULIE & JULIA"
Stars: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci
Director: Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle”)
Format: DVD, Blu-ray
What we said: "Getting something half right would never have been good enough for [Julia] Child, and the movie goes all sorts of wrong with Julie."

Extras: DVD: Commentary by Ephron; “Secret Ingredients: Creating 'Julie & Julia'” featurette.
Blu-ray: DVD extras plus “Family & Friends Remember Julia Child” and “Julia's Kitchen” featurettes; Cooking Lessons; movieIQ “Julia's Recipe Collector.”

Worth watching: Anything with the real Julia Child: “Family,” “Kitchen” and her cooking lessons where you'll learn how to make poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.
Worth skipping: “Secret Ingredients” is a fairly bland making-of featurette.
Worth adding: Hearing from Streep and Adams would've added a lot of insight to the commentary.

Buy, rent or ignore: Rent.


Other DVDs out this week:
— Johnny Depp's been a bad boy and Christian Bale won't stand for it in “Public Enemies” (also on Blu-ray)
— Check out a documentary that stirred up a lot of attention: “The Cove”
— Watch Robin Williams not be the “World's Greatest Dad” (also on Blu-ray)
— Sometimes movies are barely released for a reason, as you'll see if you see "The Marc Pease Experience" and "The Skeptic"
— But at least they made it to theaters, which is better than the fate of Amy Adams' pre-fame “Moonlight Serenade”
— Spend more time with that good kid wizard thanks to “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Ultimate Edition” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Ultimate Edition” (both also on Blu-ray)

Also on Blu-ray:
“The Alphabet Killer”
“Grizzly Man”
“Lower Learning”
“Red Mist”
“While She Was Out”

Also released:
“Coraline Gift Set” (also on Blu-ray)
“Legendary Gangsters: 5 Movie Collection”