First of all, as I said previously, the Blu-ray looked and sounded amazing and takes full advantage of the format. That said, the DVD is great, considering the limitations of standard definition. I still think the Blu-ray would be worth spending an extra $5 or so just for the improved A/V quality, but if that is not an option since you haven't made the leap to High Definition yet, you won't be disappointed with the DVD.

Moving onto the extras, this 3-Disc Collector's Edition DVD has all of the extras that were found on the Blu-ray, minus the Circle-Vision Interactive. The rest of the extras, the audio commentary track, the making-of featurettes, the deleted scenes, the outtakes, etc., are all there, and there's a lot to watch. About two hours worth. Again, the Blu-ray is a significantly better deal. However, if your choice is limited to the DVD, you won't be disappointed with what you get.

As I said last week, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was a very good movie that lives up to its predecessor. If you bought that movie and were happy with it, then there's no reason not to buy this one as well. Both the Blu-ray and the DVD are worth picking up, but the former is the much better deal.

Dr. Katz - Professional Therapist stars Jonathan Katz, a stand-up comic in real life. In the show he plays Dr. Katz, a professional therapist, whose list of patients are mostly other stand-up comics like Ray Romano, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, etc. In the regular episodes, there's usually a story involving Dr. Katz and his son, Ben, and sometimes his receptionist, Laura, as well as sessions with two of his patients. This DVD collects 18 of the best of these sessions and presents them in a marathon, or you can check out individual sessions. It actually works well in this format, however, I'm not sure how many of these I would refer to as 'Best Of.' There are a few people on this list that I don't think belong and more than a few that I would have added instead. Don't get me wrong, I laughed at most of the jokes in most of the sessions, and a difference of opinion on what constitutes the "best of' of is unavoidable.

On a side note, I showed the show to a selection of people who have never before seen Squigglevision. Most did not like it. I may be the only person I know that likes Squigglevision.

Extras on the DVD are light, especially compared to the previous releases. There are just six clips focusing on Ben and Laura with new voiceover intros by Dr. Katz. In total they run just over 22 minutes. (This includes two clips that are Easter Eggs, but they are rather easy to find.)

If you already have Dr. Katz - Professional Therapist on DVD, either the full season sets, or the Megaset, then there's little reason to get the DVD as well. However, if you just want a taste of this show, it's not a bad deal. I think the Megaset is the better deal.

• Growing Up... Arctic
  Polar Bear - A polar bear cub is orphaned when its mother and sibling are killed by hunters and has to be taken to a Toronto zoo to be cared for.
  Seal - An abandoned seal cub is found near Nome, Alaska, and is taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center for rehabilitation.
  Walrus - A very sick baby walrus is brought to the Alaska SeaLife Center where the team of experts try to return it to full health. However, they are in for a real challenge, as it is rare for a baby walrus to survive without its mother.
  Penguin - A bonus episode found on this DVD, it's mating season at the Oregon zoo and the birdkeepers there help raise it. They mention its biggest problem is not having a name, so this baby has a much easier life than the other three on this DVD.
• Growing Up... Primates
  Orangutan - The Balipapan Orangutan Survival Foundation help raise orphaned and abandoned orangutans, and this episode we look in at the process with two such orangutans.
  Gorilla - Orphaned gorillas are cared for at the Mefou National Park in Cameroon. These gorillas are under threat and could be extinct within 20 years, so their work is incredibly important.
  Baboon - Stew is a baboon orphaned after his mother was struck by a car. Now he is being raised in a wildlife sanctuary with hopes of being reintroduced into the wild.
• Growing Up... Safari
  Zebra - A young zebra is rescued from the wild, the latest victim of a massive drought hitting the region. However, while his recovery starts out well, he soon becomes seriously ill while the drought makes reintroduction into the wild more and more unlikely.
  Giraffe - This episode is hosted by Tasha de Vasconcelos, an actress and UNICEF Goodwill Representative. She starts the episode talking about growing up in Africa before we go to Safari West, a wildlife reserve in California where we check in on a newborn Giraffe Kulula.
  Hyena - When you think of cute animals, Hyena are not the first animal that jumps into the minds of most people. This episode shows the work of a man trying to not only raise hyenas, but rehabilitate their image.
  Rhino - Tunza is an abandoned rhino being raised in captivity while Tandi is another baby rhino dealing with serious illness. Will the caregivers be able to reintroduce these two back into the wild?
• Growing Up... Wildcats
  Lion - Three young lions rescued from abusive owners and two newborn lions with potential genetic disorders are raised at the Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio.
  Tiger - At the another Texas wildlife reserve, two young tiger cubs are raised after the sanctuary where they were born was too full to take them in.
  Cheetah - Cango Wildlife Ranch in South Africa, is the home to four newborn Cheetahs, which breed the animals in hopes one day there will be enough natural habitat for them to be released into.
  Black Leopard - Edie Falco hosts this episode where we meet Eddie, a Black Leopard that was raised almost a pet until it was ready to leave its home and join others of its kind at a wildlife sanctuary.
• Growing Up... Wilderness
  Wolf - The Minnesota Wildlife Science Center breeds wolves in captivity in order to maintain the genetic strength of the species hoping that their natural habitat will recover enough that they can be released into the wild.
  Sitka Deer - Jewelie is a newborn sitka deer orphaned after her mother was killed by a bear. Rescued by fishermen, she was taken to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to be raise with the goal of hopefully returning her to the wild.
  Black Beer - A black bear rescued from an abusive owner is raised by a family, but they know they have to let the bear go as its natural, wild instincts kick in.
  Moose - St. Felicien Zoo in Quebec, Canada helps take care of five baby mooses, including one that was born prematurely, and others that have some serious illnesses.

If you spend a lot of time at BabyAnimalz.com, you will undoubtedly enjoy the Growing Up Gift Pack. There are no extras, and I would prefer a full season set instead of a series of theme DVDs. However, the price per minute is still very reasonable and it would make an excellent gift.

Stop me if this sounds familiar. The Longshots is an inspirational sports movie that is based on real life events. The film stars Keke Palmer as Jasmine Plummer, a social outcast at school who is having trouble since her father left. Her mother hires her unemployed brother-in-law to watch after her after school, but they don't click. That is until they find common ground: Football. He inspires her to try out of the high school football team, and she helps him get his life back together.

As I've already said, this is an inspirational sports movie that is based on real life events. And that means it is loaded with clichés That said, it still has a certain charm thanks mostly to its two leads. I don't think it will make many end-of-the-year best-of lists, but it is better than its Tomatometer score would indicate and it is worth checking out.

Extras on the DVD start with seven deleted scenes with a total running time of just under 20 minutes. Next up is a seven-minute feature on the real Jasmine Plummer. There is an 8-minute making-of featurette and two interviews with Ice Cube and Fred Durst that runs a total of 13 minutes. That's not a whole lot, but since it bombed at the box office, it is more than I was expecting.

I don't have the Blu-ray to review, as I stated above; however, doing research, I've discovered that the Blu-ray release does not have any additional extras, nor are the extras present shown in High Definition. Also, since the movie isn't an effects extravaganza, there's little need to spend the extra 30% to buy it on Blu-ray over the DVD.

The Longshots opened to mixed reviews and never found an audience during its theatrical run. However, it is better than its performance would indicate and should be seen by more. That said, it is rather formulaic, like most films of its sub-genre are, and I'm not sure if it needs to be purchased over just rented. Call it a solid rental leaning to a purchase.

Lost - Season Four - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Yes, this review is a week early, but it is somewhat incomplete, as I only have the Blu-ray. Hopefully the DVD will arrive in time for next week.

This is season four of what I thought was going to be a five-year run, but during the extras, the creators mention season six. One of us is confused, and I hope it's me, otherwise we are in a lot of trouble. This is a hard TV series to review, because the show is so intricate, it is very, very hard to get into any real details without spoiling anything. All I can do is compare the show to previous seasons in vague generalities. I guess the most specific area I can talk about are the Flash Forwards, which are new this year. Instead of giving up more background information on the people stuck on the island, most of which has been heavily fleshed out already, these bits give us a look at several of the characters' futures. And since there are times where it is hard to figure out if it is a Flashback or a Flash Forward right away, there are some great gotcha moments here.

This season was shortened by the strike, coming in at just 13 episodes (or 14 if you count the double-length season finale), but the studio has compensated by adding additional extras. Things start with a recap of the three seasons done in 8 minutes and 15 seconds. It goes without saying there are spoilers to be found here. (Duh.) The rest of the extras are found on disc five, mostly in the form of featurettes. Lost on Location is an 8-part, 42-minute behind-the-scenes look at several location shoots for season four starting with... well, that would be a spoiler, wouldn't it. The Island Backlot: Lost in Hawaii runs 18 minutes and talks about the many locations in Hawaii where the show has been filmed. The Right to Bear Arms clocks in at 11 minutes and is about all of the guns found on the island. And there are a lot. Soundtrack of Survival is a 26-minute featurettes score for the show, the person who composes it, and the orchestra that performs its. Next up is 3 minutes of outtakes and 9 minutes of deleted scenes. The Oceanic Six - A Conspiracy of Lies runs 21 minutes and is a mockumentary on the cover story given by the six survivors from season four. The Freighter Folk, which is the latest new group found on the island. For people marooned on an island, they sure do meet a lot of new people. Offshore Shoot talks about the shooting on the freighter where a lot of the action takes place. There are also more than a dozen Mobisodes that run a combined 31 minutes.

The only Blu-ray Exclusive is Course of the Future: The Definitive, Interactive Flash Forwards. This starts with a game where you have to place a few of the Flash Forward clips in the right order, and when you do, you get to see all of them in Chronological order. Or you can watch only the ones pertaining to a single character.

Additionally, the Blu-ray looks and sounds amazing. I can't compare it to the DVD, at least not yet, but it is one of the best I've seen. It would be hard to imagine the Blu-ray is not a serious step up from the DVD.

As a TV series, Lost got off to an incredible start and quickly became must-see TV. And while every once and I while I think to myself, "Maybe they don't have a plan, and they are just winging it," I still think the quality of the show has held up well. In fact, season four is arguably better than season three. And even with a strike shortened run, it is worth picking up, while the Blu-ray is the better deal over the DVD.

Tropic Thunder - Blu-ray - Unrated Blu-ray
This will just be a quick update from the previous review where I only had the Unrated DVD to review. Now that the Unrated Blu-ray has arrived, I can describe the differences between the two formats.

The video and audio quality of the movie is great. It's a huge step up from the DVD, which wasn't terrible to begin with. Some of the jungle scenes are so good that you will want to pop this disc in your player to show off your home theater system. Others, like the scene with Jack Black tied half-naked to a tree are not so good. It's not that that scene had and technical problems, I just don't think anyone needs to see a half-naked Jack Black in High Definition.

Moving onto the extras, all of the extras from the Unrated DVD are here, mostly in High Definition. (Just the MTV bits are not.) The Unrated Blu-ray is also BD-Live enabled, which means if you have a Profile 2.0 player and a high speed internet connection, you can download several addition clips from Dispatches from Madness the mockumentary about the making of the movie within a movie and more Full Mags, which are the improv bits filmed for the movie that were later cut down to their best two or three lines. As a minor point, it is nice to get all of the extras on one disc.

This is arguably Ben Stiller's best directing effort and the Unrated DVD was an easy recommendation. I am pleased to say the Unrated Blu-ray is even better than expected and it is easily worth the extra $4 in price.