X-Men Origins: Wolverine
20^th Century Fox
$30
2-Disc: $35
Blu-ray: $40

Plot: At last, the origin story behind everyone’s favorite adimantium-laced mutant (played once again by Hugh Jackman) is revealed.

Opinion: Filmed from a script that doesn’t feel so much written as cut-and-pasted together out of a number of rough drafts, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a complete and utter mess, one that makes the third X-Men flick look like The Dark Knight.  Where to begin with the film’s list of offenses?  Let’s start with the story, which attempts to shed light on Wolverine’s past but instead winds up making his origin murkier.  Nonsensical and downright dumb plot points abound, from the revelation of how Wolverine got that famous jacket (some old guy on a farm gave it to him) to the explanation for his amnesia in the original X-Men trilogy (it’s because…sorry, that bit is just too idiotic to reveal).  The film’s relentless stupidity might be easier to forgive-or at least ignore-if it offered well-executed battles or lively performances.  But director Gavin Hood appears to have little sense of how to choreograph a coherent action sequence and the sub-par special effects don’t help matters.  Despite a budget that’s reportedly in the neighborhood of $150 million, Wolverine all too often resembles a cheaply made direct-to-DVD movie, with distractingly bad CGI and digital backgrounds that are so poorly rendered, you can almost see the greenscreen.  The cast brings nothing to the table either; even Jackman seems to have lost the effortless cool that he brought to the character nine years ago in the first X-Men adventure.  That Wolverine was someone we wanted to see more of-this guy is a total drag.

Bonus Features: Two commentary tracks-one with Hood and the other with the producers-both of which avoid mentioning a lot of the behind-the-scenes turmoil that was widely reported during the shoot as well as a bland making-of featurette and an equally bland batch of deleted scenes.  There is one highlight through: a lively 16-minute chat between Marvel Comics wizard Stan Lee and Wolverine creator Len Wein who discuss, among other things, the enduring popularity of the X-Men and Wolverine’s mystery-shrouded origin in the comic book.

Verdict: Skip It

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Set It Off
Menace II Society
Friday
Warner Home Video
$15 each
Blu-ray: $29 each

Plot: Three classic mid-’90s ‘hood movies, released in new deluxe editions.

Opinion: Hood movies were all the rage in the ’90s and now three of the genre’s best-remembered titles are being re-released as extras-laden, deluxe edition DVDs.  Interestingly, the film that holds up the best is the funny one. Owing more to offbeat comedies like Clerks and Slacker than Boyz n the Hood, 1995′s Friday remains a laugh riot, thanks largely to the potent comic chemistry of co-stars Ice Cube and Chris Tucker in his first major film role. Unfortunately, the Hughes Brothers’ blistering 1993 debut, Menace II Society, hasn’t aged quite as well. Though the directors have visual flair to burn and the nihilistic ending still packs a punch, the lead character, the troubled Caine, is simply too much of a bitter pill to swallow. Both films also suffer from a dearth of complex female characters, a problem that 1996′s Set It Off attempted to resolve, with modest success. Centered around a quartet of women bank robbers (played by Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise), the movie’s fierce attitude almost makes up for its dramatic clumsiness.

Bonus Features: Each of these deluxe editions feature a new director’s cut of the film and a variety of other bonus features, including commentary tracks, retrospective featurettes and vintage music videos

Verdict: Buy It

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The Shooter Series, Volume 1: Brett Ratner
Genius Products
$25

Plot: A collection of music videos, commercials and short films culled from the archives of Hollywood heavy-hitter Brett Ratner.

Opinion: A spiritual sequel to The Director’s Series-a 2003 set of DVD’s that collected early music videos and commercials by such cult filmmakers as Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze-Lionsgate’s new Shooter Series is a grab-bag assortment of early work by filmmakers-including The Hughes Brothers and F. Gary Gray-that have since graduated to the big time.  Leading off the line-up is Brett Ratner, who went from helming Public Enemy and D’Angelo videos to directing Chris Tucker in Rush Hour and Hugh Jackman in the third X-Men flick.  Almost every music video he directed is included here, along with commentary from Ratner himself-although his comments rarely extend beyond “This was really cool” or “I really liked working with that person.”  There’s also a reel of several commercials he’s made over the years and four inscrutable short films from his NYU days.  Finally, Ratner and his past and present colleagues-among them, Russell Simmons and Mariah Carey-sing his praises in a relentlessly positive half-hour documentary about his career.  If you’re not a fan of Ratner, this disc won’t do anything to convince you otherwise.  However, if you are into some of the musicians featured here, having all their videos in one place is nice.

Bonus Features: Technically, the entire DVD is one long bonus feature.

Verdict: Rent It

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Also on DVD:

The independently produced documentary Big Pun: The Legacy (Vivendi, $20) covers the short life and premature death of one of the biggest-selling rappers of the ’90s.  Featuring new interviews with his family, friends and co-workers as well as never-before-seen home movies, The Legacy is a surprisingly compelling video biography.  From rappers to blacklisted screenwriters, Peter Askin’s Trumbo (Magnolia, $27) is a moving tribute to the author of such classic movies as Spartacus and Exodus.  The HBO series The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (HBO, $60), based on the best-selling series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, debuted to strong reviews earlier this year, but costs may keep Jill Scott from reprising the role of South African sleuth Precious Ramotswe for a second season.  In other TV news, Fame: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2 (MGM, $40)-a box set containing the first two seasons of the TV-series based on the hit 1980 movie-hits shelves two weeks before the big-screen Fame remake dances its way into theaters.  Paramount continues to roll out enhanced versions of the Friday the 13^th franchise, this week releasing Part VII and Part VIII (Paramount, $17) on DVD and Blu-ray.  Jessica Biel tested her range in the British comedy Easy Virtue (Sony Pictures Classics, $29) and while the movie (as well as her performance) isn’t a revelation, it’s solid enough to merit a rental.  Finally, Miramax unleashes four recent kung-fu hits in sparkling new Blu-ray versions, including Zhang Yimou’s gorgeous Hero, the Jackie Chan adventure The Legend of Drunken Master, Takeshi Kitano’s update of Zatoichi and the very entertaining Iron Monkey (Miramax, $45 each).  Hero is also available in a standard Special Edition (Miramax, $20) with all-new bonus features.

In the news article titled TECH FOOD: Wolverine Film Leaked a Month Before Release BP member iavaj says, “The movie was reported to have been downloaded several hundred thousand times and has since been ‘removed.’”

Resident tech head iavaj can be found posting informative tech related articles titled “Tech Food” in BP news. Let us know what you think here.

For more on what TUD has to say about the Wolverine movie click here.

UPDATE: Special Effect Company Denies Being The Source.

No this is not the entire movie, just the trailer. Enjoy.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus -

One-thousand-year-old Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) has a problem: The head of a magical theater, the good doctor can transport even the most jaded and cynical audience member through a world of pure imagination. All fine and good, of course, unless the devil himself granted you those powers — and kidnaps your daughter to seal the deal. What’s a guy to do? Call on some pretty powerful friends, who include a dwarf (Verne Troyer) and a mysterious outsider named Tony, to help track her through parallel dimensions.

Director Terry Gilliam had a problem too: With production well under way on his latest leap into pure imagination, Gilliam lost his Tony when Heath Ledger died suddenly from a drug overdose. What’s a director to do? Call on some pretty powerful friends, of course, including Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who will each pay tribute to Ledger by playing his last-ever character in various parts of the movie. Now just what sort of Faustian bargain do we have to make to get Ledger back … and where can we sign up?

Year One -

Not every story has to be original, you know. This one, actually, is ripped off from one of the first. Starring Jack Black, Michael Cera and Hank Azaria, Year One is a parody of biblical proportions — literally — as our protagonists navigate such landmines as Sodom and Gomorrah, and Cain and Abel, all in a search for the meaning of life. What is it? “It’s so hard to … ” Cera hesitated, before looking up with a coy smile when we asked him last year. “I wouldn’t do a good job [of describing] it, I guess.” We’ll be there to find out on June 5th.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra -

It’s one of the worst parts of getting older — no matter how excited you are about something, it’ll never match the feelings of anticipation and joy you got from the same thing at the age of 6. Right? Not for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who acted like a diabetic walking into the Wonka factory when his role as Cobra Commander came up. And why not? An origin story of sorts, “Joe” will follow a slew of old favorites, including Duke (Channing Tatum), Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) and the Baroness (Sienna Miller) as they try to save the world (or end it). Know this, Joseph: Your enthusiasm is infectious. (And knowing is half the battle.) “G.I. Joe” heads into battle August 7.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time -

The biggest problem in modern cinema with the portrayal of Middle Easterners? They’re never the good guys! Thank goodness, then, for Jake Gyllenhaal, who will step into the titular role of Prince Dastan, a sixth-century Persian prince who must rescue the Sands of Time from an evil nobleman (Ben Kingsley). Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney is hoping that this is the next “Pirates” — a fun romp with boffo effects. All fine and dandy but, good grief, we haven’t seen this much cultural revisionism from Disney since they gave us an Aladdin that looked like Tom Cruise. The video game-turned-movie hits theaters June 16.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine -

Go back far enough in any story and pretty soon just about everything becomes lame. Want proof? Darth Vader was the most evil man in the universe — until George Lucas told us he just had mommy issues. So when it comes to one of the coolest guys in comic history, you can understand our trepidation. But what’s not to like about a Wolverine origin story? It’s got a whole boatload of mutants (seriously, we stopped counting when we got to 10). “Root-a-toot-toot!” Under the direction of Oscar winner Gavin Hood, “Wolverine” kicks off the summer-movie season May 1.

Up -

Ah, to be old and retired, free from the rat race of human existence, from the responsibilities of work and family, given leisure time to perfect a craft, play a game of cards, eat an early dinner, and of course, engage in a worldwide quest filled with danger, excitement and peril (from your house, no less, which you’ve converted into a hot-air balloon and flown to South America). For some reason, those last few things aren’t listed on my grandmother’s AARP bulletin. No matter. Hot on the heels of the phenomenal artistic success of “WALL-E,” Pixar’s “Up” gets a release May 29.

Brüno -

He deflated the conflict between Jews and Palestinians. He incited a riot in Arkansas. God bless him, he even managed to piss off Ben Affleck. All praise Sacha Baron Cohen, the quickest comedic wit around and the man behind the funniest movie of the decade, “Borat.” The dumb, the ignorant and the slow — look out! The joke’s on us again when “Brüno” opens May 15th.

Star Trek -

They’ve been to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, and, if rumors are to be believed, they’ll soon journey to the city on the edge of forever. But ask any “Star Trek” fan where they’d most like to see the intrepid crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise boldly go next, and they’ll all tell you the same thing: into renewed relevance. At least 20 years since their last mainstream hit, “Trek” regulars Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Chekov , Scotty and Sulu get reimagined by J.J. Abrams. Beam us up May 8th.

Terminator Salvation -

They are fearless machines — merciless, dispassionate and ferociously deadly. They have access to time machines and weapons capable of unspeakable destruction. They are constructed of nearly invincible polymers, capable of surviving almost anything. They are the Terminators. And they can’t freaking kill one stupid woman and her bratty kid! Even though they’ve tried three times! How about a little “self” awareness, Skynet? You’re terrible at your job. In this reboot after half a decade away from the big screen, the T-1000 and his pals search for John Connor (Christian Bale) and his wife as the future war begins. On May 22, will the fourth time be the charm? Not likely. They’ll “be back” for at least two more sequels.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -

Giant. Effing. Robots. Killing each other. Need we say more? All right, you twisted my arm. How about this? Giant. Effing. Robots. Killing each other. And Megan Fox. Yeah, you’re right. That’s much better. Director Michael Bay, Fox, Shia LaBeouf, Optimus Prime and the rest are back June 26.

Leading up to the events of “X-Men,” X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.