What I'm Watching: Editor's Choice (DVD)

The Shooter Series: Brett Ratner / Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Bod Squad / Foreigner: Can't Slow Down

I call this latest round-up review my "Random Round-Up" because I have five very unique DVDs, and when I look at them all together, they create a nice kind of "organized randomness" theme. So there are no real genres at work here, but I do have some interesting DVD releases to look at.

First up, we have The Shooter Series: Volume 1 - Brett Ratner. Now, at first I laughed at this, because I think Brett Ratner is one of the worst directors working today. To kick off a series apparently focusing on talented directors with Brett Ratner seems like a huge mistake. However, this disc wisely goes back before his career of ruining promising movies and focuses on his early work, and in that regard, it's a hit.

What you get on this disc are 21 music videos (almost all hip-hop) from the likes of Mariah Carey, P. Diddy, Madonna, Public Enemy, and The Wu-Tang Clan, among others. Actually, just in terms of a great R&B music collection, this disc is pretty outstanding. In addition, however, we also get six commericals, four student short films, four miscellaneous short videos, a documentary on Ratner, and a 32-page collectible book. The book includes some of Ratner's photographic portraits, too, which include Roman Polanski, Robert Evans, Al Pacino and Hugh Jackman. I mean, really, that's pretty impressive.

There are no extra features to speak of on the disc, but since it's a compilation disc, there's really no point in trying to separate what's an "extra" and what's the "feature."

Regardless of how you feel about Ratner as a feature film director, it's clear that he definitely has some talent in the music video world. This release is an excellent look at the early years of a popular director.

Movie: A-
Extra Features: N/A

Next, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Bod Squad offer up not one, not two, but three new exercise DVDs: Calorie Blasting Dance, Hard Body Boot Camp, and Body Slimming Yoga. Now, I always find it kind of ridiculous to review exercise discs because, well, A) I don't really exercise and B) what can I really review? I can't talk about plot or direction or acting, you know? I can say that watching these discs is a pleasure because the girls involved are all completely gorgeous, but that seems like a given. I mean, there's a reason the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders are world famous, folks.

Still, these discs actually impressed me. Each one includes a warm-up and a cool down section, and then two main exercise segments: one that's less intense and one that's more intense. On top of that, each disc has unique extra features geared towards maximizing your workouts. I don't know a lot about exercise, but it seems to me like you're getting your money's worth here.

The extra features are:

Calorie Blasting Dance -

• Dance It Out DCC Style
• Middle Whittler - Dance Inspired Ab Routine
• DCC Cheer Routine
• Instructor-Only Audio Track
• Music-Only Audio Track

• Total Ab Assault
• Total Arm Assault
• Instructor-Guided Position Breakdown
• Introduction To Yoga By Official DCC Instructor Kurt Johnsen
• Instructor-Only Audio Track
• Music-Only Audio Track

• Instructor-Guided Position Breakdown
• Mixed Marital Arts Routine
• Introduction To Tai-Chi And Kung-Fu Conditioning
• Instructor-Only Audio Track

Movie: A (for exercise videos)
Extra Features: B+

Finally, getting back to the music side of things, the newest release from Foreigner, Can't Slow Down, is a pretty neat package. Now, I'm not a huge Foreigner fan, but I like a good number of their hits when they come on the radio, like most other people I would imagine. Foreigner: Can't Slow Down gives me a little bit of everything, however. This 3-Disc release is comprised of two CDs and one DVD. The two discs are one CD of all-new material and one CD of Greatest Hits. That's a good marketing strategy; I might buy the CD for the greatest hits, but I'll pop in the new disc, too, since it's there. Turns out, it's not terrible. I mean, Foreigner is pretty much doing what they always do, but they're certainly not embarrassing. Of course, the hits disc is a nice compilation of some cool tunes. Apparently, they're remastered to boot, but to be honest, I couldn't really tell the difference as I'm just not a die-hard fan, so I don't pick up on the subtleties of their songs.

The DVD included is a live concert recorded in 5.1 surround sound, mixed together with some behind-the-scenes backstage footage. It's a nice mix of hits, so this package really is well put together for both the die hard fans and the more casual fans. Ultimately, the music is good but not great, but I can't argue that this set offers up a pretty good value for the money.

CD/DVD: B
Extra Features: N/A

- Mike Spring
Editor