Above: You Don't Mess with the Zohan, The Happening, Sleeping Beauty

You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Adam Sandler wandering into topical territory, actually making sense, and stll making the funny? I was surprised too! Don't worry, he still packs in plenty of juvenile gags about the outlandish size of his package and drags in every ancient ethnic stereotype possible, but as an Israeli intelligence operative who wants to become a hairdresser, he pulls off the neat trick of creating a completely silly character in a wish-fulfillment scenario that, well, nearly everyone wants to see. Rent it. Available rated (theatrical cut) on a single-disc DVD and unrated in single-disc and double-disc DVD editions. The Blu-ray includes both the rated and unrated versions.

The Happening
Maybe the inclusion of "over 1 hour of intense bonus footage not shown in theaters!" -- extended versions of "Lion Attack" and Survivalist Porch" among them -- will convert me. Maybe I'll watch M. Night Shyamalan's first R-rated horror flick again some day to see if it still makes me roll my eyes and laugh out loud at scenes that were evidently intended to make me shiver in my seat. Maybe one day pigs will fly. Skip it. Available on DVD and Blu-ray with deleted scenes and "making of" features.

Sleeping Beauty
Scott Weinberg has already written about the awesomeness of the new edition of Disney's animated treasure on Blu-ray. This is a classic no-brainer, a movie that both young and old can dip back into time and again. Buy it. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

After the jump: Indies on DVD, Blu-ray, and Collector's Corner. Join us, won't you?

I constantly complain about modern special effects, how CGI creatures don't look realistic enough, but I have to admit this is pretty hypocritical of me. I love the work of effects legend Ray Harryhausen, and his models were never believable. There was a lot more inventiveness and craftsmanship in his effects, though, and there's no denying that the films he worked on have a creative spark that many modern fantasy films lack. Sometimes I think that my preference for model work over CGI has to do with their tangible appearance, but then that doesn't explain my forgiveness for the composite shots in Harryhausen films, which typically appeared as flat as today's worst CGI.

Anyway, despite our now having films with great computer effects like Jurassic Park and Peter Jackson's King Kong, Harryhausen will never be forgotten. Earlier this year, the 86-year-old received a well-deserved George Pal Memorial Award at the Saturn Awards and he was celebrated in the documentary The Sci-Fi Boys, which screened at Tribeca. Now, thanks to YouTube, someone is presenting all of Harryhausen's creatures and spaceships in a chronologically edited montage. Check it out below:

Paul Davids' documentary The Sci-Fi Boys is the kind of mediocre effort that makes its way onto DVDs as supplement material, although finding an appropriate special edition to include it with would be tough, as its focus isn't limited to any specific film or filmmaker. Davids, an admitted "sci-fi boy" filmmaker, spotlights other directors like Peter Jackson, Stephen Sommers, John Landis, Roger Corman and William Malone, all who grew up as fan boys before acquiring their own followers. Of course, with all the attention Davids gives to himself (the photo above shows him on the left as a young model maker), he could include the film as an extra on one of his own films, except that it wouldn't quite fit with his '97 debut Timothy Leary's Dead.

For fans of classic science-fiction and fantasy films, Ray Harryhausen is an important guy. He was not the most prolific man in his time, but the visual-effects master produced some of the early greats, most notably Jason and the Argonauts and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. The man had an eye for effects in an age where visual effects were just starting to emerge. The Saturn Awards (presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films) plans to give Harryhausen the George Pal Memorial Award at this year's 32nd annual awards festival on May 2nd.

The two flicks mentioned above are among my all-time favorites (particularly Jason and the Argonauts), and I can think of few men more deserving of special notice by the Saturn people. Harryhausen is something of a legend in the geek community, and I imagine nearly everyone out there agrees with this award. I'm just glad the 80-something year old is still around to receive it in person.