Now Showing at Home

Jackass 2.5

Technically, this is not a new Jackass film. The cast sits down for some interviews and discusses the stuff that didn't make it into the last movie--footage we now get to see.

One would think that a film of Jackass outtakes would amount to nothing but pure garbage. I've enjoyed the Jackass films up to this point (although Number Two a pretty close call). It turns out this film, while often wretchedly sick, is actually fun to watch for most of its running time.

Among the highlights would be Wee Man getting his ass gored by a crazed mini-bull. (That little guy has a major set of balls.) Wee Man also plays a damsel in distress while one of his larger buddies (Preston Lacy), dressed as King Kong, stands atop a portable john with model planes crashing into him. Wee Man also gives a new meaning to his name when he sprays his fellow stuntmen with his own piss out of a Super Soaker.

Bam Margera gets a couple of good ones in. At one point, he allows a perfect stranger to drive a golf ball off a tee planted in his groin. He also flies a kite out of his ass (with the assistance of anal beads) and shoots a bazooka at his parents while in their house.

Johnny Knoxville allows himself to be anally probed in Russia, while Steve-O (the craziest motherfucker in the bunch) allows a rattlesnake to pop an inflated condom hanging out of his butt. Steve-O also winds up vomiting profusely after he drinks a Miller beer that drains off of a guy with humongous fingernails. Of all the stuff that has made Steve-O vomit through the years, this appeared to be something that he could survive without spewing. Alas, he doesn't make it.

Most unfortunate cameo: Mike Judge pumping a fireplace bellow (one of those xylophone-looking things that shoots air) up Lacy's butt. Well, Judge actually just watches, but that makes him a participant.

I knocked this one down from a B to a B- because, yes, it shows somebody shitting again. I'm sick and tired of the shit scenes. It's time for those to stop. Otherwise, this is some pretty funny stuff.

Special Features: Jesus, they filmed a lot of stuff for Number Two. In addition to an entire outtake movie that isn't half bad, you get a bunch of deleted scenes from the outtake movie, and they are cool, too. There's Wee Man getting bucked by a nasty jackass (a real donkey), a funny Rapunzel skit and more of Knoxville in old-man makeup. Believe it or not, they are making a Jackass video game, and the DVD contains a behind-the-scenes look at its creation. That looks to be a decent amount of fun. Perhaps dumbasses will be able to live vicariously through the game rather than trying to re-create the idiotic stunts.

Lost: The Complete Third Season

The end of this season provided the single best jolt the show has delivered yet. Many a reviewer has revealed details about the finale, but I won't. God damn it, I won't. I really want to, but I won't.

Well, maybe I can say a little. No, I shouldn't. I don't know. Do you think I should? OK ... I will. Nah, forget it, I won't.

Thanks to a bunch of studious writers, some scripts got into the can before the writers' strike, so the saga of the survivors and the others will continue in January. This way, I won't have to wait too long to find out what happens after the killer finale. You know--the finale that I won't tell you about.

Heck, now that I've brought it up, maybe I should just tell you a little bit. OK, I will. No, forget it ... I won't.

Special Features: All-new flashbacks, audio commentaries, bloopers, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage make this a packed DVD.

Halloween: Unrated Director's Cut

Rob Zombie didn't slander John Carpenter with his remake of this horror classic. He didn't do the guy that many favors, either. The film ultimately fails, because it tries to make Michael Myers a sympathetic character. No, no, no! That's a totally wrong direction. The scary thing about Myers is that he's a killing machine--killing without a conscience. Zombie's film portrays him as somebody with major mommy and sister issues. Lame.

Still, Zombie gives us the best-looking Myers in years (the mask looks great). The unrated version has more violence ... naturally. It's a lot better than, say, the recent Texas Chain Saw remakes, and worlds better than that shot-by-shot Psycho redo. Zombie makes good-looking movies; this one's just a little too idiotic for its own good.

Special Features: Some brief behind-the-scenes stuff doesn't deliver. Zombie gives a commentary, and he's OK to listen to. Outtakes show that Malcolm McDowell should make his next film a comedy. He's funny as all heck on the set.