DVD Report

Jason Katzman

Alias: Season 4 ended with a bang. Superspy Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) learned that fellow spy and fiancé Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) wasn't really named Michael Vaughn just before their car was involved in an accident that looked like one of those Jetta commercials. Thus begins the fifth and final season of Alias, reduced to 17 episodes because of Garner's pregnancy, which is worked into the show as Bristow has Vaughn's baby.

Indeed, it's all a little silly by now — the ridiculous risks taken by the pregnant Bristow, Marshall's (Kevin Weisman) constant run-on explanations that never cease to annoy everyone, especially Jack (Victor Garber), and Arvin Sloane's (Ron Rifkin) on-again, off-again association with the Bristow clan despite his obvious obsession with Rambaldi, the Da Vinci-like 15th century artist/philosopher whose predictions of the future have spawned all kinds of evil enterprise and form the center of the show's mysteries and motivations. The Alias story is finally concluded on this four-disc set, which will no doubt leave fans satisfied and a little bit sad that the series is over.

I hate to admit it, but in this slow movie season, Jackass: Number 2 may be one of the more entertaining things I've seen this year. OK, so maybe Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Magera and the rest of the gang aren’t exactly be the brightest bulbs in the lighting section, but there's little doubt their willingness to hurt themselves in the name of entertainment is unmatched.

The bits in this second film definitely best the ones in the first. The film is tighter and the stunts more entertaining. While some of them are typical Jackass type stuff, like a simple game of medicine ball dodgeball in the dark (one of the least funny bits), some of the funniest stuff involves playing jokes on each other. Among the best is one where one of the guys dresses up like a terrorist to freak out a cab driver. The only catch is that the joke is on him. The cab driver is director Jay Chandrasekhar, who pulls a gun to protect himself. There's also the little matter of the guy's beard, which is made out of the pubic hair from the rest of the jackasses. Sure, it's juvenile stuff, but it's damn funny and worth watching. If there's a movie last year that produced more jaw-dropping moments, I don't know what it is.

Finally, George Carlin may not be at the top of his game and may not seem as funny as he used to, but that doesn't mean George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing isn't still funny. Carlin has become more of a philosopher/comedian and his show is more of a performance than a stand-up routine. Still, if you appreciate somebody who's not afraid to call us out on all the stupid things we do as human beings, then this DVD will make you laugh.