Directed by Nick Cassavetes, this adaptation of author Nicholas Sparks' bestselling novel revolves around Noah Calhoun's (James Garner) regular visits to a female patron (Gena Rowlands) of an area nursing home. Rather than bore her with the inanities of everyday life, Calhoun reads from an old, faded notebook containing the sweeping account of a young couple (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) whose love affair was tragically put to a halt after their separation in the midst of World War II. Seven years later, the couple was reunited, and, despite having taken radically different paths, they found themselves unable to resist the call of a second chance. The Notebook also features Joan Allen, Sam Shepard, and Kevin Connolly.
When Warner Bros. turned the cartoon Scooby-Doo into a live-action motion picture, movie viewers across the nation were all over it like -- as Shaggy would say -- chocolate on an eggplant burger. Warner has done an excellent job with the DVD release, especially with the cast commentary starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini. The DVD is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1, with sharp Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio. Subtitles are in English, French, and Spanish. Nevertheless, the magic is in the special features. "Unmasking the Mystery Behind Scooby-Doo" is the DVD staple known as the behind-the-scenes featurette; this one, beefy in length and composition, doesn't disappoint. All the vitals are there, from Gellar to the voice of Scooby himself, an Australian named Neil Fanning. The most amazing parts of this featurette involve how the moviemakers created Scooby using the magic of technology and the voice of the man from Down Under. This cast commentary was a riot, filled with jokes about Velma's helmet hair and "stunt butts." A music video, hidden extras, interactive DVD-ROM challenges, web links, and a trivia game called "Two-Player Spooky Island Arcade Challenge" round out the menu selections.