Fans of this lighthearted romantic fluff will no doubt be pleased with Paramount's DVD edition. The picture is an eye-pleasing 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer that nicely captures the Chicago settings. A film as dialogue-heavy as this one doesn't usually benefit from Dolby Digital 5.1, but certain scenes do stand out, most notably during Mel Gibson's dancing to Frank Sinatra. Director Nancy Meyers and production designer Jon Hutman provide a commentary that is more informative than one might expect. Meyers gives some good behind-the-scenes info and shares some good anecdotes as well. Additionally, there are a pair of featurettes that are mostly promotional in nature, but offer up some good footage of the film being shot, as well as a couple of good bits about the film's creation. A complaint must be lodged about the lack of deleted scenes, as the included trailers show a handful of sequences that were indeed removed from the final cut. Still, it's a minor quibble when compared to the other solid offerings to be found on this DVD.

A Los Angeles special liaison officer (Wesley Snipes) is called in to investigate the murder of a call-girl in the boardroom of a Japanese corporation. Accompanied by a detective with unusual knowledge of the Japanese culture (Sean Connery), the two men must unravel the mystery behind the murder by entering an underground Inchshadow worldInch of futuristic technology, ancient ways and confusing loyalties.

Robert Rodriguez's low-budget follow-up to his no-budget smash El Mariachi, Desperado, comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. English and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, while Portuguese and Spanish soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital Stereo. Subtitles are accessible in all of those languages, as well as Thai and Mandarin. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by Rodriguez. This is the same track that appeared on the laserdisc of Desperado, but it is highly entertaining. Rodriguez leads off by saying that with El Mariachi he wanted to show how 6,000 dollars could look like six million, and in Desperado he wanted to show how six million could look like 60 million. For do-it-yourself filmmakers, the disc also contains a free trial of some video editing software. A ten-minute featurette on Rodriguez's editing techniques, filmographies, trailers, and a preview of Once Upon a Time in Mexico round out this strong release from Columbia/TriStar.

John Huston's big-screen adaptation of the Broadway smash Annie arrives on DVD with a standard full-frame transfer that fails to preserve the original theatrical aspect ratio of the film. Though fine for what it is, the full-frame transfer cramps the film in a way that will bother film lovers. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, while French and Spanish soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, and Korean subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a ten-minute featurette with the now grown Aileen Quinn, who discusses the wonderful time she had making the movie and how difficult the process of getting the part was. Another extra allows youngsters to sing along with the songs in the film. A music video from the Swedish pop band Play performing "It's the Hard-Knock Life," and a selection of trailers rounds out this release.