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Okay, that’s not all. The movie stars Asa Butterfield (as an older-than-in-the-book Ender), Ben Kingsley and Harrison Ford, and will hit theaters November 1, 2013. As excited as I am for the movie, I am also nervous as hell: the book is complex and nuanced, and I am not convinced that director Gavin Hood, who directed the wretched X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is up to the task. The teaser trailer doesn’t strike much confidence in me, either.

Only time will tell…

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Vanity Fair just released a preview of their June 2013 exclusive with Brad Pitt, which provides more detail into what we already knew: the production has been a big, bloated mess. While there is a part of me that is morbidly curious to see the movie – and I hope, hope, hope that I am wrong and that the movie will be a fun thrill ride – this seemed like the best opportunity to outline why World War Z is prone to be a big, awful flop.

Here are five reasons why:

5. The movie is going to be nothing like the book

Even before the first trailer ever made its way online, it was clear that the movie was going to represent a huge departure from the Max Brooks bestseller. In the book, Brad Pitt’s character travels the world collecting stories from survivors of the zombie apocalypse; in the movie, understandably, he is at the center of the action.

Changes are to be expected in theatrical adaptations of books, and I’m the first to admit that the book would be very challenging to adapt in its true form, but is the movie going to represent anything more than a shell of its source material? And will fans of the book be open enough to support it and spread positive word-of-mouth?

4. Its release date

World War Z has a prime release date on June 21, 2013, just as children are getting out of school. Unfortunately, one of the most anticipated movies of the year - Man of Steel – debuting a week before and the Roland Emmerich action film White House Down launching in theaters the week after, immediately followed by Despicable Me 2 and Johnny Depp’s The Lone Ranger. Oh, and the movie debuts the same weekend as Monsters University, which is practically guaranteed to open to around $80 million.

In other words, World War Z is going to have come out all guns blazing to make a dent, but there’s no room to do it.

3. The movie was filmed without an ending

“We started shooting the thing before we locked down how it was going to end up, and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to,” Brad Pitt says of the production. Really, you started filming without an ending? Paramount paid the price, too, resorting to “re-writing and reshooting 40 minutes of the film to find a coherent ending.”

That’s only half the movie. Ouch.

2. World War Z is, at its heart, a zombie movie

I love zombies. I think zombie movies are great. But with rare exception, they don’t make a lot of money. At least not the kind of money World War Z needs to make. Let’s look at some of the most popular zombie movies of the last decade:

• 28 Days Later (2003) - $82 million
• Shaun of the Dead (2004) – $30 million
• Dawn of the Dead (2004) $102 million
• Zombieland (2009) – $102 million worldwide
• I Am Legend (2007) - $585  million

Clearly, Paramount is hoping the most obvious comparison will be I Am Legend, which was marketed more as a Will Smith survival tale than your typical zombie film (in fact, that book is actually about vampires). The comparison is justified, as most people who watch the trailers for World War Z think it’s about an alien invasion and the movie definitely has more of a big budget disaster movie feel than it does a zombie flick. But again, due to its release schedule, this movie won’t have the same opportunity to open huge nor the room to have legs (I Am Legend debuted in December to $77 million).

1. World War Z cost $200 million, at least

I could be wrong. The movie could open relatively strong, on its way to a $150 – 200 million domestic gross. Brad Pitt is popular overseas, as are loud obnoxious blockbusters, so it could make some considerable cash in foreign markets. But according to Variety, the “budget ballooned to around $200 million” – and when marketing and print costs are taken into account, Paramount could be looking at a bill north of $300 million. Pitt likely has a nice back-end deal, further diluting profit margins.

Bottom line: World War Z is going to need to make a lot of money to break even, and with tough competition and presumably bad reviews (you don’t think people don’t expect a certain level of quality following the footsteps of “The Walking Dead,” do you?), it isn’t going to.

What do you think?

And this isn’t just any drama-comedy. This is Silver Linings Playbook we’re talking about (err, writing about), which you have never heard of because it was only nominated for eight Academy Awards and really only won one, with adorably-hot-and-irresistible-damn-you-Bradley-Cooper Jennifer Lawrence tripping on her way to the podium to accept her rightfully deserved Oscar for Best Actress.

So, I could go on and on about how good the movie is or how wonderful the video transfer looks (I didn’t pay attention, but I’m sure it’s great), but instead I’ll bore you with details about the bonus features which really should have no bearing on whether you end up buying this movie, because of course you’re going to buy this movie because it was one of the best movies of 2012.

Sorry for saying “movie” so many times. SEO, you know.

The Silver Linings Playbook DVD, which presumably has less bonus features than the Blu-ray, comes with a whole bunch of deleted scenes – some funny, some dramatic, most deserving of the cutting room floor – and a featurette that has the cast and crew going on about how awesome their movie is, because their movie is pretty awesome. Valuable insight? Not so much. Lots of talking about how awesome their movie is? Oh yeah.

There’s also a small feature about the dance rehearsals between are-they-or-aren’t-they couple Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, which is pretty useless except it gives another opportunity to stare at Jennifer Lawrence shaking her ass in yoga pants. Oh, and there’s another feature that shows Bradley Cooper using a steadicam. Easily one of the most pointless bonus features you will ever watch in the history of bonus features.

The deleted scenes are worth checking out, but really, just buy Silver Linings Playbook because it’s Silver Linings Playbook. Because you sure as hell aren’t going to buy it to see Bradley Cooper carrying a steadicam for ten seconds.

These are the defining words spoken in one of the best story arcs of Star Trek: The Next Generation, now embodied in high definition. The Best of Both Worlds is now on Blu-ray, and not only does the two-episode “movie” look fantastic, it still holds up extremely well.

Who knew that 20-year old sc-fi television could achieve such a thing.

The Blu-ray features the cliffhanger finale of TNG Season Three (also now on Blu-ray) and the premiere of Season Four, edited together to make a seamless movie. In the story, Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Enterprise crew encounter the sociopathic Borg, who appear to be headed toward Earth. The deadly race takes a particular interest in the Borg, however, and that’s where things get interesting.

I would stop there, except the Blu-ray cover gives away the fact that Picard is assimilated into the collective, and that if you’re purchasing this package, you’ve already seen the episodes multiple times. So, yeah, Picard becomes a Borg and all shit hits the fan.

There’s not much else to say, other than that the special effects and footage overall look incredibly good considering the show’s age and budget. Watch any clip of TNG on YouTube (or whip out your old VHS copies) and compare it to TNG on Blu-ray and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Impressive.

The Blu-ray also comes with some bonus features including an audio commentary, gag reel, episodic promos and a featurette that looks back on the success of these particular episodes. For some reason it’s always funny to see Patrick Stewart cracking up or swearing, and the featurette has some valuable, if not at the very least nostalgic, nuggets.

The Best of Both Worlds is now available on Blu-ray, as is Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Three.

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