Half of one of this week's titles perfectly sums up Play All for June 17th, 2008 - Chaos. There's Blood and not just on ER. There's an Axe Murderer, Sailor, and still room for Ryan Reynolds. There's both live-action and animated Asian cinema, American television, theatrical shorts from seven decades ago, and a Mike Myers comedy where he actually doesn't have a silly accent. We love DVD in June. Leave Fool's Gold, Be Kind Rewind, and The Sword in the Stone for other publications. Play All digs deeper and finds, well, chaos. Make sure you're ready before you hit Play All.

Blood+: Volume Two
Studio: Sony
Created by: Jun'ichi Fujisaku and Michael Hack
Features: None

The Red Shield's deadliest assassin returns with five more episodes of Blood+ on one unusual DVD. Why unusual? Well, these episodes have technically been available already in a fantastic box set called Blood+: PART One. At the same time as that excellent title's release, a "sampler" version with just the first five episodes of the anime show were released separately. We kind of just assumed that it was a quickie release to tease audiences into buying the full set. But now Sony is continuing the pattern and releasing the next five episodes of the first season of the show on a second volume. So, there are two "volumes", both of which are included in the first "part". Isn't anime confusing enough? Anyway, what we said before holds true - "It's a surprisingly addictive show that fans of anime and novices to the genre can love in equal amounts." If you haven't picked up the first "part" of Blood+ and want some more anime action, the second volume is totally worth your time, but you should splurge for the big box. It comes with a shirt!

Chaos Theory
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer, and Stuart Townsend
Features: Additional Scenes

Ryan Reynolds gets no love. He made his best film yet in 2008, Definitely, Maybe, and it didn't get nearly the audience it deserved and he did good work in a small film called Chaos Theory, which is getting totally screwed this week. Don't get me wrong - Chaos Theory has enough problems to merit a "thumbs down" but it's certainly better than a lot of Reynolds' bad comedies. How is it getting screwed? Well, the film's own studio - Warner Brothers - is releasing another romantic comedy the same week. We don't mean to categorize, but if Fool's Gold and Chaos Theory are both "chick flicks", which one do you think is going to get more attention at Blockbuster? And Reynolds' Definitely, Maybe hits DVD next week. What are the chances that people are going to pick up Chaos Theory? Anyway, whatever problems the film has fall at the feet of the writer and director. What that means is that if you're a fan of Reynolds or the great Emily Mortimer (both do good work here), check out Chaos Theory for yourself. Don't let the market bury it for you.

ER: Season Nine
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Noah Wyle, Laura Innes, Mekhi Phifer, Alex Kingston, Goran Visjnic, Maura Tierney, Sherry STringfield, Ming-Na, Sharif Atkins, and Paul McCrane
Features: Outpatient Outtakes

ER is officially the longest running medical drama of all time at an amazing 14 seasons. Did anyone expect the show to still be alive fourteen years after it debuted? Someone should write a book on what keeps shows like ER and Law & Order going - besides executives at NBC who clearly love them. The obvious choice is that they both have revolving door ensembles. ER (and Law & Order) have proved that ANYONE, even George Clooney, can leave a series and, if the writing is strong enough and the replacement good enough, viewers will continue to tune in. In fact, you'd have to be a hardcore fan to even know who was on the show during the ninth season, which ran from 2002-03. Noah Wyle's Carter was the star of County General that year and Mekhi Phifer's Dr. Pratt joined the cast. ER doesn't get nearly the ratings or buzz that it once did, but the series still topped 20 million viewers a week during its ninth frame, finishing the year in 4th place. It's hard to say that this was the show in its prime, but any series that has been on as long as ER has had numerous peaks and valleys. Check out season nine and decide for yourself.

Popeye the Sailor, Volume Two: 1938-1940
Studio: Warner Brothers
Features: Commentaries and Popeye Popumentaries Featurettes with Animators, Historians and Others Profiling Specific Cartoons, Characters and Creators, Retrospective Documentary "Out of the Inkwell: The Fleischer Story", "From the Vault

Well, blow me down! Considering how truly awful 2008 has been at the theater (and now all of those movies are hitting DVD), maybe we should go WAY back to find something worth watching. How about 70 years? Warner Brothers has been the best at pulling rare material from the vaults and they continue their pattern with 31 remastered, uncut classics of Popeye the Sailor. These theatrical cartoons played in theaters from 1938 to 1940 and they rule. Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto, Wimpy, and even Popeye's nephews (Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye, and Peep-eye) all play a role in 218 minutes of black and white classic comedy. Just the short films would be enough for a classic movie fan, but Warner Brothers also provides commentaries, featurettes, rare cartoons, audio recordings, radio shows, and more. Like the first volume, it's a must have for animation fans, classic movie fans, and just about everyone else. (Also hitting this week is a tie-in called Popeye & Friends: Volume One with eight more cartoons.)

The Restless
Studio: Genius Entertainment
Starring: Jung Wo-Sung, Kim Tae-Hee, Hur Joon-Ho, So E-Hyun, and Park Sang-Wook
Features: The Making of The Restless, Reincarnation for 49 Days Featurette, Production Design Featurette

"Two Worlds. One Epic Battle." Is there a machine that spits out taglines for Asian action movies? No offense to anyone involved with any level of production on The Restless, but they're all starting to sound the same. The Restless is a Korean fantasy film from 2006. (According to Wikipedia, the original Korean title translates as "Midheaven". Isn't that a much cooler name for a movie?) In The Restless, an ancient warrior wakes up in a mystical realm, a sort of purgatory, where he's surrounded by restless, lost souls. Like a lot of heroes in Asian cinema, our lead is a chosen one, the man who will defend Heaven, Earth, and the Middle World against the ruthless Armies of Darkness. The back of the box boasts stunning visuals and thrilling martial art action. An eternal struggle between the powerful forces of good and evil is just a bonus.

So I Married an Axe Murderer: Special Edition
Studio: Sony
Starring: Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Brenda Fricker, Anthony LaPaglia, and Amanda Plummer
Features: Digital Soundtrack Download

One of the most blatant tie-in releases in the history of DVD has to be the "Special Edition" of So I Married An Axe Murderer. What's "special" about it? Um, well, The Love Guru comes out this week. Seriously, I've never seen a Special Edition less special and I've reviewed literally hundreds of DVDs. The draw of this version of the 1993 Mike Myers comedy is that it includes a digital download of 8 tracks from the soundtrack along with other early '90s hits. That's it? You can't give us a deleted scene, commentary, or even a gag reel? Sure, the last edition was bare bones, but you can't release a special edition that's practically the same. The real shame is that Axe Murderer is a pretty funny movie. Personally, I'd take this film, often seen as one of Myers' misses, over at least two of the Austin Powers movies and definitely over Cat in the Hat. The jury is not yet in on Love Guru, but check out Axe Murderer if you haven't seen it. Just don't expect an edition that's all that special.