It's a pretty light week at the DVD store. With football season about to amp up and one of the best baseball seasons in years heading into the playoff fun, maybe the studios decided to take a little break. Maybe they knew people would all want to see Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder. Actually, what probably happened is the studios were wise enough to realize that "Phelps fever" would overtake the world and people would be busy watching the Olympics instead of renting or buying DVDs. But what do you do when you get bored with the undefeatable American swimmers, the "Redeem Team", or Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh? You need something to watch, right? Well, that's what Play All is for. Take off your American flag bandana, quit humming that Olympics theme, and leave your complaints about Bob Costas at the door before you hit Play All.

DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures
Studio: Warner Brothers
Features: "Animation Maverick: The Lou Scheimer Story"

"A heroic blast to the past!" Can't get enough superhero action this summer? Seen Hancock, Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Hellboy a dozen or so times? Well, get a little history under your love for men in goofy costumes and check out 18 classic episodes of good, evil, and some silly alter egos. The new 2-disc compilation of Lou Scheimer's classic cartoons includes three episodes a piece of The Atom, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Justice League of America, and The Teen Titans for a nice sampler of nostalgia from Saturday mornings on ABC. Even cooler than the episodes themselves is the 45-minute documentary about Scheimer called "Animation Maverick", which details the formation of Filmation and their unorthodox approach to superheroes and animation. As Amit Desai, Warner Home Video Vice President of Family, Animation & Sports Marketing, said, "The Filmation Animation Studio produced some of America’s favorite animated television. Warner Home Video is thrilled to welcome back its’ legendary team of characters with the release of DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures, the perfect addition to any fan’s collection."

The Doors: Special Edition (Blu-Ray)
Studio: Lionsgate
Starring: Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley, Kevin Dillon, Michael Madsen, and Billy Idol
Features: Audio Commentary, "Jim Morrison: An American Poet in Paris", Deleted Scenes, The Doors in L.A., Theatrical Trailer

"There are things known and things unknown and in between are The Doors." We don't usually cover Blu-Ray in Play All, but there's a first time for everything. The thing about Blu-Ray is that a lot of studios are releasing movies and special features that were previously available on the format. If we covered 'em all, there'd be no time for anything else. But every once in a while, there's a "catalog" issue on Blu-Ray that's worth mentioning. Usually, they're movies that are worth upgrading from standard to Blu-Ray simply for the quality jump in video or audio. This case is the latter. Oliver Stone's The Doors was a powerful auditory experience in theaters and now you can recreate the music of the legendary band in stunning 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio. Fans of the band, fans of Oliver Stone, fans of Blu-Ray - this is the movie you already own that you're going to need to buy again this week. Sorry to be the bearer of good news.

The Love Boat: Season One - Volume Two
Studio: Paramount
Starring: Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, and Lauren Tewes
Features: Movie of the Week - "The New Love Boat", Episodic Promos

"Time to set sail for love." Look at that tagline. Isn't that amazing? Can you imagine a new show in our more cynical times debuting on Fox or The CW with the slogan "Time to set sail for love"? It would NEVER happen. Then again, I'm not sure a show like The Love Boat would ever get a green light with cynical fare like CSI and 24 ruling the ratings. It was a lighter time, wasn't it? The second volume of the first season of The Love Boat aired in 1978 for a whopping, wait for it, 12 episodes. Listen up, TV producers, 12 episodes does not a DVD season release make. And when you spread out the 12 over FOUR discs, it's a blatant cash grab. They could have put the entire first season in one release and the "two volumes" thing reeks of fan-gouging. This show ran until 1986! How many volumes are they going to release?!!? There were 249 episodes and we get 12 at a time! Ridiculous. But at least fans can now own The New Love Boat, a TV movie from 1977. There's something to be said for that. These 12 episodes include guest turns by Robert Hays, Don Adams, Stephanie Zimbalist, Scatman Crothers, Maureen McCormick, Priscilla Barnes, Frankie Avalon, Jamie Farr, Robert Urich, Leslie Nielsen, Monty Hall, and Pat Morita.

Wide Awake
Studio: Genius Entertainment
Starring: Kim Myung-Min, Yu Jin-Sang, Kim Tae_Woo, Jung You-Seok, and Kim You-Mi
Features: Deleted Scenes, The Making of Wide Awake, Cast Interviews, "Production Design" Featurette, "Anesthesia Awareness" Featurette

"What you can see might kill you." Lee Kyu-Maan's Wide Awake only leads to questions. Was this remade into that Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba stinker from the end of last year? Why are there so many movies called Wide Awake (go to IMDB and check for yourself)? Is there a bad Asian horror movie released every week on the other side of the world? The answers are no, I don't know, and maybe. Although Wide Awake does have something in common with the American Awake, as it centers on the concept of being aware through bad anesthesia. The film starts with a young boy being improperly anesthetized during heart surgery and feeling the entire procedure. That will MESS you up. He can't even cry for mercy. Decades later, a series of killings occur and a young doctor and his wife start to wonder if their stalker might be the young boy all grown up. Average-to-bad reviews and very little reputation preceding its "Asian straight-to-DVD of the week" title will probably hamper Wide Awake from finding a big audience, but we have a legal quota to include one of these in every Play All. We're just kidding. Sorta.

Smart People
Studio: Buena Vista
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church, and Ashton Holmes
Features: Deleted Scenes, The Smartest People: Interviews With Filmmakers And Cast, Not So Smart: Bloopers/Outtakes, Feature Commentary By Filmmaker Noam Murro And Writer Mark Jude Poirier

Cast against type but proving that he's still one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood (the dude can do anything), Dennis Quaid plays an overweight schlub of a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Smart People. Quaid's Lawrence Wetherhold is a great cinematic creation, the kind of teacher that exists at nearly every small college in the country - one who has become tenured and cares far more about his latest book proposal than the kids in his class. He brings new meaning to the term "pompous windbag". But there's something sad about Lawrence. He's clearly not happy, partially due to the fact that he's not over the loss of his wife. Oh, and his young conservative daughter (Ellen Page) is kind of insane. When his laid-back brother (Thomas Haden Church) comes to town, Lawrence ends up in the hospital, and he meets a cute doctor who used to be a student of his (Sarah Jessica Parker), the dude's life starts to fall apart. Smart People is a little smug and predictable, but it features enough likable performances and clever dialogue to make it worth a rental.