— by Carl Davis and Alex Biese "MirrorMask" (2005) Two of comic bookdom's most celebrated creators, writer Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean, collaborated on this modern-day, live-action fairy tale. As the daughter of circus performers Joanne (Gina McKee) and Morris (Rob Brydon), Helena (Stephanie Leonidas) should be living every child's dream come true; instead, all she wishes for is a quiet place to call home. When her mother falls ill, Helena blames herself and runs away, only to find that she's crossed over into the mysterious "Dark Lands." The Queen of Light (McKee), ruler of the "Dark Lands," has been unconscious since the Queen of Shadow's (McKee, yet again) daughter went missing. Now Helena must navigate the strangely familiar landscape in order to find the magic charm that will save her mother and return everything to normal. McKean makes his directorial debut here and, along with the help of the Jim Henson Company, uses sophisticated CGI technology to warp reality and lend the film his signature stark, bizarre visual style. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has included the following extras: "Day 16: A Time-Lapse Video of One Day On Set" "Neil Talks: A Conversation with Neil Gaiman" ComicCon 2003: A Q&A session Behind the scenes with Dave McKean "Flight of the Monkeybirds" featurette Making-of featurette "Saw II" (2005) Looking for a way to combat those Valentine's Day blues? Take a stab at this follow-up to 2004's hugely successful gore-fest, "Saw." The second film holds true to the golden rule that, in sequels, everything must be bigger — especially the body count. Whereas "Saw" brought us two helpless victims locked in a single room (which made for surprisingly effective entertainment), this time around old Jigsaw has got himself eight poor souls trapped in an entire house of horrors. And if you think you know where the plot is headed, think again; the story line is as enjoyably twisty as they come. Former New Kid on the Block Donnie Wahlberg co-stars as the cop on Jigsaw's trail, and this might well be the scariest thing he's had a hand in since his "Hangin' Tough" days. Lions Gate has included the following extras: Audio commentary with director Darren Lynn Bousman and actors Donnie Wahlberg and Beverly Mitchell "Jigsaw's Game" "Bits and Pieces: The Props of 'Saw II' " "The Traps of 'Saw II' " Storyboards and conceptual art gallery Trailers "Zathura" (2005) As the writer and star of booze-soaked films like "Swingers" and "Made," Jon Favreau might seem one of the least likely people to find success as a children's-films director. But with 2003's "Elf," Favreau proved himself to be the auteur-of-choice for the elementary school crowd (and their parents). Now comes "Zathura," a "space adventure" based on a book by "Jumanji" author Chris Van Allsburg. The plot should sound familiar to anyone who has seen Robin Williams' 1995 film version of "Jumanji," i.e., a pair of brothers are left home alone for the day, they come across a board game that's way cooler than anything you have in your closet and, just like that, very strange things start happening. In "Zathura," those oddities include the brothers (and their house) traveling into outer space and liberal doses of advice from Dax Shepard (of MTV's "Punk'd"), who plays an astronaut. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has included the following extras: Commentary by Jon Favreau and co-producer Peter Billingsley "The Right Moves: The Making of 'Zathura' " "Race to the Black Planet: A Visual Effects Documentary" "The Cast of 'Zathura' " "Zorgons, Robots, and 'Frozen Lisa' " "Making the Game" "Miniatures and the World of 'Zathura' " "The World of Chris Van Allsburg" "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Season 1, Vol. 2" (1983-1984) Stop doing homework, grab a snack and take a trip back in time with this collection from the ffirst season of the animated Gen-X staple "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe." In a brilliant stroke of mid-'80s marketing, Mattell, the manufacturers of the He-Man action-figure line, hired Filmation Studios to produce an animated adventure series around its popular franchise, essentially creating a half-hour, daily "infomercial" in the form of an addictive, exciting children's cartoon. (In the current climate of "edutainment" that surrounds children's programming, the glorious, original "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" episodes are a breath of fresh air.) For those new to the series, "He-Man" follows the adventures of Prince Adam who, along with his ever-growing collection of friends — including the trustworthy warrior, Man-At-Arms; his daughter, Teela; and the magician Orko — protected the planet Eternia from the evil Skeletor and his menagerie of vile henchmen. Adam's secret weapon in this battle is his magic sword; when he holds it aloft and cries, "By the power of Grayskull!" he transforms into the powerful, muscular hero, He-Man. There have been several attempts at sequels, prequels and spin offs to this series, but there's just no substitute for the original. In addition to episodes 34-65 of the series, BCI Home Entertainment has included the following extras on this six-disc set: Two documentary features: "The Stories of 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe' Season 1" and "He-Man Invades the San Diego Comic Con" Full-length animated storyboard with interactive episode comparison for episode 40, "The House of Shokoti, Part 1" Collectible "art cards" by artists Earl Norem and Gilbert Hernandez Fifty detailed profiles of various characters, creatures and artifacts Commercial spots Click here to see last week's "DVD Picks." If you're interested in any of these DVDs — or literally thousands of others — head to The MTV Movie Shop. Visit Movies on MTV.com for Hollywood news, interviews, trailers and more.
	Photos: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment