‘Destination 2’ is a gruesome trip

Final Destination 2

A.J. Cook, Ali Larter

New Line, $27

Fans of bloody, R-rated horror films will get a kick out of the gleefully gruesome scenes in this better-than-average sequel to the 2000 hit thriller. Just as in the original, someone has a vision of a horrible accident and ends up disrupting death’s plans. But there is no stopping the grim reaper and an extremely violent rampage ensues.

The DVD features deleted scenes; a fun trivia track with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage; three documentaries; the trailer; an interactive card game that allows you to discover your fate; and breezy commentary from director David R. Ellis, producer Craig Perry and screenwriters Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber.

*

Nicholas Nickleby

Jamie Bell, Charlie Hunnam

MGM, $27

Though it seems as if someone makes a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel every year, one never tires of this lovely and uplifting tale about a decent young man who triumphs over evil, touching the lives of everyone he meets. Filmmaker Douglas McGrath (“Emma”) has done a fine job with this production, which got lost in December’s Christmas shuffle. In addition to Hunnam in the title role and Bell as his deformed companion Smike, “Nickleby” features a strong supporting cast: Christopher Plummer, Jim Broadbent, Nathan Lane, Barry Humphries, Anne Hathaway and Timothy Spall. The handsome DVD features a cleverly executed “making of” documentary, amusing interviews with the cast, a multi-angle look at several scenes, a photo gallery and detailed, thoughtful commentary from McGrath.

*

The Life of David Gale

Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet

Universal, $27

A fine cast (which also features Laura Linney) and an acclaimed director (in this case, Alan Parker) don’t necessarily add up to a great film. Case in point, this strident, overlong drama casts Spacey as an Austin, Texas, college professor and anti-death penalty crusader who is on death row for a rape and murder he didn’t commit. It’s up to a serious journalist with a very goofy name -- Bitsy -- to discover the truth before Spacey is a dead man walking.

The DVD features deleted scenes, a gripping mini-doc on the death penalty in Texas, two ho-hum “making of” documentaries and crisp commentary from Parker that’s far more interesting than this film.

*

Ararat

David Alpay, Arisnee Khanjian

Miramax, $30

Director Atom Egoyan’s complex, sophisticated and moving movie-within-a-movie revolves around the genocide of Armenians in Turkey in 1915. Charles Aznavour plays a successful French Armenian movie director making a movie in Canada about the genocide. Khanjian, Egoyan’s wife, plays an Armenian art historian hired as a consultant on the film, and her son, Raffi, (Alpay) works as a go-fer on the production and also is having an affair with his troubled stepsister. Rounding out the cast is Eric Bogosian as the film’s producer, Bruce Greenwood as one of the film’s stars and Christopher Plummer as a rigid customs officer.

The two-disc DVD contains Egoyan’s passionate commentary, documentaries on the making of the film as well as on the history of Armenians, a featurette on the creation of the moving score for the film and deleted scenes.

*

Also this week

You can visit the red-light district or follow the ups and downs, mostly downs, of a handful of heroin addicts over a three-day period in “Spun,” by Swedish music video director Jonas Akerlund (Columbia Tri-Star: $24.95)

Top VHS rentals

1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

2. Phone Booth

3. Basic

4. Gangs of New York

5. Just Married

Top DVD rentals

1. Phone Booth

2. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

3. Basic

4. Gangs of New York

5. Just Married

What’s coming

Tuesday: “Daredevil,” “The Quiet American,” “Piglet’s Big Movie,” “Solaris,” “Spider” and “XX/XY”

-- Susan King