A.I.

No Steven Spielberg movie without dinosaurs or lost arks is complete until some part of it is slathered in schmaltz, and no Spielberg finale has ever been as thick with it as A.I.'s. But until the dragged-out epilogue, this Stanley Kubrick pet project taken over by Spielberg (after Kubrick's death) is an admirable cinematic feat--a mesmerizing mix of cautionary futuristic fairy tale, prudently measured intentional corniness, and neon-colored three-ring circus. Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense, Pay It Forward) gives an incredibly warm and fuzzy but very unsettling performance as David, the world's first android programmed to feel emotion. When his adoptive parents abandon him in favor of a flesh-and-blood son, David goes on a quest to become a real boy and win his mother's love in this wild mix of dark and light that is Pinocchio meets Blade Runner in Las Vegas. Jude Law co-stars as the comically suave Gigolo Joe, a satin-suited super-lover android who befriends David. A strong, optional purchase. (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Apr. 12, 2011—Paramount, 145 min., PG-13, $24.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2001's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence sports a nice transfer with DTS-HD 6.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include featurettes on “Special Effects and Animation: ILM” (24 min.), acting (15 min.), robots (14 min.), production design (13 min.), sound effects and music (13 min.), behind-the-scenes (12 min.), and lighting (5 min.), a “Closing: Stephen Spielberg: Our Responsibility to Artificial Intelligence” segment (3 min.), archival galleries (with storyboards, concept art, and photos), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray debut for a lesser Spielberg film.]