My first exposure to Kylie Minogue came in the form of some sort of tabloid news reportage, when she was dating an American actor… David Schwimmer, I think it was, maybe, during the earliest days of Friends? I shrugged, maybe let a glance at one of her photos linger, and then moved on. Years later, I would discover, via her Fever hit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” that Minogue spoke (sang) the refracted truth; she knows how to craft and deliver a catchy vocal performance. All of which is further confirmed by Kylie: Rare and Unseen, a new DVD title that delves into her career, which now spans more than two decades.

Though it runs only an hour, and evidences all the editorial precision of a totally-like-oh-my-god-excited teenager, Kylie: Rare and Unseen presents, in its own scattered way, a compelling snapshot of the career and offscreen life of Minogue. There’s an Australian TV interview with a 21-year-old Kylie, a collection of British small screen interviews from the late 1980s on through to today, footage from her first-ever TV appearance (on London’s 6 O’Clock Show) and much, much more, including fashion shoot and awards show footage. While some of the interstitial bits from her concerts yawningly lean too heavily on overwhelmed fans professing their undying love for Minogue, and other passing declarations of childhood inspiration (Olivia Newton-John, the Muppets) come across as indistinct soundbites to a media hungry for informational nuggets to plug into a promotional machine, there’s also a good bit of nice footage in which an on-stage Minogue fields questions from fans, and gives props to her brother and sister (who always seem to be in the audience, actually). These bits — and other frank discussion excerpts, where Minogue talks about her battle with breast cancer — give nice human shading to her otherwise glamorous celebrity. This isn’t a wildly revelatory biography, really, but it is a nice glimpse behind-the-scenes for fans, and seemingly confirmatory proof that Minogue is a hip, real-world gal.

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case, Kylie: Rare and Unseen comes to DVD presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, on a region-free disc, divided into 10 static chapters of loose thematic grouping. Its audio mix, which tends to fluctuate quite a bit, is an English language Dolby digital 2.0 stereo track. There is no slate of additional bonus material. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. C (Movie) C- (Disc)

I was hoping the phrase “Croatoa” might make an appearance carved into a tree, but no, instead, jungle-set horror-thriller The Lost Tribe is a basically just a warmed-over iteration of Predator, with Lance Henriksen, a healthy pinch of The Ruins and a bit of Neil Marshall’s The Descent thrown in for good measure.

Directed by Roel Reiné, the movie unfolds on a remote tropical island, where a cold open reveals a primeval secret that that fells a group of archeologists. Much later, a group of friends are shipwrecked on that same island — a group including young physician Anna (Emily Foxler), her boyfriend Tom (Nick Mennell), Chris (Hadley Fraser), Joe (Marc Bacher) and Alexis (Brianna Brown). (The ex-almost Mrs. Ed Burns, Maxine Bahns, also appears as Maya, for what it’s worth.) There, the guys and dolls find quite a secret waiting for them: a strong,
ravenous, and none-too-friendly tribe of humanoids. Facing off with these remnants of prehistory, this group of friends becomes
the hunted, relying on their own animal instincts to survive.

Reiné works in an efficient visual style that is compelling enough in an of-the-moment fashion. The problem is that The Lost Tribe‘s script is thin on interesting characterizations, and even thinner still on the mystery it halfheartedly attempts to attach to Henriksen’s brutal and ruthless Catholic crusader. Ergo, the (much less interesting) horrific thrill-hunt elements of the film overwhelm any sense of slow-building trepidation or mystery regarding the discovery at the movie’s core. Diehard genre fans might enjoy a twirl with this Tribe, but general audiences won’t be missing much.

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case, The Lost Tribe comes to DVD presented in a nice transfer and 2.35:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for 16×9 televisions, with a Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio track and optional English SDH subtitles. Bonus features come by way of the movie’s trailer, a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette and a very literal-minded audio commentary track with Fraser and producer Mohit Ramchandani. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. C (Movie) C+ (Disc)