Smile Politely. Speak Directly. Champaign-Urbana's Alternative Daily

The special features section of popular DVDs has become a place for a film's creators to advance an argument for the quality of their film. The behind-the-scenes features and exclusive interviews are little more than propaganda, insisting sometimes despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary that the film you have purchased or rented is worth your time and money.

Steven Spielberg does more than his share of evading, equivocating and fibbing on the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls disc. In the special features Spielberg doesn't seem to realize what he's admitting when he tells the story of how George Lucas approached him with the idea of "Indiana Jones vs. Aliens" in the mid-nineties. According to Spielberg, he didn't like the idea, and dismissed it entirely after enjoying the alien-based Independence Day. He was done with the franchise: "There's a reason I had Indy ride off into the sunset at the end of the third film," he admits.