If you like your Greek Mythology as much as I do, you’ll love Percy Jackson And The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. And if, like my kids, you’ve never even heard of a Greek Myth, you’ll still love this movie. It’s full of plenty of action and special effects, and the characters are great.

The movie was released in February, but the DVD & Blu-Ray come out today (6/29), so you can now enjoy all the mayhem and mythology at home. The film stars Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, the demi-god son of Poseidon, and he’s a great choice. He’s a little bit adorable, but not so over the top that the movie becomes a total drool fest. Percy must set off on a quest to find and return a very special lightning bolt to its rightful owner, Zeus, who mistakenly thinks Percy has stolen it. (Long story — but watch the movie to find out who really stole it.) He’s accompanied by Annabeth (played by Alexandra Daddario), the demi-goddess daughter of Athena (and a terrific warrior) and Grover, a satyr who’s been masquerading as Percy’s best bud for years in order to protect him – and Brandon T. Jackson is excellent – he’s funny without becoming ridiculous comic relief, especially considering he spends the entire movie either on crutches or goat legs. Percy and Annabeth have a little flirtation going, but it doesn’t play out as a romance, which keeps this film more appealing to slightly younger kids, like my 7 and 10-year olds.

Of course the quest takes many turns and the three intrepid teenagers must travel far and face many harrowing challenges – all the while keeping my kids’ interest and mine – AND keeping a PG rating. It’s very exciting and the special effects are great.

My 7-year-old loved the cool gadgets Percy is given in order to fight off attackers, like what appears to be a ball point pen but actually turns out to be a sword when you click it. Or the shield that articulates out when necessary. Very Fun Stuff.

My 10-year-old liked the Medusa scene best, and I can’t blame him: a woman’s head covered in snakes is very compelling, after all.

I loved being reminded of all the myths I loved as a kid – and the things I might have forgotten – like if you cut off a Hydra’s head, apparently 2 grow back in it’s place, so you gotta watch out for that.

And I really loved all the fantastic cameos by terrific actors along the way: Pierce Brosnan plays a centaur named Chiron who’s been passing himself off as a paraplegic teacher of Percy’s in order to keep an eye on him. When he finally can be his true self, in the demi-god woodland safe house and training grounds where they hang out – he is resplendent in his horsiness. It’s hilarious and I have to respect anyone who’d go from James Bond to “horse’s ass”, as he refers to himself in the film. (Totally off-topic, did you know that Pierce Brosnan designed the Spay & Neuter license plate for California? He did. Check it out.)

More cameos: Uma Thurman plays the coolest Medusa in all of cinema history, I feel pretty safe saying – she looked AMAZING, even with the snake-do. Steve Coogan plays a very funny Hades and Rosario Dawson is his self-actualized sometime prisoner Persephone. Catherine Keener is Percy’s mortal mother, still carrying a torch for Poseidon, but married as a cover to a very smelly Joe Pantoliano.

And in a very nice touch, Melina Kanakaredes plays Athena, Annabeth’s mother, and possibly the only Greek in the entire cast. She is perfect as Athena — just as I always pictured her. We can all recommend this movie very easily — and on DVD and Blu-Ray you’ll get extras like deleted scenes.

{FULL DISCLOSURE} {I was given the DVD to review and given permission to post these photographs from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.}

I was raised without any religion, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about Why We’re Here. Practically daily. Apparently, even being raised Episcopal (“Catholic Light”, according to the him), filmmaker Roger Nygard also spent time wondering about the Nature of Existence, hence the documentary of the same name he spent 5 years making.The film explores Nygard’s own search for meaning in his life, and he takes the viewer on a trip around the world and through many spiritual, religious and scientific paths to see how other people answer the same question: Why Are We Here? (Plus he then went on to ask 84 more questions of everyone he interviewed. All 85 questions are on the film’s website and you can answer them for yourself.)

I’ve known Roger for over 20 years, having worked on his first short film, and honestly, at the time, I had no idea he even thought about stuff like this. He was pretty focused on getting the film made at the time and I realize that does take focus. But in the years since, I’ve watched Roger grow as a filmmaker, and I really think documentaries are his niche. He has the ability to present slightly strange (and often VERY strange) people and their passions and prediclitions — and not make fun of them. Witness the Klingon Language School scenes in Trekkies for an example.

In The Nature of Existence, Roger showcases people with beliefs that are all over the proverbial map, and yet each person is treated with dignity. It’s a nice touch. But don’t get me wrong, there are still some truly strange moments and characters in the film, and plenty of laughter.

The film lets the viewers come to their own conclusions about their own Reasons For Being, of course, this is not a propaganda piece — but it’s clear that filmmaker Roger Nygard also came to his own conclusions about why he’s here.

My only complaint about the film is that the pacing is too fast: It’s boom-boom-boom, no pausing for reflection between presentations of ideas. But the truth is, that’s the Nature of Roger’s own Existence — he’s a fast-paced guy, looking for answers and in a hurry to get them.

I showed the movie to my kids to see what they would make of it all. Turns out it’s true what all those research books say about kids’ brains — very concrete at this age. Abstract concepts like God and afterlife are expressed in very black and white, simplistic terms and the subtleties are pretty much lost. But I’m happy to have started the ball rolling by watching the film with them. I am all about letting my kids ask questions, and they had plenty after this movie. Mostly about why we don’t go to church on Sundays.

Which is the topic for another post, another day.

The Nature of Existence opens in select theaters this Friday, June 18th, and in Los Angeles on June 30th.