VLC = good. OEM software with OS = bad.
Buy a PC
I have this issue with windows too. My newly bought American Psycho DVD won't play on Windows Media Player but it will on VLC.
The reason for that is that some DVDs have copy protection on them and it will prevent you from playing them on computers. VLC somehow gets around that protection. Is the drive in your Macbook a burner? It might be detecting that and preventing you from playing it in regular software.