Yesteryear classics and contemporary favorites highlight this week’s new releases. Regardless of what type of film or TV show you are looking for, there’s probably something here to suit your viewing fancy. Take a look!
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 7: 1952-1954
Moe fumes, Shemp makes funny noises, and Larry…well, acts like Larry in 22 Columbia comedies–including “A Missed Fortune,” “Three Dark Horses,” “Cuckoo On A Choo Choo,” “Bubble Trouble,” and the 3D shorts “Pardon My Backfire” and “Spooks!”–featured in a two-disc set.
Prolific Broadway playwright/director/performer Willard Mack calls on all three of those skills in this early talkie, as he scripts and helms the tale of an escaped con (Robert Ames) out to prove he was framed before the authorities can run him down, and the determined cop (Mack) on the case who comes to buy into his assertions of innocence. Sylvia Field, John Miljan, Clark Marshall co-star.
In the course of a speakeasy raid, a cop (Tom Moore) takes a fancy to one of the hostesses (Blanche Sweet) and asks for a date rather than run her in. Though they eventually marry, it isn’t long before she starts chafing against the domestic life, and again craves the excitement of the gin mill. Can her husband come to the rescue before she regrets her choice? Early talkie co-stars John Miljan, Tenen Holtz; keep an eye out for Ann Dvorak.
A wealthy businessman (Conrad Nagel) falls for his lovely secretary (Leila Hyams), and meets with her working-class family to gain their approval of the union. To show no hard feelings over their highly critical reception, he determinedly moves into their crowded apartment in order to prove that he’s just folks. Comic class clashes ensue in this early talkie co-starring Bessie Love, Robert Ober, Edythe Chapman.
A high-powered Hawaii real estate lawyer (George Clooney) finds his ordered existence shattered when a boating accident leaves his wife in a coma, leaving him in charge of the young daughters (Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller) he barely knows. After finding out his wife was having an affair, he drags the girls along on his hunt for the other man, making for moving revelations along the way. Alexander Payne‘s affecting comedy-drama also stars Nick Krause, Matthew Lillard.
A star college athlete (Phillips Holmes) drops out when his secret family shame–that his father (Grant Mitchell) is serving time for manslaughter–is revealed. He finds a job in his hometown bank and romance with a fellow teller (Lucille Powers), but matters soon become complicated thanks to her jealous ex (Dwight Frye) and dad’s unexpected parole.
4 Film Favorites: George Clooney Collection
Two-disc set includes “Three Kings,” “The Perfect Storm,” “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001), and “Michael Clayton.”
4 Film Favorites: Sandra Bullock Romance Collection
Based on the real-life WWI exploits of author Ernest Hemingway, “In Love And War” (1996) stars Chris O’Donnell as the teenaged Hemingway, whose reckless heroics as a front-line ambulance driver land him in the hospital. There he is cared for and falls in love with an American nurse (Sandra Bullock), who would later inspire his book “A Farewell to Arms.” Then, tired of babysitting self-absorbed billionaire boss Hugh Grant, lawyer Bullock tenders her “Two Weeks Notice” (2002), but the disparate duo soon discovers they have feelings for each other. Winning romantic comedy co-stars Alicia Witt, Robert Klein. Two-disc set also includes “Practical Magic” and “The Lake House.”
Written and directed byAtom Egoyan, this compelling drama concerns an orphaned high-schooler whose French teacher assigns his class to translate a news story about a narrowly averted terrorist attack. After creating a lie about his late parents’ involvement in the incident, his falsehood creates controversy on the Internet, at school, and in his personal life. Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard, Kenneth Welsh star.
Breakout Kings: The Complete First Season
All 13 episodes from the debut season–including the “Pilot,” “Queen of Hearts,” “One for the Money,” “Off the Beaten Path,” and “Where in the World Is Carmen Vega?”–are included in a four-disc set.
Six teenagers are given a particularly perverse incentive to forward a chain email they receive when they are each warned that failure to send the message to their friends will result…in violent death! And not just any ol’ violent death, but the sort of slow-torture demise that gives the most chilling “torture porn” thrillers their label. Indie shocker of the social-networking age stars Nikki Reed, Keith David, and Brad Dourif.
The early years of the woman who would become an icon of 20th-century couture are depicted in this French biodrama. Left by their father in a convent orphanage after their mother’s death, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (Audrey Tautou) and her sister Adrienne (Marie Gillain) would become cabaret singers and costume designers, while a series of relationships with wealthy men would provide Coco with the freedom to pursue her dreams of a career in fashion. Alessandro Nivola, Benoit Poelvoorde also star.
This compelling Italian drama by Luchino Visconti stars Burt Lancaster as a misanthropic American professor whose life is changed when an eccentric countess and her daughter move into his palazzo. Will Lancaster be sorry he allowed them to sign a yearlong lease once he discovers his old-fashioned values don’t quite square with theirs? Co-stars Helmut Berger, Silvana Mangano.
Unusual sagebrusher stars Rex Bell as a cowpoke detective who goes up against a group of New York gangsters pushing their muscle around out West with a protection racket. Bell aims to stop the city slickers from taking advantage of the people in the wide open spaces. Marceline Day, Huntley Gordon also star.
Greatest Classic Legends Film Collection: Doris Day
Two-disc set includes “Romance On The High Seas,” “Calamity Jane,” “Love Me Or Leave Me” (1955), and “Please Don’t Eat The Daisies.”
Greatest Classic Legends Film Collection: Katharine Hepburn
The classic comedy-drama “Stage Door” (1937) centers around the lives of several young women in a New York theatrical boarding house as they strive to make their dreams of show business stardom come true and struggle with the disappointments that inevitably come along with those aspirations. Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Eve Arden star. Two-disc set also includes “Little Women” (1933), “Morning Glory” (1933), and “The Philadelphia Story.”
Greatest Gangster Films Collection: Edward G. Robinson
Two-disc set includes “The Little Giant,” “Bullets Or Ballots,” “Kid Galahad” (1937), and “Larceny, Inc.”
All 13 episodes from the debut season–including the “Pilot,” “Like Father, Like Gun,” “Dave of the Dead,” “Bo Fight,” and “Why Can’t You Read Me?”–are featured in a two-disc set.
Toe-tapping follow-up to the animated hit returns to the Antarctic, where penguin protagonist Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) has grown up to be a dad. Unfortunately, his fumble-footed son Erik is proof that talent skips a generation. Can they find some sort of connection, and can they save their colony from an impending ecological threat? With the voices of Robin Williams, Pink, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Hank Azaria, Sofia Vergara, and Common.
Hilarious crime comedy introduces you to Henry (Keanu Reeves), a man who is sent to prison after being wrongly accused of robbing a bank. While in jail, he meets Max (James Caan), a charismatic inmate who inspires him to actually pull off the crime he is serving time for. But after Henry gets released, his heist plans are complicated when he takes a part in a stage play and falls for the production’s leading lady. With Vera Farmiga, Judy Greer, Fisher Stevens.
Sci-fi-infused allegory from director Lars Von Trier follows the toils of a chronically depressed young woman (Kirsten Dunst) whose frailties make a fiasco of the elaborate wedding party thrown for her by her sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law (Kiefer Sutherland), as a planet with a decaying orbit makes an inexorable path toward the Earth. Alexander Skarsgard, Stellan Skarsgard, John Hurt, Charlotte Rampling co-star.
Based on the best-selling book by Nora Roberts, this absorbing mystery stars country singer LeAnn Rimes as an Alaskan bush pilot who falls for the town’s new police chief (Eddie Cibrian). But when he decides to reopen a 16-year-old case involving the death of her father, Rimes must decide whether or not to let him in to her troubled past. With Rosanna Arquette, Greg Lawson.
Pac-Man: The Complete First Season
All 13 episodes from the debut season–including “Presidential Pac-Nappers/Stuck Up/Picnic in Pacland,” “Pacula/It’s a Hole?/Trick or Chomp,” “Neander-Pac-Man/Kite Ride/Backpackin’ Packy,” “Chomp-Out at the O.K. Corral/Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye/Once Upon a Chomp,” and “The Pac-Mummy/Balloon Pie/Nighty Nightmares”–are featured in a two-disc set.
This silent drama concerns a man who is serving time in prison for a crime that he didn’t commit. Making his situation even worse, he discovers that his sweetheart has become a Broadway star and is preparing to marry another man. Can he somehow win back her heart before it is too late? Elaine Hammerstein, Theodore von Eltz star.
Michael Sheen (“Frost/Nixon”) portrays British football (soccer) manager Brian Clough, who left the Derby County squad he led to victory to join Leeds United A.F.C., the team’s rival organization. The next 44 days in 1974 prove decisive in Clough’s career as he cruelly berates his new players and oversees their rapid downfall to the outrage and puzzlement of the public. Timothy Spall,Jim Broadbent co-star.
The Killing: The Complete First Season
All 13 episodes from the first season–including the “Pilot,” “What You Have Left,” “Undertow,” “I’ll Let You Know When I Get There,” and “Orpheus Descending”–are featured in a four-disc set.
Two hornswogglin’ bankers plan to railroad railroad agent Hoot Gibson, setting him up as a clay pigeon to take the fall for one of their planned heists in this two-fisted oater. As you can guess, Hoot isn’t going to stand for this behavior, so he quickly sets in motion a plan to make things right. With Sally Blane, Hooper Atchley.
An animated, fascinating family favorite about a widowed mouse who seeks the help of a young crow, a wise owl, and some mysterious, intelligent rats who are indebted to her late husband to save her family’s home from a farmer’s plow. Features the vocal talents of Peter Strauss, Dom DeLuise and Hermione Baddeley; listen for the voice of Shannen Doherty as Teresa.
As their love affair in the Oscar-winning indie film “Once” transformed from a fictional story into a real-life romance, stars/musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova found their world tour with band Swell Season threatening to intrude upon their happiness. This artful documentary chronicles the continuation of the talented couple’s unique journey and sheds light on the stresses of show business.
The blossoming romance between young Princess Victoria (Emily Blunt) and Prince Albert (Rupert Friend) forms the basis of this involving drama set in 1830s England. Palace intrigues also commence as King William (Jim Broadbent) nears death and Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong) contemplates how he might be appointed to rule instead of Victoria. Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson co-star.
Deceived by months of online chat with someone she thinks is a boy her own age, 14-year-old Annie (Liana Liberato) becomes the victim of a pedophile (Chris Henry Coffey) who lures her to a hotel room. While the difficult search to locate the culprit begins, her parents (Clive Owen, Catherine Keener) struggle to cope with the violation of their daughter and its impact on their lives. David Schwimmer directs; with Jason Clarke, Viola Davis.
Twenty years after a massacre wiped out members of their family, Billy Carson (Buster Crabbe) and Fuzzy (Al St. John) have tracked down the owlhoot responsible for the killings in a small town. Find out how they flush out the crook and get their vengeance in this stirring sagebrusher. Evelyn Finley, Jack Ingram also star.
Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention
Crazy contraption creator Wallace and his dog Gromit star in this charming animated series from the BBC, showcasing a variety of wacky and wonderful real-life inventions. In addition to reviewing the creations of their guest inventors, Wallace shares some of his own ingenious gadgets with the audience.
Wizards (35th Anniversary Edition)
From Ralph Bakshi comes this renowned animated feature set in a post-apocalyptic future. When an evil mage conjures a demon army based on Nazi propaganda, his heroic wizard brother teams up with a beautiful fairy princess and a brave young warrior to stop the sinister forces from destroying the world. With the voices of Mark Hamill, Susan Tyrell,Richard Romanus.
“Juno” director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody team up again to tell the darkly comic story of a divorced, alcoholic writer (Charlize Theron) in her mid-30s who returns to her Minnesota hometown after learning that a married ex-boyfriend (Patrick Wilson) has just become a father. As she tries to seduce him away from his wife (Elizabeth Reaser), another former classmate (Patton Oswalt) tries his best to help Theron grow up. With Mary Beth Hurt, Jill Eikenberry.
The intrepid boy journalist of European comic-strip renown is given the grand treatment in this performance capture-animated rouser directed by Steven Spielberg. When Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) makes a flea-market purchase of an antique ship model, he doesn’t suspect it to hold a clue to unimaginable treasure, or that it will spur his kidnapping to Morocco by the aristocratic villain (voiced by Daniel Craig) desperate to claim it. With the voices of Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost.
For details and availability of more of this week’s new releases, click here.
Here’s a look at last week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases.