New Releases:

“Cloud Atlas” (Warner), the sprawling, dazzling, ambitious collaboration between “Matrix” makers Lana and Andy Wachowski and Germany’s Tom Tykwer weaves together the six distinctive stories in six different eras with a cast that reappears throughout the timelines. At once literal and evasive, this is a film that wears its heart on its beautifully stitched sleeve and its meaning in its design and yet finds so many facets in which to mirror its ideas throughout its incarnations. It failed to connect with audiences on its initial release, but gets a second chance on home video, where its 170-minute length may not be such an issue. Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand. Videodrone’s review is here.

Check out MSN’s exclusive “Cloud Atlas” infographic and enter to win a Blu-ray combo pack from MSN and Warner Home Video.

“A Glimpse Inside the Mind Of Charles Swan III” (Lionsgate), the first feature from Roman Coppola since “CQ” more than a decade ago, stars Charlie Sheen as a hedonistic, ego-fueled graphic artist facing an early-life crisis. Blu-ray and DVD, also at Redbox.

“Frankie Go Boom” (Universal), a comedy about sibling rivalry and practical joking gone awry starring Charlie Hunnam and Chris O’Dowd “possesses a surprisingly sweet heart,” recommends MSN film critic Kat Murphy. Blu-ray and DVD

Plus: the latest reboot of the landmark horror film titled simply “Texas Chainsaw” (Lionsgate, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, On Demand and at Redbox) and the historical epic “Back to 1942” (Well Go, Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand) from China.

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

The central conflict of “Dexter: The Seventh Season” (Paramount), Showtime’s blackly-comic series about TV’s favorite serial-killer hero, isn’t with another killer. This season Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) adoptive sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), who happens to be a police detective, discovers his secret and has to come to terms with the fact that her brother is the killer she’s been hunting all these seasons. Family secrets can be so divisive. Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

“The Bletchley Circle” (PBS) is a self-contained British mystery mini-series set in 1950s London, but it could easily launch a continuing series based on the strength of its characters, a quartet of women who were code breakers during World War II, and its setting. Blu-ray and DVD. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“Liz and Dick” (eOne, DVD) is the Lifetime original movie starring Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor and Grant Bowler as Richard Burton and “Dance Academy: Season One” (Flatiron, DVD) is the Australian teen drama about first-year students at a ballet school in Sydney that debuted stateside on TeenNick.

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

Two pair of smart adult westerns from director Delmer Daves get the Criterion treatment: the original “3:10 to Yuma” (Criterion) with Glenn Ford as a cunning outlaw and Van Heflin as the farmer who takes him to prison, and “Jubal” (Criterion), a reworking of “Othello” on a frontier ranch with Ford, Ernest Borgnine, and Rod Steiger. Both on Blu-ray and DVD with minimal supplements. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“French Masterworks: Russian Émigrés in Paris 1923-1928” (Flicker Alley) presents of the DVD debut of five silent classics from Film Albatros, a French studio founded by Russian artists: “The Burning Crucible,” “Kean,” “The Late Mathias Pascal,” and two director by Jacques Feyder, “Gribiche” and ‘The New Gentlemen.” Videodrone’s review is here.

“The Henry Fonda Film Collection” (Fox) collects ten features from 1939 to 1958, including “Drums Along the Mohawk” (1939), “The Grapes of Wrath” (1941), and “My Darling Clementine” (1946). DVD

More Hal Hartley comes back to disc, including his feature debut “The Unbelievable Truth” (Olive, Blu-ray and DVD) and the double feature “The Book of Life / The Girl from Monday” (Olive, DVD). Reviewed on Videodrone here.

John Stahl’s noir-tinged Technicolor melodrama “Leave Her to Heaven” (Twilight Time) debuts on Blu-ray.

The MOD Movies round-up this week looks at a selection of films by the great directors debuting on disc through manufacture-on-deman​​d.

All of the Cool and Classic here

New on Netflix Instant:

Horror films take top honors on Netflix new releases, from “House at the End of the Street” (2012) with newly-anointed Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence to the Norwegian Nazi zombie film “Dead Snow” (2009) to Ben Wheatley’s “Kill List” (2011), a hitman thriller that swerves into a jangly horror film.

For fans of extreme cinema, here are a couple that will shake up even the hardiest souls: Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist” (2009) with Willen Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg and Gaspar Noe’s violent “Irreversible” (2002). Much lighter is the action comedy “Hit & Run” (2012) with Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell and the Bollywood musical “Lagaan” (2001).

Plenty of classics have also recently arrived, including the 1941 swashbuckler “The Corsican Brothers” (1941) and a number of film noirs and dramas with darker edges, like “Raw Deal” (1948), “99 River Street” (1953), and “The Gun Runners” (1958).

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

“Cloud Atlas” arrives On Demand same day as disc, as does the horror reboot “Texas Chainsaw” and the Chinese historical drama “Back to 1942.”

Arriving days after theatrical debuts (and long before disc) are Ben Wheatley’s black comedy “Sightseers” and the action film “Java Heat” with Kellan Lutz and Mickey Rourke.

Available Friday, same day as theatrical release, are the thriller “Black Rock” with Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell, Kim Ki-Duk’s “Pieta” from South Korea, and the documentary “Hating Breitbart.”

Available from Redbox this week:

“A Glimpse Inside the Mind Of Charles Swan III” (Lionsgate, DVD), a comedy starring Charlie Sheen as a hedonistic graphic designer in the seventies, and the “Texas Chainsaw” (Lionsgate, Blu-ray and DVD) topline the new arrivals in the kiosks this week.

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here

New Releases:

“Jack Reacher” (Paramount), based on the ninth novel in Lee Child’s “Jack Reacher” series, brings the action hero to the screen with Tom Cruise in the lead. Fans were resistant – Cruise is not exactly the strapping six-foot-two-inch figure described by Child in the books – but Child gave his approval, director / screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie wrote a sharp adaptation, and Tom Cruise is an actor who commits completely to his films. Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and at Redbox. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“Safe Haven” (Fox), this season’s Nicholas Sparks adaptation, pairs up Julianne Hough as a mysterious beauty with a dangerous past and Josh Duhamel as a ruggedly handsome widower. MSN has a giveaway for Mother’s Day; details on the contest and the prize package here. Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand.

“Side Effects” (Universal), a medical drama-turned-psychol​​ ogical thriller with Jude Law and Rooney Mara, is ostensibly the last feature film from Steven Soderbergh, and it’s a pretty sharp piece of filmmaking. Kind of like an updated Joe Esterhaus thriller from the nineties, only smarter and without any ice picks in sight. Blu-ray and DVD

“Mama” (Universal) is “a good old-fashioned horror story” starring Jessica Chastain. Guillermo Del Toro, who knows a thing or two about eerie horror with human dimensions, produces. Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand.

“Upstream Color” (New Video, Blu-ray+DVD Combo and On Demand), the latest headtrip from filmmaker Shane Carruth, hits disc while still fascinating audiences in theaters. “Starlet” (Music Box, Blu-ray and DVD) is an indie character drama from Sean Baker. ”The Rabbi’s Cat” (GKids, Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack) is an animated feature from France and “Citizen Hearst” (HBO, DVD) is a documentary on William Randolph Hearst that received a limited theatrical release.

And don’t forget Videodrone’s B-sides wrap-up of direct-to-disc and made-for-cable films.

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

“Fringe: The Complete Fifth and Final Season” (Warner) brings closure to the brainy weird science fiction show of parallel universes and dimension-hopping villains with a final chapter set twenty years in the future. It’s not the show’s best season but it is a memorable wrap to an ambitious show that filled the gap left by “The X-Files” with stories built around trippy concepts. 13 episodes on Blu-ray and DVD. Also arriving is the box set “Fringe: The Complete Series” (Warner, Blu-ray and DVD). Videodrone’s review is here.

“30 Rock: Season 7 – The Final Season” (Universal), meanwhile, brings happy endings to Tina Fey’s madcap sitcom of life in the halls of network television and insane TV stars. 13 episodes, DVD. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“Steel Magnolias” (Sony) is the updated TV movie remake of the hit stage play with Queen Latifah, who co-produced the film for Lifetime. “Liberace: The Ultimate Entertainer” (Timeless) is a two-disc set of TV appearances featuring the flamboyant pianist and celebrity entertainer. Both DVD.

Plus: “K9: The Complete Series” (Shout Factory, DVD), the 2009 “Doctor Who” spin-off for the kid set, and the end of the run for two more TV shows: the contemporary medical drama “Private Practice: The Complete Sixth and Final Season” (ABC, DVD) and the classic western “Have Gun-Will Travel: The Final Season” with Richard Boone (Paramount, DVD).

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

“Band of Outsiders” (Criterion) is one of Jean-Luc Godard’s most cinematically playful films, an anti-”Jules And Jim” love triangle crime caper with Anna Karina (Godard’s muse of the early sixties) as the innocent sucked into the schemes of best friends Claude Brasseur and Sami Frey. Criterion released it on DVD a decade ago but remasters it from a new 2010 high-definition restoration for its Blu-ray debut. Videodrone’s review is here.

“The Great Escape” (Fox), the prison escape classic starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Charles Bronson and directed by John Sturges (of “The Magnificent Seven” fame), debuts on Blu-ray for the film’s 50th anniversary.

“Superman: Unbound” (Warner) is the latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie, this one based on the graphic novel “Superman: Brainiac.” Blu-ray and DVD, with lots of supplements.

Marlon Brando made his screen debut in “The Men” (Olive) and the superstars of old Hollywood come out in “The Enforcer” (Olive), the 1950 crime thriller with Humphrey Bogart, and “Cloak and Dagger” (Olive), a World War II conspiracy thriller with Gary Cooper. All on Blu-ray and DVD.

“Shanghai Noon / Shanghai Knights” (Touchstone) presents the respective Blu-ray debuts of both Jackie Chan / Owen Wilson old west action comedies in a double feature. And arriving on Blu-ray from Fox is “The Verdict” (Fox) with Paul Newman in one of his great performances, “Brubaker” (Fox) with Robert Redford, and “Viva Zapata” (Fox) with Marlon Brando (the latter previously available exclusively in a box set).

Plus Videodrone’s B-sides wrap-up of direct-to-disc and made-for-cable films.

All of the Cool and Classic here

New on Netflix Instant:

“The Cabin in the Woods” (2011) is the wily, witty, very entertaining love letter to horror movie fandom from director Drew Goddard and co-writer / producer Joss Whedon.

“John Dies at the End” (2012), from cult filmmaker Don Coscarelli, sends two college dropouts (Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes) on a drug-induced journey into another dimension where an invasion of Earth may be underway.

Netflix recently got a lot of hate press when some 1800 titles expired last week. But don’t panic, there’s a big batch of new titles filling in the back catalog, from classics like “The Three Musketeers” (1975) and “Pulp Fiction” (1994) to hits like “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001) and “Dirty Dancing” (1987) to films waiting to be rediscovered like “Big Night” (1996) with Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, “Murder by Decree” (1979) with Christopher Plummer as Sherlock Holmes, and “The Man in the Moon” (1991) and the film debut of Reese Witherspoon.

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

“Jack Reacher,” with Tom Cruise as Lee Child’s tough-guy drifter hero, toplines the On Demand offerings this week. Also arriving same day as disc is the Nicholas Sparks romantic drama “Safe Haven” with Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel, the horror film “Mama” with Jessica Chastain, the headtrip indie drama “Upstream Color” from Shane Carruth, and the suburban satire “The Oranges.”

Available before disc release is the mob comedy “Stand Up Guys” with Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin, and the documentary “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” the portrait of a Journey cover band.

Arriving Friday, May 10, same day as its theatrical debut, is the horror film “Aftershock” with Eli Roth and Selena Gomez. And available before it hits theaters is the action film “Vehicle 19” with Paul Walker.

Available from Redbox this week:

“Jack Reacher” (Paramount) arrives same day as disc and digital on both Blu-ray and DVD. Also arriving in Redbox kiosks this week: “Hyde Park on Hudson” (Universal) starring Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt, “John Dies at the End” (Magnolia) from cult filmmaker Don Coscarelli, and the spoof “A Haunted House” (Universal).

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here

Fifteen years after the American transcontinental railway was completed, construction began on the Canadian Pacific Railway to connect British Columbia to Eastern Canada. For the purposes of the 1949 film Canadian Pacific, it’s simply a setting for a western in the mountains and forests of western Canada, where the challenge of finding a route through the Rocky Mountains is compounded by the opposition of local trappers and Indian tribes. It is, shall we say, a portrait that refuses to let history dictate the details of the story.

Randolph Scott stars as Tom Andrews, the buckskin-clad surveyor and “trouble boss,” a kind of foreman who has an instinct for spotting troublemakers and intervening in a very physical way before they have a chance to make any trouble. Scott plays Tom as a classic Scott cowboy: ramrod straight, with a big smile, quick fists, and fast draw. He instantly clashes with the railway’s new doctor, Edith Cabot (Jane Wyatt), a cultured pacifist who abhors violence, before returning to Cecille (Nancy Olson), the frontier girl he met in the local trapper settlements while searching for the pass. It’s a classic dichotomy: the man of the west torn between the wild frontier gal and the civilized society woman. In this pairing, trapper’s daughter Olson is the gentler, more romantic of the two, while Wyatt plays the doctor as a fiery, obstinate woman under the corset and severe speeches.

Needless to say, circumstances toss Tom together with Edith while Cecille’s people are whipped up into an anti-railway frenzy by the wonderfully-named villain Dirk Rourke (Victor Jory), a fur trader who fears his monopoly on the trading posts will be broken by the railway. Stir in stolen dynamite, Indian tribes on the warpath, and liquor-induced labor unrest, and you’ve got a war over the rails. Prolific character actor J. Carrol Naish, usually relegated to roles as villains or even Indians, provides color and comic relief as the sourdough Dynamite Dawson, an old coot with a bushy beard who drawls tall tales (“I once won the Kentucky Derby!”) as the railway munitions man and Tom’s most trusted ally.

Continue reading at Turner Classic Movies

Plays on Saturday, May 11 on TCM

New Releases:

“Silver Linings Playbook” (Anchor Bay), directed by David O. Russell, earned eight Academy Award nominations and won an Oscar for Jennifer Lawrence as a young widow who is only slightly less crazy that Bradley Cooper’s bi-polar schoolteacher. Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver co-star in this offbeat comic drama of an oddly functional family of dysfunctional individuals. Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and at Redbox. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“Not Fade Away” (Paramount), the autobiographical feature debut by David Chase, got lost in the awards-season releases at the end of the year. Ostensibly the story of a band, it’s really the story of growing up in the sixties and it is as interesting and unexpected as you would hope for from the creator of “The Sopranos.” Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and at Redbox. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Broken City” (Fox) is a drama of compromised cops and corrupt politicians with Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones. MSN has a drawing for a free Blu-ray and a poster signed by Wahlberg and director Allen Hughes. Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand.

Also new this week: the road movie comedy “The Guilt Trip” (Paramount, Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand, and at Redbox) with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen and the black comedy “The Details” (Anchor Bay, Blu-ray and DVD) with Toby Maguire and Elizabeth Banks.

“Thale” (XLrator, Blu-ray+DVD Combo), a dark fairy tale from Norway, leads off the foreign films and the documentaries of the week are toplined by “Happy People: A Year in Taiga” (Music Box, DVD), a Russian documentary reedited by Werner Herzog, and “Walk Away Renee” (IFC, DVD) from Jonathan Caouette.

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

“China Beach: The Complete Collection” (Time Life) is not the first American TV series to tackles the war in Vietnam in a dramatic format, but it was the first successful such show, running for four seasons and winning Emmy awards of Dana Delaney (she won for Lead Actress twice) and Marg Helgenberger. 62 episodes on 21 discs in a DVD box set. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Three” (Paramount) and “Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Best of Both Worlds” (Paramount), the epic two-part Season Three finale edited into a feature-length presentation (it played theaters in a special-event screening earlier this year), debut on Blu-ray.

Plus: the 2010 TV mini-series “Ben Hur” (Sony, DVD), the five-part British drama “The Syndicate: Series 1” (Acorn, DVD), and the box set “The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries: Complete Collection” (Acorn).

The MOD disc coverage this week rounds up recent TV offerings via manufacture on demand, including “Dr. Kildare: The Complete First Season” (Warner Archive), which made a star of Richard Chamberlain. The complete round-up here.

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

“The Notebook: Ultimate Collector’s Edition” (New Line) delivers a Blu-ray+DVD Combo special edition of the tear-jerker romance that made a star of Ryan Gosling. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, it stars Rachel McAdams, James Garner, and Gena Rowlands, and the new edition comes with keepsakes. MSN’s drawing for a free copy is over but the details are on the contest page here.

“Major Dundee” (Twilight Time), the epic western that Sam Peckinpah called his “lost masterpiece,” debuts on Blu-ray with both the original theatrical and extended version of the film. Videodrone’s review is here.

“The Vampire Lovers” (Shout Factory), the first of Hammer Films’ trilogy of erotic horror based on Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla,” stars her culty-ness Ingrid Pitt and debuts on Blu-ray. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“French Masterworks: Russian Émigrés in Paris 1923-1928” (Flicker Alley) presents of the DVD debut of five silent classics from Film Albatros, a French studio founded by Russian artists: “The Burning Crucible,” “Kean,” “The Late Mathias Pascal,” and two director by Jacques Feyder, “Gribiche” and ‘The New Gentlemen.”

Plus “Message From Space” (Shout Factory, DVD), a Japanese “Star Wars” knock-off from director Kinji Fukasaku with Vic Morrow and Sonny Chiba, and a new edition of the Australian time-travel drama “The Navigator” (Hens Tooth, DVD).

All of the Cool and Classic here

Streams and Channels:

New on Netflix this week: “The Paperboy” (2012), Lee Daniels’ overheated crime thriller follow-up to “Precious,” is an aggressively sordid swamp noir starring Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Matthew McConaughey.

Plus: “A Royal Affair” (2012), one of the five nominees for Best Foreign Language Feature at this year’s Academy Awards, is an historical costume drama with Mad Mikkelson, currently starring as Hannibal Lector on American TV. ”Girl in Progress” (2012) stars Eva Mendes as a single mom with a rebellious daughter (Cierra Ramirez) who is wise beyond her years, or at least she thinks so and “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” (2012) is not actually recommended by anyone, but it is a new comedy with a big, bright cast. So there’s that.

And I dug into the new series on Netflix, Jane Campion’s “Top of the Lake” and Eli Roth’s “Hemlock Grove,” on Videodrone here.

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

“Silver Linings Playbook,” the offbeat romantic comic drama Bradley Cooper, Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert DeNiro, is Videodrone’s pick of the week, but there’s plenty more to choose from: the cop thriller “Broken City” with Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe, the comedy “The Guilt Trip” with Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, and “Not Fade Away” from “The Sopranos” creator David Chase.

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” which debuted in theaters last week, is now also available On Demand. And arriving before its theatrical debut is the comedy “Syrup” with Kellan Lutz, Amber Heard, and Brittany Snow. It premieres on May 2.

Available from Redbox this week:

Arriving day and date with video stores is “Silver Linings Playbook” (Anchor Bay, Blu-ray and DVD) with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert DeNiro; “The Guilt Trip” (Paramount, Blu-ray and DVD) with Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, and “Not Fade Away” (Paramount, Blu-ray and DVD), plus the 2010 TV mini-series “Ben Hur” (Sony, DVD).

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here

New Releases:

“Django Unchained” (Anchor Bay), Quentin Tarantino’s spin on the spaghetti western, is the most audacious confrontation of slavery in pre-Civil war America yet made. Along with the extreme violence, operatic drama, eccentric characters, and brutal portrait of frontier existence of the genre is Tarantino’s genre-mixing wit and inventive soundtrack, but behind the revenge plot is a swooning love story and a powerful friendship. Blu-ray, DVD, digital and On Demand platforms, and at Redbox kiosks. Videodrone’s review is here.

“A Monster in Paris” (Shout Factory), a French animated musical from director Bibo Bergeron (“The Road to El Dorado” and “Shark Tale”), is a busy but simplistic fantasy set in early 20th Century Paris with Vanessa Paradis and Sean Lennon providing the singing. Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and DVD, available at Redbox. Reviewed in Videodrone here.

“The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia” (Lionsgate), the in-name-only sequel to the 2009 horror hit, stars Abigail Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, and Katee Sackhoff facing ghosts of slaves killed on the Underground Railway. Blu-ray and DVD, available at Redbox.

Also new this week: the romantic comedy “Late Bloomers” (Olive, Blu-ray and DVD) with William Hurt and Isabella Rossellini, the drama “Womb” (Olive, Blu-ray and DVD) with Eva Green and Matt Smith, the American indie comedy “Save the Date” (IFC, DVD) with Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie, and the Australian comedy “Not Suitable For Children” (Well Go, Blu-ray and DVD, available at Redbox) with Ryan Kwanten.

Foreign arrivals this week include the Chinese action film “Dragon” (Anchor Bay, Blu-ray and DVD) with Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro and the French drama “A Bottle in the Gaza Sea” (Film Movement, DVD) set in the gulf between the Israelis and Palestinians on the Gaza Strip.

“Orchestra of Exiles” (First Run, DVD), a profile of Bronislaw Huberman, a musician who saved over 1,000 Jewish musicians and their families in the 1930s, leads off the week’s non-fiction offerings, which also includes the natural history documentary “Wings of Life” (Disney), narrated by Meryl Streep.

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

“Spies of Warsaw” (BBC) stars David Tennant as a French intelligence agent in 1939 Poland, trying to uncover the German invasion plans in the days before the outbreak of World War II. The BBC mini-series, adapted from the Alan Furst novel, was shown in BBC America. Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

Also arriving this week by way of BBC is “Women in Love” (BBC) , the 2011 British miniseries adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel with Rosamund Pike and Rachael Stirling and the 1964 TV adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford’s “Parade’s End” (BBC) with Judi Dench. Both DVD.

“Makers: Women Who Make America” (PBS) is a three-part documentary series originally produced for PBS profiling the most influential and powerful women in business, law, and politics in the past fifty years.

“Flash Gordon: The Complete Series” (Mill Creek) presents all 22 episodes of the short-lived 2007 SciFi Channel update of the science fantasy adventure starring Eric Johnson.

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

“Police Story / Police Story 2 – Jackie Chan Double Feature” (Shout Factory) delivers the Blu-ray debut of Jackie Chan’s landmark action films, the blockbuster hits that elevated Chan to international superstar and combined his brand of acrobatic martial arts (with all its comic flourishes) with big budget set pieces and eye-popping stunts in a modern urban context. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Repo Man” (Criterion), Alex Cox’s instant cult classic starring Emilio Estevez a disaffected white urban LA punk, has lost none of its satirical inspiration or its delicious black humor. It gets the Criterion treatment on Blu-ray and DVD. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“The Hudsucker Proxy” (Warner Archive), the third Blu-ray released from the Warner Archive, is the Coen Bros.’ take on the thirties screwball comedy with Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

“Masaki Kobayashi Against the System (Eclipse Series 38)” (Eclipse) presents four films by the Japanese director from the 1950s and 1960s on Criterion’s budget line, with no supplements. DVD.

All of the Cool and Classic here

New on Netflix Instant:

“Scream 4” (2011) reunites director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson for a revival of the self-aware horror franchise, with Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, and Kieran Culkin joining series vets Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox.

The new Netflix Original Series ”Hemlock Grove” from Eli Roth debuts on Friday, April 19, the same week that it picks up the entire Jane Campion series “Top of the Lake,” right after completing its seven-episode run on the Sundance Channel.

Hong Sang-soo’s “In Another Country” (2012), starring Isabelle Huppert in three different stories about a French tourist in South Korea, is one of the funniest films to come for the low-key director.

Also from South Korea are the heist film “The Thieves” (2012), the top-grossing films of all-time in Korea, and gangster thriller “The Man From Nowhere” (2010), its top box office hit of 2010, while “Dangerous Liaisons” (2012) is a Chinese-language version of the French novel directed by a Korean filmmaker and starring Ziyi Zhang.

Instant TV includes the cable mini-series “Titanic: Blood and Steel” and the ABC Family Channel series “Switched at Birth: Season 2,” arriving on Netflix before it comes to disc.

Cult offerings this week include the Hammer films swashbuckler “Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter” (1974) and “Pi” (1998), the debut feature by director Darren Aronofsky.

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained“ breaks the binds of disc and arrives On Demand the same day as DVD and Blu-ray.

The Tribeca Film Festival is reaching out to audiences outside of the New York area by putting four of the featured films On Demand in advance of their Tribeca debuts: the American indie comedy “The English Teacher“ with Julianne Moore and Lily Collins and “Greetings from Tim Buckley” with Imogen Poots and Penn Badgley (as Jeff Buckley), the horror film “Fresh Meat” from New Zealand, and the Irish drama “What Richard Did.” The films debut On Demand on Tuesday, April 16. More details here.

Available from Redbox this week:

Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” (Anchor Bay) arrives day and date with video stores and sales shelves on both Blu-ray and DVD. Also arriving same day as sales and video rentals are the animated musical “A Monster in Paris” (Shout Factory, DVD), the horror sequel “A Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia” (Lionsgate, DVD), and the comedy “Not Suitable For Children” (Well Go, DVD).

Also arriving in Redbox kiosks this week is “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (Warner), on both Blu-ray and DVD, and arriving on Friday, April 19, is the Oscar-winning musical “Les Miserables” (Universal) and Judd Apatow’s comedy “This is 40” (Universal), both on Blu-ray and DVD.

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here

New Releases:

“Hyde Park on Hudson” (Universal) stars Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Laura Linney as his distant cousin who becomes his companion, confidante, and lover while the president hosts the King and Queen of England — the first ever American visit of a reigning British monarch — as World War I looms. Roger Michell directs the charming, somewhat lightweight look at high-stakes statesmanship and a very different kind of relationship between the president and the press, and Samuel West, Olivia Colman, and Olivia Williams co-star. Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Down the Shore” (Anchor Bay) stars James Gandolfini as the proprietor of a run-down amusement park on the Jersey Shore (Blu-ray and DVD), and “The Kitchen” (Monterey) is an indie ensemble comedy with Laura Prepon, Bryan Greenberg, and Dreama Walker (DVD).

Hong Sang-soo’s “In Another Country” (Kino), starring Isabelle Huppert in three different stories about a French tourist in South Korea, is one of the funniest films to come for the low-key director. Korean and English with English subtitles, DVD.

Arriving from China is the romantic fantasy “The Sorcerer and the White Snake” (Magnet), starring Jet Li as a monk with martial arts prowess who takes on a lovestruck snake demon, and “The Four” (Well Go), a mix of conspiracy thriller, action film, and supernatural fantasy directed by Gordon Chan. Both in Cantonese with English subtitles, Blu-ray and DVD.

Non-fiction films debut this week include to natural history documentaries, “One Life” (BBC), from the creators of the BBC series “Life,” and “Planet Ocean” (Universal), from the directors of “Home” (both on Blu-ray and DVD), and “Love Free or Die” (Wolfe), about Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal church (DVD).

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

“Boss: Season Two” (Lionsgate) continues the Starz original series starring Kelsey Grammer as the Mayor of Chicago and the reigning king of the political machine, holding on tight to power as he fights a degenerative disease eating away his mind and political rivals trying to wrest control from him. It’s a portrait of politics as bloodsport and it is ruthless, though not as interesting as it thinks it is. 10 episodes on two discs on Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War” (Time Life), the 1981 PBS documentary series written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Peter Arnett and narrated by Richard Basehart, was originally released on disc in 2000. It get a new edition mastered from the original broadcast masters. Four discs, DVD.

“Great Barrier Reef” (BBC), a natural history documentary on the largest living structure on the planet, is a co-production between Australian TV, BBC, and Discovery Channel, and debuts on DVD, while the landmark 2001 series “The Blue Planet: Seas of Life” (BBC) from David Attenborough debuts on Blu-ray.

Plus “The Dick Van Dyke Show: Season 1” (Image), now available as a separate volume on Blu-ray (it was previously in a Blu-ray box set,) and new seasons of “Merlin: Season 5” (BBC) from Britain and “Family Ties: The Sixth Season” (Paramount) from the eighties.

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

“Gate of Hell” (Criterion), aka “Jigokumen,” was one of the very first color films made in Japan, and the first color Japanese film to be seen in the west. The 1953 samurai tragedy from Teinosuke Kinugasa won the Grand Prix at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and was just restored to its rich color glory in Japan. Blu-ray and DVD, but no supplements. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Naked Lunch” (Criterion), David Cronenberg’s cinematic exploration of the notorious William Burroughs novel, is not so much an adaptation as a reinterpretation combining fiction with elements of the author’s own life. The Blu-ray debut features the supplements from the earlier DVD release. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“The Cary Grant Film Collection” (Fox) collects six films from 25 years of Grant’s career, all of them previously released on DVD: “Born to be Bad” (1934), “I Was a Male War Bride” (1949), “People Will Talk” (1951), “Monkey Business” (19552), “An Affair to Remember” (1957), and “Kiss Them for Me” (1957). Six discs in paperboard slipsleeves.

“Gorgo” (VCI) is a British take on the Japanese rampaging monster movie, this one with a giant underwater reptile rampaging through London to find her captured baby lizard. Newly remastered in HD for a new DVD special edition and Blu-ray debut, with a new half-hour documentary and other supplements.

The MOD Movies roundup spotlights three Betty Grable musicals — “Coney Island” (20th Century Fox Cinema Archives), “The Shocking Miss Pilgrim” (20th Century Fox Cinema Archives), and “Wabash Avenue” (20th Century Fox Cinema Archives) — and a handful of widescreen movies from Fox, some done well, some not.

We also spotlight the new festival of Criterion film streamings free on Hulu, including Luchino Visconti’s “Senso,” Gus Van Sant’s “Mala Noche,” and Jean Vigo’s “L’Atalante.”

All of the Cool and Classic here

New on Netflix Instant:

“The Hunger Games” (2012), based on the first book in the young adult dystopian trilogy by Suzanne Collins and starring Jennifer Lawrence as a teenage warrior, was the first blockbuster of 2012 and a hit on home video. Now it’s available to stream on Netflix.

“Lay the Favorite” (2012) is a comic drama set in the culture of Las Vegas oddsmaking with Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hal and “Americano” (2011) sends a young Frenchman (Mathieu Demy, also the director) on a road trip to California to uncover the legacy of his late mother.

For a few weeks only, a dozen James Bond movies, from “Dr. No” (1962) to “The World is Not Enough” (1999), are now available. Among the highlights are “Goldfinger” (1964) and “Thunderball” (1965) with Sean Connery and “Live and Let Die” (1973) and “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977) with Roger Moore. The full line-up is here.

Highlighting the Instant TV offerings are “Fringe: Seasons 1-4,” which follows the cult science fiction series through the best seasons of its five-season run, and “Hatfields & McCoys,” the History Channel mini-series with Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton that earned five Emmy Awards.

Plus “The Passion of the Christ” (2004) and “Braveheart” (1995) from Mel Gibson, “48 Hrs.” (1982) and “Streets of Fire” (1984) from Walter Hill, John Huston’s “The Dead” (1987), and more.

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

“Hyde Park on Hudson,” starring Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt, debuts same day as disc, while the documentary “Only the Young,” a portrait of three teenagers in a small Southern California town, arrives before its disc debut.

On Friday, April 12, three features debut On Demand the same day that they hit theaters, including the new Terrence Malick drama “To the Wonder” with Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, and Ola Kurylenko. Glenn Kenny reviews it for MSN Movies: “the movie finally, and with a suddenly remarkable sense of purpose, delivers the viewer to an intimation of grace that’s as powerful a thing as art has to offer, in the visual and aural form of a Christian prayer.”

Also available Friday is “Antiviral“ from Brandon Cronenberg and “Simon Killer“ with Brady Corbet and Mati Diop.

Available from Redbox this week:

“Life of Pi” (Fox), Ang Lee’s gorgeous adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel of imagination and survival, won four Academy Awards, including Best Director for Ang and Best Cinematography. Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

Anthony Hopkins is “Hitchcock” (Fox) and Helen Mirren as his wife and collaborator Alma in this fanciful take on the making of “Psycho.” Blu-ray and DVD. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

Also on DVD is the found-footage environment horror film “The Bay” (Lionsgate) directed by Barry Levinson, the redemptive drama “LUV” (Gaiam) with Common, Charles S. Dutton, Meagan Good, and Danny Glover and direct-to-disc “Straight A’s” (Millennium) starring Ryan Phillippe, Anna Paquin, and Luke Wilson.

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here

Urban black culture meets Asian martial arts philosophy meets music video glamor in The Last Dragon, a colorful, comic, self-aware reworking of a classic Hong Kong martial arts odyssey in contemporary New York. Call it a Motown martial arts movie seeped in New York urban culture and eighties color and music.

Real-life karate black belt Taimak plays earnest young martial arts student Leroy Green, nicknamed Bruce Lee-roy by the locals. He models himself on Bruce Lee, dresses in a modest black robe and an Asian straw hat, eats popcorn with chopsticks, spouts fortune cookie wisdom, and talks in the formal, polite manner of screen Asians who speak English in American movies without contractions (it’s always “do not,” never “don’t”). Needless to say, he stands out amidst the street smart characters of his Harlem neighborhood and his hip kid brother (future rapper Leo O’Brien, founding member of The Sugarhill Gang) thinks he’s just weird. Music video TV host and singer Laura Charles (Vanity), however, thinks he’s perfectly charming, especially after he saves her from mob-wannabe thugs not once but twice. Meanwhile a trash-talking peacock of a martial arts gangleader named Sho’nuff, the self-proclaimed Shogun of Harlem (Julius J. Carry III), spends the film trying to pressure Leroy into a fight to prove once and for all that he’s the master.

“The rest of the plot, which has to do with Vanity’s resisting gangland pressure to play rotten videos in her dance club, is too idiotic to bear explaining,” wrote Janet Maslin in her review for The New York Times, which was indicative of the reviews of the day. Arriving just as hip-hop, rap, break-dancing, and graffiti art were getting a spotlight in scrappy little films with serious cultural undercurrents like Breakin’ and Beat Street (Schultz himself would make Krush Groove a year later), The Last Dragon was a fun-loving movie fantasy, pure and simple. Its mix of action, comedy, music, dance, revenge movie, and spiritual odyssey was not well reviewed but it was embraced by audiences, who turned it into a small-scale hit. Decades later, it remains a cult film with passionate fans.

Continue reading at Turner Classic Movies

Plays on TCM on Saturday, April 13

Henri-Georges Clouzot made his reputation as a director of coldly corrosive, meticulously-engineered thrillers, but he made his debut with the snappy, witty, screwball murder mystery The Murderer Lives at Number 21. You could call it a continental answer to MGM’s The Thin Man films — it has a sophisticated detective, a spunky girlfriend who joins him on his cases, and plenty of witty banter — but there is also a wry cynicism under the cheeky humor and a decidedly French attitude to sexual mores.

Clouzot had been working in the film industry since the early 1930s, apprenticing as an assistant to directors Anatole Litvak and E.A. Dupont and writing or co-writing scripts in both France and Germany. By the early forties he had become a specialist in French thrillers and among his successes was The Last One of the Six (Le dernier des six), a light 1941 murder mystery made for Continental, a German film company that established itself in France during the occupation. Adapted from a novel by Stanislas-André Steeman and directed by Georges Lacombe, the film starred Pierre Fresnay as Inspector Wenceslas Woroboyioetschik, aka Wens of the Paris police, and Suzy Delair as Mila Malou, aspiring singer and Wens’ saucy lover. Clouzot forged strong friendships with Fresnay (Clouzot once said that Fresnay helped him more than anyone else in his lifetime) and Delair, who became his companion during the production and even made suggestions to the script, over the course of production, and the film’s success led to a promotion for Clouzot — he was made head of Continental’s screenwriter department — and a chance to direct his first feature.

The Murderer Lives at Number 21, also based on a novel by Steeman, reunites Clouzot with Fresnay and Delair. Though Wens and Mila are not characters in the novel, Clouzot wrote them into the leading roles of the mystery of a serial killer who leaves his calling card with every corpse. The name Monsieur Durand becomes notorious on the streets, like a boogeyman, but in this case a very real one. While Wens goes undercover, moving into a rooming house where he believes the killer lives (thus the film’s title) under the guise of a minister, Mila embarks on her own investigation for purely professional reasons: Nabbing the killer would make her famous and kick-start her singing career. Clouzot writes Wens as a sly, quick-witted investigator, sharper than his bosses and more clever than his suspects, and Fresnay plays him as a man who spars with words like a fencer with a foil. Where Fresnay’s sophisticated Wens outmaneuvers his opponents with verbal dexterity and wit, Delair’s street-smart Mila is a dizzy force of nature who bowls them over by sheer force of personality and determination. Their lively relationship is defined by the sardonic byplay between the characters, who are not married but clearly live together.

Continue reading at Turner Classic Movies

Plays on TCM on Sunday, April 7.

New Releases:

“Hemingway & Gellhorn” (HBO) leads the new releases this week, and this smart and dynamic biopic wasn’t even made for theaters. Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman star as Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorne in this HBO original film, directed by Philip Kaufman for cable because films like this about and for adult audiences are a vanishing breed on theaters. Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

“John Dies at the End” (Magnet), from cult filmmaker Don Coscarelli, sends two college dropouts on a drug-induced journey into another dimension where an invasion on Earth may be underway. It’s hard to tell when you’re under the influence of the designer drug known as Soy Sauce. Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti co-star. Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand.

“The Sweeney” (eOne) updates the seventies British cop show for the big screen with Ray Winstone as the bareknuckle leader of an elite crime-fighting squad (Blu-ray and DVD) and the redemptive drama “LUV” (Vivendi) stars Common, Charles S. Dutton, Meagan Good, and Danny Glover (DVD and On Demand).

Foreign films arriving this week include Pablo Trapero’s “White Elephant” (Strand, DVD) from Argentina, Takashi Shimizu’s “Tormented” from Japan (Well Go, DVD and Blu-ray, includes the 3D version on Blu-ray), and the documentary “Hitler’s Children” (Film Movement, DVD).

The B-Sides round-up of direct-to-disc and made-for-cable genre films, including horror, science fiction, and action, spotlights the new DVD line from Fangoria magazine along with dozens of other titles.

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

“The Bible: The Epic Miniseries” (Fox), from executive producers Mark Burnett and Roman Downey, retells the most familiar stories of The Bible, from Genesis to The Resurrection, in 10 episodes and seven-and-a-half hours. Created for The History Channel, it’s an odd and unsatisfying hybrid that blurs the line between history and myth with expensive but overwrought dramatizations and splashy (and often corny) digital effects, and it became the channel’s most watched program. Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Dirk Gently” (BBC) adapts the comic mystery novels of Douglas Adams for a screwy British series starring Stephen Mangan as Dirk and Darren Boyd as his “assistant partner” Macduff. Four episodes on two discs on DVD.

“Route 66: The Complete Fourth Season” (Shout Factory) presents the final trips of Tod (Martin Milner) and Linc (Glenn Corbett, who replaced George Maharis) in the original TV road show. 23 episodes on five discs on DVD.

“America Masters: Philip Roth Unmasked” (PBS) profiles the contemporary American author with candid interviews with Roth.

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

“Best of Warner Bros. 20 Film Collection – Romance” (Warner) continues the 90th Anniversary celebration with a new box set of 20 classic films, from 1938 to 2008 and spanning “Gone With the Wind” and “Casablanca” to “You’ve Got Mail” and “Night in Rodanthe,” on 22 discs. DVD. Reviewed in Videodrone here.

“Hello, Dolly!” (Fox), the splashy 1969 big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, stars Barbra Streisand as the irrepressible matchmaker who sets her sights on a gloomy, tight-fisted merchant (Walter Matthau). Debuts on Blu-ray.

Also debuting on Blu-ray from Fox: “Panic in the Streets” (Fox), Elia Kazan’s unusual film noir thriller built on the search for a criminal infected with a virulent strain of the bubonic plague, and Tom Hanks’ “That Thing You Do!” (Fox), presented in both theatrical and extended cuts.

Available exclusives from Screen Archives are two more Blu-ray debuts: Brian De Palma’s “The Fury” (Twilight Time) with Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes and “The Song of Bernadette” (Twilight Time) with Jennifer Jones. Both limited to 3000 copies.

Released last week but featured this week is Robert Bresson’s “A Man Escaped” (Criterion), debuting on Blu-ray and DVD. Reviewed on Videodrone here. An overview of Robert Bresson’s films on home video and streaming video is here.

All of the Cool and Classic here

New on Netflix Instant:

“Holy Motors” (2012), a visionary celebration of the imaginative possibilities of cinema from Leos Carax, even higher on my personal Top Ten list. It’s a film that almost defies description, a work of fantasy, comedy, music, drama, thrills, and surprising turns with every scene, but mostly there is wonder and invention and the sheer thrill of cinematic creation. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Citadel” (2012), winner of the Midnighters Audience Award at SXSW, is an indie horror film from Ireland about an agoraphobic single father fighting his illness and a hooded gang to protect his daughter. Michel Ocelot’s “Tales of the Night” (2011), a spirited French film about (appropriately enough) stories and storytelling, in an imaginative animated feature that plays out in the theater of the imagination.

Arriving days after disc release is “Bachelorette” (2012), a comedy starring Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson and Lizzy Caplan, the animated feature “Tatsumi” (2011) from Japan, and “The Comedy” (2012), an indie feature with Tim Heidecker.

Two new Netflix Originals debut this week. The series “Bad Samaritans,” produced by Walt Becker, is a five-episode comedy about set in a group serving mandatory community service probation with David Faustino as their probation officer. “Shotgun Wedding” is a feature comedy set around (what else?) a wedding, and it makes it premiere on Netflix.

Two TV shows arrive on Netflix Instant before disc: “Awake: Season 1,” the high-concept cop starring Jason Isaacs, and “The Finder: Season 1,” a comic mystery series starring Geoff Stults. Both were cancelled last season and only 13 episodes were produced of each.

A whole bunch of Cartoon Network shows also arrive, from “Robot Chicken: Season 1” and the live-action “Children’s Hospital: Seasons 1-2” to “Adventure Time: Season 1,”

“Samurai Jack: Season 1,” and a batch of superhero shows.

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

“LUV,” a drama of redemption starring Common and Danny Glover, arrives same day as disc. The natural history documentary “One Life” premieres in advance of disc.

Debuting On Demand on Friday, same day as theaters, is the comedy “The Story of Luke” with Lou Taylor Pucci and Seth Green, and arriving in advance of theatrical release is the action film “Erased” with Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko and the documentary “Venus and Serena” about the famous tennis stars.

Available from Redbox this week:

Toplining a slow week of new releases at Redbox is the remake of “Red Dawn” (Fox) with Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson (Blu-ray and DVD) and the martial arts meets steampunk thriller “Tai Chi Zero” (Well Go) from Hong Kong (DVD).

With such a small week of significant titles, they pulled another back out of the library, ostensibly to cash in on the dragons of HBO’s “Game of Thrones”: “Dragonheart” (Universal), the 1996 medieval fantasy starring Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery as the voice of the dragon.

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here

New Releases:

Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (Dreamworks) was one of the 2012’s biggest critical and commercial hits, a meaty historical drama that offers a different perspective on President Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis, who won an Oscar for his moving portrayal) and the politics of abolition in the final days of the Civil War. This is a drama of statesmanship in the cause of freedom, and it is compelling. Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand, digital download and VOD. Videodrone’s review is here.

Brad Pitt is an underworld assassin in “Killing Them Softly” (Anchor Bay), Andrew Dominick’s adaptation of George V. Higgins’ novel “Cogen’s Trade.” James Gandolphini and Ray Liotta co-star in this stylized trip into the sleazy underworld of low-lifes and mob soldiers. Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and at Redbox.

“Parental Guidance” (Fox) is a family comedy starring Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, and Marisa Tomei (Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand) and Antonio Banderas and Frieda Pinot star in “Day of the Falcon” (Image), a war drama set in North Africa in the 1930s (Blu-ray and DVD).

“Easy Money” (Anchor Bay), an underworld thriller starring Joel Kinnaman as a business student who gets into organized crime to live the high life, was Sweden’s biggest hit of 2010 and played American theaters under its original title, “Snabba Cash.” DVD.

Also arriving from overseas is Oscar nominee “A Royal Affair” (Magnolia, Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand) from Denmark, an historical costume drama with a political message, and “Tatsumi” (Zeitgeist, DVD) an animated feature from Japan about manga pioneer Yoshihiro Tatsumi.

The IMAX natural history documentary “To the Arctic” (Warner) leads off the non-fiction releases this week. Blu-ray, Blu-ray3D, DVD, and On Demand.

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

“Veep: The Complete First Season” (HBO) is the new HBO comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the fumbling American Vice-President. British satirist Armando Iannucci, creator of “The Thick of It” and feature-film spin-off “In the Loop,” created this American version of his British satires of bureaucratic dysfunction and petty infighting in the corridors of power. 8 episodes on Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Continuum: Season One” (Universal), a mix of time-travel science fiction and urban cop, stars Rachel Nichols as a future cop transported back to 2012 along with band of revolutionaries determined to change the future. It arrived on SyFy from the Canadian channel Showcase and became a hit for the channel, which has picked it up for a second season beginning in June (it begins in April on Canadian TV). 10 episodes on two discs on Blu-ray and DVD. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

Debuting on Blu-ray is “Star Trek Enterprise: Season One” (Paramount), the fifth series in the “Star Trek” universe and a prequel to the original series. These are the first voyages of the Starship Enterprise with Scott Bakula as the helm as Captain Jonathan Archer. 25 episodes on six discs. Videodrone’s review is here.

Also debuting this week: “Men at Work: The Complete First Season” (Sony), the TNT original sitcom of four sex-obsessed best friends; the cult sixties series “Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot: The Complete Series” (Shout Factory) from Japan; and “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries: Series 1” (Acorn) from Britain. All DVD.

Plus new seasons of “The Borgias: The Second Season” (Paramount, Blu-ray and DVD) and “Mad TV: The Complete Second Season” (Shout Factory, DVD).

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

“A Man Escaped” (Criterion) is a mesmerizing meeting of opposites: a prison escape thriller directed by the austere, introspective Robert Bresson. He defies expectations of action cinema by focusing on the patience and perseverance of the planning and the exacting details of the preparation. It’s beautiful, almost meditative, and strangely rousing. Blu-ray and DVD, with archival documentaries and a new visual essay among the extras.

Also from Criterion is a new edition of Charles Chaplin’s “Monsieur Verdoux” (Criterion), on Blu-ray and DVD with new and archival supplements. More at Videodrone here.

“From Beyond” (Scream Factory), the second feature from director Stuart Gordon, reunites the creative team from “Re-Animator” for another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation juiced up with modern science fiction flourish, horror-movie weirdness, and psycho-sexual energy. The Blu-ray+DVD Combo restored the unrated director’s cut and features new and archival supplements, including two commentary tracks and numerous interviews. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

Other cult items debuting on Blu-ray this week include “Phantasm II” (Shout Factory), with supplements, “Futureworld” (Shout Factory), and “Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXVI” (Shout Factory), featuring four more movies getting heckled.

“China Gate” (Olive) marks the disc debut of Sam Fuller’s war 1957 drama, which is set in the early years of Vietnam War, and the first time it’s been presented widescreen in any video format. It’s classic Fuller pulp storytelling, filled with both anti-communist rhetoric and an anti-racism message, all in a platoon mission adventure. Blu-ray and DVD. Videodrone’s review is here.

More classics from Olive this week: the romantic comedy “The Devil and Miss Jones” (Olive) with Jean Arthur, John Ford’s “The Sun Shines Bright” (Olive) with Charles Winninger, and Edgar Ulmer’s “Ruthless” (Olive) with Zachary Scott and Sydney Greenstreet. “McLintock!” (Olive), the knockabout western comedy with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, also arrives in a new edition along with four early John Wayne westerns. All Blu-ray and DVD.

You could call the 1953 “Little Fugitive” (Kino Lorber) the original American indie film, a charming little tale shot on location with a tiny budget and a big heart. It debuts on Blu-ray.

More recent releases: Elia Kazan’s “Panic in the Streets” (Fox), Brian De Palma’s”The Fury” (Twilight Time), John Carpenter’s “Christine” (Twilight Time) and “The Song of Bernadette” (Twilight Time) will be included in next week’s column.

The MOD Movies roundup profiles collections of Philo Vance and The Falcon movies and a handful of film noirs and other crime films.

All of the Cool and Classic here

New on Netflix Instant:

“Cosmopolis” (2012), David Cronenberg’s vivid adaptation of Don Delillo’s massive novel, is a savage satire of modern life under a cool surface of steel and glass and electronic screens, a bubble from which we watch the world disintegrate outside. One of the best and most challenging films of 2012. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Fat Kid Rules the World” (2012), the directorial debut of Matthew Lillard, adapts the young adult novel about a misfit kid who finds an identity when he forms a punk band.

“Keep the Lights On” (2012), from director Ira Sachs, is a drama of friends and lovers struggling through a relationship troubled by addiction, and Michael Moore earned an Oscar for his cage-rattling documentary “Bowling for Columbine” (2002).

Instant TV includes “Mad Men: Season 5,” arguably the best season to date of one of TV’s best shows (arriving mere weeks before Season 6 launches on AMC) and “The L Word: Seasons 1-6,” the complete run of the sexy Showtime series about the professional lives and love lives of a group of lesbian women and their friends.

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

“On the Road,” the Jack Kerouac adaptation starring Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, and Kristen Stewart, just opened wide in theaters across the country. Now it is available On Demand. MSN film critic Glenn Kenny describes it as: “a movie that is in a sense as much a movie about the book as it is a movie adapted from it.”

Arriving same day as disc is “Lincoln,” Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed drama that earned Daniel Day-Lewis his third Oscar for Best Actor, plus the crime drama “Killing Them Softly“ with Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini, the comedy “Parental Guidance” with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, the Oscar-nominated foreign drama “A Royal Affair,” and the natural history documentary “To the Arctic.”

Arriving Friday, same day as theaters, is “Room 237,” a documentary on some of the more unusual readings of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” and on Saturday, March 30 is “Welcome to the Punch” with James McAvoy and Mark Strong.

“Kiss of the Damned,” a drama starring Joséphine de La Baume and Milo Ventimiglia, and “The Numbers Station,” a thriller with Malin Akerman and John Cusack, arrive before theaters, and the comedy “Highland Park” with Billy Burke and Parker Posey is available before disc.

Available from Redbox this week:

Day and date with video stores: “Killing Them Softly” (Anchor Bay) with Brad Pitt (on Blu-ray and DVD) and the horror film “The Collection” (Lionsgate, Blu-ray and DVD).

Also arriving in Redbox kiosks this week: the surf drama “Chasing Mavericks” (Fox, Blu-ray and DVD), the comedy “Bachelorette” (Anchor Bay, DVD), and the cable mini-series “World Without End” (Sony, DVD).

Revival of the week: “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” (Paramount, DVD) is back to cash in on the sequel that hits theaters this weekend. Director Stephen Sommers clutters the film with visual and narrative confusion (he crams in flashbacks with the same urgency as a high speed chase), but it’s at least more fun (and much shorter) than the last “Transformers” movie.

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here

New Releases:

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (New Line), the first in Peter Jackson’s new film trilogy, transforms J.R.R. Tolkein’s novel from a colorful and fairly brisk fantasy adventure into a massive epic full of import and foreshadowing. Which is to say, he retrofits the tale as a prequel to his take on “The Lord of the Rings.” It didn’t get the same love from the fans as “LOTR,” but the lavish production was a worldwide hit nonetheless, and under the spectacle is a marvelous performance by Martin Freeman as Bilbo and superb first meeting with Gollum. Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and digital and On Demand platforms.Reviewed on Videodrone here.

“Zero Dark Thirty” (Sony), Kathryn Bigelow’s drama of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, has my vote for best American film of the year and the critics at MSN agree: it was the top pick in our Best of 2012 poll. Jessica Chastain stars as the CIA agent who doggedly followed the slimmest of leads and synthesized seemingly unrelated pieces of information into a map that led to Bin Laden. Blu-ray and DVD, on digital and On Demand platforms, and at Redbox. Videodrone’s review is here.

With those two dominating Tuesday, another pair of 2012 films have staked out Friday, March 22 as their release date: the musical “Les Misérables” (Universal), which stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway (Blu-ray, DVD, and digital and On Demand platforms) and Judd Apatow’s “This Is 40” (Universal) with Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, and Albert Brooks (Blu-ray, DVD, and digital and On Demand platforms). Enter to win “This is 40″ film plus two other Judd Apatow films on Blu-ray.

Foreign films this week include “Rust and Bone” (Sony), a hard-edged romantic drama from France with Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts (Blu-ray, DVD, digital and On Demand platforms, and at Redbox) and “The Other Son” (Cohen), a French drama set in Israel about identity across the cultural divide between the Israelis and Palastinians (Blu-ray and DVD). More at the Foreign Affairs round-up.

And documentaries this week include the artist profile “Gottfried Helnwein and the Dreaming Child” (First Run, DVD) and a portrait of the author “Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness” (Docurama, DVD).

Most releases are also available as digital download and VOD via iTunes, Amazon, and other web retailers and video services.

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on Disc:

“Borgen: Season 1” (MHz), a political drama from Denmark and the creators of the original “The Killing,” is a fictional tale of Denmark’s first female prime minister trying to navigate the closed-door culture of the old boy’s club and a media hungry for controversy. It was a popular and critical hit all over Europe (where it ran for three successful series) and played in the U.S. on the satellite channel Link TV. Danish with English subtitles, 10 episodes on four discs on DVD.

“Jersey Shore Season Six: The Uncensored Final Season” (Paramount) brings an end to MTV’s hit reality show that spawned Snooki, Jwoww, and The Situation. 13 episodes plus supplements on four discs, DVD.

“Red Skelton: The Farewell Specials” (Mill Creek) presents four TV comedy specials starring the great television clown from the 1980s, and “The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies” (MPI) is a 1981 TV-movie reunion with three members of the original cast (Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas, and Nancy Kulp). Both DVD.

In the wake Daniel Day-Lewis’ third Oscar for Best Actor, his early BBC telefilms are coming to disc. “Daniel Day-Lewis Triple Feature” (BBC) presents three productions from the 1980s: “How Many Miles to Babylon?,” “Dangerous Corner,” and the Kafka-esque “The Insurance Man.” Released separately is “My Brother Jonathan” (BBC), a five-part mini-series from 1985.

Also from Britain comes the 1986 TV production of “Alice in Wonderland” (BBC) and the 1973 “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (BBC) and the complete run of “A Mind to Kill” (Acorn).

Flip through the TV on Disc Channel Guide here

Cool and Classic:

“The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp” (Criterion), an unconventional wartime drama from The Archers (director Michael Powell and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger), was made against the wishes of the British government and went on to become one of the most beloved British films of all time. It is also one of Martin Scorsese’s favorite movies and in 2011 the Film Foundation (co-founded buy Scorsese) helped fund a new 4K digital restoration, which is the source of this new DVD edition and Blu-ray debut from Criterion. Videodrone’s review is here.

“Badlands” (Criterion), Terrence Malick’s assured debut feature, draws on the true story of spree killer Charlie Starkweather and his 14 year old girlfriend, played by Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek in this take. The new DVD and Blu-ray debut is newly restored and remastered and features numerous supplements.

The full title of the newly remastered “Nanook of the North” (Flicker Alley) is “Nanook of the North / The Wedding of Paolo and other films of Arctic Life” and it presents two feature, six short films, and a booklet with essays on the two features and notes on the shorts.

Also new this week: the Blu-ray debuts of “On Approval” (Inception), with Clive Brook and Beatrice Lilly, and “Timerider” (Shout Factory), a motorcycle western with Fred Ward.

And the MOD Movies roundup profiles the forgotten populist depression-era drama “Heaven With a Barbed Wire Fence” (20th Century Fox Cinema Archives), the feature debut of Glenn Ford. Reviewed on Videodrone here.

All of the Cool and Classic here

New on Netflix Instant:

Richard Linklater made his feature debut with the devilishly clever and endlessly inventive “Slacker” (1991), a comic kaleidoscopic portrait of the quirky characters stuck in a college town, and Whit Stillman made his confident and witty feature debut with “Metropolitan” (1990), a low-key indie comic drama about a group upwardly-mobile, twentysomething college students in New York City’s debutante society.

Jim Jarmusch directs “The Limits of Control” (2009) in his distinctive idiosyncratic manner. Clare Danes and Vanessa Redgrave star in ”Evening” (2007), the second feature from Hungarian-born director Lajos Koltai. “LOL” (2012), starring Miley Cyrus as a teenage girl in the social media era, disappeared from theaters almost as quickly as it arrived.

TV shows include “Weeds: Season 8” (2012), Showtime’s dope comedy starring Mary-Louise Parker, and “The Killing: Season 2” (2012), AMC’s adaptation of the dark Danish murder mystery series (arriving in advance of disc).

And a small library of silent classics recently arrived from the Kino Lorber collection, including Buster Keaton’s comedy classics “The General” (1926) and “Sherlock Jr.” (1924) and Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckler “The Mark of Zorro” (1920).

Browse more Instant offerings here

New On Demand:

The blockbuster fantasy “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first film in Peter Jackson’s new Tolkein trilogy, is available on standard and 3D versions. Less fantastical but more compelling is Kathryn Bigelow’s riveting real-life thriller “Zero Dark Thirty,” about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and from France comes “Rust and Bone” with Marion Cotillard.

Available on Friday, March 22 is the sweeping musical drama “Les Miserables” and Judd Apatow’s “This Is 40” (in R and unrated versions).

The horror film “The Collection“ arrives On Demand before disc.

Available from Redbox this week:

Arriving day and date with video stores is Kathryn Bigelow’s riveting real-life thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” (Sony, Blu-ray and DVD) and the French drama “Rust and Bone” (Sony, DVD) with Marion Cotillard.

Also arriving in Redbox kiosks this week is 2012 Best Picture winner “Argo” (Warner), directed by and starring Ben Affleck, plus “Anna Karenina” (Universal) with Keira Knightly and Jude Law, “Atlas Shrugged: Part 2” (Fox), and “The Factory” (Warner).

For a calendar of upcoming releases, click here