New on DVD: August 24

PICK OF THE WEEK:

Lost: The Complete Sixth & Final Season
The best part of this groundbreaking series coming to an end is that the creators knew it was coming. Unlike most TV series that have cancellation thrust upon them, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof pulled the plug themselves and therefore could attempt to wrap up some of the mysteries that they had helped create over the past five seasons. This five-disc set not contains all 16 episodes of the season, in which our castaways literally battle good and evil on the island, they also experience something called a “flash-sideways”- which gives an alternate view of their lives had Oceanic Flight 815 landed safely in Los Angeles. The bonus features are plenty here, too, including commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes and much more, but the true prize for fans is the 12-minute mini-episode entitled "New Man in Charge," a brand-new unaired piece that goes on to answer a few more questions about the island.
If this isn’t enough, you could also get the Complete Collection, which includes all six seasons on 38 DVDs (or 36 blu-ray discs), over 30 hours of extras as well as a DHARMA black-light penlight (to uncover clues throughout the set), a Senet game (as played in Season Six), an ankh (with a message from Jacob) all housed in a replica of the temple. (BVSHE)

MOVIES

The Back-Up Plan
Jennifer Lopez stars as Zoe, a single woman who has broken the snooze button on her biological clock. She decides to go to a fertility clinic in order to become a mother while she still can. The same day she is told that she’s pregnant, she meets Stan (Alex O'Loughlin of this fall’s Hawaii Five-0), they fall instantly in love and the comedy hi jinks and predictability ensue.

After.life
Christina Ricci wakes up after a car accident to find herself in a funeral home operated by an extra creepy Liam Neeson, telling her she’s dead and that she should just accept that. The question is – is she really dead or he the crazy one keeping her here against her will? Aside from the occasional scare and the thrill of Ricci performing in the buff for most of the film, this isn’t worth the 90 minutes it takes to watch. Someone should just perform last rites over this one. (Anchor Bay)

The Square
Following the unforgettable film The Horseman earlier this year, Australia goes on to prove that they lead the way in hard-core thrillers. Ray (David Roberts) is having an affair with Carla (Claire Van der Bloom) and finds himself getting into more and more trouble –including arson and eventually murder - in order to stay with her. Strong performances and nail-biting suspense make this a great modern day film noir.

$5 a Day
Christopher Walken plays Nat, a charming, but eccentric con man, who reappears in his son’s (Alessandro Nivola) life and asks him to drive him across the country in order for him to get some experimental medical procedure. Sharon Stone, Dean Cain and Peter Coyote co-star in this comic road-trip. (E1)

The Man from London
Things don’t get much more “artsy fartsy” than this flick. So much so it almost seems like a spoof of art-house films. Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr creates this hypnotic film about a dull railway worker who witnesses a murder and finds himself confronting “issues of morality, sin, punishment and the line between innocence and complicity” while “exploring themes of desire, greed and man's indestructible longing for freedom”. Huh? Just knowing that this is subtitled, in black and white and has a score that’s described as “haunting” lets you know that it probably won’t have any car chases or shopping montages set to Motown classics. (E1)

La Cite
It’s 1885 in the hot Sahara desert and French doctor Max (Jean-Marc Barr) awaits his return home from the war. Against his own better judgment, he comes between the French military and the locals - the ancient Hérénites, a mystical mountain people – when a strange plague takes over the village and revenge is in the cards. (E1)

City Island
Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) has a secret that sets up a chain of events that could tear his Bronx family apart. He wants to be an actor. While he works his days as a prison guard, he takes weekly acting classes – under the guise of playing poker – which only leads his wife (Julianna Margulies) to believe he’s having an affair. This is only one story in this complex family drama set in City Island, a small fishing community in Long Island, New York. (Anchor Bay)

TV on DVD

The Simpsons : The 13th Season
After a jump ahead earlier last year to release the 20th Season DVD set, FOX is back to releasing this classic cartoon series in order with this 4-DVD set. Guest star voices this year include Paul Newman, Pierce Brosnan, Reese Witherspoon, Ben Stiller, R.E.M. and many more, with audio commentaries on all 22 episodes (as usual providing almost as much entertainment as the shows themselves). (FOX)

Gossip Girl: The Complete Third Season
The night-time soap-ish Gossip Girl is back with this 5-disc DVD set featuring all 22 episodes of Serena’s (Blake Lively) adventures. This season boasted the biggest guest stars including Hilary Duff, Tyra Banks, and Sonic Youth. Special features include unseen scenes, bloopers and several featurettes on the making of the series. (Warner)

One Tree Hill: The Complete Seventh Season
It’s been a year since Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Peyton (Hilarie Burton) left North Carolina to see the world and they have not come back for this season. But, not to worry, they didn’t take all the heartbreak and drama with them. Along with series regulars James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Galeotti, they’re joined by newcomers Robert Buckley and Shantel van Santen, who promise just as much tears and laughter as their former cast mates in each and all 22 episodes of this 5-DVD set. (Warner)

Red vs. Blue: Recreation – Season 7
It’s more of the same with another season of RvB, the video game comedy, in which ridiculous dialogue is coupled with scenes from the XBox classic Halo. You either love it or hate it and it looks there’s enough lovers out there to keep Rooster Teeth Productions making them. Here you get all 19 episodes (usually around five minutes each) on one DVD. Special features include the entire Relocated miniseries, outtakes, audio commentaries, PSA’s and much more. (E1)

Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection
This HBO series, which lasted two seasons, is based on the semi-fictional adventures of "formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" comprised of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. The series revolves around their attempt, with the help of their manager Murray (Ryhs Darby), to gain the elusive US success in New York, which allows them constant chances to perform their comedic songs. This 4-DVD set contains all 22 episodes and bonus features include deleted scenes, bloopers and a half-hour look back at the first season. (HBO)

Love, Hate & Propaganda
The Hour’s George Stroumboulopoulos hosts this six-part look at the propaganda side of WWII. While most viewers are familiar with many of the images of that war - be it battles, concentration camps or the soldiers returning home - most people are oblivious to the “spin, the lies and the rallying cries” of the media that included posters, speeches and even songs that were used to bend the opinion of entire populations. The entire six episodes of this entertaining and educational series are here on 4 DVDs. (E1)