New on DVD: August 31

PICK OF THE WEEK

Harry Brown
Harry Brown (Michael Caine) is a retiree living in a small apartment in a London tower block. His quiet life consists of visiting his dying wife in the hospital and going to the local pub for a game of chess with an old friend. But his life is far from peaceful as the old neighbourhood is going down the drain due to drugs and crime taking over the streets. When a friend is murdered for trying to stop it, Harry decides to clean up the streets himself. Caine turns in another stunning performance as Brown, a man driven to extremes and forced to recall long-buried skills and does some of his best work in this British cross between Gran Torino and Death Wish. Bonus features include cast and crew commentaries and deleted scenes. (E1)

MOVIES

Marmaduke
When Brad Anderson created the comic strip Marmaduke in 1954, there’s little chance he imagined this kind of film adaptation. Like a cross between Scooby Doo and Cats and Dogs, this film has the trouble-making Great Dane (voiced by Owen Wilson) and his human family uprooted from their Kansas home and moving to sunny Los Angeles, where he gets into all sorts of mischief while trying to fit in. Kids should enjoy this family-friendly flick and vocal appearances by such favourites as Sam Elliott, Kiefer Sutherland, Fergie and George Lopez may keep their parents entertained as well. (Sony)

Why Did I Get Married Too?
Tyler Perry reunites the four couples (including Janet Jackson and Michael Jai White) from his hit 2007 film and takes them to the Bahamas to fight and make up in paradise. Like the similarly set Couples Retreat, this film takes a group of people with stereotypical marital problems (lack of trust; unable to commit, etc.) and plays it mostly for laughs. Fans of Perry’s other films know what to expect. (Lionsgate)

9th Company
As Russia’s biggest hit film of 2005, this has been hyped to be for their involvement in Afghanistan as Platoon was for Vietnam. Based on a true story, the film follows a year in the life of a group of young soldiers sent to war for the first time in 1987, the final year of the conflict. Bonus features include a “making of” doc as well as a look back at the actual events twenty years later.

Leslie: My Name is Evil
This is an original take on the Manson Family story. It follows a lone juror (Gregory Smith), who becomes fascinated with Leslie Van Houten (Kristen Hager of TV’s Wild Roses), one of Manson’s followers. Rather than tell its story in a straight-forward manner, this film (featuring a great portrayal of Charles Manson himself by Sanctuary’s Ryan Robbins) goes the Natural Born Killers route of hyper-realism with unique results. (E1)

George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead
The granddaddy of all zombie movies (he directed 1968’s Night of the Living Dead) is back with yet another stab at the genre. This time out the action takes place on Plum Island, where two families battle each others ideas of what to do against an army of marauding zombies – kill ‘em all or confine them until a possible cure can be found. Although his sequels have been hit and miss, it’s always worth a look to see what Romero has wrought. (E1)

The Evil Dead: Limited Edition Blu-Ray
Since 1979, when this cult classic was made, there have been countless versions released for home consumption – the coolest possibly being the one contained inside a rubbery replica of the Book of the Dead. This latest release of the film - the story of a group of friends (including Burn Notice’s Bruce Campbell) who uncover a demonic recording while on a camping trip – contains a hi-def version of the original film along with an all-new commentary from Campbell, director Sam Raimi (the Spiderman films) and producer Rob Tapert; as well as over three hours of other bonus features. Looks like you’ll have to shell out for another copy after all, fans. (Anchor Bay)

Bull Durham Blu Ray
Despite where his career has gone lately you can’t deny the impact that Kevin Costner has had on baseball in film with Field of Dreams and this movie. Costner plays “Crash” Davis, a player in the later stages of his career, Tim Robbins is “Nuke” LaLoosh, a naïve pitcher just starting out and Susan Sarandon is Annie, a groupie that comes between them one summer. Writer/director Ron Shelton created an almost perfect film with this adult comedy that captures the moments and a quotable script that still holds up today. (MGM)

TV ON DVD

Sons of Anarchy: Season Two
The Shakespearean biker series is back with more drama then ever as forces within the outlaw gang threaten to tear it apart while a white-supremacist gang led by a local businessman (Chicago Hope's Adam Arkin) moves into town attempting to drive them out. Alongside strong lead actors like Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal (Married: With Children) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy) are an array of familiar faces in guest star roles, including Tom Arnold as a sleazy porn producer and punk rocker/erstwhile talk-show host Henry Rollins as a Nazi thug. All 13 episodes are here on four DVDs with bonus features including deleted scenes, bloopers, and commentaries on selected episodes. (Fox)

Brothers and Sisters: Complete Fourth Season
For some people this DVD release answers their question, “When can I get more B&S?” while for others it answers their question of “Is that show still on?”. The Walker family faces even more problems this season as Kitty (Calista Flockhart) battles cancer, Sarah begins dating again, Kevin and Scotty have a baby and the family business faces a blackmailer. All of this intrigue is jammed into 24 episodes and available in a 6-DVD set with a ton of deleted scenes. (Disney)

House, M.D.: Season Six
Television’s favourite ill-tempered pill-pusher House (Hugh Laurie) starts off this season still ensconced in a psychiatric hospital, himself under the care of a doctor (the always brilliant Andre Braugher), while he tries to prove he’s capable of staying off of drugs and entitled to get his medical license back. Meanwhile, the rest of the staff of Princeton-Plainsboro carry on with their unusual caseload under the direction of Foreman (Omar Epps). This 6-DVD set contains all 21 episodes (including the two-hour season opener) as well as several bonus features including an exclusive DVD short and commentaries.

Parenthood: Season One
Craig T. Nelson (Coach) and Bonnie Bedelia head up the dysfunctional Braverman family in this dramedy from director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer. Based on Howard’s film of the same name, this series chronicles the ups-and-downs of several generations of a Southern California family, featuring Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) and Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), as they deal with work, family, love and everything in between. This 3 DVD set contains all 13 episodes from the premiere season. (Universal)

FlashForward: The Complete Series
In a blatant attempt to cash in the success of Lost, with its complicated plots and fantastic storylines, this series started off strong, but ultimately strung viewers along, resulting in weak ratings and cancellation after a single season. This complete-series set, however, is still worth a look, since FlashForward may have been a failure, but it was at least an ambitious one. The story begins with a weird event that causes everyone on Earth to black out for a short period of time; when they awake, each person has a unique memories of his or her dream during the event – some were everyday things with people they knew, others remembered unusual things with complete strangers involved. The one thing that seemed to be in common was that something would happen at the exact same moment depicted in their dreams and that moment was only a few short months away. The series has its moments, but ultimately would have done better to dole out answers before things got dull. Meanwhile, the Special Features include some tantalizing hints about where the series may have gone in a second season, and even kind-of, sort-of answers some of the show's mysteries, with one feature devoted to the kangaroo seen mysteriously bouncing down a Los Angeles street in the series pilot.(ABC)

NCIS: Los Angeles: Season One
In this spin-off of the successful Mark Harmon series, LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell star as special agents specializing in undercover work battling assorted crimes in the City of Angels. All 24 first season episodes are on this 6 DVD set, which also includes the two-part NCIS crossover episode that inspired this series, commentaries, and much more. (Paramount)

Vampire Diaries: The Complete First Season
After the phenomenal success of the Twilight films, it was only (super)natural that TV would attempt to cash in. Stefan and Damon are vampire brothers both in love with Elena, a girl that looks just like someone from their past, and now they find themselves involved in the strange goings-on of Mystic Falls, Virginia and it’s citizens who all seem to have secrets of their own. This 5-disc DVD set contains all 22 episodes along with many other features including a downloadable audiobook of The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith, the inspiration for the series itself.

The Middle: Season One
After several years on Everybody Loves Raymond, Patricia Heaton returned to her role as a sitcom mother on this new series featuring Neil Flynn (Scrubs) as her husband. This is so close to Malcolm in the Middle lawsuits should’ve been filed. This sitcom follows the Heck family and their small town adventures featuring guest stars like Betty White, Brooke Shields and Marsha Mason. This 3-disc DVD set contains all 22 first season episodes and other features including bloopers, deleted scenes and a look at how the series was created. (Warner Brothers)

MUSIC ON DVD:

Legends of the Canyon
There’s a small neighbourhood just up the hill from Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles that seems a million miles from the city. Once home to silent movie stars like cowboy actor Tom Mix, it later became the haven for what became the folk and country-rock music scene of the late 1960s. This feature-length documentary looks at that legendary time and place with vintage musical performances of bands like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell and others, as well as with new interviews with the people who were there like the always entertaining David Crosby, photographer Henry Diltz and many others. (Image)

Eagle Rock Entertainment is releasing several concerts featuring recent performances of classic recording artists from the past 30 years:

JANE’S ADDICTION: LIVE VOODOO features the original line-up of the band including the vocals of Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro on guitar in a 2009 concert from New Orleans which focuses on material mostly from their first two albums.

BEE GEES: ONE NIGHT ONLY ANNIVERSARY EDITION is a feature-length concert from 1997 celebrating the band’s 50 years in show business. This DVD has been re-authoured with additional material and interviews with the surviving brothers.

JACKSON BROWNE: GOING HOME is a new reissue of a 1994 concert and documentary that looks back over the past three decades of the singer/songwriter’s career, while he puts the final touches on his then latest album. As well as recent performances, this DVD features rare early footage and interviews with Bonnie Raitt, The Eagles and others.

THE PIXIES: ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC LIVE are arguably one of the most influential bands of the late 1980s/early '90s. After a 10-year break, the band got back together in 2004 and this DVD comprises two concerts from the following year: an acoustic set from the Newport Folk Festival and their Club Date from Boston. This newly remastered Blu-ray also contains original home video of the band from a 1986 performance.

BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: BERLIN - A CONCERT FOR THE PEOPLE. Harvest has been a huge act in Germany since the 1970s and this 1980 concert, performed in Berlin in front of 250,000 people, and celebrates the bands long-lasting success. This DVD contains a 1975 promotional film with several additional songs.