New on DVD: July 31

PICK OF THE WEEK:

The Inbetweeners

In what is arguably the rudest, raunchiest and most accurate portrayals of youth on TV today, The Inbetweeners is a British comedy joy. If you are prudish, close-minded or unable to see the humour in various bodily fluids, situations that would make Larry David cringe or a complete and an utter obsession with sex, then go find a show about little people making cupcakes because this is not for you.

In 2008, this comedy series began airing in the UK and immediately became a hit with both audiences and critics alike. It follows the lives of four high-school friends – Will, Simon, Jay and Neil – and their embarrassing adventures both in and out of school (most of which has been verified to have actually happened to the series’s two creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, from Flight of the Conchords). Whether it’s Simon (Joe Thomas) drunkenly vomiting all over the home of his crush Carli (Emily Head); the boys violently putting a fish “out of its misery” while on a field trip; or Will’s (Simon Bird) “accident” during his final exams, this sitcom is as shocking and realistic as our own high school lives were – or maybe how we wished they had been.

The Inbetweeners: The Complete Series is now available on DVD and – if you can’t get enough – the just-as-raunchy feature-length film spin-off hits theatres here in September. (eOne)

DVDs:

4 3 2 1

Four bored girlfriends (including Emma Roberts) looking for a little excitement get more than they bargained for when they meet up with a gang of young jewel thieves in this British thriller.

Hijacked

The Expendables’ Randy Couture stars in this ultra-low-budget action flick about a special agent who is on a plane to win back his ex-girlfriend when it ends up being hijacked. This might have worked in the 1980s with Steven Seagal, but this one isn’t worth the 90 minutes it takes to watch it. (Anchor Bay)

Detention

It’s The Breakfast Club meets Scream crossed with Scott Pilgrim, as The Hunger Games’ Josh Hutcherson stars in this stylistic horror-comedy about a group of high-school students serving detention who must band together to try and survive a masked serial killer known as Cinderhella.

TV ON DVD

The Hatfields & McCoys

Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton star in this miniseries based on the famous historical feud between two former friends, who after being friends during the American Civil War, denigrated into bitter enemies which launched out an all-out battle between both of their families. This entire three-hour-plus mini-series is available on 2 discs. (Sony)

The Kent Chronicles

During the mid-1970s, to coincide with the American Bicentennial, John Jakes wrote a series of novels chronicling a fictional family from their arrival in the New World from France during the time of the American Revolution. The first three books in the series – The Bastard, The Rebels and The Seekers – were adapted into three block-buster TV mini-series that featured a who’s who of familiar TV faces including Buddy Ebsen, Lorne Greene, Jim Backus and a young Kim Cattrall.

In The Bastard (1978), Andrew Stevens stars as Phillipe Charboneau, a poor young French man who learns that he is the illegitimate son of an English aristocrat. After travelling to England, he is cheated out of his inheritance and decides to immigrate to America where he rubs shoulders with future historical figures like Benjamin Franklin (Happy Days’ Tom Bosley) and Paul Revere (William Shatner). The Rebels and The Seekers (both 1979) continued the legacy of the Kent family – with the addition of lead characters played by Miami Vice’s Don Johnson and Emergency’s Randolph Mantooth – and their Forest Gump-style run-ins with the rich and famous that remains equal parts history lessons brought to life and entertaining bodice-ripping adventures. While the second film is a straight continuation of the first one, the third film takes the Kent descendants up to the War of 1812 and the beginning of settling in the West. Now available on DVD for the first time, all three films have been released in a 3-disc set from Acorn that is available through Amazon.ca and other outlets.

The Story of the Costume Drama

This five-part 2008 documentary series examines the long-running and successful genre of British historical costume dramas with clips from shows such as Upstairs, Downstairs; The Jewel in the Crown; and Pride and Prejudice. The two-disc set also features interviews with many of the stars as well as the pivotal crew members behind the scenes that help make them so memorable and long-lasting. (Acorn)

Weight of the Nation

According to the producers of this four-part HBO documentary series, over 69% of Americans are overweight or obese, which has become the biggest health threat to the country. Filmed in association with several government agencies (including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), this series will examine the consequences of obesity, the challenges of losing weight and keeping it off, as well as the damage this lifestyle is having on the generation of children today – many of whom will not outlive their parents at the rate they are going. (HBO)

Melrose Place: The Final Season

Released in two 4-disc volumes, this marks the end of this night-time soap’s 7-year run. As well as bringing in some new characters for this season (including Rena Sofer), it tried to up the drama by introducing a storyline about a diary that had belonged to the late Matt (Doug Savant) that contained all the secrets that he had known about his friends and the individual ways that many of them would contrive to get it back. (Paramount)

Transformers Prime: One Shall Stand

This DVD takes the final four episodes of the series first season and combines them with the first three of the second season for a feature-length story arc concerning the reluctant Autobots joining Megatron to try and defeat Unicron after Optimus Prime loses his memory and is tricked into joining Decepticons. EXTRAS include a panel discussion with the writing team and more. (Shout! Factory)