TV

New on DVD: June 12

This week's DVD picks pack plenty of punch, with Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Nicholas Cage as Ghost Rider

Credit: Amazon.ca

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

The second installment of the Sherlock Holmes franchise with Robert Downey Jr as the titular character

Pick of the Week

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

This action-packed sequel picks up shortly after the end of the first film with Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his clever sidekick Dr. Watson (Jude Law) chasing the conniving villain Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris of Fringe and Mad Men) all across Europe. Stephen Fry joins the cast as Holmes’ older brother Mycroft while the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Noomi Rapace co-stars as a gypsy fortune teller. If you enjoyed the somewhat anachronistic version of Holmes that director Shane Ritchie portrayed in his first outing, then you will love this as it is more of the explosive same. Fans of Downey will want to check out the Maximum Movie Moment, a picture-in-picture FEATURE in which he walks the viewer through the entire film. (Warner)

DVDs:

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

In this sequel to the 2007 film based on the comic book character, Nicolas Cage plays Johnny Blaze, a stuntman who gave up his soul to become a vigilante with supernatural powers. While living quietly in Eastern Europe, he finds his unique services are required to bring down the devil himself who has taken human form and is currently raising hell on earth. (Sony)

Demoted

Things change radically for abusive salesmen Mike and Rodney (Sean Astin and Michael Vartan) when their long-bullied co-worker (David Cross) becomes their new boss and demotes them to secretaries in this raunchy office comedy. (Anchor Bay)

Les Boys III

This 2001 French-Canadian hockey comedy finally gets the Blu-ray treatment. Three years after being away, coach Stan (Remy Girard) returns home from France to find out that his favourite pub is being run out of business by a fancy new sports bar, whose owner has ulterior motives. (eOne)

Madison County

Not to be confused with the Clint Eastwood/Meryl Streep romantic drama, this is a blood-curdling horror film about a group of friends who head to a remote town to interview the authour of a book about a series of gruesome murders that took place there years earlier. When they arrive the locals claim to never have heard of the man or the killings, but something about the town doesn’t seem right. (eOne)

The Prodigies

This anime-style CGI film follows a group of exceptional teens who use their powers to seek revenge against the people who attacked them. (eOne)

Accident

Louis Koo stars in this action film about an assassin whose specialty is making his murders look like accidents. When one of his team dies in a similar fashion, he suspects that someone else is out to get them. (Shout Factory)

Hiding

When teenager Jo (Ana Villafane) is put into the Witness Protection Program after witnessing the murders of her parents, she tries to fit into her small Montana town’s high school. But budding romance and a jealous clique of girls who set about uncovering her past unknowingly threaten her life. (Anchor Bay)

Superman vs. the Elite

In this latest feature-length animated film from DC Comics, Superman faces off against a new team of super-heroes who have a darker agenda when it comes to fighting crime. They don’t believe in “bringin’ ‘em back alive”. (Warner)

Lethal Weapon 25th Anniversary Collection

When Mel Gibson first created the emotionally disturbed character of Martin Riggs in the 1987 action film Lethal Weapon and teamed him up with the soon-to-retire Roger Murtough (Danny Glover), they quickly became the archetypes to which all “buddy cop” films would be compared with. Now, Warner has gathered all four of the films together in one new blu-ray collection which comes with a slew of EXTRAS including two-hours of new documentaries featuring stars Gibson and Glover and others; audio commentaries on all of them by franchise director Richard Donner; deleted scenes and more. (Warner)

MUSIC ON DVD:

Chicago in Chicago

This 2010 concert features the legendary band Chicago doling out many of their myriad of hit songs (including “Saturday in the Park”, “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “If You Leave Me Now”) in front of a huge audience in their namesake city and includes an encore where they are joined on stage for a few songs by the Doobie Brothers. (Image)

TV ON DVD:

Entourage: The Complete Eighth and Final Season

Loosely based on the life of actor (and executive producer) Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter), this series follows the misadventures of an up-an-coming actor named Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), his best friend and manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), his brother Johnny “Drama” (Kevin Dillon) and his shark-like agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), as well as the other requisite hangers-on that make up the titled entourage. Over the past seven seasons, Vince has risen to become a top Hollywood player starring in fictional films like James Cameron’s Aquaman and then fallen back down to earth with the failure of his next film Medellin. When last season ended, Vince’s drug problems had gotten so out of hand that his fight with Eminem at a party landed him not only in the hospital but also in the hands of the police when he was found with a bag of cocaine in his sweater. Now you get the entire eighth and final season in which Vince and his friends continue their Hollywood adventures with this 2-DVD set featuring all 8 episodes. (Warner)

Episodes: The First Season

Friends star Matt LeBlanc comes back to TV in this satirical comedy as an exaggerated version of himself, who is cast in the American remake of a beloved British series. Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Grieg star as the creators of the original series who are invited to Hollywood to oversee this new version of the show, a move which causes both personal and professional problems for the couple. This 2-disc set features all 7 episodes of Episodes. (Paramount)

Tosh.0: Hoodies

This 2-disc set is a collection of episodes from this series which features comedian Daniel Tosh’s reactions to the most shocking viral videos that the internet has to offer and one thing that makes him stand out – Web Redemption – in which he offers the “stars” of these films that opportunity for a chance to make up for their pop culture crimes. (Paramount)

GCB: Season 1

After the publicly embarrassing dissolution of her marriage, former high school “mean girl” Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb) is forced to return home to Dallas with her two teenagers in tow to try and start over – which may not be easy in this shockingly entertaining new night time soap. Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies) plays Carlene and Miriam Shore is Cricket, two of the titular “Good Christian Bitches” who are former victims of Amanda’s and who are far from willing to let sleeping dogs lie. This 3-DVD set features all 10 episodes. (ABC Studios)

Missing: The Complete First Season

Ashley Judd goes all Liam Neeson in this action series where she portrays Becca Winstone, a former CIA agent and over-protective mother who allows her teenage son (Nick Eversman) to go to school in Paris. When he is kidnapped, she is forced to break all sorts of international laws and dust off her top-operative skills as she sets about scouring all of Europe to find him. This 3-disc set features all 10 episodes. (ABC Studios)

Pretty Little Liars: The Complete Second Season

After the thrilling first-season finale in which the Liars (Shay Mitchell, Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson) tried to solve Allison’s murder and discover the identity of the mysterious ‘A’, they start this season off struggling with the disappearance of Ian’s body and what really happened at the church. Meanwhile, their parents hire a therapist to hopefully help them talk some of this out but everyone is afraid to say anything with ‘A’ seemingly able to see and hear everything. This 6-disc set features all 25 episodes. (Warner)

Scandal

Kerry Washington stars in this drama from the creators of Grey’s Anatomy. Olivia Pope (Washington) is one of the most successful crisis managers in the U.S. and who has left her job as communications director for the President (Tony Goldwyn) to open her own firm, but can’t seem to leave her work with the White House too far behind. While it’s the job of her and her new staff (including Lost’s Henry Ian Cusick) to keep the secrets of their clients quiet, she soon finds that some of them have dark pasts that need to remain that way. All 7 episodes from this premiere season are here on 2 DVDs. (ABC Studios)

Metal Evolution

This compilation DVD makes up the 11-part episode series Heavy Metal Family Tree, which chronicled the progression of heavy metal music through its many sub-genres and features appearances by such musician as Slash, Alice Cooper, Lemmy, Ace Frehley and many more. (Alliance)