New on DVD: March 13

The Adventures of TinTin

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson combine their talents to bring this classic comic book character to life. Well, as close to life as CGI technology can do it today. Jamie Bell provides the voice of the daring young Tintin, who with his dog Snowy and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) go in search of sunken treasure. SPECIAL FEATURES include looks at the history of the character (as remembered by Spielberg and Jackson); the creation of the CGI character effects; the music and much more. (Paramount)

The Descendants

After his wife suffers injuries during a boating accident which lands her in a coma, Matt King (George Clooney) desperately tries to reconnect with his daughters while dealing with financial issues over the family’s land in Hawaii. During all this, he finds out something shocking about his wife in the latest film from Alexander Payne (Sideways). 

My Week with Marilyn

Michelle Williams portrays Marilyn Monroe in this drama about the movie star’s trip to England in 1956 to make the film The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). When she arrives it becomes obvious that she is having trouble with her marriage to Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott) as well as with alcohol and pills. When young Colin (Eddie Redmayne) is asked to look after her and make sure she arrives on set when she is needed, the two become close friends, which ignites problems for everyone else.  (Alliance)

Happy Feet 2

Mumble the penguin (Elijah Wood) thinks he’s got problems when his son Erik won’t dance, but things get remarkably worse when he runs into the Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), a penguin that can fly as well. SPECIAL FEATURES include the free movie app for IOS 4.2 that you can use with your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (available through the iTunes store) so you can access additional content from the film as you watch it.

Three Musketeers

In this action-packed 3D adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic novel, D’Artagnan (newcomer Logan Lerman) joins forces with the three legendary musketeers to help defeat the deadly M’Lady De Winter (Milla Jovovich) and Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz).

Young Adult

Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody reunite hoping to catch the same lightning in a bottle that they caught with Juno with this dark comedy about a recently divorced writer (Charlize Theron) who returns to her home town determined to win back her ex-boyfriend (Patrick Wilson) despite the fact that is happily married.

Melancholia

Controversial filmmaker Las Van Trier’s latest unusual film concerns the volatile relationship of two sisters (Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) as they deal with the impending disaster of a planet heading towards the earth on the night of one of their weddings. (eOne)

NEVERlost

The death of his girlfriend Kate (Emily Alatalo) emotionally destroys Josh (Ryan Barrett), leading him to take a sleeping pill that takes him to alternate world where Emily is still alive and where he must try to survive when the two worlds begin to blend. (Anchor Bay)

Stuck Between Stations

Former high-school friends (Sam Rosen and Zoe Lister Jones) inadvertently meet up and spend the night together having an adventure involving bar fights, burglaries and Josh Hartnett. (eOne)

Recoil

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is back in another Vancouver-shot straight-to-DVD action flick where this time he plays an ex-cop out for vengeance against the man who killed his family (Danny Trejo of Machete). But he doesn’t stop there as, like a bald Batman, he becomes a vigilante and decides to take on all criminals that slipped through the justice system and got away. (eOne)

Re-released Classics

American Pie
American Pie 2
American Wedding

As you get ready for the epic get-together that is the upcoming theatrical release of American Reunion (which brings together the cast of the original films in the franchise), you get catch up on the raunchy comedies that started it all off. In the first film from 1999 (has it really been that long?), four teenage boys decide to make a pact to lose their virginity leading to one hilarious scene after another. This spawned the 2001 sequel brings the gang back together the summer after their first year apart while the 2003 American Wedding deals with Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle’s (Alyson Hannigan) impending nuptials. All three films are now available in DVD/Blu-ray combo packs.

TV on DVD

Ghost Hunters International: Season 2, Part 1

This 4-DVD set brings you the first 13 episodes of this season of this paranormal TV series in which the team of investigators look into the mysterious goings-on in an 18th century Irish prison, a castle that is rumoured to be located over a “portal into hell” and go off in search of Hitler’s ghost. (Image)

The Killing: The Complete First Season

Based on the Danish TV series, this 12-episode mystery follows the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Seattle teenager Rosie Larsen. Each episode covers a day in the case with detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos of Big Love) and Joel Kinnaman (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as they slog through the mire of evidence and suspects in search of the killer. The rain-soaked location (actually Vancouver and not Seattle) and the emotional performances are reminiscent of the cult series Twin Peaks, but without that show’s supernatural strangeness. (Fox)

Thorne: Scaredycat

In Scaredycat (based on the best-selling novel by Mark Billingham), Detective Inspector Tom Thorne (David Morrissey) races to track down the killer of two women in different areas of London who were murdered at roughly the same time – a case which resembles an unsolved one from months earlier. But while the police suspect the work of one man, Thorne suspects that it may be a rare case of two killers working together in deadly harmony.

Like Sleepyhead (which was released on DVD in January), these adaptations of Billingham’s series of best-selling mystery thrillers featuring the character of Thorne, (director Stephen Hopkins (24; Californication) captures the gritty tension of this urban nightmare perfectly. (TVA)

Neverland

In this version of the Peter Pan tale, Peter and his “lost boys” are a group of petty thieves making their living picking the pockets of the citizenry of turn-of-the-century London for their leader Jimmy Hook (Rhys Ifans of Anonymous). When they steal a mysterious and magical treasure, it sends them to a strange world where they do battle against the pirate captain Elizabeth Bonny (Anna Friel). (eOne)

Stephen King’s Bag of Bones

Pierce Brosnan stars in this miniseries (based on the novel by Stephen King) as a novelist whose imagination has run aground after the death of his wife. Retreating to their remote lakeside cottage, he begins to suffer from nightmares and otherworldly visions that seem to be connected to his wife.

In Their Own Words

This British TV series has compiled such an array of rare interviews with some of the greatest authours of the last century that you should be able to get a university degree in English Literature just for watching it all. This 2-disc set contains live interview footage with everyone from P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, Aldous Huxley and Graham Greene to more recent people like Ian Fleming, John la Carre, Salman Rushdie and Martin Amis. There are also episodes on non-fiction contributors like Richard Dawkins and Jane Goodall and many more.  (Acorn)

Come Fly with Me: Season One

Fresh off of their internationally successful series Little Britain, Matt Lucas and David Walliams are back with another one that takes the “sketch show” idea and turns it on its head. Inspired by documentary TV, the two actors take on a multitude of roles (such as a elderly Caribbean coffee bar lady; two bickering air hostesses; a delusional teenager and many more) and bring to life the world of a busy British airport. Although nowhere near as funny or memorable as Little Britain, this series is still funnier than many things clogging our airwaves today in the name of comedy. This 2-disc set contains all 6 episodes plus commentaries and other bonus features. 

Breakout Kings: Season One

This drama, from the producers of the Fox series Prison Break, takes the old saying “it takes a thief to catch a thief” and runs with it. A group of U.S. Marshall’s (headed up by Laz Alonso and Domenick Lombardozzi team up with several convicted prisoners who have previously implemented their own escapes in order to bring down other convicted fugitives. Guess the saying they never heard about was “honour among thieves”. While this is far from the ground-breaking stuff being produced on other cable networks these days, this series does keep a nice balance between thrills and humour to be an entertaining diversion. This 4-disc set contains all 12 episodes.