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This week on DVD, Tim Burton and Johnny Deep team up once again for a reimagining of the classic TV series Dark Shadows
Johnny Depp stars as vampire Barnabas Collins
PICK OF THE WEEK:
In this reimagining of the classic 1960s gothic soap opera, director Tim Burton ups the comedy ante for this tale of a vampire (Johnny Depp) who returns to his family estate in the 1970s, only to find that the curse placed on him and his family is still in effect. Unfortunately, the mix of gothic drama and slapstick comedy misses more often than it hits this time for Burton and Depp. EXTRAS include deleted scenes and featurettes. (Warner)
DVDs:
A slacker named Sam (Chris Pine) returns to his hometown to settle his estranged father’s estate after the man dies only to find that he has left everything to someone named Josh. When he tracks this person down, he discovers it’s the son of a woman (Elizabeth Banks), who Sam comes to realize is a half-sister he never knew he had. Keeping this discovery to himself, the two become friends.
In this camp sci-fi film from Austria, the Nazis have fled earth during the Second World War to set up a secret base of operation on the dark side of the moon. After 70 years of seclusion, planning and building they are now ready to resume their goal of world domination complete with a attack force of flying saucers. (eOne)
When her husband announces he wants a divorce, a highly strung lawyer (Catherine Keener) packs up their children and takes them off to upstate New York to meet their estranged grandmother (Jane Fonda), who is a free-living old hippie.
Amelie star Audrey Tatou stars in this French romantic “drademy” about a widow who, still mourning the death of her husband after three years, begins to fall for the advances of a Swedish co-worker (Francois Damiens). (eOne)
Cult director David Lynch’s (Blue Velvet) daughter Jennifer directed this creepy flick about a serial killer that has kept one of his victims alive for years, training him to take on the “family business”. Now it’s time for Tim to decide if this is the course he wants his life to go in, or if should help the latest victim escape. (Image)
Part of what makes this eerie thriller work so well is the natural atmosphere in and around Nelson, BC where the film was shot. Jessica Biel plays a widowed nurse who becomes personally involved with a local legend of a tall, dark figure that steals children in the night when her own son disappears.
This 1997 British comedy, two inept con artists (Stuart Townsend and Dan Futterman) hire a beautiful student (Kate Beckisale) as part of their front for their latest scam. Things get complicated when they both fall for her and find out that she plans to marry a rich man that they decide would be their perfect mark. (Anchor Bay)
This 1978 Robert Altman comedy brings his multi-storied approach to that most relatable of events: the wedding. When the daughter of a blue-collar family (whose parents are Carol Burnett and Paul Dooley) marries into high society, the reception at the family estate becomes the target of unwanted guests. (Anchor Bay)
In this stand-up special, Latino comic Rodriquez regales the audience with his life story from moving from Mexico to Compton, where he fought hard to stay out of the gangster lifestyle by playing sports and having a bad-ass bicycle. (Image)
This feature-length documentary looks at the political lives of Bill and Hilary Clinton and the reversal of power roles throughout their time together from Arkansas to the White House and beyond. (Image)
CLASSIC RE-ISSUES:
This 8-disc blu-ray collection gathers together only the finest of the classic Universal monster movies from the 1930s and 1940s and puts them all together in this new fully-restored glorious package. Here you get 1931’s Dracula starring Bela Lugosi (as well as the Spanish-language version shot on the same sets); Frankenstein (1931) starring Boris Karloff; The Mummy (1932); The Invisible Man (1933); The Bride of Frankenstein (1935); The Wolf Man (1941); The Phantom of the Opera (1943) and The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954). Each disc comes with specific special features, some better than others. (Universal)
In one of Stephen King’s better adaptations, this 1989 thriller follows what happens when a young boy loses his pet cat. Having only recently moved to this rural Maine community, they don’t know many of the local customs including the one told to them by their neighbour (The Munsters’ Fred Gwynne) about burying the animal in the nearby “Pet Sematary”. Built on an ancient Indian burial site, this graveyard has certain powers that the family soon discovers aren’t all good. (Paramount)
This new multi-disc blu-ray re-issue of the classic Walt Disney animated film about a beleaguered girl whose step-mother makes her life miserable until she meets her Prince Charming gets the fully-restored treatment along with a bunch of special features including a new Tangled short film, a look at the new Disney Princess Fantasyland and much more. (Disney)
TV ON DVD:
This drama series (which aired on the Starz cable channel in the US) was another attempt to cash in the success of retro-styled show Mad Men. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Possession) stars as Ike Evans, the hot-shot owner of a fancy Miami Beach hotel. When money gets tight, Evans makes a deal with local gangster Ben Diamond (Danny Huston) which crates the beginning of a dangerous partnership. Things get even more complicated when Evans’ womanizing bartender son Stevie (Steven Straight) secretly begins bedding the mobster’s new wife. This three-disc set features all 10 episodes of this season (which has been picked up for a second season to be aired in 2013).
As part of their new acquisition of Saban Entertainment’s back catalogue, fans of this popular 1990s action series will be happy to see that it is finally being released on DVD. Combining stock footage from several different Japanese TV shows and adding cutting-edge (for the time) CGI effects, this show set out to become the next Power Rangers. The main plot concerned three teenagers who discover that a evil billionaire is planning to use virtual reality (hence the VR in the title) to bring monsters from another dimension and take over the world. It’s now up to the teens to battle him and his creatures in both worlds and save the planet. This 2-disc set features the first 26 episodes. (Shout Factory)
After their mission is sabotaged, the men of G.I. Joe – including Roadblock, Scarlett and Tunnel Rat – are forced to become fugitives in order to clear their names in this animated action series based on the Hasbro toys. Many familiar voices pop up in this series including Lee Majors, Jerry O’Connell and Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years). This is both the release date of the entire first season (26 episodes on 3 blu-ray discs) and the release of Volume 2 on DVD (which features the last 13 episodes of the season). (Shout Factory)
If you prefer your British mysteries to be like Midsomer Murders or A Touch of Frost, then you may not enjoy this American-style police series in which the two mismatched stars (Lucy Punch and Toby Stephens) share an undeniable sexual chemistry and witty repartee. This set features all three episodes from the series 2010 season. (Acorn)
Waking the Dead’s Trevor Eve lends his glowering toughness to this 3-part British mini-series about a professional hostage negotiator who is brought in to lend his expertise when a busload of tourists is kidnapped while on vacation in India. (Acorn)
Maybe this will give you something to watch until the new season of Downton Abbey appears in North America next year. This 1979 spin-off of the hit British series Upstairs, Downstairs stars John Alderton and Pauline Collins as the title characters – a chauffer and a housemaid – and picks up several years after the end of the other series. Once a couple and now separated, things look like they might be rekindling when Thomas shows up in the village where Sarah now lives. This 13-episode series is being released on 3 DVDs. (Acorn)
SNL’s Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein star in this sketch comedy series focusing on a group of fictional characters who live in the same town of Portland, Oregon. The pair seem to hone in on the hipsters, hippies and other fringe-dwellers that are residents of many big cities and nail them accurately. This season (which consists of 10 episodes on 2 discs) also features guest appearances by Jack McBrayer, Tim Robbins, Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, Eddie Vedder and many others. This set also comes with EXTRAS like commentaries, a documentary and an excerpt from their upcoming book Portlandia: A Guide for Visitors. (Image)
So many changes are in order for the gang from Beverly Hills in the fourth season of this series as some people are heading off to college, while others begin their new careers all with their own share of drama. Trinidad-born rapper Theophilis London guest stars in the first episode when he performs two songs (“I Stand Alone” and “Why Even Try”) at Naomi’s College Kick-Off Party that she throws at her “new mansion”. This 6-disc set features all 24 episodes. (Paramount)
This action-packed series (based on the French film La Femme Nikita and it’s many other incarnations) stars Maggie Q as a highly-trained government agent who, after disappearing off of the grid for several years, returns to bring down the Division, the secret organization which trained her. In this second season, Nikita and Michael (Shane West) have the “Black Box” – a file containing the Division’s most diabolical deeds – and are trying to make amends for each of them. The only thing standing in their way is Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), a former colleague of Nikita’s who now works for the Division and plans to get the box back for them. This 6-disc set contains all 23 episodes. (Warner)
When big-city girl Zoe hart (Rachel Bilson of The O.C.) graduated from medical school, her plans did not include ending up working at a clinic in the small town of Bluebell, Alabama which she inherited from its last doctor. With typical New York spunk and attitude, Zoe attempts to take on this challenge along with trying to get along with the locals which includes the handsome lawyer George Tucker (Scott Porter) and his fiesty fiancée Lemon (Jaime King). This 6-disc set features all 22 episodes. (Warner)
This comedy-action film (which spawned the TV series of the same name) follows the adventures of four teenage gamers who discover a glitch in their favourite video game “Maldark” Conqueror of All Worlds” that allows the villainous Maldark and a series of other baddies to be released into the real world. Now it’s up to the kids to fight them and get things back to normal all before their curfew. EXTRAS include a bonus episode of the TV series. (Warner)
This crudely-animated Cartoon Network series features two friends Mordecai – a blue-jay – and Rigby – a raccoon – who both work as groundskeepers in a park, but whose lackadaisical attitude towards getting their job done leads them into a series of surreal adventures. This disc contains 12 random episodes from the first season, but is not a complete season set. (Warner)
Lorne Greene, Michael Landon and the rest of the Cartwright clan return for another season of their long-running Western series. This 1962-1963 season (which is comprised here of two volumes giving you all 34 episodes on nine-discs) featured guest appearances by Carroll O’Connor (All in the Family), Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island), Robert Vaughn (The Man from UNCLE), Harry Dean Stanton and many others. (Paramount)
