This week’s home entertainment offerings include the Cartoon Network’s Blaxploitation satire Black Dynamite, the classy sci-fi series Orphan Black, the wonderful comic book-based animated film Wrinkles, the finest comic book movie out on DVD so far this summer, and what some critics contend is Scarlett Johannson’s best performance yet.
 
Theatrical Movies
 
This week’s biggest release in terms of box office success is Rio 2 (Fox, “G,” 101 min., $29.98, BD $39.99), a sequel that disappointed at the box office and could generate just a 46% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.  Of course critics are always looking for something new and this colorful animated musical that comes complete with a non-controversial environmental message doesn’t provide much in the way of novelty, though it will likely entertain those who liked the first Rio.
 
Of much more interest to the geek audience, especially to those who enjoy “art house” genre films and Scarlett Johannson fans of all sorts is Under the Skin (Lionsgate, “R,” 106 min., $19.98, BD $24.98), an arty science fiction saga directed by Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast).  The critics loved this elliptical saga of aliens (in human form) engaging in various forms of predation in Scotland.  Under the Skin earned an 87% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though one of the scribes admitted that a reel was skipped the first time he saw the film and nobody noticed.  Fans of straight ahead unpretentious narratives should stay away, but they will miss a very intense and interesting performance from ScarJo, which some critics contend is her finest yet.
 
The best comic book-based movie to be released on DVD so far this summer is Wrinkles (New Video Group, “Not Rated,” 89 min., $29.95), a 2011 Spanish animated film that is just getting its U.S. debut this week.  The film is based on an award-winning comic by Paco Roca that examines the plight of two aging Spaniards in an old folks’ home in a powerful and unsentimental fashion.  Like the comic, the movie has both comedy and pathos as its elderly protagonists conspire to hide signs that could indicate Alzheimer’s in order to avoid being sent “upstairs” to the ward where the late stage dementia patients are housed.
 
TV on DVD
 
This week’s top geek release is Orphan Black: Season 2 (BBC, $29.98, BD $34.98), the Canadian science fiction TV series that stars Tatiana Maslany as several identical clones.  Orphan Black is a clever sci-fi series that deals in real issues of human identity and genetic manipulation—and the fact that Ms. Maslany has not been nominated for an Emmy for her excellent performances as the various clones is a real travesty.
 
Almost equally interesting is Black Dynamite: The Animated Series—Season 1 (Warner Bros., 264 min., $29.98, BD $39.99), the sharply-written Cartoon Network series that is based on the 2009 film Black Dynamite, and like that live-action film it makes merciless satirical fun of the Blaxploitation movies of the 1970s.  Michael Jai White, who wrote and starred in the 2009 movie, is the key creator here, and he along with Bryon Minns, Tommy Davidson, and Kym Whitley reprise their film roles in voice overs for the animated series.
 
Also of interest is Hell on Wheels: The Complete Third Season (eOne, 412 min., $39.98), the AMC series that chronicles the building of the transcontinental railroad in all its gritty, roughhouse glory and also includes a powerful personal saga in the story of a former Confederate soldier, who as the chief engineer for the project also keeps looking for the ex-Union soldiers who killed his wife and child.
 
Other contemporary series due this week include the PBS comedy/drama Last Tango in Halifax: Season 2 (BBC, 336 min., $34.98), and the Hallmark Channel’s contemporary soap opera Cedar Cove: Season 1 (New Video, 528 min., $24.95), which is based on the bestselling books of Debbie Macomber.
 
Vintage TV series due on Tuesday include How the West Was Won: Season 2 (Warner Bros., 1200 min., $39.98), which collects the final season of the 1970s series that was based on the Cinerama film, and which has been extremely popular in Europe over the past three decades, and Diff’rent Strokes: Season 1 (Mill Creek, 586 min., $9.98), which collects the first 24 episodes of the NBC series that aired from 1978 to 1987.
 
Anime
 
This week’s top releases include Fairy Tail: Part 11 (Funimation, “14+,” 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $54.98), which includes 12 more episodes from the popular anime series based on the fantasy adventure comedy manga written by Hiro Mashima.
 
Also new this week is the Majestic Prince Collection 1 (Sentai Filmworks, “17+,” 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98), which collects the first 12 episodes of the 24-episodes 2013 anime series produced by Dogakobo that is based on the mecha sci-fi comedy romance manga written by Rando Ayamine.
 
Fans of manga-ka Kentaro Yabuki, the creator of Black Cat, might want to check out To Love-Ru: Darkness (Season 3) Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 300 min., $49.98, BD $59.98), which collects all 12 episodes of the 2012 series from Xebec that is based on the sequel to the Kentaro-illustrated To Love-Ru.
 
This week’s re-priced reissue is a great one---the Deadman Wonderland Complete Series (Funimation, “17+,” 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $34.98), an ultra-violent saga about a teen who is falsely accused of murdering his classmates and sentenced to a nightmarish prison where the convicts are forced into death matches for the amusement of the masses.
 
--Tom Flinn

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.