Even though it is debuting in September, Iron Man 2 opens the Q4 holiday DVD season when most of the heavy hitters of 2010 will be released on disc.  But there are also some sleepers this week, a raunchy comedy and a tough neo-noir that are worthy of consideration.  The new PG-13 direct-to-DVD DC Comics-based animated feature, which is based on a Superman/Batman saga by Jeph Loeb, is not to be missed, while a censored episode of The Family Guy, the first Americsn mini-series, and the latest release in the best murder mystery show on television bring life to the “TV on DVD” category.

 

Theatrical

 

While it would have been impossible for Marvel Studios to replicate the freshness of the original Iron Man movie, it must be said that in Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey, Jr. did manage to make another interesting superhero movie where the emphasis was more on character than on special effects (though there is the typical surfeit of the latter, something that is de rigeur for modern summer movie blockbusters).  Marvel had great success by spearheading the Q4 DVD season with a September release for the first Iron Man film, which sold 8.4 million copies en route to becoming the #2 DVD release of 2008, trailing only The Dark Knight, so it is no surprise to see Iron Man 2 heading to home video in September.

 

The importance of the Iron Man 2 release can be gauged by the fact that Marvel is releasing four different skus, a single disc DVD (Paramount, "Pg-13," $29.98), a 2-disc Collectors Edition ($34.98), a single-disc Blu-ray ($34.99), and a Blu-Ray Combo Pack ($39.99).  Director Jon Favreau is very conscious of the importance of home video and he oversaw the creation of documentary features throughout the production.  The result is a Blu-ray Combo Pack that is a true “collector’s edition” with unparalleled visuals and a host of superb extras.

 

But Iron Man 2 isn’t the only release of interest to genre movie fans.  Get Him to the Greek (Universal,  $29.98, 2-Disk Collector’s Ed. $34.98, Blu-ray $39.99) is a raunchy and often hilarious comedy from the Judd Apatow school featuring Russell Brand reprising his signature role of the drug-addled British rocker Aldous Snow from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  The two-disk Blu-ray includes 4 minutes of extra footage, plus 3 documentaries, music videos for 5 songs from the film, and a special karaoke feature that allows you to sing along with 15 “Aldous Snow hits.”

 

For neo-noir fans there is The Killer Inside Me (IFC, “R,” $19.98, BD $29.98), a faithful adaptation of the nasty Jim Thompson noir novel directed by Michael Winterbottom.  Casey Affleck stars as the baby-faced Texas sheriff Lou Ford, whose polite demeanor masks a psychopathic personality.  Unlike the classic noir films, the violence in The Killer Inside Me leaves nothing to the imagination.  But its over-the-top brutality is about the only blemish on this film, which perfectly captures the nightmarish quality of Thompson’s original narrative as one murder leads to another and the lies and the cover-ups mount up to near epic proportions.  Superbly photographed and exceptionally well acted by a cast that also includes Bill Pullman, Simon Baker, Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, The Killer Inside Me transports the viewer to a nightmarish Texas town in the 1950s that is no less sunlit, but the total moral opposite of the TV sitcoms of the era like Leave it to Beaver and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

 

Direct to DVD

 

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $20.02, 2-Disk Special Ed. $24.98, BD $33.63) is the latest in the series of DC Comics-based, PG-13, direct-to-DVD animated features from Warner Premiere.  Based on the Jeph Loeb storyline from Batman/Superman Vol.2 Supergirl, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse features an excellent vocal cast including Tim Daly (Superman), Kevin Conroy (Batman), Andre Braugher (Darkseid), and Summer Glau (Supergirl).  The character designs, which are based on the original comic book work by Michael Turner, are excellent, and the animation is very fluid by the standards of these DC-based direct-to-DVD movies.  The Green Arrow short continues the excellent tradition of animated shorts that add considerably to the attractiveness of these direct-to-DVD releases.  The other extras are also interesting, particularly a feature on Supergirl and a mini-documentary about The New Gods

 

TV on DVD

 

The handful of new animated releases of interest in this category include Family Guy: Partial Terms of Endearment (Fox, 111 min., $14.98), which provides viewers with the opportunity to see the abortion-themed episode that never aired on Fox (see “Unaired Family Guy Episode to DVD”) and The Cleveland Show: Season 1 (Fox, 582 min., $39.98), the Family Guy spin-off that has developed into a staple on Fox’s Sunday night “Animation Domination” block.  Also out this week are bargain priced editions of She-Ra Princess of Power: Season 1, Vol.1 (Classic Media, 420 min., $19.98) and Thundarr the Barbarian: The Complete Series (Warner Bros., 480 min., $29.98).

 

Although it’s not an animated series, the bargain-priced Swamp Thing: The Legend Continues (Shout Factory, 154 min., $7.98) features 7 episodes of the DC Comics-based TV series that starred Dick Durock.

 

Among the most interesting American TV releases are Ellery Queen: The Complete Series (E1 Entertainment, 1,117 min., $59.98), which stars Jim Hutton and David Wayne, the hospital sitcom, Scrubs: The Complete Collection (Disney, 4,147 min. $149.98), Rhoda Vol.1 (Shout Factory, 150 min., $7.93), and Designing Women Vol.1 (Shout Factory, 166 min., $7.93).

 

When in aired in 1976, Rich Man, Poor Man was a huge ratings success that set the precedent for the many dramatic mini-series that followed it.  The Rich Man, Poor Man Complete Collection (A&E, 1604 min., $79.95) features both the original Rich Man, Poor Man mini-series, which was based on the novel by Irwin Shaw about two brothers from a hardscrabble immigrant background, one of whom becomes a well-connected businessman (Peter Strauss), while the other (Nick Nolte) remains a working class rebel, and the less effective sequel, Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II.  While the sequel, which goes beyond the narrative of Shaw’s novel and doesn’t have Nolte, is inherently less interesting, and the original looks somewhat dated at times, this set is well worth having as Rich Man, Poor Man remains powerful example of TV drama at its best.

 

Two popular continuing series out this week include Rob Thomas’s Party Down: Season Two, the innovative comedy series about Hollywood hopefuls who make ends meet by working at catering jobs, and CSI: The Complete 10th Season, which collects the first season of the long-running show that stars Laurence Fishburne.

 

Fans of military gaming and military history will appreciate the History Channel’s Battle 360: The Complete Season 1 (A&E, 580 min., BD $49.95), which is now out on Blu-ray.  This series follows the World War II activities of the carrier U.S.S. Enterprise and recreates its many battles through the use of CGI graphics.  Older viewers who are used to actual combat footage may well find the CGI approach very off-putting, but the younger generation that is used to computer games will likely find these simulations exciting.  Also out this week is the History Channel’s Patton 360: The Complete Season 1, which provides the same sort of CGI recreations of the major battles waged by old “blood and guts.”

 

The top U.K. release this week is Midsomer Murders Set 16 (Acorn Media, 400 min., $49.99), which includes episodes 63-66 of what is clearly the best murder mystery series currently in production anywhere in the world.  The four feature-length mysteries feature John Nettles as the unflappable DCI Tom Barnaby and Jason Hughes as the earnest Detective Sergeant Ben Jones.  But it’s not just the leads that are great in this surprisingly murder-filled mysteries, it’s the entire cast of every episode.  Just as the American Law and Order series profits from production in New York and access to all the great stage actors in the New York area, Midsomer Murders benefits from the surfeit of trained thespians from every region in the U.K.

 

For those who enjoy a more traditional “drawing room” type of English murder mystery there is The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries: Set 2 (Acorn Media, 604 minutes, $49.99), which stars Ian Carmichael as Dorothy L. Sayers’ dilettante sleuth in three leisurely-paced cases that last at least 3 hours each.  With near-perfect 1920s period details and a novelistic approach that takes into account almost every detail of Sayers’ narrative, this series, which was shown in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theater, is the definitive adaptation of Sayers’ most famous creation.

 

Anime

 

The top new release this week is Hell Girl Three Vessels Collection 1 (Sentai Filmworks, “17+,” 325 min., $49.98), which collects the first 13 episodes of the third season of the Hell Girl anime series produced by Studio Deen.  The episodic Hell Girl anime is an innovative series about a female demon who can provide people with a measure of revenge against their enemies (but at the cost of their own souls).  Each episode is a self-contained narrative, though the series does have overriding themes that carry over from episode to episode.

 

Newcomer NIS is releasing the second half of the PS 2-based Persona: Trinity Soul anime, Persona: Trinity Soul Box Set 2 (NIS, “13+,” 325 min., $59.95) and Toradora Set 2 Premium Collection that were originally slated to street on August 24th (see “DVD Round-Up: Week of August 24th”).

 

Re-priced anime releases that are debuting include the Devil May Cry Complete Collection (Funimation, “17+,” 300 min., $39.98), Full Metal Alchemist Season 1 Box Set (Funimation, “13+”600 min., $49.98), the Kaze no Stigma Complete Collection (Funimation, “14+,” 576 min., $59.98), and the Nabari no Ou Complete Collection (Funimation, “14+,” 650 min., $59.98).