There are several films (and TV shows) that mix genres due out this week along with Kill the Irishman, one of the best gangster movies of the modern era, a TV series based on a Stephen King novel, some vintage Doctor Who story arcs, and a powerful French film that examines a little known aspect of World War II.

 

 

The most popular release this week will undoubtedly be Battle: Los Angeles (Sony, “PG-13,” $29.95, BD/Combo $38.96), an alien invasion movie starring Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez that looks more like a first person shooter video game (albeit with a surfeit of shaky camerawork) than a new fangled version of War of the Worlds. Compared with a worthy alien invasion movie like District 9, Battle: Los Angeles looks like a cross between something produced on the cheap for the SyFy channel and one of those Republic World War II movies of the 1950s with a platoon of cardboard characters from all parts of the country. Audiences generally liked this film, which earned $83.5 million domestically, more than critics (only 32% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), but that’s probably more a function of the fact that people like this alien invasion genre and are willing to put up with clichéd characterizations, unintentionally humorous dialogue, and headache-inducing camerawork to get their sci-fi/war movie thrills.

 

Oh Grandma, what a bad screenplay you have! Another film that mixes genres (and misfires) is Red Riding Hood (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” $28.98, BD/Combo $35.99), which stars the talented Amanda Seyfried. Director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) melds horror film, mystery movie, and teen romance cliches to a much lesser effect here than she did in Twilight.

 

Hall Pass (Warner Bros., “R,” $28.98, BD/Combo $35.99) is the latest comedy from the Farrelly brothers (There’s Something About Mary), so viewers should be forewarned that this movie will be on the raunchy side (and it does contain full frontal male nudity and plenty of penile humor). The basic setup is that two married guys (Owen Wilson and SNL’s Jason Sudekis) approaching middle age with their teenage libidos more or less intact are given a “hall pass” to do whatever they want for a week by their wives who are tired of their husbands’ constant ogling of anything in skirts. Critics hated the movie in part because it is predictable—the would-be Lotharios discover what the audience knows all along, that they are better off with their attractive wives—but there are some laughs along the way if you enjoy gross-out humor.  

 

The film with the best reviews that is due out this week is Kill the Irishman (Anchor Bay, “R,” $29.98, BD $34.98), which stars Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) in movie based on the “true” story of Danny Greene, an Irish-American thug who declared war on the Cleveland branch of the Mafia and managed to survive many assassination plots. His bold efforts helped hasten the demise of a number of mob syndicates across the country. Kill the Irishman triumphs over a modest budget thanks to a great cast of gangster movie vets and the relentlessly seedy Cleveland locations. It is interesting to compare Kill the Irishman with Stevenson’s turn as Frank Castle in the second Punisher movie. The one-man-against-the-mob themes of both films are eerily similar, but the far greater realism that Kill the Irishman derives from its historical roots makes it a far more impressive and important film that is not to be missed by those who enjoy gangster movies.

 

 

The top American release this week is Haven The Complete 1st Season (E1 Entertainment, 572 min., $44.98, BD $49.98), the SyFy series based on Stephen King’s novel The Colorado Kid.  Any resemblance of this supernatural drama about a confident  female FBI agent who tracks down weird doings in the small town of Haven, Maine to the X-Files is purely coincidental (wink, wink).   This Canadian/American co-production is one of the best series yet produced for Syfy.  

Also debuting this week on Blu-ray is Supernatural: The Complete Second Season (Warner Bros., 855 min., $59.98), which includes 22 episodes of the CW series that aired in 2006 and 2007.

 

Those who enjoy the campy stylings of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the horror movie hostess whose popular persona inspired a comic book series as well as an actual horror movie, might want to check out the horror hostess in action in Elvira’s Movie Macabre: Night of the Living Dead/I Eat Your Skin (E1 Entertainment, 184 min., $14.98), a double feature that includes the George A. Romero zombie classic and Elvira’s intros. A second disc, Elvira’s Movie Macabre: The Satanic Rites of Dracula/The Werewolf of Washington (E1 Entertainment, 187 min., $14.98) offers two less-than-classic grindhouse horror movies along with Elvira’s inimitable intros.

 

One of the big trends in “TV on DVD” releases is the creation of “Best Of” discs that are low-cost ways for casual fans to sample shows. While hardcore devotees will want the season sets with all episodes in chronological order, others may just want a smaller selection of great episodes. Universal is organizing its “Best Of” releases around decades. The Best of the 80s: The A-Team (Universal, 300 min., $14.98) features 7 episodes, while The Best of the 80s: Magnum P.I. (Universal, 400 min., $14.98) includes 10 episodes, The Best of the 80s: Knight Rider (Universal, 375 min., $14.98), a 2-disc collection of 9 episodes, and The Best of the 80s: Miami Vice (Universal, 350 min., $14.98) contains 8 episodes. 

 

One of the staples of 1950s television was the broadcasting of the comedy shorts produced by Hal Roach starring The Little Rascals. Noted for the unaffected performances their large and changing cast of child actors and the irarchetypal “kid” storylines, these classics are now available in re-mastered editions at a low price of just $7.93 per 10-episode volume. So check out The Little Rascals Vol. 1-7 (Vivendi Entertainment, 200 min., $7.93), which present the shorts in chronological order starting with Vol. 1, which includes episodes produced in 1929 and 1930. All these discs were included in The Complete Little Rascals set that was released in 2008, but fans who didn’t spring for the big set can now sample the individual discs at a very reasonable price.

 

Animated TV releases due on Tuesday include Jetsons Meet the Flinstones (Warner Bros., 92 min, $14.95), a wacky time-traveling adventure featuring the Hanna-Barbera cartoon families, The Herculoids: The Complete Series, a 2-disk, 18-episode collection of the 1967 Hanna-Barbera series, SpongeBob SquarePants: Heroes of Bikini Bottoms (Nickelodeon, 88 min., $16.99), a single-disc, 8-episode collection of the popular Nickelodeon series, and The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show: Snoopy’s Adventures (Warner Bros., 135 min, $14.98), a single disc compilation of material from the Saturday morning show that aired on CBS on Saturday mornings from 1983-1985.

 

Not too many U.K. releases this week, but there are some choice offerings including Sergeant Cribb: The Complete Series (BFS, 737 min., $64.98), a 1981 series adapted from Peter Lovesey’s novels about a tough Victorian Detective Sergeant who worked for the newly formed Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard. 

 

Fans of the vintage Doctor Who series will enjoy Doctor Who Story #132: Frontios (BBC, 98 min., $24.98), a four-part series from 1984 starring the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) who travels to a forlorn planet where subterranean parasites lie in wait for unsuspecting shipwrecked humans. Also interesting is Doctor Who Story #148: Time and the Rani (BBC, 100 min., $24.98), a four-parter from 1987 that was the first arc to feature the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy). Kate O’Mara stars as the evil Rani, a renegade Time Lady, who is attempting to construct a giant time manipulator.

 

 

The major release this week is Dance in the Vampire Bund Complete Series BD/Combo (Funimation, “17+,” 300 min., $64.98), the 12-episode series produced by Shaft and based on the seinen manga by Nozumu Tamaki published here by Seven Seas. The protagonist of the series is Mina Tepes, the princess-ruler of all vampires who receives permission to create a special district where vampires can live in peace, but extremist factions on both sides make peaceful relations between the vampire world and humans difficult.

 

Also new this week and available on Blu-ray is Demon King Daimo Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “17+,” 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98). Animated by Artland and based on a light novel series by Shotaro Mizuki, Demon King Daimo is a Harry Potter-influenced harem comedy series with plenty of fan service. Demon King Daimo will be released with an English dub as well as subtitles.

 

The only single-disc release of the week is K-On Vol. 2 (Bandai, “13+,” 100 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), the second installment of the adaptation by Kyoto Animation of the 4-panel seinen comic strip by Kakifly.

 

The re-priced re-release of the week is Fruits Basket Complete Series (Funimation,”13+,” 580 min., $59.98), which includes all 26 episodes of the anime series produced by Studio Deen in 2001 and based on Natsuki Takaya’s hugely popular shojo comedy romance manga.

 

 

Anyone who has seen Tony Gatlif’s striking Latcho Drom, which deservedly won a major prize at the Cannes Film Festival in the early 1990s understands that Gatlif has a gift for composition and photography as well as an intimate understanding of the life of the itinerant Roma (Gypsies) of Europe. Gatlif’s latest film Korkoro (Lorber, $29.95) reveals a little known part of World War II history, the Nazi extermination of up to 500,000 Roma, fully one quarter of Europe’s population of Gypsies.   Gatlif follows the fortunes of one close-knit Roma family traveling through France in 1943. When the Vichy government decides to imprison all itinerant laborers, the band of Gypsies is trapped near a small village. Then a Nazi collaborator seizes their horses. Deprived of their freedom to travel, the Roma are aided by some members of the French resistance, but they cannot be tied down and domesticated. Korkoro, the Romany word for “freedom,” is a hymn to the open road, a swirling dervish of delight in the ecstasy of unfettered existence, a bold statement of a way of life and the human spirit, which triumphs even when, as is the case in Korkoro, its practitioners do not.