Darren Aronofsky’s Noah leads this week’s home entertainment offerings, which also include the first hi-def edition of David Lynch’s seminal Twin Peaks serial mystery drama, a great new Adventure Time collection, a new My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic disc, the second half of the first season of Teen Titans Go, and the 30th Mystery Science Theater 3000 collection.
 
Theatrical Movies
 
This week’s biggest release this week is Darren Aronofsky’s Noah (Paramount, “PG-13,” 138 min., $29.99, BD $39.99), which stars Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in the original apocalyptic drama, though Aronofsky takes liberties with the very bare bones Biblical saga of Noah, fleshing it out with a powerful environmental message that the director hoped would help raise consciousness of our own impending climate-changing perils, though he probably only succeeded in alienating a good part of the religious audience for the film, who didn’t approve of any changes or additions to the Biblical saga.  Still Noah earned over $100 million in North America, and managed to win the approval of 77% of the critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes.
 
For those who enjoy romantic comedy, there is The Other Woman (Fox, “PG-13,” 110 min., $29.98, BD $39.99), which is sort of a feel good revenge drama about three women who conspire to get back at the man who has wronged them all.  While the premise doesn’t sound very promising, and the film only rated 23% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, there is some humor here and good work by actresses Leslie Mann and Cameron Diaz. 
 
Horror movie fans will have to make do with The Den (MPI, “R,” 76 min., $24.98), one of the better “found footage” horror movies.  The Den transforms the movie screen into a computer screen as it narrates the saga of an Internet researcher who witnesses a murder online, though no one will believe her.  The Den, which is more unsettling than gory, managed to earn a 75% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a very good rating for horror film.
 
For documentary fans there is Finding Vivian Maier (MPI, “Not Rated,” 90 min., $24.98) takes an in-depth look at the life and work of a shy woman, who spent most of her adult life working as a nanny, who was also one of the great street photographers of the 20th Century.
 
For foreign film fans there is On My Way (Entertainment one, “Not Rated,” 113 min., $24.98, BD $34.98), which stars Catherine DeNeuve as a former beauty queen whose life unravels in middle age until she finds herself a bit when she takes a trip with her grandson.
 
TV on DVD
 
This week’s top release is Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery (Paramount, 1636 min. BD $129.99), which contains a stunning Blu-ray hi-def transfer of David Lynch’s uber-stylish serial mystery, a rare instance in which a project with “art house” sensibilities crossed over and became a “watercooler” hit in 1990.  Network interference wreaked some havoc on the show’s second season, but overall Twin Peaks has to stand as one of the key TV series of the 1990s as it delved beneath the veneer of white bread respectability of its small Washington state community to expose the rampant corruption seething just beneath the surface.
 
A close second is Adventure Time, Vol. 7: Princess Day (Warner Bros., 176 min., $19.92), which includes 16 episodes featuring the fan favorite leading lady Lumpy Space Princess, including the eponymous “Princess Day” episode, which aired for the first time this weekend.  With a genius level pop culture sensibility and a real affinity for fantasy gaming (D&D), Adventure Time is one of the very best animated series in an era when there are more than a few really well-written and well-produced animated shows on the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and the other cable nets for kids.
 
Adventure Time has spawned a very popular comic book series from Boom! Comics, and the My Little Pony property has done the same with comics from IDW.  My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic—The Key to Friendship (Shout Factory, 110 min., $14.97) collects five episodes from a series that continues to have a tremendous appeal to girls as is evidenced by sales of MLP toys and merchandise.
 
Another animated release of interest to geek viewers is Teen Titans Go!-Season 1, Part 2: Couch Crusaders (Warner Bros., 286 min., $19.97), features the second half of the first season of the popular Cartoon Network series that takes a rather lighthearted look at the DC Comics teen supergroup.
 
Of course one of the all-time geek favorite TV series is Mystery Science Theater 3000 in which lame grade Z movies are subjected to withering commentary from the MST3K crew.  Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXX (Shout Factory, 480 min., $59.97) includes four less-than-scintillating films that greatly benefit from the snarky commentary, including The Black Scorpion, Outlaw of Gor, The Projected Man, and It Lives By Night.
 
 
 
Also out this week is Midsomer Murders: Box Set 24 (Acorn Media, 279 min., $39.99, BD $49.99), which contains three complete feature length murders set in the picturesque, though fictional, English county of Midsomer.  Taking their cue from the English village murder mysteries of Caroline Graham, the Midsomer Murders episodes delight in revealing the corruption that lies behind the respectable facades of its postcard-read English villages, but it does so with more humor (though also with even less realism) than David Lynch could muster in Twin Peaks.  But those who enjoyed the first season of Twin Peaks should check out the charms of Midsomer, which are perhaps a bit more domesticated, but no less fascinating.
 
Another excellent import from the U.K. is Anna Karenina (Acorn Media, 539 min., $59.99), which contains all 10 episodes of 1977 BBC series that provides a faithful and compelling adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic novel.  Nicola Pagett (Upstairs, Downstairs) plays the role of the doomed heroine, whose saga is played out against a lush score, much of which is taken from the works of Tschaikovsky.
 
Anime
 
The week’s top release is Gatchaman Crowds (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98), collects all 12 episodes of the 2013 sci-fi superhero series, the fifth anime series based on Tatsunoko Production’s 1972 classic Science Ninja Team Gotchaman.  This series was simulcast by Crunchyroll, but is available in this set with an English dub track as well as with English subtitles.
 
Also of interest is Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They? (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 275 min. $59.98, BD $69.98), which includes all 10 episodes, plus 1 OVA from the 2013 anime produced by Diomedea and based on the light novel series by Taro Tasunoko about three kids with psychic powers who decide to rebel against the tyrannical Demon Lords who rule the world of Little Garden.
 
Re-priced reissues due on Tuesday include the Vampire Knight Complete Collection: Seasons 1 & 2 (Viz Media, “16+,” 600 min., $44.82), which contains all 26 episodes of the 2008 anime produced by Studio Deen and based on the bestselling shojo manga series; the Bleach Movies Double Feature: Diamond Dust & Memories of Nobody (Viz Media, “13+,” $14.98); the Dr. Slump Movie Collection 1-5 (Eastern Star, 253 min., $29.95), which collects 5 movies based on Akira Toriyama’s pre-Dragonball manga; plus the kid-friendly Monster Rancher Season 2 (Eastern Star, “7+,” 440 min., $39.95) and Monster Rancher Season 3 (Eastern Star, “7+,” 630 min., $49.95).
 
Tom Flinn
 
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.