Even if you’ve hated every prior movie Jane Campion has made, and even you’ve had it with literary biopics in vintage clothes, you might be surprised by Campion’s Bright Star, a beautifully calibrated study of dying poet John Keats and his fashion plate girlfriend, which doubles as a meditation on why people create, and why they consume. Also of note this week: Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip It, a coming-of-age roller derby comedy that’s completely predictable, but nonetheless entertaining; and the semiotic zombie picture Pontypool, a cleverly staged low-budget horror movie featuring a terrific Stephen McHattie performance and some sly commentary on the danger of filling the air with meaningless words. Lastly, the flow of Golden Age TV to DVD continues with a collection of the ‘50s arts program Omnibus; this first set’s dedicated to lectures by Leonard Bernstein, while future volumes will preserve the dramatic work of Orson Welles and others.
Act Of God
Zeitgeist, $29.99
B-Girl
Screen Media, $24.98
Blade Of The Ripper
Mya, $24.95
Bonekickers
Acorn, $39.99
The Boys Are Back
Miramax, $29.99
Bright Star
Sony, $27.96
Callan: Set 2
Acorn, $59.99
The Complete Inspector Lewis
PBS, $69.99
Copyright Criminals
IndiePix, $24.95
Cowboys & Outlaws
A&E, $24.95
Desirable Teacher
Mya, $24.95
Doctor Death
Scorpion, $24.95
The Donner Party
First Look, $24.98
The Escapist
MPI, $19.98
Fireball
Lionsgate, $19.98
Five Element Ninjas
Tokyo Shock, $19.99
Frontline: The Card Game
PBS, $24.99
Frontier Of Dawn
MPI, $24.98
Give ‘Em Hell Malone
National Entertainment, $24.98; Blu-ray, $24.98
Give Me Your Hand
Strand, $27.99
Goodbye Gemini
Scorpion, $24.95
Hard Revenge Milly: Hyper Violence Collection
Well Go USA, $19.98
Hello Goodbye
Liberation, $19.95
I Heart Jonas
Warner, $19.99
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
20th Century Fox, $22.98
Import Export
Tartan, $19.93
In A Day
IFC, $24.98
InAlienable
Starz/Anchor Bay, $19.97
Jackie Chan Presents Wushu
Lionsgate, $26.98
JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America
A&E, $19.95
The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After
A&E, $19.95
The Last Stage
Facets, $29.95
Little Ashes
E1, $26.98
Lost City Raiders
First Look, $24.98
Mermaid
MPI, $19.98
Michael Jackson: This Is It
Sony, $28.96; Blu-ray, $39.95
MI-5: Volume 7
BBC Warner, $59.98
Moscow, Belgium
Terra, $24.98
Omnibus: Leonard Bernstein
E1, $49.98
Painters Painting
New Video, $29.95
Paris, Texas
Criterion, $39.95; Blu-ray, $39.95
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose: The Complete Second Season
Shout! Factory, $49.99
Pawn Stars: The Complete Season One
A&E, $19.95
Pie In The Sky: Series Two
Acorn, $49.99
Pontypool
IFC, $19.98
Prom Night In Mississippi
New Video, $26.95
Quiet Chaos
IFC, $19.98
The Red Green Show: The Infantile Years – Seasons 1991-1993
Acorn, $99.99
Rifftrax Live: Plan 9 From Outer Space, Nashville 2009
Legend, $14.95
Rifftrax Live: Planet Of Dinosaurs
Legend, $14.95
Rifftrax Live: Shorts-tacular Shorts-travaganza
Legend, $14.95
Rifftrax Live: Voodoo Man
Legend, $14.95
Rifftrax Live: Wide World Of Shorts
Legend, $14.95
Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy: Rome Open City/Paisan/Germany Year Zero
Criterion, $79.95
Satan’s Wife
Mya, $24.95
Saw VI
Lionsgate, $26.95; Blu-ray, $39.99
Schoolgirl Report Volume #6: What Parents Would Gladly Hush Up
Impulse, $24.95
Sex Advice
Mya, $24.95
Soul Power
Sony, $28.96; Blu-ray, $34.95
Southland: The Complete First Season
Warner, $29.98
St. Trinian’s School For Bad Girls
Sony, $24.96
Surrogates
Touchstone, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99
Tennessee
Vivendi, $26.99
The Toolbox Murders
Blue Underground Blu-ray, $29.95
A Touch Of Spice
Menemsha, $29.95
Troma’s War
Troma, $19.95
Tru Loved
E1, $24.98
The Waltons Movie Collection
Warner, $39.98
Warszawa
Facets, $24.95
Whip It
20th Century Fox, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99
The Whitest Kids U’ Know: The Complete Second Season
E1, $24.98
Worlds Apart
MPI, $19.98
WWII In HD
A&E, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.95
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Warner, $19.98