This is one of those DVD release weeks that encourages regular DVD shoppers and/or renters to go a little deeper than the big titles and well-known names. For example, if you’re caught up with all of 2008’s awards-bait, you might be ready for some modest-but-satisfying entertainment on the order of the Ed Harris/Viggo Mortensen western Appaloosa, or the prim literary adaptation Brideshead Revisited. Or if you’re well versed in the canon of world cinema, perhaps you could try broadening that canon by watching the acclaimed 1990 Russian film Taxi Blues, or Criterion’s quartet of Roberto Rossellini films (three in an Ecliplse box set, and one, the well-regarded The Taking Of Power By Louis XIV, all by its lonesome). And are you as much of an expert in British TV as you should be? Have you seen the sex-drugs-and-angst-filled teen drama Skins? Or Steve Coogan’s very funny Saxondale, about a middle-aged ex-roadie dealing with his pathetic non-rocking life? Well, you should.
You should also think about checking out two fine documentaries on this week’s list: The Order Of Myths, about the enduring traditions of segregation in an Alabama community, and the abstract Our Daily Bread, about the inefficiencies of global food production. The former is moving; the latter eerie. Both are worth your time.
All Roads Lead Home
Starz/Anchor Bay, $26.97
American Fusion
Image, $27.98
Appaloosa
New Line, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99
Balls Out: Gary The Tennis Coach
Sony, $24.96
Blindsight
Image, $27.98
Brick Lane
Sony, $28.96
Brideshead Revisited
Miramax, $29.99
Bustin’ Down The Door
Universal, $24.98
Captains And The Kings
Koch, $39.98
Choose Connor
Strand, $27.99
Dallas: The Complete Tenth Season
Warner, $39.98
Eclipse Series 14: Rossellini’s History Films – Renaissance And Enlightenment (Blaise Pascal / The Age Of The Medici / Cartesius)
Criterion, $59.95
The Family That Preys
Lionsgate, $29.95
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence
Bandai, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98
The Henry James Collection
BBC Warner, $49.98
Hit And Run
MGM, $28.98
House Of Payne: Volume Three
Lionsgate, $29.98
Humboldt County
Magnolia, $26.98
I Do
Lionsgate, $19.98
Imaginary Witness: Hollywood And The Holocaust
Koch Lorber, $24.98
A Knight In Camelot
Walt Disney, $14.99
Little Britain USA
HBO, $29.98
Lovejoy: The Complete Season Four
BBC Warner, $69.98
Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America
Rhino, $34.95
Man Vs. Wild: Season 2
Discovery, $24.98
Masterpiece Theater: God On Trial
WGBH, $24.95
Masterpiece Theater: The Last Enemy
WGBH, $29.99
Matlock: The Second Season
Paramount, $49.99
Mirrors
20th Century Fox, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99
Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video
Shout! Factory, $19.99
My Best Friend’s Girl
Lionsgate, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99
My Bloody Valentine
Lionsgate, $19.98
The Order Of Myths
New Yorker, $29.95
Our Daily Bread
Icarus, $29.98
Patti Smith: Dream Of Life
Vivendi, $24.98
Reba: Season 5
20th Century Fox, $29.98
Ring Of Death
Rhi, $14.95
Saxondale: Complete Seasons 1 & 2
BBC Warner, $39.98
Skins: Volume 1
BBC Warner, $39.98
Smart House
Walt Disney, $14.99
Stargate: The Ark Of Truth
20th Century Fox Blu-ray, $34.99
Supercop
Dragon Dynasty, $18.99
Swing Vote
Touchstone/Disney, $29.99; Blu-ray, $34.99
The Taking Of Power By Louis XIV
Criterion, $29.95
Taxi Blues
Koch Lorber, $24.98
Tess Of The D’Urbervilles (2008)
BBC Warner, $34.98
‘Til Death: The Complete Second Season
Sony, $24.95
Tokyo Gore Police
Tokyo Shock, $19.99
Tyler Perry’s Marriage Counselor
Lionsgate, $19.98
Voltron: Volume 7
Media Blasters, $34.99
Walker, Texas Ranger: The Complete Sixth Season
Paramount, $49.99
Yeti
Grodfilm, $14.95