Month: November 2010

Yes, Virginia (NR, 2009, New Video)
Santa Claus (allegedly) is not real, and newspapers should never, ever print assertions they know to be untrue. But for one special day in 1897 New York City, both rules bowed down to a greater good. The story of Virginia O’Hanlon — who, in the face of growing doubt about Santa’s existence, sent a letter to the editor of the venerably trustworthy New York Sun and asked him to set the record straight — is a true story, and the spirited response the editor printed alongside her letter in the paper is a cherished piece of American history. Like the children’s book, which provided the inspiration for the character designs, the computer-animated “Yes, Virginia” lets the true story be the star. Some creative liberty is taken, but the film leaves the central tale, and the real people who made it really happen, as it found them. “Virginia’s” design, animation and voice acting are handled with terrific care, and the chord it strikes between cynicism and sweetness gives it an likable authenticity most Christmas specials try but fail to achieve. Beatrice Miller, Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alfred Molina and Michael Buscemi, among others, lend their voices.
Extras: A making-of feature that should not be overlooked. The story of how the filmmakers found Miller, the voice of Virginia, arguably rivals the true story behind the film itself. Also: Director commentary, kid cast commentary.

Spot’s Magical Christmas (NR, 1995, BBC)
It’s doesn’t get much purer than this. In “Spot’s Magical Christmas,” Spot (a talking dog) and his parents (also talking dogs) are getting ready for Christmas when they’re visited by two of Santa’s reindeers, who took Santa’s sleigh out for a test drive and subsequently lost it. Never one not to be helpful, Spot enlists his animal friends and, in between the occasional sled ride and snowball fight, sets out to find the sleigh and save Christmas for all. The outcome of “Christmas” is never in peril, because everything about Spot, his friends and his adventure is pleasantly even-keeled and sweet. And because that sweetness never veers into preachiness or any other form of messaging, the pleasantness is contagious. “Christmas” looks like a watercolored children’s storybook in motion — no surprise, because it’s also a book — and the quaint presentation and straightforward storytelling make no bones about this being a sweet Christmas story for kids. But if you’re in need of some no-strings-attached holiday escapism, there’s no age restriction for enjoying this.
Extras: Animated short “Spot’s Winter Sports,” two DVD games.

The Search for Santa Paws (G, 2010, Disney)
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Disney has continually parlayed “Air Bud’s” talking live action dog technology into 13 years of movies about dogs becoming sports stars, astronauts and, now, Santa’s best friend. In “The Search for Santa Paws,” Santa (Richard Riehle) visits New York to pay respect to a toy shop owner who passed away and left the shop to grandson James (John Ducey), an accountant from Los Angeles who isn’t ready to drop everything and move. A turn of events leaves Santa with amnesia, Paws the dog gets separated from him, and the task of gluing everything back together falls to two orphans (Kaitlyn Maher and Madison Pettis) who are fleeing their own version of Miss Hannigan (Wendi McLendon-Covey). On paper, it sounds like a dreary mess. But among a few other surprising displays of savvy, “Paws” avoids the kid movie mistake of reducing all the adults to rotten imbeciles. (Even James, whom a lazier movie would immediately relegate to soulless jerk duty, comes off as a good person with understandable reservations.) All of this may not matter to “Paws'” intended audience, who may only care about rooting for Paws and his friends to save Christmas. But if you’re a parent who must endure the glut of insultingly simplistic kids movies that reduce every character to a stereotype, take solace in knowing that “Paws,” hit-you-over-the-head transparent though it often is, tries a little harder. It’s silly, completely unbelievable and terribly cloying, but the sweetness at least feels genuine.
Extras: Interactive pop-up storybook, sing-along track, deleted scenes, music video.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas (NR, 2009, Fox)
Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way: If you’re easily offended or cannot find humor in humanity’s darkly childish, selfish and/or stupid side “A Very Sunny Christmas” is every bit as ill a fit for your DVD player as “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is for your television. But a funny thing happens when “Philadelphia’s” cast of imbeciles (Danny DeVito, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, Rob McElhenney) and its appetite for absurd storylines and reckless self-disregard in the name of comedy collides with the Christmas spirit: It feels strangely right. “Christmas” is developed like (and, at 43 minutes, runs no longer than) a typical episode of the show, and the prospect of paying full DVD price for one episode and a few extras doesn’t scream “value” no matter how good that episode is. But as special Christmas episodes go, “Christmas” — which finds the gang amending for Christmas traditions that, in some cases, weren’t so much traditions as criminal lies told by awful parents — is very funny, tailored perfectly to its cast, and, in its own juvenile way, surprisingly in tune with the holiday spirit. And if there’s any doubt about “Philadelphia’s” understanding of its audience, a great scene starring the Simon toy and Omnibot should put it firmly to rest.
Extras: Four Paddy’s Irish Pub coasters, deleted scenes featuring Young Charlie and Young Mac, behind-the-scenes feature, a Sunny Christmas Sing-along.

It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (NR, 2002, Universal)
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” — or even “The Muppets Take Manhattan” — this is not. The premise of “It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie” is an obvious play on “It’s a Wonderful Life,” with Kermit, facing the loss of the Muppet Theater to slimy creditors and developers, imagining what the lives of his fellow Muppets would be like without him. The inclusion of developers and talk of lawyers isn’t exactly out of left field in a “Muppets” movie, which has never shied away from painting less-than-idyllic pictures of whatever plight the Muppets face. But even with this taken into account, there is a depressing level of calculated cynicism in “Christmas.” The Muppets occasionally get brief opportunities to be their silly selves, and some of the offhand send-ups of other Christmas movies are great. But when it isn’t wasting time shoehorning pop culture references (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, reality TV, a mock Crocodile Hunter) that completely rob it of any sense of timelessness, “Christmas” paints the world with strokes so completely soulless that even the inevitable happy ending can’t wash them away. Jim Henson put the Muppets in similarly dire straits without losing sight of what makes their universe its own creation, and unless your idea of a good Muppets Christmas special includes Muppet go-go dancers, criminals and “Fear Factor” characters, skip this and hope the heirs of Henson’s imagination never fumble it this badly again.
Extras: Deleted scenes, bloopers, nine-song Christmas soundtrack CD.

Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black (NR, 2009, History Channel)
The formerly edgy act of bad-mouthing the holidays has been practiced so frequently in recent years that it’s practically as quaint as the act of enjoying them. The stale odor is especially pungent in “Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black,” which purports to be a primer on how to enjoy the month-plus-long season without going insane in the process. But “Holidays” doesn’t attempt to r
ationalize with the holiday juggernaut so much as give a group of celebrities and comedians a forum in which to complain about every facet — even the mostly harmless ones — of its existence. What did dreidels, Thanksgiving dinner and sitting on Santa’s lap (the mockery of which “A Christmas Story” perfected with far more subtlety 27 years ago) do to deserve this? “Holidays” slightly redeems itself (and slightly justifies its distinction as a History Channel product) by opening the panel to some authors and historians, who explain the origins and myths behind many of the traditions. But their time is sorely limited by the overwhelming train of spoiled, miserable people trying to convert their dislike of everything into jokes you’ve heard a thousand times already. If you want to survive the holidays, don’t put yourself in a hole by watching this first.
Extra: Unaired footage.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed (R, 2009, Anchor Bay)
Barely a word is spoken during the first 10 minutes of “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” which finds two kidnappers (Eddie Marsan and Martin Compston) plotting for and eventually converting on the abduction of a millionaire’s daughter (Gemma Arterton as Alice). The silent treatment is handled beautifully, and it provides a clinic on how to effectively develop two characters without saying anything. So it’s quite a testament to what happens next that the story shines even brighter when everybody starts talking. “Creed,” like any good suspense story, has more in store than is initially apparent, and like any great suspense story, it revels in the timeless device of a simple plan that inevitably enters a tailspin. But all these twists and surprises wouldn’t be nearly so interesting were it not for the awesome job “Creed” does of giving all three of its characters a personality that goes way beyond their situations and roles. The undercurrent of unease in the plan is due to the general uneasiness of those entangled in it, and “Creed’s” attention to character detail from start to finish turns its every moment into a engrossing guessing game regarding who will do what next.
Extras: Writer/director commentary, deleted/extended scenes, behind-the-scenes feature, outtakes.

The Expendables (R, 2010, Lions Gate)
It goes nearly without saying that “The Expendables” — a movie renowned for its explosively meatheaded cast (Sylvester Stallone, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Steve Austin and more) and not its story — is 100 minutes of mostly dumb fun. But let’s not pretend that’s not an achievement. “The Expendables'” plot is so jumbled as to give incoherence a bad name, which is to be expected when the task of explaining it falls to two actors (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis) who appear in exactly one scene and spend as much time making self-conscious winks as they do explaining anything. The movie also feels a need to cram in extensive back stories for some (though not all) characters, and with all that and a mission going on, the wheels never even get on long enough to come off. But movies like “The Expendables” come out almost every week — mostly straight to video — and most of them achieve the same level of incoherence without having any fun doing so. “The Expendables,” by contrast, has a ball. The popularity of the cast is no accident, and when you have this much charisma firing everywhere — to say nothing of the liberal deployment of punches, kicks, knives, bullets, vehicles and stuff that makes other stuff explode — it almost doesn’t matter that the script turns a simple coup into a story that’s as lucid as the Unabomber manifesto. The only unforgivable sin? Crews, the most charismatic member of the whole cast, is entirely underutilized, though he at least makes sure to steal almost every scene in which he appears.
Extras: Stallone commentary, deleted scene, behind-the-scenes feature, bloopers, marketing gallery.

Luther (NR, 2010, BBC)
It takes something special to stand out amongst the glut of cop shows on television today, and with the likes of Dexter, Mackey and McNulty already passing through, even a morally dubious cop has to spice up his methods to break new ground. On the surface, John Luther (Idris Elba) doesn’t do that: The opening minutes of “Luther” find him making a choice that will suspend him for seven months and crater his marriage to Zoe (Indira Varma), but it’s nothing the aforementioned rogues haven’t done before and worse. But while “Luther” initially follows familiar roads in its depiction of its titular character, it pretty quickly carves some new ones with its construction of the world around him. The show’s six episodes trot out a hall of fame’s worth of demons and deranged criminals — one of whom (Ruth Wilson) sticks around for the duration — and rather than play down the absurdity of so much depravity happening in such a tight timeframe, “Luther” bear-hugs it with the kind of character dramatizations and verbal face-offs one typically finds in the theater rather than on television. It’s rarely preferable for a show to tell rather than show, but “Luther’s” love affair with words — and the deeply satisfying story arc that plays out as result — makes this a brilliant exception to that rule.
Contents: Six episodes, plus a lengthy behind-the-scenes feature.

Deadland (R, 2009, Phase 4 Films)
Before you assume, let’s clear the air: Whatever the title implies, this isn’t another zombie movie. Rather, the “dead” in “Deadland” really does refer to the land, which has been decimated by World War III and an ensuing plague that has reduced the United States to an assemblage of provinces scrambling for a cure. But Sean (Gary Weeks) isn’t concerned with the new world order so much as he is with navigating it to find his wife (Emily-Grace Murray as Katie), whose whereabouts have been unknown for five years. The catch? When the bombs went off, the couple was headed toward a separation, and it isn’t clear whether Katie even wants to be found. “Deadland’s” world isn’t totally unfamiliar to the post-nuclear playbook: There are factions operating by their own laws, and the sick and weak have been relegated to second-class status by those violent enough to enforce the distinction. But even with all the familiar decorations, “Deadland” succeeds because it ultimately and overwhelmingly is about Sean and not his predicament. The movie uses flashbacks to his pre-war life to great effect, borrowing details from that world to give importance to pieces of this one, and it takes just another post-apocalyptic story and makes it personal. That doesn’t completely free it from the bounds of cliche, but it definitely sets it apart in a genre plagued by imitators.
Extras: Director/cast commentary, behind-the-scenes feature.

Worth a Mention
— “The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Collection” (NR, 1974, Time Life): Sometimes, it takes much longer than it should for a television show to make its DVD debut. Occasionally — and this is one of those occasions — the wait is worth it. Much as it did with “Get Smart” a few years back, Time Life has made “The Six Million Dollar Man’s” DVD coming-out party one to remember, housing 40 DVDs inside an awesome gift box that, through the magic of lenticular technology, plays a faux-video of a faster, stronger Steve Austin sprinting on one side of the box. It also plays the famous “we have the technology” clip whenever the box is opened. All five seasons (comprising 100 episodes) are included in individual packages, and a sixth case includes five discs’ worth of bonus content. Those extras, along with extras attached to each season set, include three reunion movies, new (and old) interviews, a ton of behind-the-scenes features, commentary, individual season retrospectives and broadcast versions of all three pilot TV movies.
— “Deadwood: The Complete Series (NR, 2004, HBO): The wait hasn’t been nearly as rough for “Deadwood” fans, who already have seen the show come to DVD in complete series and individual season formats. But if you’ve been waiting for the Blu-ray edition (or if you just really value your shelf space), this Blu-ray set — which houses all 36 episodes and 13 discs in a case that’s no thicker than a typical season box — is good news nonetheless. Extras include a retrospective on the series’ abrupt conclusion and cast/crew interviews, plus all extras (commentary, behind-the-scenes features, interviews) from the previously-released season sets.

Best Worst Movie: The Story Behind Troll 2 (NR, 2009, Docurama)
If you’ve seen “Troll 2,” the sheer awfulness of everything about it — the acting, the storytelling, the sets, the props, the fact that it shares absolutely no relation to the original “Troll” — may need no introduction. The good news is that if you haven’t, “Best Worst Movie” is only slightly less of a riot to watch. Directed by Michael Stephenson — who played the little kid in “Troll 2,” and whose acting dreams died when he watched a VHS copy of the movie he received one Christmas morning — “BWM” not only touches base with many of the people responsible for the film’s creation, but rolls camera as those folks encounter a cult fan uprising that arranges nationwide screenings and meet-ups dedicated to celebrating the movie’s awfulness. As should be expected, some of the offenders — particularly George Hardy, who played Stephenson’s father in the film — revel in the attention, while others either embrace it reluctantly, look at it sideways or outright reject the notion that “Troll 2” isn’t great. The charge both sides get from the complete unlikelihood of it all is terrific fun to watch, and the stories everyone tells — be it of career destruction, the perils of being on that set or the thrill of being part of a movie, even if it’s the worst one of all time — is a complete validation of why people make movies in the first place.
Extras: Deleted scenes, bonus interviews, filmmaker Q&A, fan contributions, a special message from Goblin Queen Deborah Reed.

Exam (NR, 2009, MPI)
Some jobs are more prestigious than others, which is why eight hopefuls have agreed to gather in a dingy room for the next 80 minutes and take a test that has only one question and a few rules. The catch? None of them knows what the question even is, to say nothing of how to answer it, and asking the guard who’s watching them is against one of those rules. The good news? They’re free to work together to figure it out, even though it means fraternizing with the competition. How’s that for a job interview? If “Exam” sounds like a “Saw” deviant, in which participants must make impossible decisions toward an uncertain end, that’s exactly what it is. But while “Saw” is an elaborate excuse to torture some jerks, this is legitimate suspense that trades blood for smart, genuine psychological intrigue. The best part? Even when things inevitably get ugly, “Exam” has an answer to the obvious question: With nothing at stake but a job, why would eight otherwise brilliant people ever let a simple quiz get out of control? Without spoiling, “Exam” has an answer, and on top of being a good twist, it’s a pretty convincing explanation. No extras.

The Extra Man (R, 2010, Magnolia)
A combination of lingerie, a teacher’s lounge and horrendous timing has resulted in unemployment for teacher Louis Ives (Paul Dano), who takes advantage of the dismissal to move to Manhattan and find himself. Unfortunately, what he finds instead, while looking for a roommate, is Henry (Kevin Kline), a fellow teacher who dabbles in light gigolo behavior despite having views on sexuality that “are to the right of the Pope” (his words), and whose eccentric behavior and disposition would make most other eccentrics either jealous or uncomfortable. And then there’s Gershon (John C. Reilly), who is easier to just witness than explain. That isn’t entirely a compliment, either. “The Extra Man” is anchored by three great actors who very clearly are enjoying themselves, and the clever script has some very amusing quirks and quips (see the Pope comment above) from all three. But when you look at the big picture and take away the eccentricities, little else remains. “Man” rides comfortably for a while on its weirdness, and it never fully loses its ability to entertain. But a sinking feeling creeps in when, roughly halfway through, the possibility emerges that the circus of quirks is all “Man” has to cover up what otherwise is a pretty empty story. More than not, the second half merely validates that worry. Katie Holmes also stars.
Extras: Commentary with Kline and Jonathan Ames (who wrote the book on which the film is based), deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes features.

Metropia (NR, 2009, Tribeca Film/New Video)
One could spend an entire review’s worth of words trying, without success, to describe “Metropia’s” unusual animation technique. The characters are part caricature, with enlarged heads and slightly disproportioned faces sitting atop malnourished bodies. But those faces are composed from what looks like a marriage of 3D modeling and static photography run through a filter, creating a stilted animation style that’s kind of unsettling. “Metropia’s” desaturated colors and effectively creepy visual presentation certainly matche the tone of its story, which finds Europe running out of resources and its citizens succumbing to a corporation that runs a massive underground transit network and enjoys a strange level of control over people who use the network. The look, and the way it drives the tone of everything around it, easily is the movie’s best asset, and the revelation of how that control spreads is really clever. But without that creepy look, most of “Metropia” would amount to little more than a stock story about half-dead people sleepwalking through a life of grime and corporate control. There’s no shortage of material in that realm, but a few clever ideas aside,”Metropia” seems pretty content to explore the same general themes most of its contemporaries also take on. It’s worth seeing anyway, thanks to that bizarre look, but the unused potential is every bit as visible.
Extras: Behind-the-scenes feature, premiere footage.

The Kids are All Right (R, 2010, Focus/Universal)
“The Kids are All Right” is your prototypical family-of-four drama, albeit with two moms (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) instead of a mom and dad. But fear not: This isn’t 1995, and “Kids” doesn’t attempt to coast on the novelty of a lesbian couple raising two teenagers (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as Joni and Laser, respectively) and making a pretty successful go as a normal suburban family. The wrench, instead, falls to Paul (Mark Ruffalo), the semi-anonymous donor whose sperm was used to conceive Joni and Laser. The teens try to track him down for curiosity fulfillment’s sake, Paul has no issues with being found, and when he walks into the family’s life, all that familial normalcy — including bottled-up spousal resentment and teenagers being teenagers — gets an overdue shakeup. In other words, “Kids” is your typical family drama. Unique arrangement or not, “Kids” doesn’t rewrite the playbook at any point in its storytelling, which wrestles with dreariness as often as it flirts with comedy, and one has to wonder if a longing to achieve perfect normalcy kept it from letting any one of its characters really break out from the rest of the crowd. If it did, that’s too bad. “Kids” hits many of the customary notes — smart, thoughtful, delicately developed — a good script should, but the dulled edges do it a disservice.
Extras: Director commentary, three behind-the-scenes features.

Worth a Mention
— “Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series” (NR, 2010, BBC): See, that wasn’t so bad. The fifth season of the rebooted “Doctor Who” began not only with a new doctor (Matt Smith) stepping in for the very popular David Tennant, but with series creator Russell Davies handing the creative reigns over to Steven Moffat. But while the transition wasn’t entirely painless, and while the trickle-down from the new regime let to other tonal or stylistic changes that naturally infuriated portions of an extremely vocal fanbase, the pillars of “Who’s” first four seasons are all over season five. The writing is as versatile as it is clever — cr
edibly grim one episode, joyous fun the next — and the storytelling and character design are among the most thoughtful in contemporary sci-fi. Tennant/Davies are nowhere near forgotten, but seeing a new duo strive to uphold that duo’s standards of excellence is a new kind of inspiring. Includes 13 episodes, plus commentary, deleted scenes, a three-part video diary, 13 behind-the-scenes “Doctor Who Confidential” features, outtakes and three art cards.
— “WWII: The Essential Collection” (NR, History Channel): Three very highly decorated World War II documentary miniseries — “The World at War,” “Victory at Sea” and “The Century of Warfare” — come together in this 56-hour, 22-disc set. Extras include making-of features, bonus segments, additional interviews, photo galleries and episode introductions from Peter Graves in “Sea.” “World at War,” which has the biggest footprint in the set at 11 discs, also makes its Blu-ray debut this week.
— “Scholastic Storybook Treasures: Treasury of 100 Storybook Classics 2” (NR, Scholastic): Just as it did for volume one, Scholastic compiles 100 of its renowned children’s stories into an 17-disc box set that spans more than 19 hours. Selections include “Corduroy,” “Ralph S. Mouse” and “My Senator and Me: A Dog’s Eye View of Washington, D.C.”
— “Metalocalypse: Season III: The Dead Man” (NR, 2009, Adult Swim): Dethklok’s fortress, Mordhaus, lies in ruin, and Ofdensen appears to have perished in his heroic attempt to protect it. And if you think that sounds scary, wait until you see the horrors our once-fearless heroes face when they look their own mortality, to say nothing of their bank balance, in the eye. Includes 10 episodes, plus extended scenes, Klokateer recruitment videos and a Murderface dance sequence. (Note: If you didn’t understand every third word in this description, best to start from the first season. This is one of Adult Swim’s more consistently good newer shows, so it’s a worthwhile endeavor.)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (PG-13, 2010, Universal)
A word of caution: Don’t watch “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” with a headache. Or in an impatient state of mind. Or, perhaps (but only perhaps), if “meaningful” is one of the more important adjectives you use to qualify a good storyline. On paper and on our world’s terms, “Pilgrim’s” storyline is dead simple: Boy (Michael Cera as the title character) meets girl (Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers), girl’s jealous exes challenge him for her hand, and boy sets out to win her heart. But “Pilgrim,” which is based on the six-volume “Pilgrim” graphic novel series, only partly exists in our world. The rest of the time, it dabbles in whatever fancy suits it best: The exes become a league of supervillains, Scott’s conflicts with them turn into living video game battles, and everything from physics to the passage of time to the ring of a telephone captures the essence of a comic book come alive. Arguably the best movie treatment a comic has ever received, “Pilgrim” draws no borders between fantasy and reality, and what results is one of the most visually inventive movies ever made. For the viewer willing to play along, suspend disbelief and indulge in the film’s every whim, it’s also one of the most fun films of the year. But heed this warning: The storyline underneath all of “Pilgrim’s” non-stop novelty is pretty thin, and if you’re not here to enjoy the noisy, breathless presentation, you probably just shouldn’t be here.
Extras: Four (two cast, two crew) commentary tracks, deleted scenes, trivia track, bloopers, a ton of image galleries.

Men of a Certain Age: The Complete First Season (NR, 2009, TNT/Warner Bros.)
The surprising dearth of shows about middle-aged men has left “Men of a Certain Age” almost all alone with a goldmine of material, and that, along with the three famous faces (Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula) in lead roles, clears it to succeed no matter how lazily or tritely it handles all that found gold. Happily, while “Age’s” opening themes arrive right on schedule — Owen (Braugher) is happily married but unhappily employed, Joe (Romano) is recently divorced and living in a hotel, Terry (Bakula) is a rolling stone on an inevitable collision course with fulfillment issues — it handles those themes and everything that comes next with a magnificent level of nuance and insight. “Age” is a very funny show, but it’s as much a character drama as a comedy, and the laughs it elicits come from an understanding of those characters rather than a bunch of jokes at their expense. Owen, Joe and Terry aren’t mere vessels for the same old middle-aged-man jokes other shows have bandied about: They’re the be all and end all of “Age,” and the show flourishes as result.
Contents: 10 episodes, plus commentary, deleted scenes, four behind-the-scenes features and bloopers.

Three and Out (R, 2008, Entertainment One)
It’s extraordinarily bad luck for a train conductor to ever hit a person, so imagine how Paul (Mackenzie Crook) feels after running down two people in two weeks. It’s enough to never drive a train again, and when Paul discovers that conductors who hit three people in a month are given forced retirement and 10 years’ pay, he searches for someone suicidal enough to help him pull off the hat trick. As long as the guy wants to die anyway, no harm done, right? It probably needs not be said that, with a premise like this, “Three and Out” pretty safely encroaches on dark comedy territory. But while that holds true, and while “Out” produces some pretty sharply funny moments throughout, the game inevitably changes when Paul finds his willing participant (Colm Meaney as Tommy) and agrees to help him settle some scores and make a few things right before the window closes. There’s an intelligently amusing bitterness to almost everything “Out” does even in its sweeter moments, and Meaney is awesome in his portrayal of a scoundrel who is nearly impossible not to like. But the soul-searching that inevitably envelopes our two main characters sneaks up on us as well as them, and it turns “Out” into a terrifically thoughtful movie without taking its comedic edge away.
Extras: Deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes feature.

The Dry Land (R, 2010, Maya Entertainment)
Numerous movies in recent years — most of them documentaries — have tried to depict the unwieldy havoc post-traumatic stress disorder can wreak on a soldier as he or she attempts a return to normalcy. “The Dry Land,” though meandering with its storytelling, might be the most convincing effort yet. “Land” begins with James (Ryan O’Nan) arriving in the States after a tour in Iraq, and there really isn’t any way to describe what happens next in a way that flatters the movie. James adjusts to sharing a bed with his wife (America Ferrera) again, wrestles with demons, loses some of those battles, and finds himself at the bottom of the employment food chain in a country he nearly died defending. But it isn’t what James does that makes “Land” special so much as the many little ways the movie illustrates the internal battle over a psyche that’s both chipping away and fighting to rebuild itself. “Land” never preaches and rarely has to use words or telegraphing to illustrate this conflict, and it manages to convey the heaviness of the issue while hanging onto a faint gallows humor and without turning into a dreary downer. PTSD skeptics will continue to be skeptics, but that doesn’t make “Land’s” effort any less stirring. Wilmer Valderrama, Jason Ritter and Ethan Suplee also star.
Extras: Director/Ferrera commentary, PTSD resources.

Freaknik: The Musical (NR, 2010, Adult Swim)
Sometimes, it’s enough just to be stimulated. If this is one of those times, “Freaknik” — an animated good-versus-evil battle in which the Ghost of Freaknik past attempts to revitalize the famed spring break festival while a secret society that includes Bill Cosby, Al Sharpton and Oprah attempts to stop him — almost certainly will not do you wrong. “Freaknik’s” jokes aren’t inventive enough to be all that funny on their own, and because the villains are lifted from a Dave Chappelle conspiracy hoax whose freshness date expired a few years ago, almost everything beyond the initial novelty of their existence feels a little stale as well. Hasn’t every Al Sharpton joke been told at this point? Still, if you like the people (T-Pain, Cee-Lo, Lil’ Jon and Rick Ross, among others) behind “Freaknik’s” characters — and, more important, enjoy the music they make — this is entirely too caffeinated to be missed. “Freaknik’s” musical numbers are supremely catchy, the kinetic art and animation carry the creativity load when the script falls short, and the constant motion of the whole project makes its shortcomings easy to forgive. A note about the length, though: The box misleadingly asserts that “Freaknik” runs 91 minutes, but that number comes from combining the televised (44 minutes) and uncensored director’s (50) cuts. (How Adult Swim landed on 91 from those two numbers is beyond explanation.)
Extras: T-Pain/Young Fyre/One Chance commentary on the extended cut, music videos.

Grown Ups (PG-13, 2010, Sony Pictures)
It’s never a good thing when a movie’s cast is having more fun amusing itself than the people who paid to see them, and the discord rarely is more pronounced than it is here. “Grown Ups” finds five childhood friends (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider) reuniting in their old hometown to honor the passing of their elementary school basketball coach, and as always happens in stories like this, each brings a different degree of family, success, memories and baggage with him to the weekend-long reunion. But “Grown Ups,” as you might guess based on that cast, isn’t terribly interested in exploring
all that stuff on any meaningful level, and the material exists mostly as ammo for a bullet storm of playful insults volleyed between characters. That’d be fine if the insults were funny or clever, but they’re the same flat putdowns we’ve heard a million times already, and outside of the occasional slapstick bit or the inevitable discovering of heartfelt feelings in act three, these knocks are almost all the movie has going on. That doesn’t seem to bother the cast, which repeatedly laughs at its own material. But it’s a big problem for viewers, who, in addition to probably not laughing nearly as much as the cast does, are left to feel like the silent sixth wheel at a party they neither can enjoy nor (eject button notwithstanding) leave.
Extras: Behind-the-scenes feature, bloopers.

Toy Story 3 (G, 2010, Disney)
Connoisseurs of thoughtful, well-written movies have had a torrent of great films to enjoy throughout the entire year, making it that much more ridiculous that 2010’s most affecting movie might be a big-budget, computer-animated story about toys. But if you’ve seen a “Toy Story” movie before, you know better than to act surprised anymore. “Toy Story 3” sets off with a neglectful, college-bound Andy finally abandoning his toys for good. Woody, Buzz and friends get shipped off to a daycare center, which teases the prospect of endless children to play with after years of neglect, but the reality is a dark underworld run by a consortium of toys whose baggage and malevolence would place them quite comfortably in numerous R-rated films. Between the dark underbelly of Sunnyside Daycare and where that darkness takes our toys, it’s a little surprising “TS3” gets a G rating. But it might only be surprising because of just how absurdly good Pixar is at taking these endangered inanimate objects and conveying their peril better than most live-action movies can do with living, breathing people. “TS3” looks magnificent and is armed to the teeth with very funny one-liners and sight gags. But it’s that unbelievable gift of endearment, and these characters’ ridiculous ability to subtly but explicitly convey it, that once again sets Pixar apart from everybody else.
Extras: Animated short “Day & Night,” “Beyond the Toy Box” commentary, Buzz Lightyear science lesson, seven behind-the-scenes features.

The Pacific (NR, 2010, HBO)
It was Steven Spielberg who ignited the process of deglamorizing and de-sanitizing World War II with “Saving Private Ryan,” so it’s only fitting that he be present when a miniseries like “The Pacific” comes along to strip it away completely. Beginning at Guadalcanal and taking us through Melbourne, Peleliu and Iwo Jima before taking us home, “The Pacific” tells the story of three Marines (Joseph Mazzello, James Badge Dale, Jon Seda) and their brothers, painstakingly dramatizing their travails on the cusp of, during and beyond the battlefield. The backing of the likes of Spielberg and HBO ensures those battle scenes receive the full Hollywood treatment, and indeed, they are staggering in their scope, detail and fearless presentation. But it’s the time afforded by the miniseries format that truly allows “The Pacific” to be extraordinary. Beyond simply witnessing them in conflict, we see our Marines living in their own filth, acting like goofballs, temporarily losing themselves, and occasionally being brats during a fleeting bit of R&R. It isn’t always flattering, but it absolutely is humanizing, and those awesome battle scenes are that much more amazing when you feel you’re given a chance to get to know the lives at stake.
Contents: 10 episodes, plus profiles of the real Marines featured in the series and two making-of features. In an especially nice touch, each episode also includes an optional two-minute feature that provides historical context to the corresponding episode.

The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series (NR, 1992, Shout Factory)
It’s a little weird to proclaim that Garry Shandling, who played himself quite masterfully in four seasons of “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” was born to play Larry Sanders. But it’s a testament to just how perfectly this role was cast. Shandling embodies the socially backward center of attention better than just about anybody, and it’s a skill tailored to Sanders, who awkwardly stumbles — both in front of the camera and behind closed doors — through a surprisingly successful gig as a late-night talk show host. On the set, “Sanders” feels a little dated, in large part due to the early-1990s references and guests who pass through the show. But part of that age is due to “Sanders'” brilliant send-up of a saccharine format made even duller by what, compared to now, was a pretty boring decade. And once “Sanders” leaves the set and goes backstage — which, happily, is where the majority of the show takes place — that age falls away in every important respect. (The bad haircuts and clothes cannot be helped.) Here, “Sanders” lets its darkly funny flag fly, and here, it unloads some sharply funny observations about an industry that continually seems to find its dirty laundry hanging before the public eye. Show business hasn’t changed as much as the rest of the world has, and given the resurgence of late night bad blood in past year, the wildly overdue resurgence of “Sanders,” which previously had only a first season and greatest hits compilation on DVD, feels right on time.
Contents: 89 episodes, plus commentary, deleted scenes, a feature-length making-of documentary, outtakes, Shandling/Judd Apatow discussion, Shandling lecture at USC, interviews, other Shandling conversations, Emmy print campaign gallery and a 60-page companion booklet.

Kisses (NR, 2008, Oscilloscope)
Kylie (Kelly O’Neill) and Dylan (Shane Curry) have already decided they’re going to marry each other, and with serious problems looming in both of their respective families, the time to leave their hometown and start a new beginning in nearby Dublin is now. The only catch? Dylan and Kylie are kids, and as you might expect, the means with which leave their families behind isn’t nearly as sturdy as their will to do so. Being a movie, though, “Kisses” isn’t the story of what happens when the kids accept their plight and return to life as usual; it’s a story about what happens when they, as kids, have no earthly reconciliation of that plight and bolt for the big city anyway. The consequences are as pedestrian as they would be if Kylie and Dylan took the road of reason, but the consequences aren’t really the point anyway. Instead, this is a movie about dreams, ideals, stupidly blissful ignorance, stratospheric stubbornness, and what all those things do in a playing field full of adults who lost sight of all that stuff years ago. The young actors do an outstanding job of carrying the movie, but “Kisses'” tone ensures that their age was never going to be a barrier anyway.
Extras: O’Neill and Curry commentary, behind-the-scenes feature, outtakes.

V: The Complete First Season (NR, 2009, Warner Bros.)
“V’s” alien invasion appears to begin like so many others we’ve seen, with gigantic spaceships hovering cryptically over the skylines of nearly 30 major cities worldwide. The truth, though, is that this is just the final stage of an invasion that for years had quietly slipped peaceful aliens into everyday society by disguising them in human skin. Cool premise, no? Embrace it, because most of “V’s” first season feels like an attempt to stretch a miniseries’ worth of storytelling over 12 episodes that drag and plod as much as they engage. That isn’t a total surprise considering “V” is, in fact, a remake of a miniseries from 1983. But while that partially explains the show’s interest in stalling for time, it doesn’t explain the general sense of sterility that pervades throughout. The original “V” played like a B-movie and centered around ragtag everyday people trying to make sense of a fishy invasion. This remake, by contrast, shifts the storytelling burden to government agents, cult devotees, television talking heads and clergymen. The stories that develop are interesting enough to make this worth watching, but the themes brought forth by those overplayed archetypes are as humorless, straight-faced and familiar as you expect them to be, and “V” feels recycled more for breaking away from its predecessor than for following in its footsteps.
Contents: 12 episodes, plus commentary, deleted scenes and four behind-the-scenes features.

The Hungry Ghosts (R, 2009, Virgil Films)
“The Hungry Ghosts” is another one of those movies that follows a handful of loosely-connected characters as they m
ake sense of their separate existences. This time, the setting is New York City, the period of time is 36 hours, and the people in play (Steve Schirripa, Aunjanue Ellis, Nick Sandow, Sharon Angela, Emory Cohen) are trying to wrestle free of checkered pasts, mental demons, suffocating materialism, and any number of other ways to describe a lack of inner fulfillment. That’s a tough sell, because the sales pitch essentially asks us to watch and find entertainment in five simultaneous stories about people fighting not to circle their respective drains. But where most movies of this sort lose themselves in a vicious cycle of deepening dreariness, “The Hungry Ghosts” appears to understand what it’s up against. So it mixes a little dark humor and irony into those stories, and it employs just enough snark to stave off the onset of full-blown bleakness. That alone does not translate into an extraordinary film, and like most films in this sub-genre, “Ghosts” inevitably limits its own impact by dividing itself into so many pieces. But if you want a story about life and what it kinda sorta is all about, this isn’t a bad way to get one.
Extra: Photo gallery.