NEW ON THE SHELF
“THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER,” starring Georgie Henley and Skander Keynes. The third sequel in the popular adaptations of C.S. Lewis’ enduring fantasy novels puts siblings Lucy and Edmund, along with their eternally disagreeable cousin Eustace (Will Poulter, “Son of Rambow”), on a royal (and visually stunning) ship alongside Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes, “Easy Virtue”), whereupon rip-roaring, CGI-heavy adventures ensue. Rated PG. Running time: 1:53.
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Suggested retail price: $34.98; Blu-ray $39.99.
“LITTLE FOCKERS,” starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro. This roundly lambasted sequel can blame its lackluster reception on over-familiarity rather than a lapse in quality, as the crude humor and amusing awkwardness that informed the first two movies are ever-present in this third and likely final installment. The hapless Stiller attempts to impress De Niro with his parenting skills, with the expected disastrous results. Rated PG-13. Running time: 1:38.
Suggested retail price: $29.98; Blu-ray $39.98.
“TRON: LEGACY,” starring Jeff Bridges and Garrett Hedlund. Few were probably expecting there to be a sequel to Disney’s technologically groundbreaking but narratively bankrupt sci-fi non-hit “TRON” 28 years later, and fewer still expected said sequel to be a thoroughly entertaining box-office hit. But such is the power of nostalgia and bigger budgets. This time around, first-time director Joseph Kosinski ups the emotional stakes, ensuring that this tale of a young man (Hedlund) entering the virtual world his father (Bridges, reprising his original role) created comes off as more than just an excuse to try out some new special effects (which, it should be said, are fantastic). Rated PG. Running time: 2:05.
Suggested retail price: $29.99; Blu-ray $39.99.
NEW TO DVD
“FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: THE FIFTH SEASON,” starring Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton. The inevitable final season to one of TV’s best (and, unfortunately, lowest-rated) programs, with Chandler and Britton effectively anchoring the proceedings as the Taylors, whose affable patriarch tirelessly coaches the local high school football team. A fitting farewell for a class act, well worth discovering on DVD if you’ve yet to give it a shot. Not rated, contains mild language and sexual content. Running time: 9:40.
Suggested retail price: $29.98.
“LISA LAMPANELLI: TOUGH LOVE,” The reigning queen of insult humor and the clear heir to Don Rickles’ throne, Lampanelli pulls fewer punches than ever before (and that’s saying something) in this transcendently cruel stand-up performance. Fans of the notoriously vulgar Comedy Central roasts will find plenty to guffaw at here. Not rated, contains nonstop language and crude humor. Running time: 1:13.
Suggested retail price: $14.95.
NEW TO BLU-RAY
“FIDDLER ON THE ROOF,” starring Topol and Leonard Frey. As stirring and full of life as it was 40 years ago, director Norman Jewison’ hugely successful adaptation of the 1964 Broadway smash has never looked or sounded better thanks to the beautiful high-definition transfer employed in this commemorative set. Rated G. Running time: 3:01.
Suggested retail price: $29.99.
“TAXI DRIVER,” starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster. Arguably the film that put both master director Martin Scorsese and De Niro on the map, this gritty 1976 character study follows one Travis “You talkin’ to me?” Bickle (De Niro) — cab driver, Vietnam vet and all-around disturbed individual — on a harrowing descent into alienation and madness against a grimy, crime-ridden NYC backdrop. A movie most will only want to watch once, but essential viewing all the same. Rated R.
Suggested retail price: $24.95.
VIDEOPORT PICKS
“CASINO JACK,” starring Kevin Spacey and Barry Pepper. A comeback performance from a long-dormant Spacey fuels this compelling and angering dramatization of the appalling if begrudgingly impressive career of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose egregious Washingtonian schemes included bilking Native Americans out of millions of dollars. The full, shocking breadth of the story can be found in the excellent documentary “Casino Jack and the United States of Money,” but this expertly performed and often quite funny biopic makes for a more than solid primer. Rated R for pervasive language, some violence and brief nudity. Running time: 1:48.
Suggested retail price: $22.98; Blu-ray $29.99.
“I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS,” starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. After spending much of the ’90s building an impressive career out of pratfalls and literally talking out of his buttocks in such critically derided but wildly lucrative films as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” Carrey has since focused his considerable talents on riskier, less immediately embraceable projects. In “Morris,” he goes for broke as Stephen Russell, a man who is equal parts confusion and determination. Upon being told by his parents that he was adopted, he immediately becomes a police officer and raises a wholesome family with an all-American wife. Following a traumatic accident, Russell then decides he is actually a flamboyantly gay criminal, and when his exploits land him in prison, it is there that he meets the love of his life, a fellow inmate name Phillip Morris (McGregor). Rated R for sexual content including strong dialogue and language. Running time: 1:42.
Suggested retail price: $27.98; Blu-ray $39.99.
— Courtesy of Videoport
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