New on DVD: April 25

Credit: Amazon.ca

Mark Wahlberg races against the clock in Contraband

PICK OF THE WEEK:

Contraband

When his brother-in-law finds himself in debt to mobsters, Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) returns to his old life as a smuggler to pull off one last job. When the elaborate operation, which involves millions of dollars in counterfeit bills, goes sideways while they’re in Columbia it becomes a race against time just to survive in this thriller co-starring Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) and Ben Foster. EXTRAS include audio commentary from producer/director Baltasar Kormákur and co-producer Evan Hayes; deleted scenes and more. (Universal)

DVDs:

In the Land of Blood and Honey

Angelina Jolie wrote and directed this ambitious Bosnian-language drama about a soldier that is now in charge of guarding a camp of prisoners, some of which are being used as sex slaves for the Serbian soldiers and one of whom he was once involved with before the war. (Alliance)

Cinema Verite

In 1971, filmmaker Craig Gilbert (played by The Sopranos’ James Gandolfini) took cameras into the Santa Barbara, California home of Bill and Pat Loud (Tim Robbins and Diane Lane) and their family to capture their most intimate moments on film for a PBS TV series to be called An American Family. While he managed to witness the couple’s disintegration as well as the life-changing confession of their son Lance (Thomas Dekker), in doing so he accidently created the genre of entertainment we are so familiar with today – reality TV as well as the damage that can come with instant and unwanted celebrity. (Warner)

The Wicker Tree

In this sequel to the classic 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, the writer of the original novel Robin Hardy gets behind the camera to direct his own unique follow-up. When two American missionaries find themselves in a remote Scottish village, they are welcomed in and invited to take part in an ages-old ritual, but they have no idea the horrors they’ve brought on to themselves. (Anchor Bay)

Pariah

This sensitive drama deals with the struggles of a young teenager (Adepero Oduye) who is trying to understand her conflicting sexual feelings amid a tough inner city home life. (Universal)

The Innkeepers

The final two employees of an old hotel decide to spend the night “ghost hunting” and uncover some terrifying things about the buildings past in this creepy thriller starring Sara Paxton (Shark Night 3D) and Pat Healy (Dirty Girl). (eOne)

Patton Oswalt: Finest Hour (Paramount)

Actor (Young Adult) and comedian Patton Oswalt’s latest stand up special deals with everything from being a new father to vomit bags to the SPAM museum and it should be noted that the CD of this special earned Oswalt a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

Camelot: 45th Anniversary Edition (WHV)

This 45th anniversary Blu-ray re-issue of the 1967 film musical starring Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave which chronicles the reign of King Arthur gets the royal treatment here complete with audio commentary; a CD of songs from the film; a half-hour feature about the gala world premiere and more. (Warner)

MUSIC ON DVD:

Deep Purple Total Abandon Live in Australia 99 (Eagle Rock)

This 1999 tour brings the hard-rocking band back Down Under for this triumphant concert in Melbourne featuring three-hours of music, interviews and bonus features. (Eagle Rock)

TV ON DVD:

Titanic: The Miniseries (eOne)

Not that anyone was asking for this, but producer Nigel Stafford-Clark (Bleak House) and Emmy-winning writer Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) have launched yet another version of the story of the fateful voyage of the Titanic to honour the 100th anniversary of its (SPOILER ALERT) sinking. In this four-part miniseries (available on 2 DVDs), which stars Linus Roache, Geraldine Somerville, Toby Jones and Celia Imrie among its extensive cast, we are introduced to different groups of characters as each episode we meet the separate classes all unknowingly heading towards the same chilling end. (eOne)

The Wild Thornberrys: Season 2, Part 2

As the Thornberry family travel around the world producing the TV series Nigel Thornberry’s Animal World, daughter Eliza uses her special power (she can talk to the animals) to help protect the environment and all of it’s inhabitants in this animated series from Nickelodeon. This 2 DVD set contains 8 episodes including the special Christmas episode. (Shout Factory)

Poirot: Series 4 (Acorn)

This two-disc set (available in both DVD and Blu-ray formats) contains all three feature-length episodes  from the pen of Agatha Christie in which David Suchet returns as her famous sleuth Hercule Poirot (a role he has been playing since 1989). Among the classic mysteries this season, you get The ABC Murders; Death in the Clouds; and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (which features an early appearance by future Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston). (Acorn)

Lost Girl: Season One

In the wake other supernatural pop culture phenomena like Twilight and True Blood comes this original series. Bo (Anna Silk of Being Erica) is a succubus – a female demon who uses her sexual powers to seduce and often kill men. While she tries to deal with this newly discovered curse and its tug-of-war between good and evil, Bo searches for her birth mother in order to answer the many questions about herself. This set contains all 13 episodes. (eOne)

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (Blu Ray) (Acorn)

Based on the novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre, Alec Guiness stars in this gripping seven-part 1979 TV series (now available in high definition Blu-ray) as British intelligence agent George Smiley, who is called out of retirement to hunt down a “mole” within the highest level of the British Intelligence Service. This 2-disc set contains bonus features including deleted scenes and an exclusive new half-hour interview with le Carre about his work. (Acorn)

Antarctica: The Human Endeavour

This 13-episode series follows a group of Canadian scientists as they head to the South Pole to examine the environmental changes going on there. (eOne)