New on DVD: May 16

Credit: Amazon.ca

Chronicle, a film that operates within the all too familiar found footage/fake documentary genre, is surprisingly strong

Pick of the Week

Chronicle

While the whole “found footage” hand-held camera genre has been fairly unsuccessful lately (thanks to films like Apollo 18 and The Devil Inside), things might be looking up with this latest entry. In this sci-fi thriller (directed by first-time feature-filmmaker Josh Trank and written by Max Landis) a group of teenage friends find themselves with an assortment of superpowers after they make a secret discovery within a crater they discover. EXTRAS include an extended “director’s cut” of the film; deleted scenes and more. (Fox)

DVDs:

Albert Nobbs

Glenn Close stars in this drama about a woman who has posed as a man named Albert Nobbs for decades in order to work as a waiter in a fancy Irish hotel. With better working opportunities for men, she has kept her true identity a secret and kept entirely to herself until the arrival at the hotel of a painter (Janet McTeer) who gives her pause to consider her true path in life. (eOne)

One for the Money

Based on the first of the best-selling mysteries by Janet Evanovich, Katherine Heigl stars as Stephanie Plum, an out-of-work lingerie buyer who goes to work as a bounty hunter for her cousin. Things get complicated right out of the gate when her first assignment is tracking down an ex-boyfriend (Jason O’Mara), who is a former cop wanted for murder. (eOne)

Rampart

If this had been made in the 1980s, Jack Nicholson would’ve acted his way into an Oscar with this role. Woody Harrelson doesn’t fair quite that well, but he does an amazing job trying. Here he plays “Date Rape” Dave Brown, a L.A. cop with a bad reputation that he has earned and a questionable future both as a police officer and also as a husband and father in this gritty drama directed by Oren Moverman (The Messenger) and co-written by L.A. Confidential’s James Ellroy. (eOne)

The Devil Inside

In yet another of the low-budget “fake documentary” horror films, Fernanda Andrade stars as Isabella,  a woman who finds out some new facts behind her mentally ill mother’s triple murder charge – she committed them while undergoing an exorcism. In order to find out more, Isabella (along with a film crew) puts herself through several underground exorcisms with chilling results.  (Paramount)

Miss Bala

Stephanie Sigman stars in this action film about a girl who dreams about becoming a beauty queen, but who instead gets caught up in a Mexican gang war that changes her entire life. (Fox)

Walking Tall: The Trilogy

When the original Walking Tall film opened in theatres in 1973, it became a sleeper hit all across North America. Joe Don Baker stars as Buford Pusser, an ex-wrestler who retires to a small Tennessee town with his wife and children to live out a quiet life working with his father (Noah Beery Jr.). When he discovers the crime and corruption that have infiltrated his once peaceful hometown, he decides to run for sheriff and begins dishing out his own form of justice with a huge chunk of wood. This is low-budget Southern exploitation at its best and it’s based on a true story! This film spawned two slightly lesser quality sequels (which are both included here in this two-disc set) which starred Bo Svenson as Pusser (he also went on to star in a short-lived 1981 TV series as the character as well) and the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s 2004 reboot. (Shout Factory)

Father of the Bride: 20th Anniversary Edition

Steve Martin stars in the 1991 remake of the 1950 Spencer Tracy classic about a father who gets caught up in a whirlwind of wedding planning (courtesy of Diane Keaton as his wife; Kimberley Williams as the daughter; and Martin Short as a wedding planner) when his daughter announces she’s getting married. (Disney)

Bringing Down the House (Blu-ray combo)

When uptight lawyer Peter (Steve Martin again) thinks he’s met his match in Charlene (Queen Latifah), a personable lawyer he met online, he’s shocked when he finally meets her and realizes she’s a street-wise ex-con who has escaped from prison and wants Peter to prove her innocence. (Disney)

TV ON DVD:

Hell on Wheels (eOne)

This overlooked Western from AMC (the home of Breaking Bad and Mad Men), stars Anson Mount as Cullen Bohannon, a Confederate soldier who follows the (train) tracks of the building of the transcontinental railroad in order to uncover the Union soldiers who murdered his wife. It’s a gripping, often violent series and now you can see what you missed by picking up this set which has all 10 episodes on 3 discs. (eOne)

Scooby Doo! 13 Spooky Tales Around the World (WHV)

In this collection of 13 of Scooby Doo and the gang’s most hair-raising adventures from around the globe, you get Mystery Inc. battling a minotaur in Greece, an Aztec ghost in Mexico and even some supernatural baddies right here in Canada. All of these are taken from some of the many different incarnations of Scooby Doo TV series over the years and some of them are available for the first time on DVD. (Warner)

Time Team: Unearthing the Roman Invasion (Acorn)

Best known over here for his role as Baldrick in the Blackadder TV series, back home in Britain Tony Robinson is also respected as a serious history fan as this long-running series will attest. In this special series of 12 episodes (on 3 DVDs), Robinson and his team of excavating archeologists travel across the country carefully unearthing links to their Roman past including a massive find beneath a unassuming field in the Cotswalds. (Acorn)

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: Season 2

Young monsters Ickis, Oblina and Krumm must use everything in their power that they have learned from The Gromble about scaring and avoid being captured by determined monster-hunter Simon in this animated series from Nickelodeon. All 13 episodes are here on two DVDs. (Shout Factory)

The War: A Ken Burns Film (Blu Ray) (Paramount)

Famous for his stylish and in-depth documentary series, Ken Burns tackled the Second World War in this 15-hour epic that tried to encapsulate that momentous time in our recent history and how it affected the average American (yes, it’s very specific in that regard – this shouldn’t be looked at the quintessential document on the entire war). With stunning archival photography, rare home movies and narration from actors like Tom Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson, this is still a moving portrait of a terrible time. (Paramount)

Wrestlemania XXVIII

Although they have both carved out careers in Hollywood as actors (with varying success), The Rock and John Cena return to the ring to battle it out in the Main Event at the biggest WrestleMania in history. Taped in Miami earlier this year, this 3-disc set contains over four hours of bouts that will keep any wrestling fan glued to their seats.