New on DVD: April 23

PICK OF THE WEEK:

Gangster Squad

When gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn in so much prosthetics he looks like a villain from Dick Tracy) begins terrorizing L.A., the police chief (Nick Nolte) puts together a band of tough cops (including Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Robert Patrick) whose only task is bringing Cohen down. (eOne)

DVDs:

Stoney Burke: The Complete Series (Timeless Media/Shout Factory)

Six years before Jack Lord and his hair became a TV staple on Hawaii Five-0, they starred in this exciting modern Western series as Stoney Burke, a rodeo champion with his eyes on the prize of some day winning the Golden Buckle, the greatest accomplishment in his sport. This show follows Stoney across the land – shot in different locations in a fashion similar to Route 66 – as he and his pals Ves (the great Warren Oates, who is reason enough to watch), E.J. (Bruce Dern) and Cody (Robert Dowdell) get themselves tangled up in different adventures. While this series only ran for one season (1962-63), it managed to rope in several big name guest stars like James Coburn, Ed Asner, Dyan Cannon, Robert Duvall and Leonard Nimoy, and included tons of authentic vintage rodeo action. All 32 episodes are featured here (restored beautifully in gorgeous black-and-white) on this 6-DVD set. (Timeless Media/Shout Factory)

Broken City

Mark Wahlberg plays a New York cop (again?) who takes on a favour for the mayor (Russell Crowe) and ends up being the patsy in a far more complex game of murder and corruption in this thriller from director Allen Hughes (Book of Eli). (eOne)

The Haunting in Connecticut 2

With the most tenuous of connections to the first film, this sequel shares only a similar premise: a family moves into an old house (this time in an historic Georgia mansion) only to face horrific spirits from the past. (eOne)

The Central Park Five

Filmmaker Ken Burns co-directed this upsetting documentary re-examining the 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park in New York City and the prosecution of five innocent teenagers for the crime and the racial firestorm that followed. (eOne)

A Haunted House

In the first of two Paranormal Activity spoofs due out this year, Marlon Wayans (who helped create the original Scary Movie franchise) and Essence Atkins star as a couple who move into their new house only to find it possessed by a evil demon. (eOne)

Pawn

When a cop walks into a diner in the middle of the night and interrupts a robbery in progress, it sets off a series of unexpected twists that helps (along with a cast of recognizable faces like Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta and Michael Chiklas) make this low-budget thriller rise above its seemingly familiar plot. (Anchor Bay)

The Impossible

Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star in this terrifying true story of a young family who are swept away and separated when the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami swept through the Thai resort where they were staying and their battle to survive and be reunited. (eOne)

Cold Prey II

In the sequel to the 2006 Norwegian horror film, the action picks up where the first film ended as Jannicke (Ingrid Boslo Birdal) manages to escape the hotel and get to a hospital where she tells the police the story of what happened to her friends and their ruthless killer. When they bring the bodies of all them back to the hospital, the killer is still alive and continues on his path of bloody destruction. (Shout! Factory)

CLASSIC RE-ISSUES:

The Big Boss/Fist of Fury
Way of the Dragon/Game of Death

Despite his fame and posthumous popularity, martial artist-actor Bruce Lee only appeared in a small number of films, including an appearance in the 1969 James Garner mystery Marlowe. Despite his most famous role being Kato on the TV series The Green Hornet, he never managed to parlay that into a successful Hollywood career (aside from Enter the Dragon). With his early death at age 32 in 1973, what could’ve been is only speculative, but with these two new re-releases of his other four most famous films, you can see the man at the height of his fighting powers. Some of these films may seem familiar  (The Big Boss was also known as Fists of Fury while Fist of Fury was released as The Chinese Connection). Regardless, all of these films contain extraordinary scenes worth seeing if you are a fan of Lee’s work. (eOne)

TV ON DVD

Mr. Selfridge

Jeremy Piven (Entourage) stars in this British historical drama as ambitious American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge who arrives in London with the idea of creating the most modern department store England has ever seen. But when his financial backers fall out, he must do some quick thinking to keep his dream alive. This 3-disc set features all 10 episodes. (eOne)

Restless Gun: The Complete Series

Loosely based on the radio series The Six Shooter which starred James Stewart in the lead role, this TV series (which began in 1957 and ran for two seasons) featured film actor John Payne as Vint Bonner, a post-Civil War gunfighter who preferred talking his way out of trouble rather than shooting it out. This 8-disc set features all 78 episodes of the series with many recognizable actors like James Coburn, Robert Blake, Rip Torn and others appearing in guest star roles. (Timeless Media/Shout Factory)

A Haunting: The Complete 2012 Series

As far as paranormal docudramas go, this series which ran on Destination America in the U.S., was one of the most chilling. Combining interviews with the actual eye-witnesses and dramatic re-enactments, these true stories of ghosts and other unexplainable phenomena will keep you sleeping with the lights on. This 2-disc set features all 10 episodes from this season.  (Timeless Media/Shout Factory)

Touched By An Angel: The Seventh Season (Paramount)

Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland) joined the cast of this spiritual drama midway through this season as Gloria, a trainee angel under Monica (Roma Downey) and Tess’s (Della Reese) tutelage. As the angels sent from God and Andrew (John Dye), the angel of death, continue to visit people with messages from above throughout this 25-episode season, they managed to visit some fairly familiar faces including Richard Chamberlain, Joel Grey, Mandy Patinkin and Faye Dunaway.