TV

New on DVD: January 22

This week on DVD, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena team up in the buddy-cop action thriller End of Watch

Credit: Amazon.com

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena star in the cop thriller End of Watch

End of Watch

Director David Ayer (Street Kings) returns to the mean streets of urban America for this gritty morality tale of two rookie police officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena) who cross paths with a deadly drug cartel when they confiscate some money and weapons. EXTRAS include audio commentary from the director and almost an hour of deleted scenes. (Universal)

Searching for Sugar Man

In the early 1970s a singer-songwriter in the Bob Dylan/Paul Simon mold who went only by the name Rodriquez recorded two albums in Detroit which went absolutely nowhere in the U.S. charts. He was soon dropped from his record label and his music career was finished before it had begun. But half-way across the world in South Africa his music somehow made its way to a new and appreciative audience where he quickly became as big there as Elvis Presley or the Rolling Stones. Almost 30 years later, two music lovers decided to try and find out more about this mysterious man (rumoured to have committed suicide on stage after a bad performance). Their discovery that he is still alive is only half the story.

For a Good Time Call

Ali Graynor and Lauren Miller (who also co-wrote) star in this raunchy comedy about two former college friends who develop a successful at-home business when they become phone-sex operators.

Death Race 3: Inferno

After a hostile corporate takeover, the Death Race franchise goes global and Frankenstein (Luke Goss), his team and a few other racers are taken to South Africa for a race across the Kalahari Desert. It’s a credible advance in the franchise’s plot and there’s a ton of action, which is all that is really desired in a straight-to-DVD film like this. (Universal)

Hold Your Breath

After not holding his breath when driving past a cemetery, (which according to myth allows evil spirits to enter your body) one of a group of young people on a camping trip ingests the spirit of a serial killer and goes on a bloody rampage in this gory horror flick.

Nobody Walks

Lena Dunham (the Golden Globe-winning creator and star of Girls) co-wrote this complex drama about a young experimental filmmaker (Olivia Thirlby) who moves into the L.A. home of a sound engineer (The Office’s John Krasinski) and his family.

Officer Down

A top-notch cast (including James Woods, David Boreanaz, Walton Goggins and Soulja Boy) help this straight-to-DVD drama rise above its counterparts as an alcoholic cop (Stephen Dorff) struggles to solve a complex murder. (Image)

The Paperboy

Matthew McConaughey stars in this 1960s-set gritty thriller as a reporter who comes back to his Florida hometown to investigate the case of a death-row inmate (John Cusack) who he believes to be innocent. Zac Efron plays his younger brother, a wild child with an eye for the sexy girlfriend (Nicole Kidman) of the incarcerated man.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning

After a criminal (Jean-Claude Van Damme) slaughters his family, a man (Scott Adkins) heads out with revenge in mind. What he doesn’t expect is that the killer has sided with an army of cyborgs led by Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) in this latest action-packed entry in the long-running franchise.

Method to the Madness: Jerry Lewis (Image)

Filmmaker Gregg Barson was given the unique pleasure of having rare unlimited access to comedy legend Jerry Lewis, the result being just part of this biographical documentary which includes home movies, clips from TV and film appearances and high praise from celebrity fans like Eddie Murphy, Alec Baldwin, Carl Reiner and many others who finally go along with what the French have been saying for decades- that he is a genius. (Image)

Chris Hardwick: Mandroid

Hardwick, the comedian who has turned the term “nerdist” into an industry leaves his podcasting and TV hosting (The Talking Dead) gigs at home to return to his stand-up comedy roots for his first DVD in which he gathers together geeky pop culture references and time-worn subject matter into an entertaining set. (Paramount)