New on DVD: May 29

Credit: Amazon.ca

Sean William Scott and Liev Schreiber face off in the fight-filled comedy Goon

Pick of the Week

Goon

Seann William Scott (the American Pie films) stars in this raunchy and violent comedy as Doug Glatt, a thuggish bouncer who is really too nice for his profession, but is unable to live up to his potential in his family’s eyes. When he takes out an abusive hockey player in a fist fight while protecting his mouthy buddy (co-writer Jay Burechel) he is offered the life-changing opportunity to join a hockey team as their new enforcer. As he begins to make a name for himself and gain respect among his peers, he finds that he must soon face down the ultimate hockey goon (Liev Schreiber in a top-notch menacing performance). This is the best hockey comedy since Slap Shot and Williams brings some unexpected heart to his role that may surprise viewers. (Alliance)

DVDs:

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly star in this shocking and surrealistic portrait of the parents of a disturbed child who commits a series of atrocious acts and how they cope with compromising their unconditional love for him. (eOne)

The Aggression Scale

Twin Peaks’ Ray Wise and Dana Ashbrook reunite for this thriller about a recently released criminal who hires some killers to retrieve some of his stolen money and leave behind no witnesses. Things go horribly wrong when they invade the home of a teenager who can give back better than he can take. (Anchor Bay)

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies

Ben Lewis and Anna O’Byrne star in this sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical The Phantom of the Opera (based on the book by Ben Elton), as the romantic titular masked character and his love Christine Daae who now find themselves in turn-of-the-century Coney Island. (Universal)

Memorial Day

This drama stars veteran character actor James Cromwell (Babe) as Bud, a elderly man who reluctantly tells his young grandson some of the long-hidden stories of his life during the Second World War after the boy finds his old military foot locker. (Image)

Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker

This feature-length anime version of the video game series follows the sword-and-sorcery adventures of Cassandra, a hot-headed young “seeker” who takes on the Chantry of Andraste, the pseudo-religious group that rules the land in a series of magical battles. (Funimation)

TV ON DVD:

True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season

The fourth season of this hit TV series (based on the books of Charlaine Harris) picks up an entire year after the end of the last season and finds Sookie (Anna Paquin) magically transported to the world of the fairies where she learns some deadly secrets about the future of mankind. This sets off a season of action, intrigue and romance (courtesy of a love triangle between Sookie, Bill and Eric) that should satisfy every blood-thirsty fan of this series out there. This 5-disc set contains all 12 episodes. (HBO Home Video)

Maverick: The Complete First Season

Finally! This beloved light-hearted Western series, which began in 1957, starred James Garner and helped secure his place in Hollywood stardom as a cool and charismatic hero who was not above losing a fight or two along the way. Garner and Jack Kelly star as Bret and Bart Maverick, two wandering brothers with the skills to both play poker and get into trouble. This 7-DVD set contains all 27 episodes from this first season featuring guest appearances from familiar TV faces such as Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Mike Connors, and Werner Klemperer. (Universal)

Monroe: Season One

In the late 1990s, James Nesbitt was becoming known as a charming and handsome comedic actor for his work in the long-running (and award-winning) British sitcom Cold Feet. By the early 2000’s he was gaining more notoriety with his more serious work in the 2002 fact-based drama Bloody Sunday and for his role as the deeply-undercover detective in Murphy’s Law. In 2011, Nesbitt took on the role of neurologist Gabriel Monroe, a cocky and conceited doctor who is also a gifted surgeon. While his arrogant behaviour with cases – like the dying former soldier for whom he refuses to operate on – causes problems with his trainees and hospital co-workers (including Tom Riley as his loyal anesthetist and Sarah Parish as a fellow surgeon), he faces even more trouble in his personal life. While this may seem like a rip-off of House, this is where the similarity ends. Monroe is a married father who, when he is home, has to deal with his wife leaving him and his son heading off to university and so he devotes his full attention to his life-saving work (which largely led to the end of his marriage). While this series is scheduled to return to British TV with a second season later this year, the first season (which is comprised of 6 hour-long episodes) is now available on DVD from Amazon and other outlets. (Acorn/eOne)

Murdoch Mysteries: Season Four

This series stars Yannick Bisson as Toronto police detective William Murdoch, who uses new-fangled methods of detection like fingerprinting and surveillance to help solve his cases. In the fourth season of the series, Murdoch takes on such challenging mysteries as body parts found in concrete, possible vampirism and the shooting of a man on a streetcar that no one heard and features such varied guest stars as Victor Garber (Alias) and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This 4-disc set (or 3-disc blu-ray set) features all 13 episodes. (Acorn/eOne)

Rookie Blue: Complete Second Season

As the second season of this Canadian-made cop series begins, rookies Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym) and Traci Nash (Enuka Okuma) are back on the streets facing new dangers and making mistakes that only a rookie would make – all in the line of duty. The show features guest star appearances from Lauren Holly (Picket Fences) and Callum Keith Rennie (The Firm). This 4-disc set features all 13 episodes from the second season. (eOne)

Royal Pains: Season Three Vol. 2

The second half of the third season of this medical drama starring Mark Feuerstein and Paulo Costanzo continues with the team at Hankmed treating a party planner and a rock band as part of a season full of curious cases and great guest stars including Jake Weber, Wilmer Valderrama and Tom Cavanaugh.

Drop Dead Diva: The Complete Third Season

This dramedy series about a wafer-thin model who is killed but whose soul reemerges in the body of a plus-size lawyer named Jane (Brooke Elliott) is back for a third season which features appearances by stars like Paula Abdul, LeAnne Rimes, Kathy Griffin, Clay Aiken and many others. All 13 episodes are available on this 3-disc set. (Sony)

In the Night Garden: Look Around the Garden

On this new DVD, you get 4 episodes of this toddler-aimed program (from the creators of the Teletubbies) that takes place in a magical world that takes place somewhere between being asleep and being awake. Songs include “Tombliboo Ooo Drinks Everybody Else’s Pinky Ponk Juice”, “Igglepiggle’s Accidents”, “Sad and Happy Tombliboos” and “Look at What the Ball Did!” (eOne)