This Week on Blu-ray and DVD - January 15, 2013

Are we crazy, or are they? Yahoo! News reported that 34,000 people signed a petition and sent it to the White House, requesting that the Obama administration build a Death Star capable of destroying whole planets. The article did not state which planet the petitioners think they’re living on, or what other planet they feel should be targeted.

The official response was both “official” and tongue-in-cheek: “The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but the Administration does not support blowing up planets.” Obama’s chief of the science and space branch of the White House’s budget office, Paul Shawcross, added, “Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?”

For that matter, why would any administration want to be associated with the Dark Side? I’ll rest easy knowing that the guy in charge of the White House space budget is familiar with the “Star Wars” hexology, but personally, if the government was going to spend $852 quadrillion to replicate movie technology, I’d rather they built a time machine. And they could probably cut a few corners if they started with a DeLorean.

You’ll need to go back in time this week if you want to be entertained by a Woody Allen movie. His most recent film, “To Rome with Love,” comes out on Blu-ray and DVD (trailer), but it’s a yawner compared to last year’s charming “Midnight in Paris.” If you’re going to add another Allen title to your collection, you’re better off with “Hannah and Her Sisters.” The relationship dramedy, which won an Oscar for best original screenplay in 1987, comes to Blu-ray for the first time this week (trailer). Before “Midnight” it was Allen’s biggest commercial success, and it showcased an ensemble cast: Allen, Michael Caine, Mia Farrow, Carrie Fisher, Barbara Hershey, Lloyd Nolan, Maureen O’Sullivan, Daniel Stern, Max Von Sydow, and Dianne Wiest.

Another Allen entry that’s worth checking out is “Sleeper,” which also comes out on Blu-ray for the first time (trailer). Like “Bananas,” it features Allen in one of his Walter Mitty fantasy roles as a nebbish who somehow becomes a hero or crusader.  In the 1973 sci-fi comedy, Allen is a health food store owner who’s frozen and defrosted 200 years later, only to find that the government is totalitarian, and, as the only one without a registered biometric identity, he’s called upon to help the rebellion and ends up impersonating a robot at one point.

Liam Neeson shelves his Qui-Gon Jinn personality and gets a Charles Bronson groove on in “Taken 2,” a sequel featuring Neeson as a retired intelligence agent who has to draw on his skills after he and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper he killed in the first film (trailer). Out on Blu-ray and DVD, it’s as disappointing as “To Rome with Love.”  If you’re wanting a tense drama, a better bet is the Australian New Wave film “Wake in Fright,” about a schoolteacher who, stranded in a rough outback town, finds himself, out of necessity, becoming more like the town’s repulsive residents (promo/trailer). It’s not for the squeamish.

John Ford’s 1941 drama, “How Green Was My Valley,” is more family-friendly. The drama centers on a family in a Welsh mining town at the turn of the century and how their lives have degenerated because of the mines (trailer). It’s out on Blu-ray this week.

After that, it’s a matter of opinion. I was never impressed with “The Tin Drum" (trailer/review) or the 1934 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (trailer/review), but if you are, then you’ll want to check out Criterion’s releases this week.

If you’re like me and don’t watch nearly enough documentaries as you should, this week there are a few that might be tempting. Topping the list is the Oscar-nominated “5 Broken Cameras,” the 2011 film about a Palestinian farmer who uses passive and nonviolent resistance against the Israeli army, filming the struggle and documenting how it affects their daily lives (trailer). It’s out on DVD this week.

Just as incredible is the story of how a Lithuanian basketball team, with a little help from the Grateful Dead, overcame hardships incurred under Soviet rule and triumphed at the Barcelona Olympics. The 2012 documentary "The Other Dream Team" also comes out on DVD (trailer).

What more can I say? Occasionally movies remind us that every now and then the little guy triumphs, or at least wins for losing. And those films are worth their weight in Death Stars.

Here are select new releases for the week of January 15, 2013:

BLU-RAY

• About Cherry (2012 drama)
• Allegiance (+ DVD) (2012 drama)
• Being Human: Season 4
• Branded (2012 action-drama)
• Doctor Who: 2011 Christmas Special
• Farewell, My Queen (2012 historical drama)
• Gentleman’s Agreement (1947 drama)
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986 Woody Allen dramedy)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941 family drama)
• I Am Bruce Lee (2011 documentary)
• Jackie Chan Double Feature: Crime Story / The Protector
• Jackson Five: Complete Animated Series (+ DVD)
• Lightning Bug (2004 drama-horror)
• Love Me (2012 thriller)
• Man Who Knew Too Much, The (Criterion) (1934 crime mystery)
• Merlin: Season 4
• Notebook, The (Ultimate Collector’s Ed.) (2004 drama-romance)
• Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Complete Series (anime)
• Persona 4: Collection 2 (anime)
• Possession, The (+ Digital Copy + UV) (2012 horror-thriller)
• Sleeper (1973 Woody Allen comedy)
• Taken 2 (2012 crime action)
• 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with The Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2012 comedy-parody)
• Tin Drum, The (Criterion) (1979 war drama)
• To Rome with Love (2012 comedy)
• Trials of Life, The (TV nature documentary)
• Wake in Fright (1971 drama-thriller)
• Wild River (1960 drama-romance)
• Won’t Back Down (2012 drama)

RECENT RELEASES

• One Team: 2012 Penn State Football Season Highlights
• Taken 2 (2012 crime action)

CATALOG TITLES

• Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946 drama-romance) (reissue)
• Bishop’s Wife, The (1947 comedy-drama) (reissue)
• Classic Educational Shorts, Vol. 5: Rules for School (Kino Classics)
• Classic Educational Shorts, Vol. 6: Troubled Teens (Kino Classics)
• Guys and Dolls (1955 musical comedy-romance) (reissue)
• Hans Christian Andersen (1952 bio-musical) (reissue)
• Man Who Knew Too Much, The (Criterion) (1934 crime mystery)
• Wild River (1960 drama-romance)
• Wuthering Heights (1939 drama-romance) (reissue)

FAMILY/CHILDREN

• Let’s Learn: ABC
• Let’s Learn: 1, 2, 3
• Littlest Pet Shop: Little Pets, Big Adventures
• Monster Truck Adventures: Straight to the Finish
• Monster Truck Adventures: Picking up Speed
• Scholastic Storybook Treasures: Stone Soup . . . and other stories from the Asian Tradition
• Scholastic Storybook Treasures: Stories about African American Heritage featuring March On! (reissue)
• Thomas & Friends: Muddy Matters
• VeggieTales: Lettuce Love One Another

TV-ON-DVD

• Amazing World of Gumball, The: The Mystery (Cartoon Network)
• Being Human: Season 4
• Cannon: Season 3
• Cupid (2012 made-for-TV comedy-romance)
• Ghost Hunters Academy
• How to Fall in Love (2012 made-for-TV comedy)
• I Am Bruce Lee (2011 documentary)
• Jackson Five: Complete Animated Series
• Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1997
• Life’s Too Short
• Men of a Certain Age: Season 2
• Merlin: Season 4
• National Geographic: Best of 125 Years
• Perry Mason: Season 8
• Power Rangers Samurai: A Team Divided, Vol. 3
• Power Rangers Super Samurai: Rise of Bullzooka, Vol. 3
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay
• Surviving the Cut: Season 2
• Three Stars (2010 culinary documentary)
• Twenty Twelve: Complete Series
• Undercover Bridesmaid (2012 made-for-TV romance)
• Waking the Dead: Season 7

SMALL STUDIO/INDIE/FOREIGN

• About Cherry (2012 drama)
• Allegiance (2012 drama)
• Amazing Love: The Story of Hosea (Christian drama)
• Branded (2012 action-drama)
• China Heavyweight (2012 boxing documentary)
• Detropia (2012 Detroit documentary)
• Eminem: The Time Is Now (2012 documentary)
• Farewell, My Queen (2012 historical drama)
• 5 Broken Cameras (2011 documentary)
• Gordon Campbell: Secrets of the Working Drummer (2012 instructional)
• King: A Filmed Record  . . . From Montgomery to Memphis (documentary)
• Last Fall, The (2012 drama)
• Other Dream Team, The (2012 sport documentary)
• Parents vs. Predators: Internet Safety (2011 instructional)
• Pitbull: The Life of the Party (music documentary)
• Possession, The (2012 horror-thriller)
• Reel Evil (2012 horror)
• Runaway Slave (2012 advocacy documentary)
• 17 Girls (2011 drama)
• 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with The Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2012 comedy-parody)
• Tin Drum, The (Criterion) (1979 war drama)
• To Rome with Love (2012 comedy)
• Wake in Fright (1971 drama-thriller)
• Won’t Back Down (2012 drama)

ANIME/MANGA

• Persona 4: Collection 2