NEW ON DVD AND BLU-RAY:

“THE BOOK OF ELI,” starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. Alternately wacky and solemn post-apocalyptic mishmash finds Washington taking on the title role, a lone wolf traversing the now mostly vacant Earth, laying waste to attackers and butting heads with Oldman, gleefully hamming it up as usual as the none-too-benevolent ruler of a small, seedy Western town. Special features include additional scenes. Rated R for some brutal violence and language. Running time: 1:58.

Suggested retail price: DVD $28.98; Blu-ray $35.99. 

“WHEN IN ROME,” starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel. A tightly wound, career-driven New Yorker (Bell, who can play this type of role in her sleep, though she of course does so with a good deal of charm) finds herself focusing intently on her generally neglected romantic life when a trip to Italy and a fateful stop at a coin fountain result in potential suitors coming out of the woodwork, including Duhamel (“Transformers”), Jon Heder, and, yes, Danny Devito. Special features include bloopers and deleted scenes. Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content. Running time: 1:31.

Suggested retail price: DVD $29.99; Blu-ray $39.99. 

“YOUTH IN REVOLT,” starring Michael Cera and Justin Long. Endearingly shaggy coming-of-age teen comedy finds the normally reticent Cera indulging a moderate rebelliousness as restless Nick Twisp, a trailer-dwelling high-schooler who attempts to woo a hip yet tough classmate (Portia Doubleday, “The Wheeler Boys”) by embodying a cynical alter ego, a chain-smoking French rogue named Francois Dillinger. An unjustly overlooked little comedy with a lot of funny moments and a terrific supporting cast that includes Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi and Zach Galifianakis. Special features include a commentary from Arteta and Cera. Rated R for sexual content, language and drug use. Running time: 1:30

Suggested retail price: DVD $28.95; Blu-ray $34.95.

NEW ON DVD:

“EVERWOOD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON,” starring Treat Williams and Gregory Smith. Never a ratings-getter, this quiet, well-observed, and often amusing family series that originally aired on the WB network managed to garner a steady camp of devoted fans thanks to uniformly good writing and an all-around excellent cast, with the normally intense Williams (“Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead”) dialing it back with great success as Andy Brown, a likable sort working mightily to manage two demanding jobs: doctor and single father. Agreeably old-fashioned, “Everwood” grows on you quickly. Not rated, contains mild language. Running time: 14:40.

Suggested retail price: $39.98. 

“LEAVE IT TO BEAVER: SEASON THREE,” starring Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow. The ultimate family sitcom, “Beaver” holds up rather well in spite and perhaps because of its squeaky clean image, with Mathers and Dow managing to find a different sort of trouble to get into every episode, to the mild exasperation of their loving parents. A delightful throwback, and a funny show besides. Special features include an audio interview with Mathers. Not rated, nothing objectionable. Running time: 15:30.

Suggested retail price: $39.97. 

NEW ON BLU-RAY:

“DARKMAN,” starring Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand. One of director Sam Raimi’s (“Spider-Man”) first forays into big-budget Hollywood was this gonzo 1990 action-sci-fi-thriller starring then-unknowns Neeson and McDormand as, respectively, a deformed vengeful scientist and the woman who loves him. With both comic book-inspired movies and Raimi’s unorthodox camerawork more in style these days, “Darkman” probably plays even better now than it did then, and the cartoonish visuals look fantastic in hi-definition. Rated R for violence and language.

Suggested retail price: $26.98. 

“SHOWGIRLS: 15TH ANNIVERSARY SINSASTIONAL EDITION.” Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan. It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since director Paul Verhoeven (“Starship Troopers”) and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (“Basic Instinct”) foisted this willfully terrible peep show of a film on unsuspecting audiences, but in that time the movie has managed a merit a huge cult following. Rated NC-17 for nudity and erotic sexuality throughout, and for some graphic language and sexual violence. Running time: 2:10.

Suggested retail price: $29.99. 

VIDEOPORT PICKS:

“BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY,” Documentary. Members of the news media are rarely regarded as heroes in this day and age (quite the opposite, more often than not) but the central figures in this Oscar-nominated documentary from filmmaker Anders Ostergaard (“Gasolin”‘) redefines the term altogether. Cobbled together from low-res footage smuggled out of the country by the Democratic Voice of Burma, this look at a non-violent uprising and the dictatorship that silences it time and again is both thrillingly immediate and enraging. “Burma VJ” is an unconventional expose that makes CNN and its ilk seem almost trivial by comparison. Not rated, contains violent footage. Running time: 1:24.

Suggested retail price: $29.99. 

“COLLAPSE,” Documentary. People who deliver bad news on a grand scale are often dismissed as crackpot theorists, even when they turn out to be right. People didn’t want to hear Michael Ruppert when he told them our financial system was going to break down, and they don’t want to hear him now as he calmly informs them that we may be a nation without access to oil sooner than we think. Stark documentary spends 82 disquieting minutes in a basement with Ruppert, a former police officer turned independent reporter with a pretty decent batting average so far when it comes to crisis prediction. Less polished than “An Inconvenient Truth,” but at least 10 times as arresting, “Collapse” is essential viewing. Not rated, contains language. Running time: 1:22.

Suggested retail price: $19.98.

 

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