NEW ON DVD AND BLU-RAY

“JUMPING THE BROOM,” starring Paula Patton and Angela Bassett. Class warfare and family secrets are the name of the game in this otherwise lighthearted comedy from director Salim Akil (“Girlfriends”), with blue-collar Brooklynite Jason (Laz Alonso) and wealthy socialite Sabrina (Patton) getting married on her lavish estate in Martha’s Vineyard despite a multitude of comedic disputes occurring between the disparate sets of in-laws. If Tyler Perry employed a tad more subtlety, he might come up with something like this — a warm-hearted and rambunctious film that spends a lot of time letting us get to know its characters. Rated PG-13. Running time: 1:52

Suggested retail price: DVD $30.99; Blu-ray $35.99 

“YOUR HIGHNESS,” starring Danny McBride and James Franco. Your level of “Highness” might just dictate your level of enjoyment with this curious medieval comedy from art-house cut-up David Gordon Green, who reteams with his “Pineapple Express” cohorts McBride and Franco for this ultra-lowbrow tale. Brothers Thadeous and Fabious must join forces to rescue a fair damsel (a dazed-looking Zooey Deschanel) from the untoward clutches of the evil sorcerer Leezar (scene-stealer Justin Theroux). Chockablock with gross-out gags and anachronistic profanity, “Your Highness” is an unholy cross between Kevin Smith and “Deathstalker,” at the risk of making the film sound better than it is. Rated R. Running time: 1:42

Suggested retail price: DVD $29.98; Blu-ray $39.98 

“PAUL,” starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The fertile comic minds behind “Shaun of the Dead” and “Superbad” unite to create this extremely enjoyable sci-fi send-up, which finds geek pals Pegg and Frost encountering a wisecracking, reefer-toking alien, voiced by the inimitable Seth Rogen. Pure fun throughout, with a top-notch supporting cast of comedic talent that includes Kristen Wiig, Jane Lynch and Jason Bateman, and a handful of priceless cameos that we’ll leave for you to discover. A cult hit in the making for sure. Rated R. Running time: 1:44

Suggested retail price: DVD $29.98; Blu-ray $34.98 

“MARS NEEDS MOMS,” animated with the voices of Joan Cusack and Seth Green. It turns out that the planet Mars is overrun with unattended baby aliens, and who better to provide nurturing than a CGI version of Joan Cusack, who is beamed up along with her son, Milo (Green), who sets about attempting to rescue her with the help of his new immature but loyal friend and fellow captive, Gribble (Dan Fogler). While exciting and funny throughout, “Mars” takes a more in-depth look at the concept of motherhood than one might expect, and the result is as rewarding for parents as it is for their “hatchlings.” Rated PG. Running time: 1:28

Suggested retail price: DVD $29.99; Blu-ray $49.99 

NEW ON DVD

“CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACK CARDIFF,” documentary. Loving and exhaustive ode to cinematography pioneer Cardiff, whose hugely impressive career found him lighting and shooting many of Tinseltown’s most iconic performers. An expansive who’s who of the movie industry shows up to pay their respects via interview, including Martin Scorsese, Kirk Douglas and many more. Running time: 1:26

Suggested retail price: DVD $24.99; Blu-ray $34.99 

“THE FOX AND THE HOUND: 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION,” animated with the voices of Corey Feldman and Keith Coogan. Disney favorite from 1981 concerning the alternately touching friendship that develops between the titular animals, a relationship that circumstances and tradition alters in unexpected and unwelcome ways. A tearjerker for the ages that has held up quite well. Running time: 1:23

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

NEW ON BLU-RAY

“DEAD MAN,” starring Johnny Depp and Gary Farmer. Not exactly a critical favorite upon its initial release back in 1995, this unpredictable neo-Western from deadpan master Jim Jarmusch has since garnered a considerable cult following and been rediscovered for the loopy masterpiece of sorts it is. Depp is alternately funny and troubling as William Blake, a mild-mannered accountant who finds himself on the run from a trio of insane bounty hunters after killing a man in self defense. Accompanying him on his bizarre journey is Nobody (Farmer), a talkative Native American who believes his companion to be the actual poet William Blake. Rated R. Running time: 2:01

Suggested retail price: $19.99 

“DAZED AND CONFUSED” and “FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH,” starring Jason London and Sean Penn. A pair of high school classics from Universal Studios make their way to Blu-ray this week, each defining to some extent their chosen decade. “Dazed” employs a cast of then-unknowns (including Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck) to populate the hilarious and tumultuous summer vacation of Texan seniors circa 1976, while “Times” fast-forwards a few years to 1982-era California, where Judge Reinhold experiences one sexual humiliation after another and burnout Penn matches wits with the formidable Mr. Hand (Ray Walston). The re-watch-ability factor is high for these two enduring and endlessly quotable comedies. Rated R. Running time: 1:42/1:30

Suggested retail price: $26.98 

VIDEOPORT PICKS

“RAGING BOLL,” documentary. Our subject is Uwe Boll, longtime movie buff and world renowned as the least competent filmmaker in the world, the heir apparent to Ed Wood Jr. Usually opting to adapt outdated video games such as “Postal” and “The House of the Dead” to the big screen, Boll’s ridiculous sci-fi and horror offerings tend to ruffle the feathers of the devoted and outspoken devotees to such games. What first-time director Dan Lee West’s entertaining would-be expos?ocuments here is Boll’s challenge to take on all his most vocal critics in an honest-to-goodness boxing match, a challenge his naysayers both unwisely accept and approach as a goof, failing to train properly for an event that Boll takes all too seriously. Not rated, contains language and violence. Running time: 1:25

Suggested retail price: $16.98 

“SUPER,” starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. Anyone looking for a suitable tonic to the Comic Con invasion should look no further than “Super,” a brilliant, hilarious and truly disturbing black comedy from perennially under-appreciated writer-director James Gunn. When ordinary schlub Frank (Wilson) loses his beloved wife to the evil clutches of a drug dealer (the dependably sleazy Kevin Bacon), his mourning process leads him to take on a double life as the Crimson Bolt, a vibrantly costumed vigilante who, in lieu of super powers, hits perceived evildoers in the head with a monkey wrench. Where “Super” differs from others of its ilk is in its fairly realistic treatment of the situation. The violent justice Frank wreaks is graphic and bloody as opposed to heroic and stylized, and there are consequences to his actions. Rated R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, sexual content and drug use. Running time: 1:36

Suggested retail price: DVD $24.98; Blu-ray $29.98

– Courtesy of Videoport

 

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