NEW ON DVD AND BLU-RAY

“FAST FIVE,” starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. While it might be difficult for the average cinephile to muster up much enthusiasm for yet another entry in the multi-million-making “Fast and the Furious” franchise, we must confess that the fifth time’s the charm in this case. Director Justin Lin displays an uncanny talent for staging physics-defying action set pieces and thrillingly ridiculous chase scenes, wisely eschewing logic entirely and going as far over the top as possible B-mayhem of the highest order, “Fast Five” knows what its audience wants, and skillfully provides it in spades. Rated PG-13. Running time: 2:10

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

“SCREAM 4,” starring Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox. It’s hard to believe (and extremely depressing) that it’s been 15 years since the original “Scream” turned horror conventions on their head with a winning (and lucrative) combination of self-aware referential dialogue and genuine tension/bloody gore. Thankfully, the original team of director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson has lost none of the magic, and the laughs and screams are again plentiful and effective. Rated R. Running time: 1:51

Suggested retail price: DVD $29.98; Blu-ray $39.99

NEW ON DVD

“IN TREATMENT: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON,” starring Gabriel Byrne and Amy Ryan. An all-new roster of extremely troubled patients awaits psychotherapist Paul Weston (Byrne) in the third season of the acclaimed HBO drama, which simply spends each episode eavesdropping on a different session, achieving an immediate intimacy you won’t find anywhere else on TV. Season three finds the great Debra Winger taking a turn on the couch as aging actress Frances, Irrfan Khan as maladjusted immigrant Sunil, and Ryan as Paul’s new therapist. Not rated; contains language and sexual content. Running time: 14:00

Suggested retail price: $59.99

“KEN BURNS: PROHIBITION,” documentary. Sometimes, you just gotta watch a camera slowly pan over vintage photographs while enthusiastic scholars blather at length about a given topic, and when that very particular mood strikes, nothing but Burns will do the trick. This three-part doc focuses on the rise and fall of the 18th Amendment, which tried and ultimately failed to prevent hardworking American citizens from getting their drink on. Maine features prominently in the first episode as the first state to place restrictions on hootch, back in the 1800s. Not rated; nothing objectionable. Running time: 6:00 

Suggested retail price: DVD $39.99; Blu-ray $44.99

“THE LEAGUE: SEASON TWO,” starring Mark Duplass and Nick Kroll. Semi-improvised hilarity revolving around a rambunctious, none-too-mature fantasy football league is consistently hilarious whether you’re a football fan or not, with “mumblecore” pioneer Duplass and stand-up favorite Kroll heading a terrific cast of pumped-up doofuses. Not rated; contains language and crude humor. Running time: 4:46

Suggested retail price: DVD $29.98; Blu-ray $34.99

NEW ON BLU-RAY

“DEAD ALIVE,” starring Timothy Balme and Diana Penalver. Before he was the renowned revolutionary filmmaker who had the audacity and wherewithal to bring “The Lord of the Rings” to the big screen, Peter Jackson was making hilariously disgusting gross-out comedies like this, a 1992 ode to viscera and vulgarity that concerns a browbeaten young man forced to cater to his domineering mother even more so than usual once she’s bitten by a poisonous rat monkey and transformed into a flesh-eating zombie. Rated R for an abundance of outrageous gore. Running time: 1:37

Suggested retail price: $19.99

“THE LION KING,” animated with the voices of Matthew Broderick and Jeremy Irons. Breathtakingly animated and far more intense than your average Disney flick, this 1991 smash chronicles the eventful rise to power of Simba, a young lion cub unexpectedly thrust into a position of incredible renown and responsibility upon the death of his father. Not only one of Disney’s finest offerings, but a film widely considered one of the best American films of all time — and one that really pops on Blu-ray. A must for the serious collector’s library. Running time: 1:29

Suggested retail price: $39.99

VIDEOPORT PICKS

“BUCK,” documentary. Put simply, “Buck” is a good movie about a good man: Buck Brannaman, a much sought-after horse trainer and the original inspiration for Robert Redford’s film “The Horse Whisperer.” Having survived a nightmarish childhood in which he and his brother were beaten mercilessly by their father by way of training them for a popular rope trick routine, Buck applies the gentleness he never received at home to his horses. Rated PG for thematic material. Running time: 1:28

Suggested retail price: $24.98

“SUBMARINE,” starring Craig Roberts and Sally Hawkins. Writer-director Richard Ayoade’s wonderful coming-of-age film will be inevitably compared to the works of Wes Anderson, in particular “Rushmore.” While the comparison is not inapt, it would be folly to dismiss “Submarine” as a wannabe, because this bitterly funny and occasionally heartbreaking account of the romantic and familial tribulations of young Oliver Tate will bring back the dizzying elation and crippling pain of one’s first true love more vividly than anything we’ve seen in a long time. Rated R for language and sexual content. Running time: 1:37

Suggested retail price: DVD $29.98; Blu-ray $39.99

– Courtesy of Videoport 

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