NEW ON THE SHELF:

“The Equalizer,” Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas. Possibly the last remaining ’80s franchise left unadapted for the big screen, the rarely referenced but grittily enjoyable Edward Woodward series is given a shot of nasty energy by director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), who enlists frequent collaborator Washington to inhabit the title role as an OCD-afflicted home improvement store employee who falls back on old, deadly habits acquired in a mysterious past occupation when the teenage prostitute (Chloe Grace Moretz) he’s befriended is beaten by Russian gangsters. It’s as dour and violent an action movie as you’re likely to find, and Fuqua captures the ultra-serious tone of his source material rather well, while upping the bloodshed and providing Washington with a few more characters wrinkles to put a spin on. Rated R. Running time: 2:13. Suggested retail price: $30.99; Blu-ray $34.99.

“Tusk,” Justin Long, Michael Parks. Produced almost on a dare following a typically off-color and surreal digression on one of his many podcasts, writer-director Kevin Smith admirably commits to his truly insane plot: that of a snarky podcaster (Long) whose attempt to get an entertainingly nutso interview from a reclusive windbag (current Smith muse Parks of “Red State”) results in said podcaster being slowly, painfully and disgustingly turned into a walrus. You read that correctly. Played straighter than you might imagine (though not without Smith’s usual comedic touches), “Tusk” is worth seeing for its stoned chutzpah alone, and for a pair of impressively grounded performances (especially under the circumstances) from its leads. Rated R. Running time: 1:42. Suggested retail price: $19.98; Blu-ray $24.99.

VIDEOPORT PICKS:

“Kelly & Cal,” Juliette Lewis, Jonn Weston. Providing the talented but of late underused Lewis with one of her best roles in years, director Jen McGowan (“Confessions of a Late Bloomer”) offers a relatable, funny and quietly heartbreaking little character study in “Kelly,” with Lewis’ punk rocker turned suburban mom whose uncertainty and ennui is relieved at least temporarily by her burgeoning friendship with Cal (Weston, “John Dies at the End”), a wheelchair-bound high school kid attracted to Kelly’s riot grrl past. Treacherous ground indeed, but though McGowan doesn’t skirt around the genuine attraction that does develop between the two, her respect for the characters never allows things to devolve into shock value, and the top notch work by Lewis keeps Kelly from becoming a caricature. Not rated. Running time: 1:50. Suggested retail price: $24.98.

“Reach Me,” Kyra Sedgwick, Thomas Jane. Long a fan of juggling several seemingly disparate stories, then finding a way to tie it all together in the end (as in his earlier – and superior – 1996 film “2 Days in the Valley”), writer-director John Herzfeld sought funds through crowdsourcing to finance this divisive but far from boring dramedy that unites a wide array of larger-than-life characters – from Sedgwick’s hot-tempered parolee to Sylvester Stallone’s sputtering tabloid magnate – through a seemingly life-changing self-help book penned by the reclusive Teddy Raymond (Tom Berenger). Cohesive it’s not, but “Reach Me” makes good on an a solid hour and a half of dramatic delirium. Rated PG-13. Running time: 1:35. Suggested retail price: $19.99; Blu-ray $24.99.

NEW TO DVD:

“Banshee: The Complete Season Two,” Antony Starr, Ben Cross. The consistently surprising exploits ex-con turned small-town sheriff/identity thief Lucas Hood (Starr, “Lowdown”) and his unending and generally deadly conflicts with crime lord/former employer Rabbit (Cross, “Chariots of Fire”) continues in season two, in which the real Hood’s son Jason (Harrison Thomas, “Other People’s Children”) makes a rather unwelcome appearance. Not rated. Running time: 10:00. Suggested retail price: $39.98.

“Shameless: The Complete Season Four,” William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum. The ever combative and destitute Gallagher family finds themselves in relatively decent shape at the top of season four of this acclaimed series, with Fiona (the superb Rossum) holding down a steady job and Lip (Jeremy Allen White, “Movie 43”) getting into college. Longtime viewers know that such prosperity doesn’t last around these parts, and soon enough there’s Frank’s (Macy) inevitable liver failure to contend with, not to mention an unexpected trip to jail for Fiona and a pregnancy scare for Veronica (Shanola Hampton, “You Again”). Not rated. Suggested retail price: $39.98; Blu-ray $49.99.

– Courtesy of Videoport