NEW ON THE SHELF:

“The Imitation Game,” Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley. Oscar nominee Cumberbatch brings a bit of the enigmatic, prickly charm that serves him so well in “Sherlock” to his acclaimed turn as Alan Turing, a math genius employed as a code breaker by the British military, where his skills prove invaluable. But his true self must remain hidden at all costs, in an era when homosexuality is considered illegal. Cementing his status as a bona fide star, Cumberbatch steps up his game to deliver one of the year’s finest performances. Rated PG-13. Running time: 1:53. Suggested retail price: $29.98; Blu-ray $34.99

“Interstellar,” Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway. The latest mindbender from writer-director Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight”) makes no bones about channeling Kubrick, presenting an oft open-ended and dense sci-fi/thriller and trusting the viewer to fill in the blanks as needed, with McConaughey dependably solid and likable as Cooper, a former NASA pilot attempting to both keep his family together and save a dying populace by entering a wormhole in the hopes of discovering a new and sustainable environment. More intellectually ambitious than your average blockbuster, but without skimping on thrills and eye-popping effects, “Interstellar” chalks up another winner for the seemingly unstoppable filmmaker. Rated PG-13. Running time: 2:49. Suggested retail price: $29.98; Blu-ray $39.99

“Wild,” Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern. Witherspoon delivers one of her finest performances to date in “Wild,” the latest feature from acclaimed director Jean-Marc Vallee (“Dallas Buyers Club”), as Cheryl Strayed, a young woman struggling to come to terms with the loss of her mother (an equally excellent Dern), having turned to drug use and infidelity as a dangerous means of coping. Following an inevitable divorce, Cheryl decides to pack everything (and we do mean everything) into a backpack and head out onto the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2000-mile trek for which she is critically unprepared. Anchored by Witherspoon’s top notch performance, “Wild” is an occasionally grueling but fascinating drama, one worthy of more attention than it seems to have received. Special features include an interactive trail map. Rated R. Running time: 2:00. Suggested retail price: $29.98; Blu-ray $39.99

VIDEOPORT PICKS:

“The Rewrite,” Hugh Grant, Marisa Tomei. Once a top box office draw, rom-com mainstay Grant now sees his latest trifle essentially bypass theaters, and it’s hard to see why, given that it’s every bit as engaging as his best efforts. Playing a formerly sought-after screenwriter fallen on hard times, Grant is good caddish fun as Keith, who reluctantly takes a teaching job at an upstate New York college, slowly learning to adapt to small-town life and the strange but well meaning denizens, in particular Holly (the ever-likable Tomei) as a cheery non-trad who refuses to give in to his sleazy cynicism. The wheel is decidedly not reinvented here, but the cast (which also includes Oscar winner J.K. Simmons and Emmy winner Allison Janney) is uniformly excellent, and the film effortlessly charming. Not rated. Running time: 1:47. Suggested retail price: $29.96; Blu-ray $29.97

“Silicon Valley: The Complete Season One,” Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller. One of the funniest shows on television that you’re probably not watching, Mike Judge’s latest is a hilarious send-up of start-ups and California in general, following hapless programmer Richard (Middleditch, “The Office”) in his attempts to make bank with his company, Pied Piper, with the ostensible help of fellow geeks Erlich (scene stealer Miller of “Cloverfield”), Gilfoyle (Martin Starr, “Freaks and Geeks”), and Dinesh (stand-up comedian Kumail Nanjiani). Flitting comfortably between highbrow wit and gleeful crassness, “Silicon Valley” elicits more than its share of honest-to-goodness belly laughs, whether or not you’re up on the latest technobabble. Not rated. Running time: 4:00. Suggested retail price: $39.98; Blu-ray $49.99

NEW TO DVD:

“Veep: The Complete Third Season,” Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Tony Hale. More hilariously foul-mouthed White House follies for Vice President Selina (the unimpeachable Louis-Dreyfuss), whose ambitions to rise above her current station and start gunning for the Oval Office lead to any number of horribly uncomfortable situations for her long-suffering staff, including faithful-to-a-fault aide Hale (“Arrested Development”), barely competent director of communications Mike (Mike Walsh, “Upright Citizens Brigade”) and roundly despised White House liason Jonah (Maine native Timothy Simons, “The Interview”). Special features include deleted scenes and commentary from cast and crew. Not rated. Running time: 4:28. Suggested retail price: $39.98; Blu-ray $49.99

NEW TO BLU-RAY:

“Without a Clue,” Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley. Proudly not one of the more sophisticated versions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s endlessly adapted creation, this enjoyably daft 1988 farce posits that Sherlock Holmes (Caine) is nothing more than a drunken buffoon, while his put-upon partner Dr. Watson (Kingsley) is actually the brains of the operation. Good, clean, silly fun. Rated PG. Running time: 1:47.

Suggested retail price: $29.95.

– Courtesy of Videoport