A comic that draws serious attention
One thing that hugely benefited the superhero deconstructionist exercise “Watchmen’’ (2009) in its first-run marketing push was critical passion for the movie’s source comic, which boldly imagines its characters as real-world figures with vigilante impulses or godlike disconnection. The print incarnation has been hailed as literature, and there were plenty of media types eager to let the uninitiated know why. The trick the “Watchmen’’ DVD faces is that the filmmakers and the studio are now on their own in trying to articulate the comic’s heft. The big supplement is a Blu-ray exclusive: an intermittent crew visual commentary spliced with minutiae-crammed pop-ups and hyped by director Zack Snyder as “super-cool.’’ As hyperactively immersive as this viewing mode is, it can seem detached from key moments. We hear nothing from Snyder about the smart decision to take a print voice-over from incarcerated antihero Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) and change it to straight dialogue onscreen, giving the character his most chilling moment. The director’s cut of the film presented here runs 24 minutes longer than the 160-minute theatrical version, but the added material is incidental. A production featurette aimed at exploring the story’s vigilante themes interviews Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa and recalls Bernie Goetz - then trashes any legitimacy by introducing a couple of “actual’’ super-vigilantes primed for reality TV. (Warner, $34.99; single-disc edition, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99)
ANIMATION
CORALINE (2009)
Filmmaker Henry Selick (“The Nightmare Before Christmas,’’ “James and the Giant Peach’’) again makes quaint old stop-motion animation look cutting-edge dazzling as he adapts fantasy writer Neil Gaiman’s YA tale. Dakota Fanning voices the expressive young girl who discovers a doorway to an alternate world of macabre rag dolls in her new home, but Teri Hatcher stands out as Coraline’s button-eyed, eerily desperate “Other Mother.’’ For all the wonder it holds, the film is too creepy for young kids, yet feels a little precious for older ones. Goth tweens, maybe? Extras: Commentary by Selick. (Universal, $34.98; single-disc edition, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)
STRAIGHT TO DVD
PRISON BREAK: THE FINAL BREAK (2009)
So what else has Fox been keeping from us? Later this month, “Dollhouse’’ viewers get a first season collection complete with an unaired, flash-forward coda episode; this week, it’s a disc-exclusive “Prison Break’’ movie bridging the series wrap-up and its four-years-later final scene. Viewers already know the fate of Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), but here they learn the details, as Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) lands in the Miami-Dade pen, and the gang gets up to its old tricks. It’s a diverting “Caged Heat’’ riff, with Lori Petty ruling the roost as a Clark Rockefeller look-alike redneck con. Extras: Deleted scenes. (Fox, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.99)
TELEVISION
THE LUCY SHOW: THE OFFICIAL FIRST SEASON (1962)
In this follow-up to “I Love Lucy,’’ Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance set the “Kate & Allie’’ template as unattached women cohabitating to raise their kids. The family sitcom setup here was always an awkward fit, except maybe to that rare fan who lived for the Little Ricky episodes of the first show. But you could also bet that sooner or later, the writers would find a way to get Lucy on a trampoline or some such, and it would feel like old times. For the truly faithful, the first season of “Here’s Lucy,’’ with Gale Gordon, arrives next month from another distributor. (Paramount, $42.99)
NEW DVD RELEASES
MADE IN U.S.A. (1966) / 2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER (1967)
It’s a double-shot of Jean Luc-Godard expressing the various thoughts and philosophical tangents brewing inside his head, first through the strange investigations of private eye Anna Karina, then through the story of suburban housewife Marina Vlady (above) playing prostitute on the side. Extras: Cast interviews; critical essays; guides to the films’ many references. (Criterion, $29.95 each)
THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD (2009)
John Malkovich channels Kreskin as a comically faded mentalist making one last grab for the spotlight. With Colin Hanks. (Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $34.98)
GREY GARDENS (2009)
Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore star in the cable dramatization of the Maysles brothers’ documentary about eccentric Jackie Kennedy relations “Big Edie’’ and “Little Edie’’ Beale. Extras: Filmmaker commentary; documentary-to-feature comparison. (HBO, $26.98)
PUSHING DAISIES: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2008-09)
Lee Pace’s whimsical wake-the-dead adventures never did get much love from ABC, which aired the final few episodes months after pulling the show from the schedule. If you want to indulge in some uninterrupted, RIP power-viewing, here’s your chance. Extras: Interview with creator Bryan Fuller. (Warner, $39.98; Blu-ray, $49.99)
HOTEL: THE FIRST SEASON (1983-84)
The initial rush of guests checking into James Brolin’s San Francisco auberge includes Tom Smothers, Donald O’Connor, and little Tori Spelling. (Paramount, $54.99)
Titles are in stores Tuesday unless otherwise specified.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
