This Week in DVD

Full disclosure: I slipped in a few items from last week. I integrated them into the post in a clever fashion, though; see if you can tell which DVDs listed below actually came out last Tuesday.

The Backup Plan: To anyone who wondered, "Hey, why would Jennifer Lopez be interested in a gig like judging American Idol?" well...just take a look at this movie, WHICH ACTUALLY WAS RELEASED LAST WEEK ON DVD.

Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg: To the youth of today, the name "Mrs. Goldberg" probably means, "Bill Goldberg got married?" Actually, even that reference is about 10 years too old, so you can imagine how relevant "The Goldbergs" is. But this documentary aims to remind people of the remarkable career of highly influential Gertrude Berg. I've had limited exposure to the sitcom, but I can't wait to see this movie. Well, that's not entirely true, as I've waited since LAST WEEK when I rented it from Netflix. But I'm gonna see it this weekend.

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married, Too?: I'm guessing the "Too" in the title of this sequel is about as funny as it gets here, folks.

Harry Brown: I think this is essentially Michael Caine going around kicking ass and trying to get revenge on people. Works for me! This is not to be confused with Dick Barton, the titular hero of a movie serial coming out this week from VCI, although wouldn't Michael Caine make a convincing "Dick Barton"?

Thriller: The Complete Series: Image finally releases the classic Boris-Karloff-hosted anthology series in a fancy if expensive box set. I have no reason to think Image did anything less than its usual excellent job on this one, but it's on my rent list as I've never seen an episode. After reading about it over the years, though, I'm excited to check it out...uh, just as soon as I get to Mrs. Goldberg, that is. There just ain't enough time in the day, folks, for all my DVDs.

Red Riding Trilogy: It's funny, but if you told me there was a new trilogy of dark crime movies from TV, I'd yawn and reach for the chips. But if you told me there was a new trilogy of dark crime movies that aired on BRITISH TV, I'd say, "Where do I get it?" And then I'd reach for the chips because, hey, I'm still kinda craving those chips--and I don't mean french fries, either. The "Red Riding Trilogy" is a good example of a project that, for some reason, just sounds about 50% more interesting because of the British pedigree.