Selected home-video releases:
“The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll” – If you believe rock ‘n’ roll was born July 5, 1954, with Elvis Presley’s recording of “That’s All Right,” then this boxed set is just in time for your 50th anniversary party in rock’s honor. If you dispute that date, or just don’t care when it all started, the five-disc package still makes for a solid survey of rock’s first four decades (the 10-part series from 1995 only runs through the 1994 Lollapalooza festival). Episodes chronicle the ’50s era of Elvis, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, the British Invasion of the ’60s, the soul sounds of Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, the folk-to-electric explosion, Woodstock, ’70s disco and heavy metal, punk, the MTV generation and rap. DVD set, $99.98. (Warner Bros.)
“The Butterfly Effect” – Ashton Kutcher scored a mini-hit with his first stab at meatier drama. Kutcher plays a young man tormented by past trauma who discovers he can slip backward in time and undo calamitous events, only to find that each thread he pulls creates fresh horror in his present life. The DVD has the theatrical version and a director’s cut, commentary, deleted and alternate footage, a subtitled trivia track and featurettes. DVD, $27.95. (New Line)
“The Film Noir Classic Collection” – Here’s a rare DVD set from old Hollywood without a clunker in the bunch. The package has five film-noir classics from 1945 to 1950. John Huston’s heist flick “The Asphalt Jungle,” starring Sterling Hayden, features an introduction by Huston and commentary from co-star James Whitmore. Dick Powell stars as private eye Philip Marlowe in “Murder, My Sweet,” adapted from Raymond Chandler’s novel “Farewell My Lovely.” “Out of the Past” features Robert Mitchum as a tough detective and Kirk Douglas as a mobster. Robert Wise is joined by Martin Scorsese for commentary on Wise’s “The Set-Up,” with Robert Ryan as a boxer who refuses to take a fall. Violent and lurid for its time, “Gun Crazy” stars Peggy Cummins and John Dall as a twosome on a crime spree. The movies are available individually, but get the boxed set; it’s bargain-priced, and the films are worth it. DVD set, $49.92; single DVDs, $19.97 each. (Warner Bros.)
TV on DVD:
“Six Feet Under: The Complete Second Season” – Modern L.A.’s answer to the Addams family returns with year two’s 13 episodes about the dysfunctional Fisher clan and their struggling mortuary. DVD set, $99.98. (HBO)
“Star Trek: Voyager – The Complete Third Season” – The lost-in-space saga continues as starship Voyager chugs along home from the opposite side of the galaxy. Season three’s 26 episodes are packed on seven DVDs, highlighted by a time-bending episode guest-starring George Takei (Sulu from the original “Star Trek” show and movies). DVD set, $129.99. (Paramount)
“Wiseguy: Prey for the City” – Ken Wahl returns as undercover agent Vinnie Terranova in the late ’80s series. The four-disc set has 13 episodes, including two multi-episode story lines from season two that pit Vinnie against a white-supremacy group and a garment-industry mobster. DVD set, $59.99. (StudioWorks)
Other new releases:
“Monsieur Ibrahim” – Omar Sharif delivers a graceful performance in this big-hearted coming-of-age tale about the unlikely friendship between an elderly Muslim grocer and a Jewish boy in dire need of an adult role model in 1960s Paris. DVD, $29.95. (Columbia TriStar)
“Charlie Chan Chanthology” – After a solid run of entertaining Charlie Chan detective flicks in the 1930s and early ’40s, Sidney Toler returned in the mid-1940s for a batch of second-rate sequels. Half a dozen of those lesser tales are gathered in a six-disc set: “Charlie Chan in the Secret Service,” “The Chinese Cat,” “The Jade Mask,” “Meeting at Midnight,” “The Shanghai Cobra” and “The Scarlet Clue.” DVD set, $69.96; single DVDs, $14.95 each. (MGM)
“My Voyage to Italy” – Martin Scorsese’s homage to the giants of Italian cinema is a must-see for fans of contemporary film. Scorsese directs and narrates a four-hour epic look at the works of innovators such as Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Vittorio De Sica and Luchino Visconti. DVD set, $29.99. (Miramax)
“Take the Money and Run” – Woody Allen’s first time out as writer, director and star came with this 1969 laugh-fest about a crook so inept he cannot even write a legible bank-heist note. This new DVD edition has only the formatted full-screen version. If you want the original theatrical widescreen version, try tracking down a used copy of the out-of-print edition on the Anchor Bay label. DVD, $14.95. (MGM)
“The Name of the Rose” – Sean Connery and Christian Slater star in the 1986 medieval mystery about a Sherlock Holmes-like monk investigating ghastly murders at a monastery. DVD, $19.98. (Warner Bros.)
“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” – Maggie Smith won the Academy Award for best actress with 1969’s spirited tale of an eccentric teacher in 1930s Scotland who inspires her students and confounds her overseers. DVD, $14.98. (20th Century Fox)
Some DVD issues may not have corresponding VHS releases. VHS prices vary widely.
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