Capsule reviews of the next week’s video releases, on DVD and Blu-ray

June 9

“Kingsman: The Secret Service”

R, 130 minutes, Fox

Colin Firth plays a dapper, James Bond-like super-agent in this spy thriller based on a graphic novel series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. It’s both a sharp send-up of spy movies and a silly celebration of action movie cliches in the Quentin Tarantino mold. It even boasts Samuel L. Jackson as the villain Richmond Valentine, a billionaire Internet entrepreneur with a diabolical plan. The plot is at once ridiculous and smart. Though Valentine is intent on human annihilation, he means to achieve this goal not with a doomsday weapon, but with the cellphone. How this unfolds is one of the film’s several pleasures. Contains violence, obscenity, brief nudity and suggestive dialogue. Extras include commentary track and a 90-minute making-of that includes a panel-to-screen look at the education of a 21st century spy, gadgets, fight scenes and comic book origins.

“Red Army”

PG, 85 minutes, in Russian with subtitles, Sony

In this swift, smart, often very funny documentary, Gabe Polsky takes an unprecedented look at the legendary Soviet-era hockey program and its life after glasnost, exposing an athletic system that became a crucial symbol of Communist history and politics, but also discipline, grace and brooding, melancholy soul. All of those qualities abound in Slava Fetisov, the storied Soviet who serves as the documentary’s charismatic protagonist and Polsky’s occasionally irascible foil and goad. Their sometimes testy relationship is established early in the film, when the soft-spoken filmmaker is seen trying to interview the still-imposing former athlete. Fetisov finally deigns to acknowledge the director’s presence, a dynamic that will continue to propel “Red Army” through a story that is almost unbelievably dramatic but – thanks to Fetisov’s deadpan delivery and Polsky’s willingness to play the bumbling naif – also caustically amusing. Extras include commentary with Polsky and executive producer Werner Herzog, deleted scenes, an interview with legendary Canadian hockey coach Scotty Bowman, a Q&A with Polsky and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, and a Toronto International Film Festival Q&A with Polsky.

“Serena”

R, 109 minutes, Magnolia Home Entertainment

Susanne Bier’s dark drama, an adaptation of Ron Rash’s 2008 novel, is set during the Great Depression around the Smoky Mountains, where George Pemberton (Bradley Cooper) runs a timber enterprise with hopes of expanding his business to South America. But first he has to sort though some complications. In the midst of them, George weds the spitfire Serena (Jennifer Lawrence), whose late father also was a logging man. Cooper and Lawrence do their best, but the material consistently works against them, from the overwrought dialogue to the never-ending plot twists. Contains violence and sexual situations. Extras include an interview with Bier and screenwriter Christopher Kyle and interviews with Cooper and Lawrence.

“The DUFF”

PG-13, 104 minutes, Lionsgate

Based on Kody Keplinger’s young adult novel, this high school rom-com is tricked out in rhetoric of independence and self-discovery that give it a pseudo-feminist sheen. But, between its grating heroine, strident speechifying, derivative plot and draggy tone and tempo, it’s like the redheaded stepchild of “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday.” Bianca, a Designated Ugly Fat Friend, isn’t fat or ugly, but she isn’t terribly kind or sympathetic, either. Played with less warmth than brisk efficiency by Mae Whitman, she makes a dubious protagonist, especially when all of her energies seem geared toward making herself more “super-hot and popular.” Contains crude and sexual material throughout, profanity and teen partying. Extras include gag reel, a red carpet report and featurettes “Bringing the Book to Life,” “Teen Comedies and The DUFF” and “I Am the DUFF.”

Also: “Project Almanac” (a smart and engagingly low-tech time-travel adventure for teens, with Jonny Weston and Sofia Black-D’Elia, Paramount), “Rich Hill” (Sundance-winning documentary on poverty, focused on Rich Hill, Missouri, Passion River), “Beautiful and Twisted” (based on life of Fontainebleau Hotel heir Ben Novack Jr., with Rob Lowe, Paz Vega and Candice Bergen, Sony), “Cas &Dylan” (with Richard Dreyfuss and Tatiana Maslaney), “Healing” (drama about a prisoner and an eagle in rehabilitation, with Hugo Weaving and Don Hany), “Free the Nipple” (Lina Esco directs and stars in this comedy-drama based on the real life movement that advocates for a woman’s right to go topless in public, IFC Films), “Cupcakes” (international song competition parody from Israel), “The Squeeze” (with Jeremy Sumpter), “Strange Blood,” “Debug” (sci-fi horror), “Society” (1989, horror), “The Beginners Bible, Volume 2” (animated) and “The Golden Year Collection” (six-disc set of Warner Brothers classics released in 1939 including “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Dark Victory,” “Dodge City,” “Ninotchka” and “Gone With the Wind”).

Television Series: “The Last Ship: Season 1” (TNT), “Teen Wolf Season 4” (MTV), “Transporter: The Series — The Complete Second Season,” “Forsyte Saga: The Complete Series” (2002, PBS), “Power Rangers Super Megaforce: Sky Strike,” “Hart To Hart: The Final Season” (1984) and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: NYC Showdown” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Search for Splinter” (both from 2003).

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