Selected home-video releases:
“The Mist”: With “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” writer-director Frank Darabont has proven himself one of Hollywood’s ablest at bringing Stephen King tales to the big screen. His latest King adaptation continues his winning streak as Darabont builds a slow sense of foreboding that gives way to terror for a small New England town engulfed by a mysterious mist.
The film’s cast includes Marcia Gay Harden, Thomas Jane, Toby Jones and Andre Braugher among the townsfolk trapped in a store surrounded by the mist, from which horrifying creatures emerge.
The movie comes in a two-disc set ($32.95) packing both the theatrical color release and a black-and-white version or as a single disc ($29.95) with just the theatrical edition. Among the extras: eight deleted scenes, a batch of making-of segments and commentary with Darabont. (Genius)
“The Kite Runner”: Director Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland”) adapts Khaled Hosseini’s novel set amid the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the rise of the Taliban over the ensuing decades. The film traces the differing fates of two childhood friends in Kabul, one who manages to escape Afghanistan and emigrate to the United States with his father, the other left behind to face a far harsher life in his homeland. Years later, his old pal makes a daring return to the country in an attempt to make amends to the friend he wronged in their youth. Among the extras: commentary with Forster, Hosseini and screenwriter David Benioff. $29.99. (Paramount)
“Bonnie and Clyde”: One of Hollywood’s great gangster tales returns in a two-disc set ($20.97), a “Collector’s Edition” loaded with memorabilia ($39.92) and a Blu-ray high-definition release ($34.99), with an HD DVD high-definition release following on April 15.
The 1967 film stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the title roles as the ’30s crime couple whose gang beats a bloody path across the Southwest on a robbery spree. The film’s graphic violence was a shocker for audiences 40 years ago.
The movie is accompanied by two deleted scenes, a new behind-the-scenes documentary that examines how the film was made and marketed, and the History Channel special “Love and Death: The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.” The “Collector’s Edition” also includes a photo book and a reproduction of the film’s 1967 press book. (Warner Bros.)
“Walk the Line: Extended Cut”: The Johnny Cash film biography that earned Reese Witherspoon the best-actress Academy Award is back in a longer cut that adds 17 minutes of footage. Joaquin Phoenix, who earned a best-actor nomination, stars as singer Cash, battling the demons of pills and stardom while pursuing the love of his life, future wife June Carter (Witherspoon). The two-disc set has eight extended musical performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon, along with a nice spread of features on Cash and Carter and the film itself. Director James Mangold provides commentary for the full film and two deleted scenes. $26.98. (20th Century Fox)
TV on DVD
“Day Break: The Complete Series”: “Groundhog Day” meets cop drama in this short-lived series starring Taye Diggs as a detective forced to live the same day again and again as he goes on the run and tries to prove his innocence after he’s framed for murder. $39.98. (BCI)
“The Invisible Man: Season One”: A fan favorite that lasted just two seasons after its debut in 2000, the series updates H.G. Wells’ invisibility notion as a petty crook (Vincent Ventresca) becomes the subject of a vanishing-act experiment. $59.98. (Universal)
“Midsomer Murders”: Two boxed sets gather cases of the acclaimed British crime series starring John Nettles as a veteran police inspector. “Midsomer Murders: Set 10” is a four-disc set packing four two-hour mysteries. The 19-disc “Midsomer Murders: The Early Cases Collection” gathers the first 18 mysteries of the show that debuted in the late 1990s, along with a bonus disc whose extras include a documentary examining the show’s first decade. “Set 10” DVD set, $49.99; “Early Cases” DVD set, $159.99. (Acorn)
“Wings: The Sixth Season”: The 1990s sitcom takes flight again, featuring Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Tony Shalhoub and Thomas Haden Church among the crazies at the small Nantucket airport. $39.98. (Paramount)
“Party of Five: The Complete Third Season”: Matthew Fox, Neve Campbell and their siblings live another year on their own in the family drama about brothers and sisters looking out for one another after the deaths of their parents. $39.95. (Sony)
“Sliders: The Fourth Season”: Jerry O’Connell and his pals resume hopping from one alternate reality to another as they try to return to their version of planet Earth in the 1990s sci-fi series. $59.98. (Universal)
“The Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 World Series”: Here’s the entire championship matchup that opened with Kirk Gibson limping around the bases after his ninth-inning home run sealed the Dodgers’ win over the Oakland Athletics in game one. All five games of the Dodgers’ triumphant series, plus two key games from the National League championship, are included in the seven-disc set. $69.95. (A&E)
Other new releases
“Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains”: Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs”) directs this documentary portrait. $24.96. (Sony)
“Wristcutters: A Love Story”: Suicides get their own romantic comedy with this strange tale starring Patrick Fugit and Shannyn Sossamon among people who tried to end their lives but wind up in a dreary purgatory of tedious jobs and decrepit infrastructure. $26.98. (Lionsgate)
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