'Repo Men'
(R/NR, 2010, Universal)
The practice of organ donation has become untenable in the dystopian (what else?) future, but private companies like The Union have stepped in to offer synthetic organs to anyone willing to take out the biological equivalent of a mortgage on a house. Much as in that scenario, those who default on their payments have to surrender those organs - even if it kills them - to repo men like Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker). If this idea sounds oddly familiar, it's because "Repo! The Genetic Opera" floated roughly the same idea a couple years ago. But while "Repo!" embraced its absurdity - and, some might argue, awfulness - by dressing the story in a 10-car pileup of cartoon characters and glam-rock show tunes, "Repo Men" plays like so many other action movies about the very obviously lousy future that awaits our society. A legitimately creepy presentation of the awful world of privatized organ manufacturing gives the story legs, but once the inevitable hunter-becomes-the-hunted twist kicks in - and is followed close behind by the obligatory love interest and surprising twist that's only surprising because it makes zero sense - that early momentum is all but shot. With that said, the cheap thrills "Repo Men" provides are enjoyable if you don't need them to be anything more than cheap. And if the mannequin love scene in "Team America" wasn't quite weird enough for you, the one in this movie's homestretch might finally do it for you. Extras: Writers/director commentary, deleted scenes, Union commercials, behind-the-scenes feature.
'Entre Nos'
(NR, 2009, IndiePix)
You know what's scarier than moving with your two young kids from Colombia to New York City to appease the whims of your husband? How about finding yourself jobless and forced to fend for yourself and those kids when the husband follows another whim to Miami and leaves without a trail? That, along with no prospects and a minimal grasp of English, is the situation Mariana (Paola Mendoza) finds herself in when "Entre Nos" kicks into gear. What happens next is pretty remarkable - not simply because of what happens or because it's based on a true story but also because "Nos" completely sidesteps pretense despite telling a story with starkly obvious connections to one hugely controversial current issue. Even though "Nos" presumably takes place years before the issue became such a political lightning rod, nothing about it feels like a story that couldn't happen today. And more than lean on its time period or even tell a story about the plight of an immigrant, "Nos" is just a story about the plight of a mom trying to do right by her kids while also trying to just keep it together in light of some rough unforeseen circumstances. Mariana's particular situation may be more extreme than the monetary and familial issues most face, but "Nos"' ability to present it under completely relatable terms without sugarcoating it is an extremely impressive work of restraint. Extras: Director commentary, short film "Still Standing," behind-the-scenes feature, how to make empanadas feature.
'Being Human: Season One'
(NR, 2008, BBC)
Burned out on vampires yet? Don't even want to hear about another vampire story that also has a werewolf? That's too bad, because "Being Human" might be the perfect antidote for anyone who likes these mythologies but can't stomach where popular culture has taken them lately. "Human" finds three not-quite human humans - a vampire (Aidan Turner as Mitchell), a werewolf (Russell Tovey as George) and a woman (Lenora Crichlow as Annie) who died but is stuck in limbo as a ghost - sharing a house in Bristol, and their shared habitat accompanies a shared desire to live as close to plainly human existences as their respective situations will allow. Those modest aspirations, along with a certain degree of success on our characters' parts, makes "Human" a much more grounded show than the genre's typical fare as of late, and while the show is measurably more of a drama than a comedy, it isn't afraid to flash its sense of humor frequently and to great effect. "Human" isn't as funny as Joss Whedon's pitch-perfect take on vampires and werewolves, but it most definitely isn't as agonizingly self-serious as Stephenie Meyer's brutal interpretations, and for all who long for the former and cannot stand the latter, this absolutely merits a close look. Contents: Six episodes, plus deleted scenes, creator interview, video diaries, behind-the-scenes features and character profiles.
'Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show: The First Season'
(NR, 1955, CBS/Paramount)
Given all the completely pointless and/or terrible shows that get shoved out to DVD almost the instant it becomes logistically possible, it's a bit startling that it took this long for an arguable classic to get its proper turn. "Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show" previously received a classy 50th anniversary set, but that was three years ago, and while it had a nice selection of extras, it contained only 18 episodes. This complete first season, by comparison, contains 34 all by itself. Extras: Commentary, the lost audition show, original openings/commercials and an episode from the fifth season of "The Lucy Show."
'Barking Dogs Never Bite'
(NR, 2005, Magnolia)
What's worse - gravely imperiling a child's dog because it barks too much, or getting nicked in the head by a speeding train? Why choose when "Barking Dogs Never Bite" has both? "Bite" hits the ground sprinting with a jobless aspiring professor (Sung-jae Lee) committing the former act in the opening minutes, and while the story that follows is a bit too unwieldy to encapsulate in a few sentences, it probably isn't a stretch to recognize "Bite's" road-less-traveled decision to both position itself as a black comedy and make its central character instantly and completely detestable with no sense of irony whatsoever. He isn't alone, either: His wife treats him horribly, his apartment building's maintenance guy is psychotic, and his academic peers are dirtbags. Great, huh? But here's the thing about "Bite:" In spite of how horrible most of its characters and their actions are, and while even the strong of stomach may find this one's reprehensible points too dark to enjoy, the total package is a stylish treatment of a sharp script. And by going so low so quickly, "Bite" makes it that much more gratifying when one of its few likable characters rises up and tries to take the mood back. How successful that effort is won't be spoiled here, but it's a heck of a good fight. In Korean with English subtitles. Extras: Interview, storyboards, highlight montage.
'Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One'
(NR, 1999, Cartoon Network Hall of Fame)
Cartoon Network's new and long overdue Hall of Fame DVD imprint kicked off on a high note with the release of the first season of "Johnny Bravo." But outside of the lack of bonus content, this second entrant - which follows the adventures of a terrified but loyal and fiercely (or maybe not fiercely) protective family dog named Courage - does not represent a step down in any sense of the term. Whatever the third entrant is, it has big shoes to fill. Contents: 13 episodes, no extras.
- By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy Newspapers