JOLENE (2009, E1, R, $25) - Jessica Chastain. Remember that name. The freckled, flame-haired newcomer is a revelation in Dan Ireland's involving, over-the-top adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's short story about a 15-year-old orphan and her 10-year journey to happiness. Jolene encounters a lot of drama along the way in the form of botched marriages, visits to the psych ward and mob murders as well as disastrous romances with a gangster (Chazz Palminteri), a blueblood (Michael Vartan), a nurse (Frances Fisher) and a tattoo artist (Rupert Friend). "Jolene" might be episodic but Chastain is the thread that weaves it all together. Extras: bloopers, featurette and commentary by Ireland ("Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont").
LUCKY (2011, New Video, unrated, $30) - Have you ever fantasized about winning the lottery? If so, you'll want to track down this absorbing documentary about a handful of winners who netted life-changing sums of money. Some of the victors enjoy their spoils but others seem devastated by their good fortune. Winning the lottery is, to quote one of the participants, like "pouring Miracle-Gro on your character defects." The follow-up to the acclaimed "Spellbound" and "Rocket Science" fromBergen County's Jeffrey Blitz is as its most poignant examining the sad existence of a big winner who found a way to burn through $6 million in about 3 years. Extras: deleted scenes.
SQUARE GROUPER (2011, Magnolia, unrated, $27) - A trio of tales about pot trafficking in South Florida, this documentary gets really interesting during its second act when the incredible saga of the Black Tuna gang is unreeled. Busted by the FBI and the DEA and made to serve a whopping 50 years between them, Philly's Bob Platshorn and Robert Meinster remain the longest-serving non-violent offenders. Their tale is one of extravagant living, trumped-up charges and justice thwarted, but the movie is also something of a love story thanks to the reteaming, 30 years after their divorce, of Platshorn and wife Lynne. Extras: extended interviews.
Tuesday — “The Dilemma,” “The Green Hornet,” “From Prada to Nada,” “Waiting Forever.”
June 7 — “The Company Men,” “Sanctum,” “True Grit.”
UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS (2011, BBC, unrated, $35) - Rare is the sequel that's as good, if not better, than the original, but that's the case with this three-episode miniseries set at 165 Eaton Place. A new family (Ed Stoppard, Eileen Atkins, Claire Foy, Keely Hawes) has moved into the Belgravia digs, with Jean Marsh reprising her role as Rose Buck, a former parlor maid turned head housekeeper with a fresh service staff (Neil Jackson, Anne Reid) under her direction. Issues of class are tackled but it's the threat of Nazi Germany that causes the most turmoil in the household. Exquisite from the first scene to the last. Extras: featurettes.
BOB DYLAN: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR (2007, Sony, unrated, $25) - There's no better way to celebrate Dylan's upcoming 70th birthday than by watching the singer morph from a Woody-Guthrie-loving folkie into a singular, plugged-in superstar. On this new-to-Blu-Ray doc, director Murray Lerner captures the transformation through a series of 1963-65 performances at the Newport Folk Festival. Also new this week: "Bob Dylan Revealed" (2011, MVD, unrated, $15), an inquiry that spans the legend's signing with Columbia Records to his days on the Never Ending Tour, and the Blu-Ray debut of "Don't Look Back" (1967, New Video, unrated, $40), the iconic Dylan doc shot during his '65 tour of the U.K.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: STONEWALL UPRISING (2011, PBS, unrated, $25) - It was the gay movement's "Rosa Parks moment," as one participant recalls. In 1969, six NYPD officers raided a seedy, Mafia-run bar in Greenwich Village, and the patrons decided to fight back rather than endure the humiliation of another crackdown. Extras: none.
MOGULS & MOVIE STARS: A HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD (2011, Warner, unrated, $40) - In TCM's seven-hour documentary series, the history of motion pictures is chronicled primarily through the powerful figures who pulled the strings. The focus is on all-powerful studio heads like Louis B. Mayer, Carl Laemmle, Adolph Zukor and Samuel Goldwyn. Narrated by Christopher Plummer, "Moguls" is jampacked with rare footage and insider-interviews. A fabulous feast for film buffs. Extras: additional footage.
THE LUCY SHOW: THE OFFICIAL FOURTH SEASON (1965, Paramount, unrated, $43) - After Vivian Vance departed during the third season, Lucy re-invented the show by heading to Los Angeles and sending her kids off to college and military school. A rash of guest stars (Danny Thomas, Ann Sothern, Mel Torme, Milton Berle, Dean Martin) help make up for the loss of Viv, but Lucy found her most reliable foil in Gale Gordon, her banker nemesis who also relocates to the West Coast. Extras: rare promos and featurettes.
JOLENE (2009, E1, R, $25) - Jessica Chastain. Remember that name. The freckled, flame-haired newcomer is a revelation in Dan Ireland's involving, over-the-top adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's short story about a 15-year-old orphan and her 10-year journey to happiness. Jolene encounters a lot of drama along the way in the form of botched marriages, visits to the psych ward and mob murders as well as disastrous romances with a gangster (Chazz Palminteri), a blueblood (Michael Vartan), a nurse (Frances Fisher) and a tattoo artist (Rupert Friend). "Jolene" might be episodic but Chastain is the thread that weaves it all together. Extras: bloopers, featurette and commentary by Ireland ("Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont").
LUCKY (2011, New Video, unrated, $30) - Have you ever fantasized about winning the lottery? If so, you'll want to track down this absorbing documentary about a handful of winners who netted life-changing sums of money. Some of the victors enjoy their spoils but others seem devastated by their good fortune. Winning the lottery is, to quote one of the participants, like "pouring Miracle-Gro on your character defects." The follow-up to the acclaimed "Spellbound" and "Rocket Science" from Bergen County's Jeffrey Blitz is as its most poignant examining the sad existence of a big winner who found a way to burn through $6 million in about 3 years. Extras: deleted scenes.
SQUARE GROUPER (2011, Magnolia, unrated, $27) - A trio of tales about pot trafficking in South Florida, this documentary gets really interesting during its second act when the incredible saga of the Black Tuna gang is unreeled. Busted by the FBI and the DEA and made to serve a whopping 50 years between them, Philly's Bob Platshorn and Robert Meinster remain the longest-serving non-violent offenders. Their tale is one of extravagant living, trumped-up charges and justice thwarted, but the movie is also something of a love story thanks to the reteaming, 30 years after their divorce, of Platshorn and wife Lynne. Extras: extended interviews.
UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS (2011, BBC, unrated, $35) - Rare is the sequel that's as good, if not better, than the original, but that's the case with this three-episode miniseries set at 165 Eaton Place. A new family (Ed Stoppard, Eileen Atkins, Claire Foy, Keely Hawes) has moved into the Belgravia digs, with Jean Marsh reprising her role as Rose Buck, a former parlor maid turned head housekeeper with a fresh service staff (Neil Jackson, Anne Reid) under her direction. Issues of class are tackled but it's the threat of Nazi Germany that causes the most turmoil in the household. Exquisite from the first scene to the last. Extras: featurettes.
BOB DYLAN: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR (2007, Sony, unrated, $25) - There's no better way to celebrate Dylan's upcoming 70th birthday than by watching the singer morph from a Woody-Guthrie-loving folkie into a singular, plugged-in superstar. On this new-to-Blu-Ray doc, director Murray Lerner captures the transformation through a series of 1963-65 performances at the Newport Folk Festival. Also new this week: "Bob Dylan Revealed" (2011, MVD, unrated, $15), an inquiry that spans the legend's signing with Columbia Records to his days on the Never Ending Tour, and the Blu-Ray debut of "Don't Look Back" (1967, New Video, unrated, $40), the iconic Dylan doc shot during his '65 tour of the U.K.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: STONEWALL UPRISING (2011, PBS, unrated, $25) - It was the gay movement's "Rosa Parks moment," as one participant recalls. In 1969, six NYPD officers raided a seedy, Mafia-run bar in Greenwich Village, and the patrons decided to fight back rather than endure the humiliation of another crackdown. Extras: none.
MOGULS & MOVIE STARS: A HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD (2011, Warner, unrated, $40) - In TCM's seven-hour documentary series, the history of motion pictures is chronicled primarily through the powerful figures who pulled the strings. The focus is on all-powerful studio heads like Louis B. Mayer, Carl Laemmle, Adolph Zukor and Samuel Goldwyn. Narrated by Christopher Plummer, "Moguls" is jampacked with rare footage and insider-interviews. A fabulous feast for film buffs. Extras: additional footage.
THE LUCY SHOW: THE OFFICIAL FOURTH SEASON (1965, Paramount, unrated, $43) - After Vivian Vance departed during the third season, Lucy re-invented the show by heading to Los Angeles and sending her kids off to college and military school. A rash of guest stars (Danny Thomas, Ann Sothern, Mel Torme, Milton Berle, Dean Martin) help make up for the loss of Viv, but Lucy found her most reliable foil in Gale Gordon, her banker nemesis who also relocates to the West Coast. Extras: rare promos and featurettes.
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