Jul 12, 2008

New DVD releases: `Step Up 2 the Streets'

Selected home-video releases:

"Step Up 2 the Streets"

Are you ready to rumba? This follow-up to the 2006 teen mini-hit "Step Up" again mingles the raw world of street hoofing with the refined circles of formally trained dancers. This one lands a rough but talented street dancer (Briana Evigan) at the Maryland School of the Arts, where she tries to blend in with snooty classmates and teams up with a hotshot student (Robert Hoffman) to compete in an underground dance competition. The DVD and Blu-ray releases come with deleted scenes, two behind-the-scenes segments and five music videos, including tunes by Flo Rida and Missy Elliott. DVD, $29.99; Blu-ray, $34.99. (Disney)

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"College Road Trip"

Martin Lawrence makes life miserable for Raven-Symone as they hit the highway in this family comedy. Lawrence plays a well-meaning but meddlesome dad who butts into his daughter's hunt for the right college, accompanying her and her friends on their mishap-laden trip. The DVD and Blu-ray discs have an alternate opening and alternate endings, plus deleted scenes with commentary from director Roger Kumble. The full movie has commentary with Kumble, Raven-Symone and the screenwriters. Raven-Symone also pitches in with a music video and a video diary of her experiences on the set. DVD, $29.99; Blu-ray, $34.99. (Disney)

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"The Bank Job"

Jason Statham makes an unauthorized withdrawal in this solid heist flick from director Roger Donaldson. Statham stars as a car dealer who meets up with a beautiful woman (Saffron Burrows) from his old haunts and gets in way over his head after she lets him in on a robbery of cash and jewels from a London bank. Two-disc DVD and Blu-ray editions come with extended footage, a making-of featurette and a segment on the 1971 Lloyd's Bank job that inspired the film. Both releases also include a digital copy of the movie for portable video players. The movie also comes in a bare-bones single-disc DVD. Single DVD, $29.95; two-disc DVD set, $34.98; Blu-ray, $39.99. (Lionsgate)

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"Shutter"

This horror tale centers on a photographer (Joshua Jackson) and his new wife (Rachael Taylor) who are exposed to a vengeful spirit from beyond on a trip to Japan, where the photos that result contain ghostly images of a woman on a haunting mission. The movie is available on DVD in the theatrical version or an unrated cut, both containing a couple of background featurettes. The unrated DVD and Blu-ray releases also have deleted scenes and an alternate ending, five more behind-the-scenes featurettes and commentary with Taylor and some of the filmmakers. DVD, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98. (20th Century Fox)

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"Penelope"

Christina Ricci is the fairest pig-faced girl in the land in this contemporary twist on fairy-tale romance. The comic tale stars Ricci as a young woman afflicted by a family curse _ the snout of a pig _ with James McAvoy as a suitor who may hold the key to lifting the curse. Ricci and McAvoy are backed by a great cast that includes Catherine O'Hara, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant and Reese Witherspoon, who also is a producer on the film. The scant DVD extras include a making-of featurette and a sneak peak at this fall's teen vampire tale "Twilight." DVD, $25.99. (Summit)

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"Trafic"

French filmmaker and actor Jacques Tati returns to his Monsieur Hulot persona one last time with this 1971 comedy about an automotive designer who encounters endless troubles while taking his gadget-loaded camper to a car show in Amsterdam. Highlighting the extras in the two-disc set is the 1989 two-part documentary "In the Footsteps of M. Hulot," made by Tati's daughter, Sophie Tatischeff. The set also includes a 1971 interview with cast members from French television, the 1973 TV show "The Comedy of Jacques Tati" and an essay by film critic Jonathan Romney. DVD set, $39.95. (Criterion)

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TV on DVD:

"Saving Grace: Season One" _ Academy Award winner Holly Hunter heads to the small screen for this unusual crime drama, playing a cop whose life is heading into the drink when an angel steps in from above to help her turn things around. The first 13 episodes are packed in a four-disc set, along with commentary on the pilot and a handful of background segments. DVD set, $49.98. (20th Century Fox)

"Evening Shade: Season One" _ Burt Reynolds returned to TV with this 1990s comedy about a former pro football player who takes a job coaching his hometown's high school team. The cast includes Hal Holbrook, Marilu Henner, Ossie Davis and Charles Durning. The five-disc set has the first 24 episodes. DVD set, $42.99. (Paramount)

"Dallas: The Complete Ninth Season" _ J.R. Ewing would love to be in business with today's oil prices. Larry Hagman and the rest of the conniving Ewing clan are back in the prime-time soap about a Texas oil family. Year nine's 31 episodes come in a four-disc package. DVD set, $39.98. (Warner Bros.)

"Eureka: Season 2" _ The real brain trust of America lives in an idyllic, secret Northwest town set up after World War II for the best scientific minds to hatch all our great technological advances _ and complicate their lives with the same interpersonal issues that trouble the rest of us. A three-disc set has the second season's 13 episodes. DVD set, $39.98. (Universal)

"Reno 911! The Complete Fifth Season" _ The band of rough and not-so-ready Nevada cops are on the beat again with a three-disc set packing the fifth year's 16 episodes, along with cast commentary and extended scenes. DVD set, $39.98. (Paramount)

"Birds of Prey: The Complete Series" _ This short-lived 2002 spinoff of the Batman universe, arriving just days before "The Dark Knight" hits theaters, follows the adventures of Batman and Catwoman's daughter (Ashley Scott) and two allies (Dina Meyer and Rachel Skarsten) as they fight crime in New Gotham City. All 13 episodes come in a four-disc set. DVD set, $39.98. (Warner Bros.)

"Swamp Thing: The Series _ Volume Two" _ Dick Durock returns as the man transformed into a plant-humanoid hybrid battling evil. The first 25 episodes from season three are contained in a four-disc set. DVD set, $39.99. (Shout)

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