Seth Rogen (left) and Jay Chou in Columbia Pictures' action film, THE GREEN HORNET. (Jaimie Trueblood)
From left, Lenora Crichlow, Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey and Sinead Keenan star in the BBC series “Being Human.”
DVDS OUT TUESDAY
New films
The Green Hornet $28.95/ Blu-ray $34.95
The Dilemma $29.98/ Blu-ray $39.98
From Prada to Nada $19.98/ Blu-ray $19.99
Sync or Swim $24.99
Television
Being Human: Season 3 $49.98/ Blu-ray $59.98
Drop Dead Diva: The Complete Second Season $29.95
Boy Meets World: The Complete Fifth Season $29.98
Melrose Place: Sixth Season, Vol. 1 $42.99
Make It or Break It: Season Two, Vol. Three $24.98
According to Jim: The Complete Third Season $29.98
Identity $39.99
Murdoch Mysteries: Season 3 $59.99
Penn & Teller Bull-: Eighth Season $31.99
Frontline: Revolution in Cairo $24.99
Dirty Jobs: Collection 7 $19.98
Older films
Smiles of a Summer Night: The Criterion Collection Blu-ray $39.95
Fat Girl: The Criterion Collection Blu-ray $39.95
From Dusk Till Dawn Blu-ray $19.99
The Man Who Could Cheat Death / The Skull Blu-ray $16.95
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Blu-ray $19.99
What Dreams May Come Blu-ray $26.98
The Crow: City of Angels Blu-ray $19.99
Taps Blu-ray $24.99
All the Right Moves Blu-ray $24.99
The Yards Blu-ray $19.99
For kids
Curious George Plays Ball! $16.98
The PJs: Season 1 $19.98
The Super Hero Squad Show: Quest for the Infinity Sword, Vol. Four $14.93
Ben 10, Ultimate Alien: Power Struggle $19.98
Dora the Explorer: It's Haircut Day $16.99
Elmo's Travel Songs & Games $14.98
Music
The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town $14.98/ Blu-ray $29.98
Maybe we should be grateful that we have superheroes in movies because none of our current leaders seem interested in saving us from the ills of the country. This summer we can spend a lot of time in the dark watching mighty men do mighty things, but the first entry in the superhero genre this year was the mighty curious "The Green Hornet."
The onetime radio serial was adapted for the screen by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who also stars, and directed by Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind").
Rogen plays Britt Reid, the slacker son of a newspaper publisher (Tom Wilkinson) and is considered a bit of a joke, especially when he has to take over the business when Dad suddenly dies. That works to his advantage, though, when Britt decides to fight crime, after helping to rescue a couple from a street gang. He is urged on by Kato (Jay Chou), his father's mechanic, who really has the martial arts and technical skills needed for the job.
The pair - in what is essentially a PR stunt to attract attention to their anti-crime campaign - dress in their goofy outfits and drive around with a pimped-out car.
Eventually, they have to face off against the local crime boss (Christoph Waltz, who shows us again how he can be unexpectedly menacing).
Mostly, the film is divided among Rogen trying to be amusing - and occasionally succeeding - Gondry trying to add some of his patented whimsy to the proceedings, expected car chases and everybody
winking at how silly it all is. "The Green Hornet" isn't that good and isn't that bad, but then it isn't much of anything.�
'Dilemma' not too deep
"The Dilemma" has glimmers of interest in it. Vince Vaughn plays Ronny, a car designer who has a problem. He has witnessed the wife of his co-worker and best friend Nick (Kevin James) seemingly stepping out on him. Nick has been married to Geneva (Winona Ryder) for a while, and now Ronny has been contemplating marriage with his longtime girlfriend, Beth (Jennifer Connelly). Should he tell Nick what he saw? Does this mean he should run from the altar?
Directed by Ron Howard, "The Dilemma" never probes too deeply into these ethical and philosophical questions, and that's because the male characters in this - like most of the genre - are not too deeply drawn themselves. So while "The Dilemma" is a little smarter than some bromances, the film ultimately doesn't stray from beyond its Hollywood limitations.
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Keep in mind
Criterion has a Blu-ray edition of Ingmar Bergman's sublime 1955 comedy "Smiles of a Summer Night," which deftly and amusingly deals with men and women and matters of the heart. The company is also issuing a Blu-ray of "Fat Girl" (2001) from French director Catherine Breillat, a provocative story of a 12-year-old overweight girl, her 15-year-old sister and adolescent sexuality.
"Being Human: Season 3" continues the original BBC version of the story of a vampire, werewolf and ghost living together. (The Syfy channel now has an American adaptation.) And fans of British actress Keeley Hawes (the new "Upstairs Downstairs," "Ashes to Ashes" and "MI-5") can check out "Identity," a six-part crime drama about the growing problem of identity theft.
Mýa Hilary Duff Pamela Anderson Jennifer Gareis Selita Ebanks
