‘Zombieland’
Zombieland
Sony, $28.96; Blu-ray, $39.95
The raucous horror- comedy “Zombieland” sports enough action and black humor to win over those with walking-dead fatigue. Director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick send up post-apocalyptic movie clichés while also crafting an effective people-need-people plot, casting Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin as a circle of survivors traveling cross-country to an amusement park. (The movie also features one of the most enjoyable surprise cameos in recent movie memory.) The DVD contains deleted scenes, a Fleischer-Harrelson-Eisenberg-Wernick-Reese commentary and some unexceptional featurettes; the Blu-ray adds a picture-in-picture commentary.
Adam
20th Century Fox, $19.98
The indie romance “Adam” follows a faltering affair between a self-sufficient young man with Asperger’s syndrome (Hugh Dancy) and an aspiring children’s book author (Rose Byrne). Though the movie does better than most when it comes to its depiction of autism, “Adam” generally regards its title character as a “character,” not a complicated person in his own right. It is often sweet and moving, but it’s frustratingly codified. The DVD, though, is quite satisfying, thanks to a thoughtful commentary by writer-director Max Mayer, two featurettes and 10 minutes of alternate and deleted scenes.
Amelia
20th Century Fox, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99
The usually reliable director Mira Nair comes down with a crippling case of biopic-itis with “Amelia,” a gorgeous-looking but doggedly remedial survey of legendary aviator Amelia Earhart. Star Hilary Swank does resemble Earhart, but her exaggerated accent -- matched by Richard Gere’s as publisher-spouse George Putnam -- makes “Amelia” feel more like kids playing dress-up than the true story of a remarkable person. The DVD and Blu-ray come with 15 minutes of deleted scenes, assorted featurettes and excerpts from original Movietone News reports.
The House of The Devil
MPI/Dark Sky, $27.98/$34.98; Blu-ray, $34.9
Writer-director-editor Ti West’s retro thriller features long stretches where nothing much happens, outside of quiet, tense shots of a cash-strapped college student (Jocelin Donahue) exploring a creepy old house. Eventually, the movie does drip with gore and ring with screams, but what’s made it a cult sensation is the way West allows genre fans to settle comfortably into the milieu of early-’80s horror schlock. The home video release is being handled just as smartly, with its almost avant-garde presentation of behind-the-scenes footage and its limited-edition VHS release, packaged in a puffy clamshell case (with a DVD thrown in).
New York, I Love You
Vivendi, $24.93; Blu-ray, $27.99
Serving as a sequel to “Paris, Je T’aime,” the swoony “New York, I Love You” assembles short films by such heavy hitters as Allen Hughes, Fatih Akin and Brett Ratner, starring the likes of Natalie Portman (who also directs her segment), Bradley Cooper, Shia LaBeouf and Julie Christie. As with most movies of this type, “New York, I Love You” is hit and miss -- but mostly miss. The filmmakers aim for breezy and fail to give the city’s diversity of moods and locales their due. The DVD and Blu-ray contains an interview featurette, plus two segments cut from the theatrical release (one of which marks the directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson).
And...
Love Happens
Universal, $28.98; Blu-ray, $36.98
All titles available Tuesday.
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