DVD Pick of the Week: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Welcome back! Well, to some of you, anyway. To the rest of you, glad you decided to stop by and I hope that this humble column helps you navigate the stacks of new releases each week. My goal is to point you toward titles of interest and warn you away from those films that seek to do nothing but leech away your time and give you nothing in return.

This week brings a decent selection of titles — from worthy indies to those I never heard of, to horror, to drama, to concerts and sports. None of the titles are terribly high profile, but I am sure you will find something worth checking out. I know I did.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. This is a wonderful film, reminiscent of the screwball comedies of the '30s and '40s, one that completely caught me by surprise. The trailer looked good, but I did not expect to be drawn in or laugh as much as I did. It is a delightful experience and further proves that Amy Adams is going to be a big star. Do yourself a favor — even if you don't think you'd like it, give this a shot, you may well be surprised by what you find. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

House: Season Four. Easily one of the best shows going right now, it is one that really needs to be seen. It has a strong blend of drama, character, and comedy. This season shook things up a bit with House auditioning a new team following the events of the third season finale. It will be interesting to see where they go this time out. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Dexter: The Second Season. It was just recently that I saw the first season. By the time it was over I could not wait to see the second, and now I can. The series has a serial killer at its heart, one who spends his spare time working with the police to catch his competition. It is a fascinating series with compelling lead character. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - The Complete First Season. When this premiered, with much hype, I was hoping to like it but was sure it would not live up to the hype. I found the premiere to be decent. Subsequent episodes just got better making this a fun series with plenty of potential. Then there was the worry of whether it would be picked up for a second season. It was picked up, and now you can catch up on the early episodes before the new season starts. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Wimbledon: The 2008 Finals - Nadal vs. Federer. I am not a big tennis fan, but this match was fantastic, one of the best ever (at least that's what some of the experts said). (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Street Kings. Riddled with cliches and predictable to the end Street Kings remains riveting throughout. Even as I saw two steps ahead, watching Reeves work his way through the thugs and gangsters, picking up the blatant clues, and enjoying the R rated goodness turned out to be fine entertainment. This is one to sit back, grab some popcorn, pull the lap belt down, and enjoy the roller coaster ride. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Recount. Can you guess what this movie is about? That's right, the Florida controversy. I have heard good things about this premium cable film (I cannot remember what network had this, I want to say Showtime). It was directed by Jay Roach, who is most famous for Austin Powers, and received good critical press. I cannot say I would want to own it, but a rental is not out of the question. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. The original film was entertaining, and served as a good introduction to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as an action star. That said, I cannot imagine this will be any good. UFC champion Randy Couture leads the cast for director Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction). (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Prom Night. I am not one to write off remakes as automatically unnecessary or guaranteed to be bad, but this one turned out to be both. There is no reason for it to exist other than to dupe those who choose to see it out of their ticket money. I cannot think of a way to defend the film, but I guess it is not really my place now that they already have my money. It is poorly written and executed. In other words, skip this. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Transformers Animated: Season One. I watched a one off DVD with the first few episodes a month or two ago and liked it, although it doesn't hold a candle to the old school series from the 1980s. Still, this could be worth a rental. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Wizard of Gore. In 1970 Herschell Gordon Lewis, the Godfather of gore, delivered The Wizard of Gore, a film that has attained cult status, although I have not yet seen it. Anyway, the film has been remade and is arriving straight to video. I have to admit that I am very curious about this one, a feeling reinforced by seeing Crispin Glover in the lead role, the dude is weird and is great at playing weird roles. The movie also features The Suicide Girls amongst the cast. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

The Life Before Her Eyes. Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood star as the same character in this drama about how events of the past can have long reaching effects into your future. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

The Summer Slaughter Tour 2007. An extreme metal tour DVD that features performances by Necrophagist, Decapitated, Cephalic Carnage, Ion Dissonance, As Blood Runs Black, Arsis, and more. Sounds good to me! (BUY, RENT, SKIP)