BROOKLYN’S FINEST (2010) Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Will Patton, Lili Taylor, Brian F. O’Byrne, Shannon Kane, Ellen Barkin. DVD: $29.98, BD: $39.98 Extras: Commentary by director Antoine Fuqua; “Chaos & Conflict: The Life of a New York Cop”; “Boyz N the Real Hood”; “An Eye for Detail” director featurette; “From the MTA to the WGA” writer featurette; deleted scenes. BD adds “Three Cops and a Dealer” character profile, digital copy. (Anchor Bay).
In Brooklyn’s Finest, burned out veteran Eddie Dugan (Richard Gere) is just one week away from his pension and a fishing cabin in Connecticut. Narcotics officer Sal Procida (Ethan Hawke) has discovered there’s no line he won’t cross to provide a better life for his long-suffering wife and seven children. And Clarence “Tango” Butler (Don Cheadle) has been undercover so long his loyalties have started to shift from his fellow police officers to his prison buddy Caz (Wesley Snipes), one of Brooklyn’s most infamous drug dealers. With personal and work pressures bearing down on them, each man faces daily tests of judgment and honor in one of the world’s most difficult jobs.
When NYPD’s Operation Clean Up targets the notoriously drug-ridden BK housing project, all three officers find themselves swept away by the violence and corruption of Brooklyn’s gritty 65th Precinct and its most treacherous criminals. During seven fateful days, Eddie, Sal and Tango find themselves hurtling inextricably toward the same fatal crime scene and a shattering collision with destiny.
COLUMBIA PICTURES FILM NOIR CLASSICS II “Human Desire” (1954), starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford; “Pushover” (1954), starring Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak, E.G. Marshall, Philip Carey and Dorothy Malone; “Nightfall” (1957), starring Brian Keith, Aldo Ray and Anne Bancroft; “The Brothers Rico” (1957), starring Richard Conti, Dianne Foster and James Darren; and “City of Fear” (1958), starring Vince Edwards. Extras: Featurettes: “Martin Scorsese on The Brothers Rico,” “Pulp Paranoia” with Christopher Nolan, “Terror and Desire” with Emily Mortimer, original theatrical trailers. Five-disc set, $59.95. (Sony).
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and The Film Foundation partner once again to bring five films to DVD for the first time, fully restored and remastered, in Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II. In this second volume, renowned directors Fritz Lang, Phil Karlson and Irving Lerner are joined by Jacques Tourneur and Richard Quine in proving that lust, adultery, greed and revenge all adds up to cold, calculated murder. Film Noir Classics II takes you on a dark journey among lowlifes and mobsters, cops and gun molls, and the dimwitted, hapless pawns who forever changed the landscape of cinema, and whose doomed paths are as disturbing today as when they were first committed to film.
DARK BLUE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2009) Dylan McDermott, Omari Hardwick, Logan Marshall-Green and Nicki Aycox. All 10 episodes available via disc-on-demand only at WBshop.com and the TNT store. $29.95 SRP. (Warner).
LAPD Lt. Carter Shaw (Dylan McDermott) and his special undercover task force understand that to collar criminals, one must first get on their level. They also know that going undercover may require cutting ties with those who mean the most. Adrift, isolated and frequently faced with situations that strain the line between right and wrong, these officers know that all that matters is loyalty to each other and to the task at hand: bringing down the bad guys. From Jerry Bruckheimer Television (the CSI Trilogy, Without a Trace, Cold Case) comes another edgy and atmospheric series about dedicated law enforcers operating in the shadows and leading double lives. Omari Hardwick, Logan Marshall-Green and Nicki Aycox also star. This 4-Disc, 10-Episode Season One Collection of their edge-of-your-seat investigations will take you to the edge of darkness – and beyond.
DRAGNET 1968: SEASON 2 (1968) Six-disc set with 28 episodes, $44.99. Extras: “Jack Webb — The Man Behind Badge 714”: A discussion with Peggy Webber, Tom Williams, Jackie Loughery, Herb Ellis and more; “Dragnet 1966” pilot movie; vintage “Dragnet” 1969 trailer; commemorative booklet. (Shout! Factory).
This is the city — Los Angeles. It’s 1968, and Sergeant Joe Friday (Jack Webb) and Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan, M*A*S*H*) are hitting the streets once again in the name of law and order, to protect and to serve.
The community landscape is littered daily by juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, student dissidence and con-artistry but, just like that, it can all be brought to a screeching halt when Friday and Gannon appear on the scene. Ladies and gentlemen, the stories you are about to see are true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. This is Dragnet 1968.
Originally conceived as a radio program and then a popular 1950s television series, the Dragnet series from 1967–1970 featured creator Jack Webb’s visionary cop drama in its prime — paving the way for the hit shows Adam-12 and Emergency!.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2010) Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube . Extras: Interview with
Noomi Rapace, interview with director Niels Arden Oplev, “The Vanger Family Tree.” Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Music Box Films).
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her beloved uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and the tattooed and troubled but resourceful computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) to investigate. When the pair link Harriet’s disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from almost forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vanger’s are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.
LIFE ON MARS: THE COMPLETE UK COLLECTION (2006-07) $79.99. Extras: Audio commentaries for all Series 1 episodes; Take a Look at the Lawman documentary (64 min.); Interview clip with director Bharat Nalluri (3 min.); The Music of Life on Mars featurette (14 min.); Get Sykes production design featurette (8 min.); Outtakes reel (6 min.); The Return of Life on Mars documentary (45 min.); Series 2 behind-the-scenes footage and set tour (48 min.); The End of Life on Mars featurette (28 min.) (Acorn Media).
Hot on a killer’s trail in modern-day Manchester, Sam Tyler (John Simm) gets struck by a passing car and wakes up in 1973. Is he mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever the case, he might as well have landed on another planet. The high-tech tools and respect for proper procedure have vanished. Instead, he finds himself working on a homicide squad where hard drinking replaces hard thinking; forensics takes weeks to analyze; and his boss, DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), has no qualms about roughing up suspects—or Sam himself. Still, Tyler has real-world crimes to solve, even as romance blossoms with policewoman Annie (Liz White, The Fixer), mysterious voices from his former life keep calling him home. Trapped in the past, he must decide where his future lies—and how to get there.
TOUCHING EVIL: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION (1997-99) Robson Greenm Shawn Dingwall, Nicola Walker. $79.99. (Acorn Media).
Detective Inspector Dave Creegan (Robson Green) is new to the Organized and Serial Crime unit, but he’s no stranger to violence. After a gunshot wound to the head, Creegan recovers to find his personal life in shambles. He joins an elite team of detectives that takes on everyone from sadists and serial killers to psychopaths and pedophiles. Creegan’s new colleagues, DI Susan Taylor (Nicola Walker, MI-5) and DC Mark Rivers (Shaun Dingwall, Above Suspicion), are wary of his methods. While the OSC uses advanced police techniques, Creegan prefers to rely on his instincts. But they soon learn to respect him for his results, even though he rarely plays by the rules.
Created by Paul Abbott (Cracker, State of Play, Shameless), Touching Evil’s superb ensemble cast also includes Michael Feast (State of Play), with guest stars Ian McDiarmid (Star Wars), James Nesbitt (Murphy’s Law, Match Point), Philip Jackson (Agatha Christie’s Poirot), and Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, Little Dorrit). A hit on PBS, this award-winning drama features gripping investigations into ghastly crimes, anchored by Green’s compelling lead performance.
