Video Views & News: TV-Palooza, Dextertherapy, South Park, 3-D Miley Cyrus, and Butt-Shaped Divots

It's been a couple of weeks since my last "What's new on DVD" roundup. What have I been doing in the meantime? Why, what everyone does in the dog days of summer -- hiking, camping, fishing, stalking a group of teenagers in the woods and doing my AWESOME Blair Witch routine on them. (Seriously, it's awesome. It used to be Deliverance, but then there was ... the incident.)

Plus, I've been watching TV. Lots and lots of TV. And watching it the way God and Samsung meant it to be watched -- on DVD, one disc after another, until my couch now has this unsightly butt-shaped divot in the middle that reminds me unnervingly of Mother Bates' bed. Still, I'm now caught up on Rome, got thoroughly Spaced, went to town on Mr. Show, waybacked with Saturday Night Live (when Bill Murray was young and Eddie Murphy was funny), got my Brit on with Doctor Who (some old, some new) and Foyle's War and Robin of Sherwood, cranked up the home-theater volume in the Temple of Dude for a return to Battlestar Galactica, added ice to my scotch during (of course) Mad Men: Season 1, and revisited the best thing to come out of Canada since the bacon and William Shatner, Slings & Arrows.

Hiking, camping, fishing? Screw it. I've got a stack of shiny discs as high as a can of Pringles, and you're talking going outdoors? All that sunshine out there? It'll kill ya. It's true. Saw it on TV.

Our writers this week have been running through discs of their own. Already Dawn has reported back on the unique British comedy/cooking/travel show Two Fat Ladies, now available on disc from Acorn Media. She also gives us her bird's-eye lowdown on Smart People, not to mention her latest "Married With Movies" spit-take, this time on the new (oh dear) Scorpion King 2. Soon we'll also get her always-insightful perspective on Guy Maddin's deeply strange Brand Upon the Brain!, now out under the Criterion label.

Meanwhile, Cargill started his week with the surprise pleasures of Felon, is presently sussing out Prom Night, and promises more reviews of the odd and undermarketed over the forthcoming days.

MaryAnn recently chatted with director Stephen (The Queen) Frears on his "prequel," The Deal. She tells us about a peculiar niche documentary, Television Under the Swastika, and she'll be recommending some old Doctor Who on DVD for fans of the long-lived TV series' new hit incarnation. She's heading off to a real vacation in England soon, so to get ready for that she'll also be previewing Alfresco (out next week from Acorn), featuring vintage British sketch comedy starring Hugh Laurie (long before he changed networks, continents, and accents as Dr. House), Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, and Robbie Coltrane.

Our favorite Mom, Sue Harvey, returns with another "Mom on Film" look at sharing your fave flicks with your kids. (Then she made us all cookies and let us stay up late. We love her.)

Oh, click over to Glenn's probing look at Starship Troopers, newly arrived on Blu-ray. He has convinced me that I need to watch it again, something I wouldn't have considered likely.

This week's DVD arrival of Dexter: The Complete Second Season also comes with (as the press material that just arrived in my In box puts it) "a chance for everyday people to go online and find out if they have it within themselves to become cold-blooded serial killers." Yes, you read that right. Details: "Visitors to Dextertherapy.com will be evaluated via a series of four inkblot tests. Upon describing what they see and how the images make them feel, they're presented with a diagnosis of just how much 'killer instinct' they have. Like the mind of Dexter Morgan, the results are not always pretty, so visitors are warned that results may be disturbing."

I felt a lot better about the phrase "results may be disturbing" when it was applied to the "Phoebe has her brother's baby" season of Friends.

Anchored by an intelligent, quirky and eerily subversive performance by Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, Dexter tells the story of a man who leads a thrilling and horrific double life as both an incredibly likable forensics expert for the Miami Police Department and an emotionless vigilante serial killer living by his own strict moral code -- he only kills murderers who can't otherwise be brought to justice. The series' third season premieres on Showtime September 28.

More TV on DVD out this week includes:

Entourage - Season Four

George of the Jungle - The Swingin' 1st Season

Gossip Girl - The Complete First Season

House, M.D. - Season Four

One Tree Hill - Season Five

Recount

The Shield - Season 6

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Transformers Animated: Season One

"Stan, don't you know the first law of physics? Anything that's fun costs at least eight dollars."

Also out now -- okay, it hit shelves last week, but I was busy, you know, fishing -- is South Park - The Complete Eleventh Season - Uncensored, worth the sticker price for the awe-inspiring "Imaginationland" trilogy alone.

Keep checking back here at Film.com because very soon (we're working on it now) we'll be giving away copies of the South Park - The Complete Eleventh Season - Uncensored box set -- plus a South Park poker set and a character action figure. In fact, if you're registered here at Film.com we may send you all that PLUS South Park seasons One through Ten. That's right -- South Park Seasons One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, and Eleven all on DVD, with a South Park poker set AND a character action figure. We're legally obligated to send it to someone who doesn't actually work here (dang!), so stay tuned for that. As Cartman would say, "Sweeeeeet."

"South Park: The Complete Eleventh Season- Uncensored"
Uploaded by wiredset

Still more brand spankin' new titles this week include:

6 Films to Keep You Awake - Spain's top terror filmmaking talents come together for this three-disc collection of frightening features from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Our own horrormeister, Cargill, will lift the lid on this one for us here next week.

Chronicle of an Escape

Deal

Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert - Teen sensation Cyrus and her pop-star alter ego Hannah Montana headlined a sold-out concert tour, which then turned into a sold-out movie at theaters. This two-disc DVD set comes with both 2-D and 3-D versions, plus four pairs of 3-D glasses. It's almost like she's real!

The Life Before Her Eyes

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Nixon - Election Year Edition

Prom Night

Street Kings

Twenty Four Eyes

Walt Disney's Camp Rock: The Extended Rock Star Edition

Stay tuned. More's coming. I just need to sit here in my divot and finish this last stack of discs. Research, you understand. Where's that huge South Park collection...?

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