Check here to view the latest DVD reviews and recommendations.

'Shopaholic' Feels Like An Anachronism In Hard Times - Hartford Courant "Confessions of a Shopaholic" The first novel in Sophie Kinsella's "Shopaholic" series was published in 2001, when the economy was booming and consumption more happily conspicuous. The movie adaptation—starring Isla Fisher as a free-spending bumbler who becomes involved with a frugal magazine editor—was released in early 2009, as a global recession neared its trough. Fisher makes an appealing romantic comedy lead, and there's something undeniably fulfilling about watching people spend money, as opposed to watching them nervously monitor a stock portfolio. Still, nearly every aspect of "Confessions of a Shopaholic"—from its stock plot to its obsession with designer goods—feels out of date. The bonus features are limited to some deleted scenes and a blooper reel, while the Blu-ray throws in a few fashion-focused featurettes. (Touchstone)

'Friday The 13th' Extras Include Gory Featurettes - Hartford Courant "Friday the 13th" Unlike a lot of the '80s horror movie remakes that have cluttered up the multiplexes of late, director Marcus Nispel's revival of "Friday the 13th" tries to hold close to the spirit of the original, rather than modernizing it. Though the new version crunches together plot elements from different films in the series, the core concept stays pretty traditional: teenagers gather at an underlit summer camp and get gruesomely dispatched in point-of-view shots, while creepy music plays on the soundtrack. Those who pick up a DVD or Blu-ray will find the movie expanded to include additional slashing (and will find a handful of blood-spattered featurettes). (Warner)

'Grand Torino' Funny, Exciting, Touching - Hartford Courant "Gran Torino" The racially charged drama "Gran Torino" was Clint Eastwood's biggest hit in years, largely because screenwriter Nick Schenk's story of a grizzled old racist and his troubled Hmong neighbors is at once funny, exciting and touching. (And Eastwood's performances — in front of and behind the camera — are enjoyably unfussy.) Its redemption-through-gangbusting message is corny, but the movie is never less than entertaining. The DVD includes a pair of featurettes about cars and manhood; the Blu-ray also includes a featurette about Eastwood's directing style. (Warner)

'Revolutionary Road' Bolstered By Extras - Hartford Courant "Revolutionary Road"

DVDS Out Tuesday: 'New In Town', Designing Women: The Complete First Season' - Hartford Courant New in Town: Lionsgate, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99

'Peyton Place,' 'Psychos In Love' - Hartford Courant Peyton Place, Part One Shout! Factory, 1964

'Taken' An Intense, Thrilling Ride - Hartford Courant Liam Neeson kicks butt in Pierre Morel's well-made thriller about human trafficking. Neeson is better known for his serious portrayals than for his muscle, but this role combines both in the service of a fast-moving, fast-thinking popcorn flick.

New On DVD: 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin' - Hartford Courant The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin E1 Entertainment, 1976-1979

'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' Visually, But Not Emotionally, Entertaining - Hartford Courant This is a love story, a death story and a life story, inspired by an F. Scott Fitzgerald tale about a man who is born old and ages backward.

'A Grin Without A Cat' And 'Incendiary' - Hartford Courant A Grin Without A Cat Icarus Films Home Video, 1977

New on DVD: 'Bride Wars' - Baltimore Sun Bride Wars Starring Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway. Directed by Gary Winick. Released by 20th Century Fox. $29.95; blu-ray $39.95 *

DVD Reviews: "Stranded: I Have Come From A Plane That Crashed In The Mountains" - Hartford Courant Stranded: I Have Come From A Plane That Crashed In The Mountains >> Zeitgeist Films, 2008

'Rhoda,' 'Frost/Nixon,' 'A Jihad for Love' - Hartford Courant Rhoda: Season One >> Shout! Factory, 1974

'The Wrestler' Role Written For Mickey Rourke - Hartford Courant It is hard to imagine anyone but Mickey Rourke playing the aging warrior in " The Wrestler."

'The Spirit' Looks Better Than It Plays - Hartford Courant "The Spirit" is the story of former cop Denny Colt who was killed and brought back to life by a megalomaniacal scientist and now spends his time protecting his city. He's not quite immortal, but close. So is the scientist, known as the Octopus, who becomes the Spirit's nemesis.

Reviews: 'The Reader,' 'Mask of the Ninja,' 'Witch Hunt' - Hartford Courant Crude Impact >> Docurama, 2006

A Lifeless Remake Of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' - Hartford Courant >> THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL: 2008 adventure, directed by Scott Derrickson; Twentieth Century Fox; rated PG-13, with some violence.

Reviews of 'Doubt,' 'The Paper Chase: Season One' - Hartford Courant The Paper Chase, Season One Shout! Factory, 1978

'Quantum of Solace' Hardly Bond Worthy - Hartford Courant • QUANTUM OF SOLACE: 2008 drama directed by Marc Forster from a script by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. 106 minutes. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action and some sexual content. Extras include a travelogue of shooting sites, music by Jack White and Alicia Keys.

'Elegy' Elevated By Performances of Cruz, Kingsley - Hartford Courant •ELEGY: 2008 drama directed by Isabel Coixet from a screenplay by Nicholas Meyer based on Philip Roth's "The Dying Animal." 108 minutes. Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language. Extras include director's commentary, a feature "The Poetry of Elegy."

'Synecdoche' Asks 'What's It All Mean?' (Fair Question) - Hartford Courant SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK: •2008 comedy, written and directed by Charlie Kaufman. Sony Pictures. Rated R.

New DVDs: 'Rachel Getting Married,' 'Let The Right One In' - Hartford Courant Rachel Getting Married: Sony Pictures, 2008

'In The Electric Mist' A Good Night's Entertainment - Hartford Courant It's a shock when a movie with a pedigree this strong goes straight to DVD. It stars Tommy Lee Jones, Mary Steenburgen, Peter Sarsgaard, John Goodman and Kelly Macdonald.

New On DVD: "Australia", "I've Loved You For So Long" - Hartford Courant Australia>> 20th Century Fox, 2008

Streep, Nicholson Make Sad "Ironweed" Worth Seeing - Hartford Courant Depression is the theme here, the economic kind and the kind brought on by alcoholism.

New On DVD: Hell On Wheels, Lullaby, Man Walking On Snow - Hartford Courant Hell On Wheels• Indiepix, 2008

Maher Preaches From A Bully Pulpit In "Religulous" - Hartford Courant A great mind once wrote: "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."

New On DVD: Alice In Wondertown, The Kaiser's Lackey, Midnight Meat Train - Hartford Courant Alice In Wondertown>> First Run Features, 1990

"Frozen River": A Dark Tale Of Desperation - Hartford Courant It doesn't take long for "Frozen River" to establish that its main character, Ray Eddy, is in bad straits.

New On DVD: Dennis Potter: 3 To Remember, What Makes Sammy Run? - Hartford Courant Dennis Potter: 3 To Remember>> Koch Lorber, 1980

DVD Release Of The Week: "Rent" - Hartford Courant On Sept. 7, 2008, "Rent," loosely based on Puccini's opera "La Bohème," closed on Broadway after 12 years and 5,123 performances. It's about young artists short on cash, but long on ambition and dreams.

New On DVD: Black Swarm, Days and Clouds, Final Justice - Hartford Courant Black Swarm >> Genius Products, 2008

DVD Release Of The Week: 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' - Hartford Courant It's not a comfortable feeling starting out a Woody Allen movie with an instant negative impression. But there it is: The first thing one hears in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is a narrator, who starts out intrusive and quickly progresses to insufferable. Why did Allen need him? He didn't.

New On DVD: A Hero Ain't Nothin' But A Sandwich, Holly - Hartford Courant A Hero Ain't Nothin' But A Sandwich: Koch Vision, 1978

'Wallace' Shows How Far We've Come In Some Ways - Hartford Courant Film biographies can often feel rushed in an attempt to include every major event in the subject's life. But "George Wallace," the DVD release of a miniseries that aired in 1997, was directed by the late John Frankenheimer of "Manchurian Candidate" fame, and it bears his master storyteller's pace.

New On DVD: Another Man's Garden, Children of the Stones, The Deal - Hartford Courant Another Man's Garden: Global Lens, 2006

"Appaloosa": A Western To Reckon With - Hartford Courant Kudos for Ed Harris who juggles five jobs in his beautifully shot Western: producer, director, co-writer, star and soundtrack singer.

New On DVD: Brick Lane, Choose Connor, Little Britain USA - Hartford Courant Brick Lane: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2007

Release Of The Week: 'Snakes On A Plane' - Hartford Courant It's impossible for anyone aware of pop-culture phenomena to approach "Snakes on a Plane" without preconceived notions, positive, negative or neutral. If you're a member of its online, pre-release fan community, you'll think it's gonna rock. If you're not, you'll just wonder what the big deal is. If the thought of the nameless masses interfering in the production of a movie annoys you, you'll want to hate it.