DVD Releases: January 16

[Sonnie]

• The Animation Show Box Set (2007) 32 of the world's best animated short films selected by renowned creator and animator Mike Judge ("Beavis and ****-Head," "King of the Hill") and Academy Award nominated animator Don Hertzfeldt. Two-disc set, $26.99. Extras: A deleted pencil test by Mike Judge; commentaries by animators Bill Plympton and Corky Quakenbush; special effects commentary and production art galleries by Don Hertzfeldt; "Mt. Head" galleries of concept art and character design; "The Cathedral" motion tests, animatics and production art; "The Rocks" production photo album; "La Course a L'Abime" storyboard to scene comparison; Animation Show featurette: "100 Years of Animated Short Films"; trailer for Don Hertzfeldt's new short film "Everything Will Be OK"; "The F.E.D.S. Recipe for Animating "; "World of Chel White" short film and production gallery; "Fallen Art" motion tests, animatics and production art; new film by Pes, "Kaboom!" and "The Making of Kaboom!". (MTV/Paramount).
• Border Radio (1987) Dir.: Allison Anders, Kurt Voss and Dean Lent; Chris D., Luanna Anders, John Doe, Chris Shearer, Dave Alvin. New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by Lent and Voss. Extras: Commentary by Anders and Voss; commentary by Luanna Anders, Dave Alvin, Chris D., John Doe, and Chris Shearer; "The Making of Border Radio," a 2002 documentary featuring interviews with Anders, Lent, Voss, Doe, and Chris D.; nine deleted scenes; music video of the Flesh Eaters' "The Wedding Dice"; stills gallery featuring rare behind-the-scenes photos; new essay by music journalist and critic Chris Morris. (The Criterion Collection).
• The Couple (The Aryan Couple) (2004) Dir.: John Daly; Martin Landau, Judy Parfitt, Kenny Doughty. Based on the true story of a Jewish Hungarian's desperate attempts to save his family from the Nazi death camps. Extras: "Making of The Couple." (First Look Home Entertainment).
• Employee of the Month (2006) Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, Dax Shepard, Efren Ramirez, Andy Dick. (Lionsgate).
• Father Brown, Set 1 (1982) Two-disc set with seven episodes of the PBS Mystery! series based on the G.K. Chesterton clergyman-detective; $39.99. (Acorn Media).
• Gridiron Gang (2006) Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Xzibit, L. Scott Caldwell, Leon Rippy, Kevin Dunn, Jade Yorker. Extras: "Profile on Director Phil Joanou: From Real Life to Big Screen," "The Rock Takes the Field" featurette, deleted scenes, multi-angle football scene, "Gridiron Gang: Football Training." (Sony).
• Hard Scrambled (2006) Kurtwood Smith, Richard Edson, Beth Grant, Alanna Ubach, Eyal Podell. Indie film about cutthroat players who dream and scheme for control of a diner after the owner has an "accident." Extras: Interviews with filmmakers and actors; cast and crew bios; first and last draft of the script; "Anatomy of a Failed Scene"; dozen modules on the essential topics of producing and directing, from financing to screenplay structure to continuity to working with actors to editing to publicity and distribution. (New Visions Fellowship).
• Her Minor Thing (2005) Dir.: Charles Matthau; Estella Warren, Christian Kane, Michael Weatherly, Rachel Dratch, Flex Alexander, Kathy Griffin, Ivana Milicevic. The life of a 25-year-old professional woman turns chaotic when her boyfriend accidentally reveals on TV that she's a virgin. Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurette. (First Look Home Entertainment).
• Here! Comedy Presents Kate Clinton (2005 -- TV) Lesbian comedienne performs stand-up from her one-woman show "Talking A Blue Streak"; originally aired on here! (Genius Products).
• In Her Line of Fire (2006) Mariel Hemingway, David Keith, David Millbern, Jill Bennett. A tough but beautiful Secret Service agent (Mariel Hemingway) protecting a U.S. vice president has her hands full when their plane goes down in a storm near a remote island used for training local rebels; she must fight hard to save the lives of the vp as well as her love interest, rookie reporter Sharon Serrano (Jill Bennett). Originally aired on here! in April of 2006. (Genius Products).
• The King of Queens: The Complete Seventh Season (2004-05) Three-disc set with 22 episodes, $39.95. (Sony).
• May 6th (2004 -- Netherlands) Thijs Romer, Tara Elders, Cahit Olmez, Jack Wouterse. The final film from acclaimed Director Theo Van Gogh before his 2004 murder by a radical Islamist. A fictional version of the events that led to the assassination of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn on May 6, 2002; based on the book "The Sixth of May" by Tomas Ross. (Koch Lorber Films).
• Mouchette (1967) Dir.: Robert Bresson; Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Maria Cardinal, Paul Hebert. New, restored high-definition digital transfer. Extras: Commentary by film scholar, critic, and festival programmer Tony Rayns; "Au hasard Bresson," a half-hour documentary about the director, including behind-the-scenes footage of Bresson directing "Mouchette"; "Travelling," a segment from the cine-magazine TV series Cinema, featuring on-set interviews with Bresson and actors Nortier and Guilbert; original theatrical trailer, cut by Jean-Luc Godard; new essay by essayist Robert Polito. (The Criterion Collection).
• Proof (2005) Crime drama miniseries that offers a glimpse into a shady relationship between European high finance, human trafficking and Irish politics, $29.98. (Koch Vision).
• The Protector (2006 -- Thailand) Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai, Xing Jing, Nathan Jones, Johnny Nguyen. Two-disc set. Extras: Commentary by Asian film expert Bey Logan, "No Wires Attached: Making The Protector" featurette, "Making Tony Jaa" featurette, "The Director's Guided Tour," Tony Jaa martial arts demonstration, "Making Tom Yum Goong" featurette. (The Weinstein Co./Genius Products).
• Purgatory House (2004) Written by and starring then 14-year old Celeste Davis; co-stars Jim Hanks, Devin Witt, Johnny Pacar, Rhiannon Main. A lonely teen abandons her life of turmoil and drug addiction, only to find herself caught somewhere between heaven and hell. Extras: "The Making of Purgatory House" and "Putting It all Together" featurettes; "Claire's Prayer" music video by Larisa Stow; Los Angeles premiere footage and cast and crew Q&A; two deleted scenes; teen crisis help information. (Image Entertainment).
• Puzzling Mind (2005) Boxed set of three NOVA documentaries: "Mind of a Serial Killer," "Secret of the Wild Child" and "Secrets of the Mind," $39.95. (WGBH Boston Video).
• Read It and Weep (2006 -- TV) Kay and Danielle Panabaker. Disney Channel Original Movie about a teenager's private journal that is accidentally turned into a best-selling book, turning the author from regular girl to media darling; $19.99. Extras: Interview with the Panabaker sisters, "making-of" featurette, Jordan Pruitt "Outside Looking In" music video. (Disney).
• Rising Damp: Series 3 Seven episodes from the 1974-78 British comedy series about a miserly, mean-spirited landlord of a run-down boarding house, starring Leonard Rossiter; $24.99. (Acorn Media).
• Seven Swords (2005 -- Chinese) Dir.: Hark Tsui; Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung, Liwu Dai, Chia-Liang Liu. Fantasy epic about seven master swordsmen who denounce the brutality of the newly formed government and band together to prevent the slaughter of innocent villages by an evil warlord. Two-disc set. Extras: Commentary by director Tsui Hark and Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan, deleted/extended scenes, making-of featurette, four behind-the-scene featurettes, storyboard gallery, interviews. (The Weinstein Co./Genius Products).
• Shadow of the Sword (2005) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter McDonald, Eddie Marsan, Julie Cox, Steven Berkoff. Actioner that takes place at the end of the Middle Ages, on the threshold of the inquisition, when two friends find themselves at the mercy of the powerful church and at each other's throats. (MTI Home Video).
• The Street: The Complete First Season Two-disc set with six episodes, $29.98. (Koch Vision).
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) Jordana Brewster, Taylor Handley, Diora Baird, Matthew Bomer, Lee Tergesen, R. Lee Ermey, Andrew Bryniarski. Rated and unrated versions. Extras: Commentary by director Jonathan Liebesman and producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, deleted/extended scenes, "Down to the Bone" behind-the-scenes featurette. (New Line).
• That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana (2006 -- TV) Stars from Disney Channel series "That's So Raven," "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and "Hannah Montana" get together and guest star in each other's shows; $19.99. Extras: "So You Think You Know Raven" game, "Hannah Montana" music video, never-before-seen episode of "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." (Disney).
• Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006) Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Eli Danker, Ben Cross. Martial arts expert must fight to save himself in a Russian prison. Extras: Commentary by director Isaac Florentine and actors Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins, behind-the-scenes featurette, storyboard comparisons. (New Line).