“The Mentalist” will be missed, but it shall live on digitally. The beloved show, starring Simon Baker, is now available for its seventh and final season in a new DVD.
The reward is sweet, as the series transitions from the vengeance sought by a federal agent onto a criminal for murdering his wife and daughter to a romantic relationship between him and his fellow agent, played by Robin Tunney.
The series’ cleverness and attractiveness continues to shine into all 13 one-hour episodes of the final season, as the series certainly goes out on top. An appropriately well-produced bonus feature, “Patrick Jane: An Uncommon Man,” showcases the main character’s transformation from revenge to romance.
The DVD is being released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
More titles
“Inherent Vice” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) makes the most of its stellar cast, and a wild tale ensues in the psychedelic 1960s. This entertainingly crazy film features a cast of characters ranging from surfers, hustlers, dopers, rockers, detectives and a murderous loan shark. All are marvelously played by Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Martin Short, Jena Malone, Benicio De Toro and Katherine Waterston. Director Paul Thomas Anderson masterfully executes the first-ever film adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel.
As Hoosiers flock to Louisville, Ky., this weekend, they should prep themselves with “50 to 1” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), the true story of Derby winner Mine That Bird. The horse pulled off the upset to win the Derby in 2009 even though he was owned by real American cowboys and was in 19th place with just more than 20 seconds remaining in the race at Churchill Downs. Jim Wilson, a veteran Hollywood producer (“Dances with Wolves” among others) produced and directed the film by personally raising more than $8.5 million to get the movie into production. He’s a horse racing fan, and it shows. The movie stars Skeet Ulrich, Christian Kane and jockey Calvin Borel as himself.
With Mother’s Day around the corner, a couple of DVD selections stand out. One is “Mommy” (Lionsgate), a funny but heartbreaking Canadian film about a mother and son on a journey to find a better life. Meanwhile, “I Love Lucy: I Love Mom Edition” (Paramount Home Media) is a compilation of episodes of the Lucille Ball show that focus on Lucy’s journey as a mom.
“The Boy Next Door” (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) stars Jennifer Lopez, a high school teacher separated from her cheating husband while raising a son. In a moment of weakness, she sleeps with the new 19-year-old neighbor, who becomes violently obsessed with her. The bonus features pack a powerful punch and include a making-of featurette, deleted scenes and director commentary.
Not to be confused with the aforementioned title, “Boy Meets Girl” (Wolfe Video) is a romantic-dramedy that follows the lives of three 20-somethings living in Kentucky. The LGBT film stars actress Michelle Hendley, a transwoman.
“Sullivan’s Travels” is finally available on Blu-ray as a Criterion Collection title. The 1941 satire of Hollywood as a film industry town is sweetly presented by director Preston Sturges. The film stars Joel McCrae and Veronica Lake in yet another can’t-forget-that-hairdo performance.
One of the most underrated comedic characters in history is Sgt. Bilko, played by Phil Silvers, and fans can rejoice the five-DVD set of “Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show” (Shout! Factory). This is the golden age of television at its best. Bilko tries get-rich-quick scams, attempts to avoid the drudgery of work and other hilarious antics.
“Last Days in Vietnam” (PBS) richly deserved to be a 2015 Academy Award nominee for best documentary feature, as it touches on the handful of individuals who engaged to evacuate as many South Vietnamese as possible in the final days of the Vietnam War in 1975. The Blu-ray Disc contains the option of an extended version.
“Wallykazam!” (Paramount Home Media), the hit preschool Nickelodeon series, makes its DVD debut with four adventures. Each features a new set of words, as the DVD introduces skills such as letter and sound identification.
“Home Sweet Hell” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) is the perfect black comedy starring Katherine Heigl as a woman scorned (her husband decides to cheat), so she now will stop at nothing — including killing the competition — to save her seemingly perfect suburban life.
“Little Accidents” (Anchor Bay Entertainment) stars Elizabeth Banks and Josh Lucas, who are caught in a web of secret and lies when her teenage boy goes missing in a West Virginia town coming off a fatal mining accident.
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Series” (Cinedigm), which initially aired on the Hallmark Channel as an original movie, is a wonderful combination of romance, comedy and drama that contains 10 one-hour episodes. Post office workers become “dead letter” detectives, where they track down intended recipients of undeliverable mail. These redirected letters and packages save lives, solve crimes, reunite old loves and change futures by arriving late, but — somehow — on time.
“Life Inside Out” (Monarch Home Entertainment) tells the parallel stories of a devoted mother and her “misfit,” struggling son. Music helps them unite.
“The Way Things Go” (Icarus Films Home Video) documents odd, Swiss contemporary artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss, who, among other things, built a 100-foot-long, chain-reaction structure built out of tea kettles, tires, old shoes, balloons and wooden ramps.
BBC Home Entertainment presents three BBC Earth titles to 3D Blu-ray for an exciting viewing experience: “Wings 3D,” “Tiny Giants 3D” and “Planet Dinosaur 3D.” These productions employ state-of-the-art 3D cameras for amazing experiences.
“VEEP: The Complete Third Season” (HBO Home Entertainment) replays the satirical third (and most-watched) season of the comedy series starring Julie Louis-Dreyfus. The title is available on Blu-ray Disc or DVD and features deleted scenes plus audio commentaries with the entire cast.
“Into the Woods” (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) is a first-rate modern twist on the beloved fairy tales that you thought you knew, including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood). The film stars Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp and Emily Blunt, and Streep performs a never-seen original song as a bonus feature.