MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION (Anchor Bay) Since this anthology series lacked the high sex-and-gore quotient of its parent show Masters of Horror, it was doomed to have a short lifespan. In fact, it was cancelled in the US before the original series had finished its run. (Space aired all six episodes last winter.) Surely all the Comic-Con-inspired hype about geek chic rings hollow if a show that opens with monologues by Dr. Stephen Hawking can’t attract a following. But at least the series did justice to some of the genre’s most revered tales of times to come, while also providing paycheques for some underappreciated talents. Best known as the writer of The Player and writer/director of The Rapture, Michael Tolkin contributes an enjoyably daffy adaptation of Jerry Was a Man, Robert A. Heinlein’s satire about a rich woman (played in full goofball mode by Anne Heche) who becomes an unlikely advocate for clone rights. Brian Dennehy (toting a giant prosthetic arm) and John Hurt (equipped with an extra head) play cranky mutants in The Discarded, adapted by Harlan Ellison and History of Violence writer Josh Olson from a story that has lost none of its bite since Ellison first published it in 1959. EXTRAS: none.
THE COUNTERFEITERS (Sony) The most recent Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, Stefan Ruzowitzky’s drama reveals the little-known tale of Jewish concentration-camp inmates forced to make phony currency for the Nazis. Going deeper into the details than the movie’s pacing allows, the extras contain a trove of fascinating material, including a short documentary in which Adolf Burger — the survivor whose memoir inspired the film — explains the logistics of the operation.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
I GOT THE FEELIN': James Brown in the ’60s (Shout Factory) The Godfather of Funk is captured at the height of his powers — though yes, he was pretty fabulous in Rocky IV — in a three-disc box that includes the director’s cut of the recent doc The Night James Brown Saved Boston, two full-length concert films shot in 1968 and more key moments of JB on camera. Pants don’t get any hotter.
NIM'S ISLAND (Fox) Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster and Gerard “Tonight, We Dine in Hell!” Butler star in this Christian-themed family flick. We prefer our islands to be of the Fantasy, Temptation and MILF varieties. EXTRAS: commentary with Breslin and Foster, deleted scenes.
PRETTY IN PINK: I LOVE THE ‘80S EDITION (Paramount) John Hughes’ incisive allegory about class warfare in America returns amid a budget-priced bounty of “totally tubular” titles. When not crushing on Ringwald, we will use this occasion to determine which of these reissues is most gay: American Gigolo or Top Gun?
TRILOQUIST (Weinstein Company) This column must note the release of any killer ventriloquist movie, especially when it’s made by the director of Leprechaun. EXTRAS: none.
OUT AUG 12
Smart People, CJ7, The Duchess of Langelais and the final season of The Wire — we just hope Bubbles will be OK.