Notable new releases
JOHN, PAUL, TOM & RINGO: THE TOMORROW SHOW (Shout! Factory) Weird and eminently watchable, this double-disc set collects three encounters between former Beatles and Tom Snyder, a man whose blunder-filled but oddly effective interviewing style make him seem like a cross between a Cadillac salesman, KGB interrogator and your crazy uncle Phil. As seen on these full-length episodes from his very-late-night gab fest The Tomorrow Show, the ex-mop-tops are alternately flustered and bemused by the host’s jibber jabber. Interviewed via satellite in 1979, Paul and Linda McCartney make goofy hand gestures in a vain attempt to interrupt a classic Snyder digression about the radiation pouring off the Japanese-made monitor. In an exchange from 1981, Snyder goads a smug Ringo about the box-office failure of Son of Dracula.

Most memorable of all is what turned out to be John Lennon’s last TV interview, recorded in 1975 and recycled for the episode included here, which was originally broadcast the night after his murder. Lennon fields enquiries about his contested immigration status, groupies, the end of The Beatles and “the time you were on the album without any clothes on.” Yet Lennon is clearly delighted by it all — after Snyder asks whether fellow New Yorkers ever hassle him and Yoko, he replies, “We’re probably less recognizable than you — you’re on every night!” This captivating piece of Fab Four arcana comes with no extras, unless you consider Angie Dickinson — the other guest on the Ringo episode — to be a bonus feature. I know I do.

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (Paramount) Johnny Depp cuts a memorable swath through Tim Burton’s none-more-Burtonesque yet admirably faithful adaptation of the Sondheim musical gore-fest. The impressive bounty of featurettes on the second disc reveal much about the Oscar-winning art direction as well as the works’ roots in the blood-drenched traditions of Paris’ Grand Guignol theatre and the historical origins (or lack thereof) of the razor-­loving coiffeur.

Also out this week
THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS (Koch Lorber) Part of a trio of reissues of works by the directors, this well-loved 1982 WWII tale established Paolo and Vittorio Taviani as the brightest lights of Italian cinema in the ’80s. EXTRAS: none.

John From Cincinnati: Season One (Warner) David Milch’s deeply odd follow-up to Deadwood, this surfer drama was prematurely cancelled by HBO. EXTRAS: commentary tracks, featurette.

Alvin and the Chipmunks (Buena Vista) Said co-star David Cross in a notable blog posting, “I knew going into this movie that I would be eating a lot of delicious shit for it.” He was not disappointed. EXTRAS: featurettes.

Out April 8 Lions for Lambs, The 11th Hour and There Will Be Blood, a film that does not contain the line: “Excuse me, Mr. Plainview, but do fries go with that shake?”

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