'The Road' (Sony Pictures)

Following in the footsteps of 2000's "All the Pretty Horses" and 2007's "No Country for Old Men," "The Road" is the third work of well-respected novelist Cormac McCarthy to make it to the silver screen. Local film junkies will remember this picture for its ties to the area, as a good bit of it was shot in and around Western Pennsylvania. John Hillcoat, the director of "The Road," tabbed Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas because of an abundance of run-down settings and the bleakness of the local winter. The Pennsylvania Turnpike also has a big presence in the movie. Presque Isle State Park in Erie, parts of New Orleans and Mount St. Helens in Washington were also used as shooting locations. The flick itself is a very interesting one. With its bleak settings and a post-apocalyptic storyline, "The Road" will be categorized as a sure-fire downer. Yeah, that assumption is a safe one, but immersion into "The Road" leads to another bit of thinking. Hillcoat's picture is a love story, and a tender one at that. The documenting of this father-son relationship against a horrific world is memorably fascinating and powerfully dramatic. Against the backdrop of a world with little hope, the impenetrable love between a father and son is a flicker of light in a dark existence. Hillcoat's focus on this true bond delivers "The Road" as an exceptional picture well-worth seeing. Standout performances from Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and youngster Kodi Smit-McPhee also boost "The Road." The film follows a father (Mortensen) and son (Smit-McPhee) heading south on the road in a battle to survive. An unknown event has wiped out most of the humans on the planet, crops have stopped growing and all of the animals have died. The Father and son's trek has them struggling for food, dodging roving packs of cannibals and deadly gangs and contesting the miserable elements. The future is undoubtedly bleak here, but the father-son relationship gives viewers a glimmer of hope in a world without any. It's worth noting that McCarthy's 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel offers more in the way of story than this adaptation, but the filmmakers did an overly acceptable job in bringing this tale to the big screen. Special features for "The Road" are decent, and the best of the bunch is a making-of featurette with cast and crew talking about the characters and storyline on display. Hillcoat commentary and deleted scenes are also available. R; 2009. 3.5 Stars.

'True Blood: The Complete Second Season' (HBO Entertainment)

The "Twilight" series has garnered much of the credit for the resurrection of the vampire genre, but there's a terrifically entertaining show on HBO that would beg to differ. In its second season, "True Blood" managed to surpass a memorable debut plotline with a cool mix of drama, humor, gore and romance in a stupendous Season 2. For those out of the know, this series focuses on the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps and its inhabitants in a time when vampires are out of the closet and co-existing with humans. Based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, "True Blood" has its main protagonist in Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a young waitress who's fallen for a vampire named Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer). While their relationship is at the front of the storyline, there are plenty of excellent subplots that serve this series incredibly well. In Season 2, the residents of Bon Temps are taken under the spell of a mysterious visitor named Maryann played wonderfully by Michelle Forbes who was first introduced toward the end of Season 1. Maryann's visit is a major storyline for Season 2, along with Sookie's brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and his work with an anti-vampire Christian group. As Season 2 goes on, these subplots intertwine with any trouble Bill and Sookie might have found along the way. The series finds a great stride in Season 2, and shows great potential in joining a stable of HBO hits that include "The Sopranos," "Oz" and "The Wire." This five-disc set includes all 12 episodes from Season 2, along with a decent set of extras. Special features include a series of news clips aimed at extending the fun, character perspectives and some decent audio commentary. NR; 2010. 3.5 Stars.

'Hoarders: The Complete Season One' (A&E Home Entertainment)

Pardon the cliche, but much like a train wreck, it's hard to look away from "Hoarders," one of the most interesting reality programs on TV. The A&E series examines the lives of folks saddled with the inability to part with belongings. Well, perhaps it should be written in a different way. These people let so much stuff stack up around their residences that they're facing eviction, severe health problems, jail time, divorce or even the loss of their children. A&E not only takes the viewer inside these homes to scope the mess, but it also identifies the root of the problem through medical specialists. Most episodes spotlight two individual hoarders. The cameras take the viewer into the house with a specialist who works with these folks in trying to clean out these incredibly messy houses. If all goes to plan, a parade of garbage trucks pull out at the end of each episode loaded with trash. While it's shocking to take a look inside the homes, the most-entertaining aspects of this series are the dealings with the hoarders — specifically the one-on-one conversations with the specialists on site and the reasoning behind holding onto certain items that are worthless. The behavior at work here is reminiscent of a special someone trying to curb the behavior of an alcoholic or a drug addict. This two-disc set includes all seven one-hour issues from the first season and an interesting extra. The lone special feature is over 20 minutes of never-before-seen broadcast footage. These extended scenes are essential viewing after taking in the seven Season 1 episodes. They certainly act as an extension for this awe-inspiring reality series that boosted A&E. NR; 2010. 3.5 Stars.

'Stagecoach' (Criterion Collection)

Criterion Collection rolled out the red carpet for one of the finest westerns ever made. Director John Ford's 1939 classic "Stagecoach," starring such luminaries as John Wayne, Claire Trevor, John Carradine and Thomas Mitchell, is crystal clear on this new two-disc set from Criterion. Basking in a high-definition digital transfer, this classic of the western genre never looked or sounded so good. The film's plot follows a extraordinary group of folks from different backgrounds thrown together on a dangerous trek that could see them mixing it up with Indians and a pack of outlaws known as the Plummer brothers. Ford's classic beams with suspense, action and a wide collection of personalities that deliver this motion picture to legendary status in its genre. It's no stretch to proclaim this work as the godfather to all other westerns. Along with the feature presentation, this two-disc package includes some handsome special features. First and foremost, the Criterion set puts together a nice homage to Ford, including a 1968 interview with the director, a 1917 silent feature he directed, a video interview with his grandson and an appreciation with Peter Bogdanovich on "Stagecoach." Also included here are reflections from the movie dealing with trader Harry Goulding and stuntman Yakima Canutt. A couple of other odds and ends, including a booklet, are also here. This comprehensive set is a must-own for fans of the western. NR; 1939; 4 Stars.

'The Virginian: The Complete First Season' (Timeless Media Group)

Based off of Owen Wister's 1902 novel, "The Virginian" came to TV in 1962 as a gamble for NBC Television. The show rolled out on the tube with a 90-minute show in color. The roll of the dice paid off, and the series ran for nine seasons and 249 episodes, following only "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza" as the longest-running TV western in broadcast history. The popular show makes its debut on DVD in an appealing 10-disc package that includes all 30 episodes from Season 1. The series' plot followed the residents of Medicine Bow, a semi-mythical town in Wyoming in the 1890s. It vividly told the stories of those folks passing through on their way to claiming land of their own in the unsettled West. James Drury played the protagonist, known as the Virginian. Additional familiar names that found a home on the series included Lee J. Cobb, Doug McClure and Clu Gulager. The package is available in an attractive tin case, and includes some decent special features. Interviews with a handful of the stars from the show including Drury in which they discuss their roles on "The Virginian" and the development of the series, stand in as the extras. It's also worth noting that each episode has been fully restored and digitally remastered. NR; 2010. 3 Stars.

OTHER MOVIE RELEASES

"Mystery Team" (Donald Glover, R, 2009, Lionsgate Pictures): This comedy romp marks the feature-film debut for Derrick Comedy, a web-based sketch comedy group from New York University. Following up their success on YouTube an a number of other on-line sketches, the group put together this feature that follows three high school virgins who solve childish mysteries in their neighborhood. The storyline takes a leap when the adolescent detectives pick up a real murder to investigate. DC Pierson, Aubrey Plaza and Matt Walsh also star. Extras.

"All My Friends are Funeral Singers" (Angela Bettis, NR, 2010, Indiepix Films): Written and directed by Tim Rutili, this film festival favorite tracks the unfortunate events thrust upon a fortune teller named Zel (Bettis). Zel is very good at her job, and she has some help from a nice group of spirits that resides in her house. When a mysterious event irks the spirits, though, Zel finds herself trying to make things OK again for her friends from another world. Extras.

"Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman" (documentary, NR, 2008, New Video): Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, this documentary sheds light on the work of Julius Shulman, known as the world's greatest architectural photographer. Shulman has shot the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra and John Lautner in his great career, and this film looks at those shots along with an assortment of others. Shulman's images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Extras.

"My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story" (documentary, NR, 2010, Docurama Films): Viewers are offered a rare glimpse into the relationships that a host of household names have with their dogs in this film directed by Mark St. Germain. Some of those folks include Richard Gere, Glenn Close, Edie Falco, Christopher Meloni, Lynn Redgrave, Diana Taylor, Edward Albee and Carey Lowell. Extras.

"Tell Tale" (Josh Lucas, R, 2009, Vivendi Entertainment): Directed by Michael Cuesta and produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, this motion picture is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." It's described as a contemporized adaptation, and it brings the viewer in on the story of a single father and transplant patient on the hunt for his donor's killer. No Extras.

"Hard Ride to Hell" (Miguel Ferrer, NR, 2009, Vivendi Entertainment, no extras)

"I Know What I Saw" (UFO documentary, NR, 2009, A&E Home entertainment, extras)

OTHER TV RELEASES

"Leverage: The Second Season" (Timothy Hutton, four discs, 15 episodes, extras, Paramount Home Entertainment)

"Flashpoint: The Second Season" (Enrico Colantoni, two discs, nine episodes, extras, Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS DVD)

"Royal Pains: Season 1" (Mark Feuerstein, three discs, 12 episodes, extras, Universal Pictures)

"The Guild: Season Three" (Wil Wheaton, one disc, 12 episodes, extras, New Video)

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