The week's DVDs begin in Canada: Oh, Canada.

DVDs for Sept. 4 by Boo Allen

This week, we begin in Canada:

Citizen Gangster (***)

Scott Speedman turns in a spirited performance as Edwin
Boyd, a true life Canadian bank robber during the 1950s. Boyd robbed
banks with a flamboyant style, becoming a media sensation by being
captured and then repeatedly breaking out of jail. Brian Cox plays
his ex-cop father, and Kelly Reilly will break your heart as his
suffering wife.

Not rated, 105 minutes. The disc also holds 26 minutes
of interviews with cast and crew.

On Demand Warner Archives releases a trio of
entertaining yet vastly different films from the decade of 1965 to
1975: Young Cassidy (***1/2), Lisztomania
(**1/2), Portnoy’s Complaint (**1/2)

John Ford began as director on Young Cassidy
(1965, 110 minutes, not rated), an adaptation of revered Irish
playwright Sean O’Casey’s autobiography (O’Casey often called himself
Jack Cassidy). But Ford fell ill and was replaced by visual craftsman
Jack Cardiff, with the results being an entertaining rendition of
O’Casey’s rise from manual laborer in Dublin’s slums to Ireland’s
most revered playwright. Rod Taylor plays Cassidy with gusto, making
him an approachable, lusty man of the people. Julie Christie takes a
small role as a local lass, Michael Redgrave makes an exuberant W.B.
Yeats, and Maggie Smith (still my all-time favorite actress) is
Cassidy’s love interest sacrificed for his artistic passions.

Reliably unhinged Ken Russell directed Lisztomania
(1975, 103 minutes, rated R), one in his series of bio-pics on
musical figures. And, as expected, his stylized look at the life of
Hungarian composer Franz Liszt goes completely overboard, as Philip
Harrison’s wildly extravagant production designs and Shirley
Russell’s costumes help Russell build a surreal interpretation of
Liszt’s life, with rock musician Roger Daltry playing Liszt. Russell
follows, more or less, some of the facts of the composer’s life, but
he does it by creating a dreamlike world.

By 1972, any film of Philip Roth’s highly successful
novel Portnoy’s Complaint (101 minutes, rated R) was
going to be eagerly anticipated to see how filmmakers would handle
the novel’s preoccupation with the touchy subject of
masturbation. Veteran screenwriter Ernest Lehmann (North by
Northwest) wrote the screenplay and directed with varying
results. Richard Benjamin plays Alexander Portnoy, Roth’s self-based
character who grows up in a hovering Jewish household only to become
an adult with serious sexual problems, all of which are played for
broad laughs. Poor Karen Black plays The Monkey, Portnoy’s love
object and the target of his abuse.

Piranha DD (**1/2)

This uber-silly guilty pleasure has a few bright
moments, even if it goes to extremes from the start. A water-park,
with an adult section, opens while the owner (David Koechner) cuts
corners by using water from a local source. Despite the warnings of
his step-daughter and co-owner (Danielle Panabaker), the water is
filled with deadly man-eating piranha, all waiting to jump into the
screen for 3-D formats when the film becomes Piranha 3DD.
Rated R, 83 minutes. The DVD, in all formats and various
combo packs, offers commentary, three deleted scenes, an eight minute
“making of” featurette, a four minute short starring John
McEnroe, two brief segments with Gary Busey and David Hasselhof, and
more.

Titanic—100 Years in 3D

More 3D images are on tap in this exploration of the
wreck of the Titanic. Artifacts are retrieved which are then linked
to a survivor, whose story is then related in voice-over.

Not rated, 45 minutes.

My Sucky Teen Romance (**1/2)

The best thing about this raw comedy-horror blend is the
bright future it augurs for 29 year-old writer-director Emily Hagins.
The film revolves around a 17 year-old (Elaine Hurt) traveling to a
sci-fi convention who meets a hunky boy (Patrick Delgado) who turns
out to be a vampire. Problems arise.

Not rated, 77 minutes. The disc holds commentary, a
behind-the-scenes featurette, a deleted scene, a short film by
Hagins, and bloopers.

Mia and the Migoo

This brightly colorful, hand-painted French animated
film tells the story of Mia’s cross-continental quest for her father.
She encounters the ever-changing Migoo, who guards the Tree of Life
which, along with the planet, stands in peril. With voices by Whoopi
Goldberg, John DiMaggio, Matthew Modine.

Rated PG, 91 minutes. The disc includes a “making of”
featurette and a separate segment with director Jacques-Remy Girerd.

And, finally, from this week’s TV arrivals:

Grey’s Anatomy—season eight

This latest eventful season, of 24 episodes on six
discs, about the interns, residents and staff at Seattle’s Grace
Hospital begins with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) being fired,
Cristina (Sandra Oh) scheduling an abortion, and a social worker
calling Meredith and Derek’s (Patrick Dempsey) adoption into
question. From there, fans can enjoy the weekly vicissitudes in this
engaging comedy-drama created by Shonda Rhimes.

Rated TV-14, DLSV. Approximately 1032 minutes. The
collection includes eight deleted scenes, three minutes of outtakes,
and the 14 minute featurette “A Journey Home with Kevin McKidd.”

Haven—season wo

The cryptic sophomore season of this hit Syfy series saw
Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) initially faced with her doppelganger,
just one of the many instances of the “troubles” affecting the
bucolic Maine village Haven. Based on Stephen King’s “The Colorado
Kid,” the series weekly delves into the mysteries that everyone in
town seems to harbor, including the town sheriff (Lucas Bryant) and a
local renegade (Eric Balfour). Four discs hold the 13 episodes,
including the out-of-season Christmas program “Silent Night.”

Not rated, 572 minutes. The well-filled set offers ten
commentaries, six “making of” featurettes totaling 38 minutes,
five “behind-the-scenes” featurettes totaling 25 minutes, an
eight minute interview with guest star Adam Copeland, and more.

Also on DVD: The Five Year Engagement, The Office—seasoneight, Safe.