This week BUCK starts here:

DVDs for Oct. 4 by Boo Allen

This week, we begin in the corral:

Buck (***1/2)

Documentarian Cindy Meehl renders a compelling character study of a man who rose
above personal adversity to become an accomplished professional and a
decent human being. Montana native Buck Brannaman trains horses
almost year around, giving seminars and individual lessons on how to
approach horses, often problem horses. And yes, Brannaman helped
inspire the novel The Horse Whisperer. He
then worked on the film, giving, according to interviewee Robert
Redford, endlessly helpful advice. Meehl chronicles the affable Buck
as he conducts several of his seminars, but she also tells of his
growing up in an abusive home with a father who beat him and his
brother regularly. Brannaman, seen with his loving wife and
daughters, was determined to grow up unlike his father, becoming one
who treats horses, and people, with love and respect.

Rated PG, 89 minutes. The DVD holds eleven deleted scenes.

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (***1/2) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (****)—Blu
ray.

Few films are as fun as these two family friendly Tim Burton treats, now
digitally remastered for Blu-ray debuts. The visionary director’s
first film, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, stars the
irrepressible man-child Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) in his series
of hilarious escapades. Pee Wee travels the country, finding fun,
mischief and colorful characters. Johnny Depp plays Willie Wonka in
Charlie/Chocolate, the
owner of the chocolate factory where lucky Charlie Bucket (Freddie
Highmore) wins a tour through the factory and ends up having more
adventures than Pee-Wee Herman. Delightful film bursts with color and
features several charming musical numbers.

Pee-Wee: rated PG, 91 minutes. The disc also offers commentary, four deleted
scenes, storyboards, and a music- only track with composer Danny
Elfman’s commentary.

Charlie/Chocolate: Rated PG, 115 minutes. The disc contains commentary, games, online
materials, and eight “Behind-the-story” featurettes on everything
from the Oompa-Loompas to the attack of the squirrels.

Scream 4 (***)

Ten years have passed in Woodsboro when Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell)
returns to town to promote her book. A new rash of stabbings erupts,
sending officer Dewey (David Arquette) to the rescue, while his wife
Gale (Courtney Cox)  also investigates. More of the same from this
successful franchise which cleverly mixes horror movie satire with
black humor and an unhealthy dose of gruesome murders.

Rated R, 111 minutes. The DVD, available in Blu-ray and expected combo
packs and downloads, includes 20 deleted and extended scenes, a nine
minute gag reel, and a ten minute “making of” featurette.

Brand New Day (***1/2)

This Australian musical has much in common with “Mamma Mia,”
originating with a stage production and also featuring a twist on
questionable parentage. In 1969, Willie (Rocky Mackenzie), an
aboriginal boy placed in a strict religious school run by German
headmaster Father Benedictus, (Geoffrey Rush), lands in trouble and
runs away. He ends up on the road with a homeless aboriginal man,
Tadpole (Ernie Dingo), and a young hippie couple in their groovy VW
van. They travel the outback while Benedictus follows, and along the
way, adversity can only be met by breaking into song and sometimes
dance, Fun, lightweight film personified by the standout song
“There’s nothing I would rather be than to be an aborigine.”

Rated PG-13, 85 minutes.

Lion King 3D—Diamond Edition (****), African Cats (***1/2)

Disney and Disneynature release two stunning features, one animated and one
live action, about nature’s most awesome creatures. Fresh from its
recent theatrical run, Lion King 3D looks glimmering
and glossy in Hi-Def (and Blu-ray 3D). The Hamlet-based
story centers on a young lion cub who avenges the death of his
father. With the memorable and haunting “Circle of Life.” The
documentary African Cats goes
to the beautiful continent to capture a variety of jungle felines at
home. A cheetah mother gives birth, giving filmmakers an opportunity
to follow the pride for more than a year. But they also lie in danger
to predators like jackals. Also, the amazingly intimate photography
captures several lions as they roam their habitats.

Lion King 3: rated
G, 88 minutes. The DVD comes in all imaginable varieties—Blu-ray,
combo packs up to four discs, downloads, and more. Supplements may
vary, but included are bloopers, deleted and extended scenes, a
deleted song, a memoir, interactive access, a singalong mode, and
much more.

African Cats:
rated G, 89 minutes. The DVD also comes in various guises, including
Blu-ray, combo packs, and download. Supplements contains a music
video, filmmaker annotations, and two featurettes: “Disney and
Nature,” and “Save the Savanna.”
And, for kids this week:

Chrysanthemum, My First Collection: volume two, featuring Spoon

Chrysanthemum, the first of two new three
discs sets from Scholastic Storybook Treasures aimed at pre and early
readers, contains animated adaptations of the title story as well as
16 others–narrated by such royalty as Meryl Streep, Sarah Jessica
Parker, Danny Glover and others. Thirteen stories are included in the
second volume of My Collection, along
with an interview with Spoon author Amy Rosenthal.

Spooky Buddies

No one will be afraid of the cute, cuddly Golden
Retrievers puppies featured in this Halloween-themed film from one of
Disney’s most popular franchises. The five talking puppies—B-Dawg,
Budderball, Buddha, Mudbud, and Rosebud– stumble into a haunted
mansion as they face off against Howlloween Hound in a struggle with
huge consequences. Diedrich Bauer, Ryan Stiles, Debra Jo Rupp, Tim
Conway and others supply the voices.

Rated G, 88 minutes. The DVD, available in Blu-ray and
virtually all combinations of Combo Packs and Downloads, contains a
music video, an “interview” with Rosebud, and more.
And, from this week’s TV files:

Mike and Molly—first season

Melissa McCarthy, the unplanned star of Bridesmaids, and Billy
Gardell play the title characters, a schoolteacher and a Chicago cop
who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. They go on to fight
their weights together while becoming romantically attached, a
combination that provides material for weekly comedy.

Not Rated, 491 minutes. The three disc set of 24 episodes, available on
Blu-ray, includes a gag reel, an interview with Jim the Dog, and two
behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Also on DVD: Dead Alive, Fast Five, Ken Burns: Prohibition, The League—season
two.