Here's a batch of new-to-DVD movies, led by a first-rate 1950s Western.
"Seven Men From Now" (Paramount, 1956, not rated, $14.99). This Western from John Wayne's production company stars Randolph Scott as a former sheriff hunting down the seven men responsible for his wife's death during a holdup. And it's a gripping yarn, shot on outdoor locations in Lone Pine, Calif.
Along the way, Scott meets up with a tenderfoot Easterner (Walter Reed) and his attractive wife (Gail Russell). Then they encounter Lee Marvin, who holds a grudge against Scott, but joins the hunt to grab the $20,000 in the strongbox that was stolen. You know the showdown is coming, but all is not as it seems.
Scott has never been more enigmatic, and Marvin is at his nastiest. (Check out the moment when Marvin shoots a man down, then swaggers toward the body and takes a cigarette out of the guy's mouth to light his own.)
Perhaps the most fun, however, is in the bonus features, as B-movie Western director Budd Boetticher is hailed, and we get to see low-key Clint Eastwood and manic Quentin Tarantino sitting next to each other in an interview.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary, featurettes, trailers, photo gallery, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"Four Brothers" (Paramount, 2005; R for violence, language, sex; $29.95). Four adopted brothers (Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund) put aside their differences and come together after their mother is killed in a convenience-store holdup. They they pool resources to find out if it was really a random killing.
Good ensemble performances and some twists and turns give some life to this otherwise routine revenge yarn.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, audio commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, trailer, language options (English, French), subtitle options (English, Spanish), chapters.
"The Brothers Grimm" (Dimension, 2005, PG-13, $29.99). This fantasy with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the title characters is directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, and it's a period piece that is just as grimy as you might expect (think "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" or "Jabberwocky").
The surprise, however, is that it's pretty dull and sometimes hard to follow. The conceit is that the Brothers Grimm are actually con artists traveling the countryside to "protect" villagers . . . for a fee. Then real supermantural occurrences catch up with them. Sadly, it's just not funny, though Damon and Ledger do try.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, language options (English, French), subtitle options (English, Spanish), chapters.
"The Yards" (Miramax, 2000; unrated but R-level language, violence, nudity; $29.99). This thriller of the Quentin Tarantino school stars Mark Wahlberg, and — before they had climbed to their current level of stardom — Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Theron. James Caan, Faye Dunaway and Ellen Burstyn are among the supporting players.
But all that talent can't make this one rise above mundane, though it certainly tries, in the story of an ex-con (Wahlberg) trying to stay clean. Phoenix is his pal, who sucks him back into the shady life, and Theron is his brunette cousin. This reissue is a re-edited version, and it is tighter than the original but still a so-so melodrama.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, concept art, trailer, subtitle options (English, Spanish), chapters.
"Cry_Wolf" (Universal, 2005; unrated but R-level violence, language, sex; $29.98). This horror/mystery yarn with a "surprise" ending is fairly run-of-the-mill stuff, as a group of twisted teens tries to scare their peers by crying wolf — until, of course, a real wolf shows up. Sort of. For some reason, Jon Bon Jovi shows up as a journalism teacher.
The real selling point, of course, is that this one has dropped its PG-13 rating to go for the forbidden "unrated" label, hoping to attract an audience looking for more. Good luck.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, separate rated (PG-13) and unrated editions, audio commentary, deleted/alternate scenes, making-of featurettes, short film: "The Tower of Babble," subtitle options (English, Spanish, French), chapters.
"Bob the Butler" (Visual, 2005, PG, $19.95). Your level of tolerance for Tom Green will play into whether you can take this alleged family film about a guy who can't hold down a job because disaster tends to follow him wherever he goes. That could also apply to this film.
He goes to butler school, then goes to work for upscale, uptight single parent Brooke Shields. Naturally, he's better with the kids than she is. And, hold on, romance follows. Ick.
The over-the-top dumb comedy is kept to a PG level — and yet the bonus features include a little more of Shields being revealed in a shower scene!
Extras: Full frame, deleted scenes, bloopers, subtitle options (English, Spanish), chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com