Also out this week: "Casa de Mi Padre” and "Friends with Kids."
In this image released by 20th Century Fox, from left, Will Sasso, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Sean Hayes are shown in a scene from "The Three Stooges." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Peter Iovino) Washington Post
The following films are available this week on home video:
“The Three Stooges” – The imbecilic “Stooges” still manages to pummel you into submission with 92 minutes of relentless stupidity. Even by Stooges standards, it’s overly juvenile and dumb. The original Stooges, of course, were a vaudeville act whose physical shtick was characterized by aggressive but finely choreographed kicks, punches, snaps and falls. With the Farrelly brothers’ “Stooges,” the routine hits a new low. The story starts with the baby Stooges being abandoned on the steps of an orphanage. The Farrellys and regular screenwriting collaborator Mike Cerrone fast-forward through 25 years of antics to get to a point where older Moe, Larry and Curly must venture off into the real world. They’re tasked with raising $830,000 in 30 days, or their precious orphanage faces foreclosure. And then . . . well, not much happens. The Farrellys have made funny movies mining smart humor from idiotic protagonists, but the brothers have been stuck in a rut lately, and “Stooges” isn’t going to help pull them out. Extras: Deleted/extended scenes, several featurettes, including shorts on the history of “The Three Stooges,” a behind-the-scenes look, sound effects and casting; “The Three Stooges Mash-up,” and original screen test.
“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” – British fisheries expert Alfred Jones (played by Ewan McGregor) finds himself dragooned into the scheme of a wealthy sheik to introduce flyfishing in Yemen. Along the way, he befriends the sheik’s quietly sophisticated London representative, Harriet (Emily Blunt). As conceived for the screen by writer Simon Beaufoy and director Lasse Hallstrom, this adaptation of Paul Torday’s novel turns out to be a surprisingly lush, endearing little film, in which a swelling sense of romanticism thoroughly banishes even the most far-fetched improbabilities. It is less a classic fish-out-of-water tale than a fish-in-strange-waters tale, a study in diametric opposites that finds unexpected moments of almost mystical harmony. Viewers who take the sheik’s advice and suspend their disbelief, even for a moment, may well find themselves hooked. DVD extras: making-of featurette and a look at novelist Torday.
“Friends With Kids” – When Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) and her best friend, Jason (Adam Scott), find themselves bemused singletons within their social circle of marrieds-with-children, they decide to have a baby together - not as lovers, but as single parents unencumbered by a conjugal relationship. For those willing to play along, Westfeldt - who also wrote and directed - provides some pungent observations, especially when it comes to the stress of new parenthood. Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm play their once compulsively amorous couple now mired in bickering and resentment with weary, bitter honesty. As usual, Maya Rudolph’s flawless timing and unforced wit are wasted in a supporting role. Westfeldt injects a gratuitous degree of vulgarity into what could have worked perfectly well without all the genitals jokes. In the film’s best scene Scott and Hamm engage in a verbal pas de deux that’s startling in its fury and honesty. It’s then that you realize that “Friends With Kids” works fine as filler (to quote the movie), but it could have been something tougher, sweeter and so much more. Extras: commentary by Westfeldt, Hamm and director of photography Will Rexer II; deleted scenes, gag reel and making-of featurette.
“Casa de Mi Padre” – What’s the big idea here? Is the joke that Will Ferrell - playing a Mexican version of his signature, slightly dense Everyman - speaks nothing but Spanish throughout the film? Or is it that the movie is a parody of how cheesy a cheaply made, south-of-the-border Western can get? Those are the two hardest-working gags in the film, a deliberately inept spoof of accidentally inept filmmaking. It’s perfect for a short clip on Funnyordie.com. Padded out to feature length, with a bunch of other slight and unmemorable laughs, it wears thin. Extras: commentary with Ferrell, director Matt Piedmont and writer-producer Andrew Steele; making-of featurette, deleted scenes, “Fight for Love” music video and commerciales.
Also: “Singin’ in the Rain 60th Anniversary” collector’s edition (1952, three discs, Warner, includes 48-page hardback book and full-size umbrella), “Lockout,” “Intruders,” “4:44 Last Day on Earth,” “The Beat Hotel,” “Here,” “Storage Wars: Volume Three,” Criterion Collection), “Deadline,” “Patagonia Rising,” “American Masters: Johnny Carson: King of Late Night” (PBS), “The Big Man: Crossing the Line” (1990), “Deserter,” (2002), “Dan Vs. — The Complete First Season,” “Doomsday Prophecy,” “Midnight Son,” “Extraterrestrial” (2011, Spain), “Alphas: Season One,” “Virgin Alexander” and “Eureka: Season 5.”