DVDs

The African Queen — Gay icon Katharine Hepburn had one of her most celebrated roles as uptight missionary Rose Sayer and was memorably paired with Oscar-winner Humphrey Bogart as a crusty riverboat captain in this adventure set in war-torn East Africa. John Huston directed this colorful 1951 classic, which makes its debut on DVD and Blu-ray.
 

Big Screen Bombshells: 12 Movie Collection — The camp value is off the charts as a dozen lurid titles like 1976’s Hustler Squad (prostitutes turned Army recruits go on a dangerous military mission) and 1973’s Superchick (about a crime-fighting flight attendant) are compiled for this boxed set. Of particular interest are 1980’s Galaxina (Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten stars as a robot pilot) and 1968’s Single Room Furnished (Jayne Mansfield goes from innocent teenager to disillusioned hooker). Stratten died shortly after her film was released, and the Mansfield title was released posthumously.
 

Broken Embraces — Any new Pedro Almodóvar film is an event, and that holds true with his most recent, a romantic noir with Hitchcockian undertones. The director’s muse, Penélope Cruz (stunning as ever), stars as a mysterious woman at the center of a complicated love triangle. While the plot defies easy description (Almodóvar even sends up his own Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at one point), the film demands repeat viewings.

Goodfellas (20th Anniversary Edition) —
Considered by many critics to be one of Martin Scorsese's finest films, Goodfellas holds up well 20 years later, presented here with better than the original audio and video quality. Extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews with Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi, who cowrote the script, based on his book Wiseguy.