“American Psycho: Blu-ray”: Mary Harron’s feminist take on Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial, 1991 best-selling novel. Mirroring the film’s serial-killing psychopath, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale in his breakout performance), Harron proves she’s just as adept with a knife. As the film’s co-screenwriter, she successfully trims much of the novel’s underlying fat, streamlining Ellis’ rampant use of brand names and over-the-top bloodletting while staying true to the novel’s satirical concept: the greed of the 1980s as realized by an ax-wielding, head-severing, junior master of the universe. Rated R. Grade: B+

“The Grudge 2”: Begins with the same heady news that flashed upon the screen at the start of its equally dumb, 2004 predecessor, “The Grudge”: “When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage, a curse is left behind. Those who encounter it die, and a new curse is born.” Let’s hope they’re wrong. Otherwise, should some disgruntled viewer kick the can after seeing this beauty, curses will descend everywhere. This screwy, empty movie generates a train wreck of confusion onscreen, with sense and logic tied to the tracks and repeatedly severed. For jolts, the movie offers nothing new – zip – just the same old bluish ghosts of the murdered mother and son team, Kayako (Takako Fuji) and Toshio (Oga Tanaka), who pop up so predictably, they underscore the movie’s utter lack of imagination and total banality. Rated PG-13. Grade: D-

“Hollywoodland: DVD and HD DVD”: The film involves the potential mystery surrounding the violent death of George Reeves (Ben Affleck), who played Superman in the 1950s television series “Adventures of Superman” before allegedly taking his own speeding bullet in the head when he realized he’d never been seen as anything more than the Man of Steel. The question here is whether Reeves’ death was murder, with Adrien Brody’s private detective Louis Simo left to find out. If the film’s title makes it sound as authentic as a back-lot set, Paul Bernbaum’s script reinforces that notion. Performances by Diane Lane as Reeve’s older lover, Toni Mannix, and Bob Hoskins as Toni’s husband and MGM studio executive, Eddie Mannix, join much of the cast in their inability to connect with the scattered material. The exception is Lois Smith as Reeves’ mother. She’s terrific, holding the screen better than anyone and giving each of her scenes an interest the movie otherwise lacks. Rated R. Grade: C

“Robert Mitchum Signature Collection”: From Warner, this boxed set features six films – 1952’s “Angel Face” and “Macao,” 1960’s “The Sundowners” and “Home from the Hill,” 1969’s “The Good Guys and the Bad Guys” and 1974’s “The Yakuza.” While none showcases Mitchum at his best (“Night of the Hunter,” for instance, and “Cape Fear” are curiously missing), the set does offer the complexity and the range Mitchum brought to the screen. “Angel Face” and “The Yakuza” are the standouts here, underscoring that while Mitchum isn’t among our great actors, he nevertheless had that face, which was his best asset. It was made for noir. Grade: B

“Running with Scissors: DVD and Blu-ray”: An odd, fractured film that impales itself on camp, but not before generating a wealth of appealingly eccentric performances in the process. Based on Augusten Burroughs’ best-selling 2002 memoir of growing up dysfunctional in the 1970s, the movie fails to strike that uneasy shift from book to film, a literal environment that demands – especially with a story as quirky as this – just the right touch. Writer/director Ryan Murphy doesn’t have it. What he does have is his cast, who give the movie its eager jolt of dark humor. His film is at its best with Annette Bening’s Deirdre, who is so diluted about her alleged poetic greatness, she makes life hell for most of those around her. Also strong are Alec Baldwin as Deirdre’s long-suffering husband, Brian Cox as her questionable psychiatrist and Joseph Cross as Augusten. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jill Clayburgh, Evan Rachel Wood and Joseph Fiennes spark the periphery. Rated R. Grade: C+

“The Tailor of Panama: Blu-ray”: Based on the literate best-selling novel by John le Carre, John Boorman’s smart, sophisticated espionage thriller scores a masterstroke of casting that lifts the film straight out of the canal – and right onto England’s rear. For the role of sleazy secret agent Andy Osnard, Boorman cast Pierce Brosnan, who happily skewers his former 007 persona. His ruthless agent isn’t out to help others – he’s out to help himself. There are so many twists, turns and double-dealings stitched into the seams of “Tailor,” saying too much about its mechanics would ruin the experience of seeing the film. So, we’ll leave it at this: In spite of sometimes being too vague for its own good, the film ultimately comes through with a handful of genuine surprises, with Geoffrey Rush especially good as Harry Pendel, a British expatriate and tailor to powerful Panamanian officials. His character is such a shrewd little cockney con-artist, he charges the film with much of its sublime wit and ongoing sense of irony. Rated R. Grade: A-

“We Were Soldiers-Blu-ray”: Mel Gibson, commanding the troops in the United States’ first protracted battle with the North Vietnamese in 1965. After a heavy-handed opening that bursts with sentiment, the film digs in to become a graphic war movie that plunges audiences into the hell of the battlefield while showing both sides of the fight. This might be the first Vietnam war movie that feels like a World War II movie. Unlike “Apocalypse Now” and “Full Metal Jacket,” for instance, there is no politicizing here, no angst, just soldiers standing bravely before the enemy in the face of great odds. As one soldier dies, he notes how happy he is to die for his country. As another soldier passes, he looks to be at great peace. When the movie was released in 2002 in the wake of 9-11, this marked a major shift in popular attitude. If the movie was made today, one wonders if it would strike the same tone. Rated R. Grade: A-