NEW ON THE SHELF:

“Get Hard,” Will Farrell, Kevin Hart. Aggressively unsubtle buddy comedy pairs prison-bound millionaire Farrell with financially strapped car-wash employee Hart, who pretends to have served time in order to indoctrinate the terrified Farrell in the rules and regulations of jail culture. Rather obvious shenanigans ensue from there, with the notoriously hammy leads turning it up to 11 to hammer home every joke. Clearly Farrell and Hart can be riotously funny, and their many fans will no doubt get some laughs out of this one, but those looking for originality or wit…well, you weren’t gonna get this anyway, were ya? In all, it’s a solid companion for a Friday night six-pack and a dimwitted buddy or two. Rated R. Running time: 1:40. Suggested retail price: $28.98; Blu-ray $44.95

“The Gunman,” Sean Penn, Idris Elba. Director Pierre Morel attempts to do for Penn what his previous – and extremely successful – effort “Taken” did for Liam Neeson, with interesting if less dynamic results. Penn fends off killers left and right following his assassination of the minister of mining in the Congo. A bit sluggish when inevitably compared with “Taken,” but story-wise there’s a bit more substance here, and the always welcome Elba (“The Wire”) classes up the joint as only he can with a brief but memorable role as a concerned Interpol agent. Rated R. Running time: 1:55. Suggested retail price: $29.98; Blu-ray $34.98

VIDEOPORT PICKS:

“Danny Collins,” Al Pacino, Annette Bening. What might have been an amusing trifle at best is given far more weight by a lovely performance from the usually cartoonish Pacino in this moving character study. It casts Al as a beloved but past-his-prime singer whose life and career are given a much needed shot in the arm when he’s presented with a letter that John Lennon wrote to him back in his prime, praising his talents and offering his home phone number to discuss his future. Having never read this letter until now, Danny can’t help but wonder how his life might have gone differently had he met up with the former Beatle, and it inspires him to make a number of late-in-the-game changes that slowly but surely restore him to the outsized talent he once was. It’s clear Pacino identifies with this role, and as a result he delivers perhaps his finest performance in a decade. Rated R. Running time: 1:48. Suggested retail price: $29.98; Blu-ray $34.98

“Hard to Be a God.” The final work of Russian director Aleksei German, based on the sci-fi novel by the Strugatsky brothers. Set in the Middle Ages on the planet Arkanar, the film follows the path of scientists sent to Arkanar from Earth, with the prime directive that they may not interfere or alter the planet’s development. To the planet’s brutal and brutalized natives, the scientists are both godlike and impotent. Not for the faint of heart. Unrated. Russian with English subtitles. Running Time 2:57 Suggested Retail Price: $29.95

NEW TO DVD:

“Last Knights,” Clive Owen, Morgan Freeman. Vaguely defined but action-packed fantasy has the good sense to pair Owen with Freeman, who both as always provide a master class in grounded believability even in the most outlandish of backdrops. The pair portray Raiden and Lord Bartok, respectively, major figures in something called the Great Wars, in an undisclosed country during an undisclosed time period. Rated R. Running time: 1:55. Suggested retail price: $19.98; Blu-ray $19.99

“While We’re Young,” Ben Stiller, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver, Naomi Watts, Adam Horovitz. Director Noah Baumbach’s coming-of-middle-age dramedy will strike out with those looking for a Ben Stiller laffer, but should impress fans of Baumbach’s previous films such as “Frances Ha” and “Greenberg.” Rated R. Running time: 1:37. Suggested retail price: $19.98

NEW TO BLU-RAY:

“Five Easy Pieces,” Jack Nicholas, Billy Green Bush. Wherein piano prodigy turned oil rigger Bobby Dupea takes a break from boozing it up in dive bars and chewing out waitresses for poorly prepared sandwiches to visit his ailing father in his old hometown, and wherein one Jack Nicholson becomes a household name for portraying him. You won’t read a bad review anywhere of director Bob Rafelson’s searing 1970 character study, and you won’t find a better opportunity to find out why than this gorgeous print from Criterion. Rated R. Running time: 1:38. Suggested retail price: $39.95

“UHF,” Weird Al Yankovic, Michael Richards. Having enjoyed more longevity than most of the artists he’s parodied throughout his long and successful career, Weird Al’s 1989 cable TV sendup certainly has more admirers now than it did upon its initial theatrical release, and it’s good-natured, off-the-wall humor and the expected hilarious soundtrack have held up nicely. Rated PG-13. Running time: 1:37. Suggested retail price: $22.97

– Courtesy of Videoport