Page 24 THE VILLADOM TIMES I, III & IV • September 19, 2012 New DVD releases (continued from Restaurant page) two grown men who take sibling rivalry to hilarious heights. Mark (Steve Zissis) is a 30-something married man with a preteen son, who never got over an event from his teen years. As youths, Mark and his brother Jeremy competed in a homegrown, 25-event Olympic-style competition to see who was the best brother. As adults, the overachieving, self-satisfied Jeremy (Mark Kelly) appears at Mark’s birthday, turning what was to be a pleasant, lowkey reunion into a confrontation that brings to the fore all of Mark’s poorly-hidden insecurities. When Jeremy suggests a rematch of their teen feats, Mark takes the bait, as Jeremy knew he would. The goofy “events” include miniature golf, ping-pong, laser tag, and leg wrestling, which offer plenty of opportunities for visual gags. Essentially, the movie is a onejoke comedy, with two adults acting like kids to “one-up” each other. However, the movie does examine the frequently awkward connection between siblings, a subject not often covered in movies. The filmmakers, Mark and Jay Duplass, have stated that the film is based on brothers who lived near them when they were kids, but it’s hard not to think that the feelings conveyed in this movie -if not the actual events -- are autobiographical. Blu-ray extras include the featurettes “Meet the Real Brothers” and “Rock, Paper, Scissors with the Real Brothers.” “The Revenant” (Lionsgate) capitalizes on the current popularity of the zombie with a blend of horror and comedy. American soldier Bart Gregory (David Anders) is ambushed and killed while serving in Iraq. His body is shipped home and buried, but he soon rises from the grave and seeks the company of his best friend, Joey (Chris Wylde), a slacker with a ready wisecrack for every occasion. The two buddies conclude that Bart is now a “revenant,” a combination vampire/zombie who is undead and has an insatiable thirst for blood. At first, they try to satisfy Bart’s urges by stealing blood from a hospital, but when they stumble on a convenience store robbery and kill the assailant, another solution comes to mind. They plan to roam Los Angeles by night and do away with bad guys, thereby providing Bart with a steady supply of fresh blood and easing the city’s crime epidemic. “The Revenant” borrows elements from “An American Werewolf in London,” “Death Wish,” “My Best Friend Is a Vampire,” and “Once Bitten.” To satisfy horror purists, there is plenty of gore, and the writing is quite clever. The rapport between Anders and Gregory illustrates that it takes more than death to break up a solid friendship. DVD extras include a making-of featurette, director commentary, deleted scenes, and a photo gallery.