Win32 Virus Removal

Journal Register News Service The tenuousness of civilized society is a theme which Steven Soderbergh examines in grim detail in "Contagion" (2011, Warner, PG-13, $29), a chiller about a deadly virus that counts a Midwestern business exec (Gwyneth Paltrow) as its patient zero.

Paltrow brings the deadly bug back from Hong Kong and, in a matter of weeks, millions are dead and millions more are desperate for a vaccine. The cast members (Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Jennifer Ehle, Laurence Fishburne) are top-notch but the disease itself — transmitted through elevator buttons and door handles — is the real star. "Contagion" is a disaster thriller done right.

Extras: featurettes.

Also new on DVD:

"Don't Be Afraid of The Dark" (2011, Sony, R, $30) Adapted by co-writer/producer Guillermo Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") from a 1970 TV movie, this involving chiller centers on a young girl named Sally (Bailee Madison) who goes off to live in a Victorian mansion with her father (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend (Katie Holmes). While the adults are distracted with efforts to restore the house, Sally unknowingly unleashes nasty goblins from their basement hiding place. The characters never come into focus but Del Toro and company deserve credit for creating terror using minimal effects. Extras: featurettes.

"I Don't Know How She Does It" (2011, Anchor Bay, PG-13, $30) Investment manager and perennially frazzled mother of two Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) leads a crazy, fast-paced life, but time moves very slowly in this tiresome comedy from the usually reliable Douglas McGrath ("Emma.") There's no plot, no tension, no reason to keep watching. Greg Kinnear and Pierce Brosnan are on good form as the men in Kate's life but, otherwise, this rom com is completely charmless. Extras: an interview with Allison Pearson, who wrote the novel on which the movie is based.

"The Guard" (2011, Sony, R, $30) An Irish cop (Brendan Gleeson) and a strait-laced FBI agent (Don Cheadle) team up to stop a drug-smuggling ring in rural Ireland. Sure, it's a clichéed set-up, but writer/director John Michael McDonagh has crafted a clever action farce filled to the brim with quirky characters, wry humor and lonely landscapes. Plus, the great Fionnula Flanagan steals every scene she's in as Gleeson's tart-tongue mother. Extras: outtakes, deleted scenes, shorts and commentaries by cast and crew.

"Brighton Rock" (2011, IFC, R, $25) A Graham Greene novel set in the early '60s provides the source material for Rowan Joffe's engaging film noir about a cold-hearted gangster named Pinkie (Sam Riley) whose revenge killing of a rival thug lands him in a world of trouble. When an innocent waitress (Andrea Riseborough) stumbles upon evidence linking Pinkie to the murder, he ominously weighs his options. The film starts off strongly and blurs a bit in the middle. Still, thanks to sharp supporting turns (Helen Mirren, John Hurt and Andy Serkis) and poetic visuals, it's hard to resist. Extras: interviews and featurettes.

"A Good Old Fashioned Orgy" (2011, Sony, R, $30) Jason Sudeikis stars as a party animal who decides to throw an elaborate, end-of-the-season sex bash at his father's Hamptons mansion. The cast members (Martin Starr, Tyler Labine, Nick Kroll, Lindsay Sloane, Lake Bell, Michelle Borth, Angela Sarafyan) struggle to look amused, the jokes are beyond stale and the attempts at sexual chemistry would leave Billy Wilder spinning in his grave. Avoid at all costs. Extras: commentaries, deleted scenes and featurettes.

"Removal" (2011, Lionsgate, R, $30) Cole (Mark Kelly) is having one of the worst days of his life. After working a double shift, he's called out to all-night carpet cleaning job by a client (Oz Perkins, Anthony's son) who begins to insinuate he's killed his wife and needs help removing the mess. Cole reacts to the stress of the situation by having hallucinations involving his own violence-prone alter ego ("Twilight's" Billy Burke.) "Removal" plays a like subpar David Lynch thriller that's redeemed only by it's unpredictability and atmosphere of menace. Extras: deleted scenes, gag reel and alt opening.

"Ice Quake" (2011, Anchor Bay, PG, $20) Fresh from "Bones," Brendan Fehr stars as a geologist who takes his family to the top of a mountain to cut down a Christmas tree just as the permafrost begins cracking up thanks to a massive ice shelf collapse in the Russian Arctic. Originally broadcast on Syfy, this disaster movie never turns into the full-scale destruction-fest it promises to be but scenes involving ice geysers, avalanches and exploding methane gas are diverting enough attractions. Extras: featurette.

"Mildred Pierce" (2011, HBO, unrated, $40) For his remake of the Joan Crawford classic, Todd Haynes ("Far From Heaven") has whipped up a mesmerizing if oddly remote five-part mini-series about a struggling single-mother (Kate Winslet) in Depression-era Los Angeles who gains monetary success but alienates her bratty daughter (played first by Montgomery County's Morgan Turner and then by Evan Rachel Wood.) Returning to James M. Cain's book for inspiration, Haynes has dropped the murder mystery which drove the plot of the original film and focused his attention on Mildred and her doomed quest to give her daughter the kind of life she always wanted for herself. Extras: featurettes and audio commentaries.

"Justified: The Complete Second Season" (2011, Sony, unrated, $40) No sophomore jinx for this superb series starring Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. After busting up the Crowder crime family, Raylan faces a new adversary in the deceptively maternal Mags Bennett (Emmy-winning Margo Martindale), the mastermind behind another insidious backwoods brood. Extras: outtakes, featurettes and deleted scenes.

"The Robert Montgomery Collection" (2011, Warner Archive, unrated, $55) One of MGM's most versatile stars gets the boxed set treatment thanks to the folks at Warner Archive, who have assembled eight of his films in a four-disc set. A number of the dramatic entries are solid — a highlight is the Depression-era sudser "Faithless" — but it's "Live, Love and Learn" that's the set's hidden gem. Montgomery and Rosalind Russell spark an irresistible chemistry as, respectively, an impoverished artist and an heiress determined to give marriage a try. Extras: none.

"Nothing Sacred" (1937, Kino, unrated, $30) William Wellman's new-to-Blu-ray-black comedy about Hazel Flagg (Carole Lombard), a small-town woman who fakes radium poisoning to get a free trip to New York, feels as fresh as yesterday's news. Scripter Ben Hecht makes some penetrating points about scandal-hungry New Yorkers — and the tabloids who cater to them — but the love story between Flagg and reporter Frederic March rings hollow. Extras: none.

"Futurama: Volume 6" (2011, Fox, unrated, $30) The latest season of the newly revived animated series from Matt Groening ("The Simpsons") brings back Fry, Bender and the Planet Express gang for 13 more episodes. Set in 3000, the show offers up takes on time travel, gender politics, self-duplication, alien eggs, covert missions and Fry's re-introduction of the common cold to the 31st century. Extras: commentaries on all the episodes, deleted scenes and featurettes.

"Royal Pains: Season Three, Volume One" (2011, Universal, unrated, $27) Despite losing his billionaire benefactor (Campbell Scott), Hamptons' "concierge doctor" Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein) is back on the beach, tending to the whims of the idle rich. With its lovely ocean views and smart, witty characters, this featherweight series is a nifty cure to the wintertime blues. Extras: gag reel, deleted scenes and commentaries.

Amy Longsdorf is a freelance entertainment writer. Her DVD reviews appear Sunday in The Mercury.