New on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

"ER: Complete Eleventh Season”
The melodrama escalates to a fever pitch, but then it had to, didn’t it? This is the eleventh season of "ER," and the producers aren't willing to allow fans to move away from the water cooler quietly. As such, we get 22 episodes laced with chaos and disorder, with romance and broken hearts hurtling through the doors of Chicago's County General Hospital almost as frequently as the injured and the dying. In this season, Noah Wyle’s Dr. Carter carries a season that includes sharks attached to aquarium workers, a frat boy with an arrow through his stomach, and plenty of other horror stories, a good deal of which is dealt with humor or real drama. Since this also is the season in which Carter leaves County General--and thus the show--the season ends in a maelstrom of moist melodrama. Grade: B

“I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” Blu-ray
It’s still obvious they didn’t spend it making a good movie. This slasher sequel follows what happens when Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) tries to mellow out in the Bahamas after having nightmares about the Fisherman killer who took down everyone in the last film. At first, it’s all laughs, booze and good times for Julie and company. But then lightning literally strikes as those around Julie start to get knocked off. See Julie run! The movie features characters that scream as if they just had their pigtails pulled, which can be fun since it’s tough to like any of them, but the story is so bogged down by it’s been there, seen that feel, it’s a disappointment. Rated R. Grade: C-.

“Jesus’ Son”
Since we're keeping it clean here (sort of), there’s no way I can tell you the name of the main character in Alison Maclean’s first American film, “Jesus’ Son,” just re-released by Lionsgate, so we’ll leave it at this: His initials are FH. The H stands for Head. The F stands for a word that punctuates every lousy, self-destructive, moronic thing he’s ever done to screw up his life. FH, played brilliantly by Billy Crudup, is a sweet, likable junkie who destroys everything he touches. Caught in a continuous, drug-induced haze, he’s a hapless bit of bad luck who blows through the nightmare of his life in a giddy, semi-conscious state that sometimes gives itself over to moments of absolute clarity, as witnessed in an early scene where he leaps out of a truck to whirl about in a field. The way Crudup plays him, FH comes off as an innocent, lumbering dolt who seems as astonished as we are by the grave mistakes he keeps making in his life. At times hilarious and other times disturbing, it fractures time while also sustaining a similar staccato rhythm. Though FH’s life is tragic, the movie doesn’t play out like a tragedy--it’s more hopeful than that. At its core, it’s about FH’s relationships, the most important of which centers around his junkie girlfriend, Michelle (Samantha Morton), who is more afloat than FH--and far more weak. Rated R. Grade: A-

“Torchwood: Complete Second Series” Blu-ray
From the BBC, a sci-fi spin-off of the network's "Doctor Who" franchise, with a solid dose of sex meant to spice up the proceedings. Often, it does. Thematically, the two shows are so closely interlinked, the very name "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who," but in terms of quality, this second season of the series suggests it still has a ways to go before it matches the sheer inventiveness of its inspiration. That said, it’s a major improvement over the first series. Set in Cardiff, Wales, the show stars John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness, who leads a small taskforce of geeks gleaning alien technology to undo their share of aliens, while in this season Harkness is faced with his former lover (James Marsters), not to mention the fleeting, unexpected presence of his brother Gray (Laclan Nieboer). Grade: B+

Also available on DVD and Blu-ray disc:

The horror movie “The Haunting in Connecticut” is just out on DVD and Blu-ray disc, and along with it comes a haunted Victorian home with an ugly past and the young man and his family who are undone by it. Virginia Madsen stars and though the film has a promising start, the lingering question is why she signed on? Obviously, for the money, honey. When the film isn’t an unintended riot, it quickly sags and drags beneath the weight of its own cliches.

Joining it soon in the bargain bin is the DVD and Blu-ray release of “Push,” with Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans slumming through a muddled story that involves a few scenes of compelling action, all of which are undone by eye-popping scenes (not really) riddled with supernatural powers, clairvoyants, pyschic healers and people who scream so loud, they literally can pop a vein. It’s a bum waste of time.

For tween girls, things do look up in “The Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience,” which also is presented on DVD and Blu-ray. It’s just what you expect--glimpses of Kevin, Joe and Nick brooding behind the scenes, the boys rocking out onstage to a hive of contrived songs. Extras include two bonus songs, a digital copy of the movie for use on computers, and 3-D glasses.

Finally, ending on a higher note, look for several recommended television series, such as the second season of “Petticoat Junction” from Paramount, which is a welcomed throwback; the Blu-ray release of “The Universe: Complete Season Two”; the first season of “Leverage,” which is kind of like a modern-day “Robin Hood” in that it features a group of thieves who, in this case, take down corrupt corporations in an effort to help out those ruined by them; and the terrific second season of “Mad Men,” a show about advertising executives in the 1960s who--to put it lightly--knew how to work a boardroom as well as they did a bedroom.