If you think last week’s DVD releases were a little on the lame side, wait until you see what’s in stores this week. Not one of the films debuting on DVD today made even $30 million in wide release.
 
The biggest, if not the best, to drop this week is Superhero Movie, a cheap spoof from the makers of Scary Movies 3-4, Meet the Spartans, etc. It made an estimated $25,842,219 in theaters, with stars including Leslie Nielson, Tracy Morgan, Jeffrey Tambor, Sara Paxton, Marian Ross and Drake Bell (of "Drake and Josh" fame).  With a title like that, the subject matter and plot are pretty obvious.
 
You’ll also be able to rent the Paramount/Dreamworks horror flick The Ruins, about a group of 20 somethings (Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Joe Anderson and more) who go to Mexico and have to deal with the curse of an ancient civilization in the form of deadly plants. Yes, it’s every bit as good as it sounds, and it earned a whopping $17,432,844 in wide theatrical release.
 
A much better piece is the semi-indie Sleepwalking, with fine performances from Anna Sophia Robb, Nick Stahl, Charlize Theron, Dennis Hopper  and Woody Harrelson, among others. It’s a dark tale about an uncle and niece (Stahl and Robb) who go on a journey together after being left behind by their mother/sister, played by Theron. Be forewarned, this is not a feel good film and it merits it’s R-rating.
 
Stop-Loss, the long awaited follow-up from Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry), is also out on DVD this week. You’d think, with a cast that includes Ryan Philippe, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Channing Tatum, Abby Cornish and Timothy Olyphant, that it would have been able to pull in more than $10,915,744, but it’s an Iraq War movie, released at a time when the American public had been inundated with so much news about the conflict that presumably no one wanted to pay to see more. It might be a few more years before this film finds an eager audience.
 
This could be a good week to catch up on some of those old classics you’ve always wanted to see but never got around to, or perhaps to have a Batman film festival, so you’ll be in a better place to enjoy Batman: The Dark Knight, set for release next week and already selling out some shows.