Rome Season Two picks up after Julius Caesar's assassination and charts the power struggle between Mark Antony and Octavian for control of Rome, among other plot threads. The heart of the story is the friendship between two Roman soldiers, the thoughtful Lucius Vorenus, who has been twisted by grief and guilt to become a very hard man indeed, and Titus Pullo, who is violent because being a soldier is all he knows how to do. Ostensibly a costume drama, Rome is frequently vulgar, with copious amounts of male and female nudity, brutality, explicit sex and some gruesome imagery. The characters are rich and fleshed out, from Octavius' scheming mother, Atia, to the eventual wife of Antony, Cleopatra. While it plays fast and loose with some history (particularly segments that occur in Egypt), Rome is a deep and involving show, among the very best in HBO's considerable library. Highly recommended, although you should start with Season One.

The premise is Hitchcock's Rear Window, re-imagined for today's teen audience. Even though I liked Shia LaBeouf quite a bit in Holes, I had zero interest in this one based on it's advertising. YMMV, certainly, but I have a feeling that I'm not in the demographic for this one. In the "why do they still bother?" category, the DVD has two SKUs, one widescreen and the other full screen, so buyer beware.

Speaking of not being part of the demographic, TMNT is also getting it's home video release this week. I watched the standard DVD version prior to writing this column, and I have to say that even in 480p, this movie pops off the screen. The visuals are stunning, and the creature and character designs are inventive and quite cool looking. The story didn't do it for me, revolving around whether or not Ninja Turtle Leonardo is going to be able to find it in himself to be a true leader, and form the directionless Turtle group into a cohesive unit in time to save New York from horrible Monsters from another dimension. The story and humor level was strictly Saturday morning cartoon-level, but I'm sure that is what the target audience wanted from the movie. Having no personal nostalgia for the Turtles, I enjoyed it for it's visual panache but not enough to make a permanent addition to my library.

Ice Cube has made a seamless transition from hardcore gangsta rapper to family friendly comedy-dad, hasn't he? You could see Eddie Murphy or Steve Martin doing this just as easily. In lieu of a write-up, since I'm positive this movie is garbage, let me quote some Ice Cube lyrics: "Get rid of that Devil real simple, put a bullet in his temple / Cuz you can't be the Nigga 4 Life crew / with a white Jew tellin' you what to do."

It's the Simpsons. It's Season Ten. Three Words: Pinchy the Lobster.

Poorly reviewed, this remake of the French Film "Chloe in the Afternoon" features Chris Rock as a bored husband who takes long lunches in order to ogle more women on the street. When an ex-girlfriend of his re-enters his life, he has to choose between his wife (Serenity's Gina Torres) and his ex.

The Daily Show's Lewis Black cashes a check. What price dignity?

A strong contender for pick of the week, Bubba Ho-Tep is the sublime comedy starring Bruce Campbell as an elderly man who may be Elvis, and Ossie Davis who may be JFK, fighting a Mummy who attacks the nursing home where they reside. The cover is awesome, but as reported by DVD Talk, once you take off the replica jacket it's the same DVD that has been previously available.