Toy Story, Sherlock Holmes among new DVD reviews 

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The most famous film in the set turns out to also be the most disappointing. These Are The Damned (1963), also known as simply The Damned, finds an American tourist (Macdonald Carey, amusingly looking like M. Hulot in the opening scenes) running afoul of some British street toughs – even more so after he takes off with the sister (Shirley Anne Field) of the snarling gang leader (Oliver Reed). The pair hide out near a top-secret facility, only to learn that the government is involved in experiments centered around radioactive children. Director Joseph Losey's classical style is all wrong for this picture, which contains all manner of intriguing elements but never figures out what to do with any of them.

The only extras are the theatrical trailers for all six films.

The Snorkel: ***

Never Take Candy from a Stranger: ***1/2

Stop Me Before I Kill!: **

Cash on Demand: ***

Maniac: **1/2

These Are the Damned: **

Extras: *

SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009). The stench of Van Helsing hung heavy over the theatrical trailer for this interpretation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth extraordinaire – hyperkinetic editing, loopy deviations from the source, an unintelligible plot – but, happily, the end result turned out to be far more successful than those early warning signs indicated. To be sure, this isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but director Guy Ritchie's full-speed-ahead effort still qualifies as above-average couch-potato fare. Robert Downey Jr. vigorously portrays Holmes as a brawny, brainy gentleman-lout while Jude Law provides measured counterpoint as sidekick Dr. Watson; various plotlines include Holmes getting mixed up with a woman from his past (Rachel McAdams), Watson contemplating marriage, and both gents tangling with a sinister figure (Mark Strong) who apparently possesses supernatural abilities. The story isn't always interesting as much as it's overextended – at least one plot strand could have been excised – and Ritchie's pumped-up techniques often make this feel less like a movie and more like a video game promo. But there's still plenty to enjoy here, and the ending all but guarantees a sequel – a no-brainer given its international half-billion-dollar box office take. In related news, another company has re-released The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection, containing the classic films starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson.

The only DVD extra is a 14-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.

Movie: **1/2

Extras: *1/2

TOY STORY (1995) / TOY STORY 2 (1999). Choosing favorite Pixar flicks is as daunting a task as, say, singling out favorite David Bowie tunes or naming favorite Shakespeare quotes – when the high quality comes flying fast and furious, it's hard to get a bead on the best. Forced to choose, though, I'm still most impressed with Pixar's first feature-length effort, the picture that jump-started the whole field of computer-animated toons. As with Star Wars, we can't hold it responsible for the inferior products that followed – none, it must be noted, from Pixar itself (though plenty from Disney and other studios' cartoon divisions). It's best, then, just to rediscover the pleasures of this first adventure featuring cowboy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) and spaceman Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), a film that's as delightfully scripted as it is cleverly animated. Equally noteworthy is Toy Story 2, that rare sequel that lives up to the high standards of its predecessor – in part because of the introduction of the great new character Jessie (Joan Cusack). In anticipation of this upcoming summer's Toy Story 3, the first two installments have been released on Blu-ray and re-released on DVD; grab 'em while they're hot.

DVD extras on the discs include audio commentaries by Pixar head John Lasseter and crew members; sneak peeks at Toy Story 3; Pixar anecdotes told (and animated) by studio artists; a piece on the genesis of the original Toy Story; and a salute to the late Joe Ranft, a key figure at Pixar who passed away in 2005.

Both Movies: ****

Extras: ***

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (2009). Hollywood's second foray into the Twilight zone features enough fantasy and romance to satisfy most hardcore devotees of Stephenie Meyer's vampire saga, but just as many viewers will notice that this is too often a case of the emperor – or, more specifically, buff teenage boys – wearing no clothes. Twilight might have been occasionally ripe, but that worked for the material, as director Catherine Hardwicke instinctively fed into the oversized angst that all too often defines the lives of teenagers wrapped up in their daily melodramas. By comparison, new helmer Chris Weitz keeps the proceedings on a low simmer, an emotional oasis only punctuated every once in a while by Bella's howls as she pines for her one true bloodsucking love. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. In New Moon, vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) has decided that it's too dangerous for his human girlfriend Bella (Kristen Stewart) to be around his kind, so he and his family pack up and leave their Forks, Wash., home, ostensibly for good. Missing her soulmate, Bella shuts down completely, and is only slowly drawn out of her shell by her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) – and by the discovery that Edward appears in ethereal form whenever she's in danger. Bella repeatedly puts herself at risk – riding motorcycles at daredevil speeds, diving off impossibly high cliffs, gorging on fast-food combos every day for a full month (OK, kidding on that last one) – but soon discovers that an even deadlier option materializes with the return of some vampiric foes. And what's with those gigantic werewolves stomping through the Pacific Northwest woods? In my review for Twilight, I wrote that the movie was "a love story first and a vampire tale second." Given Pattinson's ascension to pinup star as well as the pack of shirtless hunks filling out this latest film's supporting cast, it's safe to amend that statement to read that New Moon is a love story first and a male-model calendar second. The vampire tale has become almost incidental.