The year is 1987. The place is beautiful Pittsburgh. Our hero is young James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), a virginal college graduate whose girlfriend (of 11 days) has just dumped him and whose parents suddenly cant afford his tuition for graduate school.

Jared Paladecki portrays the young college student Thom Kinkade, who returns home to Placerville, Calif. for the holidays in 1978 to spend time with his his estranged parents (Marcia Gay Harden and Richard Burgi), his younger brother (Aaron Ashmore) and his mentor, the aging - and ailing - painter Glen Wesman (Peter O'Toole).

There's more jeer than cheer in this Christmas farce, with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn as a (seemingly) happy unmarried couple whose plans for a holiday getaway are thwarted by bad weather, which inspires them to visit their respective parents instead.

(AE Home Entertainment): Devotees of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal sleuth are in for aroyal treat this Christmas season, with the release of this '60s TV series broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom.

WORLD'S GREATEST DAD (Magnolia Home Entertainment): The topic of teen suicide isn't exactly conducive to humor, but writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait (one and the same) has made the best film of his career with this bold, uncompromising, frequently hilarious black comedy - thanks to a huge assist from leading man Robin Williams

Adapted by Robert Rossen, this mature and thoughtful film takes a realistic approach to war and the men who wage it. The soldiers of the Texas Infantry aren't chest-thumping, flagwaving he-men, but determined and often frightened Everymen whom fate has thrown together, doing their best to stay alive against the odds.

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (Warner Home Video): The third in the big-screen comedy franchise, the last to boast the National Lampoon moniker and unquestionably the best of the sequels celebrates its 20th anniversary in an "ultimate collector's edition" on DVD ($32.92 retail) and Blu-ray ($49.99 retail).

DVD PICK OF THE WEEK BAD LIEUTENANT (LionsGate Home Entertainment): Harvey Keitel gives a fierce, fearless performance in the title role of Abel Ferrara's controversial, awardwinning 1992 character study, newly reissued in a special edition that includes director's commentary.

(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): One of filmmaker John Cassavetes' best works, this 1970 comedy/drama makes its long-awaited DVD debut - and in a longer version than the one released to theaters. Cassavetes is joined by Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara, playing Gus, Archie and Harry, three pals devastated by the sudden death of a fourth friend.

(HBO Home Entertainment): The true story of socialite Edith "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale (Jessica Lange) and her daughter "Little Edie" (Drew Barrymore), so vividly captured on film in the acclaimed 1975 documentary Grey Gardens, is dramatized here in this sad, sorrowful saga of wealth gone to waste.