THIS WEEK

Notable DVDs now available include:

· Our Brand Is Crisis (Unrated) A great movie for the sort of people who love the horse-race aspects of politics, getting excited about each shift in polling numbers and the nuances of each candidate's image tweaks. It tells the story of 2002 Bolivian presidential candidate Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada hiring the firm of GCS (Greenberg, Carville, Shrum) to run his campaign. It's a fun look at election machinery. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.

· United 93 (R) Post film critic Ann Hornaday summed it up nicely when she wrote: "Why anyone would want to revisit the dreadful day of Sept. 11, 2001, is beyond this particular critic. But those who find meaning and catharsis by watching reenactments on the big screen will be well rewarded by Paul Greengrass's taut thriller that, minute by agonizing minute, follows the only plane not to reach its target, the passengers having overtaken the aircraft in an act of collective heroism. Greengrass avoids politics altogether, focusing instead on the tick-tock of how reality slowly dawned on an improbably gorgeous late summer morning. This may be the best movie I ever hated." DVD extras include commentary, memorial pages and the featurette "United 93: The Families and the Film." The limited-edition set includes a second featurette called "Chasing Planes: Witnesses to 9/11."

· Lost: The Complete Second Season One of the top two shows on television (I can't decide between it and "The Sopranos") returns to DVD with its second season and a raft of bonus features. One of the most engrossing is "Lost Connections," which explores how the characters are linked. There are also commentary tracks, several featurettes, deleted scenes and a few hidden extras. It's sure to keep devoted fans busy far longer than 108 minutes.

· Brazil (R) The classic 1985 Terry Gilliam film with Jonathan Pryce, Robert DeNiro, Bob Hoskins and more is released in a single-disc version separate from Criterion's three-disc box set and receives a restored high-definition digital transfer, digitally restored optical effects and remastered Dolby stereo surround soundtrack and commentary by Gilliam, among other features.

· Seven Samurai Criterion Collection (Unrated) This film from the legendary Akira Kurosawa is released in a three-disc edition that includes a new restored high-definition digital transfer; two commentaries -- one by film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns and Donald Richie, the other by Japanese-film scholar Michael Jeck -- a documentary on the making of "Seven Samurai"; "My Life in Cinema," a 2-hour video conversation between Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima; the new documentary "Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences"; an improved English subtitle translation; and more.

· Shock Treatment 25th Anniversary Edition (PG) This is a sort of sequel to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" -- sort of because it uses the characters Brad and Janet, but that and a similar musical style are the only two things connecting the films. In it, Brad (Cliff DeYoung) and Janet (Jessica Harper) find themselves trapped in a TV universe (think "Pleasantville"). This is the first time on DVD for "Shock Treatment," and if you spring for "The Rocky Horror Picture Show/Shock Treatment Anniversary Giftset" you'll get both films in collectible packaging.

· Gojira (Godzilla) (Unrated) The complete, uncut Japanese original "Gojira" is available as part of a DVD two-pack that includes the re-edited U.S. version, "Godzilla: King of the Monsters!," starring Raymond Burr.

· Guys and Balls (R) This romantic comedy about a gay soccer team won the audience award for outstanding narrative feature at Outfest in 2005.

· Population 436 (R) Jeremy Sisto is a census taker trying to find out why a town has had the same population for at least 100 years. It's supposed to be a suspenseful thriller, but it's rather obvious almost from the start if you've seen more than a couple of films in the genre. Oh, and Fred Durst plays a deputy who, mercifully, is far more clothed than in Durst's more infamous film escapades.

-- Curt Fields