‘Begin Again’ uses music to heal the hurt

Begin Again

Starz/Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.99

Available on VOD Tuesday

“Once” writer-director John Carney returns to the quasi-musical genre with “Begin Again,” which stars Keira Knightley as an amateur singer-songwriter who comes to New York with her rock-star boyfriend (played by Adam Levine). After she gets jilted, she makes her own album on the streets of New York with the help of a disgraced, alcoholic former record mogul (Mark Ruffalo). The situation is contrived, and the music doesn’t fit as naturally into the story as it does in “Once,” but the songs are catchy (thanks to their composer, New Radicals’ Gregg Alexander), and the scenes of good-hearted artists healing their hurts through music get across the idea that pop can be a unifier. It’s no surprise that “Begin Again” has been a big hit around the world. The DVD and Blu-ray add a featurette and music videos.

Wish I Was Here

Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98

Available on VOD Tuesday

Zach Braff drew a lot of attention — not all of it positive — when he took to Kickstarter to finance this follow-up to his indie hit “Garden State,” though when the actual movie came out last summer, it barely made a ripple. That may be because the movie itself is a muddle. Braff plays a struggling actor who home-schools his kids when his dad (Mandy Patinkin) gets too sick to pay for their private school. The family crisis ends up teaching everyone a lesson about respecting one another and following their passions —- which is a fine, well-meaning message for a filmmaker to send, but one that the writer-director-producer Braff delivers with too many sitcom quirks and over-earnest lyrical interludes. The “Wish I Was Here” DVD and Blu-ray load up on more Braff, with two Braff commentary tracks and a featurette about his acting and directing simultaneously.

The Complete Jacques Tati

Criterion, $124.95; Blu-ray, $124.95

French comedian-filmmaker Jacques Tati directed only five theatrical features plus a handful of shorts and TV films, but that was enough to show off his genius at turning everyday human behavior into a series of malfunctioning clockwork motions. Criterion’s essential Blu-ray box set (also available on DVD) contains the puckish international hits of the 1940s and 1950s — “Jour de Fête,” “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday” and “Mon Oncle” — plus the more ambitious, less-popular 1960s and 1970s films “Playtime” and “Trafic.” All are brilliant, though they get chillier over time as Tati begins to satirize the sterility and officiousness of modern Europe. The set adds the rare color version of “Jour de Fête” and English-language version of “Mon Oncle,” plus shorts and documentaries that help explain Tati’s mime-rooted humor, which is as much dance as comedy.

WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series

Shout! Factory, $139.99

Classic TV fans have been waiting for a committed company like Shout! Factory to do right by this 1970s-1980s sitcom , which in its original form was scored by real rock songs that are expensive to license. While Shout! wasn’t able to clear every “WKRP” music cue, its much-anticipated “Complete Series” box set does get a lot of the originals back, including Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” and Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded.” And everything else about “WKRP” is still great — especially its four-year story of an underdog AM radio station and the burnouts and old squares who run it. In addition to 90 episodes of prime comedy about a popular culture in transition, the DVD box set includes interviews and featurettes.

And …

Deliver Us From Evil

Sony, $30.99; Blu-ray, $40.99

Available on VOD Oct 28

Life of Crime

Lionsgate, $19.98; Blu-ray, $24.99

Nightbreed: The Director’s Cut

Scream! Factory Blu-ray, $29.93/$79.97

The Prince

Lionsgate, $19.98; Blu-ray, $24.99