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New on DVD: 'Olive Kitteridge,' Serangoon Road,' Bob Newhart

Maine native Elizabeth Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her episodic novel Olive Kitteridge, a collection of 13 thematically connected stories set in Crosby, a coastal town in her state.

Maine native Elizabeth Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her episodic novel Olive Kitteridge, a collection of 13 thematically connected stories set in Crosby, a coastal town in her state.

The material seems ripe for filming - if challenging. Director Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, The Kids Are All Right) rises to the occasion with a two-part HBO mini-series that deftly unifies the various narrative lines around the story of its titular character and her family.

Peformed with perfection by Frances McDormand, Olive is the quintessential New Englander - a bit of a loner, she's reserved, emotionally closed off - and she does not suffer fools gladly. She has quite a mean bark, and she seems always at odds with her Pollyanna of a husband (Richard Jenkins). Yet it's clear she cares for him on a level as fundamental as her own being.

There are uncharted depths to Olive, a powerful vein of melancholy that threatens to undo her will to live.

Almost four hours in duration, Olive Kitteridge offers a superb ensemble cast that gives full life to a half-dozen other major characters. Some are in the midst of crisis; others find themselves in the first throes of love. Co-stars include Bill Murray, Rosemarie DeWitt, Martha Wainwright, Peter Mullan, and Jesse Plemons.

(http://store.hbo.com/; $39.98 DVD; $49.99 Blu-ray; not rated)

Other titles of note

Serangoon Road. Australia's Don Hany (East West 101), who employs the full force of his impressive height and build in his acting, co-stars with the redoubtable Joan Chen (The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks) in this noirish procedural set in 1960s Singapore.

It's barely two decades since the port city was released from British imperial control, and it's a hotbed of intrigue filled with Cold War spies, American soldiers, and homegrown revolutionaries. Hany plays a former Army intelligence officer who teams up with Chen to solve her husband's murder. In the process, he helps out the needy, the downtrodden - and, on occasion, the CIA. Despite good reviews and ratings, HBO Asia's first original scripted production was not renewed for a second season. So cherish the 10 episodes in this four-disc collection. (www.acornonline.com; $49.99; not rated)

Every Man for Himself. Jean-Luc Godard, the bête noire of the French New Wave, had a surge of popularity in the 1960s with his first series of films, including Breathless, Band of Outsiders, and Alphaville. He spent the 1970s in relative obscurity, making experimental videos, but he made a strong comeback with this stunning, multilayered drama from 1980.

Starring Jacques Dutronc, Isabelle Huppert, and Nathalie Baye, the episodic film focuses on how three individuals deal with the often conflicting relationship between their creative lives and their day-to-day identities as lovers, spouses, and parents. Godard infuses the film with intertextual references to real artists, writers, and filmmakers. (www.criterion.com; $29.95 DVD; $39.95 Blu-ray; not rated)

The Bob Newhart Show: Season 5 and The Bob Newhart Show: The Final Season. Before Bob Newhart's sitcom Newhart in the '80s, there was his '70s sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show (and his '60s variety show, The Bob Newhart Show). The '70s sitcom featured Newhart as a Chicago psychologist married to a powerful, assertive woman (Suzanne Pleshette). Don't miss the last two seasons of this gem. (www.shoutfactory.com; $24.97 each; not rated)

Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic. Director Marina Zenovich's documentary explores the life and work of the comic genius with archival footage and interviews with a gaggle of stars, including Mike Epps, Paul Mooney, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Dave Chappelle, and Mel Brooks. (www.magpictures.com; $26.98 DVD; $29.98 Blu-ray; rated R)