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DVD Releases

At a glance, “Hanna’’ (2011) is Saoirse Ronan’s show, given the impression the young Irish actress makes as a genetically engineered juvenile assassin. Ronan has everything in common with Jason Bourne here, and nothing in common with the characters she played in “Atonement’’ and “The Lovely Bones,’’ save for those ethereal eyes. You could even make a case that it’s Cate Blanchett’s show, seeing how eagerly she chomps scenery as a CIA operative hunting Hanna, newly parted from her off-the-grid dad (Eric Bana). Really, though, it’s director Joe Wright’s show, as he delivers a film that’s at once proficient in contemporary espionage-thriller flash, yet also manages to recall the arthouse refinement of his work on “Atonement’’ and 2005’s “Pride & Prejudice.’’ (He and Ronan are reportedly off to an adaptation of “Anna Karenina’’ next.) In someone else’s hands, Hanna would probably be all ferocity and attitude. In Wright’s, she’s a confused teen who compartmentalizes her freakishly violent abilities, and who’s permitted lyrical moments like a sun-dappled countryside ride with a British hippie family who befriends her. Jessica Barden is a hoot as the mouthy new BFF unafraid to scold Hanna that body-slamming hunky boys isn’t cool. Wright comments on bits otherwise left to speak for themselves - like, say, Blanchett’s grotesquely obsessive flossing. An alternate ending builds on the final sequence, while Blu-ray featurettes peek at the film’s Finland and Morocco location shoots, the Chemical Brothers’ soundtrack work, and Ronan’s super-soldier training. (Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98)

(2011)

Marvel Comics’ mutant-hero franchise adds to the series’ race, sexuality, and persecution metaphors with a prequel that ties the characters into, yes, the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Some have scoffed at the fantastical liberties taken with history; we say it’s clever pop storytelling.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Chronicles the off-beat and occasionally extraterrestrial journeys, notions, and acquaintances of galactic traveler Arthur Dent

The Jungle

Enriched eBook Features Editor Jonathan Beecher Field provides the following specially commissioned features for this Enriched eBook Classic: * Chronology * ...

The kite runner

Traces the unlikely friendship of Amir, a wealthy Afghanistani youth, and a servant's son, in a tale that spans the final days of the nation's monarchy through ...

The Help

In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed.

The World is Flat, a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

The New York Times columnist offers a concise and compelling history of globalization, discussing a wide range of economic and political topics and issues, from ...