This week's DVD (and Blu-ray) pick of the litter is Lionsgate's The Bank Job. One of the best and most entertaining movies of the year (so far), The Bank Job is loosely based on a real 1970s heist that took more than a few surprising turns. Leading a hastily assembled team of down-market London crooks, Jason Statham stars as the point man in a scheme that (little does he know) reaches from the biggest bank heist in British history to deep into the British government and even the royal family itself. Directed by Roger Donaldson. The "Two-Disc Special Edition" DVD and the Blu-ray edition each come with a "digital copy" of the film you can load onto an iPod or other compatible portable device.

Among the other new DVDs hitting shelves this week, look for:

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days -- After delays and confused release scheduling, one of the most praised films of 2007 finally comes home on DVD.

College Road Trip -- Martin Lawrence continues to find work.

The Curiosity of Chance -- Writer/director Russell P. Marleau gives the John Hughes-styled high school comedy a twist in this touching coming-of-age tale.

Doom Asylum -- So, not Disney then?

Meet Bill -- Not the prequel to Kill Bill, alas.

National Lampoon Presents The History of New America Part I: Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell -- You now know as much as we do about it. Dawn has the DVD, though, and will be answering all your questions very soon now.

Shutter -- Shudder.

Step Up 2 The Streets -- The 2008 follow-up to 2006's Step Up. When rebellious street dancer Andie lands at the elite Maryland School of the Arts, she finds herself fighting to fit in while also trying to hold onto her old life. When she joins forces with the school's hottest dancer Chase to form a crew of classmate outcasts to compete in Baltimore's underground dance battle, The Streets, she ultimately finds a way to live her dream while building a bridge between her two separate worlds.

Trafic -- The Criterion Collection delivers Jaques Tati's final movie featuring his eccentric Everyman, Mr. Hulot, whose ill-fated attempt to bring his ultra-modern camper to an Amsterdam auto show results in comic disaster. This wry satire pokes us where we live -- our cars.

Trapped Ashes -- Seven strangers are trapped inside an infamous "House of Horrors" during a Hollywood movie studio tour and forced to tell their most terrifying personal stories to get out alive. The five directors include Ken Russell and Joe Dante. It's Russell, of course, who directs the segment "The Girl with Golden Breasts."

The Year My Parents Went on Vacation -- In 1970, Brazil and the world seem to have been turned upside-down, but 12 year-old Mauro's worries have nothing to do with the military regime which controls the country. His biggest dream is to see Brazil become three-time winner of the World Cup. Suddenly, he is torn from his parents and taken to live in a "strange" and fun-filled community. Bom Retiro, a district in Sao Paolo which is home to a large Jewish and Italian community, among other cultures.

Check back here throughout the week for feature DVD reviews and other facts and/or opinions.

Among the related news tidbits, we know now that the Walt Disney Company, "along with the broader entertainment industry," will soon be very publicly promoting movies on high-definition Blu-ray discs that will offer you the option of watching a movie "in tandem with friends in other locations and chat using a laptop, P.D.A. or cellphone." Will this new "BD Live" technology be friend or foe? More likely it'll be in that squishy, boring place in between those two poles. If our favorite discs suddenly start talking back to us, I know where I'll stand on that.

Over at Salon.com, Andrew O'Hehir presents his ultimate family DVD list, "ideas for family videos that might be a little off the beaten track" compiled from some 250 reader suggestions into "the first draft of a collaborative thingummy I call the Awesome Kids' Video Project." It's a pretty awesome list.

It is an age of wonders, I tell you.