One of the real benefits of DVD is that movie which bombed in theatrical release finally have their day on the small screen.

Such is the case with The Painted Veil, a romantic drama based on the novel by Somerset Maugham.

Edward Norton plays a doctor who convinces a British aristocrat (Naomi Watts) to marry him.

She does so to escape her family only to find she can barely stand her obsessive husband and his dedication to research in China.

She has an affair with a real cad (Liev Schreiber) and as penance agrees to accompany her husband to a remote Chinese village that needs his expertise.

It’s a sombre tale but quite engrossing.

It’s intriguing for two reasons.

China welcomed the foreign producers with open arms while Watts did the same with Schreiber who became her real-life lover and father of her child so watch for that on-screen chemistry.

Also out on DVD and worth catching is Breaking and Entering in which Jude Law tries to juggle his strained love for his uptight girlfriend Robin Wright Penn and his passion for his sultry mistress Juliette Binoche.

At the movies, try to catch Away From Her, Sarah Polley’s achingly powerful story of a great love in its final stages.

Gordon Pinset and Julie Christie play a couple struggling with the ravages of her late stage Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s poignant and heartfelt and it will disappear as quickly as if it was never here so if you want a quality film experience this is it.

Calgarians can enjoy a real blast from the past with Stage West Dinner Theatre’s musical tribute show Canadian Explosion.

It’s a journey through some of the most memorable artists and songs of the past 50 years and it features a dynamite cast headlined by Aaron Walpole.

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