End-of-the-world flick 'Take Shelter' comes to DVD

Yet another end-of-the-world parable heads this look at recent movies arriving on DVD this week.

"Take Shelter" (Sony Classics, 2012; R for language; $30.99). Veteran character actor Michael Shannon (an Oscar nominee for "Revolutionary Road") stars here as a rural blue-collar husband/father who begins having apocalyptic visions. Are they prophetic or merely dreams? Or is he losing his mind?

Writer-director Jeff Nichols has come up with a visually striking, perfectly performed creepshow that allows the audience to make its own assumptions right up to the climax.

Highly original in the telling (although, if you've seen Bill Paxton's 2001 film "Frailty," there are echoes), with a fine supporting cast that includes rising star Jessica Chastain ("The Help") as Shannon's wife.

Extras: widescreen, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes (also on Blu-ray, $35.99)

"Mama, I Want to Sing!" (Fox, 2011, PG, $22.98). Can a young singer become a pop star and retain her integrity? Her mother, a TV preacher with a following of her own, thinks not. This mother-daughter standoff, based on the hit off-Broadway musical, stars Ciara, with Lynn Whitfield as her mother, along with appearances by Patti LaBelle and Ben Vereen.

Extras: widescreen

"VIPs" (eOne, 2010, $24.98). True story of a drug dealer who takes on roles, impersonating those around him, to insinuate himself into high society as well as the underworld. Sort of "The Great Imposter" meets "Blow."

Extras: widescreen, featurettes

"The Devil's Rock" (eOne, 2011, $24.98). Toward the end of World War II, Allied commandoes capture a Nazi stronghold where, to their surprise, they discover a female demon summoned to change the course of the war. Unrated but R-level gory horror, a low-budget New Zealand production.

Extras: widescreen, audio commentary, featurette, extended scenes/alternate takes, outtakes

EMAIL: hicks@desnews.com