There are three exceptional DVDs out this weekend.

At the top of your list should be ALPHA DOG, the fact-based story of Jesse James Hollywood, the youngest person ever to be on the FBI’s most-wanted list.

He was a small-time drug dealer who kidnapped a rival’s young brother and then commanded his goons to kill the kid instead of releasing him.

Emile Hirsch plays Johnny who’s called Johnny Truelove in the film.

He makes a chilling little psychopath but it is Justin Timberlake as the pot-head Johnny entrusts first with taking care of the hostage and then disposing of him who really impresses.

It’s an outstanding performance of a guy who just wants to be high but is forced to be a killer.

DREAMGIRLS is the thinly-disguised story of the rise of The Supremes and a look at how Diana Ross stole all the glory.

Beyonce Knowles plays the Ross character, looks spectacular in the gowns and sings to perfection but it is Jennifer Hudson as the real talent who is ousted because she doesn’t look the part of a sexy, skinny superstar.

Eddie Murphy has some genuine show-stopping scenes as the womanizing singer who recalls a young James Brown.

Finally there’s LITTLE CHILDREN in which Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson play married suburbanites who find themselves having an affair because their respective mates don’t fullfill them.

It’s a poweful adult film which doesn’t offer any easy answers to the characters’ dilemma.

For those not willing to line up for Spider-Man 3, there’s always Nicolas Cage’s NEXT which took an unwarranted critical beating last week.

It’s silly, preposterous fun with some of the best chase sequences Hollywood has churned out this year.

That is unless you consider the aerial acrobatics in Spider-Man 3 chase sequences.

This the last chance for Calgarians to catch an excellent production of Shakespeare’s rarely-done history play HENRY VI: PART III in the Calgary Opera Centre’s theatre.

Director Iam Coulter and a talented cast bring this violent period in British history known as The War of the Roses to exciting life.

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You can just bet that this week’s major DVD release is going to be flying off the shelves.

We’re talking Night at the Museum which made a whopping $250 million in its North America theatre release alone.

Ben Stiller is the night watchman at a museum whose exhibs come to life each evening.

It’s an excellent family film filled with solid special effects, some good suspense and even better humor.

Last week it was the Best Actor Oscar winner The Last King of Scotland that hit the shelves.

This week it’s The Queen which netted Helen Mirren the Oscar for Best Actress.

It’s an amazing performance that’s almost eerie as Mirren transforms in Elizabeth II.

The film looks at the Royal Family’s reactions to the death of Princess Diana.

Elizabeth actually comes off much better than Prince Philip or the Queen Mother.

With the summer blockbusters on the horizon, films that don’t register during their first weekend will slide quickly into oblivion and then to DVD.

That means if you want to catch the Anthony Hopkins thriller Fracture at the theatres you’d best do it now.

It didn’t even manage to dethrone Disturbia, the teen slasher version of the Alfred Hitchcock classic Rear Window.

Calgarians on the prowl for some top-notch live theatre should check out Alberta Theatre Projects’ version of Eugene Stickland’s witty comedy Sitting On Paradise.

Maureen Thomas headlines an exceptional cast.

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This is a dandy weekend to stay in an curl up with some of the great new DVD releases.

At the top of your list should be The Last King of Scotland which garnered Forest Whitaker this year’s Best Actor Oscar for playing Idi Amin, the psychopath dictator who rulled Uganda during the 1970s.

This part of Idi Amin’s story is told through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) the idealistic young Scottish doctor who became Idi Amin’s personal physician only to learn what kind of monster he’d aligned himself with.

It’s a harrowing drama but one that will have you glued to your TV set.

Also on tap this weekend on DVD is Notes on a Scandal, the powerful British film that netted Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett well-deserved Oscar nominations.

Set at a British school, Dench plays a senior teacher who manipulates her younger colleague.

Dench is a monster of epic proportions and Blanchett is so naive you’ll find yourself screaming warnings to her as the spidery Dench closes in.

If you are venturing out for a movie it should be to catch The Hoax if it is still playing in your area.

Richard Gere is in top form as Clifford Irving the writer who fabricated a Howard Hughes autobiography in the 1970s and almost got away with it.

Watching how this could happen is utterly compelling and often quite humorous.

Albertans looking for a unique dinner theatre experience should check out Rosebud Theatre’s excellent version of On Golden Pond.

There’s a buffet dinner or brunch followed by a production that features an outstanding performance by Roger Hamm in the role of the lovable old curmudgeon Norman Thayer that won Henry Fonda an Oscar back in 1981.

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If you want to avoid the line-ups for this week’s new films, you can’t go wrong with THE LOOKOUT.

It’s a great little thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt who played the long-haired alien on Third Rock from the Sun.

In this tense little drama he plays a brain-injured teenager working as the night watchman at a bank who gets tricked into being the lookout for a bank robbery.

Great acting and genuine suspense.

If you’re intent on staying home check out BOBBY on DVD.

It’s Emilio Estevez’s take on the assassination of Bobby Kennedy with an all-star cast that features an almost unrecognizable Sharon Stone in a performance that should have netted her a best-supporting actress nod this year.

Emilio didn’t just write and direct but stars as the manager of a boozy singer.

Demi Moore who plays the alcoholic diva was engaged to Emilio when she met Bruce Willis.

Obviously any hard feelings over the breakup are now non-existent.

Calgarians looking for a live theatre experience can’t go wrong with either MY MOROCCO or CONFESSIONS OF A PAPERBOY.

Both are one-person shows that mesmerize both in writing and performance and both end on April 14.

If you want to dine and laugh, Stage West’s NUNSENSE is a real winner and it’s also in its final performances.

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