The Hound is a busy dog – giving Guillermo Del Toro notes on his Hobbit script one day, updating his Brangelina fan site the next – so he doesn’t always have the time to write 2,500-word opuses on the latest Sony Pictures Classics or "Masters of Horror" DVD. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. Here are the Hound’s off-the-cuff, sight-unseen first impressions of this week’s DVD releases, summarizing their appeal in a jaunty 50 words or less:

Major DVD Releases for Tuesday, July 1:

City of Men:

Follow this - 2002's City of God, an epic Rio de Janeiro crime saga, was such a success in Brazil, it spawned a TV series, City of Men, and this is the film adaptation of that series. (Whew.) While not as electric as CoG, Men is still heart-wrenching and profound.

Drillbit Taylor:

Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, and an uncredited John Hughes set out to make a high-school movie and THIS is the best they could do? They probably shouldn't have picked Little Nicky's Steve Brill to direct, but this lame Owen Wilson vehicle will make you wistfully remember You, Me, and Dupree.

Heathers: 20th High School Reunion Edition:

On the complete other end of the spectrum lies one of the darkest, most hilarious high-school movies ever made. Heathers still retains its bite even twenty years after the fact, mostly due to Daniel Waters' vicious script and career-making performances by Ryder and Slater.  Totally worthy of a special edition.

My Blueberry Nights:

Wong Kar Wai directed some of the most beautiful films of the past twenty years, but his English-language debut underwhelms, despite the pedigree of its supporting cast. Maybe his mistake was casting inexperienced music ingenue Norah Jones as his lead. Or maybe it was forgetting to write a coherent script.

Vantage Point:

Yet another "same story told from a million perspectives" thriller. And don't tell us it's a tribute to Rashomon.  It's an excuse to reuse sets and skimp on the storytelling. When a presidential assassination attempt goes down, Dennis Quaid has to Scooby up and solve the mystery. Wait for HBO.