DVD SCANS

Getting better the second -- or fourth -- time around

Most dramatic action shows hit a plateau in their third or fourth seasons. The Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica is one of those rare exceptions, continuing to grow denser and more interesting with each year.

COMING TUESDAY ON DVD

New movies on DVD

MOVIES Babylon A.D., $29.99; two-disc edition; $34.98; Blu-ray $39.98 Bangkok Dangerous, $29.95; two-disc edition $34.98; Blu-ray $39.99

DINNER AND A MOVIE

South American pie at home

STAYING IN EAT: Reading the menu at the Empanada Factory is a little like taking a tour of South America: It has empanadas from Argentina and Colombia, cachapas and tequenos from Venezuela, arepas from Venezuela and Colombia, and patacons from Ecuador. Plus, this eatery, formerly at the Dolphin Mall, has pastelitos from Cuba and hot dogs and hamburgers (piled with shoestring potatoes) from the United States.

DVD & BLU-RAY

Coming on Tuesday

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands Kyle XY: Second Season Nip/Tuck: Fifth Season The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season One Surfer, Dude

DVD SCANS

2008 was a very good year on DVD

In 2008, VHS finally died for good, DVD sales flattened and Sony's Blu-ray format bested Toshiba's rival HD-DVD in the war for the next-generation high-definition media.

DINNER & A MOVIE

Staying in: Could be a big night

EAT: You'll be tempted to stay within the wine-lined, dark red walls of VinBrulé, but in the spirit of year-end nesting, go for what this cozy neighborhood trattoria does best: homemade pastas and paella. Our favorites include the ricotta and spinach ''Gnocchetti,'' dusted with Parmesan and a light butter-sage sauce, and ''Tortelloni MIX,'' large pasta pockets, each stuffed with either pumpkin, pté, salmon, mushrooms or ricotta-spinach (each one a surprise).

DVD SCANS

The nutty Coen brothers and their clueless heroes

Burn After Reading is one of those strange comedies from Joel and Ethan Coen that is surprising, funny, head-scratching and emotionally distanced.

DVD SCANS

Now you can skip the yakking and sing as loud as you want

The biggest perk in watching Mamma Mia! The Movie on home video (Universal, $30 one-disc DVD, $35 two-disc DVD, $40 Blu-ray) is the fast-forward button on your remote control, which will rarely have seemed handier. Now you don't have to endure the film's dialogue passages, in which lots of famous actors pretend (badly) to be excited and giddy in order to get to the reason why the movie exists, which is the music.

DVDS & BLU-RAY

Coming Tuesday

DVD The A-Team: Season One Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Vol. 6 Cheetah Girls: One World Generation Kill Ice Road Truckers: The Complete Season Two

DINNER & A MOVIE

Retro night at the diner

EAT: The hardest part about placing a takeout order at the Flashback Diner is making a decision. One glance at the menu and your head will spin.

Coming Tuesday to DVD

Anamorph Blue Blood Change My Life Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands Dragon Ball GT: Season One Elephant Tales Europa: Criterion Collection

DVD SCANS

On the whole, 'Swingtown' wasn't so bad

Swingtown didn't score with many TV critics -- our own Glenn Garvin called it ''hypersexualized sleaze'' when he panned the pilot of the short-lived CBS series last summer.

DINNER & A MOVIE

The Pub and 'Goldfinger': Your license to chill

EAT: We were going to watch an early James Bond movie or two, which of course gave us an appetite for '53 Dom Perignon and Beluga caviar. But the Staying-In budget wouldn't cover even an ounce of Beluga, so we settled for the most British dining we could find: The Pub, which opened not quite a year ago at Pembroke Gardens.

DVD SCANS

The Narnia saga continues

The Pevensie kids and their talking lion pal (voiced by Liam Neeson) meet again in the follow-up to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The new installment of the C.S. Lewis fantasy adaptation casts the Pevensies (William Moseley, Georgie Henley, Anna Popplewell and Skandar Keynes) into the company of a new ally, Caspian (Ben Barnes), heir to the throne of Narnia, which has been hurled into dark times under a tyrannical ruler. Director Andrew Adamson and cast members provide commentary on single-disc...

Coming Tuesday to DVD and Blu-ray

New this week on Blu-ray: Assault on Precinct 13 Austin Powers Collection Casablanca Contract Day of the Dead The Day the Earth Stood Still

VIDEO

Coming Tuesday on DVD

DVD Fred Claus Space Chimps Meet Dave Beautiful Ohio A Man Named Pearl Beverly Hills 90210 -- The Sixth Season Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. -- The Final Season

DVD SCANS

Superhero gets a new spin

Last year, Marie Phillips released her first novel, Gods Behaving Badly, an amusing and inventive take on Greek gods and goddesses living in modern-day London. These ancient ''superheroes'' have their problems, passing their humdrum existences in a decaying house and holding jobs such as dog walker (Artemis) and psychic on a lowly TV cable show.

DINNER & A MOVIE

Far away and close to home

EAT: If you put in a 40-hour-plus workweek, the granola bar and quickie tuna sandwich that saw you through the day don't cut it come quitting time. Now it's time for real sustenance -- but a home-cooked dinner is so not on the agenda.

COMING TUESDAY

On DVD and Blu-Ray

DVD Bones -- Season 3 Cannibal! The Musical: 13th Anniversary Edition Charmed: The Complete Series The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus -- Collectors Edition Megaset