By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, I was kind of hoping I would have a feast of food related DVDs on tap for this weekend.

Well there is no food but there certainly is a feast of offerings, some very good, some not so good, and a few that are kind of forgettable.

Making their Blu-ray debuts this month are a few classics, including West Side Story, Cop Land and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation.

In one of those hard-to-believe categories, West Side Story (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and this anniversary edition, features two discs (plus tribute CD), including the Blu-ray, plus hours of restored features highlighting the film’s dance and choreography.

I  can remember seeing this on the big screen when I was just a little kid. I’m not sure any more how long the film had been in release when I first saw it. I do remember I went with an older male cousin to a theater in downtown Newark and he was expecting a bloody gang war film with switchblades blazing and puddles of blood. As soon as the Jets started singing and dancing (that was pretty much the opening credits) he was ready to leave.

Of course, I really liked the film — when you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way I guess, from your first cigarette to your last dying day.

This is one of the most honored films ever,  winning a then record 10 Academy Awards, the most ever for a musical.

You know the songs (“Maria,” “America,” “To-night,” “I Feel Pretty”) and the stars (Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, George Chakaris) and the story (Romeo & Juliet in 1950s New York City). And if you don’t, this Blu-ray edition is a great way to get acquainted.

In addition to the restored Blu-ray, there also is a newly-restored DVD version as well. A third disc features lots of Blu-ray bonuses including A Place for Us: West Side Story’s Legacy; song specific commentary; and Music Machine, which lets you go straight to a musical number.

Collectable material includes a photo book.

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I am no fan of Sylvester Stallone.

His wretched stone-faced acting is a close second to Keanu Reeves when it comes to major stars whose light should have burned out a long time ago.

Once in a while though, Stallone gets lucky, and shows that maybe, just maybe, Rocky wasn’t a one-time fluke.

Cop Land has been released in Blu-ray as part of Lionsgate’s Collector’s Series and he is actually pretty good playing Freddy Heflin, the sheriff of a small New Jersey suburban town that is home to several police officers from the big city, and they are cops with something to hide.

The all-star cast includes Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Edie Falco. Cop Land is written and directed by James Mangold.

This is the director’s cut of the film and includes 10 minutes of footage previously cut from the original release.

Blu-ray special features include audio commentary with Mangold, the film’s producer, and Stallone; deleted scenes with optional commentary and Cop Land: The Making of an Urban Western featurette.

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The conspiracy in Cop Land is mere child’s play compared to what is going on in the paranoid-driven The Conversation (Lionsgate),

This early Coppola film (1974) was nominated for three Academy Awards but lost out to ....The Godfather Part  II, another Coppola film.

Gene Hackman stars as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who runs his own company in San Francisco and makes what he thinks might be a disturbing discovery on the job watching and listening to a couple.

He becomes obsessed watching and rewatching the tape and becomes convinced the couple is in danger. Of  course, Harry is not a very good person to trust as the source of the story.  Can you really trust all of his paranoia?

This was not a big budget film for its day. Remarkably, it was an inexpensive $1.6 million when it was released, but it did boast a cast that included John Cazale (also from The Godfather films), a pre-Star Wars Harrison Ford, and Robert Duvall.

Along with getting a restoration for its Blu-ray debut, the

disc includes never-before-seen screen tests, a new interview with Coppola, archival interview with Hackman, audio commentary with Coppola and more.

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There aren’t too many surprises in The Change-Up (2011 Universal), yet another one of those comedies where two friends in this case, wake up to find they have swapped bodies and are now living in each others shoes.

Family man Dave (Jason  Bateman) and womanizer Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) undergo the transformation after a night of drinking, and the day after they pee in a fountain.

There are some laughs along the way as both men discover all the pluses and minuses of switching roles, and eventually come to realize how good they both had it and how to make their old lives even better. It’s nothing special,  but it is entertaining enough R-rated humor, with a good cast.

The Blu-ray combo pack also includes a digital copy, deleted scenes, gag reel, feature commentary ad some behind the scenes featurettes. The combo pack includes both a theatrical version an unrated version of the film not seen in theaters.

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New from the Warner Archive Collection is  Damage (1992). Louis Malle directs this look of sexual obsession among the upper classes as a conservative British politician (Jeremy Irons) falls dangerously in love with his son’s fiancee (Juliette  Binoche).

There is some good acting all around in this R-rated drama which also stars Miranda Richardson, as the wife of the politician.

Definitely worth a look.

Like all Warner Archive Films, it is available only on line at Warnerarchivecollection.com.

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Also “new” from the collection is Get Carter (1971) a crime drama that through the years has gotten a lot of respect and is now regarded as one of the top British films ever.

I have never been too big on Michael Caine, he has starred in some really good films as well as been responsible for some stinkers. Get Carter is one of his better efforts.

Here he plays a gangster out to avenge the death of his brother. He lives in London but return to his native New Castle (where most of the film was made) as he investigates the death and eventually gets his revenge.

Get Carter is available only through the Warner Archive Collection.

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The revenge factor returns in Boy Wonder (Inception Media Group), a tale about a boy who witnesses the murder of his mother during a Brooklyn car-jacking, who as a teen, is in relentless pursuit of his mother's killers.

Caleb Steinmeyer plays the 17-year-old loner-turned vigilante. Standing in his way is the new homicide detective  who befriends the boy, not realizing he is behind the series of murders.

This independent psychological thriller has won numerous awards in its limited theatrical release and it has just been released on DVD.