By Peter Covino

Lifestyles Editor

It was never The Sopranos or Six Feet Under, but like all good HBO series, it is sad to see them come to a close.

Big Love, the sometimes controversial, frequently funny and sometimes downright absurd series about modern day fundamentalist Mormons and polygamists in Utah, called it a day after five seasons.

If you never watched the series you can now catch up on all the goings on of Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) and the rest of the extended series family. You can finish up your collection with season five of the show in Blu-ray and DVD, or watch it all from beginning to end with Big Love: The Complete Collection. Both were just released in time for the holidays from HBO Home Entertainment.

If you have never watched an episode, obviously the way to go is to get the complete set, a hefty 20-disc set featuring all 53 episodes and many, many bonuses including “Inside the Episodes” commentary with the series creators. I wish our local cable provide Bright House Networks would get on board with HBO Go. With HBO Go, you can watch any episode from the entire five-season run (if you have an HBO subscription) on your laptop, tablet, or even most smart phones with an internet connection. It would be a great way to give the series a “test drive” before committing to purchase Big Love or any HBO series.

DirecTV, Cox, AT&T Universe, Dish and Verizon have all made HBO Go a reality for their customers. But we are still waiting on some king of action from Bright House. C’mon guys, get with the program, the HBO programming that is.

Okay, I will get off the soapbox and on with this week’s DVD review.

Fittingly, the show’s creators (Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, executive produced by Tom Hanks) gave Big Love a proper closing with season five. There are no ambiguities here unlike The Sopranos (hey, I liked the ending). This is more of a real closer, not unlike the last episode of Six Feet Under. Not every bow is neatly tied, but the packaging is all there.

The series is also nicely wrapped up with the season five bonus, Big Love: The End of Days, a look back on the series from the cast and crew.

Elsewhere, the complete collection includes bonuses Their Stories So Far, Big Love: A Balancing Act on Ice; three pre-qeuls, three mini-episodes and audio commentaries. Who could ask for anything more, if you love this series.

If you need yet another reason, you might just find a favorite star stopping by for an episode or two or more. Cast members throughout the series include Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn, Grace Zabriskie and Mary Kay Place.

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It is really hard to believe but Bones, a regular broadcast favorite of mine, is now in it seventh season and season six is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

When Bones is good, it is very, very good, and even when an episode is mediocre, it is still usually better than most network offerings.

It all starts with the cast. Series leads Emily Deschanel (Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan) and David Boreanaz (Seeley Booth) are always first rate in their flirtatious relationship as well as their crime-solving techniques. And the rest of the cast — Michaela Conlin (Angela); T.J. Thyne (Jack); Tamara Taylor (Camille) and John Francis Daley (Dr. Sweets) prove also to be indispensable each week.

The 30-second show summary for the uninitiated: Brennan and her colleagues (the rest of the cast, minus Booth) are a forensic team working for the forensic sciences department at the Jefforsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Booth is a special agent with the FBI and together they solve some of the more interesting murder cases on TV.

The series is usually light in tone (make that decidedly darkly light).

The romance angle between Bones and Booth takes a new turn in season six, with a big surprise by the final episode of the season. No spoilers here. You have to watch.

Other episodes include premises such as The Sin in the Sisterhood (a man who was married to three sisters is found dead in a cornfield) and The Feet on the Beach (eight pairs of dismembered feet are found after a flood on the U.S.-Canada border).

Bones season six is available in both DVD and Blu-ray. Bonus features include extended episodes; gag reel and audio commentary on select episodes.

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The romance is a lot younger, but still every bit as unconventional in The Art of Getting By (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment), starring Freddie Highmore (Golden Compass) as a smart but fatalistic teen in New York City, who has a relationship with another kindred spirit played by Emma Roberts (It’s Kind of a Funny Story).

This is a very indie movie kind of romance, helped by supporting roles by Rita Wilson, Michael Angarano, Sam Robards and Alicia Silverstone.

The film is fairly typical for its type, (Highmore is full of angst, Roberts likes that about him). Nothing really amazing happens, but this is a likeable enough entry in the teen category.

The Art of Getting By is available in both Blu-ray and DVD.

Bonus features include audio commentary with the director and the featurettes New York Slice of Life and On Young Love.

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Romance is even stranger in Heavenly Creatures. (1994 Lions Gate).

Pauline and Juliet (and introducing Kate Winslet as the credits say) are a couple of friends at an all-girls school in early 1950s New Zealand. Pauline (“Paul”) played by Melanie Lynskey is a bit of an outcast, withdrawn from her studies and generally disinterested until England transplant Juliet arrives. They become fast friends, virtually inseparable and create a fantasy world that takes advantage of the great New Zealand outdoors, and at times almost looks like the world director Peter Jackson would create for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

This is based on a true story that happened in New Zealand in the 1950s, a tragic love story of sorts, when the girls turn to murder after their relationship is deemed too unconventional for its time. Though their relationship is probably a bit too unconventional for any time.

Jackson, who also co-wrote the script, gives one of his better efforts. Nothing he did before this compares. And Winslet shows she has something special even at this young age.

It’s a one of a kind film.

This is the Blu-ray debut of the film and the uncut version as well. It will be available at retail stores Tuesday.

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One more unconventional Blu-ray for you to consider: Velvet Goldmine (Lions Gate 1998). This is the 1970s music scene as you probably don’t remember it. Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette, Christian Bale and Eddie Izzard team up for this fictional look at the glam rock scene.

Bale plays a investigative journalist working on a story ten years after two of its prominent players (Meyers, McGregor) have faded from the scene. Bale was a fan back then and now he is on assignment to uncover the truth about what happened after Brian Slade (Meyers) faked his own death.

If you were a fan of the music of the time period or want a peek at what the flamboyant lifestyle was all about, Velvet Goldmine is just the ticket. The soundtrack includes a lot of music from the era as well. The film was directed and written by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, HBO’s Mildred Pierce).

Blu-ray special features include audio commentary with Haynes and producer Christine Vachon.

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Henry Morgan, one of the elder statesman of actors of film and TV (Dragnet, M*A*S*H, The Glenn Miller Story, High Noon, State Fair) died this week at the age of 96, but fortunately, we still have Zsa Zsa Gabor.

The actress with apparently nine lives keeps on kicking and you can see her in one of her stranger roles in Mooch Goes to Hollywood (1971), the story of a dog trying to make it big in Hollywood. Zsa Zsa supplies the voice over narration. It is just one of the features in Dahling: A Tribute to Zsa Zsa Gabor (Inception Media Group).

The film is ..well..pretty terrible. But there are lots of cameos (Vincent Price, James Darren, Mickey Rooney, Phyllis Diller) and it is a curiosity piece of its era.

Also included is another film with Zsa Zsa in there somewhere, Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie (1984). And yes, that really is the title. The DVD also features Zsa Zsa in guest appearances on G.E. Theater and the Milton Berle Show, plus four original film trailers.

That’s it for the week. If you had been paying attention to my Twitter feed (@ICmovies) you could have been one of the lucky winners (depending on your viewpoint) to get tickets to this weekend’s Twilight fan convention at the Hilton at Disney. Though the thought of a few thousand Twihards or whaterver the call themselves, under one roof is one scary proposition.