May 8: DVD alternatives to this weekend’s multiplex offerings

INSTEAD OF: Star Trek, J.J. Abrams’ alternative-timeline reboot sequel prequel to the much beloved future history...

RENT: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, from 1986, the best of the old-school Trek movies, and also the one with the best time-travel element (which also features heavily in Abrams’ flick). Or, check out the only other theatrical movie to Abrams’ credit, Mission: Impossible III, which is clever and witty, both visually and verbally, and also is as much a commentary on its star (Tom Cruise) as it is on the delicious absurdity of the classic spy series it’s based on.

INSTEAD OF: Next Day Air, a comedy about dumb criminals and package-delivery services that you probably won’t want to see anyway, because it has mostly not screened for critics (and you know what that means)...

RENT: 2006’s 16 Blocks, starring the only cast member of Next Day Air worth paying attention to: Mos Def, who has morphed from one of the most intriguing hip-hop artists into one of the most intensely watchable actors of our generation. Or try 2004’s The Woodsman, which offers a nice contrast to Def’s 16 Blocks criminal -- here, he’s a weary cop keeping an eye on Kevin Bacon’s convicted child molester.

Unless you’re in a city with a major first-run arthouse scene, you won’t have any choice but to go the DVD route with this new limited release:

INSTEAD OF: Little Ashes, in which Twilight’s Robert Pattinson takes on the role of avant garde artist Salvador Dali...

RENT: One of the other great movies about artists, such as 1994’s Crumb, Terry Zwigoff’s documentary about the controversial underground comic-book artist; 1996’s Basquiat -- by Julian Schnabel, an artist himself -- starring Jeffrey Wright as the artist who made graffiti respectable; or the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, from 1998, which posits a lovely romance that inspired one of the Bard’s greatest plays.

Where to rent:

Rent DVDs by mail from GreenCine.com, As Low As $9.95 Per Month! Unlimited rentals, choose from 80,000 titles. Free Shipping!

Netflix, Inc.

Where to buy:

Amazon U.S. | Amazon U.K.